Waywayanda Meet Pics & June Meet Flyers

See you at the Sunday June 11 (Durham, CT) and Saturday June 24 (Ipswich, MA) Contests!


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Contest Director Matt K retrieves his Embryo model on his motorbike
Sam B launches his electric supercapacitor powered ducted fan scale model
Vance G flew his 54in span Nene Viking in the Giant Scale event.
PA-based Tom H scans the field as he works on his new Boeing twin flying wing. This model won the Giant Scale event.
Oliver S. prepares his high-flying Folkerts SK3 Greve Racer for a morning flight.
An idyllic early morning scene at Barron Field in Waywayanda, NY
The lush sod glimmers as the sun comes up over Barron Field in Waywayanda, NY. Eight hardy fliers, including your Stealth Sqdn correspondent, camped out on the field.

Fine Weather, Field & Friends


What more can a Free Flight Model Airplane enthusiast ask for?  Yep, all model meets are fun, but weekends like May 27-28 on Barron Field are what memories are made of. 

Two consecutive days of sunshine and sub-5mph winds enabled spectacular thermal flights and friendly competition between some of the top flyers on the East Coast.  The FAC Scale events created a quandary as competitors had to decide whether to put in official flights on a beautiful Saturday, or wait for the even better forecast weather on Sunday.   Kudos to Contest Directors Matt K and Vic N for setting a tone that encouraged keen competition, lots of fun flying and good ‘ol Flying Aces Club camaraderie. 

Many “max” flights (2 minutes or longer) were to be seen.  Several  models were lost OOS (out of sight), but many max flights stayed on the field due to the light drift.

Eight flyers camped overnight on the field.  Friday night was cold with the temp  dropping to 42 degrees, but the early morning and late evening flying more than compensated.  Michael S’s birthday was celebrated with no fewer than three of Soon’s Orchard best pies.  Delicious!

Check out the Photos Page for more pics in addition to those shared here.

June Meets Coming up!

If you haven’t got your calendars marked yet, hop to it as time is flying!  Don’t miss another opportunity to fly Free Flight with the Stealth Sqdn gang.  No worries if you don’t have a model – we’ll set you up if you show up at the field.

Two meets – click the links below to view the Event Flyers with Directions and Key Contacts.

Sunday June 11 at Whites Farm in Durham, CT

Saturday June 24 at Pony Express Field in Ipswich, MA

May 21 Amesbury Meet & Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

Sunday May 21 – outdoor season opener meet at Woodsom Farm.  Contest Flyer  HERE


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May 21 Woodsom Farm Amesbury, MA Contest Flyer
A Sopwith Pup and Fokker DVIII at ORA. The Fokker was flying with an original rotary engine!
A Curtiss Jenny takes off from the grass strip with a kidnapped Trudy Truelove (dummy) holding onto a wing strut!
A New Standard biplane hopped passenger rides before and after the airshow.
This Golden Age Morane Saulnier aerobatic aircraft was spotted in one of the hangars just up from the ORA airstrip.
The grandstands at ORA line the grass airstrip. Here the return of the ribbon-cutting Tiger Moth and Fleet biplane is announced over the PA system.
Stealth Squadroneers with Old Rhinebeck Pilots & Cast, July 2022

May 21 at Woodsom Farm; 2023 ORA  Trip Planning


Finally!  The daffodils have bloomed and spring has sprung.  Clubsters are blowing the cobwebs off their outdoor models and looking to get outside and fly in the warm sunshine.  

Our first outdoor meet of the season is right around the corner – Sunday May 21 on the big rolling green fields of Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA.  Check out the Contest Flyer and plan to make this one as we expect to see many new models built over this past winter.

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Field Trip

A few clubsters made the trek to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (ORA) last July and had a great time.  They got to see many terrific WW1, Golden Age, and Pioneer aircraft flying off the legendary grass strip.  More of their great pics are posted on the Photos page of this site.  What an airshow!

We’re hoping to make another field trip to ORA this summer, perhaps with a few more clubsters this time.  We’ll be discussing the details at the close of the May 21 meet at Woodsom Farm.  Show up at the meet and let us know if you’d like to join in the fun.

See you on the flightline skysters!

April 2 Meet Results, Pics & Video

Check the Calendar page for Oudoor Season flying dates

click images to view full size


Ara preps his Guillows Bird Dog
Rich brought a beautiful new SE 5a Peanut Scale model built from a Jon C laser cut short kit
Rich and William getting ready for the Golden Age Mass Launch event

 

 

Bob B. (foreground) won his first Kanone in the Pussycat Mass Launch event

2023 Indoor Season Finale

The Stealth Squadron 2023 Indoor Flying Season was closed with the final meet on April 2.

Several new models made an appearance and another modeler won their first Kanone (Bob B with his Baxter Pussycat).

Competition was keen as usual.  Check out the results below:

Kanone Report, Stealth Squadron April 2023, Page 1

Kanone Report, Stealth Squadron April 2023, Page 2

We’ve got a compilation video of the action to share as well:

Outdoor Dates Posted to Calendar

We’ve got a full schedule of FAC free flight meets scheduled.

