Author: Jay Smith
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,26
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Southeast Electric Flight Festival

by Jay Smith

The premier electric event celebrates 10 years!

Event overview

The first time I attended the Southeast Electric Flight Festival (SEFF) was in 2003. It was the second year of the event and the first time it was held at Hodges Hobbies in Andersonville, Georgia. I was eager to attend a big electric event and it turned out to be worth the trip from Florida to fly at a wonderful field and meet some great people who enjoyed electric-powered aircraft as much as I did.

The next year I took my father and he, too, became hooked on the southern hospitality and Mac Hodges' beautiful grass field, not to mention his full-service hobby shop on the premises. So it became a yearly pilgrimage to attend this premier event that continued to grow year after year.

In that time I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of nice people, take a ride in Mac's Cub, and had the privilege to be one of the 99 pilots to set a Guinness World Record in 2008.

This year I was eager, as always, to attend because 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of SEFF and what would be known as SEFF Week, April 11–16. When I arrived on Thursday, things were already in full swing. A quick look around showed that the pilots' pit area was roughly the length of three football fields and was two deep with pop-up tents. The vendor area was full with the latest and greatest electric-powered aircraft and accessories, and Hodges Hobbies was cool and inviting as always.

The Limited Motor Run (LMR) Glider Contest, a Thursday SEFF tradition, was winding down, so I wandered over to watch flying wings being fired upon by paintball guns. This event, called the SEFF Paintball Shootout, was new this year.

Friday and Saturday are the two biggest days at SEFF and feature popular demonstrations by top pilots and manufacturers.

Demonstrations and contests

Horizon Hobby puts on an impressive demonstration, managing to fly a ton of aircraft in a short amount of time. Horizon's gaggle of warbirds flying in unison has always been a highlight.

Both 3D Hobby Shop and Extreme Flight RC showed off their lines of capable 3-D aircraft. Although unplanned, the Extreme Flight demonstration also included a midair collision that was talked about for the rest of the event.

Jason Cole of Hobby Lobby impressed me the most by flying the SebArt MiG-29. This extremely capable, thrust-vectoring EDF had no problem hovering inches off the grass and performing very tight maneuvers.

Mac Hodges closed the demo each day flying his 20-foot-wingspan B-29. Although the aircraft certainly has batteries onboard, it is not electric-powered. His B-29 survived combat with minor damage that was easily fixed at the field. None of the hundreds in attendance could complain after seeing its performance. If you have never seen it, a quick search on YouTube will provide video of several of the bomber’s performances.

Hobby Lobby sponsors the candy drop, which is always a hit with the kids. The pilots also have a prize drop to win cool products.

Two new contests were added this year for 3-D and precision pilots alike. The 3-D Smackdown, sponsored by 3D Hobby Shop and Extreme Flight RC, focused on all-out 3-D flying and was judged by several skilled pilots. Joe Smith took top honors flying an AJ Slick from 3D Hobby Shop. Second and third place required a flyoff; ultimately second place went to Daniel Holman, flying an Extreme Flight MXS, and third to Aaron Bates with his 3D Hobby Shop Extra 330SC.

The judges of the 3D Smackdown (from the left) were Mac Hodges, Andrew Jesky, Greg Ledford, Jim Graham, and Jason Cole.

The low knife-edge contest was held during the Saturday demo show and saw several pilots dragging their wings in the grass multiple times. Pilots worked their transmitters with the precision of a master surgeon while the crowd yelled "lower, lower!" Again, top honors went to Joe Smith, flying a 3D Hobby Shop Edge 540.

If crashing aircraft into one another is more your speed—either as a pilot or spectator—Dan Malone’s Demolition Derby was for you. It was a thrilling event on Friday and Saturday immediately following the demo show. Several foam aircraft were turned back into kit form and desperately needed a healthy IV of foam-safe CA.

For anyone looking to experience First Person View (FPV), which essentially puts you in the cockpit of an RC aircraft, Kevin Hines was on hand to provide rides. Using a buddy box, Kevin flies the aircraft using line of sight while the rider gets a cockpit view and can even manipulate the camera angle. Kevin shared that his goal is to be an ambassador of FPV flying and provide people with an opportunity to try it in a safe and productive manner.

