Model citizens take to the sky

The airspace over Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was filled with everything from World War II fighter planes to a witch perched atop a broomstick on Sunday.

It was all part of the fourth annual Radio Controlled Model Air Show, presented by the Southeast Missouri Modelers Association, the Show Me Air Kings and the airport.

"This is something people have a real interest in," said show director Rick Renfrow of Cape Girardeau. "Seeing a model plane up close is a totally different experience,"

Despite some rain delays, over 400 spectators and 60 model aircraft pilots from Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois turned out for the day's event.

The show featured a variety of stunt-performing model aircraft, including "lazy bees" and "magic planes." There were also realistic military bombers and helicopters.

But the biggest show-stoppers, Renfrow said, were the more peculiar flying machines, like Snoopy's doghouse and a witch on a broomstick.

The witch, a scrawny blond with a green complexion and black cape, is owned by Bob Kohnen of Holt's Summit, Mo.

While the witch is definitely a popular item, Kohnen's pride and joy is his SR-71 Blackbird, a one-of-a-kind plane designed and built by a man in Texas, based on a U.S. spy plane.

"I purchased it four years ago over the Internet. I can't replace it," Kohnen said.

This year's show also featured a Pearl Harbor display complete with pyrotechnic explosions and vintage war aircraft models.

Model airplane pilot Jim Wunderlich of Jackson, Mo., said the Pearl Harbor reenactment serves as a tribute to those people who have served in the military and are serving now.

Many of the model pilots attending Sunday's event have dedicated hundreds of hours and spent thousands of dollars on their hobby.

"I've been flying model airplanes since the mid-1960s, when my dad took me to an aircraft field where they were flying model bombers," said Renfrow. "There's a lot of good fellowship amongst the flyers. There's strong competition, but the underlying tone of this hobby is helping other flyers."

Like Renfrow, Wunderlich's fascination with model aircraft began with his father, who was a B-29 airplane mechanic during World War II.

Wunderlich said he's been flying radio-controlled airplanes for the past 17 years.

"It's a challenge every time you fly. It keeps the mind going," Wunderlich said.

The model aircraft show brought back fond memories for Frank West of Cape Girardeau, especially the replica of a 1939 Piper Cub J3, the type of plane West took his first flight in.

"An interest in aircraft runs in my family," West said. "My two older brothers were private pilots. They started taking me flying when I was 6."

Zach Urhahn of Sikeston, Mo., was one of the youngest pilots at the air show. At 11, he's already been flying model planes for two years.

"My favorite part is when people get to see the planes fly," Urhahn said.

Fellow Sikeston resident and model aircraft pilot Brian Fisk, 12, said he enjoys learning and practicing new tricks.

"My favorite plane to fly is my Hog Pipe, because my dad and my grandpa each have one and sometimes we fly them together. I really like that," Fisk said.

cchitwood@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128