Rotorua Model Aircraft Club open day preview

The big boys and their flying toys will be on show in the air above Lake Tarawera this weekend.

The Rotorua Model Aircraft Club is holding an open day at their club field on Mead Rd just past the Green Lake on Sunday where people can have a go at flying one of the model planes or helicopters on display.

Event organiser and club member David Thornley said anyone who ever fancied flying a plane, or helicopter, would be welcome to pop along and check out the miniature flying machines belonging to club members.

Along with displays of models including planes and helicopters up to half-a-metre long, people would be offered the chance to take over the controls with an instructor on site to help them.

It isn't as easy as it looks, Mr Thornley said. "There will be models with dual controls so people can fly a plane themselves."

"If they crash the instructor can take the controls. Complete novices will be able to have a go."

Simulators will also be on site so people can practise flying before taking the controls.

Mr Thornley first caught the model flying bug as a 16-year-old, recently returning to the hobby and joining the club. It was an adrenalin pumping hobby, he said.

"Sometimes your heart beats so fast," he said.

Club member Russell Gulliver also took up the hobby later in life - a move he had also never regretted. "I always wanted to do it as kid but everything else got in the way like rugby."

He's been flying for about a year now and said he had made some great friends through the club. "You get a lot of satisfaction out of it," he said.

"You learn a lot of skills as far as building and fixing things goes as well as discipline. There is great comradeship too. They are an excellent bunch of people. Everybody helps everybody out ... If you are a bit morbid, you get to see some crashes."

Rotorua retired engineer Gary Beckham, who first flew model planes as a child after starting off with a kitset model, said children would be thrilled by the open day.

"It's a lot of fun," he said. "The kids will be rapt. They really love it. The mechanics are identical to the real thing ... it's a wonderful hobby."

The Rotorua Model Aircraft Club open day will be on Sunday from 10am-3pm at the club's airfield on Mead Rd.

Entry is free with a barbecue lunch on offer.