News   31 May 2004

Blackpool fly-in

Opinions overheard........."best ever"........."electrics have come of age".

The weather was kind, for a change. In the morning, 4 mph winds and a few very light showers. After mid-day, sunny with winds about 10 mph.

Models of all shapes, sizes and speeds, flying non-stop from 10am 'till 5pm.

I didn't see a single crash. But there was one major miss-hap in the car park--A Lipo fire. One very expensive model reduced to ashes. Fortunately, no co-lateral damage.

I took four models, but flew only two of them.

The 0-400 took to the air in the morning when the winds were very light. The Canberra flew later.

I then prepared the TU95. Because I had changed the Rx, I decided to do a range-check, with the Tx antenna contracted.   Erratic, jittery, hopeless.

Tried the 0-400 and the Canberra; just the same.

"Must be my transmitter". Tried a friend's Tx; much the same.

Confused; played-safe; stayed on the ground.

Later, at home, I repeated the range check. Perfect, solid, no problem.

Provisional conclusion: A range test with a contracted Rx antenna should not be performed in an electronically-busy environment. there were probably ten or more active transmitters nearby.

With hindsight, I should have persuaded a few other pilots to try the same test with their own models.

Models flown recently:    Tu95 and EE Lightning.

Upcoming fly-ins:    Blackburn  June 11-13, and Chester  June 20.