2003 in Review

Norfolk Aeromodelers

January started out cold with snow. Willis Swindell and John Tate went to Florida for the King Orange. It was cold down there also. How about 28 degrees at the runway at 8:00 am. The winds were up for the whole meet. Willis could not get his four stroke engines to run in the cold. John Tate stayed with two stroke engines. The fingers felt good when the engine back fires. After a few whacks of the prop on the fingers, then the electric starter would be used.

February: saw the Brodak laser cut Tomahawks come in. This is the way all kits should look like. Back on Feb. 8 the model airplane flea market in Yorktown in the junior high school there was a great hit. The Norfolk Aeromodelers rented a table. We sold some modeling items that we would never use plus picked up some items we knew we will need in the future. We also sold off the remainder of Mike Gramon's modeling supplies. Abram Van Dover and the Tidewater Soaring Society always put on a nice event.

March was the building contest. Bill Sequira won first place with his Blue Bird. John Tate received second with his Bodak Tomahawk. Willis Swindell received third with his profile Stuka.

April: Willis Swindell test flew his profile Stuka. The model flew very nice. John Tate also test flew the Brodak Tomahawk. The Tomahawk flew great. Only a minor adjustment was needed. The Roanoke Rapids Fly-In was on Saturday April 26. Chip Largent with his neighbor (forgot his name), Bill Sequira, Steve Fitton, Jimmy Paul, Bill Ballinger, Willis Swindell and John Tate had a blast at the Roanoke Rapids fun fly last month. There was the gang for Winston Salem NC there flying some really nice looking airplanes. The forecast was for rain. We were lucky because the rain did not start until 3:00 in the afternoon. We were tired and wore out from so mush flying that the rain came at the right time. F. E. Collier puts on a great fun fly. It was great to see old friends again and meet new ones.

May/June: Willis Swindell and John Tate went to Huntersville, NC for their stunt contest on May 31 and June 1. We arrived Friday to get in some practice flying and work out some engine run problems. The weather on Friday there was great. Come Saturday morning there was rain and high winds. We did fly Saturday even though we would not normally fly in those conditions at home. Sunday had the high winds but no rain. We flew on Sunday but still would not fly in those conditions at home. We did come home with one trophy and we brought home all of airplanes we took there.

Billy Dunn, Steve Fitton, Willis Swindell and John Tate went to the Brodaks Flyin over the Fathers Day weekend. It seems that all Brodak Flyins there is rain and more rain. There were over 800 flights put in on the six circles in four days. The only time flying would stop was when you could here thunder or saw lighting. We were wet and exhausted by the end of the flyin. Steve Fitton place third in Advance Stunt and John Tate placed second in Intermediate Profile Stunt. We went to an engine clinic and a flight-trimming seminar. We learned enough just to be dangerous. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Chip Largent moved to Ohio. We lost another great member. We wish Chip the best with his move to Ohio.

July: Dick Bridges was in town and showed up at Fentress one Sunday to catch on the gossip and fly a couple of his old model airplanes. Bill Sequira, Willis Swindell and John Tate listened to Dicks promotion on living down in Florida. Living down in Florida sounds great. We let Dick fly his old Super Ringmaster. Dick like so mush that he took the model back to Florida with him. It good to see Dick again and it looks like Florida does agree with him. Anyway it was like old times out at Fentress flying with Dick again. Willis and John Tate receive the ARF Noblers last week. The Nobler is a nice kit and will not take long to get into the air.

August: We had a great time at the Cloud Tramp Mass Launch today at Nike Park on Saturday, August 9 at 12 noon. There were 21 modelers lined up ready for the launch. Believe or not the rain stopped just before the launch. Abram Van Dover must have a connection with the rain gods. Earl Stahl called out the count down to 12:00. Earl Stahl had the longest flight.

Roanoke Rapids Fly-was on August 30. It was hot and the turn out was low. We got in some needed flight time. Willis Swindell flew his ARF Nobler. A new Brodak 40 powers the Nobler. The engine and airplane is a good combination. The Nobler flew pretty well on the first test flights. Willis is going to experiment with some different propellers. The gas tank only gives a 5-minute flight.

September: The hurricane Isabel came and went. The weekend after Isabel Jimmy Paul and Bill Ballinger went to Petersburg Airport and taught around 25 kids the art of controlline model airplane flying. This was part of an EAA flying event. Sounded like Jimmy and Bill had a great time teaching the kids how to fly. The week after the EAA event Abram Van Dover had the Brain Busters Free Flight contest at Petersburg Airport. Willis Swindell and John Tate went on Saturday and had a great time. Abram and the rest of the Brain Busters know how to have great contest. The turn out was fantastic.

October: The Metroliners of Huntersville North Carolina had a great stunt contest back on Oct. 18 and 19. Bill Ballinger, Steve Fitton, Jimmy Paul, Willis Swindell and John Tate had a blast. Steve Fitton came in Second place in Advance Stunt. A few of us even competed in a Jim Walker 404 Interceptor catapult launch contest there also.

