aeajr

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Yippee! - Wings Across America 2008 (WAA-08)


If you would be interested in getting involved in a large fun project, then read on. I am one of the pilots who will be part of this cross country flying adventure. We are going to fly an electric plane across North America and back, one pilot at a time. This is going to be fun. At the time I posted this there were 109 pilots involved already.

If you would like to participate, post a response here and I will be in touch to get you added to the list of pilots who will help fly across America.

Pilot Map - Shows where the participating pilots are located.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...045fb2c7ae1f68


Mission Statement

Provide an atmosphere in the spirit of camaraderie by having a single, focused goal of flying a radio controlled airplane around the 48 continental United States in an expeditious manner.

Vision Statement

Fly a battery powered model airplane (Stevens Aero SQuiRT) in all 48 states by as many pilots as possible at their local fields. The plane will be hand-delivered to the next pilot on the list creating a "chain" of pilots that theoretically fly the airplane across the United States and back.

Pilot Requirements

1. Flying skills must be proficient enough to fly this model without crashing. See note 1.

2. Must provide the following info to the WAA-08 Coordinator name, address, phone number, email address, and club field web site if applicable. See note 2.

3. Take a digital photograph of him/her with the airplane at their local flying field to include the club''s field sign (if applicable). Pilot is also required to annotate the log book with name, date and location flown. Pilots are encouraged to make personal entries describing their flight and experiences with the plane. Please do not use vulgar or obscene language. See note 3.

4. Pilot must be willing to hand carry (drive) the plane and its support equipment to the next pilot in the chain. Phone numbers and addresses will be provided to the pilots making the swap, but it is recommended that those pilots work out the details amongst themselves.

5. Flying, photo, and transportation of the plane to the next pilot should be performed as quickly as possible so as to not delay the WAA-08 on its way across the United States. See note 4.

Notes:

1. If the plane crashes or is damaged while in the possession of the pilot, it is the responsibility of the pilot to repair/replace the airplane to include shipping charges. Please contact the WAA-08 coordinator immediately if the plane is damaged.

2. This information will not be shared or provided to anyone except those pilots directly in the passing of the airplane, the WAA-08''s primary and alternate coordinators (see below for POCs). The information provided is only used to control movement of the WAA-08 airplane around the country. If by chance an outside agency would like to document this event for historical purposes, each registered pilot will be contacted for their approval to share this information.

3. If the pilot is not a member of an AMA chartered club, then a photo at their favorite flying field is acceptable.

4. It us understood that weather conditions and other circumstances can inhibit movement of the WAA-08 airplane, but it is highly encouraged that flying and transporting happen as quickly as possible.

Supplemental Information

WAA-08 Contents

1. Stevens Aero SQuiRT 400 model airplane with the following components:
a. Castle Creations Pixie-20P ESC
b. Rx
c. GWS sp400 Motor
d. Hitec HS-55 servos (2 each)
e. APC 7x4 prop
f. MaxAmps 2S 1100 mAh 7.4V battery (2 ea)
g. Common Sense RC 2S 1250 mAh 7.4V (2ea)

2. DX6 Transmitter
3. FMA Cellpro 4S battery charger
4. Pilot''s Log –hardbound composition notebook
5. Sharpie permanent marker
6. GWS 7035 Spare props
7. Lipo Sack


Note: Please keep all equipment serviceable and ready for flight for the next pilot in the chain. Charge batteries after each use. If equipment problems are encountered, please contact the WAA-08 coordinator. No upgrades or modifications to the aircraft are allowed except to replace worn or damaged parts.


Pilot''s Log

1. All WAA-08 pilots will annotate the flight log with their name, screen name (if applicable), field name and location (city and state) and date flown as a minimum. Pilots are encouraged to enter any relative flight information, weather conditions, and or other pertinent information they choose to share with the other pilots involved in the WAA-08. Please do not use any vulgar or obscene language in the log. It is also encouraged to include any unique items of interest that is indigenous to your local area such as stickers or mementos of your local area. These items can be included on the pilots log under the required information entry.

2. Pilots are welcomed to sign the airplane with the provided Sharpie marker. Please use your name or screen name when signing the airplane. Keep in mind that there will be hundreds of pilots that would like to sign so write small as a courtesy to others. No vulgar or obscene comments are allowed. Please respect the integrity of the mission and vision of this project by not degrading the WAA-08 by such writings.


