Local club holds event for National Model Aviation Day

Model aircraft pilots are often history enthusiasts or engineers, said Corsair Model Aircraft Club President John Ashley.

The CMAC celebrated National Model Aviation Day on Aug. 16 at the Jetway airfield in Ravenna. The event featured model aircraft from members of CMAC and the university build teams they sponsor. According to Ashley, some were creatively shaped like cartoon characters, such as the “Peanuts” character Snoopy, while others were historically accurate models. 

“There’s something for everyone in this hobby,” Ashley said.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) sponsors National Model Aviation Day. Clarissa Poston, chief communications officer at the AMA, explained that members of model aviation clubs often find community in their shared interest. 

“Model aviation serves as so much more than a hobby for a majority of our members. Some continue their family’s generations-long modeling legacy. Some find a second family in their fellow hobbyists. Some are inspired to pursue careers as astronauts and engineers,” Poston said. “The hobby of model aviation teaches various life lessons, while also educating hobbyists about building practices, engineering and electrics, flight principles, and so much more. There truly is no other hobby like ours.” 

Although National Model Aviation Day is 12 years old, the history of model aviation goes back much further.

“Model aviation has been around for hundreds of years. Very simple pull-string helicopters were available in the 14th century, and bow-powered helicopters and gliders were experimented with in the 1700s,” Poston said. “Even more interestingly, a small, bird-shaped artifact that dates back to 300 B.C. features a wing with an airfoil cross-section and vertical fin—all things directly related to modern-day model aviation.” 

Although not as old, the CMAC’s history traces back to the early 1960s; Ashley believes it could be one of the oldest model airplane clubs in the U.S.

In its more than 50 years as a club, the CMAC has sponsored several competitive build teams, including the University of Akron’s Zips Drone Design Team.

“[Ashley] initially gave us a drone. We modified it a little bit, but we actually used that as our main prototype for our current drone that we used in competition this past year,” said Anthony Skitzki, the founder of the Zips team. “That was a huge, huge help.” 

Also sponsored by the CMAC is Kent State University’s Design, Build, Fly Team. Michael Kuziak, the president of Kent’s team, found the CMAC to be a helpful resource.

“They as a group may have many, many years of experience in the space, in aircraft design, manufacturing, and building. If we had any questions on how anything works, they were more than willing to help,” Kuziak said.

Kent State’s team also performed several test flights at CMAC’s airfield as they were building their model and were able to receive feedback.

“I just want to say they’ve been amazing to us, and they give us all these resources and allow us to use their space, and they do this without really asking anything of us in return. They’ve been so good to us,” said Kusiak.

Both teams and their aircraft were present at the event on Aug. 16, along with model planes Ashley had worked on with local elementary schoolers.

“We offer all kinds of benefits for people who want to learn about model airplanes, who want to learn how to fly model airplanes,” Ashley said. “It’s just a resource for individual members who need help getting started.”

CMAC provides a free training program for those interested in model aviation. This program runs on Tuesday nights from 5 p.m. until sunset at Jetway in Ravenna. Regular CMAC meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month, May-September, also at Jetway.