Issue #22 Fort Bragg, California August~ September, 2006
In August Dick and Doris Lucas, Ron and Purline Cowan, Neil and Dot Van De Wende and Lolli and I drove up the coast to attend the three day Redwood Empire Modelers Assoc. Fun Fly.
Once a year R.E.M.A. hosts their Fun Fly at an emergency air strip within
walking distance of Klamath Glen, CA. There was a good turn-out but I got
a bit distracted during the drive up when I stopped to get gas at a gas station
in McKinleyville, tripped over the fill hose and broke my left arm! So,
while the Fun Fly gathering enjoyed Tri-Tip Friday evening I got to enjoy the
emergency room at Crescent City. But, my wife Lolli and I did return late
in the evening to spent the rest of the weekend watching the fun.
Dick Lucas's Stinson Reliant on the left. On the right, Dick Lucas with Club President Neil Van Der Wende's plane.
Here's a pretty shot of Ron Cowan's Sukoi doing a fly-by.
Neil and Dick with Dick's "flying combine" roto-wing! It wowed the non-believers!!
Then somebody fired up their Big Ultimate!
But the 100% Citrabria was the real crowd pleaser!!
What happened was, a young couple was flying their newly purchased plane home from Montana, developed some trouble and had to put it down. The wind was too strong on the coast at Crescent City so they used this emergency field. Fortunately the wind was strong Saturday afternoon at the flying field so no one was up when they dropped in. They borrowed some tools, made repairs, stayed overnight and flew out Sunday with us all waving bye-bye!
I discovered I had enough wiggle room in the end of my cast to be able to move my "throttle" thumb so I got in one flight with my Chicken! Yippee!
****
Back at our home field there has
been a run of bad luck. That, plus the summer fog made for some dreary
days.
My MiniUltraStick on the left. Lee Welty's foam Bipe on the right that has
come back from the dead so many times we call it Lazereth!
Chris Murphy with the remains of his electric Funtana and what he turned it into the following week!
All four of these planes bit the
dust. Cory's 90 Funtana got hit by a transmitter on the same frequency.
A real wake-up call for all of us to remember to grab our channel pins before
flight.
Ron Cowan printed out all the field and AMA rules and with Cory's help mounted
them at the field.
But, there are new members joining our club. Kristine on the left and Scott and Chris on the right.
Also, interesting planes are showing up. Here is Cory with a real screamer Kristine brought out.
Speaking of Kristine, she brought out a Flatana Chapman and everyone at the field helped her trim and fly it!!
Gene Holloway has his electric "Tug" almost ready to go. The plan is to tow up "Gentle Lady" gliders with it.
And Dick Lucas is still at it.
No, that is not a wreck in the left photo although it looks like one! (It
didn't fly!)
But Dick's rubber band powered Ornithopter flew just fine!! Go figure!
Chris Murphy is doing a excellent job of covering his new biplane. He has been building this plane for months.
***
Some of us did get over to Lake Mendocino for some lake flying. Here is Dick's latest seaplane.
And here are the final shots of my UltraStick 120 Racer. Let me highly recommend you check your linkages, nuts and bolts for tightness every so often. And, keep your receiver battery topped up!
Ron Cowan, Dick and Doris, and I were at the lake along with Steve and Ron Kooyers, Ray Morris and a few others but I sulked off in disgust after my crash and didn't get many photos.
Paul Johnson had to give up RC flying because of a neck problem. He has donated all his airplanes and equipment to the club. They are stored at Dick Lucas's for viewing. All sales go directly into the club savings account. What a generous thing to do Paul. We all thank you.
(Some of the above photos are courtesy of Mike Brown)
It sure has been a rough couple of months but now that the fog and breakage is over remember,,,,
the Corning Fun Fly is the 6th, 7th, and 8th of October....
Let's fly!
Your humble editor, Ron Bloomquist