As the sensation of remote control (RC) planes catches on across the United States, taking flight has become more accessible to people everywhere.
Many students in OHS are also taking part in this movement, as it is becoming more readily available because of lower costs and Control Freaks, a retailer of remote controlled goods in Long Lake.
Flying can produce a mix of emotions as senior Austin Hilgenberg said, “I feel excited, nervous, and like a child when I fly.” As the hobby catches on, even students in the Orono Intermediate School are getting involved. Control Freaks has classes run through Orono Community Education that help get younger kids into flying. They also started a RC club at the high school, to open the door to older kids to get into the hobby.
According to the R/C Airplane World website, RC planes have been around since the 19th century in the form of hydrogen filled blimps, that were electronically guided. From there people started putting engines into them, and now there are jet, electric and gas engines.
OHS senior Schuyler Luetmer said, “I have been flying since my uncle gave me my first plane in second grade.” the RC community is a tight knit community that seems to proliferate every year. Luetmer also said that, “Crashing is common at first, but as you get better planes and more skill, it becomes much rarer.”
Expense is a big part of flying RC planes and can be a hard obstacle to overcome. One of the problems that people have is that they crash the planes. Crashing can be expensive, depending on how hard you hit and what you break. “We have a you break it we fix it deal with all products bought from our store, because crashing is fairly common at first,” said Thor Olson, the RC guru at Control Freaks.
Luetmer said, “I buy most of my parts online because they are usually cheaper.”
Much like real planes, RC flying is also greatly affected by weather. Luetmer said, “I have two planes and the glider, which is a light plane, is really hard to fly in winds, where my biplane with a bigger engine, has no problem flying in the wind, as long as it is under 10 miles an hour.”
Another problem that can face RC plane enthusiasts is finding a place to fly. Luetmer flys in a field across from his cabin, but many people who don’t have access to a nice open space look indoors. The Big10 dome has scheduled flight times inside, where wind isn’t a factor. “We fly at the 10Dome every friday at 9:00 p.m., and we can do that year round, and regardless of wind.” said Olson.
RC planes have many uses, besides bringing joy to people and being a fun hobby. Luetmer and Hilgenberg both said that they have strapped cameras on their planes and taken aerial photos and film. Although as Hilgenberg said, “It’s hard to fly with a camera because of the weight.”
Another aspect of flying RC planes is doing stunts, Luetmer’s favorite stunt is “flying upside down for extended periods of time,” while Hilgenberg’s are, “low flying backflips and barrel rolls,” because, “they’re both fun.”
Woody Hust is the sports editor for The Spartan Speaks.
