============ “From the Pits” Field Activities,
Sep. 5, 6 & 7, ‘09 ============
…….... All photos and videos by Frits Jetten unless otherwise
indicated …….....
There was a nice crowd early Saturday afternoon. Roger Hagler had
brought his Lazy Bee, but the wind blew it off a table early in the
afternoon, causing some damage. Roger was grounded… Raymond
Murtha flew his yellow Laser.
The flight ended with a relatively smooth landing.
Ray was happy.
David Etheredge and grandson Hunter Walker showed up with their Ultimate
Bluehawk biplane, the U-Can-Do 3D plane, a Raptor 50 helicopter, and
Hunter’s Carl Goldberg Eagle 2 trainer. Hunter got a couple
of flights in on the Eagle 2. David flew the biplane.
And the U-Can-Do.
Later he showed off his heli
skills. Which were more advanced than I thought. Nice flips and
no flops!
Tommy Shields showed up with his AT-6
Texan. Take off had a little problem in that the right gear almost
collapsed.
Tommy still had a nice
flight. And the landing was a bit shaky because of the gear, but
all went
well… Robert Sanderson flew his tri-winged Fokker.
I think he actually made a nice landing this
time.
Henry Waltman showed up with a Radian sailplane.
He let Al do the launch.
And with impeccable grace and form, Al heaved the plane into the sky,
even showing some
skin. Al also got to fly the glider…
Another chair bit the dust and can be thrown away. It
was Al… Russell Ward, with a truck full of planes, was discussing
Cub stuff with Rhonda and Gary
Johnson.
Jonathan Festa was busy assembling his Edge-540.
He likes this giant scale 3D
plane. He doesn’t even bring his smaller one any
more. He entertained us with some of his 3D and IMAC maneuvers.
(IMAC – International Miniature Aircraft Club).
Jon Koppisch flew his Force 1 delta wing again, doing some nice low
passes… Elton Sullivan brought his trailer, which is filled
to capacity, but he only unloaded his Cub 40, an electric Hangar 9
Pulse, and his Kaos 40. Elton was prepared for the night fly and ready
to party! Notice the Tiki
torch!
The ACMA Fish Fry & Nite Fly turned into a resounding
success. We had more people present than at any other prior night
flying event.
The fry cooks, Andy Anderson and Tony Farmer, did a great job on
the hushpuppies and fish.
Event organizer Robert Sanderson handled other cooking jobs. Thanks
also go to Alvin Reed who put his old meat cutter skills to good use
on the snapper.
It was all snapper. Al Ayler didn’t bring the nice cobia he
had caught the day before…
Russell handled the money intake. Tony’s wife René made
sure Tony breaded the fish properly.
And Susan Finizola, wife of President Enzo, (far left in previous
photo) ended up washing dishes after it was all over. I’m sure
there were others who helped out and your efforts are also very much
appreciated.
There was plenty of food.
Thanks to all the club members, prospective members and non-members
who participated or contributed food items like desserts, vegetable
dishes, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, cakes, pies and ice
cream. It was all delicious! I believe everyone enjoyed themselves…
Some too much…
Good thing there was plenty…
Then it got dark and the night flying started. Not many flew, of
course, but that is normal. Night pilot regular Robert was present
with his Tiger 2.
He let Jon Koppisch fly if first. Later Frits also flew the it. Frits
thought that it wasn’t that difficult to keep up with. Frits
even did several rolls. You just have to be sure that no light sticks
are slung off during a fast roll!
Taking pictures of night planes in the dark is difficult with a digital
camera. The flash is not effective, and without a flash the results
can be unpredictable.
But very colorful…
Ed Callen also flew, but he quickly landed his plane, because the
two small light ropes that he had taped to the leading edges of the
wing were totally invisible from the rear and from the side! In spite
of that he managed to make a good landing…
Jimmy Kennamer brought out a nice, small biplane, a replica of the
Wright Flyer.
He had renamed it “Night Flyer”, as he had put some hi-tech
lighting tape on the wing’s support
struts. This tape, covered with really bright LEDs can be cut
and soldered to conform to different angles.
The LEDs were very
bright! (Last two pictures by Elton Sullivan). Unfortunately his
night flying was cut short because of a rather harsh landing.
A heavy tail was thought to be the cause.
Another regular night pilot, Ken Tow, flew his excellently lighted
flying wing.
It was really bright, and Ken did a nice job flying the thing…
We missed Andrew Smith. He did not make it to this night flying event.
Andrew has some planes that are also well-lit and highly visible in
the dark…
There was a football game on, and several football aficionados were
glued to the TV set.
Alabama won, in case you missed it… The party ended quietly.
Russell was all
tuckered out… Very late in the evening, after the cleanup,
Enzo and Elton could be seen trying to improve the kitchen table with
some leftover counter top sections.
It’s still in the planning stages. I see another project coming
up!…
On Sunday Paul Verger had an incident with his Aeroworks Extra-300.
The engine had died just after he had taken off. Unfortunately his
altitude was not high enough to make a nice return to the runway.
The plane went in downrange from the runway in the tall
grass. There was visible damage to the propeller.
And Paul could not find anything else broken, so he replaced the prop
and flew it again.
No problems this time.
Jon was back with his Yak-54.
He and Jonathan flew their giant scale 3D
planes. They flew together, mostly.
