ey Indiana" is provided by Columbus Visitors Center, celebrating everywhere art and unexpected architecture in Columbus, Indiana.

Tickets for guided tours and trip planning information at Columbus.in.us.

And by WTIU members.

Thank you!

>> ASHLEY: Coming up, experience racing in the Hoosier state from a different point of view.

>> BRANDON: Travel to Monon, Indiana, to learn about the state's rail history.

>> ASHLEY: Float down Sugar Creek to see a different side of Parke County.

>> BRANDON: And aim for a bull's-eye at TimberHawk Bows in Lawrence County.

That's all on this episode of -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana"!

♪ >> BRANDON: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Brandon Wentz.

>> ASHLEY: And I'm Ashley Chilla.

And we're coming to you from Riley Park in Greenfield.

Located just east of downtown, Riley Park is the home base for the Hancock County Historical Society.

It's also home to two transplanted structures, a jail and a chapel, that serve as museums today.

>> BRANDON: And we'll learn all about these historic buildings and Hancock County in just a bit.

>> ASHLEY: But first, something significantly more modern.

Producer Tyler Lake has the story of drone racing in Indiana.

♪ >> This is a Tiny Whoop.

It's a fun name for what is an impressive bit of technology.

It weighs just over an ounce, or about the same as a AA battery or an old-fashioned pencil, but the Tiny Whoop is anything but old fashioned.

It has high RPM electric motors like a Tesla, and you have to strap on some fiddley goggles, a bit like the ones Mr. Zuckerberg wants us all to wear in order to fly it.

And it goes like this... With the power-to-weight ratio that would send a superbike back to the gym, and the agility to make a fighter jet look a little bit clumsy, the Tiny Whoop is the most maneuverable of all racing drones, making it one of the most agile crafts ever made!

And this is one of the best Tiny Whoop pilots in the world.

>> FPV drone racing is getting to see what the drone sees.

So it's basically like you are flying.

It's giving you the ability to have the gift of flight.

This all started actually watching a Red Bull video.

They showed footage of him flying through abandoned buildings, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.

I want to do that.

And then slowly, I started -- I got my first Tiny Whoop.

That's my first drone I ever got back in 2019, and after that first Whoop, it went horrible.

I flew terrible, but as I put more time into it, it's something that I grew to love.

And immediately I had to -- I had to get more of it.

>> And he got plenty more, which is a good thing, because to get this fast, you have to fly a lot!

>> When you first pick up a drone and you try to fly it, it's not something that you can pick up instinctively.

It's not something that you can just pick up and be good at immediately.

It's definitely going to take practice.

It took me thousands of hours of just flying, and even in the simulator, without even picking up a real drone, just to be able to get to where I'm at.

>> But flying is only one of the many new things you have to learn in order to get your own quadcopter in the air.

>> You need a transmitter.

You need a DVR headset, motors, frames, many different parts of the actual Tiny Whoop, but you also need to learn how to put those components together to build a functioning quadcopter.

The biggest barrier of entry for most people is simply the knowledge to be able to get a drone in the air.

Flying in the air is one of the hardest things to do because you have to learn how to solder.

You have to learn how to program.

You have to learn how to manage your softwares and gear, and program everything to be able to function correctly.

It's something that I've spent many late nights just trying to get things to work right.

There's lots of glitches and lots of issues with the hardware and the software that you have to learn how to manage, because at the end of the day, it's not easy.

>> But there are people around to help.

These guys.

>> If that was wrong, it wouldn't be working.

Oh, there it goes.

>> The Indy Whoop Racers have been meeting up every other Saturday night here at Indy Cabinetry for several months.

>> There weren't any races locally.

I really wanted to get something started, and I realized that we have the perfect space already here at Indy Cabinetry.

So talked to Robert, and I asked him, hey, what do you think about starting a chapter here?

>> Robert Gough, alias Captain Mavic.

