Control Line Enthusiast Hosts Worldwide Fly-A-Thon Site in Waitsburg

WAITSBURG – This weekend, for the third year running, area hobbyists will meet at the Waitsburg Fairgrounds to fly copies of the Sterling Ringmaster line-controlled model airplane. The model pilots will have their flight numbers added to those of hobbyists around the world as part of the Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon 2016.

The Fly-A-Thon will take place in the parking area on the west side of the fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. until about 3 or 4 p.m. each day. Local model enthusiast Joe Just has promoted the event in Waitsburg for several years, and encourages the public to come and check out the models and watch the flights.

Just says he expects a diverse group of about a half-dozen pilots from Walla Walla, Pasco, Prosser, Pullman, and Connell to attend the event. He is proud to note that last year, a large club in Seattle had 13 or 14 pilots who flew a total of 30 flights. Waitsburg had five or six pilots but flew a whopping 49 flights, to easily outnumber the larger club.

The Fly-A-Thon was created nine years ago to honor the most popular control line plane ever built – the Sterling Ringmaster. The goal is to beat last year's record in which 684 pilots around the world flew 3,487 flights.

Control line planes are not radio operated, but are controlled by 60-foot steel cables attached to a handle held by the operator, and controlling the elevator. The models are capable of performing interesting maneuvers, but during this gathering, the emphasis is on numerous flights and the planes will be flown conservatively, Just said.

"What we're doing here is to honor a particular airplane designed in 1950 and it is probably the best selling control line airplane, ever. It's just a fun thing to honor the guy who designed the craft itself and the fun it has brought to a lot of people," Just said.

In competitions, handlers can participate in contests such as racing, combat, aerobatics, and old-time stunts. Just prefers the Navy carrier contest, where a plane takes off and lands from a simulated aircraft carrier deck. The aim of the flight is to complete a number of fast laps, flown as quickly as possible, followed by a number of slow laps, flown as slowly as possible.

Just said he has always had a love of flying. His father was a World War II pilot, and he grew up in an aviation-oriented home. He said his first childhood memory is sitting on his dad's lap as he piloted a Ford Trimotor.

Just began building model planes in 1948 and hasn't stopped since. He designs and builds his own kits, builds from prepackaged kits, and even made kits for others for awhile. "I never got very good at it, but it's a disease I caught early and can't get rid of," he said.

Just said that control line flying started before WWII, but the hobby became huge after the war.

"In the area I grew up in western New York State, every small town had their own control line club. It got really big. Then radio control came on and that seemingly had a greater public acceptance than control line," he said.

Just, a former radio personality, puts his expertise to work writing the Northwest Column for Control Line World magazine. He reports on local contests, shares what he's been doing in his own shop, and interviews northwest personalities.

Just said the people are one of the main reasons he has stuck with the hobby so long.

"We're a close-knit group because our particular section of the hobby is not as popular and well-known as radio controlled. The people involved in it are a great bunch of people," he said.

Through control line flying, he has made friends with hobbyists in Japan, Italy, Australia, and even went flying with pilots in Ireland when he made a trip there. He and his wife attend an annual contest in Pennsylvania that he describes as "the world's largest hobby family reunion."

"Another thing I like about the hobby is the challenge of taking bits and pieces and making them into something that flies in the air under your control. With radio control you control it but you don't feel it like with control line. There is a kinetic attachment there," he said.

"It's a hobby you can escape into. It's a great relaxer," he said. "It's also a great hobby for kids. It teaches manual skills, math skills, social skills, and athletic skills. It's a great family hobby," he added.

Just is a self-described promoter and says he is happy for the opportunity to bring people to Waitsburg for the weekend. "Even if it's only five people, that's an additional X amount of dollars that wouldn't have been here, otherwise," he said.

Just says he would love community members to stop by the fairgrounds next weekend and check out the flights. For more information on control line flying or the Fly-A-Thon contact Joe Just at 337-6489.