Charmouth Heli Fly

Charmouth Heli Fly-in Spring 2005

Just getting to the UK was going to be difficult this year, as earlier in the day, the fast ferry we were supposed to be on broke down and had to sail to France for repairs. We tried calling to see what was happening with the boats, but to no avail, until Andy went to see them in person. The plan was to bring the overnight boat back here on it's way to Portsmouth to pick up the fast ferry passengers. It arrived from Jersey at about 11:30pm, we got onboard about an hour later, and finally set sail just after 1 in the morning. It wasn't a pleasant trip, with all of the fast ferry passengers having to stay in the restaurant area, it was very overcrowded, and unfortunately some of us were not able to find a space on the floor to lie down, so Thomas lay on a table, and I sat in a chair all night. Lovely!

At half eight on Friday we docked at Portsmouth and hit the road up to Motors and Rotors in Watford. We arrived at 10am (well, two of us did, Nick and Thomas got lost somewhere) and had a cake and a coffee, which was much appreciated (thanks Dave). By midday we were starving, so walked across the road to McDonalds. After leaving Motors and Rotors, we headed for Skyline Models, to see what was happening there. It was quite a disappointment actually, with not a huge amount of stock, but they did have some of the V-Blades tail blades, so I bought a pair as did Andy.

Our next stop would be at Probuild, run by Phil Williams. Way out in the woods, we would have had a job finding it without a GPS system. Probuild was a very impressive place, specialising in larger aerobatic aircraft. They had numerous large airframes hanging up, high quality petrol engines, YS engines, every single spare for YS engines, and many other good quality aircraft fittings and radio equipment. They also had rather a lot of Chip Hyde Fore-Play shocky biplanes, so Andy and I bought one each.

After that we headed for Newlands at Charmouth and checked in, chilled out for a bit then went out for something to eat. We had planned to eat at a very good restaurant we know in Chiddeock, but they were full up for a party...a Funeral Directors Party!! I bet that was a fun night. Instead, the barman recommended a small restaurant just off the beach about 5 minutes drive away. It was a very small restaurant with a limited menu, but the food was still good and we were so tired we didn't really care too much anyways. When we got back to Charmouth a couple of us went for a couple of drinks at the bar and see who else was about. By the time we got to sleep, we had been awake for 40 hours non-stop. God help us.

Saturday Morning was shocky time. Thomas and myself went out at about 8 or 8:30 for a flight, but the cold weather meant our lipo's weren't lasting too long. Later on, Dave Wilshere asked where we were first thing...he was apparently out at half 7 prop-hanging outside our window! After some breakfast we headed for the heli field, and by now the wind had picked up to a fresh force 4-5 from the North. Still, it wasn't raining and many pilots were flying their helicopters. Pat Vaudin also came to see us.

Thomas' aim for the day was to pass his B certificate, which Dave took him for. Thanks Dave. He passed and then proceeded to see if he could break the Raptor, by giving it a good thrashing around the sky. I had a go with it afterwards, and I could not believe how underpowered it was! Luckily he'll have a new helicopter to play with soon, as Andy bought an ex-Dave Fisher Fury Tempest from Dave Wilshere. That should go well when it's fitted out. I gave my Fury Extreme a few flights over the weekend, and also let Jamie Cole have a play to tweak a few things on the Sunday. He seemed to calm it down a bit, tweaked the gyro's settings a bit, and now it's even more of an animal than before, as the engine is using more torque than revs to provide the power. He also recommended fitting a header tank and a Governor. I haven't tried a governor yet, but it has now got a header tank fitted. I also let Thomas have a quick hover with it. Lets just say he liked it. Those new MAH G2 blades seemed to make a big difference too. Andy had his Raptor and Ion-X to fly, but a shake on the Ion-X meant it needed a head strip down, which we gave it that night. A bent spindle left it grounded for the rest of the weekend.

On Saturday night we went to the Indian in Lyme Regis we found last year and had an excellent curry, and admired the scenery (eh Thomas?). Then when we got back to Charmouth, we headed for the bar where the band Rotorhead were playing loads of excellent rock songs, from 60's Rolling Stones to present day Darkness...Brilliant.

Sunday pretty much followed the same plan as Saturday, shock-flying to start, then off to the heli field with similar but slightly less windy conditions. One heli we watched in particular was the new 3DMP, a 50-sized heli based on the Henseleit 3DNT design. It was so good, Andy has just ordered one!! We also saw it being given a good thrashing by Duncan Osborne. The raffle was entertaining as always, with loads of excellent prizes on offer, including a small Graupner Lipo charger that Andy won...like he needs it! Top prize was a Raptor 30 ARF, and there were numerous gallons of fuel, governors, blades and the like.

On Sunday night we went back to the pub in Chiddeock, and the place was somewhat emptier. We decided to go the full 3 courses. God knows how we ate it all, seafood starter, 18oz ribeye steak, and a desert! Well, why not. Afterwards, we headed back to the bar where the guys from century were doing their best to destroy hummingbirds by flying under tables, getting mode one flyers to fly it on a mode 2 set, landing on a bar stool on top of a table, and trying to touch the ceiling with the blades without stopping them. Even Thomas and I managed have a go at landing on the stool. It was excellent fun, but eventually we had to go as we had to be up at 4:30 next morning to get to Weymouth for 6:15. It was very cold next morning, but there was no wind at all, and the trip back was very comfortable, especially after our bacon roll breakfast. We docked at something past nine and that was about it, the weekend over. We had great fun the whole weekend, as we usually do at Charmouth. Can't wait till next year.