Model Airplane Flyers To Offer Alternative To Cancelled Rockford Airfest

ROCKFORD, Ill. (CBS) — A model airplane club has stepped up to the plate to fill the breech left by the cancellation of the Rockford Airfest, after the Blue Angels halted their air show performances due to federal budget cuts.

WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports Rockford dropped plans for the Airfest, which had been scheduled for June 1, when the Blue Angels cancelled all of their 2013 performances.

Now, the Rock Valley R/C Flyers Club has decided it will put on its own air show on June 1 in a field west of Rockford.

“We’re not your typical little, tiny model airplanes that the normal person things of,” club member Jerry Ream said. “These are hauled out in covered trailers or vans.”

Ream said he owns a model Carden Extra with a 10-foot wingspan.

He believes the club, along with other flying visitors, will be able to keep model planes in the air all day long at the Harrison Road field.

Ream said spectators will be able to see aerobatic bi-planes, jets, helicopters, and many other models – all for free, all day long.

“They do things that you couldn’t imagine. I mean, acrobatics. You know, flying them upside-down, coming right down, and almost mowing the grass,” he said.

Meanwhile, the city of Rockford has been working on plans for a replacement air show with real full-size planes at the end of August.