N PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK FANELLI, GREG CARDILLO, AND JIM WIGGIN I 28
FAIR2011
EAT
One of the largest gathering of electric pilots descends once again to Peaceful Valley
By Jim Wiggin
t wasn’t that long ago when I first was introduced to the concept of an all-electric R/C plane. If mem- ory serves me correctly, it was in 1991 at our club field in Concord, NH, where a modeler named
Dick showed up and unloaded a Goldberg Mirage 550 from the back of an F-150. The airplane looked more like a sailplane but I was intrigued to say the least. Dick readied the airplane with its 7.2V Ni-Cd bat- tery—more suited for an R/C car—turned on his radio, pressed a red button on the side of the plane and whoosh! The canned 550 motor came to life and swung the plastic prop, beating the air unmercifully and making an odd noise that sounded remotely akin to a coffee grinder and a toy windmill. A heave into the wind and the Mirage clawed away
at the mid-summer sky. The model made a slow ascent around the perimeter of the flying field, settling about 150 feet or so before the 7.2V Ni-Cds gave up the ghost.
From here, the Mirage assumed the role of sailplane. The bulk of the club members at the time with their O.S., Fox and Rossi nitro burning engines were not impressed, and soon the stillness was shattered with the sound of said two-stroke engines. After landing, Dick smiled, holding his Mirage, and said “Just wait, someday electric R/C will be the norm.” Twenty years later and I’m driving to one of the na- tion’s, if not the world’s, largest assembly of electric R/C pilots. As my trusty Jeep Wrangler made the last turn into the land of no cellular signal—heaven if you’re a man of my penchant for wild places—I sud- denly saw what the largest turnout of electric pilots I had ever seen in one place looks like! Sure, I had been to many electric only fun flies, but this was certainly the largest assembly of pilots that flew strictly by burning electrons, not nitro. Well folks, that is because NEAT is the biggest assembly of all pilots of electric.
JANUARY 2012
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