BIG BIRD
FESTIVAL 1997
August
1997
The Love-Air R/C club hosted our 4th annual BIG BIRD
FESTIVAL on August 16th and 17th 1997. We "Took Our Show On The Road"
this year due to the loss of our club field in the fall of 1996.
Fifty seven pilots from New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado
made the trip to Al Ward's field in Akron, Colorado, and registered 91
Giant Scale planes for the 2-day event.
The event began on Saturday, but it
was evident by the number of motor homes and trailers lining several hundred
feet of the runway that most of the pilots had arrived on Friday, and they
were planning on having a full weekend of fun. With registration
and inspection complete, the only thing to do was fly. And fly they
did! 307 flights were logged - a new record for our event. Pilots
were rewarded for flying by improving their chances of winning one of the
great prizes available. Four IMAA legal kits and many other valuable items
were given away to the pilots throughout the weekend, thanks to the generosity
of our many sponsors. Sunny skies with steady crosswinds were prevalent
most of the weekend. The field was in great shape due to Al Ward
Jr. traveling all the way from Florida a few days before the event to prepare
the field. Even though the runway is fairly small, grass surrounded
the area and made takeoffs and landings uneventful tasks.
Official flying ended at 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, but after an evening rain shower, another first was recorded
for our event - "Night Flight." Bob Hinze of Gering, NE and Don Lorentzen
of Thornton, CO put on a show for the people camping out. Everyone
who witnessed these flights were amazed by what a radio controlled airplane
can do after the sun goes down.
The event came to a close at 2:00
p.m. Sunday with the grand prize raffle drawing for the Ready-To-Fly Giant
Kadet Senior, which was scratch built and modified by Jack Quinn, being
won by Bill and Kim Gallagher.
