What do you think of when you hear the term “Remote control flying aircraft?” Mostly probably you think of military drones, or the small helicopters and planes that you see in Walmart or Toys R Us. You may be surprised to know that there is a whole different side to Remote Control Aircraft that involves a high degree of skill, design and engineering – Giant Scale Remote Control. In this sport, modelers build and fly scale replicas up to ½ scale.

Nonahood resident and owner of Bob’s Hobby Center; Steve Thomas is known internationally for his skill in building and flying these scale aircraft; he regularly competes (and places) in World Class Competitions. While his passion is for scale Warbirds from WWI and WWII, he also has an impressive collection of model civilian aircraft. This year, he has already been awarded the 2016 Outstanding Craftsmanship award at the World War One – Blue Max Completion for his Scale Fokker D7 (German World War One Fighter Aircraft).

In April, Steve, along with modelers from every corner of the world converge on “Paradise Field” in Lakeland to demonstrate their skill and expertise in the annual TOP GUN International Scale event. This year, participants from over 19 countries will take part. Steve will be competing with this 1/3 Scale 1960s Ralle Morian. Look for detailed coverage of this exciting competition and its competitors in future issues of Nonahood News.