Watching Dave Yardas fly his airplanes any given weekend is always a lesson in acrobatics and precision flying.  Dave enjoys being the center of attention, and why not?  He's really good!  But his talent has not been without the pains and humiliation associated with flying fast airplanes.  Dave is a commercial painter these days, but he cut his teeth in motorcycle racing, and has many hours in the left seat of Cessna 172's, 150's, and even a Piper Cherokee!

I caught Dave at the field this week, and as usual, he had his big Yak in the back of his car, along with his more modest scale Katana MD.  It's not surprising to see Dave there in the middle of the afternoon - he seems to fly whenever he can, because he loves the sport so much. 

Dave's been flying R/C for about ten years now, and signed on with CCRCS back in '05.  He hails originally from the Woodland area, and quite often you'll see his son Miles at the field, learning the ropes!  Often, you'll see him teamed up with his friend and fellow CCRCS club member Randy Boardman.  Together, they can entertain a crowd with a good show - hmmm, which reminds me - shall we talk about mid-air's?  We could count a few. . .

His worst experience, he tells me, was flying out at Fern Prairie one afternoon a few years ago, flying his Hawk Hotliner.  The Hawk is a sailplane with a motor for soaring, and as per Dave's style, this plane was certainly over-powered!  (It's probably similar in appearance to the one I've posted here.)  Anyone watching Dave fly will be impressed with his flying style, but sometimes, we know, the birds can get away from us. . . as he tells it, Dave was flying inverted across the runway, trying to roll-out, but the 35 MPH winds got the best of him.  Losing control of the bird, it headed across the parking lot and smacked nose-on to the porta-potty stationed there!  He says he never got the guy's name that happened to be INSIDE the porta-potty at the time - but it was quite a ruckus!  That was pretty bad, but we gotta feel worse for the innocent guy in the potty!  I sure wish I had a picture of that!

He says his best flying experience has been flying with fellow CCRCS club member Grant Lord up in Chilliwack, Canada.  I guess they hold their famous fun flys around Memorial Day and Labor Day each year.  Canadian warbirds ( what - Canada has a miltary? ) are known to fly over almost everyday - smoke on!  People come from all over North America, and even as far away as Germany!  This webmaster has not heard of this field, but the way Dave tells it: "Mountains all around, with waterfalls, grass everywhere.  Four days of fun fly in the grass - you don't put your shoes on the whole time you're there!"  Wow!  Sounds like a pretty cool place.  I tried to find pictures on the 'net for the area to get a look, and you can see the pictures I found posted here below. . . hmm. . . I think I might like to try the area - looks like some pretty interesting pilots there!  Check out one club's website at www.rcfcbc.com.

So why does Dave fly at CCRCS?  He says he likes the "small-time politics" here. . . !  For the cynical - I have to tell you he meant that as a compliment. . . he's been known to associate with biker groups, and as he puts it: "In my biker group, somebody with a beef would be leaving the club bleeding. . . "  Hmmm.  Ok.  Let's not go there. . . !  He's been a member of other clubs in the area, and as he puts it, they can be "snotty," or full of "snooty members" or "old politicians!"  All this wisdom from a motorcycle racer . . . hmm!

I asked Dave how he got to be so proficient in his flying, and he was quick to declare that "any stick time is good time."  So, along with his daily flying and real aircraft flight training, occasional forays on a simulator have helped him.  He'd like to own his own full-scale aircraft someday, but he is a family man now, and costs are prohibitive. 

Many of us have met his son Miles at the field on occasion with Dave, and Dave says he's already bring up Miles, who's 5 years old, and his son Andy, who's 3, into the sport.  Andy likes the R/C cars, and Miles will be cutting his teeth on a E-Flight Vapor.

What you might not now about Dave is that he's a retired motorcycle racer!  As early as his teens, he'd been racing a special circuit - "Motard," which comprises dirt bikes fitted with street tires.  (See picture on left)  Racing for 10 or 12 years, he does have a few championships or wins to his credit, including a "12-Hour Superbike Series" in '92 and '93.  He placed 7th in the Washington Off-Road Championship one year!  Dave says he hasn't raced now since about 1998. 

If you get a chance to meet Dave - ask him about his boys, and be sure to ask him to show you a couple of tricks or more in R/C aircraft flying.  He's always happy to put on a show!  And I'm always happy to watch!  And oh yeah - did he get the phone numbers for the girls with the airplanes???