CLAY TWP — Those with even the slightest interest in flight are encouraged to attend an uncommon event coming up next weekend.

The National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Fall Classic will be held from Sept. 13 to 15 at the Butler Aircraft Modelers Society field, 315 Mack Road, West Sunbury.

The public is welcome, as are those considering learning about flying scale model airplanes. Admission is free, and food vendors will be on-site.

Ron Hemphill, a board member with the society, said scale model aircraft are simply that: scaled down models of real airplanes from any era of aviation.

The planes are powered by electric, gasoline, glow fuel — which is a mixture of alcohol, nitrogen and lubrication — and even jet engines.

The “pilot” on the ground controls the plane using a transmitter that loosely resembles a video game controller, but more complex.

Hemphill said the transmitter is connected to a receiver in the plane, and controls throttle, rudder, elevator, and other elements of model aviation.

A switch on Hemphill’s transmitter can give control of his plane to a student … or take control away if the student is about to make a mistake.

The society regularly teaches model aviation at their field using a flight simulator on a television screen.

“We’d love to have them,” Hemphill said of anyone interested in flying the model planes.

When a student gets good enough at simulated flight, he or she tries their hand at controlling a real scale model plane at the society’s field.

If the student decides the hobby is one they want to pursue, Hemphill said they can buy a beginner’s scale model plane for about $300.

“The plane is assembled,” Hemphill said. “All you have to do is put the wings and tail on.

“You charge the batteries, and you’re ready to fly.”

A full slate of activities is being planned for the event next weekend, Hemphill said.

He said static judging will take place Friday morning, where judges will peruse a scale model pilot’s documentation and plane to determine whether they were successful in building the craft.

“What we try to do is pick an airplane and build (a smaller version) so it looks exactly like the real airplane,” Hemphill said.

He said some scale model planes are built from kits, but some are built from scratch.

For example, Hemphill points to his replica of a 1946 Fairchild 24 single-engine passenger plane, which has a 92-inch wingspan and a fuselage of about 50 inches.

“I built the plane and made every part,” Hemphill said. “I made molds and vacuum-formed the plastic parts I needed.”

The job took him five or six years, as he was not yet retired when he built the Fairchild.

Some of the most impressive scale model planes Hemphill has seen were an English World War I biplane fighter and a British World War I fighter. He saw both at the national competition in Muncie, Ind.

“They were real talking pieces,” he said.

The judges at the Fall Classic on Friday will award those whose planes they deem most well-built and accurate to the full-sized plane.

Friday afternoon will see pilots at the event flying their planes, and a private picnic to be catered by Hemphill’s wife and daughter will follow.

The event’s official opening gathering will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, where pilots will be given all the information and regulations they need.

“Then we start flying,” Hemphill said.

The competition includes six or seven classes for novices through experts.

The designer class will see competition between planes that owners drew plans for and built from a photo and measurements taken of the full-sized plane the model replicates.

The team class sees a pilot other than the owner flying the planes.

A banquet for those registered for the Fall Classic will be held Saturday night at a restaurant near Chicora.

More flying and the awards ceremony will be held on Sunday.

Hemphill said organizers are hoping they get the same weather they had when they held the Fall Classic for the first time a few years ago.

“We can fly in mist, but we do not fly in the rain,” he said, explaining that the transmitter held by the pilot cannot get wet.

Stillness or a light wind is also optimum for flying model planes. Hemphill said pilots will back out of classes if the wind is too fast.

“I have backed out of competitions if the wind is too high,” he said. “I want to take my plane home in one piece.”

He said crashes do occasionally happen at competitions like the Fall Classic.

“I hope there’s none,” Hemphill said.

The Butler Aircraft Modelers Society has met and flown at their field, which is owned by the Sylvania Conservation Area, since 1972.

The society has about 38 members, and is accepting students. More information on the society and flying, plus a contact form, is available at thebams.net.