Here is a video I took today at our flying field using my GoPro Hero3 Camera system mounted on top of my UPROAR .40 size 3d plane.
Kenny McMullen did a lot of the flying in this video, especially the good inverted and low pass stuff shown on here. I attempted to get inverted near the last part of this video with very limited and pretty much lousy results......and yet I will nail it someday.........at least this landing was a lot better than the past few filmed landings I've attempted to do......so there is success in part afterall!!!
Enjoy the video now, and I hope to get in more flights this weekend depending on how the weather holds out for us to fly or not.
Thanks for checking it out and be sure to leave any comments and suggestions you may have below.

Quad-Copter first flight attempt using my GoPro camera system

I now have an Eflite Blade 350QX Quad-Copter that is set up for a GoPro camera mounting system. I am using my GoPro Hero3 Black edition camera onboard this very stable flying bird, and it sure makes it easy to get some good shots too.

 I'll post a link to the video on here so you can enjoy watching how stable this system really is. It sure makes me look a LOT better at flying than I really am.....lololol

This was shot yesterday afternoon about 4pm or so at Pathfinder Park soccer fields west of Florence, CO. and notice the standing water on the grass in various places from all of the melted snow there.

Enjoy this video and let me know what you think about this setup too.

Mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK9jSP5eIwA&feature=youtu.be

Mother Nature was not cooperating today

I was hoping to get in some more flying with my new Go Pro video camera setup using my .40 size GP UPROAR airplane but the winds were a bit unsettled and breezy when I thought about heading over to the field to attempt flying. I really enjoy this new video part of flying even though I'm not very good at the editing part of this deal by any means yet. And the flying leaves a bit to be desired yet too...hahaha!!!
I also got to thinking about the upcoming "Nitro-Chili-Burn" New Years Day flying event, so I sent out an early email reminder to everyone to get them to thinking about attending this great flying event the club puts on every year now. Remember it is a go no matter what the weather brings, so you may want to get those ski's ready just in case too. We had a huge turnout of people that showed up for this great event and everyone really enjoyed it a lot. Tell your buddies about it and let's all get together to welcome in the New Year for 2014 while having a lot of fun flying and enjoying each others great company.
Let me know when you can about attending and what you may need also. I'll be sharing my award winning "Nitro-Burn-Chili" with everyone and please feel free to bring anything you care to also.
I hope to see everyone out flying and enjoying this great fall weather we are experiencing right now too.

My new GoPro Hero3+ video camera in use.

Here is the corrected flight video with audio of a flight I took on 11-10-13 at our clubs field. I hope to get lots more videos in the near future also from several different aircraft and vantage points too.

Weekend Flying - Pulling Off A Hat Trick

In sports parlance the expression "Hat Trick" refers to doing something good three times. In hockey it means a player scoring three goals in one game. This weekend we had three good days of flying ... Friday evening indoor flying, great flying weather all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday.

Our first scheduled indoor flying session was attended by five club members. Not a lot but we got some good flying in. I didn't spend a lot of time there since I was in between filling a prescription which I had to get home to my wife. But I was able to get in a very long flight on my Playmate and another flight on my Night Vapor. Bob Crawford put on a good show of 3D flying with his plane and Cloyce flew his Playmate. After I left I understand Cloyce flew a helicopter.

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Saturday turned out to be a great day and the flying was well attended. Somehow there was a rash of dead-stick landings. Kenny had one with his Edge and I had two with my Big Stick. All landings had happy endings. I re-tuned my Saito 65 and no more problems. Steve Anderson had an Alpha 60 "trainer" that is a real hot rod. He had to retire from flying early since his flight battery was not fully charged.

Dennis & Kenny talking over Kenny's Edge. On the far flight-stand
is Garry's Electro Stick and in the near stand is my Big Stick 

Kenny bringing his Edge for a landing with Dennis observing.

Cloyce, Gary and Dennis also got in some flying. Sorry, no pictures.

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Sunday was a good day, but when I arrived the wind had kicked up, gusting to 12 knots at times. I brought my OS 55AX powered Drastik and I got in several flights. It flew well since I repaired it from a "crash landing" this summer. It is of the Ultra Stick type of design and I'm quite pleased with its flying qualities and the performance of the 55AX.

My Drastik in the foreground and Mark Sullivan with his Uproar that sported a video camera
mounted on top of his plane. Behind Mark is Dennis' Four Star. Kenny and Dennis are next to Mark's
trailer. We all had fun fooling around with the camera system. 

