---

                                          Click On For Picture

Reminder - Upcoming flying events:
May 17 - ACMA Combat at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL.
May 17 - Helicopter Fly-in - Mississippi Coast R/C Club (MCRCC), Gulfport, MS.
Jun. 14 - Annual FULL SCALE fly-in at St. Elmo Airport. RC models are invited.
More details on these and other events at the end of this report.

=====================================

April 26 & 27, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities - Warbird & Scale Fly-in

A total of 36 pilots registered for the ACMA 2nd Annual Warbird & Scale Fly-in. It was a good turnout for a Saturday predicted to cloudy and rainy. But the weather turned out just great! Thanks go out to the club members who helped put this event on. During the week Jeff Foster, our club's Field Marshal, cut the grass and ate weeds. The field looked great, Jeff! Frits picked up trash, painted the NO TAXI safety lines nice and straight, planted directional signs in the neighborhood and hung the ACMA banner on the fence at Half Mile Road.

On the day of the event Wayne Boudreaux manned the registration desk and announced raffle tickets . Russell Ward took in the food concession money . Andy Anderson and Justin Peacock provided and hooked up the PA system. Andy also got the 300 dollars-worth of HobbyTown gift cards that were to be raffled off during the event. Tony Farmer and Alvin Reed bought the food and cooked . Great food! I hope I didn't miss anyone. And a special thanks to Rob Baker, owner of the HobbyTown USA stores in Mobile and Daphne for donating a nice warbird kit, to be raffled off to the registered pilots ...

Bill Krummel (Kenner, LA), Pete Boudreaux (Verdunville, LA) and another fellow, whose name escaped me, showed up at our field on Thursday. These guys like to travel around in motor homes and they had just come from a flying event in Tuscaloosa, AL. Unfortunately Bill and Pete didn't fly too many of their nice planes . But both did fly . And we missed Lenny Smith, who used to showed up with Bill at our scale events. I was told that Hurricane Katrina did a lot of damage to their stuff, so we are very pleased that they came...

Tom Hudson and Bob Temple came from Slidell, LA. Tom brought a unique aircraft . It's an IMAA Phoney Fokker Einducker . The 3-channel plane flew great . Bob and Tom appeared to enjoy themselves ... AMA District 5 Assistant VP Paul Verger (Vancleave, MS), participated with his Extra 300 . He has this nice, new transmitter tray — I call it a "flight desk" — that he uses . I'm sure that contraption is what makes Paul fly those difficult maneuvers so very well! Paul also took part in consuming the food, of course, as he can always be counted on to do !

Larry Rogers brought out a couple of nice scale helicopters. One of them flew . But Larry also showed off an unfinished, 5-bladed helicopter that I'm sure will look awesome after he completes it ... Frank Rowell flew his small "Red Baron" biplane. In the pits he was assisted by his lovely ground crew, Julie . I know she was not to blame for a little mishap which ripped the landing gear off the biplane. I'm pretty sure Frank did that all by himself ... Mike McLaughlin flew his Super Decathlon . He has a smoke system on it... Robert Sanderson had a new Corsair. Rob took it off, but after Robert took the controls over one half of the horizontal stab ripped off and the plane crashed ! Robert and Rob also flew Robert's Great Planes Lancair ES, which is similar to Mike's ...

Andrew Smith brought several planes . There was the P-51 Mustang "Bunny," a yellow Biplane (name unknown to me...), electric twin ducted fan A-10 Wart Hog, little electric Piper Cub and a Corsair ... Carl Broughton flew his Pitts Special biplane ... Mike Callen and his dad, Ed, brought a PT-19 Navy trainer, a Corsair, and a Hangar 9 B-25J Mitchell twin-engine bomber. Ed had to help Mike keep the PT-19 in the air . Good job, Ed ! Mike took the Corsair off and flew it a couple of times . It took a large crew to get that Mitchell bomber going ! It was checked from top to bottom . Jon soon got it up in the air . It took off nicely and Jon had a great flight with it ...

Harold Dillon showed off his granddaughters ... Drawn like a moth to a flame, Mike just had to check out the For Sale area ... Tony Farmer flew his T-34 Mentor Trainer . He didn't get too low to the ground this time !... Bill and Jim Bryan showed up with their nice, new P-40 Warhawk . Frits took it up for a successful flight ... Seth Caglione flew his German warbird, the Messerschmitt Me-109 .

