Patrick Henry Patriot's R/C heritage dates back to the late '70's. The local R/C club back then was known as Blue Ridge R/C Club. We were located on the southern end of the county close to Ridgeway, Va., using some land that used to be the old Blue Ridge Airport; hence the name of the club. Well time moved on and progress happened, the site fell victim to industry and now Blue Ridge Aquiculture is located on that site.
A few of the guys, namely Terry "Red" Wall, Jim Gasper,Greg Clardy, the late George Sawyers, and the late Jerome Stafford, were the core of the old club; these were the ones who held the club together by a thread. We were able to fly for a short period at Pace Airport in Ridgeway, thanks to the open arms of the late Tommy Pace who had a passion for anything that flys ! As time kept moving, the old club disbanded and Blue Ridge R/C was no more.
Fast forward to the early 90's. I as one, was just getting started in R/C when the old club fell by the wayside. I stayed in the hobby, flying sometimes at William's Airfield up in Patrick County (which is in part owned by one of our current members, Pierce Williams), and mainly flying at the large grassy field of Kings Grant Retirement Community on Rt. 174 which is a stones throw from our current field. One of our now club members, Brent Evans, decided to fly his helicopter in Jack Dalton Park which is just behind the Henry County Administration Building. .....from that the County Parks and Recreation Dept. saw a possibility! They ran an ad in the local paper for any interested party that wants to organize an R/C club and we were off. We organized a board of officers, set a club charter with the AMA, and now we have lovely Patriot Field. We fly from a paved/grass field; complete with shelter, assembly tables on the flight line, and aluminum bleachers for our visitors to enjoy watching us fly our models.We are a small club, but all hopes are that we will grow as time passes and we will live to be old and enjoy the great hobby of model aviation.
Johnny Eanes
Patrick Henry Patriot's R/C
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