26th September The new indoor flying season got off to a good start although I did not attend due to illness. I am told that the evening was dominated by Piccolo and Hummingbird electric helicopters which vied for space with the various IFOs flying about. Simon Peckham scored a first for indoor flying by landing his Piccolo in one of the netball nets on the sidewall, much to everyone's amusement.
10th October The AGM went off very well. Same committee re-elected en mass, which is good for me, as the existing members are very professional in their approach to problems arising, and very giving of their time, which makes my job easy. I am not sure that it is good for democracy or for the introduction of new ideas to have the same people running the club for too long a period, but unless we have more people volunteering to stand, it comes down to the willing few again.
11th October Spent a very nice Saturday morning at Kings Park in the company of Andy Tubb and Glen Bradshaw. This was one of those beautiful Autumn days with very little wind and bright sunshine. Andy flew his Mam'selle 52E and Glen flew his electrified Old Timer which stooged around for what seemed like hours. He even passed me the tranny at one point so he could have a smoke!
I flew my Chimera for the first time in many months and was very rusty to begin with. A manoeuvre which has given me considerable trouble to execute is a double axial roll, which I have practised for what seems hours on my flight sim. To my surprise it has suddenly become fairly easy, which says something for the use of these computer programs. I have to say that I'm all in favour of these, as they do allow you to practise without pain and expense when the inevitable mistake crops up. I have only had experience of two of these programs but I can recommend the Great Planes and Easy fly products both of which are excellent.
31st October Indoor meeting. I arrived at Oakmead School all charged up and ready to fly my Und-Nu and IFO only to find I was seriously underpowered - well the models were. Trevor lent me one of his Li-Ion batteries, which improved things immensely and a good evening's entertainment was had by all. On returning home and recharging my batteries I was surprised to find that they were giving over eleven volts straight off the charger, very strange? I will have to investigate further to see if they drop significantly under load, which might indicate a cell giving up the ghost. It is strange that both eight-cell batteries should be affected though.
28th November Indoor meeting. This evening really turned out to be one of the best we have put on. For the first time we had access to two halls as the smaller one was opened for us as well. This was great as it allowed trimming flights to be made without getting in anyone's way in the larger hall and the helicopter brigade then commandeered it for the evening. This allowed Steve Morris to set up the new Flair electric helicopter, which Neil had brought along for the first time.
A more significant arrival this year has been the Protech Butterfly, which will transform indoor flying for the less experienced of us as it will almost hover, yet will definitely fly below walking pace, ideal for the novice pilot. Having said that, a certain Phil Wheeler had managed to put one of the GWS twin motors into one, together with a Li-Ion battery, and was prop-hanging the model all over the hall. When you think that the butterfly is almost unbreakable due to its carbon graphite frame, we have a model for all abilities. The price is a welcome surprise too at under forty pounds, so if you have been tempted by indoor flying but were concerned about your ability, here is the answer. In any case you should come and see for yourself, you will be amazed.