The camera system plays back through Mark's Samsung smart phone via a WiFi link. Pretty neat. Although he didn't bring a plane, Kenny flew the Uproar while Mark kibitzed. As I mentioned, we did a Hat Trick!

A Tribute to Bill Worthen, Sr.

Pictured is a Great Planes Big Stick 40 from the estate of Bill Worthen Sr. I took this photo yesterday at the field after I had several flights (my first on this plane) and it was a joy to fly. The Saito 65 four stroke engine although "long in the tooth" ran quite well and powered the Stick nicely. The Saito brand was certainly Bill's favorite engines. This combination of airplane and engine will make a great sport flyer addition to my hanger.

On the wing is Bill's club hat that I proudly wore to honor him.

I was the only one at the field because I arrived late in the afternoon. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and light winds. Someone, who was flying earlier Saturday, left a T-handle hex wrench on one of the flight stands. Contact me to claim your wrench.

Found hex wrench

Emergency Landing at Fremont County Airport

So the County Sheriff truck pulls up to us and orders "no planes in the air". What was happening was a drama of an aircraft unable to fully lower his landing gear and they were making preparations for a belly landing. We watched as he skidded to a stop on the runway. The pilot leaped out of his plane and ran back towards the emergency vehicles. I took a photo of the scene soon after the "landing".

The plane, looked like a Cessna, is at the far left of the picture. Emergency vehicles are at the center and left. A large flat bed trailer was brought in later and they hoisted it onto the trailer. Pretty exciting.

Friday Flying Report

There were several at the field this morning. We were thankful that the high winds which have been the norm for the past few days were now calm. Dennis flew his 4 Star, Gary and Larry brought trainers. I was going to maiden my Big Stick 40, but I discovered an aileron servo problem. Then after the wind kicked up and blew it off the flight stand and broke the wing tip its fate was sealed for today. I did try to help Larry get in some stick time on his trainer, but his engine was not running reliably and I had to dead-stick it in after a couple of laps. Maybe I'll try flying again this weekend if the wind cooperates.

Bill Worthen's RC sale

I was given the honor of looking over all of the items and aircraft that Bill Worthen had, as per his final wishes, and I got the Hog-Bipe that was the very last RC plane that he ever flew before his untimely passing.
 I promise to cherish that beautiful airplane in his great memory and I am certain there will be lots of knee knocking and shaking hands and twitching fingers when I ever finally get up the nerve to fly it again in his memory. It is an absolutely gorgeous plane, as were all of his aircraft that Bill owned and built.
 I also purchased this .60 sized Great Planes Escapade that Bill had just recently purchased as an ARF and he has a few flights with it too. I can't wait to get it converted over to my 2.4 Ghz Spektrum radio setup and get it up flying in the very near future.
 And the last but definitely not least one that I bought was a .40 sized Super Sportster that like every other plane Bill owned and flew, also has a Saito 4 stroke engine on it too. Ive been at the field at various times when all 3 of these fine aircraft have flown in Bill's very capable and skilled hands. Naturally I also got the remaining Saito 4 stroke engines that Bill had for spare engines too.

There are other aircraft and RC related items up for sale yet still....Please contact Bill Worthen Jr. for further information and a time to go see what is for sale from Bill Sr's RC plane hobby.

Civil Air Patrol Meeting

Thursday Evening President Ed Vincent gave a lecture and demonstration of R/C aircraft to the members of the Civil Air Patrol. We met in their new building adjacent to our meeting location at the Fremont County Airport. This was the second of a series of meetings that Ed had with the CAP. Ed brought his Spitfire and Seniorita to demonstrate both a scale warbird and trainer. I tagged along to assist Ed.

Ed Vincent showing the cadets his Spitfire

After his session indoors, we took his Seniorita outside and Ed fired up the engine to demonstrate the operation of a nitro engine. The cadets were very impressed with the sight and sound of the engine and the smell of the glow fueled exhaust. We returned inside and concluded with a question and answer session. The cadets had a lot of questions and were very interested in the topic of R/C model aviation.

The next step is the CAP group will be obtaining an aircraft through the CAP educational program. They will construct the plane to familiarize them with the building process. They will also be applying to the AMA to obtained a club AMA charter.

