Bits & Pieces ...

Here you’ll find some miscellaneous contributions from our members – jokes, gags, funny pics - just about anything goes!

The Lisburn Indoor "Come & Fly" by Manuel Teeken.
So Ravi and I decided that we wanted to experience the wonder of indoor flying.  Bill has many times
indicated that this was another wonderful aspect of the hobby, or food for an argument, whatever
way your line of thought is. Even Angus has been spotted on YouTube honing his indoor skill with
some reverse flying. We headed off on what was almost a two hour drive from Clonee to Lisburn,
but with the good company we were there in no time. The SatNav landed us in front of the
Lisburn LeisurePlex and we were asking ourselves if we were at the right place. However a quick
chat at the reception and we were directed to the back of the building.  There we found a huge
hall which had been divided by netting where one side featured.....ehh I cannot remember some
sort of sweaty activity with a ball I believe. The other side however had big bill boards for E-Flite
and Horizon Hobby, and about seventy five people standing on the sideline admiring the display.
Horizon did a great job of displaying all models, and soon we saw the attraction of indoor flying
as we watched a wonderful flight of three Aeroncas simultaneously side by side. 



Of course we wondered how can they know which one they are flying, a problem recently demonstrated
on our field very masterly and unselfishly by our much admired Bill (Thanks Bill we get the point).
After this the Beast was taken out for a full fly around and gave a beautiful display touching on all
aerobatic manoeuvres, using the full side of the hall.  I actually think at one stage the nice bi-plane
flew through the rafters when performing a Cuban 8. No accidents here then.



  A further display followed of a profile Extra 300, which was capable of all the 3D actions we like to see. 
A prop hang was performed, with torque roll etc....no reverse flight in this case.



  Then further planes were shown; a Trojan flew superbly, especially after the undercarriage was taken
off.  There also was a helicopter display, and I was amazed by the possibilities.  The 3D show we saw
included an inverted hover which touched the ground without any nasty effects to the prop... ehh rotor.
This model unfortunately crashed and even a bit of bending did not get it back in the air.      
After the Demo, there was a free for all.  You could get tickets and fly any of the planes and helicopters.   
The full line up of models was on display and luckily not on sale as my credit card was talking to my
non-rational side.   There was however a raffle and the prizes were all RTF indoor planes to be won
for a couple of pounds which we did not have, only Euro ;-(                                    
The flying that ensued at the free for all was truly scary for an outdoor flyer.  I saw at least 2 mid-airs,
3 people taking a plane straight to the head.  However it showed that indoor flying is reasonably safe
as the weight of the planes did not cause much damage, and furthermore they all went back in the air
even after much abuse.  An Extra 300 was still doing prop hangs although clearly one wing had a broken
spar, and bent through dangerously.  The carnage was greeted with laughter and mid airs were simply
pardoned or ignored. The whole room was filled with Extras, Helicopters, Aeroncas and Trojans. In the
midst of this all were a couple of 3 channel Vapors slow flying around.  This plane really seems to be a
great entry into model flying as it requires very little input and with no wind can slowly drift through
the hall without the stress of avoiding the walls.  Another facet of indoor flying is plane recovery...
Many planes did their prop hanging in the nets involuntarily, only to be rescued by a handy fishing pole
with loud applause after a successful recovery.                                     
In summary I can say that I was very impressed with indoor flying.  It would be a great alternative
when the weather makes it impossible to fly outdoors and you want a little bit more than the simulator
can provide.
Anyway it was a good trip, and indoor flying is worth a thought when the 100 mile per hour winds
reduce your flight time. Thanks Bill for the tip.



Angus in action




Full size activity over the Royal County field in November




A wood tidy constructed by one of our members from used Presidential Election posters.




A news item from the "Irish Independent" November 2011.





How familiar does this look?







Some Images from Travis Air Force Base Museum in California.















This guy spent over two hours doing Touch & Gos


Cessna twin under the protection of a B52

Gordon lines up for take off.




Damien's Cub doing what it does best.



Bill and Ollie working to preserve our Aeromodelling ethos.



Joe's Air Force.






Dave's Decathalon slides onto the grass.





A warning to all would be Heli enthusiasts...............




Some imaginative artwork on the side of a Hire van spotted in France. FYI the alien is studying an Atlas!

Some more shots from the club trip to Hendon in April 2011.

