{"id":600009642,"date":"2023-09-05T09:42:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T14:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/east\/2023\/09\/05\/flying-high-2"},"modified":"2023-09-08T09:20:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T14:20:55","slug":"flying-high-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/east\/2023\/09\/05\/flying-high-2","title":{"rendered":"Flying high"},"content":{"rendered":"

On any given Saturday during the warmer months, a small group of dedicated hobbyists can be found on the southern edge of Kilcona Park, practising their hobby.<\/p>\n

While the Perfect Circle Flying Club may be flying under most people\u2019s radar, the group, which build and fly control line model airplanes, is keen to invite new members into the fold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great place to be on a Saturday,\u201d Kevin King, a longtime member of the Perfect Circle Flying Club who has been building model airplanes for over 40 years, said of the Kilcona Control Line Model Airplane Park at 1229 Springfield Rd. \u201cOr anytime. It\u2019s nice here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Photo\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Photo by Sheldon Birnie<\/p>\n

Perfect Circle Flying Club president Larry Maltman (left) and longtime member Kevin King are control line model plain enthusiasts who meet regularly at the club’s field at Kilcona Park to fly planes. The club has made a number of improvements to its parcel of land at Kilcona Park, which is located just off Springfield Road.<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

King, along with his wife and other members of the Perfect Circle Flying Club, are to thank for the condition of their parcel of Kilcona Park. Since taking stewardship of the plot in 1997, by way of the city\u2019s Adopt-a-Park program, the club has created quite the amenity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re part of developing parks and recreation for the community here. This is our footprint, this is what we\u2019ve done. We did it with our money and our sweat equity,\u201d Larry Maltman, club president, said. \u201cThis place was a a jungle. It was horrible, with huge truck ruts across here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club, with some help from local Air and Army Cadets, cleared the brush, levelled and reseeded the field, planted trees along the perimeter (with some support from Manitoba Hydro), poured cement for the two flying circles, added bollards, a small bridge across the ditch, and a decorative flagpole and flower garden next to the club\u2019s sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of work,\u201d King admitted. \u201cBut it\u2019s worth it. You work all winter building an airplane, then in the summer you fly it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Perfect Circle Flying Club, which is a member of the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada, has a lineage that can be traced back to the Model Aircraft League of Manitoba in the 1940s. The club itself came together in the 1980s, and for a time shared space with the Winnipeg Radio Control Club south of the city just off Highway 59. But when the province twinned the highway in the late 1990s, the group moved to its current home.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work all winter building an airplane, then in the summer you fly it\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe have a membership, about 20 guys, 22 guys. It fluctuates. Some of our membership is older, and we\u2019ve lost maybe one every two years right now, passing away or because they physically can\u2019t do it anymore,\u201d Maltman said. \u201cThis is a physical hobby. You have to be somewhat conditioned to do this. You don\u2019t have to be a high level athlete, but when you fly these airplanes under certain conditions, like competition, you have to be on your toes and know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike radio controlled aircrafts, control line planes are controlled by two 70-foot lines \u2014 one to go up, one down \u2014 which are manipulated by the pilot, who stands in the centre of the flight circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also fly radio control, and I have my full pilots licence,\u201d Maltman said. \u201cI can tell you, this is more like flying a real airplane than radio control. Radio control operates on all the axes, and you have to know that, which makes the physics the same. But when it comes to the feel, this is more like the real thing. When you\u2019ve got the stick in your hand and you\u2019re doing a loop in a full-size airplane, you feel it in your body. This is not much different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depending on the model of aircraft and the type of motor, a number of different activities can be undertaken.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we try to have happen here on our regular flying days (Saturday) is represent all facets of the hobby,\u201d Maltman said. \u201cWe can fly scale aircrafts and have them doing all the things a full-size aircraft can do. We can do speed events, which focuses on engine technology. There\u2019s racing, where we have two or three guys racing in a circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Photo\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Photo by Sheldon Birnie<\/p>\n

Perfect Circle Flying Club president Larry Maltman (left) and longtime member Kevin King are control line model plain enthusiasts who meet regularly at the club’s field at Kilcona Park to fly planes. The club has made a number of improvements to its parcel of land at Kilcona Park, which is located just off Springfield Road.<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

\u201cThe plane I\u2019m building now will do 120 miles per hour,\u201d King noted, adding that combat flying in particular is an exciting discipline, both for pilots and spectators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we tie a streamer to each airplane, a measured length, behind the tail,\u201d Maltman explained. \u201cOne starts at each side of the circle, then one chases the other, doing whatever to stay alive. The idea is to get as many cuts as possible from the propeller onto that streamer. That\u2019s a cardio event, I kid you not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stunt flying, or aerobatics, is also popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where you do 17 manoeuvres in a specific order in a specific period of time within your flight box,\u201d Maltman said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hand-eye co-ordination and expertise in how you carve that manoeuvre out of the sky, and you\u2019re not just doing one, you\u2019re doing three in a row, all on the same track as though you\u2019re flying level. It becomes precision aerobatics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Maltman and King are keen to get more folks out to experience control line flying.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Photo\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Photo by Sheldon Birnie \r\n\r\nKevin King is a longtime member of the Perfect Circle Flying Club. King, who has been building model planes for over 40 years, can spend upwards of 500 hours building the planes he flies at the club\u2019s field at Kilcona Park. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe need more members,\u201d King said. \u201cIt\u2019d be nice to have more people out here. Anyone who stops by, I go out of my way to give them the opportunity to fly. To feel it. Our hobby is getting smaller, but I want to keep the flame alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.maac.ca\/en\/clubs_details.php?club_id=377<\/a><\/p>

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