The skies above Mary’s Pond in Rochester on August 17 were buzzing with the sounds of the brightly-colored radio control model seaplanes as they are every year around this time for the Bristol County Radio Control “RC” Club’s John Nicolaci Memorial Float Fly, named in honor of the club’s beloved late member who started the tradition of flying model seaplanes over the pond.
These are not everyday model seaplanes, either. And to these enthusiasts, building, maintaining, and flying model seaplanes is more than just a hobby. “It’s an addiction,” says club member Gerry Dupont. “An affliction, really. A joyful affliction.”
Rows of meticulously built and cared-for model seaplanes lined the shores of Mary’s Pond as dozens of enthusiasts congregated over them, getting them wired up for flight, and laughing over old memories. It’s all a thrill, says Dupont. “Delightful foolishness,” as he calls it, something his wife just doesn’t understand, he quipped. (At least he doesn’t have to hide his hobby from her like some of the others do!)
Inside Dupont’s bright yellow Piper Cub seaplane, he painted is its pilot, “Gus.” Gus has been “flying” the plane for seven years and never tires of it, Dupont said. Gus is an exact one-fifth in size man who flies the exact one-fifth in scale seaplane with a placid smile upon his ruggedly handsome face. He was created in the likeness of a very dear friend, Dupont said. “That’s exactly what he looked like.”
Dupont introduced us to fellow club member “Lee,” who humbly wished to keep the focus off of him and on the R.C. Club as a whole, whose seaplane contained the technology Dupont said he always wished he had as a kid: a cockpit camera that gives a bird’s eye view from above and broadcasts real-time POV footage down to the ground into a small monitor and, for the ultimate POV experience, into two sets of goggles.
“This isn’t virtual reality,” said Lee, “this is reality.”
Looking through the goggles, the viewer can get as close as humanly possible to experiencing what it’s like to be up flying in one of those model seaplanes. For an added element of reality, Lee even fashioned a small hand that grips the controls and moves as the controller steers the plane from the ground. We were lucky for the chance to experience this thrill firsthand, from take off to a few rounds in the air to the bumpy landing atop the choppy water; it’s easy to see how one can fall in love with all this ‘delightful foolishness.’
Everyone was enjoying the event, with the exception of a couple ospreys that call the osprey platform beside the pond home. They were the only ones squawking, aside from a few wives, perhaps, who later found out where their husbands really were that morning.
By Jean Perry