Flightline

A new page featuring various pictures taken at the flying site, as well as other interesting material supplied by you the members...

10th February 2010 and these two shots were taken at the year's first Indoor Flying Session. Numbers of members attending wasn't too bad considering what a bitterly cold night it was, but the interest is still very strong and we quite often see some new models.

The first is yet another experimental model from Steve Glass. This time an electric EDF with a ... 1" fan unit !! Boy does this unit make a noise when flying flat out, but throttled back it becomes more acceptable. Model flies well even in the confines of the sports hall we use for these events. Well done Steve, it always good to see your developments with small models like this.

Construction is from depron using carbon rods for wing spars, and I believe it uses just a single cell lipo for power.

Next in the frame was Chris Bougourd's latest model - a '4 Site' from the Eflite range. This was very capable flyer and Dave Wilkinson certainly put it through its paces before declaring it one of the best models he had flown. Praise indeed, and when Chris was allowed to wrench the Tx from Dave's hands, he agreed that despite being an out and out 3D model when flown quoickly, it could be slowed right down and had really good slow flying characteristics. Sounds like a winner and I'm sure other members will be tempted to invest in this lovely little aircraft. The actual price is amazing for what you get, so if you have any money left over from Xmas, you know what to spend it on!

Pretty as a picture and a great flyer too... what more could you ask of a model !

29th March 2009 - A little bit of sun and a gentle breeze - perfect for flying.....

Pretty electric powered 'Ultimate' from Rob Bougourd, about to take to the air. Flew very well and showed just how far ARTF models have come in the past year or so in terms of construction and finish.

Just a shot of some of the new aircraft that got an airing just recently. The weather was perfect, and quite a few members took advantage of the conditions.

One such new model is Chris Wilkinson's P40 shown here in the foreground. This lovely model is fitted with a 4stroke motor which pulls it along with power to spare; also fitted with 'twist and turn' retracts to complete the warbird image. Looks great on a low pass at speed.

A slightly closer view of Chris's aircraft showing the good standard of finish on this model. I believe it is a Hangar 9 version and is about 65" span. A little larger than my own version, but has the same aggresive look in the air. I hope to be able to get in some formation flying of our 2 models once I've sorted my motor 'issues' out from last season.

Another interesting model, this time an electric ducted fan model from Mick Wilkinson. I believe this is a 'Eurofighter' - (please correct me if I am wrong) and it flies very well in Mick's hands.

These new generation EDF aircraft are fantastic value and show that you don't need huge sums of money to get an entry level model which will give lots of hours service and a whole lot of great flying fun.

21st March 2009 - Happy bunch of members who have just completed a very satisfying morning's work on the flying site.

24th February 2009 - A couple of picture of Steve Glass' latest miniature creation - a Folland Gnat. A superb little aircraft and a great flier. I hope Steve will give me more details in the near future so I can let you in to some of his 'secrets'.

A very happy looking Steve, taken just prior to the model's second only flight. His smile was even wider once he had landed and stopped trembling !!

A close up of this model shows how well Steve has finished this model using 'traditional' materials like coloured tissue covering the balsa and blue foam airframe.

When this little beauty winds up, it really does scream and covers a lot of sky quite quickly. Not for the fainthearted but a whole lot of fun nonetheless.

23rd September 2008 - shots from Dave Wilkinson's flight in a full size Extra 300L... here's what Dave had to say about this unique experience....

I have to say it was such an adrenaline rush, doing aerobatics for real that are taken for granted with RC planes. You certainly gain a lot more respect for what we're putting our models through. It was such an amazing experience, to sit there while the instructor does some aerobatics, then you actually get to do them yourself too, it's fantastic. You can't imagine what G force does to you without actually feeling it. And I did'nt need the sickbag!!!

Here's a few shots of our very own 'Top Gun' himself...

Just remember not to pull the red toggle until you are outside of the aircraft!

Time to learn what stick and what pedal does what in this beauty.... hmmm... better not switch the rates to High on the first flight though!

Heh, I'm starting to enjoy this already and we haven't even started the engine yet; let's hope the starter battery is charged up, I've a feeling this engine can't be hand started....

Thanks Dave, looks like a truly awesome experience; I wonder what Dave's next model might be?

Some quick pictures I took down at the flying site just recently of Rob Bougourd's scale heli. I must confess that I don't know which model it is, but I believe it is a scale body on T Rex 600 mechanics. It certainly looked very nice in the air, and the extra body parts gave it a real 'presence' both on the ground as well as in the air.

I must apologise for the low quality of the pictures, as I only had my mobile with me to take the shots with... even so, here's Rob's latest model offering.

Rob spends a lot of time preparing his models for flight, and with an investment in time and money such as this model, it is no wonder he checks everything at least twice.

Here the heli is being 'wound up' ready for take off, the unusual shape of the blades is purely a trick of the eye/camera.

Once in the air, the model looks really purposeful and the scale body makes the model look a lot larger than a standard 600.

Rob's first couple of flights were a little 'testing' but once the niggles were ironed out, it looked very stable and pretty as a picture in the evening light.

Rob can be justifiably proud of his new model, it looks and performs like a model twice the size.

I look forward to seeing more scale bodies on these excellent mechanics in the future.

This shot shows Rob Bougourgd's current project - a Feisler Storch, in the early stages of construction. As you can see, it has quite a complex built up structure, just the thing to keep you busy during the winter months. Rob has said he will supply more construction photos as the build progresses, and I'm sure we all look forward to seeing this bird taking to the air.

Some shots now from Rick Coumbe, of one of John Ogier's distinctive electric powered canards on a fast, but near silent flypass.

Next up is Mick Wilkinson's Extra on a low pass across the site. Looks like his tailwheel is almost getting caught on the fence!

Here's Dave Wilkinson showing us what a prop hang looks like a low level. So cool this pilot !!

Here's a cracking shot of Dave's aircraft showing just how much control movement is available if you really need it !

Great flying shot of Mick Wilkinson's PT 19; could be mistaken for the full size in this shot.

Paul Gilliver's new plane - Somethin' Extra. Built from a SIG kit, Paul has made a beautiful job of this aircraft, and having seen it fly on a number of occasions, I can say that it is a rock steady aircraft. Great colour scheme too that Paul has come up with, certainly makes it easy to orientate.

"After a bit of refurbishment, a few new mechanical bits and pieces, some new radio and a bit of TLC, this machine is now airworthy and has already hovered for a brief couple of seconds this afternoon. It's far from an aerobat, but it should definitely serve as a good machine for anyone who fancies having a go at flying a chopper without the expense of going and buying their own machine beforehand.

I have to say, it was actually an amazingly satisfying experience to get such an old and seemingly out-of-date machine into the air, and for it to be pretty steady with no set-up changes done so far. It will need a bit of tweaking on a calm day, but the basics are there.