DECATUR - There aren't many indoor swap meets where buying and selling conversations are interrupted by a double-winged aircraft, hanging in the air vertically by its nose, that dances by at head height.

And the fact that the plane is small enough to fit in your sock drawer and the only sound it makes resembles a large, angry gnat is another surprise. Welcome to the world of radio-controlled model aircraft, 2009.

Ultralightweight planes powered by tiny electric motors and rechargeable batteries have reshaped the hobby and remodeled its cost. The one hovering and looping the loop Sunday at the annual swap meet of the Decatur Aerocommanders Club, hosted at Decatur Airport, is set to sell for about $110.

Learning to fly it like that takes awhile, though. "About a lifetime," joked pilot Mike McConville, 45. He's a senior product designer with Champaign-based Horizon Hobby, which builds these amazing machines. He says this particular model isn't aimed at beginners, but there are plenty of easier ones out there for neophytes. And if you crash these cheaper, easily put together aircraft, it isn't a wallet-sized tragedy anymore, either.

"The hobby is more popular than ever because it's more affordable and more accessible," McConville said. "We make a lot of little helicopters, too, and they have really expanded the hobby because they work right out of the box and almost fly themselves."

You could find examples of these and just about every other type of model aircraft at Sunday's swap meet, which featured more than 50 tables manned by buyers and sellers from as far away as Iowa and Ohio. Aero Commanders Club president, Mark Fitzgerald, said the money the club takes in from table rents is the wind beneath its wings: "It helps keep us afloat through the whole year," he added.

"We have our own five-acre field (near Oreana) and it pays for our mowing, pays for our rent."

The club always is looking for new members and says it has seasoned pilots who will take a fledgling under their wings and teach them how to fly. Then they can try their hand at something way cool such as an electric-powered F-16. which Mount Vernon flier Tom Duncan had brought along to the meet.

"I can get 70 or 80 mph out of it," said Duncan, 66, who recommends flight for stress control. "You have a bad day and you're all wrung-out, flying is a great way to let your emotions go and have a good time."

For more information about the Decatur Aero Commanders Club, go to decaturaerocommanders.org.

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