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April 12 & 13, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities

Reminder - Upcoming flying events:
April 19 - The NorthWest Florida Modelers, Inc. (NFMI) are having a Fun Fly (similar to our upcoming Armageddon), this weekend. It was originally scheduled for last Saturday but it was rained out.
April 20 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) will have their Monthly Combat at 2:00 PM.
April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, presents their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL.

James Sansing and his two children, Cameron and Elizabeth, were back in town for a visit. James flew his Raptor helicopter around a couple of times . Cameron flew his tiny electric helicopter . And Cameron got to fly their trainer with a buddy box . His sister just watched ... Jon Koppisch flew his small profile Edge-540 3D plane . A wild flight in the... ahem... "breeze" !... David Etheredge brought his grandson Hunter and his big Edge 540... Marshal Barfield, past ACMA member, showed up with his Honda motorcycle. Very nice ! He threatened to come back someday...

Alvin Reed flew his Thunder Tiger Raptor .50 Titan heli . He went through his routine that included loops, rolls, stall turns and inverted flight. I watched him fly inverted for about five circuits, something I had never seen him do before. On Sunday Alvin was in a really relaxed mood . He let Justin fly the Raptor. Then Alvin played with a rag that Justin had laid out for him . Alvin also raided the refrigerator and came up with a strange dish . Russell had to copy him, of course, minus the wiener ...

Because of the breeze, most of the North End could be seen just socializing ... Johnny Turner showed up with a Piper Cub that he retrieved from his attic . It got pretty jerked around in the bumpy breeze gusts . Johnny also flew a newly built foam Flying Combat Wing . The first couple of flights on the wing were brief and small disasters. On flying wings the CG is very critical and must be exact! First it was tail-heavy. On the second flight it was nose-heavy. But on the third flight Johnny got it pretty much right! A little more tweaking, and Johnny will be ready for our monthly combat event on Sunday, April 20th.

Tommy Shields showed up with several planes in his growing fleet. When will he finally break down and get a trailer? He brought his 40-size CAP-232 Castrol Aviator, the gasoline burning G-Shark, and a new plane he acquired at a big swap meet in Perry, a Graupner racing plane (name unknown). He asked Frits to test fly the Graupner . In the gusty breeze it took Frits three attempts to land, but he got it down okay. Frits also got to fly Tommy's G-Shark, and that went a bit better. Tommy flew the CAP-232 Castrol Aviator himself, and he did pretty well, ending with a rather bouncy landing. Tommy's YAK got a lot of attention by the cream of the North End pilots, but — it did not fly on this day .

Robert Sanderson had his Sonic "Superman" plane ready for its first test flight . Well — wait! Not really! First Robert had to make minor adjustments, such as remove the aileron servo and reposition it where it would not interfere with the operation of the rudder servo. Then one of the wing bolts had to be shortened to clear another servo. But it was finally ready. Frits took it up and trimmed it out. Robert later flew it successfully too, in spite of the ummmm... stiff breeze... But then, later, he sort of crashed it...

Frits had a couple of students on Sunday. He took up Paul Stacy and his Alpha 60 trainer three times. No problem with wind there. There's never any wind at the South pits... Newcomer Cecil Mount showed up with his newest toy, an HDX 450-SE electric helicopter . He's still trying to complete it. He got some help from Johnny. A broken screw shut the operation down. Cecil also had his Hangar 9 F-22 Raptor "jet" trainer with him. But because of the "breeze" Cecil decided to wait until a better day. He packed up and went home...

Tony Farmer, who is now Cubless after last week's crash, flew his T-34 Mentor . He also flew his Coroplast combat plane ... Billy Frost brought his twin-motor F4A Phantom, the P-51 Mustang, an L-39 Czechoslovakian ducted fan jet and a Mini Ultra Stick . All are electrics. Billy tried twice to take the L-39 off, but it just didn't have the oompf to get up . It stayed grounded, as did the Phantom . Billy did fly the P-51 Mustang . And the Mini Ultra Stick. The Stick could turn out to be Billy's plane for Armageddon . At least that's what I think I heard him say... Roger Geil flew two of his foamy electric 3D planes. One was an old Tuff-E . The other was also made of foam and pink and white ...

