============ Azalea City Model Aeronautics, Mobile, Alabama,
USA =================
============== “From the Pits” Field Activities,
April 12, ’09 =======================
…...….... All photos and videos by Frits Jetten unless
otherwise indicated …….....
A couple of quick reminders: Apr. 18 (Sat) — ACMA The
Colonel’s Night Fry & 100th Birthday Party. Henry
Waltman, aka “the Colonel”, sure doesn’t look 100
at all, does he? He’s still well-preserved… Bring something
to eat if you want to participate in this fish fry/birthday bash /night
flying event. I have sent an updated menu to all club members. It
shows who is bringing what. Some items are still needed...
Perhaps one of you showoffs can put on a special demonstration for
the centenarian being fed and fêted Saturday. Something like
this, but instead of that wimpy plane used in this video, use a ¼
scale warbird
… And hey, don’t forget on Apr.19 (Sun) — ACMA’s
Monthly Combat. The battle starts promptly at 2:00
PM.
Lloyd Patrick sent me an e-mail message and pointed out a case of
mistaken identity in my last report. I had mentioned that Rob Baker
ramp-launched a Sky Raider. Well, it was not a Sky Raider. Not even
close! This is what an A-1H
Sky Raider looks like. What Rob flew was an F4D
Skyray. I have made the correction in my database, Lloyd. Now,
to last weekend’s report.
Last week we saw the very first pictures of another wild product
of that unique model aircraft company, SASkWOT (Sanderson's Advanced
Skunk Works of Outrageous Technology), and its prolific owner...
This time Robert had cut off a couple of sections of the Double Trouble’s
fuselage to shift the center of gravity back some.
Frits, who immediately applied for test pilot service, just wants
to suggest that you don’t make it tail-heavy AT ALL, Robert!
And make sure the lateral balance (between the wing tips), is correct.
Robert claims this Double Trouble will set a speed record for a SPAD
plane, good enough to be entered in the Guinness Book Of World Records.
(SPAD – Simple Plastic Airplane Designs). We’ll soon see!
The first flight is coming up very soon!
Another wild flying contraption, er, invention, that Robert came
up with a year or so ago has been revived. Yep, it’s the Toad
Moto Kite Plane!
Or was that the Flying Kite Frog Cycle? The Cycling Toad Flying Kite?
I don’t remember any more. But Frits can at least claim two
relatively successful flights on the original one. It’s a combination
of an aluminum channel for a fuselage, a stunt kite, a couple of pieces
of Coroplast for stabilizers, a length of yard stick, and a bicycling
frog lawn ornament. Scheduled first flight of the new model will be
this upcoming weekend!
Elton Sullivan brought his planes on Saturday, along with his nephew
Trevor. Elton
also had a couple of RC cars with
him. Frits wanted Elton to mount a small wing on that car to make
it glide several dozens of feet after “getting some air”
during a jump…
Elton changed his mind about selling his Raptor helicopter. As a matter
of fact he bought a new canopy for it. Very patriotic!...
Elton no stranger to wild and garish colors, showed off the flames
on his new Cub’s fuselage. It changes colors as your viewing
angle changes.
Paul Verger flew his Aeroworks Extra.
He mentioned to me that this red one is the Extra-300. The other one,
a blue one, is the Extra-260. Have you noticed that Paul, an old (not
meant literally, of course…) precision aerobatics competition
pilot, still uses a nice wood-grained “flight desk” for
increased stability?…
Randy Bodiford showed up with an old, 1979 vintage SIG
Kadet. He was waiting for Andrew Smith to show up and fly it,
but Andrew wasn’t there. At least not while I was there. He
did show up later.
Wayne Miller brought his Pacific Models Edge-540,
I had to go home early to do some Easter family stuff. The next day
I found out that the Edge went in hard and pretty much was destroyed.
The cause of the crash? I was told that Wayne admitted to “pilot
error.” Oh, well. Now you’ll HAVE to fly that P-51 Mustang
you were working your way up to… Go ahead, you can do it, Wayne!
I heard that Raymond Murtha was out early on that gusty Sunday morning,
but I’m not sure he flew anything in the gusty winds…
There was a lot of standing around going
on. As far as I could find out, Justin Peacock was the only one
who flew on Sunday. He flew his Align T-Rex 600 Nitro helicopter,
and did very nicely in the gusty conditions, I’m told. And even
though his engine quit while the heli was inverted several inches
off the asphalt, Justin managed to quickly flip it over and save it
from certain destruction…
Terry and Thomas Brownlee were at the field, but they didn’t
fly — they only observed. Here’s a picture Elton took
several weeks ago of the Brownlees…
Billy Frost rode in on his Russian URAL motorcycle.
He and Frits were trying to decipher an obviously Russian word on
the mud flaps.