Get out and fly with the gang at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA and Pinkham Field in Durham, CT.  We’ve even got another June date booked at the Pony Express Field in picturesque Ipswich, MA!

Check out the Calendar page, or Coming Events in the sidebar of this site.  Mark your personal calendar and as always, see you on the flightline skyster!

 

March 12 Indoor Meet Results & Pics

visit the Photos page for more pics

click images to view full size


Jim launches his Stick Model.  Looks like a Jetco ROG
Rich and his White Monoplane, 2nd place Golden Age ML
Ara readies his FAC Trainer for flight
Ray winds the rubber motor in his Voisin Hydro, 1st place Pioneer Scale
 Jon covered his stick model with a lightweight shopping bag made from recycled materials

 

George’s Waco cruises by. This model won the FAC Scale and Golden Age Mass Launch events.

New Flyers, New Models, old favorites

Wow, the Penn Brook Middle School gym was as busy as a beehive in May at the March 12 meet! 

Several new flyers from New Hampshire showed up to fly their rubber powered free flight models.   At least one youngster flew a traditional stick and tissue model airplane for the first time.  And the local VW Beetle car club showed up to enjoy the show.

Ara D and Sam B made the trek from ME and CT to join the flying fun.  Always good to see our pals from out of state.

The contest events were friendly, jovial – and competitive as ever.  Check out the results below:

Kanone Report, Stealth Squadron March 2023, Page 1

Kanone Report, Stealth Squadron March 2023, Page 2

Check out the Photo Page for more pics from the March meet.

April Indoor Flying Finale

Sure it’s been snowing up a storm, but Spring is around the corner.

Our indoor flying season wraps up in April with a final flying session in Georgetown, MA on April 2, and another finale in Glastonbury, CT on April 16.  These are your last opportunities to fly indoors in New England this season, so check out the flyers and mark your calendars now.

Outdoor Flying Dates Coming Soon

Keep your eyes peeled on the Coming Events sidebar on the homepage as well as the Calendar on this site.  We’ll be posting the Outdoor Meet and Contest dates soon.  

Hopefully, you’ve been busy as a beaver on the building board and getting some new models ready to go.  We’re really looking forward to seeing the models from Steve E’s online model building class take to the sky.

See you on the flightline skyster!

 

Indoor Meet this Sunday March 12

Penn Brook School, Georgetown MA

The third indoor meet of the season is this coming Sunday March 12, 2023.

View the Full Contest Flyer for key Contacts and Directions to the gym. 

The Guillow’s Bird Dog event is a match race double elimination (three laps around the pylon).

Don’t forget that the clock moves forward one hour!

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

Indoor flying: Glastonbury CT on March 5 , Georgetown MA on March 12.

Be there!


click images to view larger

Our Author William S.

A flyer gasps as his model approaches the basket!

Drat my Leading Edge busted!


We recently learned about Young’s Modulus and failure stress
for balsa as a function of density (Material Properties of Balsa for FAC Modelers).

And now our engineer-author William S. is back with a follow up; Mechanics of the Leading Edge.   William tells us he took the deep dive into all this technology to solve the age old indoor flyers question “what leading edge won’t break when my plane hits a basketball hoop?

And to think some of us see these stick and tissue models as just simple toys!  Ah yes, to the uninitiated perhaps…

Read the latest article now

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

Feb 5 Georgetown Results & Balsa Strength Article

A technical look at Balsa strength as a function of density. 


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William S uses a cantilever beam to measure balsa strength.  Read his article HERE
Feb 5 Georgetown Indoor Meet Results (click to enlarge)
Feb 5 Georgetown Indoor Meet Results (click to enlarge)
Competitors wind their Guillows Bird Dogs in 12min of Georgetown
George S WW2 mass launch winning Guillows Typhoon
Ray H’s Dime Scale winning Comet Corben Super Ace

Next Indoor Meet March 12


Hi gang, we’ve got a double feature of sorts for you this time.

The indoor flying season is at a peak with lots of great flying both at the Penn Brook School in Georgetown, MA and the Glastonbury High School in CT.  Click the images at left to check out the Feb 5 Georgetown meet.  The competition remains very close with enough surprises thrown in (midair collisions, rafter hangups, etc.) to keep things interesting.  We’ll share some highlights below.  

On top of that, we’ve got a nice article on Balsa Strength by our own engineer-in-training William S.  Those of us not familiar with Young’s Modulus need to click the link below and learn something new.  And we look forward to hearing thoughts from our seasoned Stealth Sqdn engineers – oh yes, we have a few and they’re not shy!

