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Flying High With Electric Power!
The Ampeer ON-LINE!
Fly the Future - Fly Electric! |
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Site Table of Contents
| President: | Vice-President: | Secretary-Treasurer: |
| Ken Myers | Richard Utkan | Rick Sawicki |
| 1911 Bradshaw Ct. | 240 Cabinet | 5089 Ledgewood Ct. W. |
| Commerce Twp., MI 48390 | Milford, MI 48381 | Commerce Twp., MI 48382 |
| (248) 669-8124 | (248) 685-1705 | (2480 685-7056 |
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| Board of Directors: | Board of Directors: | Ampeer Editor |
| David Stacer | Arthur Deane | Ken Myers |
| 16575 Brooklane Blvd. | 21690 Bedford Dr. | 1911 Bradshaw Ct. |
| Northville, MI 48168 | Northville, MI 48167 | Commerce Twp., MI 48390 |
| (248) 924-2324 | (248) 348-2058 | (248) 669-8124 |
| The Next Meeting: Date: Saturday, August 3 Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Midwest RC Society 7 Mile Rd. Flying Field | ||
| Reminder About EFO Flying Season Meetings Ken shares that EFO Flying meeting dates are tentative. | Mid-America Electric Flies 2019 - The 35th Annual The report on this event. |
| WOW Electric Fly-in (Rescheduled) Event Announcement | CARDS 8th Annual Electric Fly In Event Announcement |
| Another One Bites the Dust Supplier announcement | |
Dates given for the flying season EFO flying meetings are tentative. The date depends on the weather and may change from the one noted in the monthly Ampeer. The EFO Web site has the most current information posted. Also, emails are sent to EFO members if a date change is required. |
The 35th Annual By Ken Myers Southeastern Michigan had a lot of rain this spring. The Midwest RC Society Flying Field, where this event is held, was barely usable by the 3rd week in June! Thanks to a last minute push by the Midwest RC Society Members, Dave Stacer, Denny Sumner, Jim Lapham and Arnie Nielsen, the flying field was in very good shape by Friday afternoon, July 12. That was cutting it close. Thanks guys. Unfortunately, the weekend was oppressively hot! As previously mentioned, the flying field was in good shape, with close cropped, thick grass. Even though it was very hot and humid on Friday, the set up went quite smoothly. Denny Sumner, Roger Wilfong, Charlie Dochenetz, Keith Shaw, CJ Wysocki, Dave Stacer, Jim Ouillette, Greg Eilers, Richard Utkan and myself set up the flying field for the upcoming gathering. The signs were set out along the road to indicate the new entrance, as Midwest had lost the use of their main entrance. Keith ShawÕs two large canopies were also erected. One of Keith's canopies is used to house the registration and the other is where Keith hangers his fantastic models. The dining canopy, tables and chairs, from Suburban Part Rental, arrived on Friday morning. The tables and chairs were also set up on Friday. By mid to late afternoon on Friday, many of our out of town guests started arriving. Don Belfort (West Chester, OH), John Kauk (Topeka, KS), Martin Irvine (Kingston, Ont., Canada), Doug Groutage (Mississauge, Ont., Canada), along with local fliers, set up their E-Z UP canopies and started some evening flying. It was a beautiful, if somewhat warm, evening for flying. Friday afternoon and evening is always fun. There is a lot of relaxed flying and "catching up" with our many friends. It should be noted that the Midwest RC Society graciously provides their flying field to be used for this annual meet. Saturday's weather was sunny and extremely HOT and HUMID!!! The temperature reached over the mid-90s F with a heat index above 100. The wind started off fairly low, but picked up during the day, that is, picked up a lot! To complicate flying even more, the wind was not steady and it was always shifting. The All-Up-Last Down event, AKA the Foam Flurry, for Not Conventional Materials aircraft, was postponed from Saturday to Sunday morning, due to the winds. The very hot weather held through the whole day, including the Saturday evening steak sandwich and pot-luck dinner. Sunday cooled down a bit, and the humidity dropped some. There was bright sunshine all day long. The breezes remained low and mostly from the west. This year, our twenty-seven registered pilots came from all over Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, and Ontario, Canada. It was a lot of fun catching up with our "old friends" and making new friends. That is what this meet is really about. Okay, the really "cool" planes are a very nice bonus. A few folks captured the images used to illustrate this article, and more are posted online in RC Groups Events section for the Mid-Am 2019. I am sincerely indebted to CJ Wysocki, Steve Labuta and Ken Myers for their photos.
Don Belfort, of West Chester, OH flew a beautiful, scratch-built Globe Swift. It received the Best Scale Award. Don's plane was created using scaled-up plans from a rubber powered model. 
