Christchurch and District Model Flying Club
 

A BIMBO’S WEEKEND

BY THE EDITOR

Trevor and I belong to a small group of modellers who (as you may have seen at Club evenings) actually use balsa wood and a rusty old razor blade to build model aircraft. We are currently trawling the plans catalogue of Ivan Pettigrew, a Canadian ex-New Zealander who has designed a very large collection of  planes, most with a NZ connection.  You can see his catalogue at http://www.geocities.com/ivansplans/
and there are a number of threads on RC Groups and other websites where his plans are constructed (and occasionally de-constructed) in the interests of the wider aeromodelling community.

We came up with the idea of a UK-based group and Trevor coined the “British Ivan’s Model Builders’ Organisation”.  We met up for the first time last month, at Naseby Reservoir in Lincolnshire. 

The location was not perfect, but more than good enough for the better fliers (BMFA B standard and above) to weave their way through trees and turbulence both on the small field and the rather narrow approach to the water.  There was a good breeze all weekend, which made the flying a bit more sporting than I was used to!

Just as important as the flying was the very enjoyably social scene, as a number of BIMBO’s wives had also made the journey and so meals and expeditions to the local villages were in ordnung. Many more planes were taken to the meeting: about 4 each by my count and there were only two “shed repair” jobs over the whole weekend.

Pentaxman’s Chipmunk from the Ivan’s plan. You can that there is an awful lot of fresh air in the design and as a results the model flies in a very scale-like manner and can land on a 5p.  During the weekend there was a lot of full-size activity right above aour heads, with this Chipmunk/Salto (??) tow being one of the highlights.

Plans are afoot to have another weekend in September and Trevor and I will almost certainly go to the Reading MAC flying boat event at Beale Park in October.  We are still looking for a friendly water flying site locally that has a decent stretch of grass, a clear half-acre of water and camping close by. A tall order?

Mike

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