7:30am and the Model Engines blokes were already there with their trailer - unloading some beautiful aircraft. These guys sure work hard on their weekends! Take a look at http://www.modelengines.com.au for more about our sponsors!

Around 40 pilots registered for the event, and this produced around 70 aircraft, and close to 150 flights on the day. Several people commented that there were almost always 2 or more aircraft in the air, sometimes half a dozen, and everything from a couple of vintage floaters to several twin-engined warbirds and racers ripping up the sky.

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News: Updated with videos throughout the story and picture gallery!

Click here to listen to Col Simpson.  Click here to listen to Tony Farnan.

Col Simpson and the Model Engines guys introduced the event around 10am, and took our visitors out to the center of the field to chat about orientation. George demonstrated some pre-flight limbering-up techniques, and then we were off.

The flight line ran smoothly, with only one mid-air (resulting in one 'downed' and one carefully landed with 50% less elevator than when it took off). A couple of other aircraft ventured into the bush around the runway, and Model Engines made a deferential offering of a canopy to the bush spirits which seemed to satiate the spirit's desire for other sacrifices during the day.

Qualifying flights finished at 2:15. The prize draw (a ticket entered for each flight taken) resulted in an ARF Decathlon for Col Simpson, which he generously put back for redraw - to be awarded to Simon Press. Bob Flint won an ARF Katana, and Doug Radford won the top prize of the new OS four stroke 110. 

It was a fantastic day. Special thanks to the Model Engines guys for allowing us to hold the event at WRCS, and for putting in a huge effort to fly and display some seriously good gear and make many new friends on the day. Worthy of note, I think, that the engines were running smoothly all day. There was hardly an issue, and it wasn't until afterwards that I sat back and thought about what had, and hadn't happened. There's no doubt that the quality of OS engines shines through in that you simply don't really notice them because they just get on with running smoothly - leaving you to the piloting. 

Special thanks, also, to the catering team who did a superb job as ever, to all the volunteers who handled the field preparation, parking, setting-up, registration, flight line etc, and to Chris Hebbard who did a magic job, ALL DAY, of commentating (even if he mistook a Lightning for a Mustang at one point).

Photographers also get a mention (collective noun - a clique of photographers) - and especially Garry Welsh who emailed me a collection of photos straight after the event - and all sized to less than 100kb each for easy handling and upload. That's the way to make any editor happy!

Also well-done to Doug for planting the seed for the event, and huge thanks to Col Buckley who stage-managed the whole process from advertising and logistics through to registration and resourcing. He did a superb job only to be told, by his CEO, that he had to attend a family event instead. What a sacrifice he made to marital harmony!

There's no doubt that we'd love to make sure this event gets a regular place on the busy Model Engines calendar for a trip to WRCS. What do you say guys? Can we?

Ed

Watch the videos here