How To Host a Successful Fly In like the Warbirds over Delaware

For more than 25 years now, Warbirds over Delaware has attracted serious warbird pilots and builders from all across the country and from international locations. The annual military modeling migration brings together some of the greatest RC warbirds you can see anywhere.

But, how do you successfully host a premier giant-scale RC event like the Warbirds over Delaware? Well, a good way to find out is to see the contest directors and club members of the Delaware R/C Club busy at work. Like a gourmet chef, the club starts with just the right amount of flying, friends, and fun ingredients and then they spice it up a tad with plenty of food, sponsorship, volunteers, and a perfect venue to serve up a first-class event. Then they do it 25 times, all the while making each year’s event a little better than the last. I have to admit that I have been attending for more years than I care to remember to enjoy this smorgasbord of scale warbirds and excitement.

(Left) Adam Lilley starts the show off each year with his militarized Crazy Farmer Piper Cub routine.

Text by Sal Calvagna.

At the Field

As its name implies, this event is a giant-scale military RC airshow, which is extremely popular and open to the general public. The event attracts thousands of spectators annually with the RC pilots coming from near and far. To help with the massive logistics involved in setting up the many tents and airplane encampments, this year’s event was held from Wednesday through Saturday. For a good spot, you really do need to come early because, by Friday, there are so many tents set up that the event looks like it could qualify for its own zip code.

As in the past, Pete and Dave Malchione and the rest of the club volunteers did an amazing job setting up and running the event. A great feature is that there is a huge tent for overnight model storage, making setup and teardown of the models at the end of the day unnecessary, and it could easily accommodate 100 models. Near the flightline the tent which housed some of the largest and most impressive models that I have ever seen, eliminated all the work of putting your warbird back in your trailer.

In a separate area, the food vendors kept all the pilots and their crew mates well supplied and fed, with offerings including plenty of hamburgers and hot dogs along with the all-time favorite in hot weather: flavored shaved ice. Several hobby vendors were also there, selling everything from giant-scale kits and pilot figures to RC switches and servo extensions. If you needed a part or tool for a repair, it was like having a well-stocked hobby shop right at the field…

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