Thursday 4:30 AM EST (UPDATED) Scroll to the end
Our trip to the 57th Annual WEAK SIGNALS RC MODEL EXPO at the Seagate Center in Toledo, Ohio begins.
Dave, Jim, Dave’s brother Jim and me, Len, all head out to the show. Since Dave and the gang are driving to the show, they agree to pick me up at the Cleveland/Hopkins International Airport. Being from the CT, I elected to fly into the show since there will be enough driving for me later this season. 
The flight arrives in Cleveland mid-morning and shortly after Dave and the crew pull up to collect their precious cargo — me! Off we go. After a quick brunch, we’re back on Hwy 80, churning out the final leg of our trip to OZ.
We made it!! We’re here!
The Seagate Convention Center sits in the middle of downtown Toledo, giving one an ample opportunity to see the sites as you drive (or ride) into town. We quickly checked in, getting our official badges and even a tour of the meeting rooms where we will be conducting our aerotow introduction symposiums. The staff who meet us could not have been more friendly, a nice benefit after spending 1/2 the day traveling.
Moving from the meeting rooms onto the main show floor, there was a bustle of activity taking place. Fork lifts, dolly’s, crates, what a mess.
A few vendors have already setup and gone, but most were still assembling their booths and buffing the finger prints off their prized display pieces.
Perched proudly above this chaotic scene, the New Aeroworks Carbon Cub looked down proudly from the rafters with a banner in tow. 
The Aeroworks rep, who was still setting up a few last minute items, stopped what he was doing and spend a good half hour talking with us about the Cessna 195, 
The Carbon Cub, and the little Sport Cub. We had wanted to see if the Cessna would be a practical model to use for aerotowing. After a long conversation, it was pretty much decided it would not be a great choice, and certainly not for electric power. Access to the batteries would have to be through the windscreen, which is not an easy ordeal each time you want to change the electrons. Also, the airfoil of the wing is pretty thin. In talking more with the rep who has one, he said its a fast flying plane.
So, if you want an excellent flying, fast and beautiful scale plane, the Cessna 195 is the one to get. There are better choices if you want to tow.
We managed to talk to dozens of vendors, get an all access pass to the “behind the scenes” action at the show as well as meet up with our friends from ICARE, 
Etienne and Claude. Heading over to the Icare booth and more planes to drool over, we ran into Dave Brown, our past AMA president and an old friend of Dave Darr’s. It was nice to talk to him without a hundred guys pushing you out of the way just to shake his hand.
There was too much to see and way more to report, so stay tuned for the latest news from Toldeo. It’s going to be a great weekend…..
Well, its all over now, nothing left but the clean up.
Reflecting back on the weekend, its clear there is a need and desire for what we are doing. It certainly does not come as a complete surprise, but more of a validation that most people interested in aerotowing would be thrilled to participate if they knew how to get started. Once informed about the symposiums and given the information about the site and its free content,contained on this website, you could see the wheels starting to turn in their minds.
Also during the weekend, the rcaerotowing.com team was able to secure a presents in various model magazines in the very near future.
When the dust settled, we left the Seagate Center with an invitation to return next year to give more symposiums and a guaranteed booth on the show floor.
This was my first time attending this event and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has never been there before. The show is laid out well and the staff goes out of their way to make it a good experience.
For more pictures and comments, visit THE FORUM here.
http://www.rcaerotowing.com/forum/showthread.php?193-Toledo-Pictures
http://www.rcaerotowing.com/forum/showthread.php?35-Toledo-Seminar….
Till next year, when we will do it bigger and better.
len
