West Show 2009

This was the first time that our club has taken part in this event, and I certainly hope that we will be able to take part again in future years. It was a great couple of days weather wise - although day 2 was quite windy for flying, and the overall atmosphere at the showground was fantastic.

The members mounted a great static display with a wide range of models on show; and the pilots who flew their aircraft on the two days put on an excellent display for the crowds of public who came to the main arena to watch.

The flight simulator proved to be a very popular addition to our normal display attractions and all the members who attended the show took their turn in helping the many children, and adults, develop their flying skills. It was interesting to see how many of the younger 'pilots' were fearless in their flying styles and some showed great promise! Thanks to Dave Wilkinson for providing the laptop and software, and to Andy Best for providing the large TV screen and the generator.

Overall, a great opportunity for the club and our sincere thanks to those who took part - either flying or manning the static display, and also to the Committee of the West Show who so kindly invited us to participate.

Here's a few pictures to give a flavour of the event ....

Here's our marquee and as you can see, we weren't squashed in at all which meant we could put on quite a decent static display.

Being close to the fairground meant we were in a good position as a lot of the children were heading that way with their parents, so stopped to see our display on the way.

A fine selection of models, ranging in size from small 'shockies' to Thomas's large 3D petrol engined beasts.

Quite a few of these models were Shane's, just as well he has a large van to transport them in!

This side of the display was given over to the 'scale' models. These drew quite a number of very complimentary remarks from the public as well as some 'reminiscing' over models that still languish in people's lofts.

A shot now of some of the pilots doing their stuff on the second day. In the foreground is Dave W, with his dad Mick W in the middle and Thomas David in the background.

They were flying foam shockies at the time, and with a Force 4 wind blowing it took and awful lot of concentration to keep them looking 'tidy' let alone do low level aerobatics. Well done guys, you were all brilliant.

Dave Wilkinson is seen here putting his foam model into a knife edge circle. Considering the strong winds these small models coped very well... mind you, I think the pilots skill had something to do with it.

The flight simulator was enormously popular with all ages and drew a lot of people into our marquee. Both boys and girls had a go, as well as the parents. A few of the younger pilots were amazingly good, and it was quite interesting to see a full size commercial pilot have a go..... not as easy as it looks he said!

All ages and not only the lads were keen to have a go.

The scenery on the simulator was actually our flying site at Chouet, thanks to some technical wizardry by Dave W, the site has been faithfully reproduced. It certainly concentrates the mind flying around a site when you can't see the ground until you are well into the final approach stage of a landing.

All good fun though !

The finale to each of our flying slots was given over to solo demos by Dave Wilkinson who 'wowed' the public with his low level aeros courtesy of his TRex Nitro 600. Dave turned this machine inside out for the crowd and his inverted section was especially a crowd pleaser as they tried to get him to go lower and lower.

This was one of the few times that I could actually get Dave and his heli in the frame at the same time. It was barely still for an instant, such was the display he put on for the assembled crowds.

Cries of 'Lower, Lower' from the public, so Dave obliged with an inverted demo at about a foot above the arena. Again, considering the strong breeze blowing, this was quite a feat and demonstrated Dave's excellent pilot skills.

The crowd looks incredibly close here, but take it from me, they were well away from the model... no undue risks taken just for the sake of it.

Well what a great couple of days, and apparently the Show Committee is already planning next year's event. Hopefully we will be included in the programme for 2010.

Thanks to all those involved... a la perchoine!