M.E.F.F.A Flying Sessions |
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| Recent M.E.F.F.A Flying Sessions |
| 11/5/2000 - Determination...Walt and Dave fley at an undisclosed park in Rochester. It was cool and moderately windy. The open field was about 75 yds. by 150 yds. The sun was low on the horizion. Dave flew his Dallaire (mostly straight ahead or tight circles) and did a good landing. Walt's Electron took off like a shot but was caught by a gust of wind and went into a spin from which he recovered just before meeting the roof of a church. Walt's Electron was under control for the rest of the flight, and it was fun seeing the planes fly together. Both flights lasted about 8 minutes. |
10/23/2000 - Last minute decision to fly. Ron and Dave met at Whitney Point and flew from 4:30 until sunset. Weather was...cool with variable light wind. High clouds blocking the sun. Rainbow appeared as usual. Dave flew the Dallaire, and run flew his Buzzard Bombshell with a geared motor and large propeller. They were different but evenly matched. All flights were less than 15 minutes, but it was wonderful to see the old airfoils working while the planes flew slowly across the sky. The Dallaire is a little better in dead air, but the Buzzard can tolerate more wind. All landings were on a narrow, low cut grass strip accidentally provided for us. |
| 10/9/2000 - We had cancelled our flying plans for today, but at the last minute Ron suggested we try slope soaring the electrics on Daisey Hollow Rd since the wind was coming out of the NW at 9 mph. After the short flying session we remembered that we had forgot to let Bob C. know that we were flying. Sorry Bob! We'll do better next time. Ron arrived 1/2 hour late after getting lost on the back roads. It was 38 degrees with a north wind at 10 mph and a combination of sleet and snow. The trees on the right (north) side of the slope were causing obvious turbulance as the wind passed over them before hitting the field. The entire flying session lasted only 15 minutes before we retired to McDonald's for hot coffee. Dave launched his Electron first, and, after getting past the turbulance, the plane zoomed up. He cut the motor after 20 seconds, but the plane was almost out of sight in only 1 minute. He could fly fast or slow, but he couldn't get it down. It even gained altitude inverted! He finally got the Electron down to less than 100 ft. by doing a series of spiral dives. By the time he was low enough to be safe, Ron had launched his RJ Playboy and was also about to go out of sight. Dave was low and began to have difficulty trying to do a landing. Twice the plane went into a spirl dive / spin which did not respont to his efforts to recover. The secont time the Electron crashed about 100 yards to the west and just missed the trees there. No damage was done due to the slow airspeed and the angle at which it hit the ground. It was a 10 minute experience of terror. After Dave crashed, the wind died down to about 6 mph. Ron was able to get the plane down to a safe altitude and experience a more traditional series of landing attempts which eventually resulted in his doing a gentile landing about 25 yards down the slope. Timing is everything! His flight lasted about 14 minutes. Neither Dave nor Ron was willing to attempt another flight. |
| 9/18/2000 - Probably the last Monday evening flying session for the season. Ron & Dave met at Whitney Point. It was warm with high, thin clouds and no real indication of lift. Wind was light and variable. We flew from the top of the dike on the west side of the outflow channel. Dave's 1st flight with his Electron 400 was 29 minutes, but all the rest were 15 minutes or less. Dave confirmed that a high power launch to altitude works out better than a slow climb searching for lift under these conditions. Ron's RJ Playboy was majestic with the light coming through the wing and v-tail. He had a new hand made balsa prop which he reports provided more power. Many of the flights were low over the outflow from the dam, but the wind was so calm that there was no fear of getting stuck down there. All landings were on the top of the dike and at the pilots' feet! We were treated to a special rainbow which partially circled the sun. There was also part of an inverted rainbow above it! By the time the planes landed, the rainbow was gone, so no photos were taken. Dave had seen another inverted rainbow at the same location a few weeks ago. Anybody know what the name for the inverted rainbow is? Why it forms?  There were seagulls fling high above us and they came over to check out the gliders when we were high. Ron's last flight lasted almost to sun down. It was hard to differentiate the high flying seagulls from low flying mosquitoes! That flight was low and slow. He kept it 30 feet above the ground for several minutes before coming in for a gentile landing. Emotionally that flight seemed to last for hours! |
| 9/11/2000 - Ron & Dave met at Whitney Point. It was cloudy but dry with a south wind at about 5 mph. No spectacular flights. Times ran about 11 minutes using some vague slope lift at one end of the dike which faces south. Motor runs may have suffered due to charging the batteries from an exhausted 12 volt field battery. Did some experimenting with motor run times at different throttle settings. Higher power may result in as long or longer flights than using just enough throttle to climb slowly. This has to be checked out again. May be getting close to the end of 4:30 pm flying sessions. Looking for another time we can meet...friday afternoons at 2 pm? |
| 8/28/2000 - Ron & Dave met at Whitney Point. It was hot and muggy with a wisp of wind from the northeast. Flew from the top of the spillway facing out towards the dam and the river. Ron flew his * to be named * v-tail which has a silkspan covered wing and weighs very little. It has a speed 280 motor with gears, a 6 cell 350 mah battery pack, and a home made 9 inch folding propeller. Flew slow and majestically! Dave flew the Dallaire Sportster. The planes were an even match under the weather conditions which produced very little lift. They had several fly-offs which usually lasted about the same time within a minute or 2. Ron set a record for the Speed 280 class with a 16 minute flight and, Dave's longest flight was 18 minutes. They flew until it was getting too dark to see the planes. |
| 8/21/2000 - Ron & Dave met at Whitney Point. It was warm and sunny. Light wind out of the west. Would seem to be perfect weather, but the lift was weak. Had 2 fly-offs with Ron flying his Ron-Job V-tail and Dave flying the Dallaire Sportster. Each flight had about equal flying times for both planes. On the 3rd fly-off, Ron's plane, which was about 300 feet upwind and 50 feet high, suddenly went into a spin and crashed. Investigation of the crash site strongly suggests that the Ron-Job had been hit in mid air by a golf ball. |
| 8/20/2000 - Walter & Dave do a fly-off near the Hile School Rd. in Dryden with matching Electron 400's. Walter stays low for the 1st 12 minutes while Dave is high. Dave is down in 13 minutes and Walter suddenly goes high and keeps it up for a flight time of 18 minutes. Dave misses his landing by 50 feet. Walter lands 10 feet from where he was standing. Nice work Walter! |
| Record M.E.F.F.A Flights | Speed 280 | * to be named * v-tail | 16 minutes | Ron Gauthier | 8/28/2000 |
| Speed 400 | Electron 400 | 31 minutes | Dave Silbert | 7/30/2000 |
| Hand Launch | ....................................... | .................... | .................... | .................. |
| Mini High Start | ....................................... | .................... | .................... | .................. |
| Indoor Duration | ....................................... | .................... | .................... | .................. |
| Slope | ....no records will be kept.... | .................... | .................... | .................. |
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Revised 11/6/2000