INDOOR WITH THE PHOENIX.
Well dear friends, the weather on November 16th could not be held responsible for another poor turnout of fliers to ETSA Park for our indoor meet on that occasion, so we must look further afield to discover the cause.
As is often the case, David Wearing-Smith was one of the fore-runners and he and his son were the cause of both excitement and consternation at various stages of a great night’s entertainment for all those in attendance. Over a year or so now, one of David’s most enjoyable models has been his 3D foam bipe. It has suited his style of flying and has given him satisfaction and enjoyment at all times. This is just what it was doing on Thursday night – giving him satisfaction. After having been in the air for quite a lengthy flight, the brushless motor shot forward at great speed but forgot to take the rest of the plane with it. Crash was the only result as it plummeted to the polished floor of the ETSA Netball court at great knots, with the largest surviving piece being the nose, showing us a gaping cavernous hole where the motor had once been.
I don’t know that the Phoenix has ever met Master Wearing-Smith junior nor have I heard his name but, on this night, David had introduced the young chap to his latest purchase from Toys-R-Us of whose value could almost be expressed in cents. A tiny little aircraft that gave lengthy flying times and, when exhausted, would just be plugged into its transmitter for recharging the pack. It was during one of these lengthy flights that the tiny craft, having landed, by accident, in the rafters, took on the appearance of a quietly nesting swallow.
All sorts of attempts were made to dislodge the plane from its resting (or nesting) place, such as slow flights past by both fixed wing and Justin’s helicopter but the wind could not be directed in the correct angle of approach to be of any benefit.
The resident care-taker (and these chaps are always friendly and co-operative), suggested that perhaps the air conditioning could help and went to his control room and gave it a blast. Then, with David twiddling the controls of his little transmitter, the wayward craft soon fluttered its way down for a soft landing. Well done to all concerned.
The Three Wise Monks, and smart ones at that, were also appreciative of the action but, as the picky shows, they were not sayin’ – hearin’ – or seein’ nuttin.’ Of course, in real life they were, SSL Treasurer, John (Blancho) Blanchard, Christopher (Crash) Carpenter and Emmanuele (Manny) Stouppos.
Andy Hollitt was his usually active self, flying several lovely models, mostly of his own design and manufacture but, for some reason (witness the photo) Mike Schneider believed that he should be standing by – for – whatever?? Well – he was rewarded ‘cos, having launched a new foamie on its maiden voyage, Andy could not understand why the wings were flapping, somewhat like a feathered specimen than a foamie. Now hear this, dear readers: HE HAD FORGOTTEN TO ADD THE WING STRUTS! Tut! Tut! 
It was most pleasing to witness SSL President Mark Stone’s re-visit to ETSA for his models are always professionally built and flown by Mark, that he is sadly missed when he is unable to make his presence felt. 
I have included a picky of Murray Scott for one major reason – WHY IS HE LOOKING SO FORLORN? He came straight across the paddock from Model Flight and, because of the short travel, was one of earliest to arrive. So! He shouldn’t be sad about that. One of his models did cause him some consternation, that being a new model called a Thunder Tiger Expo 3D which was having its maiden flight this night. It seemed to take a considerable amount of time to trim this little devil and in no way, did it show the brilliant degree of flying of which Murray is capable. He also, had on loan from Model Flight, which is his place of employ, a beautiful little blue helicopter. As this model will not be on the shelves much before Christmas, or perhaps, just after, I can only speak of the model as I saw it, for the technicalities have not yet been released. Without doubt though, it is the most attractive contra-rotating blade heli, with its fully encompassing body, upon which I have had the pleasure of feasting my eyes. The Phoenix will be one of the early ones in the queue when it is available, so watch this column for further details, price etc. when they come to hand.
We also had a sneak preview, again in Murray Scott’s hands, of the brand-new-not-yet-released SPEKTRUM DX7 transmitter which, literally, comes “with the lot!” I said that it is not yet released but that is only at the time of writing this epistle. By the time you are taking it all in on the Website, the tranny will be available and will, no doubt, be a feature of Model Flight’s highly interesting publication.
The other big news of which I must make mention is that Murray Scott’s son, Alexis has not only purchased, but has taken over and moved in, to the Fly In Model shop, previously conducted by Laurie Kelsall at Mt Barker. For this, Alexis must receive a bravery award.
It is not a great distance from the major model shops in the city and it will take a lot of dedication and hard work, plus no doubt, a lot of advertising, but the Phoenix wishes him well with his new business venture.
This indoor fixture did not see too many mishaps in November but one of mention – Tony Browning, who is making vast strides in his heli flying and Ian Roddie, who makes his Silverlit perform fairly well, unfortunately touched blades. Ian was able to fly on and land safely but Tony’s model looked somewhat second-hand when it fell to earth with a bang.
Well, I have to leave you now folks as I have quite a large re-build to do on the old slow flying Demoiselle. I’ve outfitted it with a much larger capacity Li-Po battery pack which is giving me enormously lengthy flights. It was nearing the 20-minute mark on its final flight that I experienced a dreadfully serious seniors moment when the wall of ETSA Park looked, to me, to be a large expanse of azure green lawn.
Now – I ask you, with our severe water restrictions, where on earth would they have found the water to keep such a green patch – well – green?
Until December, when our next Indoor Meeting will be conducted on the 14th. From 8.3O p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and we’ll all be running around shaking everyone’s hand (whether we like them or not) and saying Happy Christmas, The Phoenix is coming in to land.
Phoenix Indoor Flight Reports
Indoor Flying at ETSA Park 2008
| Date |
Court |
Time |
| September 18th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| October 16th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| November 20th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| December 18th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| |
|
|
|
I
want a quote on how much freight it will cost to send items to me.
