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Click here if you are unable to download or view the large pictures.
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Mike getting his P-51 ready for its first "official" maiden flight. Mike snuck one short flight in on us when no one was looking at his home field. With Dave Upton at the controls, they quickly found out that the four bladed Zinger prop was a poor match for the plane. Little did he know that as he fought to control the under powered plane, the header had cracked and was burning the inside of the engine compartment. Luckily they brought it in for an early landing. |
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With the minor damage fixed, a new 2 bladed prop installed and all systems ready to go, owner Mike Pasky and pilot Dave Upton pose nervously for the cameras. You can safely bet that both of these guys are feeling more than a few butterflies in their stomachs right now. This plane is worth over $3000 in parts alone. And then there's the hours and hours of time building it! |
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After a thorough pre-flight check pilot Dave wasted no time on the ground, down to the end of the runway... |
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Turn around... |
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And take off. |
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Mike Pasky and Dave Upton plan on entering Scale Master
Team competition this year with a still unbuilt 15' wingspan 1/3 scale
DeHavilland DH-1A. This W.W.I era biplane is expected to be the only
one of it's kind in the world, and if Mikes past is any indication of the
future he will surely attract a little attention! Are we in for a
treat or what? GO MIKE!!! GO MIKE!!!
For updates on Mikes progress check his home page. |
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Just sitting on the ground, this plane is a show stopper. In the air, it was a sight to behold. Mike has done a fabulous job on this beauty. The new prop was a good match and the plane flew realistically. All eyes were riveted to this marvelous sight. |
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Within just 60 seconds of taking off, they realized they had a minor problem. The tail gear doors wouldn't come up. Air pressure (it was later determined) prevented them from closing. While trying to correct the problem in the air, they found out that they had a more serious problem. The main gear wouldn't come down. |
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There was no choice but to belly land it with the gear up. This could easily destroy or seriously damage the plane. The decision was make to land it on the grass instead of the runway. |
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Dave's piloting skills are very impressive. Although this wasn't really a 'difficult' landing, the pressure must have been intense. Dave pulled it off perfectly. He practically stalled it inches above the grass as shown here. It made an ugly THUNK sound and stopped dead in its' tracts. |
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A quick inspection showed surprisingly little damage. |
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An abundant supply of analysts brainstorming the situation. |
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A closer inspection confirms that the damage is minor.
A broken prop, a damaged cowl, and some hardly noticeable scrapes.
Within a couple of hours the cause of the gears failure to come down was discovered - a loose air pressure fitting had come undone. |
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Dave and Mike celebrating a job well done! To find out more about Mike and what he's up to, you can visit him at his web site by clicking here. Mike would be happy to build your dream plane for you. Whether you want one built from a kit, or from scratch. Either way, Mike has the resources and skills to do it. |
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"Dangerous" Dave Upton and his profile BeeGee.
When he's not taking aerial photographs or flying video equipment from
his custom twin, he likes to fly this. I thought he was pulling my
leg when he told me he could fly true knife-edge loops with this plane.
So while he was up, I asked for a demonstration. Sure enough, even
in the gusty conditions of the day he was able to do it. Feeling
kind of ornery I suggested that it was more luck than skill and challenged
him to do it again. He did. Next time I'll ask him to do it while
he changes his batteries!
Dave has put together some great video tapes showing how easy it is to put a still camera and/or a video telelink system onboard your aircraft. Even if you don't want to install the cameras, the tapes are worth every penny for the entertainment value alone. And if you would like put a camera on your plane, do yourself a big favor and buy the appropriate tape! Check out his web site for more info. |
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This is Steve Harris about to fly his AT-6 for the first time. Steve is a very experienced flyer and wasn't expecting any surprises from a docile plane such as this. But was he ever in for a surprise! |
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Immediately after take-off, the plane went out of control. This picture was taken about 2 or 3 seconds after take-off. You would think that an out of control plane in this position, so close to the ground would go in within the next second. But to his credit, Steve righted the plane and flipped over in the opposite direction (180° roll) and then dumped it! |
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It was a nasty wreck, fast, hard, and in front of a lot of spectators, thus earning Steve the dubious honor of "Best Crash of the Day." Nobody who saw the crash would suspect that this plane would fly again. As the shock wore off, things started looking better for the AT-6. The wing was completely undamaged. Only the engine compartment had any significant damage. By the time the dirt was brushed off, Steve decided that he was going to repair the damage. And as of this writing Steve had stripped the fiberglass covering off of the wing in an effort get rid of some weight. We can look forward to seeing this one fly again! |
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This is Larry Browman from North Bend. Larry was accompanied by his helpers Basil, Sven, Zane (L-R) and his Senior Kadet powered by a 25cc Homelite gas motor. Larry is a member of the Bay Area RC Flyers and is also the assistant manager for the Tidewater Taildraggers Airshow Team. If you would like to contact Larry you can email him at brofus@worldnet.att.net |
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This is W.T. Harkey. He is new to the hobby and has been building this very pretty Eagle II at home over the last two years. It has a SuperTiger 40 in it. Today is the big day for its maiden flight (plane and pilot) if everything checks out. It did! And it flew! |
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Congratulations to W.T. for his first flight! Shown
here being assisted by Steve Harris, recipient of "Best Crash of the Day"
award. Watch out W.T.!!! Don't let him get too close!
W.T. started flying U-control over 40 years ago. Good Luck to you and nice to have you as a member. |
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This is Bruce and Brenda. They showed up at today's event with the most planes. He definitely had three as shown here, but I think he had another one up his sleeve somewhere. |
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Brenda not only accompanies her husband out to this neck of the woods but flies herself. |
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This is Bruce's P-51 which has been around this field longer than I have. |
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This is Brenda's plane. She felt a bit uneasy flying today around all the people and with the wind and sun conditions opted to observe instead. |
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Harry took time off from his 'other' hobby, his boats, to be with us today. Harry had the distinction of being the first person to the field today. I caught him hiding out in his car with the heater on! |
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Bob showed up with two of his planes. Bob is from Junction City, and he brought his Avistar trainer, and a CAP232 with a 46SX. |
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Carl Henson managed to break loose from the hospital
where he spent his Christmas recovering from a stroke. We were all
glad to see him!
Carl brought his immaculate scratch built Seniorita which has about 25 flights on it. |
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Les made it out with his Kadet LT-40 |
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Ken is from Lakeside and is a member of the Bay Area R/C Flyers. He brought his 2 year old scratch built... "thing" which had a 25 year old OS .25 motor on it. |
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This is "Crash" Gordon (web site author) with his .46SX powered Sig Phaser. Gordon started out the year in style by crashing this brand new plane. Just a little too far out (OK, a lot far out!) and under the sun. Couldn't tell which way it was going and flip flopped it into the boonies. The landing gear got hung up in a bush. It never even hit the ground. Four square inches of Monocote patched it up good as new! |
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"Crash" getting engine advise from Bob. The motor
had been tuned in just right the previous Sunday but due to the very cold
air it wouldn't idle properly without Bob standing nearby. Thanks
Bob!
Watch those fingers!!! |
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Captive club president Mark Stafford being subjected to annoying comments by camera wielding antagonist. |
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The happening place on January 1, 1999 |
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"Dangerous" Dave chowing down on hot chili and some Canadian Coffee, eh? |
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Doug getting radio help on his new plane. |
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Fun for the whole family. |
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