On
July 17, 2011, the Bean Hill Flyers
held an informal control line fun fly at their field located in Albion,
Pennsylvania. The club has members from as far east as Erie and Meadville,
PA, and stretching west all the way to Cleveland, OH. It was a perfect summer
day with temperatures in the low to mid-80s, light winds, and a clear, blue
sky. Field proprietor
Dalton Hammett graciously keeps the flying area mowed with a closely
cropped circle to facilitate aircraft with smaller wheels. Portable tents
were erected to provide shade against the unrelenting sun. Northerners consider
this weather to be brutal; it's the 100+ inches of snow in the winter that
we handle with ease.
Melanie and I arrived at around 10 am. It was
our first visit to the field. Dalton had invited us when we met him in Erie
to retrieve a package of
Jetex fuel pellets
that he volunteered to being back from the
Brodak event
in June (I didn't attend, but vow to in 2012). It was the first time I had
ever watched a control-line event. For that matter, other than watching
YouTube videos, it was my first time actually seeing someone flying the
full AMA stunt pattern. The guys made it look easy. My own experiences attempting
maneuvers like a triangular loop usually did not end well. My cloverleafs
qualify as such only from the standpoint that they somewhat include four
loops in sort of the right order, but no two ever crossed a common midpoint.
The larger models with larger engines executed the most graceful looking
maneuvers, as you might expect.
A large variety of model sizes and
types were on display in the staging area. During the three hours we were
there, I did not see and combat or carrier planes. Most were stunters, ranging
from profile 1/2As to built-up jobs with 60s for power. My personal favorite
was the Sig Super
Chipmunk. I've always loved the shape and color scheme from
Art Scholl's
full-size aircraft. There was one electric-powered stunt model present,
but the majority were gas-powered ...as you might expect at Bean Hill
;-)
Thanks to Dalton for providing captions.
Super Chipmunk built by
Dennis Thomas of Sinclairville, NY
Dennis Thomas and
Duane Hammett of Albion, PA
Woody Woodpecker is PIC
Super Firecat built and flown by
Dave Evar of Brooklyn, OH
Dalton Hammett (L) and son Duane,
both from Albion, PA
Bean Hill Flyers T-Shirt
Dennis Thomas and Duane Hammett
with combat model
Dalton Hammett
(field proprietor)
Dalton flying his Wedell-Williams
Racer, profile model with ST
.51
Ken Keller from Girard, OH
George Towns of Erie, PA
Albeert Bergener (L)
holds for Chris Keller, Erie, PA
Albert Bergener from Utica, PA
Refuge from the sun
Chris Keller launching for
George Towns
Sig Banshee by Dennis Thomas
Ron Basin from Conneaut, OH
Ron Basin from Conneaut, OH
Sumner Forrest from
Slippery Rock, PA
Bill Stewart's Stiletto stunter.
Bill is from Conneautville,
PA
Art Nordquist (Espyville, PA)
holding for Sumner Forrest
21
Staging area - models lined up with control lines
extended, ready to fly.
It looked like the arrestor lines on
a carrier deck; careful treading required.
Here are a few short videos from the event. I apologize for the
slanted view (the field is actually level). The filming was done without
looking through the viewfinder. I held the camera out and followed the airplane,
which at least for me tends to do a much better of keeping the airplane
in view rather than straying off the screen. For some reason I tend to lean
CCW.
