Events

Night Flight

The clubs night flying get together on the 27th was a great success. Many aircraft took to the very calm night sky to entertain spectators and pilots alike. There were several Night Radians™ (the glider in the background picture of this text) with various lighting schemes present and many flew together, which was very impressive. These large wingspan gliders with a lot of lights really lit up the black night sky. To kick off the evening bratwurst and Italian sausages were cooked and served up along with side dishes brought by members and guest.

It was such a fun success that the club is already planning another night flying session. Stay tuned here for the date and time. As the days get shorter the time of darkness will come sooner and so will the start times.

Thanks to all that participated and made the evening a pleasant few hours of fun.

**The build was completed and the maiden flight took place September 28th. After a trim flight a few of the kids got to fly the aircraft. Unfortunately an elevator malfunction ended in the loss of the aircraft. The club had a standby aircraft at the ready and many more of the young people present got a chance to control the aircraft, with some showing a natural ability to fly r/c aircraft. We hope they all enjoyed the day and the kids will return for the next Build and Fly when it is scheduled. Students and mentors all learned a lot during the inaugural Build and Fly and will enter the next session ready to go.**

Our club is partnering with EAA Chapter 586 in Show Low to assist in their Young Eagles Build and Fly Program. The Young Eagles is part of the EAA effort to bring young people of ages 8 through 17 into aviation. Many EAA members offer free rides in full scale aircraft to the Young Eagles to give them hands on experience in flying a real aircraft. This program has been very successful in introducing young people to the possibilities of all types of careers in aviation.

To extend the aviation knowledge of the youths participating in Young Eagles the EAA implemented the Build and Fly Program. The local EAA chapter purchases a complete package of everything necessary to successfully build a radio controlled aircraft, including the kit, radio system, power system, all glue and finishing materials and tools to needed to complete the aircraft. The aircraft kit being used is currently a Old School Model Works Fifty Six to be built with an electric power system. Download the kit instruction manual here. ( about 67mb)

The EAA partners with area Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) chartered clubs to assist in the entire process. As radio controlled aircraft builders and flyers, AMA members possess a wealth of knowledge and skills to pass along to the young people in 1- building the model and 2- in providing a safe place to eventually fly the completed r/c aircraft.

We began the project at the EAA meeting on March 9, 2024. There were 17 Young Eagles signed up for the initial build. To try and speed up the process we broke up into groups with each group building a single part of the airframe. As expected there were some growing pains for both our club members and the YE's but by the end of the day it was going much smoother. Our second build session on the 23rd was much more productive and the participants there did a great job of building their assigned components.

For more info from the EAA click here.

Club Events