Mitre, Sunday 11/15/09
Posted on 11/16/2009 11:06:34 AMAuthor: rafeThere was an interesting chance encounter at RC Buyers Warehouse on Saturday. I was there for some parts; Alex showed up to buy a flight sim upgrade. Chip showed up to buy a jet ARF to replace the one that got smushed in his trunk. And then Scott and Sue; not sure what they were in for. (But probably in deep, knowing the two of 'em.) Chip and Alex and Alex's GF Katy had Chinese takeout dinner over at Chateaux Bustin. Scott and Sue had other plans. The ladies talked about Pilates and ballet. The boys talked shop and took turns on the sim.
Saturday had been a washout. We were all keen to fly. Sunday dawned with rain and mist, but with promise of better weather.
I showed up at BRCF field around 11 AM, and it was a pretty interesting scene. Check out the gallery on the BRCF site -- cool photos and vids. But no Aerojunkies there. I called Fettah, who sounded down at not being able to fly. So after some chatting and a few short flights, I began my retreat towards Mitre.
Met Artie out at Blanchard road, heading in. He was about to fly some old balsa plane with an .049 engine. Gawd, I haven't heard one of those things running since I was a kid. Artie said he'd be over to Mitre afterwards. I hit the road.
At Mitre I met Donovan and his son Siraj. Don had a new SkyArtec Cessna with cranky elevator and rudder linkages. I wasn't able the help enough to get him airborne. I suggested some hacking, but Don wasn't sure he wanted to keep the plane... so no hacking. Later in the day Artie got the plane flying by simply ignoring the rudder controls. Don also flew that orange Firebird for at least a few seconds... I recall seeing it heading toward that line of trees along Rte. 62. He got it back, though.
When I first arrived at Mitre, weather had taken a turn for the worse. There was a very light rain. But we stuck it out and sure enough, by early afternoon the weather was gorgeous.
The remainder of the day went by in a blur. Pretty much all or most of the usual Aerojunky suspects showed up at one point or another. Even Scott (and Sue and Skylar) showed up in spite of a gnarly encounter with a rogue prop blade the night before.
Artie was there flying his sticks, Alex with his MiniUltraStick, Derek with MiniMag and a beautiful new Pluma biplane; Steve Eichel with Typhoon and Diabo, Billy (Dog) with a new nuclear-powered Formosa. Chip was showing off more electronic wizardry: first-person video. But I missed that demo. Fettah showed up with his son and a few toys including the big ThunderTiger trainer. Amanda came by for a while and flew her Typhoon.
By 4:30 or so it was too dark to fly. A fog started rolling in. We stood around and chatted until total darkness set in. The place was still alive and kicking when I headed home at five.
I flew five different planes and smushed one of 'em. (The MiniMag. No biggie, it will be fixed.) I flew so much that I actually skipped today's AM flying session -- and that's saying something. Besides, I needed to stop at Home Despot (for glue) on the way to work.
Comments
Fettah on 11/16/2009 10:19:56 PM wrote:
Rafe, great flight report. I am glad that I was able to stop by after all.
Alex on 11/18/2009 11:08:38 AM wrote:
Nice Report Rafe. Let's also mention that the previous day was your birthday, so once again Happy Birthday Rafe (belated at this point) Also we added a new pilot into our midst, Sue soloed on Sunday. Congrats Sue on your achievement!