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From: greg@cica.cica.indiana.edu (Gregory TRAVIS)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Funny story about model airplanes (& PIREP)
Message-ID: <1113@cica.cica.indiana.edu>
Date: Sun, 20 May 90 17:01:11 PDT
Reply-To: greg@cica.indiana.edu (Gregory TRAVIS)
Organization: IU Center for Innovative Computing, Bloomington IN
Lines: 73

A friend was feeling down this Friday so I suggested a local sightseeing
trip to cheer her up.  The local area was forecast by FSS to be clear all
afternoon and night so we got in one of the FBO's 172 and were going to
head over to my favorite eatery (BMG->SER.  Check out Harry and Faye's if you
get a chance.  M-F till 8pm. Dine where John Cougar Mellencamp grew up).

After we were airborne, it became apparent that my friend's funk wasn't going
to be erased by a short jaunt over to Seymour.  She wanted to fly down to the
Ohio River and check out the flooding, so we cruised down there.  I realized
that I could save my grumbling tummy by flying on into Kentucky to the
Rough River State Park, where they apparently had a field (2I3, 2500') and a
restaurant, so we set off.

Now I only knew about this place because of another friend's suggestion that we
go down there and check it out, but what the heck.  We find it, I make a
call to Unicom to see if anyone's around, nada.  Self-announce and enter
a downwind for runway 20.  On final for 20 someone, somewhere, calls
"Aircraft landing Rough River, anyone else in the pattern?"  I reply not
to my knowledge, thinking it was kinda strange.  At this point I'm
preoccupied with landing when I see something that looks like a BIPLANE real
close out the window.  It didn't appear to be on a collision and I'm on short
final at this point so I didn't do anything.  As I flare I notice something's
real funny here.  There are pennants and a tent and all kinds of people.
The sky is also FILLED with aircraft.  As I'm rolling out I realize that I've
flown into an airshow of some kind and I'm feeling a bit uneasy about if I've
just made a major bonehead move.

Now, as an aside to those who don't move their aircraft across the ramp without
filing a flight plan and who want to criticize me for not getting the
NOTAMS for 2I3 let me say that I did overfly the field and saw no "X"s on
the runway and I attempted to communicate with someone on Unicom before I
entered the pattern.  This had also become an unplanned X-C, but we know
that's no excuse.

Anyway, I hear two other aircraft calling out to Rough River traffic so I think
at least I won't be the only bonehead.  Then I look around.  The planes are
MODEL RC Planes and this is some kind of convention!

Feeling slightly relieved, I do a 180 and park somewhere that doesn't look
too much like the park ranger's personal tiedown.  Get out and wander over
to investigate.  The RCers seem to be oblivious to me and my recent arrival.
They're wearing shirts that say stuff like "St. Louis RC competition 1988,"
"Scale Modelers Convention, Anaheim, 1977"
and the like.  Some of the planes are really detailed, with two engines, flaps
the works.

I wander over to this guy who seems to have a good model of a C210 (no struts
but fixed gear, was the 206 ever strutless?).  It's got flaps, the works, and
is about 2.5' long.  He takes it out to the runway and is doing some kind of
RC runup when we hear some people agitatedly shouting "FULL SCALE!  FULL
SCALE!  FULL SCALE!" like it's Godzilla or something.  I turn my head and
it's a 182 roaring down for takeoff and this guy with the RC Cessna yanks
his plane back.  Well, I just about died of laughter (no one and nothing was
ever close to being trashed) hearing "our" planes referred to in that way.
My friend urged me to keep it down, lest the RC boys (and girls!) turn ugly.

I wondered why they couldn't use the road right next to the field for a
runway, but I guess I kinda understand why they would want to use the
runway.  They've got the right.  I would have appreciated a little more info
on Unicom than someone just asking if I was the only one in the pattern.  And
the airport WAS open to regular ops.

Oh, the food at 2I3 is pretty good, and cheap!  We had the Friday Buffet, all
you can eat, incl. shrimp and dessert.  $17.00 for the two of us.  The
place is midly geriatric, but it might have just been the weekend.  They
have "Cottages" available for overnight and it was very pretty.  If you're
not a park ranger then I'll tell you that we managed a skinny-dip in the lake
fairly easily.  If you are a ranger we were never there.

"FULL SCALE" Travis,
-- 
Gregory R. Travis                Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405
greg@cica.cica.indiana.edu       Center for Innovative Computer Applications