ghee-grose

I'm about to leave to head that way!!! Great weather for a great event!!!

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Well, this one is in the bag and we all had a great time. We had 80 registered pilots, which was two more than last year. Our guest pilots, spectators and members had a great time and 63 people stayed for the BBQ dinner. The Club house was full of sun burnt hungry pilots with standing room only. Chuck and Mary Facemire were terrific host minding to the small and big things that it takes to put on a terrific event. We were blessed with clear skies and calm winds that mostly stayed right down the runway with occasional cross winds, but that didn't stop anyone from flying. Pilots on Friday had the skies pretty much to themselves, but on Saturday, man, things got busy. We had pilots waiting in line for an opportunity to fly. This was a great problem to have.

Channel 19 and channel 31 from Huntsville were there and provided great event coverage. The event was also promoted in the local newspaper. We were very pleased with the support we received from the local media.

We sincerely thank all who took time out of their busy schedules to help us have a successful, fun and safe event. On behalf of Chuck Facemire the CD, our BOD, club members and myself, we thank you all.

Below I have attached a few pictures from the event. More will be available on our website as soon as we have them uploaded at

http://www.rocketcityrc.com/

For now we hope you will enjoy these.

Sincerely,

Roger F. Woodward
Asst. CD
2004 Alabama Big Bird Fly IN

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

And these !

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

And these !

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

And these !

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

And these!

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

And these !

jneesy

great event had a blast maybe spread the word and make it even BIGGER next year been even better if my daughter would have done her job and pulled the right ticket at the end but you cant win them all already getting my thunderbolt ready for warbirds!!!

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for your support John! The weather was in our favor for the entire event. It was a bit hot, but we didn't have any control over that or the drawings. Maybe next year.

Roger F. Woodward
Asst. CD
2004 Alabama Big Bird Fly In

ghee-grose

Well I had a BLAST at the event!!!! Enjoyed meeting all the folks there...they were great!

Here's a few of the pictures I took....

ghee

redbeard

My Feedback: (8)

Roger, I am pleased to here everything went as planned,
it looks like the weather gods were on your side.
The pics are nice, from what I see you had a very nice turnout,
we have mustered up all the help we can find for the show, hope it's enough.
I will keep you posted after the show, and thanks for the kind words.
Paul

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Gary, thanks for the added pictures and comments. Now I like seeing my Pitts look like this vs. the other picture you posted of Pitts-I after my crash last year. Arrgh! That one got to my belly. I was fortunate to put that ghost behind me this year. Pitts-II flies much better than I do. [8D] Get this, Pitts-II won best in class in the ARF category based on the voting totals from all registered pilots. This for me was a fitting closure to the crash from last year. As the old saying goes, if you fall off the horse you just have to pick yourself up and get back on. After the awards ceremony I took one more flight as a sort of victory lap just for me and Pitts-I. Man, this really made me feel good. Thanks for coming up to me at the event and introducing yourself. Glad you had a good time. It was nice meeting you.

Paul- Thanks! It was hot, but would rather have the heat than a bunch of wind and rain. There was one point where the rain was all around us, just circling the Huntsville valley, but it never rained a drop on the event. I think we all would have liked a gentle shower just to cool things off a bit. Paul, I know you guys are going to have a great show in Big Springs, Ark. I sincerely wish I could come and watch, but we are going to N.C. that weekend on a family related trip. I would really enjoy seeing Chip Hyde fly. That would be something to see. Maybe next year. Have a great event and wish you all the very best.

Pictures are now being posted on the website with the first batch posted today. Many more to come in the days ahead. Just click on the link below and then in the upper left hand corner of the page you can see the link titled Group 1. Click on it to see the photos. Mike Jones is the Website manager and he does a terrific job making us look good. Photos of all the award winners will be posted shortly.

http://www.rocketcityrc.com/events/2...rd/photos.html

Thanks again to all those who participated.

Sincerely,

Roger F. Woodward
Asst. CD
2004 Alabama Big Bird Fly In

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Unfortunately, I had to work on Saturday but my friends who went down there had an absolute blast. They commented on how well the meet went, and how smooth everything was. Most commented that it was certainly easier and more comfortable to fly this year than in the past. After all the controversy this event stirred, looks like it was a great success. I plan on seeing you guys in August at the Warbird meet. Congratulations again.
TOmmy

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Tommy, no problem and understand the work conflict. Wasn't it a fishing trip? Just pulling your line to see if I get a bite. I know Chuck would have really loved for you to have been able to attend. Maybe next year.

Here is a photo of a banner that Tom Flemming's wife made for the event. This worked out really great. Art Azlin and his wife Jonnie were in charge of video production to capture the event fun. There will be a full event video available shortly. More pictures will be down loaded on the website as soon as we can get them all together. We had several photographers out shooting photos, but this one of Tom's Cub with the banner is definitely a keeper. Warren Towbridge captured this one and I thought you and the others would like to see it.

