Model Airplanes

At just 9 years old, Karsen Gradille is the youngest flyer of the Santa Maria-based Tri-Valley RC Modelers, which builds and flies model airplanes, helicopters, gliders and multirotors of all sizes and types.

This weekend, Karsen, fellow club members and more than 40 radio control enthusiasts from across the state will be flying and displaying giant scale model airplanes at the fifth annual Tri-Valley RC Modelers Fly-in that’s being staged at the Elks Unocal Event Center in Santa Maria.

“I like that you get to fly them and build them,” said Karsen as he explained what he enjoys about model planes, noting he also loves airplanes. “Flying with other people is fun, too.”

Karsen built his first model plane when he was 6, with the help of his grandfather, who introduced the youngster to the hobby when the boy was just a toddler. He now has three model planes and earned the Tri-Valley RC Modelers’ 2016 Junior Flyer of the Year Award. 

“This is good, clean fun,” said Bill Tjaden, Tri-Valley RC Modelers member, about the giant scale fly-in that runs through Sunday. “It’s a camping trip with airplanes attached. It’s all about having fun. A bunch of dudes just hanging out.”

A giant scale model airplane has a wingspan that’s greater than 6 feet. Some are powered by pump gas and others by electric mechanisms. The planes can run in the tens of thousands of dollars and the bigger they are, the more expensive the models.

The planes are also available in numerous different models, including high-powered warplanes,

Article source: http://syvnews.com/news/local/giant-model-planes-flying-this-weekend-over-santa-maria-from/article_1a40302b-237a-5945-8710-50782d8a0a86.html

Contributed photo by Good Shepherd Health Care System

Dr. Allan Damian

Hermiston-area parents looking to get their child in for a physical and vaccinations before school starts will see more appointment options open up after Good Shepherd Health Care System hired pediatrician Allan Damian, M.D.

Damian is now accepting patients at Good Shepherd Medical Group Pediatrics office located at 600 N.W. 11th St., Suite E-33.

He has been working at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso as a pediatrician and clinical assistant professor in the pediatrics department. He also completed his internship and residency there.

In a news release, Damien called pediatrics his calling after he did one of his first rotations in neonatology.

“What immediately fascinated me was an experience of a 24-week old baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU),” he wrote. “I was amazed at how a child so small was able to thrive and succeed and eventually make it home. Years later I remember this same child walking into my office for a physical exam. What a great privilege and honor as a doctor to be able to hold these precious lives in our hands and to care for children. In some cases, I was the first human contact many of these children ever had – even before their parents. I feel that I am a child’s first line of defense which is just amazing!”

Damian said he is an advocate for living an active

Article source: http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20170727/good-shepherd-welcomes-new-pediatrician

Adam Lawson Gazette staff GazetteLawson

With each passing day, drone usage in the United States is soaring sky high. But that doesn’t mean you can just fly your unmanned aircraft anywhere.

A sign posted at George Poston Park clearly outlines Gaston County Parks and Recreation’s stance on the growing fad in two monosyllabic words.

No drones.

Signs haven’t been placed yet at parks run by Gastonia’s parks and recreation department, though that doesn’t mean pilots are clear to navigate the clear, blue sky above them either.

“It’s just a safety issue that we’re looking at right now,” says Cam Carpenter, assistant recreation director with the city of Gastonia. 

Novices untrained in the art of flying pose a risk to those enjoying the park for other reasons, Carpenter said. The last thing the city needs, he reasoned, was someone to get hit in the head by an aircraft that’s lost its way.

Cathy Hart, who heads Gaston County’s parks and recreation department, says the drones have never been allowed at most of the parks she oversees. They’re banned by Section IX in a parks ordinance passed by county commissioners about a decade ago.

“It shall be unlawful for any person within the confines of the park to voluntarily launch, take off, land, or cause to descend or take off any airplane, flying machine, balloon, parachute, or other apparatus of aviation, except by special permit,” the ordinance reads. “…This section shall also apply to radio-controlled airplanes, helicopters, rockets, etc.”

The rule does make an exception, for

Article source: http://www.gastongazette.com/news/20170728/gaston-parks-no-fly-zone-for-drone-owners

Is model airplane rule unneeded?

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A model aircraft landing strip recently completed at Marion County Lake technically violates a Federal Aviation Administration rule regarding model airplanes within five miles of an airport.

Under FAA rules, operators of drones and model airplanes flying within five miles of an airport must notify the airport operator before flying.

However, Marion pilot and model aircraft enthusiast Terry Chizek says the rule is unnecessary here.

Chizek helped build the model plane strip at the lake. Before it was built, model enthusiasts flew at the airport.

“It’s better out there than flying at the airport,” Chizek said. “At the lake it’s just a way to get away from the real airport.”

Chizek said the FAA rule was for large airports like those in Wichita and Kansas City, which have control towers.

“They’re more concerned about the commercial traffic,” Chizek said. “At our airport, we only get one or two planes a day, so it’s not a big concern.”

If a model plane were to get caught in an airliner’s engine, it could cause major damage, he said. But planes flying into Marion’s airport are smaller.

“With a smaller plane it would do some damage but it won’t ruin the engine or anything,” Chizek said.

Don Hodson, another Marion pilot, said there were no problems before the model airplane landing strip was built, when model airplane pilots used the airport.

“We never had any issues at any time,” Hodson said. “They’re

Article source: http://marionrecord.com/direct/is_model_airplane_rule_unneeded_+4844model+4973206d6f64656c20616972706c616e652072756c6520756e6e65656465643f