CJ Wysocki Photo Denny Sumner, of Canton, MI, was awarded Most Beautiful for his 1/7 scale Globe Swift. The plane not only looks great, gleams in the sun, but it flies very nicely. Details of Denny's Swift build can be found on RC Groups. 
CJ Wysocki Photo Martin Irvine, of Kingston, Ont. Canada, flew a really nice looking Nieuport. It received the Best Sport Plane Award. This is the third color scheme on this same airframe. But isnÕt it a scale plane? Well, yeah, but when he says this is the plane he flies all of the time, it became a sport plane. 
CJ Wysocki Photo Pete Foss, of Oxford, MI, flew his ducted fan powered Bat Wing and received the Best Ducted Fan Award. 
CJ Wysocki Photo Mark Rittinger, of Roseville, MI, was awarded the CD's Choice Award for his very nice looking and flying Albatross. The technique he used to create the plywood fuselage was exceptionally well done. 
Ken Myers Photo Roger Wilfong once again won the Foam Flurry Event. This was the third year for the event at the Mid-Am. Because of the high winds on Saturday, this event was postponed until Sunday morning. It was an all up/last down type of event for Not Conventional Materials aircraft. Roger repeated his win from last year with the same Ken's CAD Lazy Cub, which he flew for more than 24 minutes. More information on the Lazy Cub kit can be found here - www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2301541. 
CJ Wysocki Photo Mark Rittinger, of Roseville, MI, was awarded the Most Beautiful Award for his beautiful, scratch-built version of the P-63. 
Stock photo, NOT CJ Wysocki's Plane - no photo was available CJ Wysocki, of Saline, MI, flew his Sopwith Camel. It was awarded the Best Scale Award. It looked fantastic as it mixed it up with two other bipes in a mock dogfight. 
Ken Myers Photo Joe Hass, of Rochester Hills, MI, flew his foam Bronco. It received the Best Multi-motor Award on Sunday. 
Ken Myers Photo Dave Stacer, of Salem, MI, received the Best Mini-Electric Award on Sunday for his Swing 25 flying wing. It is a Steve Pauly design. 
CJ Wysocki Photo The award this year for the Most Unique Not Conventional Materials (NCM) Aircraft was awarded to Steve Labuta for his self-designed, scratch-built canard. Steve is seen in the photo flying his design in the NCM Foam Flurry. 
Ken Myers photo The CD's Choice Award was given to Mr. Bill Brown. Bill has been working on his Wright EX Vin Fiz early aviation scale model for a long time now. Keith had a chance to fly it for Bill, and it flies wonderfully now. Thanks for your persistence on this project Bill. If you are not sure what a Wright EX named the Vin Fiz is, here is a link. It is the plane that Cal Rodgers crashed his way across America with in 1911 during the first transcontinental flight. Once the awards were presented, and the pilots' raffle held, it was time for the Annual Steak Sandwich and potluck dinner. Unfortunately, Dave Hares, our head chef, was unable to attend this year. Keith Shaw had to bring the steak sandwich supplies and this resulted in Keith not being able bring some of his fantastic planes. Dave Stacer and Christine Myers pitched in to be our chefs for he evening. Dave Stacer had already worked a lot of positions during the day, but he still soldiered on as the steak cooker. Chris Myers fried up a ton of onions. Dave and Chris, along with a few other volunteers, provided the much needed help clean up the area after the potluck was over. A HUGE thanks go to both Dave and my Chris. 
Ken Myers Photo As usual, Don Belfort, from West Chester, OH, brought his "traditional" Mid-Am cake. This year's cake celebrated the 35th Annual Mid-Am. The cake tradition has been going on for almost as long as the Mid-America Electric Flies. During, and after, the potluck is a wonderful time to be at this meet. This is the time when folks continue to get in more flights as well as 'sit around' and "catch up", talk planes, family, and politics and just relax. It is simply a marvelous time to be at the Mid-Am. We would like to thank Joe Hass very, very much. He not only rounded up a 'ton' of prizes for the pilotÕs raffle, he also provided a good amount of 'seed' money to see that everyone got something cool. He collected items from Nankin Hobby, Beacon Adhesives and Flight Line Hobby. We cannot thank him enough. That was a great thing to do Joe!!! Mark Rittinger provided four sets of plans this year, one for his Pharaoh sport plane and the other for his Omen III design.
Mark Freeland, Mr. Retro RC, provided one of his dividers for storing LiPos in ammo cans and his latest model, a 1937 Slingby T7 Kirby Cadet.
