A club that has been flying high in Westerville for almost 50 years is once again looking to pick up some new passengers.
The Westerville Model Aeronautics Association was formed in 1968, and members have been dutifully flying remote-controlled and gliding planes and helicopters at Dinneen Field – off Lewis Center Road at the eastern end of the Alum Creek dam – since 1987. Current club membership totals 143.
Many members started flying model planes when they were young and kept up with the hobby well into adulthood – and, in some cases, into retirement. The older members got started on control-line flying – flight of planes with attached wires – then progressed into free flying when transmitters became more common.
These aren’t just the small models you built as a kid, either. It’s not uncommon for planes with 8- to 10-foot wingspans and gas engines to soar around Dinneen, says Guie Lewis, association president.
“The planes have gotten bigger and bigger,” Lewis says.
There is an enormous amount of variety when it comes to plane models. Sizes range from 8- to 10-inch wingspan to half-size scale models. Aircraft may be propelled by electric motors or gasoline or nitro-fueled engines. Popular acrobatics include loops, rolls and inverted flight.
Some members build their planes from scratch, and many model them after
existing or historical aircraft. One member last year built a Wright Brothers re-creation that actually flew, Lewis says.
For the enthusiast, costs start just north of $100 for small, transmitter-controlled “foamies” – planes made of compacted foam – and can climb well into the thousands for a big custom job with a gasoline engine. The association has seven members who fly planes with real jet engines using kerosene fuel, which can mean an investment of $8,000 or $9,000, Lewis says.
“Whenever we have a jet flying out there, everything stops,” he says. “Everybody wants to see the jets go fast, and the guys who are flying them love to perform.”
The field is open seven days a week, and in the right weather – any wind speed past 7-8 mph has the potential to buffet smaller planes around the sky – a visitor is likely to see someone using it.
The association enjoys free use of the field – through a no-cost lease from the Army Corps of Engineers – as long as it keeps the field well maintained. The site contains a 900-foot grass runway as well as five concrete pad flying stations, a pilot preparation area, a frequency control board, a windsock, a flagpole and secure equipment sheds.
Anyone who wants to fly unassisted must have a license from the Academy of Model Aeronautics, which is essentially an insurance card and which is free to applicants under age 19. After that, it costs $58 annually until age 65, when the cost drops to $48. All cardholders must demonstrate the ability to perform a few simple maneuvers, such as a racetrack pattern and a figure-eight parallel to the ground.
Everyone with an AMA membership is invited to use the field, though the club encourages flyers to join to defray maintenance costs. Membership is $50 annually, and $5 each for family members.
The club does have some younger members; there are even a few in early elementary school who can fly both fixed-wing and helicopter models just as well as the adults. Among the adult members are two people who pilot the IGS Energy Blimp at Columbus Blue Jackets games, as well as several airline pilots.
“They’re able to do things that they can’t do when they have a planeload,” says Lewis.
Lewis, like a lot of association members, dabbled in models as a child – the wind-up rubber-band models were popular at the time – but lost interest in college. But he remained interested in flight, enrolling in the U.S. Marine Corps and serving as a student pilot, control tower operator and aerial navigator. He stopped by Dinneen Field fueled by curiosity about eight years ago and was soon hooked.
Among his own personal aircraft are a Toledo Special, a high-wing Cessna, a stunt-flying biplane called a Christen Eagle, a mid-wing model called a Saratoga and an all-electric Meridian with a 70-inch wingspan.
Every year, the association works with the Westerville Public Library for Library Fly Day, a day of education and demonstration at the field. This year’s is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 26, the day after a model plane display and brief introduction by club members at the library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fly Day attendees will have the chance to participate in “buddy-boxing:” flight with a tra
nsmitter that’s attached to another transmitter held by an association member who can correct the flight path should the user start to lose control.
“We give them about a half-hour of instruction on flight principles; show them what makes a plane fly, how you make a turn and what happens when you do certain things; and then we take them out to the flight line,” says Lewis.
The whole point is to encourage children to take an interest in flying, though the association’s pilots will work with attendees of all ages.
Attendees can also practice on a flight simulator, and refreshments will be available.
Among the club’s other events are a variety of competitions, as well as an aerobatic practice event and a family picnic and night fly.
More information on the club is available on its website, www.wmaa-wags.org.
Garth Bishop is editor of Westerville Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
No more than five aircraft may be in the air at any one time at Dinneen Field, and pilots are required to make every effort to reduce the noise of their planes.
