Woodsom Farm – Stealth Squadron FAC#49

Good-Bye Summer

One more outdoor meet –

11/17 Durham FAC Turkey Fly

Event Flyer HERE

Click to Enlarge Images

Flyers launch their Baby Gliders at last year’s Turkey Fly at White’s Farm in Durham, CT

It was windy for the WW1 mass launch event!

Mitch K’s Curtiss Speed Scout FAC Scale model flew well in the Glastonbury HS gym on Nov 3

Tom N retrieves his Commando from the top of the bleachers

Flying to the stars? Nope, a Pacific Ace floatplane rests on the West River in VT

Scrappy One Design flyers in the Glastonbury HS gym on November 3

Seasons go round & round..

And just like that, it’s over. The shadows grow longer as the days get shorter. The pitter patter of soft soled shoes on the gym floor. The first weekend of November was truly a transition – flying in the brisk air at Woodsom Farm on Saturday and in the calm, quiet space of the Glastonbury HS gym on Sunday. Whew!

There’s one more chance outdoors at the Turkey Fly in Durham, CT on Nov. 17. See you there!

Nov 2 Woodsom Meet Pics & Results

Despite the strong Fall wind, a great time was had by all. Steve E. extended his streak with wins in the Pinkham Stick, Embryo, Dime Scale and Chameleon Mass Launch events. Rich Z. mopped up most of the remaining events. Congrats guys. We won’t go so easily on you next time..haww!

Check out pics and meet results below.

Pics

Results p1

Results p2
Thanks for sharing Kim & Steve!

About those Indoor Dates –

All of the Glastonbury, CT Indoor dates have been posted to the Calendar page. Check the Flyer for dates in the Glastonbury High School gym, key contacts (John K) and address for the High School (your GPS/mapping will provide directions).

Don’t forget to build a Scrappy and get in on the One-Design Fun!

Georgetown, MA Indoor Dates are being finalized and we expect to have these posted to the Calendar soon. We anticipate one flying day per month beginning in January 2025 and running through April. The Scrappy One Design will be flown in Georgetown as well, so get building!

Saturday Nov 2 Season Close Meet @ Woodsom Farm

Don’t miss the final outdoor meet of the Season –

Event Flyer HERE

Click to Enlarge Images

Sam B launches his Super Capacitor powered Halberstadt D2. Sam’s a SuperCap pro!

Vance G lauches his Russian Kalinen K4 ambulance plane. Beautiful!

Another Boxy Bipe. This one by Steve E. Snidely Whiplash piloting!

Rich Z’s Corben Super Ace wheels above the Fall Colors.

Greve Race mass launch at Woodom Farm Oct. 20 meet

Outdoor Season Finale Nov 2

Tempus Fugit, gang! Yep, time sure is flying, just like one of Steve E’s Pinkham Stick models. Next Saturday Nov 2 will be your last chance this season to fly outdoors on the beautiful rolling fields of Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA. Don’t miss it!

The event roster has been slimmed some, but we’ll still be filling the sky with stick & tissue models. Check out the full Nov. 2 Meet Flyer.

See you at the field!

October 20 Meet Results & Pics

Gorgeous weather, good friends and lot’s of high flying models – what more can a flyer ask for? How about a bunch of great photos to help remember it all?

John R’s Google photostream

Kim W’s Google photostream

Thanks for sharing John & Kim!!

Pinkham Stick was arguably the event to watch with several new models and light-hearted competition. Steve E kicked it off with a one minute flight on his new Troubadour in the calm morning air and then upped the mark to 100sec plus soon after. Kim W got several nice flights with her Rocky-piloted Boxy Bipe. Then in the thermally afternoon Rich Z popped off a 2min plus flight with his Gabelschwanz Teufel (Fork-Tailed Devil) which unfortunately ended with the model 80ft or so up in a majestic pine tree. Steve countered late in the day with his Pelatowski Stork, catching a thermal and going OOS (out of sight) into a cloud. But alas, he forgot to start the stopwatch! Gremlins were surely riding Stork’s wing on its last flight! And it was the FT Devil for the win.

