Dungannon Model Aircraft Fly-In

Saturday 20th September

Chris, Adam and I travelled down to Dungannon in the lorry, with Ian, Kenny and Stanley arriving later in the morning due to other commitments. Davie was already there and had flown his electric Katana, and was now about to take off with his Boomerang Intro turbine. Davie put on a fast display before landing safely on the grass strip, very nicely cut for the event.

There was a large turn out again this year, the Dungannon lads certainly get well surported each year, with guys up from across the boarder, as well as some from Portrush. Yes, they come from far and wide to this fly in. Matthew Poots put on another excellent display with his big IMAC competition model, complete with smoke system. If you ever get the chance to watch Matthew fly, take it. You will not be dissapointed.

Ian flew Kenny's DC3, a 12ft wingspan model, in a very realistic manner, with low passes up the strip. He then landed this large model touching the wheels down within the first 3ft of the strip, but still she ran out the other side. The crowd did enjoy seeing this large DC3 fly.

Chris flew his Vanquish, a very aerobatic model from Extreme Flight. During one low prop hang, Chris had to abort when still on high rates and almost made it. Unfortunately the wind sock was directly in the way and some minor damage was the result. Adam flew a Phase3 EDF16, this little model can hit 80mph, and Adam showed everyone how far his flying has come in one year. The young really do catch on fast.

I flew my Elan jet on her first public outing since I fitted the smoke system. Robert Graham was already in the air with his Harpoon jet, so we took turns at low passes. I began with a fast low pass to demonstrate the ability of this design from the Boomerang stable, then slowed things down a bit to perform some rolls and loops with smoke on. Robert had been airbourne before me and landed part way through my flight, so I was able to position my smoke on moves right in front of me. Then it was time to land the Elan with a full flap and nose up approach. I still needed to use wheel brakes as soon as the wheels touched to get stopped on the strip.

We had to be back in Antrim by 6pm, so we packed up and hit the road. A big well done to the Dungannon club for another well run event, we enjoyed ourselves. Cheers.

By Peter Carson