Sunday 19th April 2009

Another cracking day with a visit from Peter McCorquodale a couple of full-size and three microlights. Ian even managed to get a flight in one and thoroughly enjoyed it. Two good days in a row, has summer finally arrived!!!!! Here are a few pictures some of which were supplied by Peter.

A busier looking flight line than there has been for a good while. If you look close enough you may be able to spot the very rare lesser spotted John King!!!

A closer look at Fraser's Extreme Flight Extra, flies really well but those small wheels are not made for normal grass strips, the u/c was ripped off in a very innocuous landing.

Bob Robertson's Reno Racer, after a hairy few moments post launch, boy did it shift when it had the right battery pack fitted.

Peter's Sky Xpress, a Sig Kadet converted for ailerons and split flaps, performs very well.

Bob's Travel Air and my Greenley.

The Jodel was the first full-size visitor of the day.

The first of three microlights to visit.

A nice little Druine Turbulent popped in for a brief visit.

Ian rides pillion in the microlight.

And touching down after a terrific flight.

Easter Sunday 12th April 2009

Could not have been a better day for flying, sun shining, warm and very little wind. As I left for Knockbain I thought we would have a good turnout plenty of flying and good craik. How wrong was I? I was the only one there for the first hour until Fraser appeared, unfortunately a sick engine saw him leave after two flights. Craig appeared later for a couple of flights with his Big Acro, his engine cut and he had to land over the wall which took his u/c off as the field was very rough. I had six flights with the Greenley and one with the EZ*. Here are a few pics of the day.

Check out the wind sock, normally to get it to hang like that you have to put a concrete block in it!

An infrequent visitor of late Craig, short sleeves as well.

My Greenley once again, it's been flying for about a year now.

At this point that was the sum total of the car park.

Craig's Big Acro takes to the skies again.

Thanks to Peter from Fort William MFC for the following pics showing what can happen if you allow mice anywhere near your workshop, they just love foam!!! And a reminder to take care when storing batteries!!!

Be Warned!!!

April 2009

When we get some photos in of 2009 flying we will post them here, then the 2008 pics will be archived to Photobucket. Why not take your camera the next time you go flying and get some pictures for the website.

Up to 6th August 2008

FWP is on the up without a doubt, we have an ever increasing core of members flying each week, long may it continue. The larger models are creating interest and all the ones that have flown recently handle very nicely indeed. Here are a few pictures from recent flying days.

Kenny's Pilatus with Thor 45cc engine flying very smoothly.

And again.

Nice shot, straight down the lens.  

The Greenley on a low pass.

And again.

Safely on terra firma once again.

Fraser's Extra, bags of power and a nice flying model.

1st June 2008

Not quite such a nice day but it was great to see three petrol powered models fly. I had the Greenley, Fraser had is Christian Eagle and we finally finished off Kenny's Pilatus Turbo Porter which I test flew and very successful it was too. See below a few pictures from today.

Kenny's 2.5m Pilatus ready for it's maiden.

Flies nicely, smooth and stable.

And lands sweet as a nut!

 The Greenly on it's third outing. As an aside, sent back the faulty Rx and two others for the Quick Connect upgrade, got them back within a few days. They did not bother repairing the faulty one, for my piece of mind they replaced it. A great service from Horizon Hobby UK.

Fraser's extra which he flew at Elgin last week to gain his SAA Silver Award, well done!

Fraser brought out his Christian Eagle after a two year lay-off, boy was it flying well.

Nice to see a few larger models at the club, hopefully this will be a regular site.

18th May 2008

The weather is getting better and FWP flying is on the increase. Despite the good(ish) weather today saw only three FWP flyers. Fraser with his Smartmove Malcolm his Travel Air and a vintage high wing job and I finally maidened the LMA Greenley powered by a Zenoah 38, not without a hitch though a dodgy Spektrum Rx had to be replaced before she was ready for the air. See phographs below.

Malcolm's Super Air, inexpensive but flies very well.

Fraser's Smartmove, flying on an Irvine 53 now fitted with a tuned pipe. The result is a lovely light model with ample power.

The Smartmove after a smooth flight coming in for an equally smooth landing.

Kenny fuels up the Greenley

The Zenoah 38 starts easily.

Taxiing ready for take-off.

No more excuses, I'm ready to commit aviation!!!

Away she goes, no shortage of power.

A nice low pass.

Almost landed, she flies very nicely but needs a bit more movement on the ailerons.

9th April

Wednesday evenings are now light enough to fly 'til about 2015 hrs. Myself and Kenny braved the cold conditions along with Robert Brady with his Raptor. Let's get pictures of all the goings on this year for regular updates please.

3rd February 2008

Flying has been fairly constant since the last update although the weather has caused a few days of chat as opposed to FW flying. Heli fying has however carried on almost unabated. Here are a few pictures from recent times at Knockbain although not in chronological order, some were taken a few months back and saved for a future update short of photographs.

