(L-R) Susan Edwards, Dave Gould, Roger Edwards, Steve White, Will Setzler, Jeff Cislo, Ralph Anderson, Nicholas Anderson, and Arnold Heckman.
The Chesapeake Bay Radio Control Club held a fun-fly on May 19, 2012. Events included Slalom, Looper, ETA, Fast N Slow, Spot Landing, and Soda Can of Aviation. The attendance by pilots, volunteer workers, and spectators was the highest in many years.
The Slalom event proved that taxiing may not be the easy task the contestants thought it was. All pilots did a good job of keeping their wheels on the ground, but they were tough on the balloons!
Looper (highest number of loops in 60 seconds) was a straightforward event. Keeping the wings level and maintaining a straight track in successive loops proved difficult for the contestants.
The ETA event was an exercise in multitasking. Flying was the primary task, but pilots also had to mentally track elapsed flying time to land as close to a predetermined time as possible. Surprisingly, three of the nine pilots were less than 10 seconds from their allotted times.
Fast N Slow was a test of flying at the verge of an airplane’s stall speed. Nick Anderson performed a multiple stall-recovery technique during the slow phase of his flight, thereby achieving the greatest time differential between his fast and slow flights while flying a dorsally mounted EDF foamie.
Spot Landing saw the top three scores achieved by foamie airplanes. The breeze was strong and variable during this part of the competition, providing challenging conditions for even heavier airplanes.
Soda Can of Aviation (touching a target for score with a tethered hollow can) was as thrilling as it was challenging. All airplanes, including the electric-powered foamies, handled the extra drag with minimal effects despite challenging wind conditions. Congratulations go to Jeff Cislo and Steve White for their bull’s-eye hits.
The Chesapeake Bay RC Club is a 103-member Silver Level Leader Club, located in Crownsville, Maryland.
(L-R, front) Cliff Haley, Steve White, Butch Fifer, Steve Barnett, Roger Edwards, and Dave Gould; (L-R, back) Susan Edwards, Donna Sprague, Bill Setzler, Steve Smith, Don Caputo, Rick Crow, George Croft, Arnold Heckman, and Chuck Adamo.
The Chesapeake Bay RC Club also conducted its annual open house on June 9, 2012, to introduce RC flying to the local community.
Guests began to arrive at 10 a.m. Donna Sprague directed all youngsters and parents who wanted to experience RC flying to Arnold Heckman’s tent. He familiarized them with the operation of the buddy box, and had an aircraft powered up so everyone could see the flight controls affected by control stick movement.
Donna then brought each fledgling flier to one of the three instructors: Roger Edwards, Steve Barnett, and Bill Setzler. Assisting the instructors were Butch Fifer, Rick Crow, Don Caputo, and Steve White.
Each hour, time was allotted for demonstration flights so the instructor teams could find shade and refreshments during the more than 85° heat.
Susan Edwards coordinated the volunteers who staffed the raffle sales tables and grill, and served as greeters.
Zack Bury and his father, Wayne, from the Southwest Area Park Modelers club of Baltimore, joined us again to present fantastic helicopter and fixed-wing aerobatic flying. Will Setzler, Rick Crow, Brian Dean, and Billy Graham also flew demonstrations. Butch Fifer and Dave Gould flew a short Combat flight until Dave spun in behind enemy lines.
Representatives from the Maryland Park Service and Natural Resources Police, who supervise the property that the club leases from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, stopped by and joined the buddy-box flying. A cookout continued throughout the day.
Two airplanes, a Tower Hobbies RTF trainer and an E-flite electric Beechcraft Staggerwing 480 ARF donated by GPA Hobbies, of Crofton, Maryland, were raffled. Steve White donated an E-flite 480 brushless motor and ESC. Bert Lewis won both aircraft in separate drawings.
I would like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who supported me in the AMA Executive Council elections. Here’s to another great year in District IV!
