THE PHOENIX AT ETSA IN MARCH!Several times through the evening of the March indoor event at ETSA Park, David Wearing-Smith’s son, Scott, entertained all and sundry with his tiny Bipe which looks vaguely like a Pitts. With the onset of each of his flights, it was obvious that much time was spent in trimming this aircraft, and the more we saw of him, the more improvement was witnessed. It was some weeks since David’s last appearance (like one other of our members – he is a commercial pilot and has to take pot luck with his indoor flying visits with us) and he gave our memories a bit of a twiddle by appearing with “The Blob.” It is quite an attractive foam construction and, until his mid-air with John Jansse (J.J.), David had been enjoying flying time, as always. Incidentally, J.J. reprimanded me severely for temporarily making him a member of Holdfast F.C. when, and I stand corrected, he is a fairly active member of the Constellation Model Flying Club. 
John Jansse, David Wearing-Smith & Andy Hollitt One statement leads to another and as soon as I mention Connie, I am immediately reminded of the gigantic Air Races which will be held at their field on the 13th, 14th and 15th April. Known as the Golden Era Races, this year’s event has attracted almost 80 Entries from which a large proportion are from Interstate. (The Phoenix will be the commentator on the PA for this big meeting; what an honour for him!)
I must drag myself back to time spent flying indoor, for I do find that I am overburdened with excitement when I think of the Golden Era Races. There is little doubt that two of the hi-lights at ETSA Park last night were the two helicopters which were so expertly flown by Justin Galbraith and Calvin Puah. As I featured Justin fairly heavily last month, AND as a suspected radio fault caused his machine to settle very heavily on the highly polished floor, sustaining considerable damage, I’ll glide over to Calvin and some of his antics. One of my pictures shows his “Mini-Titan,” (this is one of the most impressive helicopters that I have seen) sitting between his face and my camera, whilst inverted. Earlier he made sure that no dust had gathered on the floor by dusting it with his upside-down blades from an altitude of barely six inches – oops – 15 cms. From the first time that I saw Calvin flying a heli, he has advanced with such rapidity that it is always a pleasure to just stand by and watch his enormous skill. 
Calvin sweeping floor with inverted Mini-Titan Light entertainment was provided several times through the evening when Justin made many smooth passes through the rafters with his Mk 2 Ikarus Shock Flyer. Justin spends most of his flying time practicing being s m o o t h. This is with both fixed wing aircraft and whirlybirds. We saw several attempts, some successful, by John Jansse to emulate Justin’s skill but I must say that the finesse had just gone walkabout. The Galbraith Mk2 Ikarus Shock Flyer has a little more wing area and is longer in the fuselage that the original aircraft. This was pointed out by Dennis Miller when he sat his earlier model over the top of the Mark 2 machine and the difference was quite evident. Being powered by one of the very small and quiet CD Rom brushless motors, it really is one silent but nimble critter. 
Don Rosella adjusts his Channel 7 helicopter. As the clock approached 9.20 p.m. with no appearance from Mike O’Reilly, the general thought was that Jamie’s birthday party had lingered a little longer, although both the aforesaid gentlemen looked surprisingly sprightly the following afternoon. Dennis Miller continues to improve his flying ability with his helicopter, as does SSL President Mark Stone’s and, the latter must be fast approaching the removal of his training wheels. Speaking of wheels, and once more, speaking of Justin Galbraith, he decided to glue the wheels on his Shock Flyer. The result? Fast landings and sudden stops. Are you sure that you haven’t fitted disc brakes to it? Most impressive with his “cracking up” type landings – well we cracked up at the antics.I reckon Andy Hollitt will be pouring the cyano onto the wheels of several of his foamies.It was very pleasant to see Alan Portlock make one of his rare appearances, as a spectator, in fact, in any guise at ETSA. 
Mark Stone and Kirk Winters take notice of William Kent - 4th unknown by me. A feature of last night’s flying was that we started flying at 8 oclock which gave us an extra half hour’s flying time. Its no good advising you to be there at that time every night, for those bonuses are dropped in our laps, or transmitters, when we arrive at the stadium, with no warning or pre-advice at all. If you do arrive early and the netball game is still in operation, at least you can sit in the stands and watch the lovely “leedies” rush around the court. It’s better than watching Eddie Everywhere. 
5th Calvin consoles Justin Galbraith after his mishap. Although we have advertised that we will be using court one throughout the year, last night was outstanding, for we had the use of courts 1 & 2 giving us ample space to fly, well, whatever we brought. I spent a lot of time just slobbering over Calvin’s Spektrum radio. What a magnificent piece of electronic whizardry. Some day when pension rates rise, we’ll all be using those, which will mean Terry can use the keyboard to stoke up his barby at SSL Park.
Next Flying Session at ETSA Park, Adelaide South Australia is Thursday 19th April 2007 at 8.30pm
Phoenix Indoor Flight Reports
Indoor Flying at ETSA Park 2008
| Date |
Court |
Time |
| September 18th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| October 16th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| November 20th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
| December 18th |
1 |
8.30-10.30pm |
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I
want a quote on how much freight it will cost to send items to me.