What we try to do, normally when we are racing, we start at 6 p.m. and usually finish up around 9:00 or so.

About 7 p.m., we go live.

So we're using the OBS Software to not only take all of these video signals and get them together, along with the audio, but then we'll push out a livestream to my YouTube channel on Captain Mavic.

>> At our Whoop races, we have pilots ranging from the beginner level, all the way to intermediate and advanced.

They know how to fly, and each time they race, they get better.

>> They get together.

They race, and they spend a fair amount of time assisting anyone who may need some help.

>> The community is absolutely awesome!

Everybody is just there to help each other.

>> This hobby definitely doesn't come with any instruction manuals, but from the very beginning, you know, there have been guys -- the professional pilots that are making YouTube videos on how to do the builds, and how to bind your radio, and how to set up beta flight to make it fly better and all that.

One of the first rules in the Facebook group, the 34,000-member Facebook group for Tiny Whoop is don't be a jerk.

>> 98% of the people are just so cool.

There's no judgment whatever.

They are just there to help each other out and have a good time.

Yes, there's competition racing, but, you know, in all your buddies, you know?

>> It's rare because even as a beginner, people who are filming with Michael Bay and David Attenborough will talk to you on Facebook, and say, hey, you are doing this wrong.

You can do this better.

Here's a tip I have.

>> And there is one pilot here going even further to make the hobby more accessible to newcomers.

>> So I'm Ian Mellencoat.

My racing name is Don't Crash.

>> Ian is one of our youngest pilots racing with us, and he started a 4-H quadcopter group.

He actually helps others get into the hobby through that club.

>> A lot of people, they are very new at this.

They are just getting into this.

So we help them with any kind of technical issue they will have.

Sometimes their video is not set up right.

Sometimes they accidentally change a setting, and you just have to help them figure out how to learn how to do it on their own.

The idea is to have them know how to do it by the end of the meeting sessions.

That way they can actually be more independent and just learn how to use the gear.

So we start off our meeting with a brief introduction, kind of talk about what we are going to do in the meeting, and how to, like, get their channels set up so we don't have any video overlap.

Once we finish that, get everybody started, everybody up in the air.

We had two groups today.

So we had one group go out.

We alternated to the other group and had them get some flight time.

And then Agustin or Agilis, he got to do his talk about what he does as a pilot.

I like going out and doing courses, just because it gives me a good challenge.

I get to fly against other pilots, see what they use, see what kind of gear they use, and just overall improve myself and have fun.

>> Ian is one of the pilots that has improved tremendously since the first time I've raced with him.

Every single time he comes and races, he's got a different build.

He's got more knowledge, and he takes more time into practice.

>> And while they both get their fair share of practice, Ian admits he's not put as many hours in the sticks as Agustin.

>> So I met him roughly two years ago.

Back then, he had about the exact same setup that I did in terms of quad, and we were flying together, and we were roughly the same speed.

I took a two-year break.

He didn't.

He practiced for those two years, and now he's crazy fast.

He's definitely put a lot of time and effort into that, and he's crazy fast.

>> In this group, I'm usually in the top three or four, and I usually get slotted in heats with Agilis, and I get to see him zip by me, you know.

And I just -- I just tell people it's an honor to be able to, you know, get lapped by Agilis every week.

>> And if you want to see Agilis and some of the best drone racers in the world compete, you should head to Muncie, Indiana, for the Multi GP International Open.

>> Multi GP, it's based in Florida, and what it basically is, is an organization that deals with chapters.

And chapters -- we're now a chapter, the Indy Whoop Racers here in Indianapolis.

And the top pilots from all over America come to Muncie, Indiana, and compete in the global championship.

We have tracks for beginners, for micro drones, full-scale drones, and then we have team events, and it's just unbelievable!

Thousands of pilots all compete until the final race on Saturday night.

>> We have our first ever two-time World Cup Champion.

It's BMS Thomas!

>> At IO, you will see a dizzying variety of drones.