November: John Tate showed the new Brodak P40-B kit. This one of the latest kits that Brodak has came out. This is a profile model that will handle up to a .46 engine. I like the wing design (560 sq. in). The plywood is laser cut. The ribs are still die-cut. As usual, a complete hardware pack is included (4 bell-crank, lead-outs, etc). For you free fight fans: John Tate also showed the Aero-Graphic Bell XS-1 rocket plane kit that just came in from England. Two packs of miniature Rapier rockets engines were also received. The Bell XS-1 even comes with a scale plastic canopy.

December: We did some building on next year's models and flew when the weather was nice.

Submitted by:

John Tate

Here is a little history on last year for the Norfolk Aeromodelers.

Last January, Willis Swindell, Steve Fitton and I went to the King Orange down in Florida. We did not bring back any trophies, but we had a good time.

February - Abram Van Dover had the Brain Busters Model Flea Market over in Yorktown. We got to see some old buddies we have not seen in a long time. There were some great deals to be had.

March - was our building contest as listed above.

April - was spent test flying most of the models from the building contest. There were no crashes to report. So the models flew as good as they look.

May was fine-tuning of the building contest models.

June was the MetroLiners Controlline stunt contest in Huntersville, NC. Dick Bridges came in first place in
Beginners Stunt. Chip Largent placed first in Intermittent Stunt. I think Mike Garmon and Willis Swindell came in fifth and sixth places in Advance Stunt. Mike and Willis usually were only one point apart from each other. They would swap places from contest to contest. Chip Largent and his wife took their grandson on a summer time cross county trip. Chip flew in the Sig contest and even got up with some guys in Montana that he had been corresponding with. Chip had fun flying with the new group of controlliners for a few days. Mike Garmon, Willis Swindell and I went together to the Brodak Fun Fly on Fathers Day weekend. As we were loading up Williss van, Mike stated that he received am email from Bill Voyles stating that Mark Barrows had died. Mark was the main topic on the 10-hhour trip to Brodaks. Mark used to keep us going back in the 1980s and early 1990s. Mark will be surely be missed by us that got to know him over the years. Mike Garmon started off with a first place in Advance Profile Stunt at Brodaks contest. Willis blew everyone away with his twin Saito .30 four stroke Henkel 219 stunter. On Williss last flight, he was the only one up out of the four flying circles. He had everyone there watching the flight. Those two four stroke engines give a very unique sound. When his Henkel 219 landed there were at least 150 people giving Willis applause. Willis had to answer a lot of questions for the rest of the contest about those four stoke engines. Willis Swindell and I came in first place in the FoxBerg Racing event. So the all the Norfolk Aeromodelers came home with first place trophies from Brodaks.

July was hot and not much flying. Mike Garmon was supposed to come to the club meeting and bring some paint he had promised to deliver, but he did not show up. I went by his house the next day to see him. As I was knocking on his door, a neighbor came over and told me that Mike was dead. What a shock. We had just talked to him the week before. Mike Garmon will be missed greatly by us all.

August 11th, Abram Van Dover had his Charles Grant Memorial Cloud Tramp Mass Launch. I understand there was a good turn out. And on the same day, the Roanoke Rapids, NC had their Controlline Fun Fly. Dick Bridges, Mark Schneier, Bill Sequira and Willis Swindell went and had a great time.

September - 9-11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City. Fentress airfield shut down to public access. So we lost our flying field. We had to regroup and find another flying field. The Brain Busters had their fall free fight meet at the Petersburg Airport. I went and sold some of Mike Garmons model airplane equipment. I also entered the Cloud Tramp Postal event. We found out that Lee Pearson had a serious stroke. Lee looked like the picture of health. What a shock it was to have another modeler in poor health.

October - Dick Bridges had found a field we could use off of Benefit Road. The field is a soccer field named Cornland Park. The park was not used on Sundays. Dick
promoted the Norfolk Aeromodelers to the director of
Chesapeake Parks and Recreation. Well! Long story made short, Dick obtained permission for us to use the field on Sundays. We procured flying field insurance through AMA and Dick delivered a copy to the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department. Billy Dunn and I went to the Metroliners Controlline stunt contest in Huntersville, NC. Billy entered Beginners Stunt and I sold the rest of Mike Garmons model airplane equipment. Jimmy Paul and Steve Fitton took Billy and I out to eat supper at Troutmans Restaurant (best barbeque pork in North Carolina). The fall Huntersville contest has a history of having a large turn out. Huntersville has a very nice flying site.

November - Fentress opened the gates again so we can fly. We flew at Fentress and at Cornland Park when the weather allowed.

December - not much flying due to bad weather on the weekends. The Christmas Banquet at the Lone Star Steak House went well. We had Dick Bridges, Artie Jessup, Chip Largent, Jerry Minskoff, Bill Sequira, Willis Swindell and me there. We all had our better halves with us so we would know how to conduct ourselves in public (Jerry had his mom to keep him in-line).

So as you can see, we had some good times and bad times this past year. Next year looks like it will be a good one.
Check out www.brodak.com . There is a picture of the new Brodak .40 engine. Willis Swindell and I received one of the 4 prototypes to test run. Stay tuned.

See everyone on the 24th at the club meeting or at Fentress.

John Tate