E-Fest 2014
200 pilots attend the 9th annual E-Fest for a weekend of flying, fellowship and fun!
By Jim Wiggin PHOTOGRAPHY: JIM WIGGIN & ANGELA HAYNES S
nowflakes are hitting hard against my windshield while the defroster and wipers struggle to keep up. Cer- tainly nothing new for this New Hampshire native, but the travel is tedious nonetheless. Deciding to drive in these con- ditions may be questionable, especially con- sidering that the destination is a flying meet, but I know that once I get to this flying field, the conditions will be much better. Fortunately my drive to the University of Illinois in Urbana is relatively short and in no time at all I see the now familiar armory. Yes, it is time once again for E-Fest.
Setting the stage
Noting a trend toward smaller electric model airplanes, Team Futaba leader and Hobbico employee, Frank Noll, conceived E- Fest about a dozen years ago. Park Flyers were all the rage at the time, and the small- er models and foam profile jobs were just getting small enough to be flown successful- ly within larger buildings. Frank brought the idea of a mid winter fly-in to a team of people at Hobbico, thinking that the Univer- sity of Illinois’s armory would be a suitable venue. Others agreed and Hobbico hosted the first ever E-Fest in 2003. Pilots came
from all over the country to support the event and everyone had a great time that first year.
I arrived at the front entrance of the ar-
mory Friday night, February 14. FLYING MODELS was once again a sponsor of not only the event but also the scale competition Sat- urday evening. FMhad a booth and display again this year so I parked and started to unpack. I hurriedly set up since some ven- dors and team pilots had their models in the air for some “testing” and I wanted to watch this early action.
Friday afternoon and early evening are
Even when there isn’t a competition, there is a competition. Angela Haynes (above left) films Matt Stringer (Team Futaba), Sleepy C (Flying Giants) and Brandon Chitty (Team Hitec) trying to land their Estes Proto X micro quads on
18
the top of a cone. Andy Kunz flew his Neo 180(above right) at the end of the day on Sunday. If you’re keen on the looks, order up a set of CD466 at
www.carstensbookstore.com.
MAY 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68