This weekend we flew at the 25th anniversary of Wings and Wheels model show. Both Steve and Richard have flown a variety of their planes there over the years.
Saturday wasn't a comfortable day for flying. The drizzle we drove through on our way to North Weald airfield had just about stopped when we arrived to set up but there was a strong crosswind blowing towards us. The Stearmans are difficult to land at the best of times (a feature shared with the full size) even more difficult to control on the ground in a crosswind.
We decided to fly only one plane for 2 reasons. Firstly, we have another show next week and no time for any repairs so at least if anything happened to the plane we flew this week we would still have one for next week. Secondly, when you are flying in gusty conditions the models get knocked around a lot by the wind so even if you aim to fly a straight line you can get blown off course. This means the formation looks untidy so the display actually looks better with just one plane.
Sunday was a completely different story. It was hot before the show even started. The wind had shifted nearly 180 degrees and was now blowing on our backs. But the wind strength was much lower and so ground control was much easier.
As we liked the 5 minute routine that we flew last weekend we decided to stick to that and add 2 new manouevres towards the end to fill an 8 minute slot. The first we call a "William Tell" where Richard flies a loop and Steve flies through the middle of the loop. The second is an "opposition bump" where the pilots fly towards each other and do a "Breitling bump" in the middle of the display area.
Flying shot (c)
SKM Airscape Photography See more flying shots.
We're off to
Woospring Wings next weekend - always an enjoyable show with a compact flying area so the crowd get to see the models well.
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