The first annual Michigan Musciano Fun Fly was held on Saturday, 30 September 2006 at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.   This Michigan control line event was jointly sponsored by the Kalamazoo Smoke Rings, the Radio Control Club of Detroit, and the Lansing Area Flying Aces.   Despite occasional rain showers, a wonderful event took place.   The enjoyment that accompanies any well run control line contest was elevated by the attendance of the legendary Walter Musciano.   Our deepest gratitude is extended to Walter for making the trek from New Jersey to grace us with his presence.

This event is designed to honor Walt Musciano, who for many of us designed our first model airplane.   The emphasis is on fun and nostalgia, not performance and competition.   The aircraft are limited to the carved balsa fuselage, solid wing, semi-scale designs produced by Scientific models in the 1960s.   In addition to recapturing the wonder of flight we experienced back then, this formula also starts everyone on an equal footing.   This formula resulted in a large number of spectacular aircraft and great competition.

The turnout for the event was excellent with approximately 40 folks attending.   This number included 18 pilots, some of whom traveled over 3 hours to participate.  Pilot ages ranged from old enough to know better to 4 year old Harrison Caster.   In addition to the participants, a constant stream of spectators from the Air Zoo watched the events unfold and expressed an appreciation for our sport.   During a break in the contest events, Frank Carlisle provided a demonstration of precision aerobatics with his Brodak Bi-Slob that had everyone in awe.

Larry Rice of Black Hawk Models provided a display of tethered models throughout the day.   He had a treasure trove of planes that he distributed free to the kids who stopped by.   After assembling the easy to build aircraft, they got their first lessons in control line flight and had a great souvenir to take home.   In addition, since many of the aircraft in the contest were built from Black Hawk Models kits, Larry kept himself available to provide technical assistance wherever needed.