RC flying club opens in Wilkshire
Club President Robert Draman, left, and member, Daivd Chenzoff, show off two of their RC planes at the new airfield.
Want to earn your wings? Here’s your chance. The Oldtown Valley Flyers Club is hosting a grand opening at their new location at 10141 Wilkshire Boulevard, Bolivar. The club’s field is located on Arrowhead directly across from the new Massarelli ball fields currently under construction.
The radio-controlled aircraft club has been active in Tuscarawas County since the 1980s but moved to Bolivar early this year. The grand opening will take place Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11 from 1-5 p.m.
Club members will serve as flight instructors to teach adults and kids age 6 and older how to taxi, take off, fly and land an RC plane. Guests can use club planes to learn.
Be prepared for a show at the grand opening, as well, when members perform gravity-defying stunts and synchronized formation maneuvers.
“These things fly just like real planes,” said Jim Gowan, a long-time club member, whose father was an aeronautical engineer for NASA. “He’s the one that got me interested in this back in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s when I was a kid. I’m 73 now and I still love doing it.”
The planes are built to scale and represent just about every type of airplane out there, from turbo-props and jets to military fighters and floaters.
“Every surface that goes up and down, like the elevator or the rudder, is run by electric servos,” said Gowan, explaining the night-and-day difference between the early flyers and those made today. Some have scale pilots in the cockpits and lights for night-flying.
“Some of them even have LED lights embedded in the fuselage so you can see inside when flying at night,” said club member David Chenzoff.
A retired manufacturing engineer, Chenzoff owns and flies a number of drones and RC planes, including an electric discharge fan or EDF jet. He has flown at a number of special events including one at a full-scale airport.
Robert Draman, current club president, was born to fly. “My dad was a pilot who soloed the year I was born,” said Draman. “For me, flying was just a part of life.”
Draman soloed in a real airplane when he was 15 and was on his way to earning his pilot’s wings. “But when I turned 16, I got my driver’s license and got more interested in things on the ground,” he said.
The new airfield
Before they were an Academy of Model Aeronautics club, the Oldtown Valley Flyers flew in Gnadenhutten. After joining the AMA, they moved Oldtown Valley Road in New Philadelphia, from whence they got their name.
In 2002 the club moved to Hardy Ridge Road in Dundee, but were notified early last year that the land would no longer be available for them to use at the end of 2020.
“We looked at a number of locations, including sites around Atwood Lake, and then I remembered flying here before,” said Gowan. “I used to take off and land right on Arrowhead. I called it Bolivar International,” he said.
The land seemed perfect for their needs, so they found out who owned it and worked out a lease with David “Doc” Krizman, the owner. They also received approval from the Lawrence Township trustees and worked with the farmer, Brian Sponaugle, who uses some of the nearby land for planting soy beans and corn.
“He even helped us find a flatter spot than the one we originally wanted to use,” said Draman.
The sky is the limit
“We are in a perfect location,” said Gowan. “We have people stop by when we’re out here and ask how to join. They come off the walking trail or see us when they’re driving by on Route 212.”
The club is hoping to draw younger people to the club, as well. “We’d like to see them get away a bit from the Nintendo and X-Box and come outside,” said Draman. Kids can use club members’ planes and learn to fly free of charge.
The airfield has ample space to park, including in the parking lot along the adjacent Lawrence Township River Community Park Trail.
The final approach—joining
Memberships in the club cover the entire family and are $50 annually, $35 for those over 50 years of age. Junior memberships for those under 18 are free. Membership information and applications will be available at the grand opening.
You can also join online at oldtownfalleyflyers.org. The website is currently being updated, but the membership form can be accessed by clicking on “Join.”
In the meantime, if you’re walking or driving by on the weekend and spot a small plane or two taking to the skies, the club invites you to stop and learn more about their favorite hobby.