One thing’s certain. There’s a lot of flying smiles per build time invested in these simple Pinkham Stick models. Why not join in the fun?

There was lots of action in the other competition events as well. Steve E’s Hellcat took the top spot in Dime Scale again and his Mad Maxine (biplane, n’est pas!) topped the Embryo Endurance field. George S’s Nassise Mustang edged out the Rittmeister’s Henschel 123 to win the WW2 Mass Launch event. George’s Guillows Fairchild 24 won the Golden Age/Modern Civil event too.

Rich Z’s wretched Roland D2 wreaked havoc winning the WW1 Mass Launch event. His silky smooth flying Ercoupe also won FAC Simplified Scale – the meet’s premiere competition event.

Sam B and Ara D made the trek from out-of-state to fly with us. It was great to see you guys. We sure did have FUN!

Stealth Squadron Oct 2024 Results Page 1

Stealth Squadron Oct 2024 Results Page 2

See you on the field at Woodsom Farm on Nov 2 tissue trimmers 🙂

Woodsom Farm Fall Meet Sunday Oct. 20

FLASH: The October 12 meet has been rescheduled to Sunday October 20

Event Flyer HERE

Click to Enlarge Images

A gaggle of Tribute Models soar into the Canadian sky! Harfang Squadron fliers have been busy at the building board.

Clive G. retrieves his GB.2 twin flying boat from the stream at the Sept 15 Durham meet.

Bern D. ready to send his Commando aloft on an early morning flight at the September Waywayanda, NY meet.

Jim W’s Scrappy One Design model. Many of these ships were seen at the recent Glastonbury indoor flying session.

Clubster Kim W. built this neat little Boxy Bipe as her 2nd model. Looks like Rocky in the cockpit…where’s Bullwinkle?

Fly at Woodsom Farm this Sunday

Heads Up Skysters! We’ll be flying on the big field at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury this Sunday, October 20. Last Saturday’s meet at Woodsom Farm was cancelled due to poor flying weather.

The contest event roster remains unchanged – check out the full Oct. 20 Meet Flyer. You’ll find directions to the field and key contacts on the Flyer as well.

Fall flying at Woodsom Farm is the best. See you at the field!

September Woodsom Farm Meet Results

The Sept. 7 meet saw a light flyer turnout, but nice weather. Several folks showed up to watch and fly gliders that were handed out. Chris helped Alec get his Sleek Streak flying and by the afternoon he was getting 30+ second flights every time. Way to go guys!
The contest events were hotly contested. In Dime Scale (pg2 below), a scant 2 seconds separated 1st place from second and second from third. An exciting event..

Stealth Squadron Sept 2024 Results Page 1

Stealth Squadron Sept 2024 Results Page 2

Novak Tribute & Scrappy One Design Models

Well, folks sure have been busy at the building board! Our Canadian clubsters from the Harfang Squadron have built and flown a whole gaggle of Novak Tribute Models. Rumors of several streamer-flying mass launches have been reported, accompanied by a mysterious photo (sidebar pic). Surely the pic was staged…could it be real?? That’s the Spirit skysters… NRE is smiling!

Check out the NRE Tribute Event page for pics of new Tribute Models built by clubsters. Send yours along and we’ll put it up for all to see. It’s all for FUN!

Reports are trickling in of lots of Scrappy One Design activity down in the Glastonbury. CT high school gym. The first flying session of the 2024-25 indoor season was this past weekend and Scrappies (?) were said to be bouncing off the ceiling and putting up nice flights. The excitement is building!

See you on the field at Woodsom Farm this Sunday skysters –

One Design Plan Posted & Oct 9 Meet Results

Outdoor flying finale
Nov 4 FAC Meet at Woodsom Farm, Amesbury

See you there!

Click to Enlarge Images

We try to avoid this by rescheduling our meets when necessary!

Ric P shows off his Baby Flea FAC Sport model at the recent Durham meet

Steve B shows off his high flying Laird LC-DE at Durham meet.

