Author: Joe Malinchak
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/03
Page Numbers: 72,73,74
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Micro-Flying

Joe Malinchak | [email protected]

The latest Keystone indoor electric fly-in

The second annual Keystone Indoor Electric Fly (KIEF) was held October 16–18, 2009, in Muncy, Pennsylvania. The Muncy Indoor Flyers hosted the event. President Anthony Minnella, Vice President Ron Angle, Event CD Mark Vukmanovich, and the club volunteers did an outstanding job organizing and running this wonderful indoor get-together.

Muncy is just outside Williamsport and is a beautiful place to visit in October, with changing leaves and scenic mountains on the drive there. Last year the weather was cold and rainy, but that’s the great thing about flying in the huge Generations Sports Complex Dome: the weather will not affect your fun!

KIEF had something for almost everyone, including a great lineup of vendors and separate areas for 3-D flying, helicopters, and micro flight. My wife Cindy and I were the event coordinators for the micro area.

I had planned on scheduling half-hour time slots to separate ultra-light models from the faster airplanes. After observing the open flying sessions, it seemed like everyone was flying with no real conflicts, so I decided to keep the flying unrestricted. It quickly grew into a large, informative event in itself.

Microtech Seminars

Sergio Zigras did an outstanding job organizing the 9th Annual Microtech Seminars. Some of the world’s top micro fliers were in attendance. For this edition, I held the classes on the flightline rather than in a meeting room; that allowed the speakers to demonstrate their models after discussing them.

We were concerned about noise on the field, but it was no problem—the Muncy Indoor Flyers provided a nice speaker setup.

The seminars started with an introduction from Sergio and John Worth. John talked about his R/C Micro World Online Magazine and the latest developments in the field. His website is a great source of information for anyone interested in the subject.

I followed John with a show-and-tell about my latest projects and performed a few exhibition flights. Then Nick Leichty talked about his company’s latest products, including a new servo and 900 MHz systems that are frequency-hopping (HiP-Hop) or Plantraco-compatible.

Matt Keennon spoke about many state-of-the-art micromodels he had with him and flew his beautiful Cobra gunship helicopter for the crowd. Matt likes to fly it fast and precisely—everyone was amazed!

Petter Muren traveled all the way from Norway to fly with us. He demonstrated his latest products, which included an FF toy called the Duck Hunter. The Duck Hunter is a duck you have to “shoot” three times to bring down. After each shot the duck seems to pause and lose a bit of altitude until the final shot gets the kill. This was fun, and lines of people wanted to give it a try.

Gordon Johnson showed some of his latest airplanes, such as the cool new Tiny Dancer biplane. He discussed the models’ construction and how to make lightweight airframes using a laser cutter.

Henry Pasquet discussed indoor R/C Duration airplane construction and how to set up and test aircraft for competition. Henry has set many records in this class. Del Ogren also spoke about Indoor Duration and was entertaining to watch.

Competitions

Several competitions were held at KIEF throughout the weekend.

  • A pylon race with the ParkZone Sukhoi was contested on the main floor and was a big hit.
  • Anthony Minnella constructed the beautiful USS KIEF aircraft carrier, used for a ParkZone Vapor landing contest. Contestants had to fly around two pylons and land on the deck without hitting the structure. Attempts were timed, and fliers were given two chances. Many people lined up with their Vapors, including some of the top 3-D pilots in attendance. FlyRC editor Thayer Syme won with a smooth, fast flight and a great landing.
  • Del Ogren organized the Old Timer Climb and Glide and the Micro Pylon Race.

The Old Timer Climb and Glide is one of my favorites. Each contestant had to build a model designed before 1942 that weighed less than 2 ounces. The pilot climbed the aircraft for 30 seconds and then chopped the power to glide as long as possible. Extra points were awarded for full-fuselage designs and if the airplane hit the runway on the dead-stick landing. I built a Miss America in honor of our late friend Dave Robelen; Cindy built a pink version of the same model. Dave used the design to win the Climb and Glide event at the last NIRAC (National Indoor Remote-Control Aircraft Council) championships. I redrew his plans in Adobe Illustrator to make my model.

  • Winners, Old Timer Climb and Glide:
  • 1st: Bob Selman — Bombshell
  • 2nd: Joe Malinchak — Miss America
  • 3rd: James Bhasin — Bombshell

The Micro Pylon Race required airplanes with a wingspan of at least 13 inches using the GWJ drive with a 7mm motor. Most contestants used Peanut Scale kits from Bob Selman’s BSD Micro RC.

  • Winners, Micro Pylon Race:
  • 1st: Matt Keennon — P-51
  • 2nd: Bob Selman — Nemesis
  • 3rd: Joe Malinchak — BSD Spitfire

I organized the Micro Duration and Micro Fun Scale competitions. Rules for Micro Duration were simple: each model had to use the stock Plantraco GB-05 motor and gear drive and a single Full River 20-mAh Li-Poly cell. I wanted the rules to allow designs such as the stock Plantraco Butterfly to help generate interest in the event. It worked out well; several people entered with stock models. However, we never expected a stock airplane to win!

  • Winners, Micro Duration:
  • 1st: Bill Lyons — Plantraco Kolibri (he made turns around the dome lights to generate lift)
  • 2nd: Henry Pasquet — scratch-built design
  • 3rd: Cindy Malinchak — Plantraco Butterfly

Henry and Del experienced some air-current challenges with their larger aircraft. Cindy’s third-place finish was a nice surprise.

Micro Fun Scale uses the same rules as AMA Fun Scale, except the model must weigh 2 ounces or fewer.

  • Winners, Micro Fun Scale:
  • 1st: Bob Johnson — Super Cub
  • 2nd: James Bhasin — Great Lakes (built by Joe Malinchak)
  • 3rd: Bill Lyons — Monocoupe

The 2009 KIEF was a great success. If you want to attend a first-class indoor event, mark your calendars for KIEF 2010. Please see the website for more information.

MA

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.