The "Faces of Strangers #32" Story

Gary the plane man.

It was an ordinary day.  My grandson Caden and I were traveling around the country roads near his house when we discovered a few guys flying airplanes in a field about 100 yards off the road.  I could sense Caden's interest so I pulled into the stone driveway that wound back to the grassy area in the middle of a field filled with foot high corn.  We found about a half dozen guys, all probably retired gentlemen, sitting under a pavilion, taking turns flying their radio-controlled planes.  We got out of the car and headed towards the action.  One gentleman, Gary saw us approaching and walked to meet us.  Gary was filled with a wealth of knowledge about his club which purchased a few acres of land from a local farmer and had the farmer level the ground so they could plant the field with grass for their club which was named the "Mount Joy Radio Control Club." Caden and I both had many questions which Gary fielded with an easy to understand answer.  He spent about 20 minutes with us and then it was his turn to fly his plane.  His plane, which had a wing-span close to five feet across, cost him $2,000 to buy and assemble.  It was powered with a battery and he was able to have it take flight in about 10 seconds.  Each member tries to fly their plane from take-off to landing on top of a hat, placed in the middle of the grass, in exactly 3 minutes.  Distance from the hat, taking too little or too much time, or landing in the middle of the corn, all took off points from their score.  Gary's plane reached over 300 feet in no time and then he turned off the engine and put it into a free-fall glide.  Back and forth from one end of the field to the other.  Another club member was calling out to him at 15 second intervals until he reached the final 30 seconds when he heard them count in five second intervals with the final 10 second countdown.  As the clock his zero Gary's plane landed directly on the top of the hat!  He raced out to pick his plane up and headed toward Caden and me to invite us to an event the following weekend.  You could see and sense his enthusiasm and passion for his hobby and he wanted us to feel the same way.  Planes start at about $250 and he thought Caden would enjoy trying it some day.  Caden and I thanked Gary, waved to the rest of the group and sat in the car to watch one more plane fly their 3 minute routine.  This one landed in the cornfield and a half dozen guys reluctantly got out of their chairs to help the pilot find his plane.  Caden looked at me and said, "I wonder how they find the plane when the grass is taller than they are?"  Good question!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.