Models are just plane amazing

From state Route 7, on the border where Mahoning County ends and Columbiana County begins, planes were visible overhead. They were in tailspins, hovering perpendicular in midair, and falling from the sky in a hammer-head stall only to recover a few feet from the ground and change directions in a breathtaking knife-edge.
One woman and her husband saw the air activity from Route 7 and they drove down the gravel road to the airstrip.
"Do you know how real those look?" she asked in amazement to the "pilots" standing by.
The members of the Mahoning County Model Club laughed and nodded their heads. They'd heard it before. Their model airplanes may only be a few feet long, controlled on the ground by a remote, but in the air they look very real.
The club was holding a Fun Fly at the Shaker Woods Flying Field. With members sitting under canopies, their planes by their sides, they were taking turns in the air for a day filled with flying extravaganzas.
Looking at their planes, I was amazed at the detail that the MCMC members create.
More in store
Little did I know, my amazement with this group of fun-loving aeronautic enthusiasts had just begun.
After watching several model planes perform twists, turns and loop-de-loops in the air, three men approached the airstrip. Their planes weren't the fancy, highly detailed versions I had been watching. In fact, they looked a little ragged.
"Those are combat planes," Don Chatman of Youngstown informed me.
Each plane had a long streamer attached to its tail. Once it was airborne, it would to try to cut the streamer off another plane. These fast, agile planes zipped and zoomed through the sky, sounding like a hive of bees.
The crowd "oohed" and "aahed" over each near-miss of a streamer -- and the planes.
"I've been mid-aired 12 times," Hank Coch from Lowellville shared with me as he watched the planes overhead. I wanted to tell him I was sorry to hear that, but the excitement in his voice told me he loved every crash.
Just then, Arnold Orning's plane was swiped by Ray Lewis'. Down it fell to the ground.
After several minutes, Ray's plane nipped his son Kevin's plane.
As the plane fell to the ground, Kevin put down his remote. "Now it's time for damage assessment," he said.
Sitting under his canopy, Arnold, of Boardman, was holding his damaged plane.
"How long will it take you to fix it?" I asked.
"This is a one-nighter," he said, very matter-of-fact. "No," he decided after adjusting the wings. "It's ready to go right now."
Kevin, from Poland, was not so fortunate. His plane had suffered a damaged wing in the battle. His repair was going to take a little longer.
While these club members were gearing up for the next flight, attention was gathering at the other end of the flying field.
The new arrival
Dale Kowal of Boardman and his son, Zak, had just arrived for the Fun Fly. They were placing their homemade C-130 on the ground.
"It's an exact replica of the ones they have at the Air Force base in Vienna," Dale told the crowd. And it looked almost as big!
The wing span was 10 feet wide. There were four propellers with functional wing tanks. The fat, oversized body was supported by retractable landing gear. It even sported a flashing strobe light on the top. In all, this monster of a model plane weighed 45 pounds.
Listening to the deep roar of the motors and watching in amazement as this plane lifted off the ground, I was struck by the ingenuity and commitment this group has for its hobby.
As if reading my mind, Tony Rubino of New Waterford leaned over and whispered, "Some of the best pilots in the world never got off the ground."
gwhite@vindy.com
XThe MCMC meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Shaker Woods Flying Field.