As the air improved during the day the visitors began to arrive and the program began to roll.  There was, of course, Doug Gwaltney's hot, barbecue-style food and soft drink refreshment to encourage the special camaraderie that model aviation types enjoy.  Ben Meredith had his classical music up, the spectators, including women and children, gathered under tents and soon there was a regular model aviation village going! 

In addition to ad lib sport flying there were aerobatic demonstrations, a balloon-bustin' challenge and a spot landing competition.  Two models, because of tbeir size and finish, commanded special attention from the crowd.  One was Ray Sutton's North American T-28, the other was Brandon Stone's Extra 330L, both looking very realistic flyng overhead. Jeff Williams wowed the crowd with his percision aerobatics flying his big Yak 54.

Dave Black from the Rend Lake Club was there with his wife, Angela, wowing the crowd with low passes of his 63-inch B-17 Boeing Flying Fortress of WW II fame.  Dave had a regular air corps of his models on display: a De Havilland Tiger Moth and three contemporary fighters, a General Dynamics  F-16 Fighting Falcon, a McDonnell-Douglas F/A Hornet, and Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the  latter three all electric ducted fan powered.  Sport flying model types were represented by Steve Jany's 48-inch Hangar 9 Ultra-Stik and his pal, Bill Lang's 52-inch Great Planes E-Stik, both men of the Breezy Hill Club. We would also like to give special thanks to Ben Merideth for giving us the idea for participating in this nation wide AMA sponsored National Model Aviation Day. 

Winners of the competition in the various categories were as follows:

Best War Bird      Dave Black          Mt. Vernon  IL        B-17

Best Civilian        Ben Meredith      Cypress IL              Eagle 580

Pilots Choice       Jeff Williams       Georgetown IN          Yak 54 V2

Best 3D Show     Jeff Williams               "               Yak 54 V2

Balloon Burst       Ray Sutton           Marion IL            Parkzone Sport Cub

Spot Landing       Eric Lyon              Herrin IL           Bellanca Decathlon

Each winner received a handsome plaque displaying a foto of Eric Lyon's red and white scale model G-B Sportster.

The best part of the fly-in, of course, came at the end  with the announcement that the fly-in had earned a donation for the DAV of $800.00.   "Well done!" and "Thank you!" to all the club members whose hard work and devotion against difficult conditions was justly rewarded.  And a very special "Thank you!" to all the donors listed below whose generosity made possible a substantial contribution to the aid of the DAV.

Cape Air Airlines    Drury Inn    Marion Ford Hyundai    Dunn Sporting Goods    Ideal Lawn and Tractor

Cracker Barrel    Tai D Restaurant    Logan's Roadhouse    Subway Sandwiches    Bill & Vicky Gower    

Marion O'Reilly Auto Parts    Herrin Oreilly Auto Parts    Autozone    Regions Bank    Napa Auto Parts    

Black Diamond Harley    McDonalds    Marion High School    Speakeasy Liquors    Advance Auto Parts    

Mickey B's Collectibles    Tower Hobbies    17th Street BBQ    Tailwinds RC Hobby

Add a comment

Posted by Fred Dippel on October 30, 2016 10:54:00 AM CDT #