My name is Dave Whiston , I work and live in Mexico. Previously I did 5 1/2 years in Brazil and prior to that 3 1/2 years in Spain.

The sun glinted of the front cowling and I glanced over to see where my co-pilot was looking, as usual full attention was to the up coming terrain, high speed at low level produced this depth of rapt attention, the glow from the rear of the cockpit confirmed that our tactical officer was plugged into his digital screen. We followed the valley at low altitude coming up on a 90 degree left hand swing to a level run flat out to wards the city of Monterey. Slight easing the controls we locked onto a gentle curve following the terrain,. Suddenly an ear piercing squeal emitted from the right hand side of the cockpit closely followed by the unmistakable beeping of the ground attack identification radar unit. TO LATE !! I throttled back and proceeded with the recognised avoidance routine. Casually leaning on the side of the cockpit I was confronted by the uniformed form of a Mexican traffic cop, (Translated text ) “good morning sir , are you in a hurry?” My mind continued to clear and I identified that the high pitched squeal was from her indoors giving it the "I told you! you were going to fast ETC,TC,!!!" Michael from the rear cockpit complained he had to switch off the DVD film (Battle of Britain) whilst the documents, fine etc was gone through. Not too bad really $25.00 considering that we were traveling like the proverbial off a chrome plated shovel!!! The family had decided on yet another visit to the US (Shopping and clean air) trip. This time we decided to run up to the US border and cross at Laredo, spend the night there and then continue on to San Antonio. This is about a 10-12 hour drive (hence I was not hanging around) Even with the police and border crossing we made it in 11 hours. This time we wanted to drive to Euston and take in the Space centre. NOW if anyone is considering this forget it!! It is CRAP, perfect day out for anyone aged between 5 and 14 years but if you are serious ands want to find out more about NASA etc this is not the place. Go to the CAPE it’s a whole lot better. But we took a photo to prove we had been!! I ONLY WORE THE SHORTS FOR A BET!!!! This airship was floating around all day and I managed this shot Anyway we had a good time shopping and if anyone goes to San Antonio go and visit Hobby centre it is at 3441 Fredericksburg road. Very well stocked shop with loads of very nice models to see and the staff are very helpful and welcoming. Everyone there seems to fly and build so they are a mine of experience and advice!

On the recommendation of the guys we went to visit the ARCS. The Alamo Radio Control Society flying site. We turned up on July the 4th Perhaps not a good day as that’s when everyone in Gringo land is celebrating getting rid of the Brits!! But we were lucky to bump into a couple of members at the field first up we bumped into Hernando Castano, who by the way has a small shop called R/C Hobbies and you can find him at www.rchobbies.com. This is Hernando, with Michael being a “gent” and holding down his Kadet during start up. The ARCS have a really great flying field !! Nice tarmac runway with a really nicely put together frequency control and work area. This is Brian who turned up with his girlfriend Kate. Unfortunately we appear to have lost Kates Photo, anyway a very nice young couple who we wish all the best for the future. Brian brought along this brand new Spacewalker, which insisted on having engine problems, with a little bit of help form yours truly we got her up in the air and Brian demonstrated that he is a vary competent pilot (who it appears is very much into 3D !!) unfortunately engine probs grounded the Spacewalker later but it was great to watch Brian putting this very graceful model through its paces. While we are on this photo, all of that stuff on the wall stays there all the time !! Including the clock and the first aid box!!! Imagine that in the UK how long would it be before some intelligence challenged arse destroyed or sprayed some unintelligent drivel over it!!?? Some times living out of the UK can be so nice!! Here are a shot of ARCS from a different angle ( must have been good because as her indoors turned up as well !!) Hernando Taxing out for another successful sortie!! Lastly another club member Dave Bailey turned up, sorry didn’t get a photo of Dave and his aircraft, but wanted to give him a mention. If anyone is in the area I SERIOUSLY recommend you visit. Very nice club and great people. Unfortunately during our visit we received news of a possible new assignment. So we might be moving (somewhere in Europe). Perhaps we might get to some of those shows in UK we have seen reviewed by Bumpygreen! Now if we are moving we had to take advantage of US pricing so we picked up a Funtanas 90, a Decathlon 80” wingspan and a Futaba radio (Just in case !).

The drive to Mexico was uneventful!! Until we got too Monterey when Angela discovered that she had left her handbag in the restaurant in Laredo OOPS!! We got onto the internet and eventually found the telephone of the Chilli’s restaurant and called them 3 days later the handbag and ALL its contents arrived at our home in Mexico ( sometimes my faith in the human race gets a much needed boost and this did it for me !) Out at our field we had this very nice Corsair on the line. Unfortunately said Corsair liked the trees. This is about 3 seconds before total destruction!! Another victim was this AT6. It flew great all the way until he tried to land!!! Those trees can be a Bugger sometimes!! Unfortunately mobile phones work all around the world and mid holiday I was informed that the family would be moving!! SO we are now in the throws of getting everything ready to travel. Getting all the aircraft and gear ready didn’t take to long. Undercarriage removal being the biggest bind, engines filled with after run oil and batteries disconnected, but soon everything was once again slipped into its box ready for despatch.

I popped over to the flying site to make my farewells etc and was treated to a nice show from the members on the site. As usual my friends demonstrated their sense of humour whilst trying to break the concentration of Rubins whilst flying a T34. Fortunately not successfully Don’t you just love these classic birds. 30 mins flying on a tank of four stroke relaxed predictable the type of model you can fly from your deck chair!! Well dear friends this brings a close to my dribbling from Mexico. I must say Both Michael and I have made a lot of friends who will be missed; flying over here has been rich and colourful and will be sorely missed. So my next page will “hopefully” come to you from Portugal I am not sure which part yet…. But I think we arrive there in time for the international aerobatic championships.

Article by Dave Whiston from Mexico
For Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
September 2004

Comment by Tom Laird on 20040906213240. Rating 5

Hi Dave, Hope the move goes well and you continue to entertain us with articles from Portugal. Great articles and great photos. BR Tom Laird Scotland

Comment by Tony Brock on 20040907190224. Rating 5

Hi Dave. A very warm thankyou from all at BumpyGreen for the articles you have written for us, and lots of luck for the future. We hope to hear more tales from you after you have settled into your new home. Regards all at BumpyGreen.

Comment by satosh on 20040930090035. Rating 1

hi i wnt more information abot aero modeling

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