Back to the Feb 5 flying…   Well, William not only knows his tech, he knows how to fly models too!  His Earhart Vega and Time Flies embryo were back in the winners circle.  Pop George also stretched the winning streak with his Typhoon (WW2 combat) and edged out Sam B’s circle burning Bird Dog with his own steady circling Guillow’s Bird Dog.  Still, if it weren’t for a few cut pylons and a controversial mid flight collision with George’s body as the final minutes ticked down, the finish might have been different.  The spectators certainly enjoyed the show!

Ray H hung his top-placing Pussycat up in the curtain which opened the door for Sam B and Steve K to duke it out in the final heat where Sam eked out the win.  Jon C didn’t have quite enough time to tame the trim gremlins in his Pussycat, or he’d have been a factor in the final too.

Ray came back strong, however, putting up tremendous flights with both his Corben Super Ace to win Dime Scale, and his Voisin Hydro to win Pioneer Scale.  Both of these models were flying near 2min flights within the confines of a basketball half-court.  Truly world-class flying that one needs to see to believe.

Steve Evans was busy detuning the climb in his Mad Maxine embryo and had it skimming the rafters nicely later in the meet.

The WW1 combat event was competitive as ever.  Tom N picked the wrong side of the gym to launch his Nungesser Nieuport and Rich Z’s colorful Fokker DVII siezed the opportunity to pull up underneath the little Ni17, flipping it over and sending it to the floor.  The Mercedes in the Rittmeister’s dastardly Fokker must’ve thrown a rod as it just couldn’t keep up with Sam B’s slick Ansaldo SVA which emerged victorious in the end.

At least one new Pinkham Stick model was seen flitting about – this one a triplane constructed from the laser cut parts Jon C. donated at the last indoor meet. 

The next Georgetown Indoor Meet is March 12 in the Penn Brook School.  See you there — and remember to check out the Article below too!

Read Balsa Strength Article Now

 

Indoor Meet this Sunday Feb 5

Penn Brook School, Georgetown MA

The second indoor meet of the season this coming Sunday February 5, 2023.

View the Full Contest Flyer for key Contacts and Directions to the gym. 

Come join us and learn more about rubber powered free flight model airplanes.

Jan 15 Indoor Meet a Big Success!

Indoor Flying February 5, in Georgetown, MA & February 12 in Glastonbury, CT


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The Skelly’s prepare for a mission in the WW2 mass launch event
Rich Z’s Spitfire & George S’s Typhoon battle it out in final WW2 event sortie.  Typhoon emerged victorious!
Tom N flew his new Texas A&M AG-1 scale model

WW2 mass launch action at Jan 15 Georgetown indoor meet

Highlights & Results


The Stealth Squadron kicked off the 2023 indoor flying season with a terrific meet on January 15 in the Penn Brook school gymnasium.

The areas top indoor free flight flyers  were there and the competition was hot – but always light-hearted in the FAC way.

George S won the premier FAC Scale event with his very pretty and lightweight Waco cabin model, edging out Tom N’s Heath Parasol by a half a point.  That’s about as close as it gets skysters!   George also took the top spot in the always popular WW2 mass launch event, outlasting Rich Z’s smooth flying Spitfire. 

 

Team Skelly had yet more success  with son William winning the WW1 combat event with his Rickenbacker SPAD 13, Embryo, and the Golden Age mass launch event with his new Lockheed Vega in Earhart colors.  Boy, we’re lucky there are only two of these guys!

There were 4 or 5 Guillow’s Bird Dogs flying around the gym at the meet.   Most flyers had trouble keeping their Dogs off the walls, but Connecticut flyer Sam B’s model flew in nice tight circles, notching a 41 second flight, good enough for first place.  
Intrepid indoor flyer Ray H. put up long flights with his amazing Voisin Hydro peanut biplane floatplane winning the Pioneer event, but his Comet Corbin Super Ace fell a few seconds short of Tom N’s BAT Monoplane in the hotly contested Dime Scale event.
Ray’s Pussycat model won the popular Pussycat mass launch event, but the real news was Jon C’s win in the Pussycat NBM (non Blue Max) section.  Jon earned his first Flying Aces Club Kanone with this win.  Jon also handed out sheets of nicely laser cut stick model wing parts to the gang.  Rumor is some new Pinkham Field Stick models are already under construction using these parts.  Thanks Jon and congrats on the Kanone!
Click on the Event scoresheet images at left to view the detailed results.  And be sure to pencil our next indoor flying date in on your calendar – it’s Sunday Feb 5.  Word is we’ll be flying the Bird Dog “12 Minutes of Georgetown” event which is almost as much fun to watch as to fly in.  Don’t miss it!
See you in the gym skyster!

 

1st Georgetown MA Indoor Meet Sunday 1/15/2023

FLy Indoors at the Penn Brook School!

The Stealth Squadroneers will host their first indoor meet of the season this coming Sunday January 15, Martin Luther King Day.

Check out the Contest Flyer for the roster of flying events. We look forward to seeing several Guillow’s Bird Dogs get some air time. 
Come on out to the gym if you’re interested in learning more about rubber powered free flight model airplanes.

Full Contest Flyer

with Directions & Contacts