A little high flying

Tom Forquer

They experience the thrill of flying without the risk of dying.

In its eighth year at the Orange County Fair, the Scale Squadron

of Southern California and the Orange Coast Radio Control Club drew

attention to their clubs with an exhibit featuring a variety of model

aircraft, flying videos and simulators in the Home & Hobbies Building

on the fairgrounds on Tuesday.

Building a scale airplane involves reducing the dimensions of a

full-size airplane and constructing a model a fraction of its size.

While some are static models built simply for show, others are

flyable and are equipped with an engine and radio control components.

Fred Browns, the Squadron’s president, explained the work put into

building a scale model.

“A lot of guys spend as much time building a miniature as it takes

to build a full-size plane,” he said.

Wearing a 1930 Air Force uniform, Squadron vice president Lawrence

Klingberg said, “You learn a lot about history with these things,

too.”

“After I saw the movie ‘The Hindenburg,’ I decided I had to build

a model of it,” Klingberg said as a 1/800-scale model of the

zeppelin loomed over the exhibit behind him. Also hanging in the

exhibit was his 1/4-scale model of a Farman Moustique, built from

scratch and authentic right down to the canvas-covered wings. He is

currently building a 1/2-scale model of the same plane. Its wingspan

is 13 feet.

While scale modelers replicate the size of real aircraft, some

also replicate the speed. Hanging from the ceiling in front of the

exhibit was a 94-inch model of a F-104 Starfighter. The $4,000 plane

is jet-powered and can reach speeds of 180 mph. The slowest that it

will fly before stalling is 45 mph.

Reasons for building a scale model range from a desire to win a

modeling competition to the simple pleasure putting a model together.

Klingberg revealed a very pragmatic reason.

“The bigger they are, the better you can see them in the air,” he

said, noting that their visibility is beneficial for someone with

failing eyesight.

While the two clubs were founded around building and flying

airplanes, they also have programs that give back to the community.

The Orange Coast Radio Control Club has a program that teaches youth

how to fly by putting them through ground school and in-flight

training. The Squadron has its yearly “Toys for Kids” toy drive for

underprivileged children, taking place on Oct. 25.

Both clubs fly at the former El Toro Air Base as well as aquatic

locations for their float planes.

* TOM FORQUER is a Daily Pilot intern. He can be reached at

tom.forquer@latimes.com.