Remote controlled planes fill the sky in Warbirds contest
Four miles down a rural ribbon of blacktop east of Colorado Springs, F-15s soared.
One, after about 10 minutes airborne, came in for a landing. At the end of the runway, it tipped, scraping its wing.
No damage though.
And the pilot wasn’t injured either.
He stood next to the runway with a remote control.
F-15s weren’t the only remote controlled war planes aloft Saturday.
In all, there were about 60 from Colorado and Wyoming at the fly-in, competing in 2014 Warbirds over Pikes Peak held by the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club. The fly-in continues Sunday.
There were legendary fighters such as the Spitfire, Zero, Mustang, Mig, Focke-wulf, even a Sopwith Pup.
Their names, too, fanciful appellations of a time gone by, but remembered here, like Big Beau, Gray Ghost, Marine’s Dream under a drawing of a leggy model and Leper IV.
“We have people from all over Colorado and a couple of guys from Wyoming. It’s a fun type of thing,” said Rod Hart, president of the club. “We give awards for things like best World War II airplane, best jet, best World War I airplane.
“This is all military.”
Hart, who retired from the Air Force after 22 years, started flying remote controlled planes as a youngster with his father.
“For those of us who wanted to be fighter pilots but couldn’t, you know, it kind of fills that void,” he said.
The F-15, said Kevin Kinzel, “is not a fun airplane to fly.”
They cost new $10,000 to $15,000, but he got his used. It had crashed and he rebuilt it.
His fighter weighs 34 pounds and is powered by a turbine engine with a top speed of 150 mph, Kinzel said.
These guys don’t just build and fly their aircraft. They become experts.
The F-15, Kinzel said, has never been shot down in combat.
“It’s an outstanding aircraft,” he said.
The hardest part of flying the smaller version is the landing, “just like the full-sized one,” he said.
Navy pilot Mark “Gus” Grissom for 21 years flew the supersonic F-14 Tomcat, racking up 1,000 carrier landings.
Now retired, he pilots the trimmed down versions.
“Both feet and my checkbook, I’m into it,” he said.
While his remote controlled jets can’t compare to the real thing, like the Tomcat, a Mach 2 fighter, there are some similarities.
“The smell of these is just like the smell of the others,” Grissom said. “I feel like I’m back on a ship sometimes. You get that smell.”
Flying the Tomcat, however, didn’t translate into easy learning when it came to the remote controlled jets.
“My 12-year-old son learned quicker than I did,” Grissom said. “I flew the Tomcat, but he learned quicker than I did because of the computer simulations.”
Grissom has three jets, two aerobatic aircraft and a helicopter.
Jose Cos took up the hobby at his wife’s suggestion more than 20 years ago.
It’s become an obsession.
Today he has about 20 airplanes, including a B-25 from World War II, a Stealth fighter, and an F-4 Phantom, but his favorite to fly is the B-25.
“Oh yeah, man,” he said. “They fly so good. Like they’re are floating.”
One of the measures of success of these airplanes is historical accuracy
To his copy of a J-5 Cub, a medical transport during World War II, Ben Woofter added a wounded soldier.
“I have his head done up in a bandage and everything,” he said.
The plane though, had been shelved for the day. He crashed it.
“I dorked it on landing,” he said. “I pulled off the wing bolts.”
Favorites change every year, said contest director Rick Paquin.
“One year it will be the P-47, then the Corsair and then the third year it will be the Mustang,” he said.
Colorado Springs, he added, is a good market for the club, which has 110 members.
It’s a city loaded with veterans and active military, home of Fort Carson, Peterson Field, NORAD and the Air Force Academy.
“We have a lot of guys in the club who are pilots,” Paquin said. “And a lot of guys, their Dads flew in World War II.”
Lary Osborn, left, adjusts the engine on his P-40 as Sam Pisciotta holds the plane to keep it from flying away during the annual Warbirds Over Pikes Peak competition Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club flying field near Falcon. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette
Brian Woolliams carries his MiG-15 remote controlled plane off the runway after a failed takeoff during the annual Warbirds Over Pikes Peak competition Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club flying field near Falcon. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette
Dan Brunson, left, and Kevin Kinzel taxi their radio controlled F-15’s down the runway before taking off at the annual Warbirds Over Pikes Peak competition Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club flying field near Falcon. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette
A remote controlled F4U Corsair comes in for a landing during the annual Warbirds Over Pikes Peak competition Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club flying field near Falcon. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette