For 50 years, East Texas Aero Modelers have had sky-high fun with remote-controlled aircraft

Published 10:45 pm Saturday, July 26, 2025

At a little grass runway on the south side of Longview, a group of friends gets together three times a week for some high-flying fun.

Their miniature aircraft – powered by gas engines or electric motors – zip through the air, and their pilots use remotes to make the craft fly in fantastical form, from barrel rolls to free-falls and other aerial acrobatics.

Since 1975, members of the East Texas Aero Modelers Club have been entertaining the public during air shows, taught young people about the hobby of flying remote-controlled planes and, above all, enjoyed sending their planes airborne. As club members celebrate their 50th anniversary, they want to invite others to join the action.

Most of the members got into the hobby when they were children, club President Arlyn Stewart said, but it’s never too late to join.

Remote-controlled airplanes have evolved from early-day models that had to be thrown by hand to ones with small gas engines. Now, battery-powered planes are really taking flight because they require less maintenance, Stewart said.

Pilots of RC planes can buy them pre-built or build their own. Some of the club members have entire workshops devoted to their construction. On July 6, Stewart flew a plane he built, made to look somewhat like a German aircraft from World War II. A stuffed Bugs Bunny was the pilot, and ole Bugsy flew pretty well, Stewart said.

At first, taking flight is challenging, Stewart said: “You’re gonna crash.”.

New pilots have to be trained, and after a handful of flights, they’ll develop the muscle memory and skills to be successful.

The club has more than 30 members. Club members meet three times weekly to fly: at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at the field, 2033 Cherokee St.

For some hobbyists, the joy of building an aircraft is the most fun part of having remote-controlled planes. For others, it’s the company of good, like-minded friends.

Longtime member Bobby Smith said he likes all aspects of flying.

“I enjoy coming out here and being with the guys,” Smith said.

He built his first plane when he was 9. It crashed as soon as he tried to fly it, “but you build, you try, you learn, and eventually, you succeed,” he said.

The field the men fly at used to be a landfill site. It has a long, grassy area where they can take off, fly and land. And there’s a tall tree at one end of the runway that often gets hit by their planes.

“We’ve got a great plane-eating tree down here,” Smith said. “If you go a little too far down to make your turn back to land with winds out of the south — I don’t know how many guys have run into that tree.”

Federal regulations keep pilots from flying their planes above 700 feet high. Most fly around 400 or 500 feet, though, Smith said.

Planes aren’t all that take to the skies here. Drone and remote-controlled helicopters can fly here, too.

Club members host workshops for schools and Boy Scout troops, and they’re looking to gain new members.

“We really are an open club,” Stewart said.

People who want to get involved can visit the club’s Facebook page, East Texas Aeromodelers, or call Smith at (903) 806-0527.