ElectricFlight H
i Fliers, I’m happy to announce that on September 25th I became a Boston Marathon Squeaker for 2014. A Squeaker is a person who qualifies for Boston less than 5 minutes under their qualifying time. April will be a busy month with both Toledo and Boston taking place. I will bring you a full report on both.
NEAT 2013 took place September 13–15 at the Peaceful Valley Campsite in the Catskill Mountains of New York. It was CD’d by Tom Hunt and assisted by SEFLI club members and a host of volunteers. I ar- rived Thursday afternoon to a packed house; many fliers were arriving early making NEAT a full week of camping and flying fun. I spent Thursday evening with some SEFLI club members while Tom Hunt pre- pared dinner for them before working them hard all weekend long. Much of the conver- sation centered on Super Storm Sandy and just how bad it was for so many for so long. Many told stories of resourcefulness and people coming together to help each other at a time of need.
The Friday noon demo started with a me- morial flight for George and Kathy Weed, par- ents of former FM Associate Editor Bryan Weed. It was flown by Lynn Bowerman with one of George’s own planes. George attended and flew at NEAT for many years. George and Kathy were lost together in a tragic accident. My NEAT experience was rather short due to family commitments, being able to stay only until the conclusion of the Friday noon demo where the Ercoupe performed well de- spite less than favorable conditions. NEAT’s attendance soared past 400 registered pilots with a flight line that seemed endless. Zeke’s Park Scale Models
www.parkscale
models.com premiered their new DGA Pete racer prototype, which Zeke reports flies great. The Pete weighs 35.5 ounces and has a wingspan of 41.5 inches.
PHOTOGRAPHY: DON BELFORT
Zeke Brubaker of Zeke’s Park Scale Models shows off his new prototype DGA Pete racer. It’s a beauty and a good flier too. It has a 41.5-inch wing span and weighs 35.5 ounces.
Hobby King
www.hobbyking.com made their first appearance at NEAT and drew quite a bit of attention with the diversity of offerings.
Hitec RCD
www.hitecrcd.com show team pilots were tearing up the skies with Hitec’s new Weekender Extra 300. It’s a high per- formance EPO model with all the gear in- stalled and only needs a 3- or 4-cell 2,200 mAh Li-Po and receiver. The Weekender Extra flew well and looked good with that 12-inch, 3-blade prop. Mike Krug’s Fi-156D Storch, originally built for gas from an Italian kit, was hard to tell from the real thing in the air. Its fuse frame was made of steel tubing and the wing spanned 140 inches. A Great Planes Rimfire 65cc turned the prop on his Storch. That was
fed by a 12S 6,600 mAh Li-Po generating 4,400 watts. David Perrone’s Fokker D-VIII looked real enough to climb into and flew just as well. Built from a Glenn Torrance Models kit, it has a wing span of 114 inches and weighs 30 pounds. It’s powered by an AXI 5360-20 spinning a 30–20 prop on 12S. David said it took 2.5 years of living in the basement to complete.
The swap shop and pizzeria by Pete Ser- afini were back to everyone’s delight. NEAT had indoor flying and plenty of night flying activities along with the warbird mass launch flights. Vendors had plenty of deals and stock. NEAT is the greatest even if only for a short visit. You can and I will watch the whole weekend’s action on SKS Video
by don belfort You can reach Don Belfortat 8250 Twin Cove Court, West Chester, Ohio 45069
Hobby King made their first visit to NEAT with a lot of interesting aircraft (above left) and knowledgeable representatives to answer questions. Hitec’s
60
new Weekender Extra 300 (above right) is made of tough EPO and has power to match its acrobatic abilities.
DECEMBER 2013
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