GP e-fest 2008
by Mark Fadely
PILOTS BEAT BACK THE CHILL OF WINTER AT THIS HOT INDOOR FUN-FLY
I was looking forward to February this year. That may sound odd coming from someone who lives in the frozen tundra of the Midwest. E-Fest was the reason for my excitement. This was my third time attending the midwinter get-together, which was held the first weekend in February: the 9th and 10th.
The last couple treks to Champaign, Illinois, have been during unseasonably cold weather. I was hoping that this year would be different since the temperatures were in the 50s a few days before the event. That wishful thinking was soon crushed; we ended up with some of the coldest weather of the year.
Single-digit temperatures and bone-chilling winds greeted us Saturday evening as we left the flying site. But that is exactly the kind of weather that makes E-Fest a huge draw to winter-worn RCers.
Many pilots find smaller local indoor places to fly during the cold months, but not too many of us have access to a venue as large as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Armory. That is where all the university's indoor track and field events are held. The place is huge and has 100-foot-high ceilings.
CD Frank Noll, Great Planes, and Futaba did an awesome job of making this gathering fun. The volunteers who worked the event were super-nice and went out of their way to help.
This year marked E-Fest's third anniversary. It was big—and I mean really big. There were 372 registered pilots. Thank goodness for spread-spectrum RC equipment! The flightlines were standing-room only, and the air was filled with airplanes and helicopters at all times. I'll bet the air molecules in the Armory were exhausted after the long weekend of propeller and rotor beatings.
Even with the large crowd, there was not a long wait to find an open flight station. At peak times the wait was only roughly 10 minutes, which was not bad at all.
I preregistered this year, which meant that my pilot card and goody bag were ready for me when I arrived early Saturday morning. The items in the goody bag were worth way more than the price of admission. There were two Futaba S3114 microservos, Zap Foam Safe CA, all kinds of other cool stuff, and even a pack of gum to refresh a pilot's breath. (Frank, how did you know?)
One Pilot's Perspective
I met a pilot named Mike Fuller, and I quickly learned that we have a lot in common. We both have a lifelong love of aviation and RC, and the obsession started when we were young boys.
Mike has been deeply involved in competition and model design through the years. I asked him for some information about the models he brought to E-Fest, and I wanted to learn a little more about him; he is an extremely interesting person.
He said:
"On to a short bio. I've been flying RC since 1974 as a 12-year-old boy, when my dad told me, 'You build a trainer plane and I'll outfit the rest.' I actually hated building back in the day, but it was an evil necessity.
"I enjoy every RC flying facet of this hobby from 5-ounce foamies to 35-pound turbine jets. The ability to compete and be competitive in different venues over the years, I believe, is rooted in those early years of building from scratch and kit-bashing.
"Now, with present-day electrics, wow! What a breath of fresh air. With Depron foam and power-to-weight ratios of more than 2:1, anything is possible; it can give the illusion of flight, when in reality all that really happens is thrust vectoring of the prop.
"My latest creation is a kit-bashed GT racecar from www.troysrc.com. The object of my obsession is to start with a kit and then make it perform better through weight reductions and features, setting them apart from the original. The kit is very complete, including all wheels and machined axle parts. Using a mix of 3- and 6-mm Depron, it is mostly 2-D looks with excellent performance."
Mike also had a cool rocket he designed and flew. I remember last year when he flew the hydroplane boats that can take off from land or water. That is amazing stuff, Mike. Thanks for sharing.
"Make It Take It" for the Kids
All the kids who attend the event are invited to make their own balsa airplanes. After the models are assembled, all flying is halted for a few minutes. The girls and boys are lined up across the arena, and all at once they throw their aircraft into the air to see whose travels the farthest.
This event is a great deal of fun. We older pilots sat back and reminisced about our days as young modelers. It is a great introduction into our hobby, and from the looks on some of the participants' faces I'll bet there were some lifelong aviators in that group.
On the subject of younger fliers, there were quite a few at E-Fest this year. In the last several years there has been a resurgence of kids coming back to the hobby. The equipment is so much more user-friendly now, and tools such as simulators have taken many pitfalls and expenses out of the learning curve.
Vendors
There were many RC vendors at the event. The outer area was filled with various booths that were full of cool stuff. I bought some nice tools at this year's show. It was nice to see the business people of the hobby supporting this event.