John K and Fairchild dime scale model at Durham meet

Jim and Marc show their Jimmy Allen FAC Sport models at the Fall Durham FAC meet

A beautiful flying day!

One of the best features of Woodsom Farm is the ability to reschedule flying meets if the forecast is bad.

This was the case for the October 7 scheduled meet. Rain was forecast, so the meet was moved to Columbus Day 10/9. It was sunny, cool and calm in the morning – perfect flying weather. A gentle breeze picked up in the afternoon and all events were flown. A group of flyers had a lot of fun and friendly competition with their towline scale gliders. Our stealthy roving reporter was there –

“Steve E led the pack early with an 85sec flight on his new Megow Primary in the light and calm morning air. Sam B (Waco CG-4), Bill M (Slingsby) and Tom N (Ruby homebuilt) chased him in the breezier afternoon air. Bill’s Slingsby had probably the straightest tows, but he held off going to full line length and the glide while good, needed some tweaking. Tom’s Ruby went up straighter on the tow and managed a 49sec flight, but Sam came on with a 70sec final flight on his Waco to force Steve to bring out his little Primary in the wind. Snoopy climbed that Primary fast and high, but just couldn’t get any lift in the late afternoon air. Steve’s last three mid-20sec flights were not enough to catch Sam who won the event.” Wow!

October 9 Meet Results 1

October 9 Meet Results 2

Don’t miss your last chances to join in the outdoor flying fun – Nov 4 at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA and Nov 12 at Whites Farm in Durham, CT.

One Design Page Updated

We finally got around to updating the One Design page for the 2023-24 one design model, the Phantom Flash II Chameleon.
Check out the page for the free construction plan download along with the Parts page and the 2023-24 One Design Rules.Oh, and the Calendar page on this site has been updated for the Glastonbury High School indoor flying dates. We expect to add the Georgetown, MA Penn Brook School indoor flying dates soon.We heard the first indoor flying date in the Glastonbury HS gym had around ten Chameleons flying around nicely. Start building yours and join in the fun!

Amesbury Meet Changed to October 9!

WEATHER ALERT!

Woodsom Farm meet rescheduled to Monday October 9

Be there!

Click to Enlarge Images

Mitch K’s Chameleon has already put in test flights!

A pretty pair of Phantom Flash “Chameleon’s” by clubster Jim W. Look for these in the air at the upcoming Glastonbury Modelers indoor flying sessions (see Calendar for dates)

Meet Resched to Monday Oct 9!

ALERT! Due to forcast rains, the Woodsom Farm free flight model airplane meet has been rescheduled to Monday Oct 9, 2023.

Check out the Contest Flyer for the competition events, directions to the field and key contacts. NOTE: OLD DATE STILL ON FLYER.

See you at the field skysters!

2023-24 Indoor Season One Design

The Norman Phantom Flash II “Chameleon” is the one design model for the upcoming indoor season. We’re in the process of updating the One Design page on this site, but we’re sharing some early progress from our clubsters. Yep, at least three have already been built! And initial test flights indicate this model is a fine flyer.

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates on this years One Design model!

Aug Amesbury Meet Results – Sept 9 Meet Next Up!

Saturday Sept 9 FAC Meet at Woodsom Farm, Amesbury

Be there!

Click to Enlarge Images

Sept 9 Amesbury Meet Flyer (click to enlarge)

Two Richards at Woodsom Farm showing off their models

Steve K and Lulu glider at the Woodsom Farm August meet

The Pelatowski Stork – look for a free Plan Download here soon!

Sam B won the Goodyear Mass Launch event with his Little Gem

Final heat in the National Air Race mass launch event

Towline Event FUN!

Saturday August 26 dawned wet with the promise of rains to come through the day. With seemingly better weather coming, the meet was pushed to the next day. Sure enough it rained hard Sunday morning, but a stalwart group of flyers showed up at Woodsom Farm and waited it out. Yep, the skies proceeded to clear yielding a nice flying day with afternoon sun and thermals. Don’t trust the weatherman – better to show up and be ready to fly.