They did some 3D hovering and maneuvering.
They even did some low inverted passes, not often seen done by 3D
or IMAC pilots.
Jon and Jonathan put on a nice
show. Agains a nice
sky.
Mike McLaughlin flew his little bullet, the small, electric Corsair…
Sam Chest showed up with only a small model, an electric on by Aeroworks…
Tony Farmer flew his electric Mini Ultra Stick, and had his Thunder
Tiger Raptor 50 heli on display. He wants to sell the helicopter,
so he doesn’t dare fly it any more…
Al Ayler finally flew his Douglas SBD “Dauntless”.
I believe Jon Koppisch took it off first. It appears to be underpowered,
judging from the long takeoff. But the flight and landing were
fine… Al also flew his black
Corsair. It’s painted black with red markings because this
version was a night flying submarine
hunter.
Well, when Jon took it off, the left wheel came off. But it became
airborne and flew
fine. The Corsair handled
well. It had been flown several times in
the past. Al just doesn’t fly it enough!
Al soon took over the controls.
And he flew a full flight. Al chose to do a belly landing with gear
up, of course. It went relatively
well. No large pieces flew
off! Actually damage appeared to be light.
The rough landing broke the propeller and ripped off the low-slung
armament.
Joe Krebs was tinkering with a large gasoline
engine. I believe it was Frank Madison’s. I wonder if he
got it from Tony Beckham, who was open for business with his tailgate
swap shop. Tony
still has those three helicopters for sale, I believe… Henry
Waltman showed up with his Spacewalker. He had forgotten to charge
his battery, so he had some ice cream while the battery was charging…
Guest pilot Paul Pridday is only visiting this area for a short time.
He’s from Minnesota. He flies at our field when his work schedule
permits.
Paul is an accomplished heli pilot, who owns several choppers, including
electric, gasoline and even a turbine powered one… Jim Quint
(far right) payed us a visit.
Frits was pretty busy with three students. One was Sam Guirges, who
did some takeoffs and a couple of landings with his Solo Star trainer.
He’s progressing nicely, but he has to be watched closely, as
he can get adventurous at
times. Sam wants to solo by a certain date. Hmmm. Frits doesn’t
care much for those deadlines. Stuff will happen if you push too hard
when you’re just starting out…
The other was Bill Powell and his Eaglet.
Bill has never flown before.
We could not use a buddy box, so it was a bit hairy!
Bill only briefly took the controls…
Dale Herban and wife Brandy were back. Dale again flew his Hangar
9 F-22 Raptor trainer.
And here too, no buddy box. But Dale is handling the plane very well.
Frits told him not to be impatient. It will all eventually come together.
Be impatient and it (the plane) will all soon come apart! Those are
some wise words from Frits…
Later in the afternoon Russell Ward decided to get his Cub airborne.
Well, it was ONE of his Cubs. He got some sage advice from Wayne Boudreaux,
one of the prominent members of the North End’s SAG organization.
(SAG — Senior Advisory Group). He then appointed Tony to be
the test pilot.
Not sure if this plane had been flown before. But all went fine on
this flight.
By the way. I ran across this colorful critter in the parking
lot. It’s a Red Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis). This
one was the largest I had ever seen, 3/4 of an inch long. Warn kids
not to mess with this creature, as it’s a female wingless solitary
wasp that can inflict one of the worst stings of any insect! That’s
why they are also known as "cow killers". The males have
wings, don’t sting and are seldom seen.
Tal Fowler stopped by in his full-scale ultralight aircraft.
He’s had it a couple of months.
The plane is a 2-seater.
Tal used to be one of our top-most helicopter pilots, but since he
started this ultralight hobby we only see him when he drops in like
this…
After it began to get dark, things settled down at the North End.
Al was cradling his yellow “Beetle Bomb”, a Bearcat.
I’m sure Henry and Joe were telling war stories… At the
South End Russell was still trying to get his Cub dismantled…
I left the field, again being treated to a nice blood-red sky on the
way home.
On Monday, Labor Day, several people showed up at the field and flew.
Elton had some “new” plane he was working
on. He got some assistance from Terry ans Thomas Brownlee…
Russell had his Ugly Stick with him, but I don’t remember him
flying it while I was
there.
Scott and Chris Gayle were back with their Raptor helicopter.
Well, young Chris will be quick to say that it’s HIS! He hovered
it at the runway and did a nice
job. He even went much higher than than I had seen him go before.
If Chris keeps this up he’ll soon out-fly most of us heli pilots.
Keep that hair out of your eyes, Chris!
Larry Rogers is still running the recommended amount of fuel through
his Mongoose.
He’s just doing some hovering and weaving — nothing
more. He’s getting closer to making a real flight on the
bright orange heli…
Guest flier Paul Pridday showed up again with his Align T-Rex
helicopter. He’ll soon be heading back to Minnesota.
(This picture was taken on Sunday.)
That was about it on Labor Day, at least while I was there, which
was not very long! NO ONE was at the North end, as you can see in
this “stitched” panoramic
view. (Yep, the iPhone has an app for that…)
Remember our annual Azalea City Model Aeronautics Fall Scale Fly-in
will be a 2-day event this year. It is scheduled for Saturday Oct.
24 & Sunday 25. Get your scale planes ready to fly and plan to
be there!
That’s all for now. 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
Frits Goes Hollywood - Click For Details