As Frits suspected, it stands for URAL… There was a dogfight
of sorts going on, but it was between a hawk and a couple of smaller
but very vocal attackers.
Robert had brought his Fokker DR-1 triplane.
As is customary at the North End, a small crowd of onlookers, supporters,
assistants and hecklers gathered around the plane. But only Elton
and Carl Broughton offered some hands-on assistance. The Fokker did
not fly however…
Carl showed up with his Jerry Bates Sport-240 aerobatics plane, but
it remained firmly chocked in the back of his truck…
Jeff Foster made it to the field to check up on his nice crop of
clover, the flowers of which were dotting the grass everywhere. Very
pretty, Jeff!...
John and Joyce Walker showed up too, but they were just visiting.
They sampled the food in the kitchen…
Dean Ritola had no flying planes to take pictures off, so he reviewed
the many that he had taken before on Al Ayler’s iPhone…
Ken Tow brought and flew his Airwolf helicopter.
It has retractable gear.
Speaking of Al
Ayler… He brought his trailer loaded with all his planes.
And this time, he brought a “new” plane.
Well, not really. This is the repaired AT-6/SNJ-6 Texan.
(AT was used by the Air Force, SNJ by the Navy.) This is the same
warbird that he banged up at the Bay Minette Air Show last
year. But now it has a nice new paint job and detailing.
Of course Al again had to explain what happened to the Texan last
year. Terry, Jon, Henry, Carl and Dean had to listen to his rather
weak explanation.
Finally Al decided to get the plane out and do just an engine
test. He taxied it out to the runway.
But he could not be talked into taking it up for a flight!
Next weekend, he promised.
Sound to me as if next weekend is going to be jam-packed with activities!
Let’s see… At least two first flights, Henry’s 100th
birthday blowout, a fish fry, night flying, combat… Tell me
— how can you stay away from our flying field? I don’t
care WHAT my wife has planned for me next weekend, I’m going
to put my foot down and tell her NO, and you’ll see me at Irvington
Field (…I may be on crutches…)
I’ll see you at the field. Fly safe!
======= Upcoming Flying Events - Azalea City Model Aeronautics
======
From now on only ACMA events will be listed in these Pits Reports.
Details about them and other clubs’ events are always available
on our ACMA Website > Events Calendar. Or select
from main menu on the left side of this report.
Apr. 18 (Sat) — ACMA The Colonel’s Night Fry
& 100th Birthday Party.
Apr.19 (Sun) — ACMA’s Monthly Combat.
Starts promptly at 2:00 PM.
Apr. 25 (Sat) — ACMA’s Spring Scale Fly-in.
Details here.
If you need a map to a flying field — either to Irvington Field
or to another club’s field — go to our ACMA Website and
select Field Maps. Or select from main menu
on the left side of this report.
======== ACMA’s Upcoming 12th Annual Armageddon Fun
Fly -May 30 =========
May 30 is the date for the popular annual ACMA Armageddon
Fun Fly will be here before you know it! Rob Baker —
owner of HobbyTown USA in Mobile and Daphne — will again be
the organizer of this event. He’ll soon set a date. Rob always
supports our events and he usually donates THREE airplane kits for
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. And we appreciates everything Rob
does for our events.
This will be the 12th annual Fun Fly! Get a plane ready now. Nothing
fancy! It needs to be a plane you’re not too fond of, but one
that can perform in a variety of competition events, fast and slow.
The same plane must be used for all events, unless you crash it beyond
repair. In that case you can substitute another plane.
You’ll perform in simple events like: Aircraft Carrier
Landing - a precision landing event; 3 Loops, 3 Rolls,
1 Touch-‘n’-go, 3 times - a timed event; Egg
Drop - a precision “bomb” drop; and Limbo
- flying under a stretched ribbon, with extra points if you can do
it inverted or knife-edge!
On Armageddon day Combat is a optional and separate event around
noon, but you can use a different plane for that. Armageddon is an
all-day fun event with a lot of action! Plan to come to this one!
Better yet, participate in it!
========= Advertising Your For Sale Stuff in the Swap Shop
===========
You know you can advertise your For Sale items with photos in the
Mobile Area RC Aviation Forum’s Swap Shop.
Go to the main menu shown on the left of this report
and select Swap Shop. First-timers must register
with a username and password, but that’s free and it is very
easy.
If you have questions or need help with this, just e-mail me >
fjetten@aol.com..
======== If You Have Any Comments About These Pits Reports…
=====
I welcome any comments regarding these Pits Reports — good
or bad.
E-mail me > fjetten@aol.com.
Azalea City Model Aeronautics Website > http://www.acma-rc.com/index.html
Frits Goes Hollywood - Click For Details
