Ross Clements flew his great LRF at the NEAT
Fair. The model is made out of thin blue foam
and carbon-fiber rod, and uses a Plantraco
micro RC system for guidance.
James Bhasin built this 17.75-inch wingspan
Mini Dakota from a BSD Micro RC kit. He
decorated it in this colorful scheme with
Sharpie markers. Photo by Bob Aberle.
Paul Stamison flew his beautiful 1/24-scale Avro 504 that he built
from a Jing Models kit. He won the Best Micro Scale Model award
for his efforts.
NEAT Fair
2015
The 16th annual Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology (NEAT) Fair was held
September 18-20, 2015. This
was a great year to
attend the NEAT Fair
because it featured
excellent weather
and light-to-moderate
winds throughout the
weekend. I had a great time checking
out the action on the flightline and
hanging out with my friends.
This year I was asked to bring back
the micro aircraft seminars. Adam
Woodworth and I talked about the
models that we would be flying at the
Indoor Night at NEAT event. The micro
talks started in the early years of the NEAT Fair when merely a few of us
were showing off our latest creations. Most of our airplanes had 12-inch
wingspans or larger, and they were state-of-the-art for that time.
We used to pack the tent with curious onlookers who wanted more
information about what we were doing. I remember the big thing at the
time was to see if we could get an airplane to fly in the tent. We eventually
did and everyone was truly amazed!
Indoor Night at NEAT
My wife, Cindy, and I were the event directors of the 2015 Indoor Night
at NEAT, which was held at the Downsville Central School gymnasium on
September 18 and 19. With great weather outdoors, I was worried that the
attendance for the Indoor event would be down. However, that was not the case.
We had a good turnout of spectators and pilots. Many pilots were regulars
who had flown at the school gym in the past, but we also had a few newcomers.
One of them was
12-year-old Ross
Clements. He had
several great-flying
micro models with
him. One that
interested me was
his Living Room
Flyer (LRF).
The model
featured a thin,
lightweight foam
wing and tail
and a carbon-fiber fuselage. He
powered it with a Plantraco GB05
drive unit swinging a carbon-fiber
propeller. The model flew great!
My friend, James Bhasin, surprised
me this year. He showed up with
two new models that he built for the
event. One was a beautiful Cartoon
Scale Pitts constructed from a Gordon
Johnson laser-cut kit. The other was
a Mini Dakota built from a kit that is
available from BSD Micro RC.
Jin Woo Choe brought a beautiful
collection of micro fliers, including his
1/35-scale Horten VII flying wings, Avro
504K, and Sopwith Triplane. He sells
kits of several of his designs, which are
available from Jing Models.
Paul Stamison constructed an
Avro 504 from one of Jin’s kits and
did a beautiful job of building it.
The 1/24-scale model has an 18-inch
wingspan and flies as good as it looks.
Paul won the Best Micro Scale award
for his efforts.
Adam Woodworth had some
amazing new models. First, he flew
his 30-inch wingspan Cartoon Scale
C- 130, which was done up in the Blue
Angels paint scheme to complement
his formation of Cartoon Scale F-4s
that he flew last year.
The C- 130 uses four 7mm brushed
motors. The model flew great and
was extremely maneuverable. He
graciously let me fly the airplane, and
I was impressed with it. Adam won
the award for the Best Cartoon Scale
model.
Adam also had his Imperial Speeder
91 Model Aviation JANUARY 2016 www.ModelAviation.com
MICRO-FLYING
