1999 EVENT REPORT

37 Registered Pilots!   55 Aircraft!  
11 Turbines-44 Ducted Fans!

This surpassed last year's numbers and thrilled the largest audience of spectators, who turned out for all three days of flying!  This has become THE BIGGEST EVENT in our history!  Even with a "gusty breeze", the pilots put on a terrific show of expertise!!  Winamac Aero Modelers sincerely thank all of the pilots, sponsors, audience, spotters, and volunteers who made the event THE GREATEST EVER!!  

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO Brad Long and Ed Kirtly from Bowling Green, KY.  they were kind enough to quit practicing and help get the field ready even thought they were guests.

We look forward to seeing all of you next year!!!

Thanks once AGAIN!!

Marv Thompson
Secretary/Treasurer

For the three day event, we arrived a little late - about 5:30 Friday evening. The first person we encountered was Bob Violett getting ready for another flight with the Rafale. Good to see you, BV! Weren't sure we'd make it to Jets Over the Heartland this year. Too, too much going on in the consulting engineering business, especially mine. Left early too, about 6:00 p.m. Saturday, but it was a great day on the flight line.

The air was crisp and cool with a bit of a crosswind, but, like I told some newspaper person, that "just makes flying a little more interesting" (as long as it isn't a gale!) . The club's exclusive flying site (dedicated totally to RC models) features unobstructed approaches and a 50' X 800' paved runway with plenty of grass runoff (just don't forget about the ditch east of the runway). The runway has been reinforced for the larger, heavier models and the taxiway has been extended several feet. Food and refreshments are available from the kitchen where Marvin (or one of his assistants) will make you an egg sandwich just the way you want it! (I like mine less than half raw, according to EA!) And, don't forget the control tower where CD Greg Hilderbrandt has a bird's eye view of approaching air traffic.

More importantly, Winamac Aero Modelers, Inc., have added another safety feature to their small but exquisite flying field. Movable metal blast shields. Reasonably small (2' X 2') they can be moved from one side of the taxiway to the other depending on wind direction. So simple, and yet so effective! This single feature defines the turbine start-up area as well as each specific plane's position. By diverting the hot gases, the shields protect anyone walking behind a turbine powered plane. They tend to prevent clutter since pilots seem to be less inclined to leave their "stuff" on the taxiway. Definitely an item for my list of safety improvements. Thanks, Winamac, for another innovative idea!

Many of the pilots who come to Winamac are ex-military. One in particular, Tim Sparks, flew the Intruder before becoming a pilot for Fed Ex. Obviously, Tim continues his love affair with flying both in business and in pleasure since he grabbed the award for most flights. He bought his first ducted-fan model(an Aggressor II) about two years ago, but he's been flying models for 25 years and believes the turbine engine will make it possible to develop a flyable model of the Intruder. Tim also won the JPO Top Gun Award. Tim's daughter Faye is his caller.

All awards were presented Saturday afternoon. In addition to the two Tim received, Art Gajewski won Best Scale Jet for his T-33. Billy Harrod took the award for Best Turbine Performance while Steve Pulley received a similar award for best Fan-Jet Performance. Congratulations to Brad Long for Best Finish (BVM Maverick) and welcome back to the jet scene.

Although turbine automobiles haven't caught on, Tim Redelman, Event Director, delighted spectators when he made several high speed dashes down the runway with Ralph Braun's turbine-powered (AT280, no less!) RC racer . Ralph is a local entrepreneur who donated the land and provided the resources for the improvements to the flying field.

Once again, Steve Gabrys did an outstanding job as Flight Line Director.