Sixty years ago Toledo Weak Signals club members got together and someone thought, “Let’s have a swap meet.”
The men brought to the now defunct Trilby Log Cabin a manufacturer that shared their pursuit of building radio control aircraft. According to member Rick Lederman, the first meet conference was held with a neighboring Detroit group and the idea was to switch between the locations for the annual conference.
To Toledo’s gain, the Detroit group dropped out. Today that swap meet has grown into a world-class show, the Toledo RC Model Expo.
Held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the SeaGate Centre, it brings in 177 exhibitors from around the world who specialize in model aircraft, boats, and cars, and more than 12,000 hobbyists who dream of conquering the sky, land, or sea by radio-controlled models. Tickets are $10; ages 12 and under are admitted free, as are active military.
Much has changed since that first meet. The world of radio controlled model aircraft has embraced technology and the Internet. Enthusiasts can peruse the latest and greatest model aircraft online, but “there is something about seeing something in person. Pictures just don’t do it justice,” said Bob Kane, president of the Toledo Weak Signals club, which hosts the annual event.
“Not only the ones for sale by the manufacturers, but the incredible workmanship of the guys that build the scale models of boats, cars, airplanes. The work that goes into it is incredible. It is museum quality.”
The weekend will see about $20,000 up for grabs in award money for competitions in sport sailplane, military sport sailplane, jet plane, best finish film and aerobatic plane, pleasure boat, vintage planes, and more.
“We have judging [in] about 17 classes,” said Lederman, who is also the event co-director. “[For] the scale models there are a few classes where they have photographs of the [interior of the] real airplane and they hold it up to the model and it better be identical if you want to win. I mean identical.”
Although many people get into building scale models because of their fascination with aviation and other modes of remote controlled transport, the ultimate goal is to produce a scale model that is the exact replica of the actual machine, he explained.
According to scuttlebutt, an exhibitor from Champaign, Ill., is displaying a 60 percent to scale model of a Piper Cub vintage airplane. The model is said to have a wingspan of 19 feet, weigh about 120 pounds, and could probably hold a dog, although that would not be smart move.
“It takes model building to the extreme,” Lederman said.
The Piper Cub was an American aircraft built between 1937 and 1947, and was used in World War II.
Also on display will be model jets that can reach speeds of up to 200 mph and gliders that can fly up to 150 mph. They look like and sound like jets, with some using true turbine engines that are used in aircraft we take flight in.
There will also be models for beginners. Lederman learned how to construct models from scratch. He would build the radio equipment, the transmitter, etc.
Those interested in true model building and assembly will find that at the expo, along with models for those who just want to concentrate on the radio controls.
Also on hand will be a simulator that will teach people how to fly a drone, which is a radio controlled airplane, without crashing it.
Some of the show’s hobbyists have turned their side interest into bona fide companies.
Take for instance the Jesky family of Monroe. Tim, along with sons Joe and Andrew, run AJ Aircraft. Andrew designs the aircraft, Joe handles the engineering, and Tim works on the operations side of the business.
The planes are designed for aerobatic tricks and maneuvers. Andrew has won championships in precision aerobatic flying.
“You have a set routine that everyone flies. They are judged on the precision, the geometry, the grace, the presentation, sort of like figure skating. It is subjective judging, but the cream does rise to the top of this,” Tim said.
Andrew, who now resides in Utah, and Joe have applied their knowledge of flying radio controlled aircraft to pilot unmanned aircraft that help protect our military troops stationed overseas.
For more information, visit toledoshow.com.
Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-724-6133, or ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.
First Published March 31, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
