Events

Fradley Fun Fly

I’ve heard many great things about the Fradley club and its Annual Fun Fly event. To have seen this event first hand, I was not disappointed! 

The clubs flying site is located on an old second RAF Lichfield, known locally as Fradley. Fradley Aerodrome, was constructed in 1939 and early 1940. Initially it operated as a maintenance site, being home to the No. 51 Maintenance Unit from August 1940.  Manufacturers sent newly built aircraft to Fradley to carry out any modifications before delivery to squadrons. After the war, large numbers of aircraft were broken up and many aircraft were prepared before being sold to the air forces of other countries. The unit remained active until the closure of the airfield in 1958.

After working late Saturday night, the early start on Sunday morning proved very difficult! With the alarm ringing and my dad shouting, I reluctantly left bed and sleep-packed the car, but i didn’t mind knowing that I would pick up some of the new high voltage Savox 1268MG as well some Bionic Li-Po Batteries, which I will be using in my latest plane for IMAC competitions  – a 102” QQ Somenzini Yak 54.

The weather forecast looked promising, predicting light winds and sunny intervals, and after following Steve’s directions, we were soon arriving at the sunlit well organized Fun Fly.

John shorthouse gave his “usual pilots safety briefing” and then retired to his chair. I have to say I didn’t see him move for most of the day from it, other than to burger stand. (Ed note: John, Chris and Ollie were quietly competing to see who could eat the most)

The wind was extremely light and was directly down the tarmac runway. I couldn’t wait to get in the air! Flying started at 10:00 and I quickly rigged the planes to be on the gradually expanding flight line. But by 10.10, no one was flying! I checked in with the extremely friendly Tx Control and immediately checked out my radio and was the first one in the air!

There was a large variety of aircraft on display, from Trainers to large scale Ducted Fan Jets! Included in these was an eagerly anticipated ducted fan model of a Concorde. As the electric fans were tried and tested, a large crowd gathered to watch this magnificent aircraft fly. Unfortunately, a problem with the Speed Controllers on board meant that the flight was short lived. However it successfully made it down in one piece (even without power from 3 of the 4 fans!!) and was warmly greeted by a large round of applause.

Chris Norbury soon arrived with the FMS Mirage 4000 and the new upgraded FMS P51 in the Yellow “Marie” colour scheme. After fitting in a quick burger that came free with signing up (just the one today Steve!!), Chris was soon flying my personal favourite from Famous – the Mirage. After a few trimming circuits, Chris soon kept to grips with the Mirage and he was enjoying himself far too much. With little power left, he just made it back to the runway. We then fetched the much awaited P51 Mustang. Chris taxied the Mustang out and gracefully took to the skies. He did an excellent job of displaying the warbird, and showing it’s extremely scale capabilities. This generated interest and we happy to answer many questions.

Fradley do organise a raffle at these events and I have to say the prizes were very good, these ranged from wines and spirits through to kits that had been donated by CML Distribution.  The star prizes were the Mini P51 Mustang and the Mini Spitfire. There were plenty of very happy people on the day and the two lucky winners of the Mini Warbirds were Richard Jones & Mick Hill well done to you all! (see photo)

 All in all, we had a great day Chris and I together totalled over 10 flights( 4 of which were solo slots!). We were warmly welcomed by all of the Fradley club members, who all had their separate roles to play and made the event work like clockwork. So a big Thank you to the Fradley Club and everyone involved in making this wonderful day possible.

Ollie and Chris 

The annual Rolls Royce Hucknall scale event is always held at the end of July.  I have had the pleasure of being a member of this club a few years back so I am familiar with many of the members, what I never realised until this weekend, was some of the history that this site is steeped with:

In the 2^nd World War the site was used to repair and return damaged Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain.  This was also the site of the first ever conversion of the P51 Mustang from the original Allison to the mighty Rolls Royce Merlin.

 The site was made famous in 1954 when the “Flying Bedstead” was developed and flown from this site, this was the test bed for the Harrier VTOL.

Our Flight hub team has already visited this site earlier in the year for the Electric Event so the team was familiar with protocol.  Entrance to the site is made through a security gate and we had decided to arrive early Saturday morning as the M1 is best left alone on a Friday!

The weather forecast was not promising, but we have all learned to pay no attention to that!  The day did improve gradually and luckily the strong wind was directed straight down the runway.  I must say that the runway at Rolls Royce is the finest that I have ever had the pleasure of flying from and this is why it is used for many jet events throughout the year.

The EDF Jets and war birds all coped very well the conditions without a mishap.  It was surprising to see how busy the Saturday was, flying was continuous and before we knew where the day had gone it was time for a spot of tea.

Sunday started with blue skies and sunshine with not a breath of wind, but by the time we had eaten breakfast the sky had filled with cloud and that strong wind was back with us.

After checking in with TX control and filling out our model details and specifications it was soon time for the pilots briefing.  As usual Reg of RR Hucknall MAC gave us a very detailed and professional overview.

