Indoors December 08

Saturday 27th Our 13th night of the season and the last of 2008. Very cold outside with a easterly breeze making outdoor flying very unpleasant. I can't say the dome was warm but at least the lack of wind chill made it acceptable. 23 seniors plus 2 juniors made up the numbers, 15 taking up the fixed wing slots and 20 the helicopter slots (not all at the same time), 13 fliers having a go at both. Paul G. was on good behaviour but was still banished to a far corner, "what does the lad have to do". He did break one blade so badly that even he may find repair impossible. Chris B.

Above. The Chairman's E-flite Divo, flying well and in very chairman like fashion. Below. Trevor England displays the families liking for insect based models. With the diminutive Mosquito (left) & "dead spider on (right).


	Above left & right. Pete RH with his new Zoom 450, very smart little model that flies straight from the box. Left. Brian Bevan with (I think) a Mini Titan. On his first visit to Bentham though he only lives 5 minutes drive away. Left. Richard Green with a Blade 400. Below left. Paul G. relaxing in the corner!! Below. Steve's Mini Fox flashing by

Saturday 20th
We have started to notice the helicopter chapter of GMFC is going from strength to strength. A few new faces were noticed and a couple of new models got an airing. (Right) Ade " The Destroyer" England flew, for the first time his newly acquired Twister Storm 3D. This was the star prize that he won in the Xmas raffle last week. Compared to his T.rex 450 he finds it a bit less sensitive but a lot easier to fly in a small space, he said would like to have seen this model around when he started flying as it's great first model and superb value for money (especially if you win it!) (Below) Pete R-H had three models from his collection. He flew his Airwolf bodied Trex 450 for the first time.



Above a couple of super studies of the Airwolf in flight with undercarriage retracted. Below Pete's the Dragonus. All pics by Darren.

(Below) a Walkera 4#3B. This is the fixed pitch single cell LiPo powered version belonging to Richard Green. Although diminutive these are proper functioning helicopters.

(Right) Richard Cochram's Walkera 4#3. The full 3D capable version. As with all Richard's mini helicopters this one is much "blinged" with brushless motors and running off three LiPo's. Will try to keep you informed about what's happening with the heli slots and keep an eye on our up and coming 3D stars. "Paul Gurrs" quote of the week "I've flown three batteries and only broken one set of blades" More news as it happens. Darren
The Chairman's slant. .A very good night all round, the slot system working well. Only one gripe, do not run up helicopters in the pit area. The slot system does slow down setting up and adjusting helicopters. Often only a quick ground run is needed to ascertain whether a problem(s) have been solved. It is frustrating to wait until a heli slot only to discover that more work is needed, then to find the slot is over before a further run is possible. If you find yourself in this situation then come and see me, I will sort something out. It should be possible for an experienced flier to carry out a quick low controlled hop (less than 2 feet) in a corner while fixed wing models are flying. They don't intentionally use the corners. This is not an excuse for extra helicopter flying, but would help to the more experienced fliers trying to get new machines sorted in the limited time available. While we do tend to turn a blind eye to the operation of sub 28 gram models in the pit area, (it could be argued that it is safer for junior members to fly these types away from the larger models) allowing the rotors of any larger models to turn in the pit area is a big no no.

Above & right. Our first free fighters. Managed to get in some good flights flights during the evening without incident. Meredith Evan's free flight Avro Type 10 Biplane. Electric powered built from yellow floor mate foam. Made a superb flight and landing.

	A couple of Gareth Evans rubber powered free flight models left: - Gareth's rubber powered free flight helicopter
Fixed wing Our Chairman flew his Divo, this had a very unfortunate accident when the transmitter elevator stick jammed. Ken had returned a lost "O" ring from a prop saver, put it over the stick on his DX7 for CB to find. CB didn't find it until it had got into the stick unit and jammed the stick in the full up position! Steve Whitehead's Fox was very fast, fitted with a pylon mounted brushless. Paul's new EPP blade flew nicely once the overweight battery was changed, doing 7 circuits "hands off" .

Steve Whitehead's Shockie, now doing some 3D	The Chairman's New BMFA Dart
Remember Indoor flying continues thru Christmas and New Year. So if by next Saturday you are tiring of relations and screaming kids then see you at 6.00pm.

Saturday 13th What a fantastic turn out for the heli's. Paul G was attempting to kill me whilst I was trying to take an action shot, this ended up with a poorly heli!!!. Lee was flying his Blade 400, Adrian had his trusty Trex 450. various other Trex's, Pro-copters, Blade cx2 and mCX's were seen in the air. The most interesting heli of the night was Pete R-H's Dragonus, this heli looks totally different to the others. My Beam e4 flew well after being sorted out. In total 16 people flew heli's, twice the amount of fixed wing!!!! Darren Food and the raffle followed in the bar see the report and prize list

Paul Butchers Walkera 36.	Pete Wolf's little foam heli.

Pete R-H's Procopter	David Hampton's with his Twister

All relax, Paul's broken his model. Again!	Adrian's rather "ferocious" Trex 450.

Lee's E-flite Blade 400	Lee and partner, bit of "buddy boxing" with a sim!

Trevor's Multiplex Fox, won in the raffle, assembled, and flown in the bar	Chairman's new E-flite Divo, actually took it home in one piece.

December 6th After a discussion at the AGM it was decided to divide the evening into slots for fixed wing and helicopters, this worked well apart for David who did not know which group his ornithopter belonged to and our Chairman having to watch his wife's kitchen timer whose functions defied logic. My Robot bird's Blade joined the other two, this model is ideal for the big space at Bentham, a 9 inch prop on 2 cell keeps the speed down, prop hanging and Knife edging are real easy with this model and the EPP construction is very durable. Mike had a few problems with his little Hacker rudder elevator model, but eventually got a few circuits out of it after adjusting the thrust line. The England team spider was a little wayward eventually ending up dead with its legs in the air. Our Chairman flew his Spitfire and small biplane in the fixed wing slot and unfixed the wings on both. Flying continued in the bar, Darren flew his stealth heli an all black job, would have had a mean look if we had been able to see it, a black light flashes black when the battery is nearly exhausted, very useful. Phil

Mark's Pitts	Mike's Hacker Rainbow

Two Blades	Mike's Blade

Chairman's bi-plane	Ade's heli with an aggressive looking canopy

Brian's Cessna	Chairman's Spitfire

What's this	A dead one of these

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Gloucester Model Flying Club