Notable aircraft: Bobby Baker designed a cool Old-Timer finished in silk and dope. At a distance, as long as the motor wasn't running, you could mistake it for a glow model thanks to the detailed dummy engine.

Evening entertainment

Evening entertainment included night flying and the Higher Plane Film Festival on Friday and the Mighty SEFFtones on Saturday. The film festival combined footage taken at SEFF with additional video Higher Plane Productions has shot at other events. Fred stays up late each night trying to choose the best clips and get them ready for Friday night; his hard work is appreciated.

SEFFtones is a cover band composed of RC enthusiasts and industry professionals. John Diniz, Peter Goldsmith, and Jennifer Mazuera are from Horizon Hobby. Chris Hinson and Blair Rittenhouse are from Extreme Flight RC, and Jim Graham is from RCGroups. Tim King even stepped in to provide some much-needed cowbell! With little to no practice, they jammed rock anthems such as "Born to Be Wild," "Freebird," and "Red House."

Final thoughts

By the time it was over, I had the chance to hang out with 433 pilots and enjoy the hospitality of Mac Hodges and the Hodgehounds. I would like to thank Jeff Meyers and the Fayette Flyers for putting on a world-class event for the past 10 years. Although Jeff will be stepping down as the event director to run the Harvest for Real Life charity, I have no doubt that Matt Klos and the Fayette Flyers will continue to improve this electric flight festival.

Jeff Meyers reflects on 10 years of SEFF

JS: How did SEFF come about?

JM: I was visiting other electric flight events across the country and realized we didn’t have a big one in the Southeast. My club had been doing small electric events and it clicked: we can do this and make a big deal for modelers who can’t travel halfway across the country to attend one.

I wanted to make our event unique. One focus was creating a great flight experience. We did that by creating different flight zones and a huge raffle, and by offering hospitality with a big barbecue dinner.

The first event was at our field and we realized it wouldn’t be big enough. I asked Mac Hodges if we could hold the second one at Hodges Hobbies, and he has allowed us to come play in his backyard ever since.

JS: Did you see SEFF being as big as it has become?

JM: No, I didn’t. We have nearly 500 pilots now and I think that is a testament to my staff members and their hard work. It has grown organically through the press.

JS: What are you most proud of regarding SEFF?

JM: It has helped me grow personally and helped me learn to manage people and volunteers. I wasn’t good at that early on, and I put faith in capable people who were in the right positions to get the job done. We learned about four years ago we could use SEFF for a greater good. When the tornado came through here four years ago we raised $20,000 for the tornado relief fund. We made the largest single donation for the fund.

We partnered with the Fuller Center for Housing for the last three years.

JS: Tell me about your new project and why you are stepping down as SEFF’s event director.

JM: I had it in my head to step down after 10 years. I am starting a new project called Harvest for Real Life. It will be a three-acre fruit orchard that will grow roughly 20,000 pounds of fruit for a local food bank in Fayette County called the Real Life Center. It provides food for approximately 100 families per week. It’s more of a hand up than a handout. It’s not just a food bank; it really helps people get back on their feet.

With this simple fruit orchard, we can provide three to seven pounds of fruit per family per week. We are going to use the same volunteers that I’ve used with SEFF, with captains of each team responsible for managing their part of the orchard year-round. This model came from SEFF.

This summer we will prep the field and this fall we will complete the installation. The field will start producing in roughly two years. I have committed 10 years to run this project. I am still coming to SEFF next year as a pilot.

JS: If our readers want to help with your project, where should they go?

JM: The Real Life Center’s website is www.reallifecenter.org. You have to select "harvest" as a donation designation to help our program on the donation page.

JS: Is there anything you would like to say to our readers in closing?

JM: I would like to thank anyone who has ever been to SEFF. We have always tried our best to make it an event for the average Joe and I appreciate all the support from the sponsors we have had throughout the years. We have had tons of sponsors, many of which are small companies that have gone above and beyond. I would like to thank the sponsors and pilots that we have had throughout the years.

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