First up from the flight hub team were the war birds, the P47 and the P51, this was the first public showing of the new upgraded P51 and the new Yellow “Marie” colour scheme.  All these war birds feature the new worm drive electronic retracts.  Chris Norbury did an excellent job displaying my own favourite P47, Lance and Bob were close on his tail with the Mustangs.  The announcers did a great job entertaining the crowd with some great model specifications, and there was much interest from pilots and spectators alike.

The Savox/Bionic Extreme Flight Extra had a solo slot just before lunch and as ever it coped with the strong wind very well especially as it is a relatively small model.  I have some new Mejzlik carbon propeller coming this week, which will improve performance further as they are lighter and stiffer than the current APC E.  The Savox SC1267 and 68 are still performing with blistering pace and accuracy.

The new Top Gun L39 was also displayed early in the afternoon,  its pace and stability were stunning and it coped very well in the far from perfect conditions.  We also were able to get a few descent photos of this aircraft in flight, which is always a bonus.

The Alpha Jet and the new prototype T50 were displayed in an EDF slot, the T50 had lots of interest as it has some great unique features and it flies and presents very well.

It was soon time to pack up in some late afternoon sunshine; as always it was a great event and we will continue to support this very well run show, hopefully see you there next year..

Last weekend, the Don Valley Fly in was cancelled due to bad weather.  It was rebooked for Sunday 13^th June and with a small amount of rearranging, the Flight hub team was able to attend.

I left the sunny midlands early Sunday morning but once outside Sheffield the weather started to look a little unsettled, as I approached Don Valley airfield though the clouds had cleared and the sun was out.

Like most shows it’s always a bit of a rush to unload all the models from the van and get all vehicles cleared out of the way ready for the spectators, Don Valley is no different but it was certainly nice and relaxed or am I just getting quicker?!

Ollie and Shaun were already on the flight line and they were keen to see the new range of 1.4m war birds, we were eager to show the Spitfire and the 109 in dog fight action, we were not disappointed.

Ollie flew his wonderful QQ 88inch Yak with some very high adrenaline manoeuvres along with some very graceful artistic aerobatics the crowd were very receptive to his fearless style.

I was asked to give a solo slot with the Extreme Flight 78 inch Extra which I must say is rapidly becoming a real favourite of mine.  It’s got a bit of weight behind it with the Bionic 10S 4800mAh cells, that allows me to present it well in any weather.  Tracking is very good and the new LiPo compatible SC 1267 and 1268 savox servos are proving to be a perfect match to my flying style.  The resolution and speed are breathtaking, top notch in fact.

Ollie and I got three great slots with the Famous Models Spitfire and 109, both of these feature the new brushless retract system which are proving to be brilliant.  The flight characteristics of these war birds is fantastic, it’s a pilots dream with great power and duration along with wonderful light loading and predictability, it’s also very easy to present this very well to spectators.

Whilst Ollie demonstrated the wonderfully flexible Famous Mirage 4000, and was hedge hopping and tree touching to the crowds delight.  I demonstrated the big Alpha Jet, showing just how well behaved this model is and demonstrating that EDF jets don’t have to be flown in a large high speed pattern.

Finally the famous mini P40 and P51 were given a good thrashing; we were really pushing these little aircraft to their limits, the problem is they just cope with everything we throw at them!  I’m looking forward to getting 3 in the air at Weston Park this coming weekend.

We really were busy at this wonderful event, if we weren’t flying then we were swapping receivers over to allow us go in the next slot.  Quite often Ollie would disappear for 10 minutes, we found out later that he had become addicted to the Cheese-burgers!

The heavens did eventually open but not until just after 4pm and then it was only for 15 minutes, this gave Ollie chance to have his final burger of the day, we captured this on camera so there was no disputing his bad habits!!

After the raffle was held we had a final flight with the 1.4m 109 and Spitfire before calling it a day.  It was a great event and very well run, we will be back there next year with some new and exciting products. 

Bob and I arrived at this lovely venue located in an idlic village just outside Corby in Northamptonshire early on Saturday morning.  The sun was out but the wind was cool, I have learnt from bitter experience to slap on the sun screen as you don’t feel the burn till packing up time and then it’s way too late.

After unpacking all the display models we wondered down to the refreshments tent where we had a well deserved brew and catch up with the organizers.

The brand new Famous Mini Mustang was then pitted against the longstanding Alfa Models Mustang in a head to head comparison.  Bobs Alfa performs very well and it has wonderful scale detailing but it was really no match for the Famous Mini Mustang, it’s performance is dynamic with the 3 cell 1300mAh pack.  (This range of models will be available in late July)

The Famous Alpha Jet was next on my flight list; the display was kept as low as I dared, as it’s so stable and predictable it’s fare to say that it was difficult to get much lower, it’s still one of my favourite aircraft in our range. 

 I have asked Famous if it is possible for them to make a “high speed version” with rudder, they are getting back to me on this so stay tuned for further news.

