SANFORD — It was a clear and sunny day on Thursday, not a cloud in the sky.

It made for good weather for fliers at the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport, and a number of people were taking advantage of that.

But these weren’t just ordinary fliers, or at least they weren’t flying ordinary planes.

Instead, pilots on the ground used radio remote controls to guide the model planes and jets soaring the sky.

The model aircraft, most of which were built by their owners, were being flown on the first day of the four-day Maine Jet Rally featuring the Horizon Hobby Air Meet.

While Thursday, a practice day, was lightly attended, Ray Labonte of Ray and Robin’s Hobby Center in Falmouth, the main organizer of the event, said he expects 15,000 to 20,000 people to attend over the weekend.

Teaming up with Horizon Hobby this year will generate a larger crowd than last year, he said.

Heath Jackson of Maximus Hobby in York and Kittery is also involved.

The event draws a large crowd, “because we put on a good show for the public,” said Labonte, with pilots performing all sorts of acrobatic feats with their planes.

In addition to airplanes, the air show features helicopters and drones and even race cars.

“We have a mix of disciplines,” said Labonte, with “something for everyone,” along with “try-me” opportunities for the public to get a taste of flying a model plane or driving a race car.

Among the highlights of the event are aerobatic shows by some big names in the radio control field, including Matt Chapman, who won one of only five slots on the U.S. Unlimited Men’s Aerobatic Team in 1996 and 1998, according to information on the U.S. Air Meet website.

Ali Machinchy of London, England, who has performed at the air show a couple of times, is set to dazzle the crowds again. Earlier this year, he won the prestigious Top Gun Invitational Tournament, where he flew Graeme Mears’ stunning T-33 to first place in Team Scale this year.

Although Machinchy comes all the way from England to attend the air show, most pilots come from New England.

Jeff Lynds, of Columbia, Connecticut, brought his F-15C jet to Sanford. The plane is modeled on the 104th fighter wing based at the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, Massachusetts.

It took him three years to build the plane that, Lynds said, “is a scaled-down version of the real one that flies today.”

He began flying model planes at the age of 12, said Lynds, who noted that he puts on his own, smaller-scale air show in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Air shows provide a public service, he said, because there are few opportunities for people to come to small, regional airports to see what takes place there, and “it gives the opportunity to kids to see airplanes up close.”

Not all attending the air show are pilots.

Ed Olsen and his wife Cathy of Kennebunk looked on in awe on Thursday.

“I used to build these things a thousand years ago,” said Ed Olsen.

In the 1950s, when he was flying, “we didn’t have jets, we had gas-powered engines.”

“I’m overwhelmed with the technology and the ability of the pilots,” said Ed Olsen.

Even those who have no experience with model planes can appreciate them.

“I think they’re beautiful, and I love watching them,” said Cathy Olsen. “I know next to nothing of the workings of them, they’re just eye candy for me.”

Organizers say Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the best days for spectators, with Saturday and Sunday as the feature days. The Maine Jet Rally opens at 8:30 a.m. both days, with an Air Show Extravaganza at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and Night Flying Ballet at dusk. Flying is 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, with the Air Show Extravaganza at noon.

For more information, visit the website mainejetrally.org or usairmeet.com.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells contributed to this story. Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.