And if you find your way to the Tiny Whoop tent, you will see a Hoosier pilot competing with, and who knows, maybe even besting the greatest drone racers in the world!

>> ASHLEY: Brandon, this feels like something that is totally up your alley.

>> BRANDON: Absolutely.

I've already signed up to go to their next meeting.

>> ASHLEY: Do you think you will be good at this?

>> BRANDON: Well, we'll find out.

I've tried once.

I flew a drone once, and like King Kong, Harvey snatched it out of the air.

So we'll see if this goes better.

>> ASHLEY: Harvey, your dog.

>> BRANDON: Yes.

>> ASHLEY: This year's Multi GP event runs from June 8th through the 12th and you can get all the info at the address on the screen.

>> BRANDON: Earlier, we caught one Michael Kester to learn more about the Hancock County Historical Society.

>> Back in 1965 is when the Hancock County Historical Society came to be, and we did not have a building.

We met in the Memorial Building, and the First Presbyterian Church in Greenfield.

A few years later in 1967, the old log jail was discovered on South Street in Greenfield, and we moved it to Riley Park.

What we have done is we've tried to simulate what a jail would have looked like when it was in operation, and then we have a room that shows what the jail looked like as a residence, because people actually live there.

The chapel in the park came later, in 1981.

This building is actually the Philadelphia United Methodist Church, and it was located not in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but Philadelphia, Indiana, which is 6 miles west of Greenfield.

This building could have been torn down, but they offered it to the Hancock County Historical Society.

We moved it down the street on wheels, and so it's been our headquarters, and a proper museum in the basement ever since.

Normally, people that come in here that are from Hancock County can relate to most all the exhibits.

We have what we call treasure cases or themed cases for children or sports or high schools or businesses.

We currently have a featured exhibit, which takes up an entire corner.

It is called Lawn and Lace, and it is about the 1890 to 1910 fabrics that the women in Greenfield were buying those fabrics at the local dry goods store in downtown Greenfield, and making their own dresses.

What I enjoy more than anything is research.

Who was the person that donated it, where it was made, how old it is, and its connection to Hancock County.

Because we normally don't take anything in the door, unless it's intimately connected to Hancock County by a person who lived here or the artifact itself was made here.

>> BRANDON: You can learn more at Hancockhistory.org.

>> ASHLEY: Up next, we are traveling to White County, to see a bit of railroad history at the Monon Connection Museum.

Producer Todd Gould has the story.

[ Train whistle ] ♪ >> It was the great mystery writer, Agatha Christie, who once penned, "Trains are wonderful.

To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, in fact, to see all of life."

This was a time when towns and townfolk were often defined by the railway.

Places where giant engines puffed noisily through villages on their way to far away destinations.

Some towns grew to be defined by the very nature of the railroad, such as in Monon, Indiana, home of the Hoosier Line, the train that moved people and products from place-to-place for decades during the early 20th century.

It is in this town, most appropriately, that one would find the Monon Connection Museum.

♪ >> The word Monon is a Potawatomi Indian word, and it means swiftly or quickly running water.

And so I think as an advertising thing, when they started calling the rail line the Monon, it was because, you know, they were thinking quickly running passenger service, swiftly running freight service.

And then when the railroad became more predominant, it was a better way to travel.

It was a better way to haul things.

It was probably much quicker than trying to travel the other way.

A lot of people didn't have cars and so that was -- that was the way to travel.

♪ >> The Monon Connection Museum is a tribute to a time gone by.

It's packed with full-sized train memorabilia, as far as the eye can see.

The museum is a veritable feast of eye candy for those interested in Indiana's rich railroad history.

All mightily displayed on an acre of land just off U.S. 421, one mile north of the town's only stoplight.

♪ >> We have the largest collection of Monon rolling stock in the country.

We've got a steam-powered crane.

We've got boxcars.