Bob Flew the Famous Models Mustang and I demonstrated the New Famous |Models Spitfire, this aircraft features a brushless motor retract system and so far its proving to be bullet proof.  We really enjoyed our flight together and it was great to fly in sync as it adds an extra dimension to both the display and our flight awareness.

The Savox Extra is performing very well; I’m just waiting for Mejzlik to send me some new carbon electric propellers to replace the APC Electric, this is way to flexible and provides me with inconsistent power delivery in High G manoeuvres and prop hanging. 

The power from the Hacker motor and Bionic Batteries is like an atomic supercharger and will only get better with the new props, I can’t wait.

In the afternoon the mini spitfire had its first public display, this is again by Famous Models, its proving to be a very talked about little aircraft.  

Bob and I thoroughly enjoyed the day and we were very appreciative of all the hard work of the organizers in putting on this event, especially catering!!

Savox Challenge 5^th June 2010-06-07

Held at Langar Airfield, Nottingham, England.

I arrived at Langar, on Friday evening, the airfield was pretty busy with pilots doing some final preparation which was great to see, there was a really great atomoshere.  The first 2 judges were already there; Phil Hoyles and Mal Green had arrived earlier in the day to take advantage of the wonderful weather, Mal had travelled over 4 hours to get here as he lives way down south!!! You can’t beat that for dedication.

The guys helped me set up the presentation tables and put up the new Savox Banner and the Bionic flag so that it was something less for to worry about in the morning.  We retired to a local pup for a refreshing drink and bite to eat, finally finishing the evening with a EPP fly off, with the “Smart” winning by a mile, or so I thought.

I awoke really early and at around 6.30am Mal and I were wringing the new Famous Mini Warbirds out, brilliant start to the day.

They really are excellent flyers; especially on 3 S 1300mAh Lipo, they certainly don’t hang around and really feel locked in commented Mal.

After a large fry up at the local café we were ready to take on the world; Ok I’m exaggerating, the Savox Challenge then!

The rest of the judges and helpers arrived at 9am, Barry James travelled all the way from York and we also had Phil Mousley, Shaun and Ollie Staples also travelling some hours from up north.  At 10am I carried out the Judges briefing and issued out laminated copies of the schedule, call notes, clip boards and pens.  We then set up the judges chairs and scoring table up on the flight line.

At 10.45 I carried out registration and gave the competition briefing to some nervous looking pilots.  There would be 4 rounds in total for each of the classes, you could drop the 2 lowest scores and it was the pilot with the highest total score that would be crowned Savox Challenge Champion 2010 in Basic or Sportsman.

At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember 2 things; firstly to breath and secondly to just enjoy yourselves, I reminded everyone.

Ollie Staples then completed a demo flight of both schedules for the judges and pilots and we kicked the competition off at around 11.15, there is nothing worse than flying in front of your peers, so well done Ollie.

Pilots flew the first round of Basic class first and then we moved onto the Sportsman, I think it was fair to say that everyone was a little apprehensive with such an intimidating line up of judges all critiquing them, it’s not for the fainthearted. 

As pilots got used to the conditions the second round was much smoother for most of the pilots and we finished round 2 and all broke for a spot of lunch and flying demos.

Barry James gave us a very low and fast demonstration of his wonderful composite Extra, it really did howl as the tips hit supersonic only feet from the runway.  Ollie and I flew the Famous Models Mini Mustang and P40 Warhawk and had some great fun flying in syncro.  We even managed a deliberate belly touch, brilliant flying aircraft.  These will be the must have of the summer and unbelievable value for money too.

I also got to wring the Savox Extreme Flight 78 inch Extra; powered by Bionic 10S pack it’s a real showcase of technology and it’s a great flying machine.  I’ve only just finished it and I still have a bit of work to do tweaking this one.

After lunch we started round 3, pilots were really getting used to it now and the competition was starting to hot up.  Ollie had issued out the score cards to the pilots at lunch time so they were able to reflect on there scores, this year the judges had been able to put a few notes on the side of each score thereby assisting the pilot when they came to review them.

The final round 4 was definitely the best for the majority of pilots, so it was still all to play for.  Although I had decided not to issue the scores out after each round to keep the tension as high as I could!

Ollie did a great job of calculating the scores all day and he handed me the final score card just 5 minutes after the last the flight.

As I gathered  all the pilots ready for a photo shoot we all moved down to the presentation area in front of the Savox Banner and display stand, tension was high, it was a great atmosphere.

Langars Competition Secretary – Dave Gent, said a few kind words thanking the Judges, callers, helpers, Savox and CML for putting on this event.  Finally the results were announced in reverse order, the summary is as follows:

The top 3 positions

Savox Challenge Basic:

1^st John Appleyard 85.5

2^nd Tony Morroll 70.9

3^rd Dave Gent 53.8

Savox Challenge Sportsman:

1^st George Bradley 96.7

2^nd Steve Green 55

3rd Geoff Graves 54.1

Savox Challenge Judges and Helpers:

Phil Hoyle

Mal Green

Barry James

Phil Mousley

Shaun Staples

Ollie Staples