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We hope that this is the first in a
series of indoor flying events that will be held at the Firley YMCA
located at 505 Ellis Blvd in Jefferson City, Missouri. We must thank
Stacy Gillmore for leading the effort to secure this fantastic facility
for our indoor flying fun. Initially it wasn't going to work out due to
the wires strung across the expanse of the building that separated the
four indoor tennis courts. However, with the cooperation of the YMCA's
staff we found out that those wires could be taken down without much
difficulty. Problem solved. Stacy, Tom, Matt & Lori Gillmore, along
with Roger Geller and Kent Imhoff went to the Y early to take down the
wires and the tennis nets to prepare the site for flying.
We had eight registered pilots show up to fly for this
first event (a couple short of the minimum 10 we needed to pay for the
facility, but we didn't advertise this one very heavily to ensure
everything was going to work at with the facility. We rarely had more
than three pilots flying at one time, so interference was limited to
just in front of the flight line. The far corners of the facility had
areas where the air from the ducts would sometimes push a plane around,
but overall there were no problems. Now that we know that we have one of
the finest facilities in Missouri for indoor flying we will more
actively invite other pilots to join us. Several spectators also came
out to watch the fun. Next time we'll have to remind everyone to bring a
lawn chair in case they would like to sit down. The pilots included;
Stacy Gillmore, Tom Gillmore, Gordon DeBroeck, Tom Copeland, Shaun
Zimmerman who were all from Jefferson City. Brandon Rex came in from
Tipton. Daniel Smith and Dave McDonald drove up from Eldon to join us.
There were lots of GWS Slow Stick airplanes on hand, in
fact, so many that it's amazing that no one got confused with a
different one while flying. Some were powered with brushless motors,
which helps them perform better than stock, but even the guys with stock
setups were having a great time. After all, this was a just-for-fun
event. Later on we may have some fun competitive events for the pilots
to participate in, but for now it was just nice to get a plane in the
air considering the dark, cold, rainy weather outside.
Stacy Gillmore pretty much stopped the show when he went
to fly his Sig Demoiselle for the first time. If you enjoy flight, then
you have to enjoy seeing a model like this one fly. It certainly isn't
the style of flying most pilots would want, but watching this model fly
on-the-wing and not due to being over-powered was truly a thing of
beauty. Dan Smith brought a miniature electric helicopter which had
everyone watching, as well as a brushless-powered Ultimate 3D biplane
that could do about every trick in the book. Also up from Eldon is the
fascinating Dave McDonald, who with his 3D airplane can do every 3D
trick in the book and he's so good he makes you think it is easy. Tom
Copeland tried to fly his F-27 Stryker electric delta jet, but it needs
more room than the facility would allow.
Stacy also had the attention of everyone when he went to
fly his V-tailed Tiny-X for the first time. As expected, it was a
hand-full of airplane at first, but after a little adjusting it flew
good, keeping the 'pucker-factor' at a maximum. Dave McDonald made it look
like a walk in the park to fly it. Finally it took a radio hit on
landing, flipped and broke off one of the V-tails, so now it may return
with the standard tail which should help it greatly, especially if it
retains a working rudder.
Gordon DeBroeck trimmed out his GWS Slow Stick and it
flew perfectly. Brandon Rex also buzzed around with this SS. Shaun
Zimmerman brought his GWS J3 stick-Cub which is fun to watch as the
wings flex up when in flight then settle down to level when on the
ground. All-in-all we believe everyone had a good time and we look
forward to the next one! Thanks again Stacy!
Please click here to see the JCRC
Events page to see when the next YMCA Indoor Electric
Fly-in will be held.
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