ROCHESTER — As some model planes swept through the sky above Mary’s Pond, others landed in and took off from the water.

For the past 15 years, radio control pilots have stood on the pond’s shore, steering their plans above the water as part of the Bristol County Radio Control Club’s annual John Nicolaci Memorial Float Fly.

Warren Williamson of Marion estimated pilots brought around 30 planes to the float fly on Saturday, Aug. 16, which included a mix of gas and electric planes.

Williamson noted that flying model planes at Mary’s Pond is “pretty special” because many clubs don’t have access to areas where they can fly over water.

The float fly, which are flying events where model planes take off from and land in water, had to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and required the pilots to follow certain guidelines, such as flying the planes below 700 feet of altitude, according to Holcomb.

“We have a little flight bubble here,” Williamson said.

Williamson said the pilots have to be very careful when they fly at Mary’s Pond because of an osprey nest and the different directions the wind could blow.

“We’re very careful not to upset the osprey and fly near the osprey nest,” he said. “And depending on which way the wind comes, your landing can be very different.”

According to Williamson, most planes flown these days are electric powered, which are lighter and quieter than gas planes but don’t last as long in the sky.

“They fly for about five or six minutes between batteries,” Williamson said. “That’s a good amount of time to get up there and fly around and have some fun.”

Newton resident John Holcomb, who is the vice president and chief instructor at a flying club in Medfield, explained that gas and electric planes have different characteristics.

“Your plane that’s carrying a liquid fuel … it gets lighter as you’re flying, so your flying characteristics actually improve a little bit over time, whereas with an electric plane, you’re draining the battery and if you drain your battery too much, it goes into a shutdown and it means that your motor isn’t running any longer,” he said.

While some planes at the float fly were dedicated sea planes designed to land on water, many had to be accessorized with floats to land and take off from the water, Williamson said.

“Usually [when] you buy the plane [it] has wheels on it, and then you buy a float kit and then outfit it for that,” he said.

Holcomb brought a variety of planes to the event, including one that had two Styrofoam figurines inside the cockpit, which he had placed inside for superstitious reasons.

“Some of us pilots …  have some superstitions,” he said. “One of the superstitions is that if you have a clear canopy, you should always have a pilot of some kind.”

This was the second year Holcomb attended the float fly, which he said has a lot of camaraderie.

“It’s like birds of a feather flock together,” he said. “That’s very true with [radio control] pilots, especially when it comes to flying off the water because there aren’t that many places that you can do this.”

Holcomb explained he heard about the event last year and chose to return this year because people had been “so wonderful [and] accommodating.”

“It is wonderful,” he said. “I don’t know all of these people, but our brains all work the same way. We all have the same enjoyment.”