Points of Contact for the WAA-08

Point of Contact for the WAA-08 for RCUniverse.com - Ed Anderson - aeajr on the forums
Project Coordinators

Primary: Murocflyer
Alternate: FiremanBill
Alternate: Griffin
Alternate: brucea


Photos

1. A posterity photo of the flight will be taken at the pilot''s local field and will include the pilot, plane, and the club field''s sign. This is the minimum required photo and it is required to be emailed to Murocflyer. All these photos will be used to make a slide show of the pilots who volunteered to be part of the WAA-08. The slide show will be burned to a DVD and be available to all participants if requested. Cost of the DVD is yet to be determined but will be limited to the cost of the DVD and mailing fees. Additional photos of the plane flying and of the pilots are encouraged to be taken and shared with the RC community via your favorite RC forum.


Pilot Responsibilities and Other Information

1. Pilots wishing to join in the WAA-08 when the plane is underway should send an email to Murocflyer stating their interest in joining. Doing this does not guarantee a spot on pilot''s list as the location of the new pilot could seriously alter the pre-planned course too drastically. Each new pilot request will be evaluated on a case by case basis. New pilots are encouraged to join as long as it does not affect the pre-planned route too drastically. The motto here is "the more the merrier." The route will be planned and tracked using Microsoft Streets and Trips

2. Pilots receiving personal information from other pilots should not share or divulge this information with prior authorization. The personal privacy of each pilot should be respected by all pilots of the WAA-08.

3. Once a pilot has flown the airplane, the WAA-08 should be contacted as soon as possible to update the status of the trip. It is highly encouraged that the pilot comments and pots a few photos on the events of their flight in their favorite RC Forum.

4. Please keep the airplane and its support equipment clean and dry. It is assumed that all pilots will treat the plane and equipment like their own personal plane and take very good care of it while it is in their possession.

5. No financial or legal responsibility is assumed by the WAA-08''s primary or alternate coordinators throughout the entire journey. All local, state, and federal laws, including AMA''s safety code should be followed during every flight. Any damage to property or injury to persons is the responsibility of the participating pilot flying the aircraft.

6. The intent of the WAA-08 is to have fun and enjoy the excitement of participating in a nationwide event of flying an electric powered plane across the country. Knowing that a group of RC aero modelers joined together from all over the USA with a goal to fly this plane in every state of the continental United States and back to its origin in the shortest amount of time possible in certainly a thrilling and exhilarating accomplishment. Everyone that participates and helps in this project should share in the knowledge of knowing "they made it happen" and you should be commended on our successful journey.

Of course we would like to thank our sponsors that have donated to date who, without their help, would have made this project much more difficult to achieve!

SPONSOR LIST

Stevens AeroModel

Common Sense RC

Please support them when searching for your RC hobby needs.


Edit: 4/23/08 I have added a photo of the plane we will be flying. More shots further down the thread. The plane will travel with a Spektrum DX6i, so there will be no frequency issues whether you fly on or off a club field.

TallDoode

Hi Ed,

Would like to volunteer for the Las Vegas area.

After I fly it I will take it out and show it a good time!

Let me know what I need to do.

Thanks,

dave

aeajr

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PM sent

aeajr

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Our pilot list continues to grow. I think we are at or over 115 pilots. Of those we have had one person come into the team from RCUniverse, but I hope more of you will join. This is going to be a great project.

RockyMtnFlyBoy

Ed: It looks like you've got the eastern slope of Colorado pretty well covered. Will it be possible to keep folks informed of the progress of the plane. Time permitting, I might like to head out and see it fly (by).

... Greg
Boulder, CO

aeajr

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We can never have too many pilots. I don't see any problem with more than one pilot flying the plane at a single field. Or to have several pilots fly it at adjacent fields on the same day.

I assure you there will be updates as the plane travels the country.

Everyone will be on a mailing list, as they sign up to join the team so they will get updates. Right now we are working toward weekly updates till we actually kick of the flights. The pilot map has lines on it now on a potential route the plane might travel.

Naturally as more pilots join the route will be revised. The goal is that no one has to drive more than 50 miles to hand off to the next pilot, so we need a LOT of pilots to make that work.

Join the team, be part of the experience. More than 115 strong but I think we are going to need about 200 to make it work. We really need to fill in the center of the country. As well as the Southeast.

aeajr

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Update:

The effort is going quite well. In two weeks we have recruited over 120 pilots across the country. The goal is to to fill in the gaps so that people do not have to drive too far.

I added threads on RCH and RCU to give members of these forums the chance to participate.

120 plus pilots and growing.

We have good coverage along the east and west coast. Where we could really use help is around

North and South Dakota
Wyoming
Montana
Eastern Washington and Oregon
Utah
Western Texas
Mississippi
Alabama

In these areas we have room for a lot more participation. So, if you know folks in these areas, let them know about the project.

The current plan is to kick of the flying when we hit around 200 pilots.

aeajr

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Here is an update sent out by the organizer, Frank.

