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Yesterday after the Electric Fun Fly, Emmanuel and I put the floats on the Fun Cubs and after dinner headed out to a local pond to try our hands at float flying. We had a great time. It was a completely new experience for me and I really enjoyed it. We went back again tonight for some more fun.

I shot a little video of the fun last night. Check it out.

Happy Landings

Two days down and one to go it’s been a great long so far.

Saturday was the first ever Electric Fun Fly hosted at the Stetson Flyers field. It turned out to be a great day. I don’t know how many pilots we had but the parking lot was full and there was plenty of action in the pits and on the flight line. It was pretty windy all day and of course it was crossing from the north so it made for some interesting flying and challenging to land in.

Emmanuel, Paulo and I brought the Fun Cubs out and had a great time dancing on the wind with them. These simple little planes are a blast to fly and are proving to be quite durable. Joe mistook us for a pack of Zeroes and took to the skies with his Corsair and tried to take us down. Paulo’s Zero err Cub and the Corsair made contact and the Cub won. That was it for the Corsair. Joe tried again with his Sea Fury and though there was contact both pilots kept their planes alive to fight another day.

I got my speed fix with both the Evader and the Habu32 and I think the crowd enjoyed the 200 km/h plus passes only a couple feet off the deck. I really love flying the Habu32. It looks great in the air and it really handles nicely.

Larry and Goose were both out shooting the event and you really should check out these guys’ galleries. They really do an awesome job of capturing the fun.

Goose has already posted a gallery. You can click on the photo below to go directly to it. I’m sure it won’t be long until Larry get’s his gallery up. You can find his photos by following the link in the sidebar.

Happy Landings

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Happy Landings

Well spring came pretty early around here. We’ve got no snow left and the temperatures are decent but the wind has kicked up and it’s not too friendly for flying.

I’ve got a new Trex 600 ESP flybarless ready to maiden and I can’t wait to see it in the air. I’ll post a flying report as soon as it’s been in the air.

Ed and I are also waiting to maiden our new FPV ship. It’s a heavily modified Multiplex EasyStar. We hope to get some better quality video, better handling in the air and increased range. To get the range we’ve added a diversity receiver setup with antenna tracking to our ground station. We’ll see how that goes.

I know it’s been way too long since I’ve posted here and I’ve probably lost what few followers I had but I’m turning over a new leaf this season. I’ll post here at least once a week on my flying exploits.

So stay tuned it’s going to be a great summer

Happy Landings

Scott

Sadly yesterday a dear friend and fellow modeler Ford (Slim) Sommerville lost his battle with cancer. Ford was always ready to help out a fellow modeler or around the club. You could often find him looking after the transmitter impound during fun flies in the summer. I first met Slim 25 years ago when I first joined the Stetson Flyers and he was just as active in the hobby recently as he was then. He left a lasting impression on this young modeler and I will never forget him.

To Ford’s family I’m sorry for your loss. He will be greatly missed.

Scott

What a weekend for the RCAviator!

On Saturday I finally got out and used the anniversary gift my wife got me back in July. An hour and a half introductory flight in a Cessna 172. Since I was allowed to bring a passenger along I decided to invite Ed along for the ride. Well things had changed when I booked the flight and we weren’t going up in a Cessna, we were going to go up in a 1962 Beech. Well that too changed when we arrived and the instructor realized that after putting the 3 of us in the plane there was no room for any fuel. Hmmm that doesn’t sound like fun. So the good folks at OAS did what they could and found another plane and pilot to take us up. What a treat we were in for. The plane as it turned out was a Diamond Star. A modern all composite plane with glass cockpit and lots of other goodies. More after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

Ok so this one was back in June and it represented a few firsts. It was the first time I’ve travelled to a flying event in the USA, first road trip with the new trailer, first time renting an RV. We were headed to the IMAA Rally of Giants in Hamburg PA.

Goose and I were the first to head down. We loaded up my trailer with my planes, Mike’s planes, the generator and various other camping supplies. The plan was to head to PA for 5 days of flying and fun. I had arranged ahead of time for a rental camper to be delivered to the site and it should be waiting for us when we arrive. The drive down was pretty uneventful and we found the site with problems. Our trailer was there waiting for us and it was a great unit. There were quite a few other campers there. After the long drive we settled in for the night.

Ed and Mike both joined us on Friday morning. Ed riding down on his Gold Wing and Mike arriving in his car.

The flying site was beautiful. The grass runway was 1600 feet long and was like a fairway at a top golf course.

Lots of other flyers had come from all over, some with some pretty fancy RV’s and trailers.

There were lots of different models covering all aspects of aviation. Biplanes, aerobats and warbirds of all shapes and sizes. Even a huge 60% Cub!

As it turned out the weather was pretty brutal. We had rain for most of the trip but when it stopped the flight line was always busy. I logged quite a few flights with my Extra during the day and with my electric Edge 540 and Trex 450 early in the morning before anyone else in camp was awake.

As always Goose took some great photos of the event. You can find his gallery of the event here.

The guys at SKS Productions were there as well and have published a DVD of the event. I was fortunate enough to be interviewed at the event and I have received top billing on their website description of the DVD. Check it out SKS Video Productions

Wow!!! It’s September and I just realized my last post was in May. I guess if anyone was following they’ve given up on me by now.

It’s been a very busy summer flying season even though we had the rainiest July on record.

I attended many events both in town and away. A group of us made a trip to Pennsylvania for the Rally of Giants in June, there was the Upper Canada Zone Fun Fly in Smiths Falls, the Kingston Giant rally and just this weekend my home club’s giant scale event and annual pig roast.

Over the next few days I’ll put together some posts about each of these great events along with links to photographs.

The originally arrived with a damaged wing and the replacement also was damaged. Three did prove to be a charm and I have all the components. I spent a bit of time getting it together but there’s still work to be done. I’ll update on that too.

That’s it for now. Keep watching I promise I’ll do some updates this week.

Well I’ve finally bit the bullet and ordered a new bird. This one is a change of pace for me, I’ve ordered the Hangar 9 1/4 Scale Piper Cub Arf. There’s just something about a Cub. Everytime I see someone out flying one and doing big side slips, one wheeled touch and goes or low down hammerheads I just have to have one.

I’ve picked up a Zenoah G20 ei for it and a bag full of Hitec digital servos. After watching the video below I think some tundra tires will be in order for it too.

Watch this space for build updates once the kit arrives.

Well it’s taken many evenings and a few days but I’ve finally reached a point where I can proudly say my trailer is ready to haul planes.

I ripped out the luan walls and replaced them with 3/4 plywood, laid down indoor outdoor carpet on the floor. I built a cabinet to house a deep cycle battery along with fuel cans, tool box and other odds and ends.

I put some E-track up on the walls to manage loads and ran some 12 volt receptacles to the rear of the trailer.

Pics after the jump Read the rest of this entry »