Author: tomnallen2

Stealth Squadron November Meet – Sunday Nov. 8 in Amesbury, MA

 

 

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Free Flight meet at Woodsom Farm 11/8!

Whew!  There’s a lot of free flight rubber powered model airplane flying going on at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury – and that’s a great thing!  Yessir, the stealthy brass hats at GHQ have decided that more flying is just what we all need these days.
What nice folks, eh?  (now don’t you skybosses go gettin’ noggins too big for your brass hats now.)
As usual, all events and details can be found on the Contest Flyer at left and at the link below.   A “rain date” Saturday 11/14 has been reserved in case the weather fails to comply.  Check this site and your email as Nov 8 approaches to confirm the date.   As usual masks and social distancing protocols will be observed at this meet. 

Click the image at left to view the full contest flyer  which includes Directions, Event Roster, Contest Director contact info, etc. 

And because it’s been helpful, here again is a link to the

Flying Aces Club rulebook

All mass launch events except WW1 will be flown on 10% rubber motors to shorten retrieval time.  Note that due to daylight savings time, we may draw the meet to a close a bit earlier than usual in the afternoon.  Not to worry though it’ll still be worth your trip to beautiful Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA which is about 30 minutes north of Boston. 

Hope to see you there!!

 

Stealth Squadron October Meet – Sunday Oct. 11 in Amesbury, MA

 

 

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Free Flight meet at Woodsom Farm 10/11!

UPDATE: Due to more favorable weather/winds, the October Meet will be held on SUNDAY OCT. 11, 2020 and NOT Saturday 10/10 as originally scheduled.
All events and details other than the date will be the same on the Contest Flyer at left and at link below.  See you at Woodsom Farm this Sunday!
Well, the gang had so much fun and good flying at the September meet, that we just had to schedule another one.  That’s right skysters, Saturday Oct 10 Sunday Oct 11, 2020 we’ll be gathering again to fly on the beautiful rolling fields of Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.    You won’t want to miss this one as its going to be a long winter and who knows if indoor flying will be happening at all what with Covid and all.  So..

Click the image at left to view the full contest flyer  which includes Directions, Event Roster, Contest Director contact info, etc. 

As for Events – we’ll have FAC Jet Catapult Scale again – see p14 of

Flying Aces Club rulebook

for rules.   The Greve and Thompson Trophy mass launch events are being combined for this meet into the National Air Race (NAR) mass launch event.  Bring your Thompson, Greve, Bendix or other National Air Race model to fly in this event.  This will make room for a Goodyear Peanut mass launch event which is always fun.  All mass launch events except WW1 will be flown on 10% rubber motors to shorten retrieval time.

Location will be at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA about 30 minutes north of Boston. 
Hope to see you there!!

 

Sept 12 Amesbury Meet: Results & Pics

Big Truck, Big Hat, Small Model

Click HERE to view Pics!

The second outdoor contest of the season was held September 12, 2020 on the beautiful rolling green fields of Woodsom Farm. 

With Covid 19 still a threat, masks and social distancing protocols were in practice throughout the meet.  This was no great setback to the strong turnout of flyers who came to fly their models and enjoy light breezes and strong thermals this fine autumn day.

Competition was hot as were the thermals.  Unfortunately a number of fine models were lost OOS (out of sight), or over the hill.  The gang will be busy this winter building season rebuilding the fleet! 

We have another outdoor meet scheduled for October 10 at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.  Look for the Contest Flyer coming soon on this site.

See you then!

Click HERE to view Pics!

“check out the great photos and contest results from our Sept 12 meet at Woodsom Farm”

3 cheers to CD Steve Evans!

 

 

Stealth Squadron September Meet – Sept. 12 in Amesbury, MA

 

click image to view full size

Free Flight meet at Woodsom Farm 9/12!

We just completed a great contest on August 22nd on the beautiful rolling fields in Amesbury.  If you missed out, here is another chance to fly free flight rubber with us on the 12th of September. 

Click the image at left to view the full contest flyer  which includes Directions, Event Roster, Contest Director contact info, etc. 

