Riding a wing

By Dan Hilborn
Published Aug. 14, 2004


About 150 model airplane enthusiasts converged on the Burnaby Lake fields last weekend to have a lot of fun and pay tribute to one of the best known hobbyists in the city.

The Jacques Heyrman Memorial Fly-In attracted electric-powered models ranging in size from foot-long styrofoam training planes to a one-third actual size replica of the Red Baron's First World War triplane, the Fokker DR1.

"Oh man, we saw a bit of everything," said Doug Burt, a director of the Burnaby Lake Flyers and chair of the electric-only committee for the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada.

One of the more popular displays was a series of aerobatic stunts performed by Kevin Forsyth with his Ion helicopter. Forsyth, a Canadian champion model flyer, impressed the crowd with his ability to twist the scale model helicopter through the air, performing loop- the-loops and other stunts that are typically only attempted by fixed winged aircraft.

The fly-in, which has been held annually at the Burnaby Lake fields for the past five summers, was renamed in honour of one of the club's founders, who passed away last year. Jacques Heyrman (best known as Jack) was a former marine technician with a local shipping firm who helped convince Burnaby city hall to keep the local fields open to the clean burning, quiet electric airplanes, after city hall became increasingly concerned about the noise and pollution coming off the older model gasoline engine model planes.

Heyrman was one of the people responsible for convincing city council to allow electric-powered models to use the Burnaby Lake fields at a time when council was receiving increasing number of complaints about noise and pollution coming from the two-stroke gasoline engine models.

Burt, who first played with 'control line planes' at Willingdon Park when he was just a boy of about 10 years old, said the hobby is perfect for families.

While model airplane can be as expensive as you want, a starter kit, complete with the radio control system and all the components needed to build the airplane, can be purchased for about $200, Burt said.

"When I was a kid, there used to be control-line flying at almost every park in Burnaby," he said. "I remember one of the older guys helped me build models properly from scratch. Today I'm giving back what was given to me years ago."

During the summertime, the Burnaby Lake Flyers can be found riding the updrafts off the water on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons and early evenings.

Wednesday are the best day for newcomers to show up, because that's when they usually have the foam training plane available with the dual person control box.

There is a separate glider-only club, known as the Oakalla Hawks, who have access to a a large landing strip on the west side of Deer Lake Park.

People interested in learning more about the hobby of model aircraft building and flying can check out the website www.maac.ca. For specific information on electric-powered model and the Burnaby Lake Flyers, check out the club's website at www.canadianelectricflight.com