Mise à jour:

27 avril 2008

The main event in the zone this summer was the second edition of the Provincial Electric Funfly held on August 21nd at the field managed by the Anti-Gravité club in Ste-Julie. The hosting club was the  C2VM. This event where 26 pilots registered gathered people from Quebec city, Shawinigan, about half a dozen from Ontario and even a few from the northern US states. The event was part of the celebrations for the 50th of the existence of MAAC and sponsored by the St.-Lawrence zone.

We got graced by nice pilots and onlookers, nice airplanes and variety in all. Martin Irvine, who write this regular column in EFI (Electric Flight International from Traplet Publications) was there with his powerful Hawker Fury in Spanish colors. That plane also received the mention as the best scale plane of the event. Martin also had a Dewalt drill powered sport plane. Here is a way to use that cordless drill to something practical!

Scott Black, a regular from the Amid-Air club just north of Montreal test flew his F86 Saber on an electric ducted fan. Terrific flight after a more hairy launch from a weak bungy catapult. Scott designed the F6F out of mostly blue foam and did fiberglass part for the impeller system. It runs on AstroFlight 035 on 10 cells. Scott had the Sabre in primer paint. He now tells me he has completed the paint job and the markings. We can see Scott kneeling in front of Martin Irvine holding the plane while Paul Penna from the NRC supervise the whole thing.

Now, the Pond Racer, an interesting and seldom seen scale reproduction of a Reno racer from the golden era. This model runs on two Kyosho AP29. The only full version was destroyed while the pilot was trying to save it from the flames. It was running on two enhanced Mazda car motors and has a very distinctive shape in the air.

Jean-Claude Terrettaz from the Ottawa region stunned a bunch with his F5B motorized gliders – very high performance electric gliders on 27 cells that are out of sight in less than 3 seconds of motor run. We can see two of those fuselages against the ramp on the photo. On the left we see a small P-51 Mustang on Speed 400 and a Jim Ryan's stand-off scale P-38 Lightning. In the back we can see a couple of other planes from Scott Black; an old Cub and the brand new Sabre.

Jean-Claude had several interesting planes including this slightly crushed nosed Kyosho T-33; a popular kit that comes with the fan and motor (an AP29L). This guy has incredible luck; he went back home with a brand new kit of that same plane that he won during the raffle later in the day.

Denis Robillard, of friend from remote Ste-Émilie-de-l’Énergie was there for sure with his fleet. He brought his nice Cub and was intending to do some glider towing with it. But, my fault, we had forgotten a pylon from the pylon race and... these are like plane magnets...crunch. Sorry Denis. The biplane is Denis original design and fly on a AstroFlight 05 geared.The Cub is also running on an AstroFlight but a 40 geared this time.

Paul St-Arneauld, from the C2VM club, brought in a nice Super Sportster. He had several in the past and this one is obviously electric, but, Paul says it flies as good as the gas ones he had. We can see Paul, here, with the 'Patate' or potato, his son uses to learn to fly. It is running on a low cost Speed 700 on a homemade gear box. And behind him we can barely see the Sportster.

Pylon Race

We held a single heat of Speed 400 pylon racing. Good show. These planes go in between 70 and 95 mi/hr. And if you look at the results, I came in last. Yes, last. About that for sportsmanship! Next year, I won't be so nice!@#!

Limited Duration and Precision landing

We also had a limited duration flight of 30minutes with a precision landing. Étienne Dorig, a local manufacturer and importator, and also a member of the C2VM club, won the event with one of his plane; the Carbon D-Light E on a Speed 400 7.2v. We can see Étienne in the middle of his fan club. One of those very nice and light kits was won during the raffle later in the day. Walter Burlone must still be thanking God and Icare Sailplanes for such a nice present..

Sponsors

We got a great list of sponsors who offered their help and their products; therefore, we had several interesting products distributed during the late afternoon draw. A special draw was held for the guys who help me out organizing and running the event; Nelson Bérubé, Jacques Blain, Walter Burlone, Pierre Fortier, Denis Robillard, Jean Segers, Paul St-Arneauld et Pascal Thiou. Thanks again guys.

I would also like to thank the sponsors and let you know they have electric related products to offer. A special note for the MAAC association and the St. Lawrence zone who were our main sponsors; this funfly was an official activity to celebrate the 50th year of the association.

So, please check out these guys and what they have to offer. There is either a link to their web site or their email addresses. They not only make good products but also care for you and your business.

Anyone with questions regarding electrics or if you have suggestions regarding this event or future events like this one, please, don't hesitate to reach me. In the mean time, I'll be in the backyard with my electric slowflier...

Ciao !

Louis Dionne

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