Last weekend, dozens of spectators and model airplane pilots flocked to the North Georgia Model Aviators airfield in Dawson County to attend the club’s annual Extreme Fun Fest Airshow.
Model airplanes await takeoff at the North Georgia Model Aviators “Extreme Flight” airshow on Saturday, September 17th. (Photo by Will Jones)
The event ran from Friday 16th September to Sunday 18th September and featured some of the best model airplane pilots from around the world flying model airplanes of all shapes, sizes and skill levels.
According to North Georgia Model Aviators (NGMA) President TJ Klise, the turnout from pilots and spectators at this year’s event was “fantastic”.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” said Kise. “We have 38 or 39 registered pilots today, we have the Extreme Flight Demo team here so they will be doing demos once we start serving lunch and team demos which will be great.”
The event was sponsored by Extreme Flight RC and Horizon Hobby, both of whom contributed prizes to the sweepstakes that took place on Saturday. Extreme Flight RC President Chris Hinson says he and his team are excited to be working with the NGMA group again at the event this year.
“They do a couple of special events out here every year to attract the public and just get more exposure for the hobby and the club so we’ve been fortunate to be a part of that and have been a sponsor for the last few years,” Hinson said. “We’re bringing in a few of our teammates from across Georgia, sometimes from out of state, and showing off our planes and what they’re going to do for the community.”
A model airplane flies high in the sky during the North Georgia Model Aviators “Extreme Flight” air show on Saturday, September 17th.
– Photo by Erica Jones
Hinson, who started flying remote-controlled airplanes at the age of five, says he’s always had an interest in the hobby.
“My dad was a naval aviator, so I’ve been around airplanes since I was born and just always had a passion for it,” Hinson said.
This is Extreme Flight RC’s 20th anniversary, and the goal of the hobby shop is to share that love and passion for RC airplanes with other people, he said.
“This is our 20th year in business, so we’re celebrating, having some special events and building some special planes for it,” Hinson said. “We make different sizes and different styles of RC airplanes and we have a lot of them out here today.”
For those interested in learning more about RC airplanes and getting into the hobby, Hinson said reaching out to North Georgia Model Aviators is a good place to start.
Pilots fly model airplanes during North Georgia Model Aviators’ Extreme Flight airshow on Saturday, September 17th. (Photo by Will Jones)
“The best thing you can do is reach out to the club here,” Hinson said. “We have a really good system for teaching people to fly, and they can fly with what’s called a buddy box, so there’s a cable that runs between two transmitters, as long as the instructor holds one button down, the other can fly and.” if he gets into trouble, he simply lets go of the button so he can take over; That saves a lot of money and time.”
For more information on the North Georgia Model Aviators, visit https://www.ngmarc.org/. For more information on Extreme Flight RC, visit https://extremeflightrc.com/.