At least three new Megow Primary Gliders showed up. The towline winches were brought out and soon gliders were going up high over the newly hayed field. Clubster Steve E. led the pack from the beginning, his Snoopy-piloted Megow Primary putting up long flights. He capped off the win with a massive flyaway 5 min+ flight into the late summer clouds! Alas, no pics of the high-flying Primary were taken before it went OOS. Perhaps Steve will build another.

We’ll be flying the Towline Scale event again at the Sept 9 Woodsom Farm meet in Amesbury, MA. Come and see what it’s all about!

Steve K brought his nostalgic Lulu towline glider and flew it several times. Fitted with a mechanical DT and Auto-rudder, Lulu showed the gang what a fully-fitted out towliner can do. Word is FAC GHQ is considering a new event for these classic non-scale gliders.

Towliners are Fun!

The Pinkham Stick event was flown once more and sure enough Steve E copped this event again. His canard Goose got the win, but his new Stick model, the Stork, developed with FAC veteran Ed Pelatowski, finished a close second. Plans for the Pelatowski Stork will be offered for free download on this site soon. Keep your eyes peeled for it’s release skyster. And congrats to Steve’s double-Kanone day at the August Woodsom Farm meet!

View Contest Results: Sheet 1

View Contest Results: Sheet 2

Remember there’s another Flying Aces Club free-flight model airplane meet coming up on September 9 at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury MA. Full Flyer with Directions and Contacts HERE.

Fall is the best time to fly rubber-p0wered model airplanes outside and the season will pass by quickly. Don’t miss an opportunity to fly, or check out the action on this big beautiful field!

Build a Towline Glider for the August & September Amesbury meets!

Download free full-size plan for the Megow Primary Glider HERE!

Click to Enlarge Images

Multiple tow hooks for different towing conditions

Tow hook mount is simple and works great!

Underside view of the Megow Primary Glider model. Thread rigging is functional.

Megow Primary Glider model by Peter Kaiteris FAC.

Towline gliders are Fun!

The gang had a blast flying FAC Scale Gliders at the recent FAC Non-Nats in Geneseo NY. So much so that our local flyers convinced skyboss Angus to add the event to the August 26 and September 9 meets at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.

What, you don’t have a Scale Glider? No problem. The simple, quick to build and great flying Megow Primary Glider plan is available for download free below. The file prints on an 11×17 sheet of paper. Think of this as a super simple dime scale model. It doesn’t have a propeller or noseblock and the fuselage is a simple flat frame. Sure, you can easily make one in time for the late August Woodsom Farm meet!

Building Tips

We’re including several pics of clubster Pete K’s Megow Primary model to help get the juices flowing. Look closely and you’ll see a few simple mods Peter made to his Primary.

Build the model directly off the plan. Use stiff 1/8 square balsa for the upper longeron that the wing sits on. This can be a weak point. Peter added thin card stock gussets at the fuselage upright joints to make it even more robust. Don’t forget to add the thread flying & landing wires per the plan after the model is covered and assembled. This rigging is functional and keeps the model from twisting while going up on the towline. Consider reinforcing the rigging points on the wing with tissue discs.

Towline & Tow Hooks

The towline is lightweight braided fishing line attached to a simple hand winch. The club will provide winches for flyers to use at the August and September meets along with some easy training on how to tow your model to altitude. It’s fun!
The towline has a ring on the end that slips onto the wire tow hook on your glider. Pete mounted three tow hooks on his Primary to make it easier to tow the model in different wind conditions.

That’s it skyster! Download the plan now (below) and get to the building board so you can join in the fun at the upcoming meets. Join the club Zoom meetings, or use the Contact Us form if you have any questions with the build.

Download Megow Primary Glider full size construction plan

Megow Primary Glider

1 file(s) 948.09 KB

Download

May 21 Amesbury Meet & Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

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

Click to Enlarge Images

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

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

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!