JIMMIE ALLEN CONTEST RESULTS

This is an annual contest that’s been running for many years, and we’re delighted that the Vamps took the trophy out of California. Next year we hope to do a better job of publicising the contest, and maybe extending eligibility to all countries. Congratulations to THE VAMPS of Las Vegas. 
    Now’s the time to start building for next year.  We’ve found that  the BA Cabin/Skokie, Bluebird or Jimmie Allen Special models are the top performers.
Tom Whitworth.

Sunday morning with George and

The weather was fine at Lakeville on Sunday morning, even tho the grass was gone and the field plowed.  Gale was flying really early and found the air "luscious".  Below are George with his Percy, Mike with the beautifully covered Sweet patootie, Gale's masterpieces and a close up of his ground level stooge. My Spit, Vindicator and the Jimmie Allen Skokie are in their Element.

 

Stormy day at Lakeville

A week ago, and despite threatening skies and gusty winds, those with enough stir craziness launched anyway, and had many great flights and long retrieves.

Jerry's finely detailed Pilatus flies as well as it (and he) looks. Mike's peanut Hellcat is always on the rails. The model under construction is the Sweet Patootie,  designed by Jim Longstreth.  (Published in Flying Models, June 2001).

Gale flew Taz and the 109.

Yes Haoyang and Gary!

Weeks ago we posted a photo and asked for the deliberate building mistake.

I forgot to announce that Haoyang wryly observed that it was a regular prop on a pusher, and Gary Hinze hit the nail on the head with the backwards wing.

I have yet to find out if it flies, but my guess is it will.

T

LAKEVILLE LAMENT

Because of the recent winds, Marin Aero Club members have taken to philosophical musings.

Here's a report from Paul about conditions a couple of weeks ago . . . .

It was bit windy but I could not  draw inference from the movement of the birds because they, for some reason, weren't flying. 

So I sat in my Jeep, keeping the doors tightly closed because of the wind, and closed my eyes, and I flew to the far end of the Universe, and a black hole sucked me in, and the time stopped, and the light was bent, and the space was warped, and there were no shadows.

And then the hole spat me out and I was sitting in my Jeep with the doors tightly closed, and it was bit windy, and the birds weren't flying so I went home. Paul

Gales at Lakeville

Actually, there's a missing apostrophe from the title.

It wasn't the greatest day (Thursday 2/3), but Gale flew and here are the pictures to prove it. I mentioned before that our leader George Benson doesn't like having his picture taken. His license plate might provide clues.

Wonderful Thursday

We met at Lakeville on Thursday morning - 1/29/15. Rubber boots were de rigueur  on account of the wet grass and mustard. The mustard was humming with thousands of bees from the nearby commercial hives. It was sunny, fairly calm, no thermals. But lots of good flight.

George's Island Flyer went up like a rocket, and way up high it circled and drifted northeast.
George isn't crazy about having his picture taken, so the one below of him "on the retrieve" is with a telephoto and blurred a bit to protect his true identity. George wasn't clear about whether the DT was set on the island Flyer, let's leave it at that.

Jerry's whatever you call it looks spectacular in flight and static.

Phobi's newish whatever you call it appears poised for an out of sight flight every launch, while she works on finessing the nose-block-falling-out DT.

The Vindicator flew on the rails - a vindication of sorts.

So it was a great morning, and a lucky break so early in the year.

The Fury is almost finished.

Once the spinner is painted, I can balance and fly the Fury. Then figure out what to do about the huge scoop between the wheels.

HAWKER FURY COMING TOGETHER

This is from the Flair Mini Classic Kit with some lightening of wood here and there, and if I can resist weighing it down with excessive scale detail, it will be very light. So as much as I hate them, there's a DT.

I'm trying to figure out how to make the huge airscoop detachable for flying. But then, I don't intend to fly competitively  . . . except against club members who have been forgiving with scale detail in the past.

There is a possibility that the dihedral on the upper wing is not enough, in which case I will carefully remove the wing from the struts, do a rebuild, recover, tissue, dope, make new struts and reassemble.

Either that or crunch the whole thing in a fit of pique.

Tom

A PERFECT OPENING DAY . . .NOT.

25 January, 2015. The sun was shining, the grass long. 74 degrees forecast. Then a light breeze drying the grass as we pulled into the parking area got worse. Wind chill increases with age and we huddled for warmth.


Everyone but Gale insisted that one of his big models would be quite safe.  He wasn't convinced, and shared his liquorice nevertheless.

Here's Gale's trunk from the last good Sunday, 2014.