Written by AMA staff with information found on the MARCS website (2009)
Madison Area Radio Control Society (MARCS), Madison, Wisconsin The following information was gathered from the MARCS’ website (www.marcswi.org), written by Ozzie Johnson and edited by Chris Spierings. According to the website, their history starts with two other clubs. From the 1930s to the mid-1940s, a short-lived modeling club served the Madison-area modelers. It was referred to in various sources as the Madison Model Club, the Madison Model Flyers, the Madison Gas Club, and the Madison Gas Model Club. Club members flew at a site called Truax Field, and membership stood around 25 modelers. There is not much more information about this club. However, it is mentioned that the financial pot left from this club was used in 1956 to re-form the club. It was renamed the Madison Model Airplane Club (MMAC), made up of mostly Control Line modelers. Their members grew from 12 to 75 quickly, and their flying field was located where the local Royal Airport used to be, on the property of the Gisholt Machine Company. The first public demonstration put on by the club pulled in 1000 spectators, and it seemed the club was doing well. However, the club dissolved quickly for unknown reasons.
The Madison Area Radio Control Society (MARCS) assembled around 1961, when Joe Unger decided to form a new club. He had come to town a few years before and was disappointed to find no club he could join. With other flyers, he founded the new club, and 12 modelers joined that year. Many of these members were former MMAC members.
MARCS found its first flying site by going to the Lodi Airport, where flyers from the nearby Lodi club flew. The site mixed model and full-scale airplanes. The airport filled with modelers and full-scale aviators, so the ‘official” site needed to be moved. The Yahara Golf Course served as a site for a time, but this site also had issues. MARCS’ current sites include Kettle Field for powered models and Paul’s Turf and Tree Nursery for gliders. Their newsletter, Marcs Sparks, is published monthly, and issues can be found on their website. The group meets on the first Thursday of the month at the Madison Labor Temple.
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