By Lily Belcher
The Triple Creek Radio Control Club, led by Club President Keith Hall, is hosting an event for National Model Aviation Day on Saturday, August 14. The event will provide the community and members of the Triple Creek Radio Control Club a chance to participate in and celebrate the hobby of model aviation for free beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around 1 p.m.
The event will feature model planes of all sizes, from micro to giant-scale planes. Guests of all ages will have the opportunity to fly model planes on their own or with the assistance of the ‘buddy box.’
The buddy box allows inexperienced pilots to practice flying the model planes without fear of crashing them. An experienced trainer, identified by the yellow vests they will be wearing at the event, will get the plane in the air and stable before pressing a switch on the transmission to allow the new pilot to control the plane with their own control. If the new pilot gets into trouble while flying one of the model planes, the trainer simply has to let go of the switch to regain control and straighten the plane out.
Guests will have the chance to build their own model planes as well.
“It’s wonderful for the kids. We’ve got some younger members in our club and they can build their own airplane. It involves science and math. It’s a very creative hobby as well,” explained Hall.
The Triple Creek Radio Control Club will also be collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Foundation. Each year, it collects donations because of the large number of members who are veterans from World War II through Vietnam to today. There will be a general donation box as well as people collecting money around the event.
Hall encourages community members to come out to watch, fly or build model airplanes on August 14 at 12705 Balm Boyette Rd. in Riverview. Guests can bring their own chairs if they want to watch trainers and new pilots fly the model planes, and drinks will be available for purchase during the event.
For more information on the event, contact Hall at 928-3861 or visit triplecreekrc.com. To learn more about National Model Aviation Day, visit modelaircraft.org/nmad.
