This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the August Raspet Student Chapter of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics , a student organization here at Mississippi State, will host the second Annual Sky Dawgs Radio Controlled Aircraft Show at Bryan Airport in Starkville.
The show features radio-controlled aircraft flown by pilots of the American Modelling Academy. AMA pilots from across the Southeast-including jet clubs from Mississippi and Arkansas-are expected to attend this year’s event. They will be flying range of R/C aircraft, including aerobatic aircraft, helicopters and jet aircraft powered by small working turbine engines.
Sky Dawgs 2004 has been expanded to three days from 2003’s one day event because of the success of Sky Dawgs 2003.
The show lasts from 2 p.m. to dusk Friday, 9:30 a.m. until dusk Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. General admission tickets are $2 for each day. AMA registered pilots may sign up to fly for $15 at the field. According to its Web site at www.ae.msstate.edu/aiaa/, all funds raised by the event go to Raspet AIAA chapter and programs it sponsors-such as the “First Flight” scholarship for Mississippi high school sudents.
In addition to the admittance fees, the AIAA will be raising funds through a raffle, concessions and training flights. Anyone interested in R/C flying can pay $5 for a five- to 10-minute training flight with an AMA certified pilot on a trainer aircraft provided by the AIAA.
Aerospace engineering senior Blake Sanders said, “These planes can do much more than a full-scale aircraft. You can do ridiculous things in R/Cs that are impossible for a large aircraft.”
Event coordinator Christopher Eigenheer said: “The airshow intoduces people to the hobby [of R/C flying] and allows people in the hobby to share experiences. There’s nothing like the smell of Jet-A in the morning.”
“We’d like to thank everyone at the airport, on the airport board and in the AMA and AIAA for helping us out,” he added.