Events are changed up a little and include a FAC Jet Catapult Scale (see p14 of

Flying Aces Club rulebook

for rules), and special, unofficial, Cricket contest (read about the model and download plan here).

Location will be at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA about 30 minutes north of Boston. 
Hope to see you there!!

 

Stealth Squadron Summer Contest – August 22 in Amesbury, MA

 

Click Image to View Flyer Full Size – including directions and contacts

first outdoor contest of 2020!

Well, it’s finally been scheduled….our first outdoor contest of 2020 will be held on the big field at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury on Saturday August 22, 2020.  All safety precautions will be in use – social distancing, masks, etc.  Please come prepared — and come prepared to enter the events and fly!

Click the image at left to view the full contest flyer which includes Directions, Event Roster, Contest Director contact info, etc. 

Location will be at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA about 30 minutes north of Boston. 

Come on out and fly with us.  If you don’t have a model airplane we’ll help you get started in this rewarding hobby.

 

Designers Challenge: The Cricket

Download Plan, Build Model, Beat Designer’s High Time!

Scroll to End of Post to Download Plan
Steve’s 2nd Cricket Model.   Can you beat his time?
Cricket Rubber Free Flight Model

Join the Challenge Today!

You’ve seen William Skelly’s fabulous Laird Solution model plan – well here’s another super model on the other end of the complexity spectrum.  The Cricket is a simple, high flying  stick model designed by clubster Steve Evans.  Scroll to the bottom of this post to download a copy of the plan.

A Designer’s Challenge has been issued for modelers to build their own Cricket and see if they can beat Steve’s high time.  The Challenge will run through September 15 as an online “Postal” contest.   Check out the  Designer’s Challenge page for the latest Results (we’ll post all times submitted) and an  online Timesheet Form which can also be found at the bottom of the sidebar throughout this site. 

Now, a few words from our Designer Steve:

“Sometimes its nice to take a break from all the stresses of daily life these days and just do something easy, where the rewards are quick and the efforts minimal. I designed the Cricket to be just that and the first one I made rewarded me by nearly flying away, only returning to the field on a favorable breeze. After that model suffered a benchtop “incident” I decided to build a second one and also to offer the plans out (scroll down to download) along with a challenge.

After one trimming session, my best flight so far is 32 seconds. Build the Cricket and see if you can beat that mark!  This is an unofficial online contest that runs until September 15. Results will be posted on the site.”

Good luck and get flying!

Download Cricket Plan (print on three 8.5 x 11in sheets)
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Cricket

1 file(s) 1.08 MB
Download

 

Amesbury Dates Coming Soon!?

Discussions are underway with the town – stay tuned!

Use the Contact Us form  to learn of informal fun flying in the interim

 

A Glimmer of Hope

First, cross all your fingers and then all your toes too.

The Rittmeister tells us there is some activity in talking with the town about contest dates for the late summer and fall.

The town has not said “yes” and there are no dates.

Nonetheless, we are hopeful and can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hopefully, it’s not an oncoming train.

So, keep building and flying and keep checking back to this site for updates.

Oh,  and a small group of us have been flying weekend mornings at Woodsom.  Reach out to us via the  Contact Us form if you want to get the heads-up when we go out.

Keep Calm, Carry On & Stay safe.

Laird “Solution” Scale Model Plan & 3 View

“Download William’s 3 view and 22in wingspan model construction plan (scroll to end of post)”

 

BY  
William Skelly

 

 

The Author taking measurements at the New England Air Museum
Laird “Solution” 3 view
by William Skelly

 

 

Laird Solution Construction Plans
& 3 View Drawing

There’s nothing better than when a scale modeler builds a model from plans that he or she has drawn. 

Well, maybe there is – if that modeler/designer has developed their own three-view general arrangement drawing from measurements he has taken from the actual airplane to be modeled!

Such is the case with clubster William Skelly who trekked to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT to view the original Laird LC-DW 300 “Solution” in their golden age raceplanes collection.  William convinced Museum management to let him get up close to the one-of-a-kind aircraft and take the measurements needed to compose his own scale 3 view drawing for the Laird.  We’re thrilled to offer William’s drawing to you here as a free download, along with the rubber-powered free flight scale model construction plan he designed and drew from that 3 view. 

