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We were contacted by June Netta Nivens, the Director of
the After School Care Program at the St. Joseph Elementary School to see
about the possibility of holding an R/C Demonstration for up to 80
students during one of their Field Trip days. We agreed upon November
8th and she said that they would arrive around 2:30 P.M. We were
somewhat concerned about the possibility of bad weather, but we were
prepared to move indoors if the weather didn't cooperate. Of course, we
preferred to hold the event outdoors and, for November, it turned out to
be a beautiful day. Unfortunately the winds were blowing hard, we
estimated around 20 m.p.h. The only thing that saved the day was the
fact that they were blowing right down the runway.
Several JCRC Members took off work to be able to attend
and help at the event. Those attending were John Dussold, Shaun
Zimmerman, Chris Byrd, Jim Crago, Rick Poire and Stacy Gillmore. We are
indeed grateful to each of them for their participation and for helping
to make the event a success. Several airplanes and helicopters were
brought out to the field for the children to see and we believe we were
well represented.
Two buses arrived right on schedule and the students
unloaded and filled up the bleachers, ready to watch. Chris Byrd was the
first one up with his big Bergen gas-powered helicopter. It is very
rewarding to fly in front of a grateful audience and children are the
best. It is wonderful to watch their expressions as the aircraft
take-off and perform maneuvers. The will gladly applaud even a simple
loop and it makes the person flying feel like a million bucks. We were
able to get some really neat photographs of the students and their
facial expressions, one of them we like so much, we included a link to
view it full-resolution.
We had a question and answer portion to tell them about
our hobby and one of the highlights for us was being able to let two of
the students and two of the teachers take a turn at the controls of a
Trainer Box that Jim Crago provided for the afternoon. All four of the
student pilots did a wonderful job, especially when one considers the
wind conditions. It was challenging for seasoned pilots to keep them
flying correctly in this wind! Each of them did great! We only wish more
could have had the opportunity. Jim Branson allowed several students to
take a turn on a computer-based R/C Simulator program that he brought
out on his laptop.
All of the other guys flew their airplanes and
helicopters to the enjoyment of the crowd. The only incident of the day,
which only a few even noticed, was when Chris Byrd was on a landing
approach, coming in from the direction of the barn when John Dussold flew over the top of
Chris' Hangar 9 Twist with his Sig 4 Star 40 and apparently the prop
wash blast from John's plane caused Chris' to stall and 'land' on the
roof of the barn! Gratefully there was only very minor damage to the
Twist and Chris' ego will heal as well. However, he may be reminded of
the event from time-to-time because of the 'kill mark insignia' on the
side of John's 4 Star, next to Gonzo!
At the end of the event, the airplanes were lined up so
the children could get a close-up look at them as they returned to their
bus to go back to the school. The buses didn't have any difficulty
entering the facility, but getting out proved to be challenging. It was
very rewarding for all of us.
The day after the event we received a very nice e-mail
from Mrs. Nivens, who said; "We just wanted to thank you for the absolutely wonderful show yesterday. The kids are still talking about it. I heard several of them telling their friends about it this morning. Please extend our sincere thanks to all those who participated yesterday. God Bless......June Netta Nivens, Director After School Care, St. Joseph Cathedral."
That makes it all worthwhile and we are just as grateful that these
wonderful students and teachers came out to our Flying Field!
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