A very nice Precedent Funfly belonging to a prospective new member.

 A slightly heavy landing saw this trainer grounded due to a broken prop.

An inverted pass from Craig's Aresti.

A low pass from Craig with his Aresti.

A scale visitor in the shape of a Kittyhawk which flew with 94 Sqn. An unreliable engine however meant no flight on this visit.

A 25th Anniversary Panic belonging to JJ, which I can confirm is very nice to fly.

An unusual visitor to our site, an autogyro which once airborne was surprisingly nimble and is apparently great fun to fly.

Up to 16th December

A good number flying today despite the freezing temperatures, we are ending the year on a high with membership numbers on the increase. 2008 is shaping up to be a good year for the club. It's been a while since last I did an update so below are a sample of what's been going on. And a few shots of full size aircraft that appeared for an impromptu flyin. Enjoy.

 Richard King rejoins RMFC after an absence of 5 years, I think he may have forgotten how cold it can get!!!

Some of our full size visitors.

Dallachy Fly-in.

The RMFC visitors to Dallachy for their second flyin of the year.

The quality of Mick Henderson's scale building is outstanding.

Beautiful landing approach.

Bob Robertson's lovely Seastormer at the Loch Insh 2007 Splash-in.

The Seastormer in Flight

And safely down.

Up to 2nd September 2007

At last the FWP flyers are returning, here are a few pics of the latest aircraft to take to the skies above Knockbain.

Colin's EPP Shockie which flew well.

Formerly Barney's, now Fraser's Groove.

Bob's well flow Aresti.

The Groove again.

And the Aresti.

Craig's Acro Wottish after a long layoff.

My Lark in one piece again.

JJ's profile Edge 540T.

John's preparing to maiden his new Funtana X.

And again.

Fraser shows off his new acquisition.

Up to 10th August 2007

Power Flying has been a bit erratic to say the least, it's not much fun being a lone FWP flyer. Things are beginning to pick up now and let's hope it continues.

Kenny Glashan and myself have recently returned from an ATC Camp at MOD Machrihanish where we were teaching a group of cadets to fly R/C. Along with the help of Colin Nicol and Peter McKenna of the SAA and Steve Holland an LMA pilot regularly seen around the shows. We had an extremely busy and successful week with 4 cadets attaining their SAA Bronze award along with our very own Kenny Glashan. Below is a selection of pictures including Steve Holland's Large models.

Our workshop for the week, oh to have a facility like that at home.

The Flightline for the mini airshow we put on for the rest of the camp.

Steve Holland gets ready to fly his impressive half scale DH88 Comet.

Away it goes, what a sound from the 2 x Zenoah 74 twins.

And a beautiful low pass.

Now the Zlin takes to the air, again half scale powered by a DA150. Steve gave an impressive display of low and slow aerobatics, I'm sure he has an anti-gravity switch in there somewhere!

After a weeks tuition, just look what can be achieved!!!!!

The cadets presenting Steve with a momentum of his week, he enjoyed it as much as the cadets and will return next year should we be lucky enough to have the facilities available.

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A couple of pics of Bob Robertson's Aquabat flying at Loch Insch.

Up to 1st April 2007

The FWP section of the club is taking off again (pun intended) but unfortunately two of the pictures  I have are of planes after their final flights. Before his final take of with his beautiful Pitts, graham stood on his aerial as he lifted his plane to take it out to the runway leaving 90% of  it in the pits. Needless to say he had no range and it piled in big style. Bob was equally unlucky with his Super Air with suspected radio failure. Fraser's new Yak brightens up the day though.

Alas Grahams Pitts meets its demise, it flew so well.

Can you tell which foot is on the aerial?

Bob's Super Air no more.

Fraser treats himself to a Extreme Flight Yak, it flies really well and is so quiet.

4th March

Again pretty cold so not a lot of flying but a few brave souls had a go. The day however was made by the amazing cloud formations. The photographs of the forming mammatus clouds do not do them justice. I have never seen the likes of that before.

Craig makes a rare appearance with his trusty Aresti.

18th February 2007

An extremely cold day but we did have some fixed wing activity. After an unexplained crash last year with my Champion Electric glider, repairs done a change to a Spektrum 2.4GHz radio system and of we go again. Delighted at how it flew and look forward to a bit of thermal hunting in the better weather.

Fraser preparing to launch the Champion.

And she's away climbing out nicely.

Me looking extremely happy with its performance.

11th February 2007

2007 has seen very little fixed wing power flying so far, the cold wet weather with mushy ground as made it unattractive to fly but we live in hope of a spring upsurge!!!

*Note all 2006 Photos can be found in the Fixed Wing Power Gallery