Airplanes
The diversity of aircraft was amazing. I was impressed with some of the micro stuff.
The venue had certain areas designated to fly each type of model. This helps keep the peace when there are so many vehicles in the air simultaneously. It made good sense to keep the fire-breathing, foam-chewing helicopters on the opposite end from the delicate micro-size airplanes.
I wanted to learn more about the micro world, so I walked down to that corner of the arena and parked myself in the middle of the five active pilots. Most of these little aircraft weighed just grams. Some had full four-channel control with servos, and others had micro-size actuators to move the control surfaces. There were scale models and even twins!
Plantraco makes several varieties of supersmall airplanes that come complete with transmitters and carrying cases. These models are so small that it is incredible that you can even control them.
The micro-size flyers are designed with a control-surface actuator, which is different from a conventional servo. The actuators have no gears; they work with electromagnetic charges and a coil of wire. It's amazing that the controls are fully proportional, identical to the bigger servo-controlled models. Watching those micromodels fly and talking to the pilots was intriguing.
There were many other cool airplanes at E-Fest 2008. Foamies were everywhere, and the advances in aerodynamic design were stepped up this year.
Pilots and designers are learning a great deal about how these light, slow models respond to their environment. Side-force generators, slits, slats, drag panels, and a host of other unique ideas are constantly being developed in the hopes of designing that "perfect" airplane.
Andrew Jesky and Larry Markey designed a new biplane called the "Blender." There were other new prototype models, such as the ElectriFly YAK 54 and the E-flite Enticement F3P. The YAK will be ready late in the season, but the Enticement has been in the hobby shops for a while. Both are terrific examples of how light and precise flat-foam models can be made.
Saturday evening there was a 3-D airplane contest for all the hot pilots. They put on a great show, and their piloting skills have to be seen to be believed.
The winner of the 3-D contest was newcomer Brandon Chitty, flying a Maxum biplane. Other top fliers included:
- Jason Noll
- Andrew Jesky
- Mark Leseberg
- Sean McMurtry
- Jason Shulman
- Nick Maxwell
- Brian Bremmer
I really liked some of the Scale models that flew. Several builders had taken the time to make built-up balsa airplanes covered with silklike skin. Jason Noll and Matt Andren won the Scale contest with their home-built creations.
Those aircraft were fantastic to watch fly because they reminded me of how many of those I had built through the years. It is also nice to see that there is still an interest in stick-built models. There was also a Pylon Race and a couple of other impromptu events.
Helicopters
The helicopters made a big splash at E-Fest '08. Somehow the pilots' skills are getting better each year. There were also many beginner and intermediate fliers. I had fun seeing the pilots I knew and meeting new ones.
The machine that stood out this year was the new Miniature Aircraft Bandit 450. This little dynamo upholds the X-Cell tradition of high quality and attention to detail. The head is new, and it can withstand a rotor rpm of more than 4,000! High rotor speed is the key to getting the small helicopters to perform.
Bobby Watts, Nick Maxwell, and Kyle Stacy flew Bandits. Nick Maxwell won the 3-D Heli Smackdown contest for the third year in a row. Way to go! A stellar group of pilots competed in the Smackdown event.
Other notable helicopters and pilots included:
- Chris Harmon — Beam 450 (Advantage Hobby)
- Matt Botos — Thunder Tiger mini Titan E325
- Bert Kammerer — Align T-Rex 450SE V2
The helicopter people had a section to themselves on the south side of the Armory. There were pilots pounding their 3-D machines while coaxial helicopters hovered in the middle of the mayhem. Nobody seemed to be upset about all the commotion. There was typically a small line of pilots waiting to fly in the helicopter area, but the delay was minimal.
Fix-It and Charge-It
A wonderful convenience was the fixing and charging tables at E-Fest. The organizers thought of everything! You could take your batteries or disabled aircraft to a free table to charge or fix, where you could use the glue and accessories for no charge.
That was a nice touch. Thanks, E-Fest!
I hope you enjoyed the write-up. This gathering is one of the best times of the year for me. Everyone is ready to fly when February rolls around!
If you have a chance to get to the E-Fest in 2009, you won't regret it. I hope to see you next time.
Mark Fadely [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