Frits was called upon to test fly a new P-51 Mustang that belongs to newcomer John Walker. It's not quite 1/4 scale and looks really nice. Al Ayler — an accomplished Mustang pilot, I thought — was too scared to fly it in the little breeze, plus — or so he claimed — he "had a headache." What a wimp! Frits wanted Al to write down on a piece of paper: "My name is Al Ayler. I am an accomplished P-51 Mustang pilot, but I'm NOT a better pilot than Frits!" Well, it doesn't need to be in writing. Al knows Frits is a better pilot...

A lot of work went into getting John's Mustang prepped. As is normal for the North End, a small crowd had a hand in getting the Mustang ready, consisting of Andy Anderson, Al Ayler, Henry Waltman, Jon Koppisch, John LaFleur and Wayne Boudreaux . Finally they said it was ready! Frits was champing at the bit to fly it, but it was not to be. The engine would not start, probably because of a bad onboard glow battery! Better luck next week...

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

April 19 - ELECTRIC FLY-IN, Eglin Aero Modelers, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Website: www.eglinaeromodellers.org Details later.

April 19 - The Northwest Florida Modelers, Inc. (NFMI) are having their 2nd Annual NFMI Fun Fly (similar to our upcoming Armageddon), this weekend at Fritz Field in Pensacola, FL. It was originally scheduled for last Saturday but it was rained out. Contact: Rick Hogue, 850-474-9119. Here's the NFMI flier .

April 20 - 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...)

April 19 & 20 - The West Alabama Aero Modelers (WAAM) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will have a War Birds Over Bama Fly-in. This is a Giant Scale event. Award for Best of Show. Landing Fee $20.00. AMA required. Here's the WAAM flier with directions . This is the WAAM Website . Contact: Frank Baity, 205-553-7131, frank.baity@wlm.falconjet.com.

April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will have their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL. Unlike last year's event, we will now allow scale aircraft of all kinds, not just warbirds. Any type or size scale military, civilian or sport aircraft allowed, including scale helicopters and jets. AMA required. The $5.00 Landing Fee for registering pilots includes a special, free raffle ticket for an aircraft kit donated by HobbyTown USA. Spectators welcome! Gift cards will be raffled off! Food and soft drinks available. RVs welcome, but no hookups. Gates open at 8:00. Registration starts at 9:30. Contacts: Tony Farmer, 251-675-6498, mrclarklift@yahoo.com, Frits Jetten, 251-680-6919, fjetten@aol.com. Refer to flier for details . Here's a map to Irvington Field .

April 26 - Pinebelt R/C Association of Hattiesburg, MS, presents their 2nd Annual Tora-Doc Memorial Fly-in & Model Air Show. Location: Club field on Purvis Oloh Rd. Admission $5.00, children under 17 free. Landing fee $10.00. Refer to their ToraDocFlier . You can find a map on their web site: pinebeltrc.com Contact: Jeff Williams, mr_fix_it55@yahoo.com.

May 2 & 3 - Warbirds Over Clanton - Clanton, AL. Restricted to warbirds. Sponsor: Central Air Sport Flyers. Concessions on site. RV parking on site, no hookups. Contact: James Weems CD, jimweems@bellsouth.net, 205-733-2021..

May 10 - The Koast Air Modelers Society (KAMS) of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, has scheduled their Annual Spring Fly-In for May 10, the day before Mother's Day. Fly whatever you bring. Chicken dinners and soft drinks will be available. AMA required. 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 Details later.

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

June 7 - June 7 - This is The Day of Armageddon! Be brave! Get a plane ready for it! Azalea City Model Aeronautics and HobbyTown USA of Mobile, 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 he 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.

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Mar. 29 & 30, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities

Reminder - Upcoming flying events:
April 20 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) will have their Monthly Combat at 2:00 PM.
April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, presents their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL.
June 7 - This is The Day of Armageddon! Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, and HobbyTown USA present their 11th Annual Armageddon Fun Fly.
More details for these and other events are at the end of this report.

