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A Video Review of The Arizona Electric Festival 2009
By Michael Heer
Feb 09, 2009, 10:22 AM
Introduction
The first day of the Arizona Electric Festival (held in Apache Junction January 22-25) there were 86 pilots, and we had four very short rain showers during the day. Friday there were about 180 pilots and less rain, and Saturday there were 201 pilots and more sunshine. Sunday was more of an "after party" with a Thursday-size crowd and nicer weather. The event was an OPEN electric festival with 1/2 hour dedicated in the morning and afternoon to electric helicopters, open flying for electric planes of all types the rest of the day with the exception of an hour of demo flying on Friday and Saturday during the lunch hour. There were seven flight stations with five on the center of the runway and one on each end for 3D or general flying. There are literally hundreds of pictures and a number of videos from this event in our Special Event Section Archives. Many, if not most of the pilots, were/are RCGroups.com members as can be seen from the group picture below.
Let us Begin
Bob Ruff the contest director, the old Windbag - not Bob, his plane! It is from a kit from the 80s called the Windbag. It uses a six foot stacker kite for its wing and is powered with a Hacker 40A via a 70 SBEC using a 5s 5000 Lipo for battery power. Steering is by weight shifting.
Thursday Videos
New Products
VecJetPF (Parkflyer)
Dale and Paul were back at the AEF with a a new VecJet. Last year I saw the original VecJet at AEF and later reviewed it. Tram, AKA jEff, saw the faster version at SEFF and reviewed it for E-Zone. This year they had a new slower Parkflyer version to show and sell at AEF.
Horizon Hobby's Parkzone Radian Electric Glider
I brought and flew my new Radian, catching and leaving three thermals on one mid morning flight. It’s a great glider and a lot of fun with only throttle, rudder and elevator. Look for the rolls and inverted flying in the video. Dr Dave will soon have in his review of this electric glider.
Multiplex Blizzard
Mike Mayberry and others from Hitec/Multiplex started to fly this little beauty on Thursday. By Friday, I had to have one, and by Saturday, I did thanks to EMS, a vendor at the show. Jon Barnes is working on the review of this Sport Liner for RC Groups right now.
E-flite BAe Hawk
Horizon Hobby's E-flite BAe Hawk with electic ducted fan.
Kyosho 90 Spitfire
Tim Johnson put this very pretty plane through its paces. Unfortunately, the cloudy weather prevented the video from capturing the detail in its covering. The motor used was the Axi 4130-20, the ESC was the excellent 85HV from Castle Creations, the battery was the Team Orion Avionics 8s1p 4800mAh pack and the prop was 16 x 10 3 blade.
The StarMax F9F Imported by Hobby-Lobby
I was able to finish my review of the Hobby-Lobby F9F Panther at the Festival with the help of Chad Halmrast and Pat Gagnon. Below is the video I shot while Pat flew and Chad took still pictures like the one above.
Scratch Built Nieuport
David Payne scratchbuilt this new Nieuport in 1/9th scale with a 36" wingspan. He will have a laser cut short kit available soon. If you’re interested in buying one or want more information you can reach David at: grome@yahoo.com.
Mike Likes Them
I loved the diversity of all the planes and helicopters at the event, but it became clear to me that I had two favorites.
Jet Hangar's F9F Korean Era Jet
I stopped and watched Larry Wolfe from Jet Hangar fly his F9F every time it was in the air. It was actually an F9F-4 Panther with retracts in 1/6th scale and sells for $995.00. It has a 72 inch wingspan and weighs 18.25 pounds. It is powered by an E-Turbax fan with a NEU 1527/1.5Y motor and two 6s1p 6,000mAh lipo battery packs. At times it looked full size as smoothly as Larry flew it. For more information go to: Jet Hangar’s website.
