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Look, Up In The Sky!
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane??

    The sound is quite distinctive. From high pitched whining to an intense trebled growl, the sky above Drobysh-Patterson Field in Merrimack, NH comes to life almost daily with all manner of radio controlled model aircraft zooming to and fro, looping and barrel-rolling to the sheer joy of their master controllers on the ground. On any given weekend members of the Southern New Hampshire Flying Eagles Radio Control Club take their aircraft through their paces to the sheer amazement of passers-by and gathered onlookers. The club holds flying competitions on the first Sunday of each month where members compete by guiding their aircraft through specific routes and maneuvers.

    Most recently on Sunday March 6th the competition involved take off and completion of a minimum of twenty loops before returning to the snow covered ground in the least possible amount of time. This week’s winner was Bob Terry, who completed the task in an amazing one minute and nine seconds, beating second place flyer, David Beach by seven seconds. The planes on this day, equipped for the season with skis in place of the standard landing gear, come in all shapes, colors and and sizes, all individually controlled on specific FAA frequencies.

    As you might imagine, safety is one of the main concerns for club members. As a matter of fact, according to current club President, Jay Francis, “In order to fly at any of the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) sanctioned fields, pilots must complete hours of training and testing before being allowed to fly ‘solo.” The training is provided for free to anyone who wants to get involved with RC Flying. “We have about a hundred members in the club today,” said Francis. “There is a requirement to join the AMA, which also provides modelers liability insurance, before we accept someone into the club.” Membership dues range from as little as $15 for juniors under 19 to $45 for a regular membership. There is also a one time $25 initiation fee for new members to cover initial training and membership set-up costs.

    The club produces a monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming events and topics of interest to the RC community. They also hold several public relations oriented events throughout the year including hosting a booth at the Merrimack Winter Festival, fund raising for the Toy For Tots program, as well as special “fly-in” events both at their Merrimack facility and at other locations throughout the state.

The Boys and their Toys out at Drobysh-Patterson Field

   “We encourage anyone and everyone interested in learning more or wishing to fly RC model planes to get in touch with us. We’d love to have you join us,” said Austin. The membership is quite diverse including seasoned professionals like 53 year old Stratton Gatzimos recently retired from the Air National Guard stationed at Pease in Newington, NH. “I was a crew chief flying with the 157th Air Refueling Squadron. I’ve been flying model air planes for as long as I can remember but I haven’t always had as much time as I do now that I’ve retired. I’ve gotten myself back into the hobby and I spend as much time as I can here. It’s not that expensive of a hobby either.   A beginner can become involved for as little as a few hundred dollars. It does get addicting though. In my case, I own 5 planes in all.”

    Members of the Flying Eagles also fly helicopters as well as light weight aircraft meant for indoor competitions. “Flying can also be a family affair. For instance, Bruce Gruenbaum originally from Capetown South Africa was today sharing his aircraft for the event with his teenage son, Michael, who was in charge of this month’s competition. “The only problem I have with sharing my planes with Michael is that he beats me regularly in the competitions,” said Gruenbaum.

    “Anyone interested in learning more is welcome to come down to the field and see what it’s all about,” Francis continued. “We meet regularly on the first Sunday of the month. Drobysh-Patterson Field, named after two Merrimack residents, is located off Exit 11 in Merrimack, across the railroad tracks which run parallel to old route 3. Call for more information and directions. We hold monthly meetings at the St. James Methodist Church on the D.W. Highway in Merrimack at 7:30 on the first Wednesday of each month which are open to the public. We also have a web site at snhflyingeagles.org. where we post event information, club news and pictures among other things.” Contact Jay Francis at (603) 429-3221 for more information.