March Recap & Outdoor Meet Flyers!

Season’s Final Indoor Meets:
Georgetown, MA 4.14.2024
Glastonbury, CT  4.21.2024
Be there!


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Rich & Pete Scale Judging Gbury 3.3.24
Steve E won the Chameleon Pylon Race at the Mar 10 Georgetown meet
Perfect Launch by Alec at Mar 10 meet
Stick model Mass Launch – Fun!
Chameleons in Glastonbury gym, March 3 meet
Guillow’s Strato Streak Flyers in Penn Brook gym March 10, 2024

May 4 Outdoor Season Opener!


It’s been very quiet these past few weeks.  We know – everyone’s at their workbenches finishing up models for the coming outdoor season, right?  Well, Spring has Sprung and it’s here!

Outdoor Meet Flyers Posted!

Yep, we’ve just posted all of the Event Flyers for the Spring, Summer and Fall meets at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.  Check the Calendar page of this site – you’ll find all of the local meet Flyers there – including the meets at White’s Farm (aka Pinkham Field) in Durham, CT.   Mark your own calendar and see you at the field skyster!

Indoor Season Closing Soon!

But it’s not over yet.  There’s still time to fly in Georgetown, MA, or Glastonbury, CT.  Check the meet Flyers in the Coming Events sidebar, or on the Calendar

We had so much fun at the March indoor meets (see pics).  It’ll be months before we’re indoors again, so don’t miss these last dates.

The March 10 Georgetown meet in the Penn Brook School gym was a blast.  Stick models were flying around everywhere!  Many thanks to Sam B for bringing the Guillow’s and Jetco kits – and Glastonbury ace John K for donating them.

The Chameleon One Design pylon race was a riot with Steve E’s, tight-turning Tiger Chameleon besting “rapid” Rich Z’s speedy Chameleon.

Check out the Georgetown March 10 Meet Results below:

 

Remember, we’ll be back flying in the Penn Brook School gym on Sunday April 14.  See you there!

Make a Q-Tip Indoor Prop!

ALERT:  March 3 Glastonbury date will be a FULL DAY contest & flying session!

Feb 4 Contest Results in this post.


click images to view larger

Components of the Halley prop.  6 in. dia. Ikara prop shown for comparison.
A Bristol Brownie Peanut Scale Model fitted with a Halley prop described in the featured article.
Brownie’s prop & noseblock close up. Note brass tube bushing and latch free wheeler
Ray’s outstanding Voisin Hydro Peanut Scale model uses an efficient paddle-bladed prop.
Kash builds a Crossbow Embryo model at the Feb 5 Club Mtg at the Georgetown Public Library
Steve E’s unique Kyushu Shinden Canard NoCal at the Feb 4 Georgetown meet.  Note the lightweight indoor style “pusher” propeller.

I Need a Better Prop!


OK, before we get into how to make that better prop, let’s share some important updates.

FIRST: The Sunday March 3 Glastonbury H.S. indoor event will be a Full Day 8am-5pm Contest and Flying Session .  This is a make-up for the cancelled January full day session.  Remember, there is no February Glastonbury indoor flying session, so be sure to make the March 3 Full Day session.  Hooray, and thanks to John K for setting this up!

SECOND: Results from the Feb 4 Georgetown, MA meet are below:

2/4 FAC Kanone Report – Sheet 1

2/4 FAC Kanone Report – Sheet 2

Make a Lightweight Indoor Prop

At the Glastonbury, CT high school indoor sessions, you may have noticed a tall gent flying some incredibly small (isn’t that always the way), beautiful and well-behaved models.

Well, on very small and light models such as those that clubster Doug Halley flies, the right prop is critical.  A commercial one-piece plastic prop (eg Peck, North Pacific, etc.) can sometimes be just too heavy, or maybe a different pitch is needed.  Our Stealthy roving reporter caught up with Doug and asked for more info on the unique adjustable paddle-bladed props on his models.

Doug came through with a detailed article outlining how to make his “Q-Tip Prop” and where to get the components used to build it.  Tom N built a Q-Tip prop for his Peanut Scale Bristol Brownie and can attest to its ease of construction.  The Brownie won a Peanut Scale event outdoors at a recent FAC Nationals with this prop.

Paddle-bladed props like this work great on lightweight models such as the super cool Kyushu Shinden that Steve E was flying at the Feb 4 Georgetown indoor meet.  Be aware, however, that these props are not “legal” for some competitive events – Dime Scale, Chameleon One-Design, for example – they’re too good!

Many thanks to Doug H for sharing his excellent lightweight indoor propeller design with us.  And better yet, how to make it and set the pitch!

How to Make a Q-Tip Prop 

Jan 14 Meet Results – Feb 4 Meet Next Up!

Sunday Feb 4 Indoor Meet at Penn Brook School, Georgetown, MA

Be there!


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Winter Georgetown Indoor Meets Flyer
Kash and his Comet Step 2 stick model. Flew well!
Luc and wife Annie trekked from Montreal to fly at the Stealth meet
Richard launches his Pussycat in the Penn Brook School gym
Luc’s Dewoitine WW2 fighter on the winding stooge
Top competitors in the Skelly hangar!
Animal themed models on Steve E’s table at the January 14 indoor meet

New Models, New Flyers!


The Stealth Squadron indoor flying season kicked off with a rush on January 14. 

The first serious snowstorms of the year must have spurred a flurry of model building activity as several new flyers brought a bunch of new models.  There’s nothing like the satisfaction of seeing a new model fly successfully. 

