Wings Over Windsong, Celina Record

RC planes take to the skies over Prosper during Wings Over Windsong Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Jun 2, 2016 Around 100 remote-controlled airplanes are scheduled to take flight Saturday (weather perrmiting) during the second annual Wings Over Windsong event at Windsong Ranch in Prosper. Lauren Stephan, lifestyle director for Windsong Ranch, said about 800 people attended the inaugural event last November. She expects an even larger crowd at this weekend’s gathering. “It’s the first weekend that kids are out of school” for summer break, she said, “so we’re hoping that a lot of people come.” The free event is a good fit for the master-planned community, Stephan said, which boasts 600 acres of open green space where the planes can take off and land. “We tell people to bring their lawn chairs, bring their blankets. It’s going to be a fun, summer day with lots of family activities,” she said. RC planes modeled after those that flew during World War I and II will be highlighted, as well as sport and acrobatics planes. As it did last year Windsong Ranch again partnered with the nonprofit, Indiana-based Academy of Model Aeronautics which called upon its member organizations, including RC clubs in Richardson, Rowlett and North Dallas, to recruit pilots to fly their planes during the event. Other pilots will travel from throughout the country to attend, Stephan said, including five from California whose planes will perform acrobatic maneuvers. “Typically pilots for events this big will have to pay a fee, but we don’t charge a fee for our pilots to fly,” she said. Instead, pilots and members of the public are being asked to donate money at the gate to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The RC planes will be flying “constantly” throughout the event, Stephan said, and drone races are also scheduled. The latter, she said, is “something people are really interested in, so it’s a component we wanted to add for the crowd’s entertainment.” At 11:45 a.m. a helicopter, supplied by PHI Air Medical, will land at the site. “The kids are able to sit in the helicopter and touch all the buttons and take photos,” Stephan said. Bounce houses and an obstacle course will also be available for youngsters, and adults may enjoy the flight simulator and trio of food trucks at the event.