4-H Model Planes Grounded As Trump Returns To Bedminster

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — This will be the second year in a row when 4-H members will not be able to fly their model planes at the Somerset County 4-H Fair due to President Donald Trump’s vacation plans in Bedminster.

“It is kind of a bummer because the fair is the highlight of the whole year for the kids doing these projects and working on their planes,” said Tony Devergillo, one of the Broken Props Model Airplane Club leaders in Somerset County. “It all comes to a head in August when everyone shows off.”

The model plane club is not the only ones grounded. The Somerset County rocket club will also be grounded at the 2018 Somerset County 4-H Fair, which kicks off Wednesday, Aug. 8, and continues Thursday and Friday at North Branch Park in Bridgewater.

Those dates coincide with Trump’s 11-day summer vacation in Bedminster. He will be arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport at 9:05 p.m. Thursday before he heads to Bedminster, where is expected to arrive at Trump National Golf Club at 9:25 p.m. He is expected to stay through Monday, Aug. 13.

As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a VIP Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) in the Bedminster area during his stay creating a no-fly zone for anything within a 30-mile radius of Trump's National Golf Course in Bedminster, including the fairgrounds in Bridgewater.

This essentially shuts down local airports such as Somerset Airport and Solberg-Hunterdon Airport in Whitehouse Station. And it also prohibits all other operations such as flight training, aerobatics, hot air ballooning, helicopters, skydiving, biplane rides and even flying a model airplane.

“The kids will not able to do anything,” Devergillo said. “They do know why this is happening and security of the president is number one. It’s just sad this has happened.”

Devergillo has been working with the Secret Service to try and get a waiver to still be able to fly. However, being within the no-fly zone makes it very difficult.

Devergillo has explained that the club is a youth and educational group and that the planes can not go out of site from the flyer since they are radio controlled. He also noted the planes can only fly at most 12 minutes in the air if on fuel and five minutes on a battery.

“They have limitations in many ways and I explained that to them but the 10 mile radius is a big thorn in our side,” Devergillo said.

Even if the kids can’t fly, Devergillo said the club will still be at the fair with a tent and a simulator where locals can simulate flying sessions.

Additionally, they will have skimmers — little foam hovercrafts — that the kids will build and glide across the ground.

“I am a Bedminster native and it is neat having the President in our backyard,” Devergillo said. “But when it disrupts kids, who are not sitting in front of the computer but are outside doing something different... It’s sad in that way we have to do this. But we understand why it is being done.”

The fair will run 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. all three days, with free shuttle buses running from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. each day of the fair from Raritan Valley Community College Rt. 28, North Branch. Daily schedules and maps can be found at the Information Booth or online at www.somersetcounty4h.org/fair.

(Images via Tony Devergillo: Somerset County Broken Props Model Airplane Club)

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