AstroWings 2009 Ice Fly
The first thing I noticed at the AstroWings 2009 Ice Fly was the number of rc pilots who showed up on a cold January day to fly RC airplanes! The temperature when I arrived was about 24 degrees and there were 10 cars already lining the road next to our field as is traditional for a winter flying session. The number of pilots was at least 15 and I wondered how the heck the best turnout of the year for a single flying event happened to be a cold winter day. Perhaps golf, yard work, honey-dos and other distractions are less prevalent. Whatever the reason, it was good to see so many pilots participating in an event.
Frankly, it was COLD. I don’t know why it felt so cold but I have flown slope planes on the bluffs of Lake Michigan for years in as cold or colder weather and not felt the bite as much but it was a day to fly so fly I flew. I had my Multiplex Twin Star and flew for about 5 minutes in the 15 mph breeze. The Twin Star, set up stock like mine, is a great plane in light air and, while it flew fine today, the breezy conditions, combined with the cold spelled short flight. Still I managed some rolls and strafing runs along with a nice right-at-the-foot landing.
I saw Ben fly a Profile job and Brad fly another glow plane. I know there were other planes in the air but I split after about 40 minutes.
At least the year started with a flight!
