JRIndoor Electric Festival
A premier electric event, this one just keeps getting better and better!
By Jim Wiggin PHOTOGRAPHY: JIM WIGGIN W
hile living in Rockford, Illinois, back in 2003, I was leafing through a Horizon Hobby newsletter and came across a
small insert regarding an indoor electric fly- in that was to be held in Columbus, Ohio. At that time, I had recently started flying smaller electric models but the Illinois wind was a constant problem with such small and light aircraft. The thought of flying my small electric
R/C models inside a golf dome intrigued me. A quick look at Mapquest told me that the journey was about eight hours away and the fact that the Museum of the United States Air Force was on the way was mere icing on the cake. What lover of aircraft would not want to go? I hastily packed up a few GWS airplanes I had at the time, a Pico Stick and a Cub and off I went. These were the memories that were going through my mind early in the morning as I made a similar eight-hour journey to Colum- bus and the JR event again, albeit from the FLYING MODELS headquarters in Newton,
30
New Jersey. For me, and many an aeromod- eler, The JR Indoor Event is more that just a meet, it’s a sort of R/C family reunion and the unofficial kick off to the indoor season. Since 2003, Terry Nitsch, his family and Horizon Hobby have been running a pre- mier, if not the largest and oldest, indoor electric event. What started as a one day event in the beginning of November has now grown into a three-day event filled with ven- dors, manufacturers, and flying, a lot of fly- ing. What makes the JR Indoor event a bit different from other indoor events is the seg- mented flying for specific aircraft. Not only is there a specified area to fly 3D, helicopter and standard flying or “race track” as it is called, but specific times are set aside for jets, helicopters, light scale, and micro just to name a few. One will literally find every- thing from the most delicate balsa built, tis- sue covered vintage model all the way to some of the most advanced and leading edge flying machines. After arriving, I checked in with Terry and completed my signature and AMA in-
formation. Upon completion of this process I was handed a pilot’s bag. Inside the bag were all the catalogs and sales information an R/C modeler could appreciate as well as some free products such as a battery from 2 Dog RC for the ever popular Ultra Micro planes. With my bag of goodies, I made my way to
an unoccupied table and set up shop. Be- sides my flight box and camera I brought along a ParkZone Corsair (see FebruaryFM for a full review), a ParkZone Micro Champ, an ElectriFly Citabria and enough batteries to keep me flying when I wasn’t performing photography. It was a good thing I had left New Jersey in the very early morning be- cause by 8:30 Friday morning, the JR was already busy. The air was full with about every kind of flying machine imaginable. With base camp set up, it was time to walk around and see what everyone was up to. Walking around the vendor side of the
show is always a fun time, seeing the new products and perhaps picking up a few new things. Luke’s RC
www.lukesrcplanes.com
MARCH 2012
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