Thunder Tiger's Innovator MD-530 Helicopter
This new helicopter is distributed by Ace Hobby and wasn't the most scale, most maneuverable or the fastest helicopter at the Festival. However, it may be the helicopter (with a working tail rotor) that makes many new helicopter pilots successful helicopter pilots without going through a fortune in parts. RTF it sells for just under $600.00. I saw Jeff Fassbinder and Gable DeWeese fly them hands off at the festival. It's named the Innovator and one example of the innovation is that it has two warning systems for low battery power: An LED on top of the copter goes from green to red. If you keep flying, the tail wiggles back and forth to let you know you that better land.
There Were Some Crashes
The Sound of a Crash
I was videotaping a Hobby-Lobby F5-E when a Blizzard landed right to left and a jet was taking off left to right. No one saw what was coming.
The Loudest CrashChad Halmrast flew his Nitroplanes Corsair through Cat's Lil Banshee from Cermark. I heard the loud "WHACK" when they hit, and I turned to see the aftermath. Although I was getting ready to fly, fortunately some people were prepared with cameras as shown below. Cat was back in the air with a pink Lil Banchee at the festival thanks to a motor supplied by Lucian of Innov8tor (Scorpion motor) who was a vendor at the show. The video of the collision is posted here in post 2.
T-Rex 700 goes down...Twice!It was a tough weekend for Chris Wuester and his T-rex 700 sponsored by Fusion Batteries. As seen below, the canopy came loose during the demo flight on Friday and that led to disaster. RCGroups’ "Throwdown" (AKA Cecil Walker) videotaped the crash and gave me permission to use the video. I added the slow motion clips. To see the higher resolution version Cecil posted go here.
Then during a demo flight on Saturday, Chris had a second disaster with his T-rex 700. Cecil again caught this on video, and it is posted here. Scroll down page 1 to post 11. The accident is the last clip in the video. The flight of the "Red Bull" 3D plane is before it and well worth watching. Fusion sponsors Chris, and they were selling at the AEF. They said sales had been very good, and they might break even for the event.
Plane Breaks during Demonstration FlightTeam Horizon did demo flights of a variety of planes on both Friday and Saturday. In the video clip below one of the planes is damaged during a maneuver and then goes down.
One Crash was into a Spotter
On Friday, Carl Bishop was spotting for Pat Gagnon on the far right side of the flight line, and there was a cross breeze from behind the pilots over the runway. As a Warthog was taking off, it started heading right, towards the flightline. The plane’s front wheel hit Carl in the head. The plane kept flying but Carl went down. He had emergency help from pilots with medical skills within seconds and an ambulance quickly took him to a hospital. Carl is OK and was back at the field on Saturday.
Warbird Demonstration Flights
The Jet Hanger Cougar
Friday Night Means Lights
There were at least seven night time pilots, and four had planes bright enough to videotape. All four videotapes are in the Special Event Section, but here is my favorite with a tail of LEDS.
Saturday
Saturday is the big day at the event with 201 pilots, the pilot's raffle and a nice crowd of spectators watching the flights. The following pictures are by Chad Halmrast from Saturday.
Is That a Red or a White Whine?
On this next plane, you didn't have to see it to know Jim Drew from XPS was flying - the whine was unmistakable. I was told by spectators that this was a Rite Wing RC plane and was capable of flying over 150 mph. I do know it was very hard for me and my camera to track it.
Sorry I don't have more information on these planes and their pilots:
Mike Pope had trouble setting up for his landing with his Sabre and didn't know why. In the video below, look for the rudder which is at 45 degrees of where it should be, and you will see why he had some problems.
Helicopters
A tale of two Raptors
The next two clips feature the Thunder Tiger Raptor E620 helicopter. Both are flown by Jeff Fassbinder from Ace Hobby. One is equipped like a scale Ecureuil helicopter and one is set up for acrobatics.
A Covey of Helicopters
Helicopters are not allowed to fly during open flying, but instead have their own half hour every morning and afternoon. Saturday morning led to a pretty full flight line of helicopters as seen below.