The Sopwith Camel

The tiny Mew Gull. More like a F1 car than an aircraft.

Gipsy Moth.

Supermarine Spitfire.

Pictures from Weston Aerodrome where Bill attended the Scale Assocication’s AGM and then joined.

A non flying DC3 acquired by Weston Airport with a view to installing it in their proposed Air

Museum.

Clever Registration of the DC3 Dakota…. N3 (American and 3 for DC3) 47 (for army version, ie C-47)

and DK short for Dakota..!!!

Front side on view of the Blackburn Buccaneer from the 60’s and used by the Royal Navy. 8 of these

jets blew up the wreck of the beached oil tanker, the Torrey Canyon in 1967 after it started to break

up having run aground on the rocks off off Land’s End in the UK. The Royal Navy dropped 62,000lbs of

bombs, 5,200 gallons of petrol, 11 rockets and large quantities of napalm onto the ship. Despite

direct hits and a towering inferno of flames and smoke as the oil slick began to burn, the tanker

refused to sink. It took a further day of bombing before it finally slid under the water.

This pic gives some scale to the Buccanneer… Notice the extended clam shell air brake doors aft of

the fin and rudder. Again, another aeroplane destined for the planned Air Museum.

Last one of the Buccaneer… the nose art is interesting.. !!

A pic showing most of the attendees. I am there also but on this side of the camera !!

Very nice Cessna on amphibious floats. Would make a nice model colour scheme.

Nice Grumman Goose. Notice the elevator horn balance on the top of elevator to avoid splashes !!

Beech C-45H Expeditor named Southern Comfort reputably used by General Eisenhower as a personal transport

plane during the Normandy campaign. I am about to ascend the steps of greatness..!

¾ head on view of the Beech showing ‘decorative’ nose art and wonderful riveted all metal finish.

Lovely Boeing Steaman in proud Tipperary colours belonging to the late Cathal Ryan, son of Tony Ryan, the Ryanair

founder. The plane is appropriately named Spirit of Tipperary. Cathal, who was Tony’s eldest son, died very

suddenly at the age of 48 after a very brief illness in 2007. Cathal enjoyed the distinction of being one of the

youngest pilots to qualify to fly the Boeing 747 Jumbo.

Nice close up of the name plate of the Stearman proudly displaying their heritage. Wish the hurlers were as good !!

Tumble lock on the small luggage compartment lid on the port side of the Stearman just behind the cockpit.

Nice cockpit view of the Stearman

It’s a trip like this that shows the value of getting some good close up detail for a potential model. Observe the rear

view mirror, fuel cock and fuel level indicator.

Submitted By : Gordon Durham

Aviation Rules to Live By

1. Every,takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.
3. Flying isn’t dangerOUS. Crashing is what’s dangerous.
4. It’s always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.
5. The ONLY time you have toà much fuel is when you’re on fire.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
8. A ‘good’ landing is one from which you can walk away. A ‘great’ landing is one after which they can use the plane again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make all of them yourself.
10. You know you’ve landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.
12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn’t get to five minutes earlier.
13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report theit mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take of fs you’ve made.
15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
17. Helicopters can’t fly; they’re just so ugly the earth repels them.
18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that’s going round and round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all 55 they should be.
19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.
21. It’s always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.
22. Keep looking around. There’s always something you’ve missed.
23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It’s the law. And it’s not subject to repeal.
24. The four most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, gas back at the airport, and a tenth of a second ago.
25. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are,, however, no old, bold pilots.

Submitted By: Bill Thompson

How do you know it’s too windy to fly?

· You point your plane into the wind and the engine starts without your even touching the prop!

· When you pull up to your flying site, a ruffled little girl suddenly appears, saying over and over to her dog, "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."

· Helen Hunt (from the film Twister !) roars up in a pick-up truck, drops off a big machine in your pit area, and roars off again.

How do you know you have the wrong fuel?

· You refuel the plane, and the engine runs away. No, really, it runs away!

· You suddenly realize that peculiar "sludge" build up around the cowling is actually your engine's cylinder head

· In spite of your apprehensions, your fuel provider assures you that the fact the oil has separated and floated to the top is a feature of their quality control allowing each purchaser to measure the oil content for himself.

· You give your fuel can a mild shake and suddenly discover that it has more foam that a pitcher of Budweiser!

Submitted by: Gordon Durham

When the popularity of an ARTF just becomes too much to bear…