Aerobatic Club hosts weekend of flying fun (23 photos)

Seventeen competitors took part in the 11th annual Northern Ontario International Miniature Aerobatic Club Challenge (NOIC) on Saturday, August 1, 2015 in Sault Ste. Marie.

2015 was the first year the event was hosted by the Sault Ste. Marie Model Airplane Radio Controlled Club  (Soo Modellers) who won a bidding to hold it after Sudbury had ”ownership problems with their field,” said Model Aeronautics Association of Canada Northern Ontario zone director Kevin McGrath.

Competitors drove in from as far as southern Ontario and lower parts of Michigan to compete in five rounds (and possibly more if time permitted) at skill levels ranging from basic to unlimited.

Each round competitor demonstrated a variety of tricks, spins, dives, and other maneuvers while being scored on these ‘sequences’ by judges.

Soo Modeller’s President Craig Knight likened the competition, for the layperson, to figure skating as “the challenge is perfecting the elements in your own routine” as opposed to battling another opponent.

More than 20 aircraft took part in the event.

They were 25 to 45 percent scale models of piloted competition aerobatic aircraft, the kind typically seen at airshows, and are some of the biggest model airplanes there are.

Knight says the model airplanes range in cost from a few thousand to upwards of $10,000 dollars and can take anywhere from 40 hours to 6-8 months to build.

Although awards and rankings will be assigned, Knight says model airplane events are “less formal” than other competitions.

“We’re a hobby, we’re supposedly having fun. We’re not [competitive] like a hockey tournament,” said Knight.

The event was held at the Soo Modellers’ airfield located at Leigh’s Bay Road and Baseline, an airfield that McGrath says is probably one of the top 10 out of about 400 model airplane fields nationwide.

McGrath said the field is approximately 150x100 meters and was originally a private airfield for the Algoma Steel plant.

The concrete floor of the old hanger is still present and covered in weeds just beside the parking area.

McGrath says that, with their approximate $1 million annual budge gained mostly from registration fees, MAAC insures its pilots.

“Each [pilot] here is insured for $7.5 million for public liability [in case they] hit somebody, “ said McGrath.

Because pilots are just so careful and take it “very seriously,” it is incredibly unlikely a collision will happen, he added.

“Its an  anomaly if they crash. If you have a $10,000 airplane out there, you typically don’t crash,” added Knight.

Amanda Jeffreys, 14, who is the only female pilot with Soo Modellers (although she isn't the only female member and says other clubs have more female pilots), talked about what sort of person might want to get into the hobby, which is more socially focused than competition focused.

“Getting into this sport you have to be an overall really cool person. You have to know what you are doing, be friendly to everyone else, and just have fun basically, ” said Jeffreys.

The clubs oldest member at 82, Clarence Boyre, has been involved in model airplanes since the 70s and said that if someone wanted to get into the hobby it might cost them around $650 to start up.

“You just need a lot of practice to be good, but you don’t have to be good to enjoy it,” said Boyre.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, the first place contenders by class were Steve Ruxton in basic, Bill Teeter in intermediate, and Bryan Mailloux in unlimited.

The event will continue on Sunday.

The first place winners by class were: Bryan Mailloux in Unlimited, Bill Teeter in Intermediate, Steve Ruxton in Basic, Paul McMillan in Sportsman, and Bill Teeter won again in Senior.

(PHOTO: Domenic Teti prepares his Sukhoi Su-26 at the Northern Ontario International Miniature Aerobatic Club Challenge (NOIC) on Saturday August 1, 2015 in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Jeff Klassen for SooToday.)