Calendar of Events Scheduling Time

I recieved an email from the individual that puts together the yearly Calendar of Events for the entire region surrounding our club this past week, and he is asking that all the various clubs try to put together at the very least a tentative schedule of the club's events for the upcoming 2014 flying season. He will then take all the clubs information and links and compile it into the regional calendar to be sent out to all the area clubs for use in planning their events to a firmer date and time. We need to start considering what events we want to schedule tentatively and firmly for next year to include in our response back to him ASAP. Contact myself or Marlowe Cassetti with any ideas and dates for our club events for 2014.
 On a different note I apoligize for not being in attendance and assisting with many of the club activities and field maintenance duties in the recent past, but work travels have and will take me out of the area for extended periods of time in the foreseeable future as they have in the past now too. I appreciate everyones involvement in the club's  activities and field maintenance, and if possible with the onset of winter coming on I may get a bit more time to devote to those activities, but I was informed of a couple of out of state winter jobs that are going to happen and keep us busy this coming winter from my employer.
Thanks again everyone, and please let us know ASAP about the scheduling we need to start taking care of for next year.

Regards,

Mark J. Sullivan

EAA Fly-In at Fremont County Airport

This year saw a great event from the opening EAA pancake breakfast at 7:00AM to the closing at 1:00PM. Our club was well represented and we had a static display of many of our planes and a table where we handed out magazines and information sheets about our club with our web site. I noted a number of interested parties and we may pick up some new members from having our display. We had conversations with the Civil Air Patrol members and I believe that will develop into more activity between our two groups. Also we made contact with the veterans home and they want to bring out the vets when we are having a flying session.

A number of the Sky Corral club members came out for this event. This year the event organizers were unable to provide us with an area to demonstrate R/C flying which was unfortunate because folks came by our table asking when we were going to fly as we did last year.

Hawker Sea Fury

The show started off with an arrival of this Sea Fury making a low level pass over the runway in excess of 300 mph and then landing. It is a monster of an airplane. And the folks loved to walk around it.

The Renegade Demonstration Team lined up 

The Renegades laying down smoke 

The highlight of the show was the acrobatic performance of Don Nelson flying his Russian Sukhoi Su-26. It was something to behold.

Don Nelson in his Sukhoi Su-26

A great time was had by all.

V-22 Osprey & Flying on Tuesday

 What a great day to go flying today, plus an unexpected treat of seeing a V-22.

After waiting a few days for my schedule and the weather to cooperate, I got out to the field around 1:00PM.  Across the way I spotted a Boeing V-22 Osprey and it commenced starting making a near vertical liftoff!

V-22 Liftoff

Coming in from the west for a landing

It was a great thrill to see it make repeated takeoffs and landings.

I brought out my recently refurbished Tower Uproar 40 that I bought from Cloyce a few meetings ago. It was time to give it a test flight. I put on a MDS 46 that I've had for almost a dozen years and I've had mixed results with. But it seems to be running more reliably now since I re-tuned it and added a "hot" glow plug. I also added an Assan 2.4 Ghz receiver which I can control from my Hitec transmitter.

All ready to go, Uproar 40

The MDS died on the first takeoff and ended up in the weeds at the east end of the runway. No damage done so I restarted the engine and got in a good 6 minute flight which I followed with another 6 1/2 minute flight. On the third flight I was trying touch-and-go landings when I pancaked it in, bent the landing gear and broke the prop.  When I got it back to the shop it took just a couple of minutes to bend the l.g. wire back in shape and add a new prop. 

The MDS 46 is more power than needed and I have some 36 size engines that I may try on it. I like the way it handles and the convenience of having a plane that fits in my little Chevy Aveo without having to take the wing off.

EAA Fly-in/Open House

Saturday Flying Report

A great day to fly with the weather cooperating and a good turnout.

Dennis got some great flying on his Twist 40. He re-engined it with an OS 45AX and said it flew much better with the engine change and an adjustment to the c.g. Cloyce flew his gas powered Yak. It seemed to fly well but he wasn't quite satisfied. Bobby had a Saito powered 4-Star and he wrung it out with several flights. Steve Anderson brought out his Piper Cherokee. He flew it several times looking for a perfect landing.

Great Planes Piper Cherikee

Gary flew an ElectroStick and it flew quite well.

Gary, cast and all, just before takeoff with his electric Stick 

Since I hadn't flown at all for over a month, I brought out my LT-40 to dust off the cob webs and get in some stick time. My flight was a bit off with some drastic trim and stability issues. Cranking a lot of down elevator cured the problem. I later discovered that the forward wing hold-down attachment had developed some slop that resulted in a couple of degrees of incidence change depending on how much of lift was pushing or pulling on the joint. On a later flight Cloyce strolled out to two tanks just north of our field in order to see just how far out I was flying. The LT-40 was making it out to the tanks. Due to the proximity of the active airport runway the tanks should be the limit of our northward flying.