WAA-08 Pilots,


I know I promised I wouldn't send out another email until I reached 200 pilots for another email distro check, but I need to request some assistance. As you might have noticed on our pilot map, we are still in need of quite a few pilots. I have been emailing AMA clubs along the route to try to recruit pilots to help fill in the gaps and to keep the driving mileage down to our goal of 50 miles of less. The problem is that a lot of club website links and email addresses on the AMA site are no longer valid. This is making it very tough to contact/recruit the necessary pilots we need to make this project happen.



http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...045fb2c7ae1f68



We have 125 pilots signed up right now and if every participating pilot can recruit at least one new pilot, we could easily make our mileage goal and firm up the route. Then we can start making arrangements with individual pilots to make the transfer. I have attached the template I use when emailing folks. If you wish to help out, please use the attached template and CC me on your emails to those clubs so I can keep track of areas that have been contacted and areas where we still need to contact. I would suggest contacting folks in your respective areas so we all don't email the same club. If you have any other suggestions about this please let me know.



Other news:



1. Sponsors: Bill at Stevens AeroModel will be sending the RTF SQuiRT out to Steve in ID who will be building a custom travel box for the plane and its equipment. Once complete Steve will send the plane to me. The box is to help keep the plane from getting damaged during the drive between pilots. FiremanBill (Bill S in VA) will carry the plane to SEFF with him in May and possibly demo fly it there. Two weeks later it will be at Joe Nall for a demo flight. That's exciting news for our WAA-08 plane. Jeff at Common Sense RC has come through with some batteries and a battery charger for us so we are good there. I'm sure I speak for everyone involved that we really appreciate the generosity of Bill and Jeff. The offer for a balsa built plane that is RTF (to include a DX6 Tx) with red, white, and blue color scheme is going to look awesome. So please, if you haven't checked out Stevens AeroModel or Common Sense RC please do so. They have some great products and their customer service is top notch.



2. I have contacted Guinness World Records to see if this is a "first" for them. Not sure if it is or not, but we'll see. It was also suggested that Ripley's "Believe it or not" might be interested in something like this.



That's all for now and thanks for the help. As always, suggestions and comments are welcomed.



Frank

bipe22

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i would like to be a pilot in the wing across america program. I live in central New York .
I belong to finger lakes air pirates
PAT MOSCHIANO

chompin chuck

My name is Chuck Hanzel, and I am the president of the Finger Lakes Air Pirates in Geneva, NY. I see that the flight goes through Geneva, and would be interested in piloting the plane.

aeajr

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Guys I will send you a PM to get you into the program. Thanks.

Here is the latest update:

***************
141 pilots now!

We are down to 4 states that we need pilots in. AR, ND, VT, & WI. If anyone can help recruit some pilots in those states it would be greatly appreciated.

***************

aeajr

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Pilot Count

149 Apr 8 2158 Hours

0 pilots in AR, ND, VT, & WI


Still looking for new pilots. If anyone knows of any pilots in those states, please contact them and see if they want to participate.

Hypersprint

WAA-08 is now up to 165 pilots, but we still don''t have anyone from North Dakota. If you know any pilots in ND please let them know about WAA-08.

WAA-08 is still looking for pilots from everywhere so if you are interested in participating please let us know.

aeajr

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We are now over 200 pilots and have pilots in every state. Looking good! This pilot by state was made when we were at 185 pilots.

The map is here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...045fb2c7ae1f68

State of Pilots
AL 6
AR 5
AZ 4
CA 12
CO 5
CT 1
DE 2
FL 4
GA 7
IA 5
ID 2
IL 3
IN 3
KS 1
KY 1
LA 4
MA 4
MD 3
ME 1
MI 4
MN 2
MO 3
MS 1
MT 1
NC 4
ND 1
NE 4
NH 3
NJ 7
NM 3
NV 3
NY 15
OH 4
OK 4
OR 3
PA 4
RI 4
SC 2
SD 2
TN 4
TX 12
UT 1
VA 10
VT 2
WA 2
WI 4
WV 1
WY 2
Total 185

Come, on and join the living chain of pilots who will fly this plane across America. )

aeajr

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This is the excerpt from the update sent out to the participating pilots:

WAA-08 Pilots,



Week 4 is in the books and the logistics for our adventure is being finalized. Here are a few things that happened this week for those that do not log into the RC forums to monitor the status so I will summarize them for you. I have also been asked some questions this week via email so I figure if one or two had them others might also.



