The Gathering of the Giants, an annual remote control plane show hosted by the Cape Coral R/Sea Hawks, flew over the northern skies of the city this weekend.
Both Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., thousands of spectators came to the Sea Hawks Air park on Northwest 28th Street to watch scaled down models of war and civilian aircrafts from the last century.
Ed Gamils, president of the club, said approximately 4,500 people showed up throughout the entire event.
“We had a great turnout, it’s a lot bigger than last year,” he said.
The show did close a little early on Sunday due to strong winds and overcast skies, but before people started going home it featured the “Candy Bomber,” a model of a bomber which drops loads of candy for the children to collect.
“The last thing we did is the candy drop for the kids,” he said. “The kids were happy and now we are all going home.”
There are 333 members of the Cape Coral R/Seahawks, including snowbirds who live in various other states and make up about one-quarter of all members, and residents of Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties.
Gamil said this year’s Gathering of the Giants was a team effort among the club’s 11 Board of Directors who spend the year organizing every aspect of this weekend.
“This is a premiere club,” said Gamil.
Secretary Dick Maltby said there are very few members east of Lee County and that the club has one of the best parks.
“We have one of the best facilities with our own clubhouse,” he said.
More than 50 pilots participated in this year’s Gathering of the Giants, and many of the models have wing spans between 78-80 inches.
This year’s major attraction was a B-29 bomber from Georgia. Gen. Mac Hodges, who launched a X-1 rocket ship from the World War II aircraft rendition.
On May 29-30 the club will host “Warbirds Over Paradise,” an event that focuses on different airplanes from every war over the last 100 years.
For more information on the club, visit www.rseahawks.org.