A group of high schoolers are flying radio control (RC) glider sailplanes in preparation for a flight of their own - to compete in the F3J World Championships in Norway next year.
They qualified this fall to represent the United States in the competition hosted by the World Air Sports Federation. Team Junior USA consists of five high school students, most of them are from Carbon County.
WVIA News met some of the team as they practiced at the Ashfield RC Club near Lehighton.
“It’s a physical sport with a mental aspect to it, where they’re playing chess with Mother Nature,” said David Bradley, the team’s mentor.
Bradley, a full-scale pilot instructor since the 80’s, started RC sailplane flying when his sons took interest in the sport. He has recruited and taught other students, like Anna Morell, how to fly.
“When I first learned how to fly, I’d do, like a lot of stalls, so basically I’d lose my lift,” she said. “It’s pretty tough in the beginning and also when the plane is coming at you the controls are different… It’s not like a real plane and you’re in there.”
Anna, 17, earned her pilot’s license at Beltzville Airport before she started flying RC sailplanes in July. It took her just a few months to get the hang of it, and as the only female on the team, she has already won the national title in the female category.
“It seems daunting but it’s like climbing a mountain, you gotta just go one step at a time,” she said. “And it’s really rewarding once you get through it.”
Ben McCabe, 17, also took up the hobby this summer. He had a little experience flying a drone when he was asked to join the team.
“And then he said the championships are in Norway. And I thought Norway, that’s Europe,” he said. “That’s amazing.”
The five of them will line up and fly their planes around for ten minutes, trying their best to land not a second too late, or too soon. Their mentor David Bradley explains the skills the students accumulate on the RC field.
“Aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, micrometeorology, you’ve got team building, time management,” he said. “The whole thing is wrapped in this one fun sport in this exciting challenge against Mother Nature.”
The four teammates from Pennsylvania all attend different schools in Carbon and Lehigh Counties. The fifth teammate, Charleston Thomas from Knoxville, TN, won the 2022 World Championships.
Bradley estimates the trip will cost roughly $40,000 and he wants to buy new gliders, since they have been using borrowed and donated equipment. They plan to fundraise as much as they can before the trip in summer 2024.
