Category: From the Flight Line

News regarding Stealth Squadron events and happenings.

May 15 Amesbury Meet & April Meet Results

click image to view full size flyer

new events for May Meet!

May outdoor free flight model airplane meets can be among the best – still cool but warming weather, tall but not too tall grass, etc.  We hope you’ll join us for another great day out on Woodsom Farm!

The event roster has been shaken up a bit too.  We’ll be flying Dime Scale, OT Fuselage, Goodyear Mass Launch and the National Air Races in addition to old standbys FAC Scale, Peanut and Embryo Endurance.  So expect to be seeing some new models flying. 

Check out the Flying Aces Club rulebook, or use the Contact Us form on this site if any questions.

We continue to use COVID safety protocols on the field so bring your mask.    Bring your rubber-powered free flight models too and we’ll find an event you can fly in.

See you on May 15 at the Woodsom Farm field!

view April 18 results HERE

Check out Flyer & Event Roster for May 15 meet at Woodsom Farm.  April 18 contest results too!

click to view April 18 Results

3 cheers to the contest director!

 

 

Postal Dime Winners Announced!

Trailing Edge takes the top 3 spots and the Cap!  Daedalus wins the NBM Kanone!

click photos to view full size

 

Trailing Edge’s Comte AC4 Dimer

 

Daedalus’ Fairchild PT-19 Dimer
The Wing Commander’s Cap!

And just like that – it’s over.

The snow has melted, the ice has thawed, the crocus are sprouting and the 2021 Postal Dime Contest is closed and in the books.

Trailing Edge Triumphs

And the Wing Commander’s Cap now resides (virtually) in the great state of Virginia with Trailing Edge.  Yep, like it was “no big deal” on a nice mid-January day, the Edge put up three multi-minute flights with three different Dime Scale models.  Quite the aerial FAC Hat Trick for sure.
Our heartiest congrats go out to Trailing Edge for this stellar performance!

Daedalus Wins Top Non-Blue Max Spot

Ah, so it turns out Trailing Edge is a well-known Flying Ace with lots of experience winning contests.  We suspected as much! 
Our top NBM finisher was Daedalus putting in a one minute flight on a small frozen local flying field in Massachusetts.  

Hat’s off to both winners and all of the flyers who braved the winter weather with their fragile stick and tissue models.  From Vermont to Texas and NY, CT, MA, KY, and VA in between, we enjoyed hearing from you.  Stand proud and get ready to go for it again next time!

 

 

 

2021 Postal Dime Scale Contest!

Model Bonus and Temperature Bonus this year.  Use the Postal Timesheet form in the Sidebar or on the Postal Contest page.

 

Enter your FAC Dime Scale model!

Well gang, things are just not looking good for our indoor flying season this year.  Given that, we’re going to re-run our virtual Dime Scale Postal event this winter.  We had lots of flying and good light-hearted competition last year so let’s do it again.   

Remember, anyone can enter and win whether you’re a Stealth Squadron member or not.  Yes, there’s been some overzealous talk of Dimer duels, but we know this is for fun.   It’s all about getting your model and  moniker on the tallyboard (see Postal Page).

The Contest starts on New Year’s Day Jan 1, 2021 and ends on St. Patrick’s Day March 17, 2021.  All flights are to be made outdoors and there will be a Temperature bonus like last year.  That’s right, the colder the day you fly – the more bonus added to your flight time!   Bonus points for your model will be added as well, per the official FAC Dime Scale rules. 

Check the latest Results on the  Postal Contest page – we’ll post the top 20 times submitted.  Rules and online Timesheet Form can be found on that page.  Look for the Timesheet Form at the bottom of the sidebar throughout this site as well.

Kick off this new decade with style and submit a flight.  Have fun with it.  We’ll post photos or videos of your model or flight on the Stealth Sqdn site too.   Just send them to

Have at it Skysters!

 

November 8 Amesbury Meet: Results & Pics

Steve E shows perfect form in this unassisted ROG launch of his Mad Maxine Embryo model.

Click HERE to view Pics!

Despite the November date, we had perfect “light and variable winds” conditions for our fourth outdoor contest of the season at Woodsom Farm.

The grass was still soft, the sun still shining warmly, but the foliage was well past-peak.  A full slate of Mass Launch events were flown and the less rigorous FAC Simplified Scale was substituted for the scale-judged Flying Aces Scale event. This freed up time for all to fly – and that folks did – putting up many high and long flights in the light air.

The meet ended a few minutes earlier than usual due to Daylight Savings Time, but all seemed interested in flying more oudoors in coming months, even if on a smaller field and in the cold.

So stay tuned to this site for more opportunities to fly!

See you on the flying field!

Click HERE to view Pics!

Check out the Contest Results and Photos from our latest November 8 meet at Woodsom Farm!

Click the image to view Contest Results full size

3 cheers to the contest director!

 

 

October 11 Amesbury Meet: Results & Pics

Braulio launches Frank. The fall foliage was at its peak at beautiful Woodsom Farm.

Click HERE to view Pics!

The third outdoor contest of the season took place on a gorgeous fall day at Woodsom Farm. The foliage was at its peak, the grass soft and just the right height, and even Covid couldn’t keep flyers’ spirits (or models) down.

Special thanks go out to the many flyers who traveled some distance to fly and compete in the contest. Several new flyers were in attendance and we look forward to seeing them back on the flightline soon. 

We have another outdoor meet scheduled for Sunday November 8 at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.  Check the date on the Calendar to view the full Contest Flyer.

See you then!

Click HERE to view Pics!

“check out the great photos and contest results from our October 11 meet at Woodsom Farm”

Click on the Image to view Full 10.11.2020 Contest Results.

3 cheers to the contest director!

 

 

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!

 

 

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)
Icon

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.

NEMES 2020 – Stealth Sqdn A Big Hit

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

 

 
 (click image to enlarge) 

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!