NOTAM
Next Event: Stetson Giant Scale Fun Fly & BBQ Steak dinner August 24 & 25, 2019.
This Notice to Air Men (NOTAM) is a permanent feature to keep you informed about the Stetson Club. Check back often as this information is updated in real-time.
Thank you
July 13, 2019 was...
...day one of the annual Stetson hosted IMAC competition!
Photos from day one with excellent weather to tide you over until the official write-up is in... enjoy!
Goose
Photos: Goose. Click image above for the album.
July 1, 2019 was...
...the annual Stetson Canada Day Display at the Aviation Museum!
Seventeen members plus several wives and family members devoted their time and efforts to man the booth and talk model aircraft with the public today.
The club participation in this event means so much to the Aviation Museum folks, as President Dan frequently reminds us.
We have to be about the most fortunate club ever, to enjoy this venue for meetings...FREE!!!!
Today was a huge success for the Museum, with crowds of families and interested spectators in every direction, inside and out.
Stetsons' display was well visited by the public, and from the smiles of young and old, our passion is not lost on people...they get it!
A new feature this year, entirely due to one man's idea and initiative, was the building of a little stick model aircraft in the booth in real-time.
Jon Harper brought out the kit, set up on the table, and started building this thing. SOO many young eyes watched what he was doing, and with Jon's narrative as he built, the idea was well planted in many young heads that they too could do this. BRILLIANT, Jon. Thank you!
President Dan found his true calling, baby-snatching from the crowd in front of us, and staging the little ones for photos by happy and surprised moms and dads. GREAT P.R. work Dan!
Thanks to Pierre Menard for looking the other way when the little ones wanted to sit on his big Sukhoi! Couple of good saves there, Dan!
Les Morgan did some great work showing a number of kids, both young and old, the power of an electric ducted fan unit. Cranking up his jet to maybe 1/3 throttle, there were a lot of OOH's and AAH's as they felt the thrust of air coming from the plane. Great work sir!
We had about every facet of the hobby covered, from 40% Giant Scale Cardens (thanks to Dave Rees for bringing out the BIG bird) to ultra-scale reproductions of Helis (Pierre Coulombe, you are a master) and ancient bombers.( Jon, your building of these rare beasts is wonderful to see...keep it up sir.) We even had a control-line model there, which brought a smile to a lot of old-timer faces! Thanks Peter Wakefield...I think...or was it Brian Pepin? We also had a few cars and trucks to broaden the perspective of R/C , thanks to Pierre Menard.
Heading outside to check out the ramp action, I found several really cool aircraft had arrived for the show, and saw a couple of the fly-by's. The Waco (?) Biplanes were hard at work...and I discovered that there are actually two of them! The Russians were represented, with two or three old YAK trainers present plus a fly by of a couple of military training jets from Czechoslovakia. Our Coast Guard was there, showing off a really gorgeous new Bell chopper in fire red! ORNG was present, showing off a modern PT6 powered Pilatus rescue aircraft out of Thunder Bay called, appropriately, Bandaid 4.
It was a great day, folks. Wherever you spent your Canada Day, we hope it was a super one.
The Stetsons who were there for the Aviation Museum event represented us well and had a blast!
Our thanks go out to the following members who helped make this day a success in every way:
President Dan...your tireless efforts on our behalf are just amazing. Thank you sir!
Bob Myhara
John Jackson
Brian Pepin
Steve Gagnon
Nick McIntosh
Pierre Menard
Chris Ferry
Peter Wakefield
Les Morgan
Wayne Smith
Rene LePage
Jim Denyer
Pierre Coulombe
Jon Harper
Dave Rees
Gary Robertson.
Gary Robertson
Events Director
Photos: Gary Robertson. Click image above for the album.
June 16, 2019 was...
...the annual Stetson Heli & Quad Fun Fly event!
Sunday June 16 was the Stetson Flyers Helicopter Fun Fly and MultiGP Drone Race Qualifier.
The event was originally scheduled for Saturday, however with the forecast of rainlooking grim(what else but more rain omg!), we rescheduled to the Sunday rain date. Wow did the weather ever turn in our favour to a fantastic sunny day on Sunday.
There were 14 drone racing pilots and 13 radio control helicopter pilots in attendance, along with spectators who came out to enjoy the day. The field was a hubbub of activity with the drone racecourse setup at the western end of the main runway and 2 helicopter pilot stations setup adjacent to the drone course. There was lots of room for both aircraft types by partitioning the air space. What a range of flying vehicles on display and in the air! …racing drones, scale helis, electric helis, fuel powered helis and so on.The rc helicopters and drones fit together extremely well.
Many thanks to the volunteers who helped during the day…we couldn't have done it without yourhelp!Kudos to the registration gals, the gourmet cooks in the canteen, the canteen manager, our safety coordinator, the ticket sellers, and Shami for coordinating the racing, all this made for a smooth event. And thanks to the drone racers for showing up in force,once again making this a really fantastic event.