Rob Baker brought several jets . He flew one of his turbine jets, the F-4 Flash . Very nice !... Jon Koppisch showed up with a large B-25J Mitchell twin-engine bomber . Only one problem — it was not finished! We can't wait to see its first flight, Jon!... Joe Krebs flew his P-51 Mustang and Cub . Here he is with Bill Krummel ... John Walker let Jon fly his P-51 Mustang again. It did very nicely... And newcomer Bill Powell bought one of the kits that were in the For Sale area ...

Al Ayler flew his P-51D "Off Color" Mustang, a Piper Cub, and a Spitfire. He brought the black Corsair too, but it stayed on the ground ... He and others flew Cubs . Al tried to impress Henry by letting the Cub fly hands off ... The Spitfire had control problems from the instant it left the ground. Al managed to get it down, but it slammed into the ground, damaging the retractable gears and wings . He confessed to Frits that the night before he had done some extensive "reprogramming" of the transmitter. Big Enzo tried to cheer him up ... Henry Waltman showed up with his P-51 Mustang, Cub, and P-47 Thunderbolt . All three flew just great ... Lee Hughes flew his P-51 Mustang "Mary Mac" ...

Billy Frost flew several of his electric planes. One was the twin-motor A-10 Warthog . Another was the P-51 Mustang. Not sure if he flew the FA-18 Blue Angels ducted fan jet... Elton Sullivan flew his P-51 "Miss America" Mustang . He also devoted a lot of time trying to figure out his newfangled video camcorder ... Roger Hagler showed up with a couple of his small planes. I think one was the 1/12 scale P-51 Mustang "Val-Halla." And I saw him fly the Sopwith Camel, I believe... Roger Geil paid us another visit with his ultralight aircraft . He wanted to take some aerial shots of the field, so we all gathered around the flag pole . Here's one of the pictures Roger took .

George & Mary Law from Elberta, AL, won the $100 gift card. Well, Mary actually did ... And the airplane kit donated by HobbyTown USA went to Pete Boudreaux of Verdunville, LA, who proudly showed off the kit and his brightly painted toe nails . (Hey, don't ask ME why! ... I don't know...)

Things went back to normal after the fly-in ended. Frits took up Ben McGee and his Avistar trainer a couple of times... Alvin and Russell concocted some strange meals ... Frits flew Bill Powell Eaglet trainer for an exciting flight that included all sorts of maneuvers. Bill didn't know his little plane could do all that!... Sunday was a washout. Very cloudy and gloomy. Upon Russell's insistence Frits took off Russell's Hangar 9 F-22 Raptor "jet" trainer . It flew well, and soon Russell took over the controls. But Frits quickly landed it after Russell scared Frits with a surprise roll... Although several people showed up, no one but Russell flew. So they turned it into an ice-cream party .

Here's a nice parting shot. Enzo Finizola and Alvin's sister's dog, Li'l Belle, "the Dog from Hell. "

=================================

Upcoming events:

May 17 - ACMA Combat at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL, every third Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM. No matter what the weather! (Lightning will only delay it some...)

May 17 - The Mississippi Coast R/C Club (MCRCC) of Gulfport, MS, is having a Helicopter Fly-in. Award for best of scale. Contact: Richard Ober, 601-869-6821, heart1121@cableone.net. Here is MCRCC's Website .

June 7 - Be brave! The Day of Armageddon has arrived! Get a plane ready for it! Azalea City Model Aeronautics and HobbyTown USA of Mobile and Daphne, Alabama, present their 11th Annual Armageddon Fun Fly. Field location: Irvington Field, Irvington, Alabama. Spectators welcome! Registration Fee $5.00 for participants. AMA membership required by competing pilots. Win one of three airplanes! There will be one for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place! Competition Events: 3 Loops, 3 Rolls, Touch-'n-Go, 3 Times; Aircraft Carrier landing; Combat!; Egg Drop; and Limbo. Any airplane may be used in the contest, however the contestant must use the same plane for all events, except for Combat. Compete only in events for which you feel brave enough! The Combat contest is a separate event and is optional. Field opens at 8:00 AM. Registration starts at 9:00 AM. Pilots Briefing at 9:45. Events will start at 10:00. Food and Soft Drinks Available! Gift Cards will be raffled off! Contacts: Rob Baker at HobbyTown USA - 251-633-8446 (htumobile@aol.com) or Frits Jetten - 251-661-8124 (fjetten@aol.com). Here's the Armageddon flier .