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Because I got behind I'm just hitting the highlights of the past couple of weekends, if you don't mind... Billy Frost flew his newest ducted fan electric jet, an F-16 . This jet is fast ! Billy also flew a couple of new helicopters. One gave Andy some concern when Billy flew it close to Andy's Mustang . And the really tiny one only needed part of the new kitchen floor as a helicopter pad ... Speaking of that kitchen. Our new kitchen floor addition looks great! Alvin added a section with patio stones near the water faucet. Thanks to Ben McGee who took on that concrete project and to all who helped ...

There was an unannounced P-51 Mustang event, I'm not sure how many of them got off the ground. I know Joe Krebs had his Mustang . So did Henry Waltman, and Al Ayler. Maybe there weren't enough people to work on them . I don't recall seeing any in the air, but then, I could be wrong. I was busy doing other things... Roger Geil landed his experimental ultralight aircraft . This one was the older one. He has two of them. Roger stayed and visited a while ...

AJ Morton flew his new Mini Ultra Stick . He also took off his trainer plane with the ailerons reversed. Yikes! Not good . Well, AJ, all I can say, sorry! I have been there and done that !... Tommy Shields brought his Ugly Stick, 40-size CAP-232 Castrol Aviator, and the G-Shark ... Steve Drake showed up with a bright red 1986 Corvette convertible. Nice !

Roger Hagler flew his Mini Funtana ... Johnny Morris has his Kaos 60 all repaired . He did a very nice job . Mike McLaughlin got to fly it ... Alvin Reed was seen eating a rice cake that appeared to be loaded up with molten mayonnaise was ice cream. Yum yum!... Alvin also flew his Raptor .50 Titan helicopter a couple of times . He even let Justin fly it also... Jeremy Shields had a new airplane with him, but I don't recall its name ...

Robert Sanderson showed up with his Coroplast twin-engine "Boomerang", roughly pattered after the original Burt Rutan design . It's getting there ! Frits can't wait to test fly this unique model !... Andrew Smith showed up with a small Cub. Not sure if the North Enders will allow his tiny Cub to join their Cub formation flights. Andrew had a bit of a problem with the takeoff. It just went straight into a spin and smacked into the dirt. I'm sure Andrew will repair it. You can see the little Cub's fatal takeoff on a short video on YouTube ...

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Apr. 4, 5 & 6, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities - Big Bird / 3D Fly-in

The Big Bird/3D Fly-in didn't go as well as we anticipated because of the rainy weather. Still fourteen pilots registered. Pilots from out of town who registered: David Dussetschleger (Brookhaven, MS), Duane Long (Baskin, LA), Jeremy Jackson (Cleveland, MS), Hal Jennings (MS), and Jack Estes (Memphis, TN). ACMA club's pilots who registered were: John LaFleur, David Etheredge, Bobby Hawthorne, Wes and Marie Batson, Justin Peacock, Scott Cameron, Sam Chest, and Jon Koppisch.

Scott Cameron was the Coordinator of this event. Several people need our thanks for giving their time and help to buy the food and get the chores done: Wayne manned the registration desk, Russell took in the money for the food concessions, Robert provided and cooked breakfast, and Alvin and Tony bought food and condiments and cooked. Frits planted seven directional road signs, Justin set up the PA system and Ben emptied trash cans. And Dean Ritola and TJ Rohyans provided me with some of their pictures. Thanks very much to all!

Out of town pilots started to show up on Friday. All came with their airplane trailers, standard equipment for this group . They all set up their planes . And I think all got several flights in . It was a small preview what was to come, planes hanging from their props and doing other wild maneuvers . Wes and Marie Batson had their large Extra-260s with them .

Saturday started very wet, but that didn't stop Robert and Justin from cooking breakfast . And a great job they did! Everyone enjoyed it very much ... Occasional flier Rod Gilbert didn't have a clue that a fly-in was going on and showed up with an Ultra Stick . Well, actually, several people flew non-giant planes during the breaks. And that was fine and agreed upon, as the participating big bird crowd was small. The cooks got lunch going early, and soon you could smell hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill...

Scott Cameron brought his Wild Hare R/C Extra-300, the "Ranger Bob" ... Sam Chest flew his Dietrich Extra-260 ... John LaFleur showed up with his yellow and white 3D plane for a change ... David Etheredge showed up with his wife and grandson Hunter, and his 32% Edge 540 ... Jon flew his big Yak 3D . He did some nice flying... Justin flew the Jerry Bates Sport-300 that Russell Ward now owns. After the plane landed it ran off the runway and cracked one of the retract gear blocks. An easy fix, according to Justin ...

