Let me start by wishing you all a merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year. This is normally the time of year to look back on what was or may have been and also to look forward.
Looking back, well, as you know this was the year that Wayne’s World appeared on Bumpy green and to those of you that contacted me with your comments (good and bad) and your enquiry's for information about the models that I have reviewed on BG a special thank you, you have helped me out because I know you may all think that it is very easy to write a column like this but from time to time I have been shall we say “a little lost for words” and those of you that know me will find that hard to believe I know but it’s true.
So looking back, what has been the highs for me? Right, well writing this column for a start I don’t know how many of you have met Tony or John at any of the shows but I have to be honest and say you couldn’t wish to meet a better pair of bloke’s and I’m not just saying that they are very nice and easy to get on with.
Tony & John on a cold day with the foam jets. Myself,
manning the BG Stand at Weston Park.
I did enjoy meeting some of you at Sandown this year, this also was the first show of the year for me. I have been going to Sandown for a number of years now and to help make this years visit even more enjoyable I was lucky to meet a e-mail pal from Switzerland Urs Szymanski, Urs helps me out from time to time with information about electric flight. And staying with e-mail pals for a moment I was very happy to make contact again with Ron Hunt from the USA, I used to write to Ron but early on in the year I changed internet service provider because I was having problems, but in doing this I lost contact with Ron but an e-mail to his club got us back together again. I also enjoyed meeting you at the Weston park show, and that was because I had not been to this show for a number of years and I was there for both days so I got to meet more of you plus see a show that as I say I had not visited for some time.
My very own WOT 4 on the BG stand at Weston Park &
the stand from outside.
Glens Models stand is always a good browse & part
of the impressive flightline.
And staying with shows I did like the Much Marcle show this is a very well run show but the one thing I was very interested in this year was the running up of the Wren turboprop unit, you don’t need me to tell you that there has been a lot of time and money put in to this, and once this is finished and in the air it’s going to be a show stopper.
Wren MW54 turbo-prop conversion.
And it’s not just the shows, we and when I say we I refer to the power flying club, we have had a lot of new members this year I don’t know if it’s because of the new field or what but we have done very well. This has meant we have seen a good cross section of models from small to large, I think my favourite has got to be the PT 19 built by Harry, this model was built from the Apache aviation kit it has a Thunder Tiger 90 in it and as you would expect from a model of this size it’s a very steady and stable flyer. You may remember that at the beginning of the year I asked how big electric would get not just size of models but the number of electric powered models, looking at the number that have been seen flying in my club it is very easy to see that the number has grown, I think that nearly every member that fly’s on a regular basis has an electric powered model in their hanger.
Harry and his Apache Aviation PT-19.
Electric models look so good these days, everyone should
have one.
Staying with clubs this was the year I got invited to fly at the Cotswold club fly-in the invite came from Gray, he is the gent that writes “The sport channel” in RCMW, that was a good event run over two days and on the day I attended (Sunday) Gray must have booked summer because we had wall to wall sunshine all day. Picture this if you can, myself, Gray and about three others are sat round a small camping table looking through old plans, and as each plan was opened there would be a big OOH or ARR of delight, but then some people would say, "I’m a big kid at heart" - that’s not a bad thing, looking at the world we live in. I was very interested to see the large cross section of models in attendance. This went from free flight and control line up to large petrol powered scale, plus I got to fly a model of Gray’s and that in itself was interesting because Gray and I fly on different modes to each other!! And yes the model was handed back to Gray in one piece.
Gray and his Headbutt glider.
Glorious weather graced my day out at Gray's club field.
I also got back to doing some slope soaring in a big way, this is something I’ve been doing off and on from the mid 70’s, I now fly a large cross section of gliders as can be seen in the accompanying photos. Now I think I’m going to upset some people (no, I know I’m going to upset some people) but one thing that always strikes me when I’m flying on the slopes is the people, and it may just be me - I don’t know, but the people that I fly with are all very friendly more so than some of the members of the different power club’s I’ve been in over the years!! Why is this...
My model club's logo and my famous Plouf in club colours.
Sagitta & Simprop Lift-Off have both seen many
hours in the air at my slope.
Below you will see a photo of a very special visitor we had up at the power field the other weekend, the one good thing with father Christmas coming up was I didn’t have to send him my letter this year I gave it to him before he went back to Lapland, I bet you cant guess what he was flying Yes that’s right a Wot4, obviously the man has good taste!!
Father Christmas gets some stick time...
December also saw myself and Plouf in the pages of RC Model World. This was a nice chance to plug this very column to a wider audience.
My moment of fame in RC Model World
Complete with club coloured Plouf & Bumpy Green hat.
As for new year resolutions well I don’t bother making any, but I do try and make some promises to myself and some of them I don’t keep, I plan to get to more shows next year and I have some items listed ready to buy at Sandown next year. So all that is left for me to do is once again wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
