Welcome back everyone! Welcome new Contest Directors/Event Managers Kevin Ballash, from Port St. Lucie, Florida; Alec Pettifer, from Oviedo, Florida; and Paul Imes, from Greer, South Carolina. Thanks for taking the time to get your credentials and for being involved!
I also want to thank Don Clevland for his time on the RC Soaring Contest Board, and welcome new member Ed Dumas to the board. Again, thank you for your time!
It was a quiet month for events, although I did have the chance to get out to one of my local clubs for what is turning into a big jet event. Jax Jet Madness went down at Gateway RC Club on March 13-16. Forty pilots attended, including several from out of the area.
The event shut down for roughly 2 hours during lunch so that the Veterans Affairs cemetery next door could conduct the funeral of a 100-year-old World War II veteran who was a B-24 crew member and former prisoner of war. Other than the brief stand-down, the flying was nonstop from shortly after daybreak until it got too dark to see.
Most people know Extreme Flight for its line of aerobatic aircraft, but owner Tim Hanstine and Customer Service Manager Antonio de Souza were on hand with the SkyWing Falcon that is a fully 3D-capable turbine jet. Antonio demonstrated what a combination of plenty of power and a vectored-thrust nozzle can accomplish.
Turbine jets might be one of the fastest growing segments of the hobby because of the reduced cost and easier and safer operations of modern turbine engines. Importantly, they are attracting a younger crowd, so I encourage clubs to embrace them whenever possible.
I know that not all clubs and fields can cope with jets, but if you have the room, please don’t make a bunch of nonsense rules designed to run off the jet people. I’m not just saying that because I fly jets; I say the same thing about helicopters, 3D flying, and drones. Just because you don’t enjoy a segment of the hobby doesn’t mean that you should devise a way to prohibit it at your field. If you put the same energy into embracing the different flying styles that some clubs put into prohibiting them, we will all be better off.
Until next month, stay safe.
Michael Harrison, of Jacksonville FL, after he attained his turbine waiver on his Hangar 9 Aermacchi MB-339 with a Kingtech 85 and Spektrum iX20 radio system.
L-R:) Tim Hanstine and Antionio de Souza, from near Atlanta, with the SkyWing Falcon jet that is sold by Extreme Flight RC.
Frank Noll made the trip to Jax Jet Madness all the way from Amelia Court House VA.
Retired fighter pilot Mark Dill, from Pensacola FL, flew his Elite Aerosports BDX at Jax Jet Madness.