News
Sunday June 26, 2005
We had excellent day today and a really great attendance. No rain to speak of (I left at 4:15 pm). The field was a bit damp with localized stagnant water from the downpour from the previous day, however, the air was smooth with almost calm conditions.
The CARFF group organized a great event. Many thanks go out to Eraldo Pomare for organizing the event and doing most of the running around - thank you.
Saturday June 25, 2005
Today things went actually better than I thought. Things looked really ugly until about 10 km South of Olds at about 8:30 am. It's almost like someone cut the rain clouds with a knife and things looked great from Olds to Red Deer. Unfortunately, the "better part" of the weather only managed to hold off until about 12:15 pm. By 2:00 pm the rain came down really hard. On the positive, I managed to get few flights in and I was at home by 3:45 pm.
There was about a dozen of pilots that showed up. I think that about 7 or 8 pilots flew. I was the only representative to show up from Calgary. Bunch of the guys that came out were from Red Deer and area, one from Airdrie and for the first time we had Dave Kim show up with an Multiplex ASH 26 ~4m from Vancouver, British Columbia. Chatting with Dave I learned that there are couple aerotows events close to Canada border (close proximity to BC - Alberta) happening each year. Dave suggested that we should come out one of these days and check it out. There was aerotow, electric and handlaunch action.
The second day for the Red Deer CARFF Silent and Electric weekend is scheduled for tomorrow - let's hope the weather cooperates.
Wednesday June 22, 2005
Red Deer CARFF Silent and Electric Weekend is three sleeps away as I write this note (Saturday/Sunday June 25th and 26th). The weather forecast is getting better and better as Saturday/Sunday approaches, thus, charge up your batteries boys and girls and we shall see you at the CARFF flying field early morning. Pilots meeting is scheduled for 9:30 am.
On Monday I received an update with regards to the Cu Nim Fun Fly in Okotoks scheduled for Saturday July 2nd from Mr. Dave Fowlow. The message that he asked me to pass on is - We are on! - rain or shine. It appears that there is no rain date. It's July 2nd or nothing. I was asked to let the individuals who plan to attend know that they can bring whatever they wish to fly that day. (ie: Scale, hand launch ,TD, electrics, etc...) It is critical that individuals that show up to fly this day have a valid and up-to-date MAAC insurance - no leniency on this item. The whole intent for the Cu Nim fun fly is just that - and it shall be fun! If you wish to obtain further information (such as directions to the flying field) please contact Dave Fowlow directly at the following telephone number: (403) 298-6972.
Sunday June 19, 2005
The weekend proved to be very disappointing indeed. The CRCSS Father's Fun Fly was cancelled because it wouldn't of been too much fun mucking around stagnant water - with a little bit of odor to it. Action Hobby was kind enough and donated prizes for the Father's Day Fun Fly www.actionhobby.ca, thus, I plan to do a pilot's draw for the donated items at a future CRCSS event sometime this year.
I'm quite sure that the ducks and the frogs are having a great time - the frog orchestra will definitely be performing for at least a week or two. The population of bugs at the field is the highest I have ever seen - let's cut that grass once the field dries up. We managed to get somewhere along the line of 100 mm of rain. In the City of Calgary we had evacuation of up to 2500 people along the Bow River, flooded residential streets and people who laid sod recently found out the hard way that sod does float! On the positive side, the likelihood of NOT having green lawn is highly unlikely.
I counted five diehards at the field this time. When I was leaving I think that Allan was making his way to the field. At least four of us flew. We made use of the high start due to extreme conditions at the field. Andrew had a little mishap and broke his fuselage (Hera) - he thinks it was interference. I landed in water couple of times with a splash - I was a bit concerned with frying my electronics, thus, I decided to pack it in a little early. I'm appending few photos of today's activity. I addition, I decided to append a photo of a house about 200 meters or so North of our field - no he does not live by a lake. The stagnant water by the house is a product of the heavy rain on Friday/Saturday. In fact, I believe that the're lucky that it did not rain for few more days because the occupants would definitely end up rowing a boat off of/to their property.
Do not forget about the CARFF Silent and Electric Weekend next week in Red Deer - link: www.carff.ca.
Saturday June 11, 2005
Well, today sucked - rain again. Due to the wet conditions at the field the organizer decided to postpone the contest. We had rain in the morning and then some more rain in the afternoon. There was about a 3 to 4 hour window of "ok" conditions. What is really interesting is the stagnant water on the field. I'm use to seeing the field wet in April/May, however, not usually in June. In terms of breaking records, we are breaking all sorts of records for precipitation for the month of June 2005.
Despite the "wet conditions" I counted 10 diehards at the field - almost all wearing rubber boots. Kevin showed up with his Graphite Carbon that he picked up last year at the F3J Worlds in Red Deer from Vladimir Gavrilko. He had three flights. He had a close call when he caught a line on the v-tail, however, he managed to escape in one piece with a nifty "pancake landing". From what I recall, all the pilots had at least one flight. When the rain came at around 12:30 pm, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. We're all hoping for a better tomorrow.
Here is a link to some photos taken by Brian Olson. link
Below are some shot's of today's action at the field.
Saturday June 4, 2005
Today we had "iffy" weather conditions, however, still managed to get four die hard members out and flying. Matt, Martin, Warren and Allan showed up to the field and enjoyed the moist conditions. Surprisingly, the field was dry despite the few days of rain. The dandelions are out in full force and I'm sure that with couple more days of rain, cutting of grass will become a high priority. Warren and Matt flew their Icon light, Martin flew the Eraser and Allan flew his Spirit.
Just a reminder that the CRCSS club contest is being held next week - as per Warren's communication e-mail last week on Yahoo CRCSS Group Forum.
