Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Hi Mark... Oh Congrats by the way!
Yep, A few have gone.. But there are still enough at home to make the odd event or three Plus a few more should be ready, or nearly ready by the time I get back. Plus the really good news is that the toy budget has had an ever so slight injection of funds of late, so new toys are for sure on their way. Plus.. I know this is hard to believe... I am actually turning down offers on some of the current turnkey toys LOL
I seem to remember agreeing to take some old junk from you before I left anyway.. When you are ready.. Drop it off to double O for me please When is my MB339 going to available
Regards Al
Yep, A few have gone.. But there are still enough at home to make the odd event or three Plus a few more should be ready, or nearly ready by the time I get back. Plus the really good news is that the toy budget has had an ever so slight injection of funds of late, so new toys are for sure on their way. Plus.. I know this is hard to believe... I am actually turning down offers on some of the current turnkey toys LOL
I seem to remember agreeing to take some old junk from you before I left anyway.. When you are ready.. Drop it off to double O for me please When is my MB339 going to available
Regards Al
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Thanks mate been a good weekend finally getting my hands on the greatest turnkey model out there
Glad to hear new toys continue to join the ranks. I'll sort that old duffer you had off me when the time comes.
As for my MB339 - Hey, "that's a keeper" LOL
Cheers
Mark
Glad to hear new toys continue to join the ranks. I'll sort that old duffer you had off me when the time comes.
As for my MB339 - Hey, "that's a keeper" LOL
Cheers
Mark
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Its been a while since I have updated this thread, and seeing as the week long event has been and gone, I thought that now may be a good time.
The event itself went without a hiccup, and I am really proud of how things worked out. From my team on the ground who made things happen when needed, right through to the pilots, these guys put in such an amazing amount of effort to ensure this all important event went without a hitch. You would have never have thought this was the first time such an event had happened here in Saudi, as all week long everyone seemed to be having fun and enjoying themselves.
We were under the watchful eye of the Aviation club, and some pretty serious government officials, and I am delighted to say that all were happy with what they saw. This was rounded off perfectly, by a visit from one of the Princes on Friday. He liked the event so much, that he even stayed to hand out the awards.
All in all, a really memorable experience. Damn hard work, and one that has probably aged my 10 years +, but well worth the effort in the end.
The event itself went without a hiccup, and I am really proud of how things worked out. From my team on the ground who made things happen when needed, right through to the pilots, these guys put in such an amazing amount of effort to ensure this all important event went without a hitch. You would have never have thought this was the first time such an event had happened here in Saudi, as all week long everyone seemed to be having fun and enjoying themselves.
We were under the watchful eye of the Aviation club, and some pretty serious government officials, and I am delighted to say that all were happy with what they saw. This was rounded off perfectly, by a visit from one of the Princes on Friday. He liked the event so much, that he even stayed to hand out the awards.
All in all, a really memorable experience. Damn hard work, and one that has probably aged my 10 years +, but well worth the effort in the end.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Some photos to keep the thread a bit more interesting than just my ramblings..
Here we can see the allocated area on which we had to build the runway and show area. Far from ideal, but its what we were given, and seeing that it was such a central location ( Right on the coast line of Central Jeddah ( Saudi Arabia's second city ) who was I to say no? Also from what I understand of the governments view on RC flying, we were lucky to be allocated any land at all.
Here we can see the allocated area on which we had to build the runway and show area. Far from ideal, but its what we were given, and seeing that it was such a central location ( Right on the coast line of Central Jeddah ( Saudi Arabia's second city ) who was I to say no? Also from what I understand of the governments view on RC flying, we were lucky to be allocated any land at all.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Now at my local flying field back home we have an on-running issue with maintaining the runway surface. It has been 3 years + that we have been discussing the issue of maintaining the runway, and in those 3 years very little has actually been achieved.
With this in mind, I was more than a bit sceptical when I arrived at the flying field to see the runway looking like the photos in the post before this one. I had almost resided to the fact that we would be flying off the sand, as I could see no way that with less then 4 days to go, that this piece of land jutting out into the sea could be made into a flyable runway. Yet again, I was wrong! Model club set up.. Saudi Style. in under 54 hours from start to finish. I will let the photos explain the rest.
Here the compactors start levelling an area 250 meters by 38 meters wide. This was just the area that I planned for the hard surface to go down on. They also did the run off area to make the transition from asphalt to sand as smooth as possible.
With this in mind, I was more than a bit sceptical when I arrived at the flying field to see the runway looking like the photos in the post before this one. I had almost resided to the fact that we would be flying off the sand, as I could see no way that with less then 4 days to go, that this piece of land jutting out into the sea could be made into a flyable runway. Yet again, I was wrong! Model club set up.. Saudi Style. in under 54 hours from start to finish. I will let the photos explain the rest.
