THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX – At ETSA Park in August.
I am beginning this month by saying what little I know of one gentleman, who is normally and, apparently naturally, one of the stars of our monthly night’s flying at ETSA Park. As some of you may only read thefirst paragraph or so, of my monthly articles, let me remind you all, dear readers and friends, that it will cost you nothing at all to come, sit in the fairly comfortable chairs of the gallery and watch the antics, which are usually, quite entertaining. One only pays ten dollars if one flies. This is J.J. of whom I speak… 
He is pictured here with his latest foam constructed model and it is a real “hum-dinger.” Constructed, and designed by the owner, who used fairly ordinary foam, not the thicker EPP, probably relying on his flying ability, rather than the enormous strength of EPP, for its survival. I sat in awe as it made it’s inaugural flight in the stadium. 
I do believe that this young lad, and perhaps, his mother as well, were fascinated by the very smoothness of J.J.’s first flight, clutching her seat in excitement. You may recall the progress that “Toddles” made right from the beginning with his aerobatic Blade. Much water has flown beneath the King William Road bridge, although no where near as much as flowed out to sea after the burst pipe episode on Brighton Road, but we see here, a much improved and advanced Toddles, complete with new haircut in all his concentrating glory. 
Todd is showing off the new baby blade which, as it has not yet been released to the public, has not had its species released. I guarantee that my story for September will have, not only pix of this exciting little model, but also its specifications and this will include the RRP for the complete kit or the ever popular Bind-N-Fly kit. By the time of next month’s story, the kit will have been released to the general public through our outlet…Model Flight, of Goodwood Road. As I write this story, tonight’s e-mail from the Managing Director of Model Flight, Michael O’Reilly, spoke of him taking lots of deep breaths and getting an early night, after the wonders of Chinatown in New York, as in the morning he and his lovely wife, Janine, are going to the topmost level of the Empire State Building. A thrill not to be missed by those who are of sufficient fortune to make those heights. 
You see, here, some of the “Foamies” – me ol’ mate, Bob McEwin often referred to them as “Plastic Meat Trays,” which performed before our appreciative audience. Later in the evening, attached streamers made for an even higher level of top viewing and entertainment. Especially by these people… 
I do not wish to offend and hope that I don’t, when I refer to these people as an interested group of Malaysian visitors. Their happy faces showed that they were enjoying the flying and I do hope that we see them there often. 
I have ever only known this gentleman as Ian, so I shan’t take a guess at his Surname, but I will say that it gave me, regardless of the rewards for him, immense pleasure to see him making his first visit to ETSA Park. He is one of the major controlling bodies of Radio Controlled 4-wheel vehicles, shall I say car racing and he can always be found at one of these venues, excercising his computer skills in the control of the racing… Ian showed more than just a casual interest in our entertainment, and I shant be surprised to see him show up, perhaps even next month, with his own indoor model. I certainly hope so. I am in a fix, what – again, you might well say. It was very remiss of me not to get this gentleman’s name, even though his son has been flying with us at ETSA for a while, but I found fascination in his chosen model. As you will see it is of foam construction, yet again, but its main variation from the normal is that its motor and propeller are mounted about half-way along The fuselage, and enclosed in a sort-of prop guard. See this… 
If you have ever watched Sumo wrestling out of Japan, you will know only too well that the Sumo Wrestlers are enormously overweight and that they would not qualify if they weren’t. I would not dare say that they are obesely ugly for fear that they find my address, but this aircraft, pictured above is called The Sumo. Whilst not the prettiest aircraft that I have seen, even though it is constructed of foam, IT IS different and, as it did not fly too badly, I felt it warranted a mention in this article. I congratulate its builder and its innovative design. As a large percentage of the “subs” that we collect each month goes to The Southern Soaring League, and, in fact they will benefit from a $100 this month, I felt it only fit that I should feature one of their latest members. I speak of Sandy Taylor, seen in my next photo who was making his first visit to ETSA Park and, I am sure, it will not be his last. 
Sandy was seen to have several successful flights with his aircraft and I am sure that we will see him return to our indoor feature. Andy Hollitt is one of our more innovative fliers who always seems to have an objective in mind when flying at ETSA Park and, as we have one immovable goal post, with its net, up the top end of court 1, it was Andy’s objective to get a goal with his home-design foamie. The first pic shows – almost… 
It is nearly there… and then…
Okay – now to get it down. Prop and wheels take some untangling. But – all ended well and Andy will, no doubt return next month, probably to try again for that elusive goal. That will be on the 17th September, when we shall gather again, at the cost of ten dollars to fly from 8.30 to 10.30p.m. I, in closing, wish to thank all my fellow fliers at ETSA Park for the very professional and accomplished manner in which you all packed up your gear and moved out, right on the requested time. I know that the rostered Night Manager, and his cleaning staff, as well as the Phoenix appreciated the prompt manner in which we exited the building. Thank you all.
Phoenix Indoor Flight Reports
Indoor Flying at ETSA Park 2009
| Date |
Court |
Time |
| Thursday 17th September |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| Thursday 15th October |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| Thursday 19th November |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| |
|
|
|
I
want a quote on how much freight it will cost to send items to me.
