Soaring Through the Clouds

            As soon as the engine touched the starter, the screeching began. It was a high pitched roar, deafening to all who were near, but I didn’t care; I was scrambling to get the model ready for flight. Just seconds after it started, the noise faded more and more until it was simply a distant whining—and click! I tried to glance up, but finding the sun too bright, I looked away. I shaded my eyes with my hand and lifted my face up to the sky, feeling the warm sun graze my cheeks. I could see the plane getting smaller and smaller until it was but a red speck in the sky. Seeing it gliding through the clouds lifted me into the sky; I felt as light as a feather as I too soared alongside my plane on invisible wings. Building and flying model airplanes is an exacting hobby and requires a lot of time and effort. Most people do not consider a muddy, thorny field a fun place to be, but for me, it’s my favorite place in the world. Nothing feels better than the excitement of winding up a powerful rubber motor, starting an ear-splitting gas one, or just heading off to retrieve a model out in the field.

Chinmay and Lou Young

Most model airplane fields are dry, dead, and grassy, filled with bugs and thorns that grasp on to pants and jackets. Some are moist and muddy, especially after the summer is over and the rainy season begins. And still some have such thick roots that jokes are made about the existence of gnomes under the leaves that pull up your pants and pull down your socks. The prospect of walking through any one of these fields, especially when the chases can be half a mile to two miles long, might seem just crazy to some, but I would do almost anything to get my airplanes back so that I can have the joy of flying them once again. The fields need to be big and open and they are very important because the size and weather of the site determine if you can actually fly a model and dictate your chances of getting it back. They’re a thrill to fly, but they also take hours of precise work and meticulous effort to build, so each one is priceless. Once you’ve built it, a model is a part of you and it’s hard to give it up.

Chinmay and Bill Vanderbeek

One category of model airplanes is rubber. These tend to be smaller, less powerful, and a little more forgiving than gas planes when you mess up. Still, when 30 grams of rubber are packed into a tiny plane with a lot of turns on it, it can out-accelerate a gas model. It’s truly exciting to wind up a rubber motor to its breaking point and then see the model shoot up as you release the propeller. Then, when the plane is in the air and in a thermal, it feels as if you’re flying along with it. Just watching your creation spiraling higher and higher until it is almost out of sight gives you an ineffable feeling of freedom. Rubber models are in general slower, and more relaxed. But they can’t give the same excitement as a gas model screaming up into the endless reaches of the sky.

My first experience with gas models showed me how astonishing and thrilling they can be. As soon as I started the small, powerful engine, the plane struggled to free itself from my grasp and shoot skyward. The loud noise caused so much confusion that I almost fumbled with the plane. Noting its power for the first time, I redoubled my grip and then remembered what I had to do. I hastened to get it ready, but my first attempt was unorganized and awkward. Finally, I had everything set and I released it. The model ripped itself from my hands and raced away from me, spiraling into the endless reaches of the sky. When my heartbeat finally slowed down, I glanced up to find my model gently floating among the clouds.  Starting the motor for the first time was a little tricky, but now, it is much easier since I’ve gotten used to it. The routine gets etched into your mind every time you do it until finally you can do it with your eyes closed. Competing with the gas model is very exciting because it is so fast paced and exact.

Chinmay and Bill Vanderbeek

Out on the field, the terrain is terrible and there are long chases but the satisfaction of seeing something you made soaring hundreds of feet in the air makes the effort to build it worthwhile. Anyone can fly a pre-made airplane, and it may seem more fun than to build you own, but I think that nothing can match the satisfaction of having your own model fly. Be it model building, sports, music, or any other hobby, I believe that working towards a goal, and finally reaching it is the best thing in the world. I can work towards my goals and dreams in a place where I can fly my models. That is why a model airplane field is my favorite place to be.

Chinmay Jaju
November 5, 2006
Thanks to Fred Terzian