Here the compactors start levelling an area 250 meters by 38 meters wide. This was just the area that I planned for the hard surface to go down on. They also did the run off area to make the transition from asphalt to sand as smooth as possible.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Then came laying down the asphalt. The speed at which these guys worked was amazing. I have to admit that my road laying knowledge is limited to say the least, but I never exected it to be done this quickly.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
No not really Dennis. We were flying out over the sea. The only real worry for me was the road that was just starting to encroach on the landing approach. To counter this I asked for the runway to be angled slightly. It did mean having to land slightly crosswind, but the runway was wide enough not to present an issue. I demonstrated a dog legged approach which all of the pilots took on board very well, and managed throughout the event.
There was only one building which we over flew at that was a coast guard facility that was cleared for the duration of the event. The harbour in the distance was some 2km away and between us and that was waste land.
There was only one building which we over flew at that was a coast guard facility that was cleared for the duration of the event. The harbour in the distance was some 2km away and between us and that was waste land.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Power to make things happen, fantastic stuff - glad it went well and look forward to some 'action' pics of the show and models.
marcs
marcs
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Power to make things happen, fantastic stuff
Keep the pics coming Al
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Not sure even with money here in the UK you could tarmac a runway down at Brighton in 50 some hours ;-)
Congrats by the way, regards to mum!
marcs
Congrats by the way, regards to mum!
marcs
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Yep - agreed! You've only got to look at the likes of the Bahrain F1 facility and the Silverstone F1 debacles to see we can screw anything up given any amount of money LOL
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Alan,
I would love to!
Here is what the site looked like three days after my first visit, and the first photos in this thread were taken. Not a bad effort for their first attempt I would say.
All of which was done from a basic drawing that I did and Duncan tidied up and put onto an email that I sent the aviation club ( I tried to up load that but couldn't work how to attach it)
I would love to!
Here is what the site looked like three days after my first visit, and the first photos in this thread were taken. Not a bad effort for their first attempt I would say.
All of which was done from a basic drawing that I did and Duncan tidied up and put onto an email that I sent the aviation club ( I tried to up load that but couldn't work how to attach it)
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Ask the road crew if they are available to fix the M1 which is still shut due to a pikey scrapyard fire.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
You forgot the big white X at each end of the runway to stop 747's trying to land on it !
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Nice to know there are humans still walking the earth who don't mess about, you gotta respect em for that!
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
Just sat in the business lounge at Jeddah airport 1:15am passing time surfing as ya do.
Hey, what happened to my invite Ali?
Well done.....can't quite believe it....looks like it's right on the Corniche?
Just goes to show what a bit of wasta can do out here!
Has the runway been built as a one-off for the event or will it be used as a regular Saudi Aviation Club flying site?
Took a few pics from this trip as we came into Jeddah, probably before the runway was laid, sorry about the quality I only had my cheapo underwater snapshot camera to hand.
Rob.
Hey, what happened to my invite Ali?
Well done.....can't quite believe it....looks like it's right on the Corniche?
Just goes to show what a bit of wasta can do out here!
Has the runway been built as a one-off for the event or will it be used as a regular Saudi Aviation Club flying site?
Took a few pics from this trip as we came into Jeddah, probably before the runway was laid, sorry about the quality I only had my cheapo underwater snapshot camera to hand.
Rob.
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RE: Out of the office for a while, and turnkey model deliveries
I am back in the office now, after what was a very busy, and rewarding 4 weeks away. I actually didnt get to take many photos of the show itself. One of the local flyers did give me a memory stick with lots of stills, but it is corrupted
There were a total of 10 jets at the event.
Comp-arf Europsort
Huge scratch built Euro fighter
Semi scale airliner
Bobcat
BVM Kingcat
Eurosport 3D Universe
Skygate Viper
Boomerang Sprint
Comp-arf Flash
Comp-arf Harpoon
By western standards this sure was a small amount, but considering how hard it must have been to operate any form of RC in KSA before this event, then the fact that there was so many was quite a pleasant surprise. Something tells me that there will be a whole load more for next years event
To cater for the jet guys, we held a very simple jet competition, which involved fastest jet, Slowest jet and most spectacular flight. All very low key and laid back, but fun none the less.
There were a total of 10 jets at the event.
Comp-arf Europsort
Huge scratch built Euro fighter
Semi scale airliner
Bobcat
BVM Kingcat
Eurosport 3D Universe
Skygate Viper
Boomerang Sprint
Comp-arf Flash
Comp-arf Harpoon
By western standards this sure was a small amount, but considering how hard it must have been to operate any form of RC in KSA before this event, then the fact that there was so many was quite a pleasant surprise. Something tells me that there will be a whole load more for next years event
To cater for the jet guys, we held a very simple jet competition, which involved fastest jet, Slowest jet and most spectacular flight. All very low key and laid back, but fun none the less.