Newest club member Bobby Hawthorne showed up with two large planes. There was something different about them. They looked like the others, and in fact they were both Extras. But each had a 3-bladed prop on them ! Well, Bobby is not a 3D type of guy. He competes in IMAC contests. (IMAC - International Miniature Aircraft Club). IMAC contests are similar to Pattern Contests, except instead of pattern planes with retractable gear, they use scale aerobatic planes and made some program changes. Bobby flew a Carden 40% Extra-300 fiber composite through its paces several times. The second plane — an Extra 330 — is actually for sale ....

Al Ayler insisted on a picture with Bob Sholes who can be seen at the field about twice a year ... Wayne was a bit under the weather, figuratively speaking. He was caught napping on the job . Oh, he wasn't faking. He was OUT !... Alvin claimed he was sick, and tried to get better by lying down . Well, that didn't last long, what with Tony and others rocking his truck... Scotty complained about a pile of huge, ummm, excrement that he found at the North End. Well, there's always a lot of bull going on there, but this was probably a deposit made by a big dog or large wild animal. Scott found a rake and cleaned it up though ...

The day went well, with the 3D guys taking turns doing what they do best . Several times they went up in pairs or groups to do their hovering and other stuff in formation ... A couple of times Wes got the rudder of his plane pretty much into the grass while hovering it vertically ! Duane Long could be seen doing some nice stuff . Well, they all did, and I apologize for not being able to put names to some of their faces . Young Jack Estes, who has been flying since he was a small boy, is really good ! He can put on a nice show ... Several times during the day you could see the big planes hanging in the air . Or slowly hovering and torque-rolling around each other . Very nice ! The gang-takeoff across the runway with a sudden stop to a hovering position was impressive .

When I drove up on Sunday the field looked like it always does. All trailers were gone. So it was back to the usual routine. Except I was in a bit of a hurry after Tony had called me to say that Bill Culberson was about to fly over in his full-scale L-29 Delfin jet. And when I got out of my van, I heard the jet in the distance. I had just enough time to grab my camera. The jet, with Bill at the controls and Rob as passenger, first did a slow pass . Then it circled around and did a lower one while cycling its landing gear . Then came the high speed pass! Awesome ! My video can be seen on YouTube .

There was still enough food left over from the previous day, the cooks were willing, and so the kitched was soon doing a brisk business again!... There were FOUR turbine jets at the field at one time! And they all flew! Bill and Rob, after parking the Delfin at the nearby St. Elmo Airport, showed up at our field with their turbine jets . Rob brought his camouflaged F-16 . Bill showed up with two ! One was the red Bob Violet Bandit, the other the black F-4 Phantom . Jon Koppisch brought his Composite ARF Rookie, a canard design . At one time, there were three jets in the air, doing some formation flying. Very cool !

Billy Frost flew something new, an electric Mini Ultra Stick... Tim McLeod flew his Carden Edge-540... Alvin took his Raptor .50 Titan helicopter up... And newcomer Billy Toliver flew his tiny electric Cessna Skylane several times . The plane has no moveable nose gear, but in spite of that, Bill managed to get it up in the air almost every time...

Bobby was back with his Extra-300 IMAC plane. He went through the Intermediate sequences he's currently practicing. The For Sale Extra-330 was shrouded under a custom fitted sheet ... Robert Sanderson acquired something new. Actually it's something that Billy used to fly, the Bob-E Cat . It was electrically powered when Billy had it. Robert wants to either put a Webra .55 engine or a G-size rocket motor on it! Frits has already applied to be the test pilot!...

Some last-minute entertainment was provided by the Cub crowd. It included three North Enders and Tony (who would like to be like them but just can't stay away from the South End where Alvin hangs out.) So there were Al, Wayne, Henry and Tony and their Cubs . They all tried to a fly "tight" formation, but I found that at no time could I get all four Cubs in one frame, unless I backed 100 ft. away. Three was the best I could do . Al was not showing off too much . Tony — definitely the most adventurous of the Cub fliers — did most things the others wouldn't so. Like doing loops and rolls and flying inverted.

