I had the great opportunity to volunteer for Stone Blue Airlines Flying Circus FPV Festival in Covington, Va this year.
The festival was great, filled with awesome attendants and vendors, and hosted by a great group of guys: Jeremiah Guelzo, owner of Stone Blue Airlines, and his team. The festivities started on Thursday, May 19th, and concluded on Sunday the 22nd. There were over 100 pilots who braved the occasional storms on the mountaintop this year. With over two dozen sponsors and several vendors, the attendants were well taken care of. 
The Riot in the Underground was the Multi GP qualifier that was sponsored by Thrust-UAV (http://www.thrust-uav.com/) to help them launch their new RTF 250mm racing quad, the Riot. This event was held in an enormous limestone and iron ore cavern; the two locations, the mountain top field, and the caverns were graciously provided by a Covington local, Steve Bennett. I was his love of flying FPV with his grandchildren that got him connected with Jeremiah and Stone Blue Airlines. The occasional rain did not deter this hearty group of R/C flight enthusiasts though. Fixed-wing, and multirotor; FPV, and LOS, we were all there to have fun, and fly hard! The mountaintop field was available for all types of flying; the cavern was primarily for multirotors (although Alex Greve and some of the other flying wing crazies tried to fly it...notice I said TRY). Although these things made the festival awesome, what took it over the top was the overwhelmingly positive response we got from the local residents of Covington, Va., where the Flying Circus took place. From Steve Bennett (the property owner) to the Mayor of Covington, Thomas Silbold Jr. to every local I met, it was clear that the town was happy to have us here. When it got muddy, due to the rain, Mr. Bennett and his guys went as far as to lay down hay to prevent us from slipping and sliding everywhere. During the Multi GP event in the caves, there were anywhere between one to two dozen local spectators. They hung out and watched for most of the night. Huddled amongst the “rotor-heads”, these locals were bundled up and sitting in the cave, like they were at a Friday night high school football game (does this give anyone else any ideas?). It was amazing. 
After the usual response the FPV multirotor community gets from the “general public”, this was an awesome sight to behold. The residents of Covington have the spirit of flight in their hearts. The whole weekend we saw one smiling local face after another, and all were interested in FPV. Many spectators got to check out the action through goggles, on the Multi GP monitors, or on a big, beautiful, curved monitor that Atmospheric Adventures had in their tent at the mountain top field. All were asking questions; many were asking how they could get started. I must have talked with half a dozen who were asking for parts lists so they could build a mini quad. The folks of Covington have FPV Fever. As with most enjoyable events, it comes to an end WAY too quickly. But fear not, Stone Blue Airlines has already posted tentative dates for next year's Flying Circus (http://www.flyingcircusfpvfestival.com/); so mark your calendar. Your chance to fly the caverns comes next May! Written by Shawn O'Sullivan
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