Again, Martin Irvine provided many vintage, full-scale aircraft books. (Again they proved to be a HUGE hit this year! KM) Keith and I want to thank all of our sponsors very much. We know that the registered pilots, who received items from our sponsors, are very grateful as well. Keith and I cannot thank enough all of the folks from the EFO, the Ann Arbor Falcons, and the Midwest RC Society who helped to make this meet the success it is. It is pretty easy to go to a "meet" and enjoy the facilities and forget that it takes a lot of dedicated and hard working people to pull it all together. The physical field needs to be in the best possible condition, the dining facilities, registration, concessions, potluck picnic grilling and a myriad of other details need to be taken care of. Our behind the scenes folks are the best! Guys, Keith and I cannot be more sincere when we say thank you, and we really couldn't have done it all these years without you! Parking and parking directions were handled by the Midwest RC Society members Barb and Bob Weak, <>Arthur Deane, and Greg Eilers. Concessions were headed up by Charlie Dochenetz. He was helped out through the weekend by Jim Ouillette, and Charlie's friend Mike. 
Rick Sawicki Photo Denny Sumner (right) and Dave Stacer (left) handled registration. Gotta love these guys. They are there all of the time to do anything and everything asked of them and more. Thanks so much! Keith and I sincerely thank Denny Sumner, David Stacer, Arthur Deane, Roger Wilfong, Barb and Bob Weak, C.J. Wysocki, Charlie Dochenetz, Jim Ouillette, and Greg Eilers for all of their super help and support. There were more members of the EFO, Ann Arbor Falcons and the Midwest RC Society who pitched in with other spur of the moment jobs. Thanks to you folks as well! Also, a special thanks goes out to the Midwest RC Society for allowing us to use their field and flying time for the majority of our Mid-Am meets. You guys and gals are the very best! Again this year we recognized the model BUILDERS who use Not Conventional Materials to construct their aircraft. These types of aircraft are popular with younger builders and we will continue to encourage this segment of the hobby with recognition for their efforts. The photo below shows the NCM aircraft and their builders at the Mid-Am this year. 
CJ Wysocki Photo The photo also shows the mass launch for the NCM Aircraft All-Up-Last-Down Event.
Even with the limited space in his van, due to having to haul all of the potluck supplies, Keith still put on a great demo with his Dehavilland Comet. That plane is as old as this meet, 35 years! 
Ken Myers Photo
Keith takes off his Antic Bipe with Snoopy in command in the pilotÕs seat. 
Ken Myers Photo Keith's Antic and his vintage PT.
Keith Shaw (left) and Ken Myers (right) briefed the pilots on the field safety rules and the procedure to follow incase of a fire. Ken spent a good deal of time outlining the thirty-five year history of the Mid-America Electric Flies. He also introduced Richard Utkan, the EFO vice-president. Richard was at the first Mid-Am and has been with us all the way. Ken Sutton, longtime Midwest RC member and full-scale pilot, did a fly-by on Saturday morning to open he event. He recently purchased a 3/4 scale P-51. It is powered by a Honda engine, but looks all the world like the full scale P-51. Thanks for the fly over Ken!
It is always a thrill for Keith and I when our old friends return to this event year after year. Above, left to right, are John Kauk, Doug Ingram, and Don Belfort. 
CJ Wysocki photo It is always a great time spending the weekend with all FOUR Fosses! 
CJ Wysocki photo CJ Wysocki got a very nice photo of Don Belfort and his Globe Swift (left) along with Denny Sumner and his Globe Swift (right). 
Ken Myers Photo Bill Brown (left) and Robert Throne (right) check out their versions of the Wright Flyer. 
Steve Labuta Photo Mark Freeland of Retro RC and one the AMA's newest Hall of Fame members, keeps his, and Mr. Bill Brown's planes in the shade, under his canopy. Keith and I cordially invite you to join us for the 35th Annual Mid-America Electric Flies in July, 2020. See you then! Upcoming Event
EVENT INFORMATION
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Landing Fees for Pilots:
Contest Directors, Kevin Glynn, Dan Galasso, and the rest of the RCCD family invite you to our awesome flying site for a weekend filled with fun, friends, great concessions, 50/50 raffles, vendors, electric flying, prizes and more! Upcoming Event
When: Friday August 23 4:00 pm - 9:00pm and Saturday August 24 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Landing Fees: $15 (includes Pilot Pizza & Soda ) CD Marv Thomson 517-8027675 or mthomson@wowway.com Website: www.cardsrc.com Address: 8328 Otto Rd, Grand Ledge, Mi 48837 Another One Bites the Dust July 15, 2019 Dear Valued Customer, Heads Up RC will be closing at the end of August. We have had a wonderful run and met a lot of great people in this hobby, but at age 64 I have decided to retire and close the store. Our last day will be Wednesday, August 28th. We will be selling our remaining inventory at close out pricing, so please check the store often between now and August 28th for some super deals on your favorite products. Thank you for your support these past 13 years. Sincerely Yours,
To Reach Ken Myers, you can land mail to the address at the top of the page. My E-mail address is: KMyersEFO@theampeer.org |
