9th of February 2013

Hot, still conditons met us as the turf farm yesterday - pefect flying conditions even if the pilot comfort meter was registering in the red zone!

Lots of photos, although with so many SBach 342's it's hard to tell them apart!

There was pleasure for some & pain for others - this can be a cruel sport....

The early starters...in the foreground is Michael's Katana now motivated by an OS 55!

You can also see my MXS-R & Saratoga, along with Paul & Steve's Sbach's & Bill's gliders.

Hmmmm.......we did panic later......

Curtis' immaculate TopFlite P51 which flew nicely prior to running into some engine issues.

"Hurry Home Honey" said our wives never as we head off to the field!

James setting up a Hobby King electric FW190 for a maiden.

Pete, the proud owner of the FW190.

Steve's Sbach 342 that he flew the wings off all day with some wild aeros!

Bob put on a great show with this pusher-prop craft that absolutely screamed!

Then the highlight of the day - the long awaited return of Graeme's Comet!

Scratch built, this unbelievable model would put any ARF to shame!

Here's some video so you can hear those mighty OS's running in hamony!

Take-off!

Graeme put on a great show & was coming in for a great landing when the Comet appeared to tip stall close to the ground. Fortunately the damage was not major & Graeme has vowed to get her airworthy again ASAP!

Thanks for the memories Graeme - what a show!

Now back to Sbach city with Bill aka Fingers.

And Dennis - these things are breeding like rabbits!

Greg Wood & James both flew their Edge 540's to perfection with Greg almost dragging the fin on the ground with some very low inverted passes!

Now finally onto the more painful images.....

First my MXS-R which flew nicely before I nosed in on landing, breaking the landing gear & prop....an easy fix & will be ready again for next week.

With two dead-sticks Greg's Fokker finally flipped onto its back & suffered a broken fin - another easy fix.

 The damage to Graemes Comet - not too bad.

The really cruel story of the day was Paul's orange "Don't Panic!" Sbach 342.....

After barnstoming all day with smoke on, the magnificent aircraft went in over the near the back trees for no obvious reason....

 Post mortem time.....

I think I'd prefer to remember the mighty bird this way...

Until next week.

Cheers,

Rob

2nd of February 2013

Conditions at the farm started off very hot, but still, with ideal flying conditions for the surprisingly large number of members who braved the intense heat.

The quickly erected tent city helped with the heat, as did the litres of water & later beer!

Coming out for a maiden was Paul's beautiful new SBach 342 runnning the DLE rescued from the Mighty Bulldog.

A precision build which flew with barely a click of trim required.....we look forward to seeing Paul get the on-board smoke system going next week!

Bill Fraser had a number of interesting gliders at the field & can be seen here enjoying the field all to himself!

Bill's hangar.

Michael can seen here putting his Katana together & he threw her around all day with some nice low inverted passes. He's got an OS 55 on it's way which should liven things up even more!

Steve put on a barnstorming show of his own with his red SBach 342 which can be seen here being prepared.

Coming out was also Anthony (x2), Curtis, Bob, James & a number of interested onlookers.

But now on to the gory stuff!

A very unfortunately timed dead-stick out over the back near the power lines saw the end of Stuka Mark II - there will not be a Mark III!

Then the canopy came off Anthony's Red Bull during flight - not a problem you might say?

It is when your batteries are attached to that canopy!

Luckily he still had his PT-17 to fly around & with a Saito 125 humming it was all good!

You can also see (new) Anthony's Boomerang II trainer here.

I'm sure James was heard to say "I'll give you twenty bucks for it"!

With the extreme heat we opened the bar around 2:30pm & we enjoyed a well earned XXXX Gold or two.

See you next week.

Cheers,

Rob

12th of January 2013

Happy New Year to all our members & visitors!

Yesterday at the turf farm was hot & windy but it didn't stop many members & visitors coming out for a fly & a chat.

After many weeks up near the shed, we set up down the bottom with our pits barriers & normal safety procedures.

Here's Bill & Stu catching upon all the news of 2013. Bill's glider is in the foreground.

I don't have a huge number of photos but I'll give you an idea of what aircraft were there with a mixture of old & new photos.

Anthony's MSX-R.



Graeme's Extra.

Paul's Red Bull which had an interesting landing on one wheel!

Paul & I had also planned to maiden two Black Horse 71 inch Spitfires.

Paul had a very sucessful maiden with his running a new Saito 125.

The Spitty looked very comfortable in the air & only came down following a dead-stick whilst hanging off the prop!

Unfortunately after hours of stuffing around with my second hand YS 140 engine I couldn't get it to run reliably so there was no maiden for me! (We suspect a worn O ring & maybe crap in the carby to be the issue).

 
On a positive note the ever reliable Saratoga didn't let me down!

Late in the day the mighty Stuka had a run too & finally had a nice soft landing that didn't break the landing gear!

We also saw Dennis & Bob who had some fun with the catapult.

(New) Anthony brought out his Boomerang II but didn't fly due to the lack of an instructor.

We also saw some visitors in Curtis & Pete who are looking to join & get into the hobby ASAP.

All in all a good day with the bar opening around 5pm for a few well earned beers!

See you next week.

Cheers, Rob