April 30, 2011 was a banner day for The Stillwater RC Flyers. It marked the OSU School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering's first Speedfest, and the official opening of the Oklahome State University Unmanned Aircraft Flight Station (UAFS). The field will be used by OSU's new Aerospace Engineering Programs and the Stillwater RC Flyers.

Stillwater’s modeling club had been operating from the flying field north of married student housing since the 1950’s. While the club managed on the old field, development was encroaching on the field. Numerous efforts to locate a better field had all failed. Fortunately for the club, Dr. Andy Arena had a plan to develop a parcel of state school land for the OSU Aerospace program. Their flying practice facility in Perry had become unsuitable. Developing what would become a symbiotic relationship, Dr. Arena enlisted the Stillwater RC Flyers to help plan the layout of the new site, lay the runway fabric, and develop the program for the first Speedfest. The club’s affiliation with the AMA was instrumental in obtaining insurance coverage to protect the University as well as the club and its members. Thanks to the hard work of professors Dr. Arena and Dr. Connor, the OSU Aerospace students, the members of the Stillwater RC Flyers, the sponsors and others, the event was a major success. The event drew over double the expected crowd yet there were no major problems! The final tally was over 750 people and over 250 cars. The headliner of the event was the competition between two OSU student teams which had been tasked with designing an electric powered model aircraft to fly both a ten lap pylon course and perform a straight speed run. The teams flew 7 rounds during the day. The models were impressive and the competition fierce.

Kudos to Neil's parking plan and club members Roger and Max, who directed the cars. Kenny was in charge of grounds and Gene was color commentary during the show flights. And Rick and Tim manned a booth for the club. Dan, Paul, Ryan, Rick and Joey put on first rate flying demonstrations. Their flights were augmented by Jim Ellis who brought his quarter scale P-51 from Guthrie and Dave Kester from Tulsa who flew his turbine powered F-4 Phantom. Air boss Peter kept us safe and on schedule. Ron and crew prevented any safety problems whatsoever.

Thanks to Dr. Arena and the help of our club members, we now have a flying field of which OSU and our club can be proud.

Read more about the First Annual UAV Invitational Airshow and Speedfest.
See pictures, video, and stories about the Speedfest I.