Pioneer Days Parade float

Don't forget the club is entering a float in the upcoming Pioneer Days Parade on September 21st....we need planes to display and volunteers for it also. Thanks everyone and I hope to be in back in town from working for the upcoming "Hammer Bellino" memorial fly-in on Saturday Sept. 28th also.

Warbirds Over the Rockies show coming up soon

Is anyone planning on attending this event coming up soon???.....I may consider going to it also if there is some interest in car pooling to this show....respond via email or telephone and let me know ASAP....
Thanks everyone,
Mark J. Sullivan

P.S. Here's a link to the event....check out the video also while looking around their site if you'd like.

http://www.warbirdsovertherockies.com/

Upcoming Event on the Western Slope

For those interested in an out-of town event

Passing of Bill Worthen, Sr.

In Memory of

William Eugene
"Bill"
Worthen sr

Obituary for William Worthen

William (Bill) Eugene Worthen Sr., 76, passed away on August 26th, 2013 at his home with his family by his side. He was born October 26th 1936 to Willis William Worthen Jr. and Fem Beatrice Bass in Clayton, Missouri.
Bill was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, living there until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in November of 1955. He served his country for seven years, a service in which he was honored to do. While on leave in Canon City he met Joan Margaret Kessler. They became engaged and married a year later on January 21st, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri. They celebrated 53 years of marriage this year.
After getting out of the Navy, Bill worked for Public Service Company in Denver, Colorado for seven and a half years. He wanted his two children raised in a smaller community. The family moved to Canon City in 1969. Bill was employed by the Colorado Department of Corrections working his way through the ranks, retiring as a captain in December of 1992, after 23 years of service. While working at D.O.C. he attended college earning both his A.A and B.S. degree in sociology while working full time and caring for his family. He also taught as a part-time professor at Pueblo Community College teaching criminal justice classes. He held the position for twenty-four years.
Bill joined the Fraternal Organization of Masons in 1965. He was a member of the Eureka Masonic Lodge #66 A.F.and A.M. in Coal Creek, Colorado. He was a member of the Southern Colorado Consistory, Al Kaly Shrine and a member of the Fremont Shrine Club. In 1998 Bill and his wife undertook the task of the restoration of the Masonic Lodge building in Coal Creek. The building was originally built in 1879, and was destroyed in 1907 after a fire destroyed most of the town of Coal Creek. It was rebuilt in 1908. Bill had the building put on the Colorado State Historical Registry in order to obtain grant money to help in the cost of restoration. During the restoration he had a rock pedestal built in which the lodge held a comer stone setting ceremony in which a one hundred year capsule was placed in the pedestal. The restoration project was a labor of love to him.
Bill served as Worshipful Master of Eureka #66 in the years 2000 and 2001. He was their current treasurer for the past seven years. He was a devoted mason in every sense of the word. Bill was responsible for the annual Christmas parties that are held at the lodge for the children of Coal Creek.
Bill was never one to sit idle, as he had many hobbies. He was a member of the Royal Gorge Gun Club, Fremont County Radio Control Airplane Club, Train Collection Association Club both State and National, preferring the 0 Gauge Lionel trains. Despite Bill's many interests, he still found time for his family. He dearly loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren; they all held a special place in his heart. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, stepmother Ethel Hardwig Worthen, and grandson Charles Gius.
Bill is survived by his wife Joan, daughter Deborah (Everett) Berry and son William Jr. (Linda) Worthen, eight grandchildren and seven great –grandchildren; sister, Susan (Bill) VanMatre; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m., Thursday, August 29, 2013 at the Wilson Funeral Home. Funeral Service will be at 10:00 a.m., Friday, August 30, 2013 at the Wilson Funeral Home Chapel, with interment following at Lakeside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Orchard of Hope Foundation at 111 Orchard Avenue, Canon City, CO 81212
Arrangements are under the care of Wilson Funeral Home. Online condolences @ www.wilsonfuneralhome.org

More pictures of the Flying Giants Colorado Huck Fest

8-16-13

Here are some pictures taken from last weekend's event at the Flying Giants Huck Fest held at the Arvada Airpark field in Golden, CO.