We've got three cabooses on property, one of them that you can -- when the museum is open, it's unlocked to the public, and you can go inside the caboose.

♪ >> There are more than 6500 items here.

Amazingly enough, most of the collection comes from one man, Dale Ward, who once managed a stone quarry in the area.

Ward began buying various pieces of railroad memorabilia for fun, and then just kept going and going and going.

For nearly 30 years, he gathered everything from model train pieces to full-sized train cars and other items that reflect Indiana's rich locomotive past.

♪ >> The reason he started collecting them was because he wanted to maintain history because he saw people throwing stuff away, throwing items away, lanterns, pictures, tickets, all of these items that were a part of the history of the railroad.

♪ >> One the most impressive items in the collection is a posh 84-foot castle on wheels, the Flagler train car.

Henry Flagler was one of the early American titans of industry who partnered with John Rockefeller to create The Standard Oil Company.

Flagler was also a railway executive who had this car built in 1898 for his wife.

It featured a private bedroom and dining car, Tiffany glass windows, a fireplace, and ornate woodworking throughout.

The car was eventually bought by Ike Duffy, a meat packing magnate from Anderson, Indiana, who then sold it to the Hulman family of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway fame.

>> These cars were definitely private owner cars, and these were the wealthy of the wealthiest.

They were referred to as palace cars.

Probably less than 200 of them made in that time period.

And probably -- there's probably less than 50 of them that still exist.

>> It's a warehouse-sized gallery, complete with a small restaurant and banquet room to boot.

The name Monon Connection Museum is perhaps apropos of this giant facility, not only because it traces the history of the connecting rail lines that once ran through Indiana.

It also provides visitors with a true connection to the past.

♪ >> I have multiple people telling me that when they come back a second or third time with other people, well, this must be new.

I didn't see it the last time.

Well, it's because there's so many items, it was probably here.

They just didn't see it the last time.

♪ >> ASHLEY: Lately, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos of trains because my son is obsessed with them.

And I just thought how cool would it be to take him here, because it has such a rich history in trains, and I know that he would enjoy it so much.

We should add that Dale Ward, the man behind the museum, passed away on May 20th.

The Monon Connection will remain as a tribute to his passion for Indiana's rich rail history.

>> BRANDON: Up next, we are headed down Sugar Creek to see Parke County from a different point of view.

Producer Jason Pear has the story.

♪ >> So this is Sugar Creek.

We do stretches up from Shades State Park down to Turkey Run State Park.

And then we go downstream from Turkey Run to Jackson Bridge.

So there's about, I would say, a total 22 miles that we run on, on Sugar Creek, but there's different lengths of trips for different types of people.

Short ones, long ones, medium.

So whatever you need, we kind of provide that.

♪ The covered bridges are a big draw, us being the covered bridge capital of the country.

♪ But Turkey Run and Shades are unique with the rock formations, the sandstone bluffs that you just don't get anywhere in the Midwest.

♪ People want to get out and get away from work and different things, and come out and just enjoy themselves, and a lot better way to do it is on the creek.

My dad started the company back in '83.

It's a family business.

So I grew up here.

I have a sister that helps out with it now.

So we've kind of -- the next generation has taken over.

I just loved, as a kid, just being outside, being on the creek, catching fish, skipping rocks.

And I went away for a while, and found out that there's nothing out there that I enjoy more than this place.

So I kind of came back and doing it now.

♪ >> It's a pretty user-friendly creek, where novice people can enjoy it that have never done anything like this before, or people that have been kayaking their whole life.

It fits kind of a variety of different people.

So our goal is to provide fun, outdoor recreation for a variety of ages and people to get out and have some fun and see the outdoors, and get a unique perspective of kind of one of the prettiest areas in Indiana.

♪ >> BRANDON: Ashley and I have actually been down Sugar Creek together.

>> ASHLEY: We have.

We used to do it in the summers when we would work at a summer theater together.