And then it happened! Tony was doing a nice and low inverted pass over the grass east of the asphalt, when he got confused and pulled when he should have pushed. The Cub smacked into the ground on its back, breaking the wing. The Cub sort of hung together . Everyone felt bad, of course . Tony says it's not a keeper. Someone else will probably end up with it. Al could be heard hollaring and jeering after Tony crashed. He must have forgotten that he crashed a Cub too — once or twice. There was that time about three years ago ...

Oh, by the way, watch those spinning props! Elton Sullivan sliced his finger a couple of weeks ago. Here's my safety picture of the week ...

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Upcoming events:
ACMA Combat at Irvington Field every third Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM. Next one is on April 20, no matter what the weather! (Lightning will only delay it some...)

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

April 19 - ELECTRIC FLY-IN, Eglin Aero Modelers, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Website: www.eglinaeromodellers.org Details later.

April 19 & 20 - The West Alabama Aero Modelers (WAAM) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will have a War Birds Over Bama Fly-in. This is a Giant Scale event. Award for Best of Show. Landing Fee $20.00. AMA required. Here's the WAAM flier with directions . This is the WAAM Website . Contact: Frank Baity, 205-553-7131, frank.baity@wlm.falconjet.com.

April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will have their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL. Unlike last year's event, we will now allow scale aircraft of all kinds, not just warbirds. Any type or size scale military, civilian or sport aircraft allowed, including scale helicopters and jets. AMA required. The $5.00 Landing Fee for registering pilots includes a special, free raffle ticket for an aircraft kit donated by HobbyTown USA. Spectators welcome! Gift cards will be raffled off! Food and soft drinks available. RVs welcome, but no hookups. Gates open at 8:00. Registration starts at 9:30. Contacts: Tony Farmer, 251-675-6498, mrclarklift@yahoo.com, Frits Jetten, 251-680-6919, fjetten@aol.com. Refer to flier for details . Here's a map to Irvington Field .

April 26 - Pinebelt R/C Association of Hattiesburg, MS, presents their 2nd Annual Tora-Doc Memorial Fly-in & Model Air Show. Location: Club field on Purvis Oloh Rd. Admission $5.00, children under 17 free. Landing fee $10.00. Refer to their ToraDocFlier . You can find a map on their web site: pinebeltrc.com Contact: Jeff Williams, mr_fix_it55@yahoo.com.

May 2 & 3 - Warbirds Over Clanton - Clanton, AL. Restricted to warbirds. Sponsor: Central Air Sport Flyers. Concessions on site. RV parking on site, no hookups. Contact: James Weems CD, jimweems@bellsouth.net, 205-733-2021..

May 10 - The Koast Air Modelers Society (KAMS) of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, has scheduled their Annual Spring Fly-In for May 10, the day before Mother's Day. Fly whatever you bring. Chicken dinners and soft drinks will be available. AMA required. 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 Details later.

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

June 7 - This is The Day of Armageddon! Be brave! Get a plane ready for it! Here's the Armageddon flier .

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Mar. 22 & 23, 2008 - Irvington Field Activities

Reminder - Upcoming flying events:

April 4, 5 & 6 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will host a Big Bird & 3D Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL.

April 20 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) will have their Monthly Combat at 2:00 PM.

April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will have their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL.

More details for these and other events are at the end of this report.

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Ben McGee started and finished the Pavilion Kitchen Floor Expansion Project in the time span of only one week! Nice work Ben! Thanks also to Alvin Reed, Todd Zimbelman, Enzo Finizola, Robert Sanderson, William Moore and Frits Jetten, who helped with the concrete work and some finishing touches later . The slab looks great! But raising the floor several inches had the effect of lowering the doorway and west approach by the same amount. Some orange netting should draw attention to the low clearances . Also watch out for that frying skillet ! It'll knock you silly! So be careful, enter the shed at your own risk, especially those of you who are taller than Alvin and Tony (and that's just about everyone else...) Don't be a head banger !...

