Radio-controlled airplanes are a great feature of the Wings of Freedom Air Show. They are a lot of fun to watch as they zip around the field, executing manuevers that people-carrying airplanes can only dream of doing.
These planes fit into a category between toys and passenger carrying planes. The crowds at the air show were fascinated by the display of many different kinds of planes, both prop driven and jet powered.
A young fan peers into the cockpit of a P-47 at the realistic pilot within. These planes can be very detailed and life-like.They look so real that an image I took at last year's show appears in Google images under the heading- "F-15 pilot".
This aircraft is in for refueling and a battery charge before another flight. The RC planes shared the taxiway with the big aircraft landing at the Red Wing airport. Guess who got out of who's way!
These planes are really very large and more than once I had to really look to see whether it was a large plane farther away or an RC plane doing its stuff.
Some of the planes fly with real jet engines that sound like the real thing and really blast out the flames.
The RC crew prepare this jet powered flyer for a take-off on the taxiway. The taxiway would be like a huge, wide, runway for a normal plane. What could go wrong?
Well, losing a wheel during take-off for one thing. It caused the plane to veer off the runway toward the only object within a hundred feet.
Yup, you guessed it, the plane struck the pole and tore a wing right off.
Ouch. I was informed that this was just part of the sport that you had to accept and that a wing repair like this could be done in a day.
An RC pilot holds his plane in a steady hover just above the ground. Do not try this with your Cessna!
Here is a link to the local Minnesota Giant Scale RC organization which has a very active schedule of events and activities.
