Woodsom Farm – Stealth Squadron FAC#49

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

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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

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!

Nov 5 Season Closer at Woodsom Farm

Final 2022 Outdoor Meet this Saturday!

It’s going to be a long, cold winter. The time to build and fly indoors is fast approaching.

But the forecast is for blue skies and warm temps this coming Saturday November 5 for our season closer meet at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA.

Mark your calendar now. Your fellow Stealth Squadroneers will be out at the field flying stick & tissue model airplanes. Make a point to join in on the fun.

See you on the flightline!

Full Contest Flyer

with Directions & Contacts

October 8 Stealth Sqdn Meet in Amesbury

Free Flight at Woodsom Farm!

Ah, the hurricane wind and wet will be passed, the air will be crisp and the leaves will be turning.

Fall is the best time to fly on Woodsom Farm. Come join your pals on the flightline skyster!

Full Contest Flyer

with Directions & Contacts

Amesbury September 2 Day Contest Flyer Finalized!

Sept 10&11, Mark your Calendar !

Lots of Events over two days on the beautiful rolling fields of Woodsom Farm.

We’ll be flying a couple of new events including Pinkham Field Stick for simple easy to build stick models. Bookmark this web page now and check back often as we’ll have more on this soon! Think plans, tips, etc.

Fall is the best time to fly on Woodsom Farm. See you on the flightline skyster!

Full Contest Flyer

with Directions & Contacts

Saturday Aug 20 Woodsom Farm Meet Cancelled – Fun Fly Instead

Fun Fly is On!

As of mid-week, the Hay Field at Woodsum was un-mowed. With waist high hay, model retrieval will be very difficult and models will likely be lost.

The brass hats have decided to cancel the Free Flight Model Airplane Contest and replace it with a Fun Fly on one of the smaller mowed fields at Woodsom.

We will run a morning Fun Fly and with some luck run the 10% ML events and maybe Embryo, Dime Scale and Simple Scale. We’ll be meeting at 9AM in the Woodsom Farm parking lot off Lions Mouth Road in Amesbury.

Hope to see you there tomorrow morning for the Fun Fly.

Also, please remember that we’ll be running a two day Contest at Woodsom on September 10,11. Check out the Contest Flyer and get your models ready for that meet!

See you on the flightline skyster!

Upcoming Amesbury Flying Meets & Geneseo FAC Nationals Pics

We’re back Flying at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury on August 20, and September 10-11, 2022.

click images to view full size

Sam launches Super Capacitor-powered Wildcat

Tom Frank John and John w Howell Miller Racers

John K launches his JetCat into Geneseo Sky

Claudette Imelda and John at Registration Table

Mark your calendars skysters!

Woo Hoo! We’re back flying on the big field at Woodsom Farm for our next two meets. Grab that pencil and mark your calendars now gang, ’cause you don’t want to miss any of the ozone-splitting free flight aero-action!

Saturday, August 20, 2022 – Stealth Squadron Late Summer Meet, Amesbury MA

Saturday & Sunday, September 10-11, 2022- Stealth Squadron Early Fall Meet, Amesbury MA

FAC Nationals 2022 – Geneseo, NY

Ah yes! Mecca for FACers worldwide and the stick and tissue FF modeling paparazzi for the last 4o years.. the Big Show..G-town.. G-tropolis.. the Flying Aces Club Nationals at Geneseo in beautiful upstate New York.

This year the big Meet ran from Wednesday July 13 through Saturday July 16. The weather was fabulous with light and variable winds on several of the flying days and no rain. Saturday was magical with bright skies, thermals and nary a breath of wind for most of the day. Many long cloud-hopping flights were put up, often with the model landing a short stroll away from the launch point.

The Stealth Sqdn, Glastonbury Modelers and Pinkham Field Irregulars were well represented with several clubsters placing high among the finishers in several big events.

A special shout out is in order for clubsters Claudette M and Imelda K who helped FAC IT czar Rick P with Entrant Registration for the Contest. Claudette also spent a lot of time in the GHQ tent processing timing slips – and she even helped run at least one mass launch event out on the field. Our hats are off to you both – you’re the best!

Speaking of the best – John R was there with his trusty iphone capturing the action as it unfolded. We’ll let his pictures tell the story. We’ve posted a few here, but you can see the full FAC Nats 2022 collection HERE. Many thanks for these John!

We know a bunch more Stealth Squadroneers would have loved to have made it to the Nats. Hopefully next year we’ll see you there skyster!