There were a raft of new One Design models flitting about.  Steve’s “Tony the Tiger” Chameleon was a crowd favorite and a fitting stablemate to his infamous “Cow” Pussycat model. 

Kash brought a table full of new models including a nice flying stick model from the old Comet Build & Fly series.  He had another all-sheet balsa stick model flying – an original design we think.  Oh, and only a burst motor kept him out of the WW2 mass launch winners circle.  Way to go Kash!  

Intrepid Canadian flyer, Luc, trimmed his French Dewoitine fighter to circle nicely in the gym, but a burst motor also kept him out of the finals.  Rich’s steady flying Comet P-40 held the course to win the WW2 mass launch event.

Richard B. had a nice Chameleon that was dealing with some nasty wing warps.  A new Taylorcraft Dimer looked promising in flight – now if only it can be convinced to turn!

A pretty little Super Ace parasol was seen flying out of the Maine corner of the gym.  Some nice first flights for this model.  Ara thrilled the gang with his CO2 powered model.  It’s not often we see these  expansion engine powered models.

Bill’s Chameleon was pretty in it’s blue and yellow US Army Air Corps livery and his big new SE-5a World War 1 fighter wowed the gang by flying in stable flat circles.

Sam brought his new WW1 Bristol Fighter that some of the gang got to see fly in Glastonbury, CT a few weeks back.  Tom’s DH-4 another new WW1 recon biplane was also making circuits in the gym.  Tony’s neat Halberstadt fighter flew in the WW1 mass launch event too.

Alec, another youthful local flyer, flew several models from a Guillow’s stick job, to a Pussycat and an Embryo Endurance ship.

The Rittmeister challenged Ray’s indomitable Pussycat with his own new Pussycat model in the mass launch event. 

William, busy preparing for his 2nd year Engineering studies, flew his old reliable and highly competitive fleet of models.  He shared some neat new tong tools – a design/make exercise at school.  Thanks William!

In between all of this flying, a number of competition events were held.

Steve shared the Official Results below:

Remember, we’ll be back flying in the Penn Brook School gym on Sunday February 4.  See you on the flightline skyster!

1/7/2024 Glastonbury Meet Cancelled!

Legendary model magazine editor Bill Winter shares his perspective.  Read Now


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Bill Winter – pioneer rubber scale modeler and long-time editor of American Aircraft Modeler magazine.
Clubster Matt K. launches his 54in Comet Taylorcraft at Waywayanda, NY.
Chris M. readies his Whitehead pioneer scale model. It flies!
A 50in Waco biplane soars at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA. Built from a pre-war Megow Models plan.
A Nieuport 17 peanut scale model climbs for the gym rafters. Built from a 1930s vintage Peerless Models plan.

1/7 Glastonbury Meet Cancelled

Due to SNOW forecast.

Don’t miss the Jan 14 Georgetown Indoor Flying!

Sunday January 7, 2024 – CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!

Sunday January 14, 2024 – Stealth Squadron Winter Meet (Georgetown MA)

Why Free Flight Rubber Scale?

When asked if he flew “those remote control models”, Free Flight Rubber World Champ, Bob Hatschek replied:
“No. The ones I fly are much more advanced. They’re fully automatic.”    

Great response Bob, but what about those Rubber Scale Models – why make the effort?

Way back in April 1969, Bill Winter -legendary 1930’s rubber scale modeler and long-time editor of several international model airplane magazines – shared his perspective.  His editorial is as relevant today as it was 50yrs ago.

Check out Mr. Winter’s editorial below and share your thoughts via the Comments to this post.

Straight & Level,  AAM April 1969

See you in the gym in early January skysters!

Indoor Flying is Here!

Check the Calendar for the Georgetown, MA and Glastonbury, CT flying dates.

See you in the gym!


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Baby Glider mass launch at the Durham Turkey Fly!
Kash with the Rittmeister’s winning Roland D2
A pretty Guillow’s Piper Supercruiser at the 11/4 Woodsom Farm meet
Bird Dog launch at Spencer-Peirce Little Farm, Newbury, MA
Another Chameleon One Design model. Check the One Design page for Plan & Rules download.

Club Meetings too!


Hey there clubsters, Turkey Day is long passed and we have a lot to catch you up on.  Let’s get on with it!

Club Meetings @ Georgetown MA Library

Yep, we all miss the meetings at Jim F’s Golden Age Repro headquarters.  So we’ve started up a new monthly club meeting at the Georgetown, MA public library.  Check the Coming Events in the sidebar, or the Calendar for the Monday 6-8pm meeting dates. Click the event link for the library address.

Indoor Dates Posted

All indoor flying & contest dates for both the Georgetown, MA and Glastonbury, CT gyms have been posted to the Calendar and will appear in the Coming Events in the sidebar on this site.  The Georgetown Event Flyers will be posted soon.

Better get cracking on your Chameleon as these indoor flying dates are here!

Outdoor Flying Season Closes

The outdoor flying season closed with a rush of activity.  Two excellent meets were held on Nov 4 and Nov 12 at Woodsom Farm (Amesbury, MA) and Whites Farm (Durham, CT).  Memories of fine weather and great flights will help keep clubsters inspired during the winter months.   Check out the pics in the sidebar and the Amesbury Nov 4 results below.

November 4 Meet Results 1

November 4 Meet Results 2

See you in the gym(s), or at the club meetings 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


Click to Enlarge Images          

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!