March 2001 indoor fly
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Not all of the flying action was f/f, we had some radio too.
This one, seen here posed by a grim-looking Baden, is entirely home-brewed design, balsa and foam combined and flies easily within the confines of the small hall. Baden also flies it in his back garden, but it seems to have a liking for the trees.
Seen here about to commit Helicoptery, myself with new Piccolo and big balls(!) Expecting to lose one or two bits on the hall floor, I made sure to take a "before" picture. Believe it or not the silly grin was a lot bigger and sillier by the end of the evening. As I write this, Piccolo is perched out of mischief on top of the monitor.
This is probably about the second or third battery, and I'm getting the feel of the little tyke a bit. Sorry about the quality of the photo, my camera is easy to use but the lens is wide angle and Stan wasn't about to get any closer! I'll see how the shots came out on his camera and scan them later.
Eventually I bit the bullet and lifted out of the ground effect. Pic is a LOT easier to control at this height, but I can tell you my heart was going almost as fast as the main rotor. Note the right skid down to counter the drift from the tail rotor. The carbon and polystyrene training skids have merely been rubberbanded to the standard skids. I have a standard 250mAh pack and an 8-cell Sanyo720 NiMH from Overlander, they took turns on the charger for about 5 runs, 4 with some actual flying.
Not all of the flying was so frenetic, it was great to take time out (as well as all the nervous trips to the loo) and watch brilliant own-designs like this from Pete Hill. Pete is new to indoor f/f and this is his second own design. Has foam wings, balsa stick and successfully R.O.G. at first attempt from its drop-off dolly.
Start 'em young! Grandma and Grandad Millington brought along some company as well as some models. All had a fine time.
Model
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