The results of the 13th Annual Worldwide Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon are in and, while no new records were set, the turnout and number of flights recorded were certainly ‘record setting’ given the events of 2020 and the climate under which the event was conducted. Worldwide, 5,555 flights were recorded by 545 different pilots! Those are certainly event results worth celebrating.
John Cralley, the individual responsible for coordinating the event worldwide, has sent an email to all local event coordinators and I am reprinting his email here for your reading pleasure:
A big round of thanks and applause for the participants in the 13th Annual Worldwide Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon!!
Given the handicap of holding this event during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, we had a wonderful turnout with 5,555 Ringmaster flights by 545 Control Line pilots.
Although we broke no records, I am confident that we will set new records next year along with having a great time flying Ringmasters at the same time as other control liners all around the globe!!
Remember, you can download plans files for four different Ringmasters from the website (www.ringmasterflyathon.com) as well as learn more the Ringmaster family of control line models and the history of the Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon. Also, if your are a Facebook member, you can join the Annual Worldwide Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon Facebook Group where you can post photos, ask questions, download many files or just surf the hundreds of posts made by others (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RingmasterFlyAThon). You may, if you have not already done so, want to join the Brotherhood of the Ring Forum where you will find many helpful members and numerous posts regarding Ringmasters (https://brotherhoodofthering.info/).
If you want to share stories of your Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon experiences, photos of Ringmasters or videos of Fly-A-Thons this year or past I would be most happy to see them.
Attached is a PDF file for the Final Tally for the 2020 13th Fly-A-Thon.
Tight lines and Soft landings,
John Cralley, For the Brotherhood of the Ring.
Locally, I once again hosted the Upstate New York version of the Fly-A-Thon at the Syracuse Thunderbirds Aero Radio Society (STARS) flying field in Phoenix, New York where we had 6 pilots who contributed 14 Ringmaster flights to the worldwide event totals.
Like last year, the weather cooperated and the STARS R/C members made the event even better by hosting lunch for the control line pilots and forming a great audience for the flying antics of the control line freaks throughout the day. Thank you STARS!
As in past years, our local official event totals don’t represent the full extent of the control line flights made thru out the day as a host of other, non-Ringmaster planes were flown. Including the ‘Mystery Plane‘ which I have alluded to in previous FlyBoyz posts. Stay tuned for a seperate post on that plane!
Included here are some photos depicting a bit of the flight action that went on throughout the day. By the end of the day, everyone agreed that we all had a great time flying Ringmasters and control line and that is what this event is all about. We’ll look to do it again next year! Enjoy the photos!
(Click on photos to zoom in on them)
Flight line at beginning of the event
My Ringmaster racking up another flight for the record book
Do these count as Fly-A-Thon flights or pilots?!?
STARS R/C Master Michael Graham about to make his first Control Line flight in almost 60 years!
Looks like he has it under ‘control’!
The start of another (non-Ringmaster) flight
My Ringmaster after a rookie attempted a flight. He did NOT get credit for the flight…er…Crash! (It has since been repaired)
A beautiful Fall day for flying Ringmasters!
This posts ‘Featured Image‘ of Larry Marx’s beautiful Stagger Wing Biplane Ringmaster is courtesy of John Cralley.
Special thanks to Andrey Vasilik for most of the event photos in this post!
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