Kootenai RC Flyers take to the skies
An RC plane flies over the Kootenai RC Flyers' airstrip on Haul Road. Hobbyists from Lincoln and Flathead counties came to enjoy the Flyers' Fun Fly event on July 10. (Will Langhorne/The Western News)
Ken Huber's PAU Edge 540 RC plane comes in for a landing during the Kootenai RC Flyers' Fun Fly event on July 10. (Will Langhorne/The Western News)
A model jet touches down at the Kootenai Flyers' Haul Road airstrip on July 10. Hobbyists from Lincoln and Flathead counties came to enjoy a day of fun flying. (Will Langhorne/The Western News)
An F-16 replica takes off from the Kootenai Flyers' airstrip on July 10. Hobbyists from Lincoln and Flathead counties enjoyed a day of fun flying along Haul Road.
The prop plane squirmed on the tarmac as Ken Huber ran it through a final checklist.
Ailerons, good. Elevators, check. Rudder, check.
Donning a garden glove, Huber gave the RC plane’s propeller a spin. After a few failed starts, the 120cc engine sputtered then roared to life. Huber taxied the plane onto the runway and after a fierce acceleration, the yellow and white PAU Edge 500 took to the sky like an angry lawnmower with wings.
Huber joined other members of the Glacier RCers Club for the Kootenai RC Flyers’ annual Fun Fly event on July 10. Scaled fighter jets, capable of hitting 100 mph, corkscrewed and looped above the Flyers’ RC airstrip on Haul Road throughout the day. By noon, spectators had set up a grill alongside the tarmac and gawked at the model helicopters that seemed to flaunt the laws of aerodynamics with their pirouettes and flips.
Ron Anderson, president of the Kootenai RC Flyers, said he invited hobbyists to fly virtually anything they wanted whenever they wanted at the event. The craft that graced the Flyers' runway that day ran the gamut from budget foam models costing under $200 to Huber’s $1,000-plus gas-powered prop plane.
Anderson said Kootenai RC Flyers had the Haul Road airstrip paved roughly 10 years ago. The local club has an annual agreement to use the runway with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who own the land.
Many of the hobbyists at the Fun Fly said RC flying was a life-long obsession. Huber, who has been flying for nearly 50 years and served as a helicopter mechanic in the U.S. Army, said he got into model planes as soon as he was “old enough to glue two sticks together.” Robert Bryant, member of the Glacier RCers Club, picked up the flying bug at 11 years old after watching other hobbyists fly models.
“All of the sudden it gets in your blood and you’re hooked,” said Bryant.