They’re fascinating, fast, familiar and most of all – fun.
People have always been captivated by pint-sized versions of life-size objects and machines. For more than a century, toy planes and trains along with horses and houses have provided endless hours of entertainment and excitement for the young and the young at heart.
The USS Midway Museum has brought that same playful spirit, with a naval twist, to its flight deck with Middie’s Fleet, an engaging collection of radio-controlled toy boats.
The museum installed a 660 square-foot shallow pool forward of the island adjacent to aircraft elevator 1 where guests can now take the helm of remotely operated boats driving them in a bumper-car fashion.
“We were looking for a low-cost, family fun activity to increase our interactive experiences for visitors to the museum,” said Mark Berlin, Midway director of operations. “As we’re a decommissioned aircraft carrier, it was important that we kept the nautical theme to the experience. The radio-controlled boats seemed like a perfect fit.”
While this type of attraction is not out of the ordinary for theme parks, constructing a 4,000-gallon pool on a ship is a bit unusual. Midway enlisted the expertise of Xando Miller and his PAY2PLAY RC firm to find a way to make it work.
“I visited the Midway early last year and it suddenly hit me that RC boats would be perfect here,” said Xando, who has been in the carnival gaming business for nearly 20 years. “I thought the naval theme and RC boats go hand in hand. I also felt that it could add something for the Midway’s younger visitors, although there really is no age limit to the boats.”
Although Midway sits in the water of San Diego Bay, constructing a pool in a way that would minimize or eliminate potential damage to the museum’s various operating systems was a challenge that needed to be overcome.
“The difficult part was coming up with the original design,” said Xando. “One of the criteria for the Midway was to have a non-permanent structure. Once we figured that out, getting the pieces on board and putting the tank together was relatively easy. The tank is fully modular and if we had to move it, we can.”
Once the pool was constructed, six helm stations were installed along its sides where guests actually drive the boats. Each helm station contains a transmitter that sends radio signals on distinct frequencies to receivers in the boats that allows visitors to steer their miniature vessels as well as adjust speed. By scanning a credit or debit card at the helm stations, guests can choose a three- or five-minute experience.
The 12 boats, which come in a variety of different designs and are 31 inches long, were immediately popular with guests.
“This was an unexpected treat,” said Jason Reichel, who was enjoying the RC boats during a visit to Midway with his son Connor. “We were surprised to find something like this on the ship. My son had blast driving the little boat around and bouncing off the other boats in the pool.”
“I love seeing the joy on the faces of everyone who plays,” said Xando. “It’s pure and simple. My satisfaction from Middie’s Fleet is that nobody gets disappointed. They know exactly what they’re getting and walk away happy each and every time. It’s also easy to think RC boats are just for kids, but time and time again I’m proven wrong by seeing how many older people play. There’s a childlike curiosity in all of us that makes us want to play with the boats.”
While the launch of Middie’s Fleet has been a success, there are still some additional upgrades planned for later this year.
“Now that we know the boats are popular with our guests, we plan to add some islands in the pool to navigate around as well as some educational information about who actually drives a real Navy ship,” said Mark. “You can never have too many things for families to enjoy doing together.”
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