Devin McGrath, another of those in-demand pilots at NEAT, walks his very big Extreme Flight Extra 300 (above left) down the runway in knife edge. Jim Ryan’s latest helicopter project was a Hughes OH-6 LOACH (above center). He
17 he designed. It’s capable of outdoor flight and can easily handle some wind, as Dave proved in the afternoon breezes at Peaceful Valley. It’s based on the Tactic Tx-R radio and could easily fly in a small gym. Dave Lockhart, who has been doing a su- perb job with the Project Pattern Redux se- ries here in FM, has been a regular during the demos, flying his Wist Models Bravo. Despite some windy conditions at times, the plane flew the F3A Pattern sequence flaw- lessly. In an effort to improve the model’s performance he had modified it this year with a contra rotating prop using a drive de- signed by Brenner Sharp. And in a bit of more “relaxed” flying, he took a stock E--flite Taylorcraft and showed what can be done with a simple model like that in the hands of a master pilot.
Another regular, Devin McGrath, added to the 3D wow factor when he flew his big (78-inch) Extreme Flight Extra 300. The
took a CenturyFun scale body and married it to Kaos 600 mechanics. Another in-demand pilot, Dave Baron, demonstrates how you would walk a plane (above right) down a runway on one wheel with his big Bucker Jungmann.
way he and Dan Landis flew these big air- craft in thrilling aerobatic sequences prove that electric power really has secured its place as a model power system from the sim- plest to the most complex models. Hopefully the range of pictures will give you a good idea of the broad range of model aircraft that show up at NEAT. There are so many more images to convey because every time you would turn around there was an- other unique, interesting model or activity that grabbed your attention. The Warbird Gaggle is just one of so many. A rough count tallied about thirty pilots who joined this mass launch fray of little warbirds. Watch- ing those 30 models in the sky looked like an angry swarm of gigantic bees. Of course there was some carnage and near misses, but the laughs and shouts from the large crowd watching just proved the fun this one event generated.
Then there was the night flying. To say it
has evolved is an understatement. Once upon a time only a few lights were tacked to the models and maintaining orientation was a struggle and an art. Now the vivid dis- plays built right into the airframes make it almost as easy to fly in total darkness as it would be during the day.
Scale planes abound, thanks to people like Greg Covey, Ron McGrath, Dave Perrone, Rob Caso, Curtiss Mattikow, and plenty of others. Again, the pictures shown here don’t give the real sense of the well over 1000 planes almost 400 pilots brought and flew. One way of getting some more flavor of this event would be to get a copy of SKS Video’s coverage
www.sksvideo.com
Or maybe a personal visit next year might
be the best way. I can guarantee that Tom Hunt and his very able crew from the Silent Electric Fliers of Long Island, Bergen Coun- ty Silent Flyers, and the Connecticut Silent Flyers will have prepared a great event.
Amazing what a stock E-flite Taylorcraft (above left) can do in the hands of a master pilot like FM’s Dave Lockhart. And amazing also was Dave’s demo Pattern flight with his WistModels Bravo(above right). This year he modified it
with a contra-rotating prop. It was a welcome sight to see Dave Baron’s well- worn 10-foot B-17 (below left) return to NEAT. Rich Landis brought another NEAT favorite, the Top Flite 85-inch B-25 (below right).
FLYING MODELS
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