>> BRANDON: Yeah, if you haven't had the opportunity, I highly recommend it, because not is it just a good time with, like, your friends and family, but you also get to see nature in a very unique way.

And you can get all the info at sugarvalleycanoes.com.

>> ASHLEY: Finally, we are headed to Lawrence County to check out the story, behind TimberHawk Bows.

♪ >> Every hobby and everything I've ever done, I'm not in it very long, until I want to make my own stuff.

I've always done it.

If it was fly rods, cedar-stripped canoes, anything I can think of, I wasn't happy with it until I was making my own, for some reason.

>> For Scott Mitchell, it's a habit that developed early in life, alongside a love of the outdoors.

Case in point, when he was just 6 or 7, he wanted to go bow hunting with the rest of the family.

Only problem, Scott didn't have the right gear.

>> For some reason, the idea of buying a bow just never came up.

I guess I said I wanted a bow, and dad or somebody said, well, we'll make one.

They weren't much more than just bent saplings.

When we got old enough to use some power tools, we made some better than sapling bows, but maybe not a lot.

They just maybe looked a little bit better.

>> It would be several more decades before Scott would graduate to the sort of bow he makes today.

>> I built my first laminated glass and wood bow of the -- sort of the style, at least, you see here in 1988.

>> It was inspired by a book he had picked up, all about traditional, even primitive archery.

>> And I read that and thought, that doesn't look so hard.

It was harder than I thought.

But I decided to make one.

♪ >> Today, TimberHawk Bows, formed back in 1999, offers several models, all some form of laminated glass and wood bow.

>> Meaning, that the limbs, the part that bends on the bow is sandwiched layer of fiberglass, with wood in between it.

There's all kinds of styles of that and different combinations, but essentially that's the main component.

>> Along with the limbs, everything is made right here in northern Lawrence County.

The riser, or handle, is milled and shaped.

The various layers for the limbs are cut and sanded with precision in mind.

>> That's probably the most exacting part, is building that, and that's because the weight is so easily changed with that thickness.

>> A lesson Scott learned with the very first bow laminated he made in the late '80s.

>> It was a little tough.

I still got it.

Haven't ever shot it.

Can't put it back.

>> Once the limbs are dialed in, the bows are assembled and further shaped with power tools and finally by hand.

And when all is said and done, what are they used for?

Well, that varies.

>> 10, 15 years ago, I would have said 95% of them use them to hunt with.

That's not really true at all anymore.

It's probably getting close to half of what I make now is for people who just want to target shoot.

On mine particularly, there's not many that are bought just to put on the wall.

>> And for Scott, that's just fine.

>> I want to know people are using it, enjoying it.

♪ >> And TimberHawk customers will be glad to know that Scott is enjoying the process as well.

>> Some people ask me, a lot of times, don't you get tired of just making bows all the time?

Not really.

They are different.

Every time I make one, it's something different.

>> But it's not an easy process, and some have suggested using CNC or some other form of automation.

Being hands on with every bow that goes out the door is important to Scott.

>> I guess as long as I still sign all the checks, that's the way I'm going to have to do it for a while longer yet.

I try to make sure that every one is just as perfect as we can make it.

>> ASHLEY: Brandon, I feel like you have a lot of hobbies.

So have you ever had a hobby where you've had to build your own equipment?

>> BRANDON: I mean, really, for a lot of the cosplay charity work that I do, we have to build our own props and costumes and things like that, but nothing quite as ornate as this woodworking.

>> ASHLEY: And you can learn more at timberhawkbows.com.

>> BRANDON: And as always, we would like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

>> ASHLEY: Just head over to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

>> We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been, and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

>> ASHLEY: Before we say good-bye, let's spend a bit more time, exploring Parke County from above.

♪ >> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by Columbus Visitors Center, celebrating everywhere art and unexpected architecture in Columbus, Indiana.

Tickets for guided tours and trip planning information at Columbus.in.us.

And by WTIU members.

Thank you!