AMA Chartered Club #845 Midnight Sun RC
Summers are short in Alaska, but the 24 hours of daylight during those summer months not only give this AMA club its name, but ample opportunity to get out and fly. On a recent April afternoon, several members of the Midnight Sun RC Club in Fairbanks Alaska braved cold temperatures and a howling wind and took some steps to prepare for the upcoming season of light and flight. Only 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle, Midnight Sun RC Club is the northern most AMA club. During the winter months, September through mid May, the members use the long hours of darkness to work on repairs, modifications and building new aircraft, longing for the day when the snow has melted and the day begins to lengthen and they can fly again.
Even though the summer flying season is relatively short, this modest club of 28 members has a number of events scheduled including an annual two day IMAC event and several shows, demonstrations and community showcases.
Mike Davis, the President of Midnight Sun, explained that even though they have a small number of members, just 28, they are very active in the community. “Last weekend we did a static display of model aircraft at the local shopping mall. We also had computer simulators there for people to try out”. “Several people stopped by to talk to us and give flying the simulator a try”, Davis explained.
“The event was a great success.” They were successful in spreading the “Bug”. Just two days after the mall show Bob Stewart, one of the people who stopped by the mall event, showed up with his temporary AMA membership in hand to a demonstration held by the club for this article. “I am really excited”, Stewart shared only two hours after becoming a member, “I can’t wait to get started.”
The mall event is only one of the many events that the Midnight Sun has scheduled for 2010. Tom Risdale, Midnight Sun’s Vice President, explained that the club has been asked to perform demonstrations and will provide buddy box flights for nearly 200 scouts at the Alaskan Boy Scout statewide camp this summer at Ft. Greely, approximately 100 miles south of Fairbanks. During that event they hope to help some of the scouts complete their requirements to gain the Aviation Merit Badge. In 2009, members of the club helped 15 local Girl Scouts earn their Aerospace badge. After learning the basics of flight, the day culminated with each of the girls flying model aircraft on a buddy box for fifteen minutes.
Another one of those events is May Day Fly In (a competition for full scale bush pilots) held in Valdez, Alaska. Davis, a model aviator for nearly 35 years and a full scale pilot for 8 years, usually attends the as a full scale pilot. This year the organizers asked if the Midnight Sun RC Club could have a booth and do 15 minute demonstration flights both days of the show. So he and 6 other members of the club packed up their models and drove the 8 hours to Valdez to participate. They made a huge impact on the event. “There was a lot of interest in the models and the demonstrations.” Davis explained they were able to get “8 models in the air in 15 minutes, with at least two in the air the entire demonstration.” The club had twelve models on display including a 38.5% Extra 330. There was a constant stream of people at the booth. After the event, one of the May Day Fly In organizing committee members stated “normally at the end of the fly-in everyone talks about the STOL (Short Take Off & Landing) competition and the aerobatic flight but this year all we heard about was the RC (demonstrations). He went onto say, that people told him they showed up on Sunday just to watch the RC demonstrations. They organizing committee is already looking to have Midnight Sun come back to next years event.
The club’s 20th Annual Water & Wheels event held over the 4th of July weekend will draw RC Modelers from all over Alaska. The event which draws a large interest from the local community showcases model aircraft both that take off from both land and water. “The parking lot is full both days of the competition”, Davis explained. “We have been lucky to attract some pilots from other parts of Alaska the past few years. We hope to have at least 30 pilots at this year’s event.” Organizers have been impressed and appreciative by the number of prizes from manufactures and suppliers have provided for such a remote and small contest.
One of the club’s most interesting events is the Midnight Sun Fun Fly. Held on the Summer Solstice, members come out with their families and enjoy the evening and then see how many aircraft they can have in the air at midnight. The midnight sun provides plenty of light for this event. They have been able to get 12 aircraft in the air at midnight for the last three years.
Midnight Sun’s flying site is a remote area leased from the State of Alaska thru the Department of Natural Resources. The site, which they have leased for 27 years, is also unique due to its geographic relationship to two very active military bases. While visiting the site in April we were greeted with the echo of .50 caliber machine guns being fired at nearby Ft. Wainwright and with a nearly constant stream of military aircraft landing at neighboring Eielson Air Force Base for a “Red Flag” exercise that began later in the week. It provides a very interesting place to fly. It sets just over a mile off Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and North Pole, Alaska. The flying site has a 660’ grass main runway and the 440’ crosswind runway are flanked on two sides by waterways of the Tanana River that provides them with an area for model float planes and the occasional RC boat.
For such a small and remote club, the members of the Midnight Sun RC Club are having a large impact in their local community. They are great ambassadors for AMA and model aviation not only locally, but all over Alaska.
Ty Wooten
ty_wooten@sbcglobal.net