From World War II flying aces to Top Gun-style F-16 fliers, the skies over St. Charles will be abuzz this weekend with scale-model military planes that look for all the world like the real thing.
Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics started Thursday, showcasing radio-controlled military aircraft and civilian classics that have a wingspan of over 80 inches.
The realism of the scale models participating in Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics includes the attire worn by the pilots and gunners.
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The radio-controlled planes are roughly 20% the size of the real ones. But the details are 100% on point, right down to the scarf and goggles on the gunner of a World War I-era German fighter.
The show continues Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the club’s airfield at 3831 Karl Madsen Drive in St. Charles.
David Murray, one of the event organizers, said 60 pilots from six states will each bring multiple planes out to the airfield to fly over the three days. The show will feature planes from as far back as a World War I era Hansa-Brandenburg to F-16 jets with real turbine engines.
David Murray of Elgin puts the pilot in place as he charges his F16 in preparation for flight during the Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics event in St. Charles on Thursday.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
“People love the scale realism of these planes,” Murray said. “Guys go crazy with details. And then with the speed and the sound, from a distance, they think they’re looking at the real airplane when in reality it’s a model.”
Murray said they’ve been holding the event for about 10 years.
“It has grown dramatically,” Murray said. “And the planes and the sophistication of the automation and computers have made it much better. You’re gonna see some interesting airplanes there. There is no doubt about it.”
A model P-40 Warhawk comes in for a landing during the Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics event in St. Charles.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
The lineup will include replica military transport planes, propeller fighters like the P-47 and jet fighters like his model F-16, which has a 10-foot long fuselage and is capable of speeds in excess of 200 mph.
“Everybody is fascinated by the jets,” Murray said. “They like the speed, the sound, the smell. It’s all there.”
Murray, a retired United Airlines pilot from Elgin, said the models of older planes are no less impressive.
John Howe of Woodridge, left, and Robert Been of Oak Brook start up their Hansa-Brandenburg model for a flight at the Windy City Warbirds & Classics event in St. Charles on Thursday.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
“Some of the propeller airplanes have four-cylinder engines and are swinging a 28-inch prop. That’s huge,” he said.
Armin Weber of Naperville said he prefers those World War II-era propeller planes and brought several on Thursday. He said flying radio-controlled aircraft has been a “lifelong commitment.”
Armin Weber of Naperville tucks his planes safely under tents as rain falls Thursday morning at the Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics event in St. Charles.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
“I was probably 9 or 10 years old when I saw my first airplane fly, and I said, ‘Wow, that’s the coolest thing ever,’ and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
Weber said he did some pilot training for full-size planes when he was in his 20s. But he knew flying Cessnas wasn’t going to be enough for him.
“I’d never be able to fly Focke-Wulfs and P-51s and jets. So that’s why I leaned more toward this,” he said. “There’s a lot more aircraft you can fly, and you can go as far with the hobby as you want.”
Tickets for the event are $5 for adults, and kids 12 and younger can watch for free. There will be food vendors on site.
Visitors are encouraged to check out the planes and ask the pilots questions.
Murray said planes can start at $6,000 to $7,000 for a World War II-era warbird, and jets start at over $10,000.
“You gotta love it to be in it,” he said.