Pilot Count



We currently have 205 pilots signed up to fly WAA-08 in all 48 CONUS states! I am waiting on a couple replies from my emails so that should be 208 shortly. My only concern right now is that we have lone pilots in the following states KY, ME, MS, & UT. If anyone knows any RC pilots in those states or is willing to send out PMs or emails to recruit of few more pilots in those states it would be greatly appreciated. I have been getting a few email requests from prospective pilots that would like to participate, but their locations have been too far out of the route to accommodate them. It would make some pilots drive much farther than have to currently. I feel bad saying no, but we are still trying to reduce drive times for our current pilots and don't need to take on the burden to find more pilots to reach out to those new ones. I hope that is OK with everyone. Additional pilots along the route are great and a help –we'll take them.


WAA-08 route across the USA


Some of you might have noticed the blue line on the pilot map is gone. I removed the route line since it became too difficult to keep current as new pilots came on board and it pushed some pilots to page two which caused some confusion. (Update: I just checked the map and we now are back to having two pages again. To see page two, scroll down to the bottom of the pilot list) I'll get that up again shortly as new pilots volunteering have dwindled considerably so it might not be such an issue now. I should be able to label the first 25 or so pilots on the route as it appears from VA north to CT is pretty firmed up. So look for your name on the pilot map and a number. The number will tell you what sequence you will be flying the WAA-08 plane.



How to swap the WAA-08 plane



The easiest way I can do this is to send out groups of 10 pilots in the same email with names, numbers and email addresses of those pilots in sequence. Then the pilots that will have to swap with each other can work out the details of when/where/how etc. with each other respectively. I believe this is the easiest method for all involved and we can update on the fly if that isn't working out. All I ask is that once you have flown the plane, snapped your photo (emailed it to me) and dropped off the plane to the next pilot, is that you please email me that the transaction has taken place so I can update the blue balloon on the map to a different color. This will allow the non-RC forum pilots to monitor progress throughout the trip. Of course I will provide weekly update on its progress –no different than what I do now, but by then it will actually be exciting news.



T-Shirts and Ball Caps



We have discussed getting T-Shirts and Ball Caps with the WAA-08 Logo and the words "Wings Across America 2008 Pilot" on it. We are still working on the details of that and who will make them for us. Best case scenario would a company that will make them up and we can purchase directly from him vs. doing a bulk buy and one poor guy having to mail a hundred different boxes at the post office spaced out for the next 8 months. More to follow on this. I am looking forward to a hat and T-shirt with the WAA-08 log on it.





Practice SQuiRT



Someone made a comment of getting the same type of plane as we are using in the WAA-08 project so they can practice with one prior to their turn with WAA-08. I'm not s

stevensaero

Here's some photos of the nearly complete WAA-08 plane.

Probably the only ARF ever to leave the Stevens Aero facility )

Update to the package to go on tour. I spoke with my horizon rep and we applied some of companies our donation dollars towards a new DX6i to travel with the model. Big thanks to Horizon for working with us on this endevour.

-Bill

aeajr

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Thanks for posting the pictures. The plane looks great. A spectacular job! I am certainly going to be proud to fly it as one of the pilots in the network.


While we have over 200 pilots we are still looking for more, especially in the midwestern states where distances can become long between pilos. Take a look at the link. give it a moment to load as it has to read the data base and fill in the pins. Then you can zoom in on your area and see where we have some wide gaps.

Muroc1

WAA-08 has 230 registered pilots. We sure could use some more in the following areas: Maine, North Dakota, Utah, Mississippi, and the Panhandle of Florida.

Pilot map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...045fb2c7ae1f68

Thanks to all RCU members that have volunteered to date. We are making history and we thank you for participating.

Frank

Muroc1

Thanks for posting the pics Bill! The plane looks sweet! We are certainly gald that you have donated the plane, your time, and helped is with getting a ready to fly SQuiRT directly from Stevens Aero! A huge THANK YOU!

On a side note, here is a photo of my practice SQuiRT I built so I can practice flying one prior to the real deal. I certainly don't want to be the one who crashes it.

Muroc1

Greg,

You are more than welcome to join in on our adventure. We'd love to have you.

Frank

Muroc1

Here is a look at our final choices for a logo.

Any preferences?

Thanks,

Frank

Muroc1

This week's newsletter has been sent to all WAA-08 pilots and photographers.

Frank

Muroc1

LiPoSack Donation

Big Al's Hobby Supply has generously donated a LiPo sack for our project. That way we can safely charge the LiPo batteries that we are using. Thank you Alan! If you are ever down in Tupelo Mississippi, please stop in and thank "Big Al" for his donation.

Muroc1

Newest Pilot Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...045fb2c7ae1f68

237 pilots.


Frank

aeajr

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Friends, I believe we are over the 250 pilot mark and still climing. This is going to be fun. Won't you join us?