The thrill of death-defying flight

June 14, 2009

The Thrill of Death-Defying Flight Without the Agony of, Um, Death

By Anne Stanton 6/15/09

If you have an intense love for remote control airplanes, here’s your chance to take it to a new altitude.
The Traverse Area Model Pilots is offering newbie pilots the free use of four remote control airplanes, complete with advice and instruction for those who show up at the airfield on Tuesday evenings. 
The group also announced its new site for flying the planes—a former dump site at the end of the north/south runway of Green Lake Township Airport off Youker Road (about three miles south of Interlochen Corners.)
Families are welcome to come and see the new field on Saturday, June 20 starting at 9 a.m., and see what model airplane flying is all about. Flight club member Ben Komrska says the June 20 event is going to be a “big deal,” with a baseball contest drawing 130 kids, fire department demos, a martial arts demonstration, Boy Scout troops, and lots of good stuff to eat.
The 75-member club opened the new field this spring after spending last year cleaning it up.
The club received approval in 2006 from the Green Lake Township Board to use the end of the runway and former dump area in exchange for improving the area.  The former dump closed in the 1970s, and was left with scattered junk and mounds of dirt. 
The club, along with many volunteers and businesses, contributed hundreds of hours of time and $17,000 to fix up the area.  Volunteers removed the junk along with the thorny Locust trees and diseased oak trees that had overgrown the area. They leveled the ground, covered it with donated topsoil, and installed a sprinkler system. 
“New grass is growing on the X-shaped runways and the area looks great,” said Komrska. 
The mini flying field has a separate entrance gate next to the Township compost gate located on Youker Road at the south end of the airport. 
For more information and pictures of past club events, check out the website of traversemodelpilots.com.