Keep checking the website in the days ahead for more photos. We have a slew of them to show.

http://www.rocketcityrc.com/events/2...rd/photos.html

Roger

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

No, wish I was fishing, I had to work to make up for last week when I was fishing. I got back on July 3, had a great time, brought home lots of fish, and even managed to take a couple of my flying buddies with me this trip. The highlight of the trip was a flight in a DH Beaver float plane. I got the right seat and it was awesome. Chuck knows how to throw a party, huh? Sounds like you guys did a great job.
TOmmy

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Tommy ! Warren Towbridge sent me these photos of my Pitts in flight. I just had to show them off. After my engine nightmare, I was able to get things resolved thanks to the terrific help from the folks at Desert Aircraft, so here she is.

Skymac

My Feedback: (8)

Anybody mention about the one wheel'er cub? Had a blast, will definatly be there next year with some interesting things.....

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Justin, yeah, I saw you flying your Big Cub down the runway on one wheel. You put on one heck of a Cub flight demonstration. Very nice job. One could sure have taken some lessons by watching you put a Cub through the paces. I had never seen anything like it. We will check to see if we have some photos of it, and if so, we will make sure they get posted on the website. Thanks for joining us and glad you had a good time. Hope you will put this event on your calender for next year. It's not official as of yet, but we are thinking about changing the event date to the third week in July for 2005. This will be discussed at the meeting tonight and if approved the official date will be posted when we announce the event for next year. Stay tuned for more info regarding the 2005 Alabama Big Bird Fly In.

We hope to have more pictures posted tomorrow, or hopefully no later than Thursday.

Skymac

My Feedback: (8)

One of my buddys Eric Alford (the one wheel master) done most of the flying I flew it the last flight, both of us combined only had 10 to 15 flights on it, a buddy bought it and we are teaching how to fly, so we blow it out everynow and then. But anyway we had a great time and there will definalty be some pitts there next year, if you liked the cub flying hold on to your shorts, lol.

Justin

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Justin, sounds like challenge and I surrender. The sky is all yours my friend. If you fly the Pitts like you flew that Cub I may just have to develop engine trouble and sit this one out.

I was surprised we didn't see more Pitts or CE at the event this year. I would have thought for sure a few more would have showed up. Maybe next year. I know we can count on at least two, unless that Photoshop action is the real deal. LOL - Nice looking Pitts or Pitts's?

Hang in there all. The pictures are coming to the website. Should have posted by tomorrow or hopefully no later than Wednesday.

Roger

Skymac

My Feedback: (8)

theres 5 of them so far in our club, the back 2 are stock out of the box planes and the front 2 plane by eric and myself are almost mirror images or than the Futaba and JR stickers, we should have a good routin worked out together by then. Do you like your GP Pitts?

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

Justin, you know, after I posted my response about the possibility of Photoshop being used to doctor the photo I took a close look and realized one of two things. Either you did a great photoshop mod job, or you had four models that almost look exactly the same. Wow! so it is 4 birds. Nice shot and they look great.

Yes, I really do like the G.P. Pitts. I only wish they had come up with a better design for mounting the interplane struts and the upper wing for transporting to and from the field. The new G.P.Stearman has a better design in that they used blind nuts with hard points in the wings so you only have to insert machine screws to secure the struts. With the Pitts, I have four machine screws with four safety nuts and washers to install on each Interplane strut and then two of the same to mount the upper wing to the Cabbane strut. It takes a good while to get all the nuts and bolts inserted and secured when transporting to and from the field, which is a pain. I have a stand I made for keeping everything assembled so I can transport fully assembled in the trailer, but I don't use it because I feel more confident assembling each time to make sure everything is tight and secured. Just wish they had made it easier. I guess I could install the blind nuts myself, which would solve the problem. I may do that.

Other than this issue the Pitts is a nice Bipe for an ARF kit and for the money. It's a little touchy on the ground with the short fuse coupling, but once airborne she flies like a baby. It took me a while to get the feel for the rudder and throttle on take-off. She wants to ground loop if you aren't ahead of the plane on take-off.

Guys, we are working on the event pictures. Mike Jones, the website manager had to go out of town on a business trip and got back last night. The photos are ready to be updated. We just need to allow Mike the time to get it all done. Hopefully he will be able to add photos tonight after he gets off work. I will post a photo update as soon as I know that the website page has been updated.

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

If you live anywhere near the Tn. valley you know that we were hit with severe storms tonight. It was pretty bad with many people losing power. The pictures will be delayed and hopefully posted by tomorrow night. Please excuse. I promise we are trying to get them posted as quick as possible.

Sincerely,

Roger F. Woodward
Asst CD
2004 Alabama Big Bird Fly In

rfw1953

My Feedback: (2)

190 additional photos were just posted on the website. Click on this link to view them.

http://www.rocketcityrc.com/events/2...rd/photos.html

Justin, you will be happy. We caught a great shot of the one wheeled cub. We will be post more photos in the days ahead as additional ones come from the photographers. These are really great shots. Hope you enjoy.

Sincerely,

Roger F. Woodward
Asst CD
2004 Alabama Big Bird Fly In

FBaity

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for the pics, very, very nice,