By using actual measurements taken from the real airplane along with perspective photos, William eliminated the foibles that often come with designing a model from a previously published 3 view drawing.  Noted model airplane designer Bill Hannan discussed the issue in one of his excellent books, highlighting the discrepancies between published 3 view drawings for the ubiquitous Fokker DVII World War I fighter aircraft.  Bill favored taking measurements from the actual aircraft whenever possible.

After taking a short break from his documenting and designing efforts (it’s not easy, but rewarding), William is now underway with construction of a flying scale model from his plans.   We’re sure he’ll do a real knock-out job of it too.

Why not download your own set of plans and documentation and join along in the build?  We’re sure William would be happy to correspond with any modeler who does.

Thanks again for your excellent contribution, William!

Download 3 View Drawing
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Laird Solution 3 View Drawing

1 file(s) 148.79 KB
Download
Download Construction Plan (print on 8.5 x 11in sheets)
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Laird Solution Construction Plan 22in Wingspan (8.5x11in sheets)

1 file(s) 5.36 MB
Download
Download Construction Plan (print on one Arch D 24x36in sheet)
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Laird Solution Construction Plan 22in Wingspan (Arch D 24x36in)

1 file(s) 8.28 MB
Download

 

NEMES 2020 – Stealth Sqdn A Big Hit

Model Building demos, flight videos, raffles – the gang pulled out all the stops..

 

 
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Video
shown at
Nemes

       (click image to view video)

It’s too easy nowadays to forget what things used to be like.
You know, kinda like that huge splash the Stealth squadroneers made at the 2020 New England Model Engineering Society (NEMES) show. 

You may recall that we had a table at the show last year which brought lots of audience interest.  That led to our exhibiting again this year – in fact, our models were featured prominently on the Event Flyer (left column).

The club rallied and met prior to the event, brainstorming several exhibits and then preparing for the big day on Feb. 15, 2020 at the classy Charles River Museum in Waltham.  It all came together flawlessly – what a team!

The Stealth table at NEMES featured the Rittmeister and George S. both building model airplanes in real time.  Rich put together a Pipit ROG and George a Tomahawk embryo endurance model.  The Pipit was raffled off later at the show along with a Piper Cub FF scale model from the Eph estate.  William S. did the raffle awards and boy, were the winners thrilled!

Steve E. and William S. answered many questions at the table from interested folks passing by  and handed out lots of business cards.

Tom N made sure the looping video and powerpoint photo slideshows were running properly.  Images on the big screen really grabbed the attention of show attendees.

After the show, the NEMES folks reached out to the Rittmeister and asked if we could make a presentation at one of their upcoming meetings.  Stay tuned for more on that skysters!

 

 

 

Postal Winner Announced!

three of the top 5 finishers braved sub-20 degree weather to fly..

 

 

Tommy Too’s Comet Puss Moth

Well gang, our first Postal Dime Scale contest is in the books.

There was some terrifically inspired flying in foot-deep snow and freezing temperatures to grab at the vaunted Squadron Commander’s cap.

William the Kid held the crown through the New Year, putting up a nice flight over the frigid tarmac of mystical Texas Road field.  Oliver S made a daring  run for the glory in the depths of February with two models (one a twin!) in similarly frosty conditions at a remote Western MA field.

The legendary Pinkham Field Irregulars threw up an aerial armada of Dime Scalers in a futile attempt to purloin the Squadron Commander’s cap off to Connecticut. 

But in the end it was our fickle old friend Hung, who made his presence known on a late January day at Woodsom farm, spiriting Tommy Too’s Puss Moth dimer on a 2:36min thermal ride.  Yes Virginia, there are thermals in the middle of winter!

And look closely at the results skysters – way down, but there nonetheless.  Yep, even Captain Downthrust himself mailed in an entry…how and from where is unknown, but the flight was listed Pinkham Field.  Y’all were in the best of FAC company.  Stand proud and get ready to go for it again next time!