President’s Corner                                     August 2003

 

 Well, June and July are behind us and we have complete the NE RC Combat event, the Berringer Memorial Scale event and the Henry Struck memorial Electric Fun FLy. 

 

The combat event was a blast, more fun than I’ve had flying in a long time.  Competition does make the juices flow and you should all give some sort of competition a try, it will give you another perpsective on this great hobby and make you a better flier.  Unfortunately the event was poorly attented (9 contestents)  and that coupled with the event needing 2 days to draw a crowd means this will probably be the last of the NE RC Combat events we host.  Darin Bellis worked very hard for 6 months to make this the best event yet, but a combination of weather and being only a one day event hurt the turnout.  Besides all that, all contestents had a great time and the prizes were super.  I loved it and will momst likely compete in Bloomfield later this summer if I am not in California enjoying our newest Grandchild, Rachel Ann .

 

The Beringer had 16 people sign up and the weather was perfect.  Some great flying was the rule of the day with 35% and 40% size acrobats putting on good shows and a beautiful 96” WS P-40 built by Jim Gleason buzzing the field.  You should all come out an enjoy a special weekend next year to support the club and meet new people who are not club members.  Scale means anything representing a full size aircraft; it does not mean exact scale.

 

Our next event  the Henry Struck Memorial Fly-in on July 26th was also a blast.  Jorge Cintron did another great job as CD and Hal Robb once again cooked up a storm.  I don’t know what we would do without the help of Hal.  Jack Holmgren and I picked up the food, can’t find Phil Norman , Tom Vernon and Mark Rice pitched in and we managed to bring the event together.  We really need more volunteers to help out at our events.  As usual, Bob Haines and Rich Whittle had the field in perfect shape and we cannot tank them for their efforts enough.  20 flyers with about 50 models showed up and had a ball.  The flying was going on all day with people standing in line to put some contraption in the air.  A few Zagis flew combat and man, these things are fast with great vertical and long motor run times.  Lots of great ARF’s out there so pick one up and join in the fun.  Unfortunately I did not hear our CD’s, Jorge Cintron , request for a Sunday schedule so we were stuck with Saturday again.  Jorge thinks we will get a larger turnout if the event is held on Sunday, so until next year we will not be able to verify that.

 

The Neighborhood fun fly is Aug 16th so come on out and join in our annual PR event.  Mark Rice is the CD and we thank him for volunteering.  Free food and a great day to fly or give some potential newcomer a chance to try their hand.

 

I flew my Dave Patrick Extra 330L.  The plane flies great but the Enya 1.55 5C does not have enough power to fly this plane as I want.  I guess a MOKI 1.8 or 2.1 or 50cc gas engine is in my future.  I highly recommend this airplane to anyone desiring to get into big airplane performance on a budget.  For about $1,400.00 you can fly an exceptional model with big airplane characteristics compared to $3,500.00 to $6,000.00 for a 35% or 40% monster.  Another alternative is the Giant Scale Stinger coupled to a 60-70cc gasser.  This is a great combo and the plane is very forgiving.

 

Hope to see you at the field and at the Neighborhood fun fly on Aug 16th.

 

Until Next time, Good Flying,

  Fred