============= “From the Pits” Field Activities,
Aug. 29 & 30, ‘09 =============
…….... All photos and videos by Frits Jetten unless otherwise
indicated …….....
The ACMA Fish Fry & Nite Fly is this Saturday,
September 5.
After you have had your fill of fish and stuff, get out your night
flying planes and join the fun in the dark!
Last weekend saw some bad weather. But as usual, it didn’t
last long, even though some tried to get away from the rising
waters. And this may have been a coincidence, but when Henry Waltman
along with his pleasant disposition showed up, the clouds parted,
the sun came out and the flying started! Amazing!...
Henry flew his SIG Kadet Senior a couple of times. He also turned
over the transmitter to Jon and Tony
Farmer… Frank Madison showed up with his scale F8F Bearcat
, the “Rare
Bear”. The flight was nice and the landing uneventful.
Paul Kelly brought several airplanes. A Lancair and two NexSTAR trainers.
Not sure if he also had his Four Star 40 with him. One of the NexSTARs
had been converted from a tricycle gear system to a tail dragger.
One landing put him in Frits’ emergency landing zone, south
of the runway.
Paul did really well with the Lancair.
There were some problems.
But nothing bad happened!
Lee Carroll had a couple of nice flights with his Seagull Models
Edge-540, a small electric
model. He showed up with fellow Mississippian Paul Verger, who
had brought his Extra-300…
Paul made another test flight on Frank Rowell’s Cermark Sukhoi.
He helped trim out the hot
pink plane. Although Frank’s wife Julie agrees that the
plane looks very pink, I think Frank prefers that I call it magenta.
C’mon Frank, you know it takes a REAL man to fly a hot
pink plane!...
Rob Baker showed up with a plane I had never seen before, an electrically
powered Radian sailplane. Rob got it up pretty
high. He also let Frits fly it. Frits had a nice flight, even
doing some rolls and loops.
A very nice flying sailplane!
TJ Rohyans brought his Lanier Stinger 60 and a 40-size Piper
Cub. He had Henry Waltman and Wayne Boudreaux check out the electronics.
But that did not prevent him from nosing over his Cub when he landed.
Did you know that TJ LOVES
RC?...
Jeff Lee P-51 showed up with a small electric foam Mustang.
Frits hand-launched it for him. The plane was very fast and performed
really well.
Until — the elevator give out! The little warbird went in hard.
But it’s not damaged to the extent that it can’t be repaired.
That Mustang will be back.
Jeff also showed some interest in some helicopter stuff that Tony
Beckham had for
sale. Not sure if any of the helis changed hands… Speaking
of helicopters. Scott Gayle and his son Chris showed up wih a Raptor
50 helicopter. Looks as if Chris has been flying helis on the simulator.
With dad Scott on the other end of the buddy box, he hovered the heli
and did quite well.
David Doss had his Escapade with him. He thinks he’s followed
by a small black cloud. Today was no different. He was doing so well
until the canopy came off in flight! It was held on by two tiny magnets
and a dowel. Obviously the magnets were not strong enough. People
forget that the canopy acts as an airfoil, and the low pressure above
the canopy wants to suck it right off the fuselage. David and others
looked for the canopy, but they didn’t find it. David was grounded…
Jon Koppisch flew his Force 1, a delta wing pusher.
In flight it looks a bit strange.
But this little flying wing always does well…
Wes Batson and Sam Chest had their large aerobatics planes out. I
didn’t watch Wes fly, but I’m sure he did. Sam flew his
Extra-260.
He demonstrated some 3D stuff and then came in for a nice
landing.
Sam Guirges was back with his Solo Star trainer.
This time there were no problems starting the engine. Sam actually
dead-sticked and Frits let him land, because he was pretty low and
they were not using a buddy box. It was Sam’s first landing!
And it was fine. Next week Sam will be learning to take off, Frits
says…
Russ Green brought two of those small foam combat planes this
time. He was testing the new green one out. Will he fly one in
our monthly combat event, or will he only enter it in a special out-of-state
combat event for just those small planes?
We’ll see…
Roger Hagler flew his Mini Funtana, which is powered by a .15 engine.
He made a rather hard landing which sheared one of the nylon bolts
holding the main gear. But it was easily fixed. Roger also flew his
Dazzler, the largest plane in his
fleet. Then Roger got involved with a battery problem. He tested
the battery while Billy and Joe Krebs put in their four cents worth…
Johnny Turner flew his very green Avenger combat
wing. It flies very fast and is highly maneuverable.
Not sure if Johnny will use it in combat… Billy Krebs flew his
EZ Sport, after Jon took
it off. Al also got involved and gave Billy some moral
support.
Robert Sanderson and Joe Krebs both showed up with a Fokker DR-1
tri-plane. Joe appeared to have engine
problems. But Robert flew his.
Landings with these type planes can be tricky.
Jon even flew Robert’s Fokker low and inverted.
Al Ayler also flew it, and he too made a nose-over
landing. Robert’s landing was good, but also flipped
over… Robert took posession of his “new” night
flier, a Tiger 2…
And Al could be seen on his soapbox, ranting about something to whoever
would listen…
Robert’s second Double Trouble twin-engine speed plane is slowly
taken form. It looks pretty wrinkled already, Robert! How will that
affect the aerodynamics?
To Frits, who has flown the original Double Trouble more than a half
dozen times, those engine mounts don’t look to be in the correct
place, but Robert says they are fine. Frits says the mufflers will
add weight to the right, moving the CG off-center… Robert and
Russell Ward found time to play with water…
Late in the evening the North End finally turned quiet…
The North Pits has its own distinctive feature now. A watermelon
vine has started to grow at the pits’
edge… Jeff Foster thought that the South Pits pond that
had recently been created by Mother Nature had been there long enough
to have critters living in it, and he decided to do some fishing.
Jeff ain’t quite right…
Hey, here’s a bonus feature. Thanks to club member Don Harlan,
who sent me the link. Thanks, Don! I enjoyed every minute of this
5-minute Oshkosh Airventure 2009 video. Some may like that catchy
song that accompanies it, but the scale purists will probably rather
hear those engine
sounds…
Remember our Fish Fry & Nite Fly event on Saturday…
And our Fall Scale Fly-in in October…
This is all I’ve got... I’ll see you at the field. Be
safe!
============ 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
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