With a glorious day breaking around the morning cloud BumpyGreen headed
West towards the historical sea port of Bristol. Driving down the M4 then
onto a number of small lanes we came upon the Woodspring Wings flying site
and headed in.
This was the second Electric Fly-In held by Woodspring Wings, the
first being in 1999. They did try to hold it in 2000 and 2001 but both times
were forced to cancel. In 2000 abnormally high rainfall a few days before
flooded the field, and in 2001 there were still restrictions in the area from
the terrible foot and mouth outbreak.
So it was great to see that this year the E Fly went ahead as planned and
was very well attended. No real advertising was done as it was intended that
the event should be more of a fly-in with some invited pilots and electric
specialist traders rather than a show. They had already held the very successful
Woodspring 2002 show back in July.
About 400 attended what turned out to be a very relaxed and enjoyable day.
Everyone could wander, inspect, compare aircraft and ask any questions. It
really was for everyone from the newcomer to electric aircraft to those who
know how to get the very best performance from this now established part of
radio control flying.
We had the honour of meeting Chris Golds, famed electric columnist,
who flew a number of beautifully finished scale models.
First onto the flightline was his Amiot 143M featured in his Ugly Duckling
article from EFI in 2001. A truly faithful reproduction of the 1935 French
bomber.
Powered by 2 x 700 size 9.6v Neodyne motors with 3:1 belt drive gearboxes
swinging 14 x 7 propellers which make a most pleasing sound as it drones by.
The scale appearance of this model is tremendous, with many fine detailing
features. Very slow flying which only adds to the truly scale look of this
model.
When asked how long this project took him he pulled out a well used note pad
and disclosed that it was built from 9th June to 17th August 2001. This model
is featured in Electric Flight International magazine in 3 parts from October
to December 2001.
Also on Chris's flight schedule was this wonderful scale English Electric
Canberra.
Great performance, as can be seen by the angle of climb right after take off.
David Theunissen
flew the very impressive Bubbles electric fun-fly.
Propelled by a geared Astro 15 motor and 12 x 2400 cells putting out around
300W at 24Amps giving a 9 minute flight time. Model weighs just 61oz ( 3.8lb
or 1.7kg in new money)
Also flown by David was this great looking Stearman, which had a rather unfortunate
end to the day.
Kenneth Paine
fielded a Sukhoi Su26 for the day.
Powered by an Astro 60 with a 3.1:1 Super Box turning a 15 x 10 APC Electro
prop at 6300rpm. 750 watts is delivered at 31/32 Amps from the 24 x 1700CP
cells installed. All up weight is 6.5lb (2.9kg)
Very Impressive
electric helicopter flown with great skill and authority by Mark Simmonds.
Model is a Mikado Logo 20 designed for electric power.
A Kontronic Tango 45/06 with matched controller provided the rotation power,
driving the main gear directly. Features 120deg 7516 CCPM head & is flown
on 24 cells. Highly aerobatic for an electric helicopter.
Terry Mitchell
of the Bath Sparks Flying Club from Bristol flew this wonderful SE5A.
The kit is the Duncan Hutson electric variant and is powered by a Kontronic
Drive 500 brushless with a 2.9:1 gearbox turning a 13 x 8 prop using 10 Nimh
cells via an opto isolated Beat speed controller.
52" span and a very nice looking model both on the ground and in the
air.
Terry also flew this very impressive BAC TSR2.
Most unusual
model has to have been the Beach Starship built by Brian Gaskin.
Approx. 9ft wingspan with working canards, Burati air retracts and features
some 1950's Russian model props "that happen to work just nicely"
says Brian.
Locomotion provided by 2 x Aveox 1409/2Y coupled to twin Aveox brushless controllers
and driving home made 2.5:1 belt-drive gearboxes.. Powered by 28 cells (14
per motor/controller)
If anyone remembers Thunderbirds the 1960's Sci fi TV show, when flying, this
plane look like the Fireflash supersonic airliner featured in a number of
episodes.
Speaking of which, check out this little Thunderbird 2. It didn't fly on the
day but looks great.
This Dassault
Rafale is an Aeronaut kit of the superb French air superiority and multi role
combat fighter.
All moulded construction and weighing in at 9lb. Twin Hacker 26 turn motors
and running on 26 cells.
Superb looking model both static and in the air.
