By George Fox

@georgejfox

I’ve caught some heat over my new interest in radio controlled flying. Opening packages containing toy quadcopters and talking about going to R/C club meetings has garnered reactions from my colleagues and family ranging from “that’s cute” or “you’re a huge nerd” to “you owe me big time for dragging me to this”.

I’ve always had an interest in airplanes and flight. In senior year of high school in the guidance counselor’s office I researched schools and career tracks to become a commercial pilots. I joined the Air Force ROTC at Michigan State, but quickly realized that a military life wasn’t what my 19 year-old boy brain wanted.

Many years later I’m bringing together two of my passions in a new hobby — flight and photography. My ultimate goal is to do aerial photography and video.

Recently I attended a meeting of the Hamburg Flyers R/C Club. They invited the public to a family picnic where they had a meeting and some of the members flew their aircraft. I was able to see quite a variety at this event including propeller electric powered foam planes to electric turbine jets, a large-scale gas replica and an expertly piloted stunt helicopter.

I’ve put in my application for membership in both the Hamburg Flyers and bought a three-month membership in the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).

My current aircraft is a WL Toys Cyclone 262 quadcopter. It’s friendly to novice flyers and inexpensive at $61 on Amazon. It flies easily right out of the box after a quick charge of the battery. I intend to eventually get a DJI Phantom 2 with a gimbal stabilizer and GoPro. At close to $1000 investment and legislation pending to reverse the FCC ban on commercial drone flight and first person video (FPV) I may be waiting a while to take the next step. I encourage anyone interested in this hobby to check out this video from Flite Test on YouTube explaining the ban and how you can let the FCC know why it should be reversed.

Related: Michigan Scraps Drone Delivery Of Game Ball

Stirring Final Stage Of Brewster-Douglass Buildings Demolition Documented By Time-lapse, Drone Video

I’ve had two opportunities to take control of planes in mid-air and they were some of the most exhilarating moments of my life. The first time was with the ROTC in a single engine Cessna and the other was with my late neighbor Stan Cupp in his Beechcraft Bonanza. Stan later died in a crash flying the same aircraft on a familiar trip between Michigan and Florida. I use this tragedy as a reminder of how flight rewarding endeavors that should come with a healthy fear and respect. Even model flight can cause injury on the ground and in the air. The operators have to go through checklists in much the same way as a manned flight. The Hamburg Flyers have a safety officer who watches over all procedures and activities at the field.

The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month at a miniature airstrip at the back of the Manly W. Bennett Memorial Park (10405 Merrill Road Hamburg, MI)

Learn more about membership and subscribe to their newsletter at hamburgflyers.org.

George Fox is a Spartan, a Michigander, and Web Producer for CBS 62/CW50 in Detroit. When I’m not working on content for the CBS Local websites, I’m probably hanging out on the boat, at deer camp or spending quality time with the fam. Follow George on Twitter @GeorgeJFox.