June 14 - There will be an annual full scale fly-in at St. Elmo Airport, which is located only a few miles from Irvington Field off of Hwy. 90. Some of our club members flew their models there last year and they have been invited again this year. More details coming.

June 14 & 15 - Pro Bro & Giant Scale 3D, Pensacola, FL. Location: Fritz Field. Contact: Scott Boulton, (850) 712-9331, Greg Boswell, (850) 433-8245. Here's the ProBro Flier . And a map to Fritz Field .

For a calendar of all local area flying events that I know about, you can always go to the Gulf Coast Area RC Event Calendar .

---

Previous Week Report Follows        Back to Top

---

Reminder - Upcoming flying events:
May 10 - The Koast Air Modelers Society (KAMS) of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, has their Annual Spring Fly-In.
May 10 - The Eglin Aero Modelers in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, will have a WARBIRDS OVER EGLIN Fly-in.
May 17 - ACMA Combat at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL, every 3rd Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM.
More details on these and other events at the end of this report.

=====================================

April 19 & 20, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities - Monthly Combat

Joe Krebs flew his scale P-51 Mustang. As is normal for the North End, it took a small crowd to get it going . I guess most Mustangs must take a large crew to fire them up, because John Walker's P-51 got plenty of attention . Jon Koppisch finally flew it and John was happy ... At the South End it took only Lee Hughes and Frits to get Lee's Mustang in the air ... Jeff Lee got a couple of flights on his Cessna 182 Skylane ... Newcomer Bill Powell showed up with his Eaglet . Frits flew it... Russell dropped off a strange chemical contraption that had all sorts of switches, solenoids and tubing in it. It was even set up for nitrogen injection . I guess Russell somehow misunderstood when Alvin said that the kitchen needed a "sink"...

TJ Rohyans flew his new Four Star 40, a clipped wing version. He was very proud of the bottom . And later, in combat, he flew his new combat Flying Wing ... Frank Rowell probably flew his Funtana S, but I'm not sure. Frank always keeps a low profile... Robert Sanderson flew his Sonic plane with a Superman cape on. The cape was on the plane, not on Robert ! Somehow Superman got in a bad sort of way and smacked into the ground, messing up the landing gear. (Is that Lois there behind Robert? ) Robert also flew his Great Planes Lancair ES ... Andy Anderson and Justin Peacock flew their Boomerang, a jet powered by a turbine engine . Nice flight . Justin flew it a little more aggressively than Andy ...

Al Ayler flew his P-51D "Off Color" Mustang . Oh, yeah, he did his little dance after it landed ... Rob Baker showed up with his F-4 Flash turbine jet. Rob also flew a small foamy electric jet, which lost its tail in flight ! But a little dab of glue and the jet soon flew again... Now here's a pair of strange pairs for ya'. First this pair: Frank Madison and Wayne Boudreaux . And here's the other: Harold Dillon and Jim Quint ... On Saturday Don Koval showed up for a brief visit and talked to Jeff Lee and newcomer Don Harlan . Don said he would not be able to make Sunday's monthly combat event. His wife is still dealing with a serious health problem. We hope you can soon return to the field like you used to, Don!...

On Sunday Justin Peacock volunteered to be the substitute Combat Coordinator. But because he also flew in the events, details are sketchy! I never got a report, so I'm winging it this time!... With the first horn only minutes away, Garry Busby of Moss Point, MS, showed up and signed up. It sure was nice to have Garry join us. But luck and fortune were not with him, as you'll find out in a moment. As far as I can remember, nine combat pilots signed up: Tim, Robert, Andrew, Justin, Garry, Mike, Frits, Tony and Johnny Turner. I'm sorry if I forgot anyone.

Al Ayler was Garry's launcher/spotter. But when Al handlaunched Garry's plane, he turned off the power switch as he released the plane! Garry's flight lasted only about three seconds and the plane crashed. I wonder if Garry will come back next month... There was plenty of action during the rounds, but no midair collisions . There were many close calls! And several near-misses !... I was told by a couple of reliable sources that Team Tony/Alvin didn't do too well this time, and that Tony is just about to fire his spotter/ground crew. Seems that Alvin ripped off the streamer string a couple of times by stepping on it. And he stuffed the spinning propeller in the ground. Tony was not too happy ... Andrew was the overall winner, claiming the $25 prize. Congratulations, Andrew!