We have posted the event photos for your viewing pleasure and look forward to working on next years event …. See you at the flying field!
Jim Denyer
Heli event Coordinator
Photos: Jim Denyer. Click image above for the album.
June 1, 2019 was...
...the annual Stetson Ed Rae Memorial Fun Fly event!
41 pilots registered for the annual Ed Rae Memorial Fun Fly event and despite the cool weather (it was not raining thankfully) it was a great day filled with flying many different kinds of aircraft.
Prizes were donated with thanks to Great Hobbies, Orleans Hobbies and AMR Hobbies. Michel Boulerice won the peoples choice award. Huge thanks as always to the Stetson Executive and particularly Dan for organizing and running the event. Big thanks to all those who make our events possible running everything from registration to the canteen/lunch.
Photos: Goose. Click image above for the album.
May 7, 2019 was...
...the annual Stetson Field Cleanup!
Well, the spring cleanup is behind us for another year! Although juggling the date seems to have cost us a few of our regulars, and our numbers were lower than usual as a result, the 14 members who were there certainly made up for it with hard work. Every task on our usual long list was accomplished, including rolling the field by Tom Pellows, scraping and painting 'everything that didn't move', and spreading gravel and stone dust to fill holes,
(Thanks to Peter Blair for the use of his truck and trailer).
We completed many more repair and maintenance tasks, including one that we don't do every year, that is to wash the outside of the trailer. Steve Maines deserves a special mention for doing the whole thankless job alone.
We wrapped things up around 2:00 pm after breaking for an excellent BBQ lunch prepared by Bob Myhara.
So, our sincere appreciation to the following 14 members who worked very hard to get our field in top shape for the new season: Pierre Coulombe, Jim Denyer, Jean-Maurice Moreau, Steve Maines, David Tymofie, Pete Blair, Gary Robertson, Nigel Chippindale, Peter Wakefield, Fred Lottes, Robert Myhara, Tom Pellows, Earl Jared and Daniel Marcotte.
Pierre Coulombe
Treasurer/Field Coordinator
Photos: Nigel Chippindale.
March 2, 2019 was...
...the annual Stetson Winter Fun Fly event!
The grey skies and the sometimes nippy wind from the east did not stop a dozen pilots and almost as many spectators from thoroughly enjoying a fun morning of flying and socializing.
Although this was not the best day for flying white airplanes, Kevin and Les managed quite well, except for a minor mishap with Les' E-Flite Convergence. The most difficult part was the recovery. The snow is still quite deep, and a pair of snowshoes would have helped make the trek to the far side of the runway a bit easier. On the other hand, Gerry did not have any problems with visibility, with his very colourful red, yellow and green machine! Overall, everyone had many pleasant flights.
The heated shelter was available to keep people warm, and we all gathered in it at lunchtime to top off the fun fly with an excellent bowl of chili. Several prizes were drawn, including two pairs of fingerless mittens donated by one of the women of the Blackburn Hamlet Community Church 'Knit Café', as well as some Stetson stickers and pins. Hal MacDonald and Nigel Chippindale won the gloves, and Kevin McDougall and Charlie Colwell won the Stetson stickers and pins.
Like always, teamwork made this event a success. As usual, thanks to Simon and Hal for bringing their top notch photo equipment out in the cold and taking pictures (Hal's pictures are on the Stetson Facebook page). Many thanks to Daniel and Louise for preparing and serving the lunch. Finally, thanks to Daniel and others who cleared snow around the tables over the past week, making the event safer and more enjoyable.
Again, thanks to all who helped and participated - we all had a great time.
Pierre Coulombe
Treasurer/Field Coordinator
Photos: Goose. Click image above for the album.
January 5, 2019 is...
...the annual Stetson first flight of the year event!
Although it did not occur on New Year's Day due to the risk of unsafe road and field conditions, the 2019 First Flight held on 5 January was a total success. The flying conditions were almost perfect, with above freezing temperatures and very light winds. The day began with hazy and light gray skies, which posed challenges to pilots flying white planes, but this improved considerably as the morning progressed.
Sixteen members took part in the event, and after the usual first flight friendly competition and presentations, several people stayed on and enjoyed a very pleasant morning of flying.
The honours for first in the air went to Nigel Chippindale in the Electric power category, and to Gary Robertson in the IC engine category. The winners each got a very nice engraved medallion donated by John Jackson, and a pair of fingerless gloves donated by one of the 'knitting ladies' from the Blackburn Hamlet Community Church Knit Café.
Many thanks to Simon and Hal for taking photos, and to the executive for organizing the event and preparing the field.
Enjoy the pictures. Jon's ultra micro SE5A looks great!
Pierre Coulombe
Treasurer/Field Coordinator
Photos: Goose. Click image above for the album.
Stetson Web History...
Wednesday April 24, 2019 is the next scheduled meeting at the Aviation Museum. Catch up with club members and let everyone know what you have been upto this winter.
Meeting starts at 7:30, come in through the front door.
April 2019 Newsletter Available!
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