3D
Demonstration Pylon Racer
On Saturday afternoon there was a short demonstration by two pylon racers. I show the gliding end of a flight at the start so you get an idea of what the planes look like. See if you can spot the planes when they are racing.
Matt Sylvester & Mike Pope and their P-51s on Sunday
Two very nice guys flew their Mustangs together on Sunday for the first time. Mike with his Hanger 9 Ms America and Matt with his Top Flite Gold edition Mustang.
That's it for 2009! Hope you found some videos you enjoyed. Last edited by Angela H; Feb 09, 2009 at 10:21 AM.. |
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Feb 09, 2009, 01:49 PM
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#2 |
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Split S
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: California
Posts: 1,149
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Great Job Michael!!! Thank you for taking the time time to do all of this for everyone!
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Feb 09, 2009, 03:55 PM
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#3 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gilbert,AZ
Posts: 1,154
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Michael, Wow! what great material. Thank you for all your effort documenting the event.
Matt Sylvester |
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Feb 09, 2009, 05:38 PM
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Stockton, Ca. USA
Posts: 6,933
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Thanks Tim and Matt! Enjoyed seeing both of you and videotaping your planes. Only wish I could fly with you guys more often. Mike
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Feb 09, 2009, 06:38 PM
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Team EJF Team Hacker
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Gilbert, Az
Posts: 5,483
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THANK YOU!
Bob |
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Feb 09, 2009, 06:50 PM
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#6 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: gilbert,az
Posts: 2,275
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Nice video's Mike, f-86 is fixed and ready to tear it up once again!
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Feb 09, 2009, 08:04 PM
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#7 |
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It eats birds for Breakfast!
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Islip New York
Posts: 9,343
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Mike
Just a top shelf review in a really unique format! Lots of hard work and editing I'm sure but from someone who was not their I really enjoyed watching those videos! Tommy D |
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Feb 09, 2009, 08:34 PM
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#8 |
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Trophy Club TX (DFW)
Posts: 10,082
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Mike great job - tons of work! My DSL is smoking man....
Mike |
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Feb 09, 2009, 09:52 PM
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#9 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Central Massachusetts
Posts: 399
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No SNOW...
I need to move |
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Feb 09, 2009, 10:00 PM
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#10 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 9,179
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Mike,
Thanks for all of your hard work in bringing us RCG readers this comprehensive video coverage of the event. But did you forget to post the names of all of the RCG folk in that group shot? You know....First Row, R to L: John Doe, Dale Doofus, etc, etc  Looks like BIG fun and shame on you for not forcing me to be there with you. You need to lean on me HARDER next year to make sure I attend! BTW, for any of you who have not downloaded/edited/processed video shot at an event like this, it takes a HUGE amount of time and the hours Mike put into doing this article had to add up to an amazing number of hours! But then Mike is a self-proclaimed non-sleeper, so maybe he knocked it out in one long all-niter?!  Many thanks again Mike! |
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Feb 09, 2009, 11:16 PM
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#11 |
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Pack Rat
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Hayward CA / Valley Springs CA USA
Posts: 1,927
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Thanks Mike! Great effort on your part.
Karen and I couldn't attend this year, but you brought the whole show home for us. Kern PS; Our daughter still hasn't had her baby.  She's just a tad overdue.  
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Feb 10, 2009, 03:45 AM
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#12 |
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 483
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Great!!!! Love the videos!
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Feb 10, 2009, 02:53 PM
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#13 |
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TEAM EJF MINION
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 10,036
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Great job Mike! This one was even better than last year's review! Thanks for videoing my Skyray.
Pat |
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Feb 10, 2009, 03:47 PM
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#14 |
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Richard Andersen
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Stockton, California
Posts: 20
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Mike: We all had a great time and as always a great job and some neat videos. Thanks again Dick
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Feb 10, 2009, 08:52 PM
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#15 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Stockton, Ca. USA
Posts: 6,933
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I have been told I posted the wrong e-mail address for David and his Nieuport. It starts with a Q not a G. Sorry about that. Mike
qrome@yahoo.com |
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