From the Flight Line – Stealth Squadron FAC#49

Latecoere Rescue & June 24 Ipswich Meet

Fly at the Pony Express Field in Ipswich, MA on Saturday June 24!

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John K. came with a trunkload of models. The near-finished Howard Ike racer from the Cleveland Plan shows a lot of promise!

Rick P and his Flying Aces Flea rubber sport and duration model. Love that color scheme!

Sam B. with his SuperCapacitor powered Dumas Aeronca Champion

Vance G’s beautiful Latecoere 26-2 before being treed in Durham

Flying Aces Scale and GHQ Peanut Scale results from the Jun 11 Durham meet..

Vance G’s Latecoere teeters at the end of a 50ft retrieval pole. Model was brought down to the ground with minimal damage.

Air/Tree Rescue in Durham!

Free flight model airplanes and trees. An inevitable combination.

But first, remember there’s another meet coming up June 24 in beautiful Ipswich, MA. Check the Flyer HERE for Directions and key contacts.

OK, back to Pinkham Field in Durham on June 11. The weather in the morning was near-perfect, with light and variable breezes. Many high and long flights were put up.

The breeze picked up by afternoon, however, and Vance G had only to get one more official flight in on his Latecoere 26 FAC Scale model. The inverted flight time scoring should give it an edge against higher bonus point models. Unfortunately, the wind carried the Latecoere off course and it was last seen disappearing into the top of a tree at the edge of the field. The famed Stott Air-Tree Rescue Service sprang into action.

The youthful eyes of William S spotted the Latecoere deep in branches and leaves 50 feet up an un-climbable tree. The outlook for recovery was bleak.

Paul S broke out the old aluminum pole and, aided by Tom N, began bolting the telescoping sections together. The fully extended pole was snaked between branches eventually reaching the model. A superzoom camera was used to guide the hook on the pole tip directly underneath the model. A gentle arms-length push and incredibly, the model was lifted out the topside of the tree. Retrieval still looked doubtful.

Vance weighed his options as the model swayed back and forth on the whippy tip of the pole. He trusted the team. With Tom holding the base, Paul used both hands and all his strength to pull the pole out of the branches. Miraculously, the pole came out of the tree and the model mostly held together. The Latecoere was mercifully released from the tip as the pole was brought to the ground. An exhale of relief and laughter – the Stott Air-Tree Rescue Service had come through again!

Stuff like this is what makes the Flying Aces Club great.

Check out the sidebar pics for more on the June Durham meet.

See you at the Pony Express Field in Ipswich on June 24!

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

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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

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Jim launches his Stick Model. Looks like a Jetco ROG

Rich and his White Monoplane, 2nd place Golden Age ML

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!

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

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

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!

Ipswich Pony Express Photos – June 25 meet

Clubster John R. took some great photos! Check them out HERE

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Sean R launches his spiffy new Nassise P-40

Vance Gs beautiful Kalinen ambulance a/c.

Tom N’s new Sopwith Tabloid fell to George S’ SE-5 in the WW1 Combat event

Great weather, Light Turnout

Some folks were on vacation. Some folks were at the beach. And some folks were enjoying a long leisurely bike ride (clubster Steve K did stop by on his Cannondale to check out the flying action).

Maybe it was the rescheduled date from the previous weekend which was very windy. Regardless, it was a terrific flying day with light winds and thermals. A couple models landed in the nice shade trees ringing the field, but were retrieved without damage. Flying at the Pony Express field was low-key with lighthearted yet keen competition. A fine time was had by all.

A hearty thanks goes out to Rich Z who made the arrangements for the field and worked with the town to reschedule the meet to a day with better weather. Well done!

Genial John R. drove up from Boston and had his iphone working overtime capturing the action. It’s always fun to see John’s pictorial take on our meets.

Check out John’s pics at https://photos.app.goo.gl/dQHaAjcxEN1vfAuT7

John says have some fun with the pics – go ahead and post your comments/captions, etc.

Thanks skysters!

Photos from May 14 Outdoor Season Opener at Woodsom Farm

visit the Photos page for more pics

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Matt’s stunning Pfalz DIII FAC Scale model featured a balsa monocoque fuselage

Outdoor Season opener a big success!

Well gang, the 2022 Stealth Sqdn outdoor flying season got off to a strong start on Saturday May 14.

The weather at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA started off with more wind than expected. But the wind moderated by midday and many long flights were made.

New Models

Flyers were productive over the long winter building season and several new models were seen in the air.

Steve E was spotted flying his big Condor and another new rakish sport model he calls Corvette. Terrific new designs from Steve.

Sean R entered a great flying Leopard Moth in the Golden Age Civil event. We think this was from an EasyBuilt kit.

Several Comet T-Crafts from the Indoor One Design event were seen flitting about.

Vance G put in a few promising test flights with his outstanding new Latecoere FAC Scale Model. Vance built this from enlarged Steve Griebling plans published in an old Crosswinds newsletter.

Tom N flew his new flat-winged Airdevel Fokker Transport dime scale model.

And there were many more.

Hot Competition

Camaraderie and freindly competition is featured in all Stealth Sqdn meets, but there were a couple special moments at the May 14 meet.

Sean R won the hotly contested WW2 mass launch event with his reduced-size version of the Nassise Mustang.

The P-51 “Old Crow” flew straight and long using up much of the field to edge out Tom N’s Polikarpov I-153.

Sean in turn got edged out in the Golden Age/Modern Civil event. His DH Leopard Moth just couldn’t hang in there against Rich Z’s Guillow’s Fairchild 24 which was flown by Evan P.

Vance G’s dainty little General Airistocrat was flying great and won the Peanut Scale event.

It was a great day. See you in June at the Ipswich Polo Field meet skyster!

Last Indoor Meet April 3rd – Outdoor Amesbury Dates Posted

Fly Indoors in Georgetown MA on Sunday April 3!

view photos from March 13 Indoor Meet

Well be flying Outdoors at Woodsom Farm soon!

Glastonbury April 10 meet Cancelled!

Whew, we’ve got lots of info to share about upcoming club activities!

First, your last opportunity to fly Indoors this season is this coming Sunday April 3. Yep, we’ll be flying in the Penn Brook Middle School gym in Georgetown MA. Check out the flyer at top of this post for the Event roster. See you there!

Check out clubster John Rood’s terrific photos from the March 13 indoor meet here.

And unfortunately the April 10 Meet in Glastonbury CT has been CANCELLED

2022 OUTDOOR AMESBURY DATES SET

Good news here gang. A full slate of dates has been set for Outdoor Meets at fabulous Woodsom Farm in Amesbury MA.

Check the Upcoming Dates in the sidebar, or the Calendar page of this site and mark you calendars. Time to get those new models finished up and ready to go!

We’ll be flying many of our popular events at these meets. Look for the specific Contest Flyers to be posted as the dates approach. We’ll be posting the Pinkham Field (Durham CT) meet dates soon too. Lot’s of flying is on the horizon for 2022 for sure!

See you on the flightline skyster!