By the time you read this Todd will have moved to Fenton, Missouri . If you have watched the news, you know that this town is several ft. under water now due to the recent extensive flooding there. Todd will be joining his wife who has been there already, mopping up water in their new apartment! Good luck, Todd ! You know where we are!... Thanks to Ben McGee the trash barrels are empty and ready for weekend duty !... Close talker William had big man Enzo backed up against one of the pits posts . Yeah, we know, Enzo ...

David Etheredge and son Hunter showed up with a small electric Shock, a big U-Can-Do 3D plane and an old Funster . Hunter tried his hand at the U-Can-Do 3D . He's been practicing on a computer simulator ... Tal Fowler flew the stuffing out of his Compass Knight 50 3D helicopter . He DOES get low to the ground sometimes, doesn't he ?... Chris Matthews flew his camera-toting helicopter. Well, it's capable of carrying a camera . But I'm not sure if Chris flew with the camera today... Alvin flew his Raptor .50 Titan helicopter later in the day, as he always does . Nice, graceful flights — a big contrast to Tal's slam-bam way of flying! If you were to asked me, I prefer the flying Alvin does, but I also admire the great skill that it takes to do the 3D stuff ...

Russ Green flew an Ultimate biplane that looked suspiciously like the one Mike McLaughlin has/had . Are they one and the same ?... Mike flew his Ultra Sport 40, doing some fancy low-level knife edges . I believe he's practicing for the upcoming Armageddon Fun Fly . One of the competition events is the Limbo, and you get only one point for going under the ribbon right side up. You get double points for going under it inverted, and triple points for knife edge. No one has done that yet in the ten years of Armageddon, although Rob Baker came close once. Here's a sequence of Rob's attempt several years ago. Looking good ! — Oops ! — Almost ! Actually many of the plane's parts passed under the limbo ribbon!... Yeah, Armageddon is great fun!

Jon Koppisch showed up with a new Composite ARF Rookie, a canard turbine jet . Looks great in flight ! The brakes partly failed on landing and the jet ran off the North end of the runway. No damage was done, though ... Jimmy Davis and son Trey showed up with Trey's 35% Edge 540, a large 3D plane with a 3W 106 gasoline engine . They are from the Jackson, AL, area and stray into out neighborhood once or twice a year. Trey always flies . Jimmy is always the ground crew . Thanks for stopping by and visiting !... Frank Rowell brought only his Funtana S this time. He had a couple of nice flights ...

There was another turbine jet that showed up later in the afternoon. Bill Culberson and his two daughters showed up with a NexSTAR trainer and a Bob Violett Bandit turbine jet . Bill took the NexSTAR up and let his oldest daughter fly it a while . Then he flew his incredibly fast Bandit ! Unfortunately, when Bill landed he was short. The Bandit hit the dirt overrun, and rolled onto the asphalt runway with a collapsed nose gear . At least that's what it looked like to me. Apparently not much damage done to this jet either...

Tommy Shields has been airplane shopping again. He had just come back from a big swap meet in Perry, FL. Tommy showed up with three planes, a P-40 Warhawk, a 40-size Super Decathlon and a G-Shark with a Zenoah 42 gasoline engine . Jon test-flew the G-Shark and then Tommy flew it some too. Tommy's landing was a bit harsh. Careful, Tommy! This one needs to come in hot! He let Frits fly it also. After Frits handed the controls back to Tommy, he landed it. But jut when Frits was about to say "Watch it! Don't let it get too slow!", the plane DID! It stalled about eight ft. off of the ground. Tommy made a gallant effort to recover, but the Shark slammed hard onto its belly, knocking the main gear off. No damage to the G-Shark to speak of. Tommy also flew the Army green Warhawk . No problems there ...

On Sunday the wind sock stood out a bit straighter than on Saturday . It was Easter Sunday, too, and perhaps that combination kept many pilots away. Oh, some of the North Enders showed up: Al Ayler, Frank Madison, Henry Waltman, Carl Broughton and Roger Hagler . Of those only Carl flew his Astro Hog, and Roger his Lazy Bee... Johnny Turner flew his Align T-Rex 600 Nitro helicopter. The wind didn't bother him... Russell Ward, Charlie Gillespie and Steve Drake only visited.

