Florida Fly-in, Feb 21,22
Just a brief note to say that in my opinion the fly-in on Feb 21,22 was a great success even though it rained like heck on the 22nd. The folks who were there provided excellent arrangements. The flying field is part of a 1300 acre Boy Scout facility complete with full-time manager/caretaker. It is away from everything and so noise is not a problem. In fact the local police were having target practice on the 21st! (No planes shot down.)
Steve flew his turbofan-powered gyro very smartly and impressed everyone.
Bob Gardner and Phil Ploof were the big "show-offs" with many effective flights. I won the smallest gyro award with my new, experimental Cox 0.01 powered craft. It weighs 5 oz. and uses DC control only. The "flight" lasted only about 3 seconds since the wind was too strong for it to make much headway.
On Saturday and Sunday the Vintage Radio Control Society had its annual meeting. To qualify a model must have been designed or available before 1970 as a model. Some great old timers were in evidence..Cleveland Cavaliers, Lanzo Bombers, etc.
On Sunday any remaining 'Gyronuts' were invited to put on a demonstration of autogyro flying since many of the VRCS guys had never seen one fly. Bob Gardner and Phil Ploof showed how a dual gyro works and I flew my single rotor Prairie Gyro. All went well and many "Well I'll be darned" comments were heard from the crowd!
Perhaps the biggest thrill for me was to meet and see Walt Good in person. He is suffering from demensia so his son did all the talking. But just seeing Walt hold the control box of a "Galloping Ghost" set up was really heart warming. He had a big smile!
Hal deBolt flew both of his GiroV and GiroVI. Both have the FMA auto-pilot and it makes autogyro flight absolutely rock solid. I am going to get one for the Kombat Kopter that I have modified per Emery Wayman.
All in all it was worth the 3500 mile drive (round trip). Cliff Manspeaker did a superb organizing job and the fellows in the club are just great.
It will be a great temptation to go again next year!
Bill