Flying high for 60 years

The buzzing sounds of radio-controlled model aircraft were silenced briefly Saturday morning (Sept. 15) when the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada (MAAC) honoured two members of London’s Forest City Flyers (FCF) club for a lifetime of achievement in the world of model aircraft building. Archie Steels, 81, and Ted Buck, 90, were presented with MAAC’s Model Aviation Pioneers of Canada award for more than 50 years of dedication to their craft at the FCF’s home field south of London. While Buck could not attend the ceremony, which was held in the presence of more than 50 FCF members and MAAC’s president, Ron Dodd, Archie told the crowd he began building and flying model aircraft in the 1940s and said the ambitions he and Ted had at that time are still alive within those who build and fly models today. “We wanted to build a model airplane that would actually fly, not just sit on a shelf or hang on a wall.” The FCF club has 56 members and will celebrate its 60^th anniversary next year.

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