At the South End there was NO WIND, of course, and Frits took up Bill Bryan and his P-51 Mustang trainer. Wind? What wind? Here's Bill with an empty North End behind him . Bill did fine even though his Mustang did a lot of bucking. Bill's Dad Jim decided to wait until another day... Frits also tried to take up Paul Stacy and his Alpha 60 trainer, but on takeoff the trainer flipped over and broke the steering arm on the nose gear. So Paul didn't get to fly...

Robert Sanderson showed up with the start of his newest creation, a Coroplast version of Burt Rutan's twin-fuselage, twin-engine Boomerang . The wing is almost complete . Robert's two fuselages are prebuilt and appear to be very inexpensive . (They are imported and may contain lead...) Yes, Sir, Robert's one-man model aircraft company, Sanderson's Advanced Skunk Works of Outrageous Technology (SASkWOT), never rests, does it? Frits has already applied to be the test pilot for this one. He can't wait to fly this new challenge!

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Upcoming events:
ACMA Combat at Irvington Field every third Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM. Next one is on April 20, no matter what the weather! (Lightning will only delay it some...)

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

April 4, 5 & 6 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will host a Big Bird & 3D Fly-in. Field location: Irvington Field, Irvington, AL. Maps to the flying field and nearby hotels are available at http://www.alvinrc.com/index.html. IMAA minimum size requirements apply. $20.00 registration fee includes $5.00 plate lunch (lunch Saturday only). Spectators welcome. Food and drink concessions, $5.00/plate, drink 50¢. Raffle: $1.00/ticket, 6 for $5.00. Winner splits pot 50/50 with ACMA club. Gates open at 8:00 AM. RVs welcome, but no hookups. This is the BigBird3Dlier . Here's a map to Irvington Field . And this map shows the nearby campgrounds and motels . Event Coordinator: Scott Cameron, 251-473-5665, robertcameron4@comcast.net.

April 19 - ELECTRIC FLY-IN, Eglin Aero Modelers, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Website: www.eglinaeromodellers.org Details later.

April 19 & 20 - The West Alabama Aero Modelers (WAAM) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will have a War Birds Over Bama Fly-in. This is a Giant Scale event. Award for Best of Show. Landing Fee $20.00. AMA required. Here's the WAAM flier with directions . This is the WAAM Website . Contact: Frank Baity, 205-553-7131, frank.baity@wlm.falconjet.com.

April 26 - Azalea City Model Aeronautics (ACMA) of Mobile, Alabama, will have their 2nd Southern Alabama Warbird & Scale Fly-in at Irvington Field, Irvington, AL. Unlike last year's event, we will now allow scale aircraft of all kinds, not just warbirds. Any type or size scale military, civilian or sport aircraft allowed, including scale helicopters and jets. AMA required. The $5.00 Landing Fee for registering pilots includes a special, free raffle ticket for an aircraft kit donated by HobbyTown USA. Spectators welcome! Gift cards will be raffled off! Food and soft drinks available. RVs welcome, but no hookups. Gates open at 8:00. Registration starts at 9:30. Contacts: Tony Farmer, 251-675-6498, mrclarklift@yahoo.com, Frits Jetten, 251-680-6919, fjetten@aol.com. Refer to flier for details . Here's a map to Irvington Field .

April 26 - Pinebelt R/C Association of Hattiesburg, MS, presents their 2nd Annual Tora-Doc Memorial Fly-in & Model Air Show. Location: Club field on Purvis Oloh Rd. Admission $5.00, children under 17 free. Landing fee $10.00. Refer to their ToraDocFlier . You can find a map on their web site: pinebeltrc.com Contact: Jeff Williams, mr_fix_it55@yahoo.com.

May 2 & 3 - Warbirds Over Clanton - Clanton, AL. Restricted to warbirds. Sponsor: Central Air Sport Flyers. Concessions on site. RV parking on site, no hookups. Contact: James Weems CD, jimweems@bellsouth.net, 205-733-2021..

May 10 - The Koast Air Modelers Society (KAMS) of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, has scheduled their Annual Spring Fly-In for May 10, the day before Mother's Day. Fly whatever you bring. Chicken dinners and soft drinks will be available. AMA required. 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 Details later.

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

June 7 - This is The Day of Armageddon! Be brave! (Details are coming...)

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