Roger Geil landed his experimental ultralight aircraft at our field again and visited for a while ... Enzo Finizola showed off his electric Freedom park flier to Ben McGee . Enzo flew it a couple of times ... One of the electric planes Billy Frost flew was this nice electric twin-engine A-10 Warthog . He also flew this F-16 ... Johnny Jones showed off his newest, a very nicely done Kaos 40 . Stripes always dress up an otherwise low-key design, I think. Nice job, Johnny!... Seth Caglione flew his new German Me-109 fighter. Nice color scheme . And it's FAST!...

Elton Sullivan used the lumber that Bill and Jim Bryan dropped off several weeks ago and built another airplane assembly bench out of it. He said there was just enough lumber . Nice work, Elton. And thanks to Jim and Bill for the lumber. Elton flew his bright yellow Four Star 60 ... And Bill did his first takeoff with the P-51 Mustang trainer, and then did ten more that anyone would be proud of ... Henry Waltman showed up with his P-51 Mustang, 1/4 scale Cub, and P-47 Thunderbolt. The P-47 made some nice passes ... Rob Baker took Russell Ward's Hangar 9 F-22 Raptor "jet" trainer up for a first flight . He then let Russell fly it also ... Alvin Reed flew his Thunder Tiger Raptor .50 Titan helicopter. He did some prolonged inverted flying . I have to admit that he is finally getting better ...

Later in the evening Justin flew a tiny park flier. It may have been Jake Wiggins' plane. Not sure. It flew very quietly against the darkening sky ... After dark several people stayed and did some night flying. Or just watched . Robert was in the middle of it all, of course . Not sure how many people flew his Coroplast plane, all aglow with chemical light sticks . I wonder what the neighbors thought of the strange lights in the sky ?

=====================================

Upcoming events:
May 10 - The Koast Air Modelers Society (KAMS) of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, will have their Annual Spring Fly-In, the day before Mother's Day. Fly whatever you bring. Chicken dinners and soft drinks will be available. AMA required to fly. Here's a map to Ludlow Field . Contact: Paul Verger, cpaulverger@yahoo.com.

May 10 - The Eglin Aero Modelers in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, will have a WARBIRDS OVER EGLIN Fly-in. Website: www.eglinaeromodellers.org. All types of planes are welcome. Website: www.eglinaeromodellers.org. Contact: Tim Nolan, buckshotrc@hotmail.com.

May 17 - ACMA Combat at Irvington Field every third Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM. No matter what the weather! (Lightning will only delay it some...)

May 17 - The Mississippi Coast R/C Club (MCRCC) of Gulfport, MS, is having a Helicopter Fly-in. Award for best of scale. Contact: Richard Ober, 601-869-6821, heart1121@cableone.net. Here is MCRCC's Website . And their Miller Field Map

June 7 - Be brave! The Day of Armageddon has arrived! Get a plane ready for it! Azalea City Model Aeronautics and HobbyTown USA of Mobile and Daphne, Alabama, present their 11th Annual Armageddon Fun Fly. Field location: Irvington Field, Irvington, Alabama. Spectators welcome! Registration Fee $5.00 for participants. AMA membership required by competing pilots. Win one of three airplanes! There will be one for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place! Competition Events: 3 Loops, 3 Rolls, Touch-'n-Go, 3 Times; Aircraft Carrier landing; Combat!; Egg Drop; and Limbo. Any airplane may be used in the contest, however the contestant must use the same plane for all events, except for Combat. Compete only in events for which you feel brave enough! The Combat contest is a separate event and is optional. Field opens at 8:00 AM. Registration starts at 9:00 AM. Pilots Briefing at 9:45. Events will start at 10:00. Food and soft drinks available! Gift cards will be raffled off! Contacts: Rob Baker at HobbyTown USA - 251-633-8446 (htumobile@aol.com) or Frits Jetten - 251-661-8124 (fjetten@aol.com). Here's the Armageddon flier . And a map to Irvington Field .

June 14 - There will be an annual full scale fly-in at St. Elmo Airport, which is located only a few miles from Irvington Field off of Hwy. 90. Some of our club members flew their models there last year and they have been invited again this year. More details coming.

For a calendar of all local area RC flying events that I know about, you can always go to the Gulf Coast Area RC Event Calendar .

---

Previous Week Report Follows        Back to Top

---

baminsurance.com