Jun 13, 2002 By Steve Ostrosky 3 min read

CARMICHAELS – Five years since his first Fly-In, John Brodak has seen enthusiasm for the control line airplane events take off from both aviation enthusiasts and interested spectators. That spirit has led to the sixth and biggest Fly-In yet, which will be held today through Sunday at Brodak’s home in Carmichaels. He said 130 contestants are slated to participate this year with 680 flights scheduled over the course of the four days.

“We’ve got a lot of activity this year from beginning to end,” he said.

Today features the old time stunt and profile precision aerobatics flights, while Friday looks to be the busiest of the four.

Friday will have classic stunt flights, Foxberg racing, clown racing, speed limit combat, carrier, profile carrier, sportsman carrier and Carrier I & II combined. Also on Friday, a ladies only basic flight competition will be held and appearance judging will take place.

For the first time ever, the Flying Knights will present Junkyard Wars on Friday, when teams of up to three people will be provided with a wooden produce crate. The participants will have to provide an engine, tank and control apparatus to try and turn all of the pieces into a control line aircraft. Entries for that competition will be judged based on beauty, originality, and the craft’s popularity with the audience.

Saturday will feature precision aerobatics flights for four classes, Fun Scale 2000 flights and scale judging. More precision aerobatics flights, along with sport scale and profile scale flights are on tap for Sunday.

Throughout the weekend, people will be on hand to give control line airplane enthusiasts tips on building, fiberglass finishing and painting.

The event was Brodak’s idea after his company began manufacturing small airplanes about eight years ago and began attending airshows and airplane competitions. That first Fly-In he hosted featured 30 contestants and 100 flights and lasted only two days.

He said that people from throughout the country were still interested in control line aircraft, but had no idea the excitement was so strong until he began attending contests and learning more about the competitions.

Not many local people had known much about control line flying until the Fly-In was held in Carmichaels, and he said that people of all ages have gotten excited about it after they have seen what the aircraft and the contests entail. Even if people are still afraid to give it a try, he said the event attracts a larger number of spectators every year.

If the event grows any more, Brodak said he will be forced to increase the number of days of the event – not that he is complaining.

“Last year, we estimated that it brought in an extra $50,000 worth of business to Greene County,” he said. “If it keeps growing, the number of days will have to be expanded because I am out of property.”

For more information about the Fly-In, call 724-966-2726.