Small planes, big fun

The buzzing of aircraft propellers and the whine of jet engines could be heard clearly in the desert near Yuma Proving Ground Saturday as the Yuma Aeromodelers gathered together at Fly Yuma '09.

The Yuma Aeromodelers are a group of 130 radio controlled aircraft modelers and flyers that have been in Yuma for over 30 years.

Several of the pilots brought their miniature aircraft to amaze the crowd on a chilly and cloud-filled day at a small runway in Blaisdell located off of Highway 95, which was built to give these very serious hobbyists a place to get together and show off their talents.

One of the stand out flyers was pilot Mike Busutil and his $10,000, 70 pound half scale YAK-55. Mike's talent was evident as he stood his plane on its tail while it was in mid-air, dancing it across the runway in a beautifully choreographed series of maneuvers, all within feet of terra firma.

Mike, 27, has been flying planes with his brothers and father for over 20 years, and his expertise showed. He is so good in fact, that he teaches members of the military how to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

"I am a civilian and I train military and contractors how to operate UAV’s in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

According to Mike, anyone can become a model aircraft flyer.

"Yeah anybody could do it, it just takes patience and practice," he said. "They should definitely start with a trainer (aircraft) because they are a lot more forgiving and stable. I started out on a trainer when I was 4. You can buy them at any general hobby shop or you can order them online. They are usually already built, you just put in an engine and a radio."

Mike said the remote control is fairly simple to operate.

"I’ve got throttle and rudder control on the left stick, and elevator and ailerons on the right stick. All of the switches are for accessories like flaps and brakes."

Being that Mike's plane is so expensive, one might think he would be worried about it crashing and burning, but he doesn't.

"I try not to think about it otherwise I wouldn't be able to do that," he said.

Mike's father, Manuel Busutil, started teaching his sons early in their lives as a way to keep them out of trouble.

"Mike soloed for the first time at the age of four," Manuel said. "All my kids, I’ve tried to teach them how to fly as soon as they can hold the radio. It's something I have always loved and I’ve always felt it would keep them out of trouble, and not chasing booze and drugs. They spend their time chasing airplane parts instead."

Manual said it is a great hobby.

"I started in 1963 when my mom bought me a little (model airplane) that you fly on strings and I went out to a little field out in front of our house and flew that thing around and crashed it. I just melted; that was it. I feel this has done wonders for my family, and I highly recommend it to any family, child or adult of any age. Once you get it in your blood there is no getting it out."

Terry Buckley, who came to Yuma from his home in Phoenix just for the air show, is a proud owner of a fully functional jet aircraft that runs on kerosene and can travel at 199.9 M.P.H. He flew the jet back and forth above the runway to showcase its speed.

"This one here today, I didn't open it up all the way, so it was going about 140 M.P.H. on average," Buckley said, adding he started out the hobby by flying propeller aircraft, and got more and more into it.

"Yeah, that's the bad thing, you get bigger and faster. This jet costs over $8,000 easy. The kit alone is $5,000 and the engine is about $3,600 plus all of the electronics. I enjoy this and I’ve always enjoyed jets. It can be an adrenaline rush if you have problems or something goes wrong."

Bill Westphall, club president and field safety officer, said even though it was a cold day, it was a success.

"This is a fly in for fun, and this is basically a case of just show up and have some fun flying, and show off your stuff. The point of the club is to have fun."

Club member Russ Verbael said Saturday's event was a kind of dress rehearsal for a larger air show the group has planned for Feb. 2010.

"This is really preparing the club to learn the procedures and the steps necessary to host a quality air show for the public. It is going to be a major air show. It will be choreographed, and we are going to have some of the finest flyers in the southwest here."

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.