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TIMPA News:
Cub Scout Aviation Day Camp
Local Cub Scouts braved the heat this weekend, coming out to TIMPA and having a blast taking their turn at flying R/C airplanes. Eldon Callen, John Gonzalez, Mike Balog, Dave Binns, Steve Steward, and Daniel Kelly manned the buddy boxes and cycled 65 Cub Scouts through the flight line, giving them an opportunity to try their hand at flying a Hangar 9 Alpha 60, a Hobbico NexSTAR and a Sig Sr. Kadet. Other activities included model rocketry, pneumatic paper rockets, plastic water bottle rockets, Frisbee golf, and the classic Space Derby. About mid-morning, Fred Thompson thrilled everyone with a demo flight of his giant scale Extra 330. Check out the photos on the TIMPA Facebook page.
Board & Officers set for Upcoming Year
The TIMPA Board and Officers have been set for the upcoming year. Mike Cummins will remain as President, John Gonzalez VP, Ralph Kestler Secretary, and Deb Sherrow will be back as Treasurer. Many thanks to Ed Julia for taking on the job of Treasurer over the past year. Ed helped TIMPA work through a transition period and his efforts are greatly appreciated.
ROCKETS!
Wow! Another spectacular Desert Heat hosted by TIMPA and put on by the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association. The attendance was outstanding, the awesome weather drew hundreds of people out to the TIMPA field to watch rockets ranging from a few inches long to over 10 feet tall blast off into the clear skies over Picture Rocks! It seemed an equal amount of people participated in launching rockets in this open event. The Saturday evening Night Launch was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend. Check out TIMPA’s Facebook page for pictures.
Jet Rally Draws Impressive Crowd
2014 Tucson Jet Rally draws an impressive crowd! Both spectators and pilots turned out in mass to enjoy the beautiful weather and the sights, sounds and smells of turbine powered R/C aircraft burning up the sky. Thirty five pilots brought over 60 aircraft and helped raise $1000 for the AMA’s Ryan Sherrow Scholarship Fund. Use the Facebook button above to go to the TIMPA Facebook page and see all the photos taken at the event.
WARBIRD RACES!
Here are the results from another great day at the races! In the Bronze Class Bert Mitchell took first, Scott Kelly second and Gregg Breitegan third. In Silver Dan Kelly came in first with Ethan Hughes in second and John Mangino in third. In Gold, the fastest class, Chris Corbitt took first, Gary Porter second, and Steve Stewart third. Check out the pics on Facebook. A big thanks goes out to the workers who made the race possible. The racers thank you all!
Congrats! TIMPA’s youngest member solos!
On Sunday, January 19, 2014, the 10 year old grandson of Dave Binns, Corbyn, made his solo flight under the supervision of Head Flight Instructor Steve Steward. Thanks to the training sessions from John Gonzalez, Dan Kelly, Joseph Goldsworthy and Ed Julia, Corbyn was able to master the skills of flying RC models. By the way, he is the youngest member of TIMPA. More photos can be seen on TIMPA’s Facebook page.
Great Weather and Fun Times at Dec. Warbird Races
Saturday started out a little chilly but the sunny weather warmed up the field and made for a very nice day for pylon racing. In the Gold class Mary Flood finished the day up with the most points to take first place. Chris Corbitt placed second and had fast time of the day at 1:32:32. Steve Steward wound up with enough points to take third. In Silver Bill Adams took first followed by Steve Steward in 2nd and Bud Mellor in 3rd. In the Bronze class it was Jason Neves in first with J. Mangino taking 2nd and Dean Child in 3rd place. A special thanks goes out to all those that work these race events! Without our volunteers out there scoring and judging there would be no Warbird Races! Check out the TIMPA Facebook page for more pictures.
Great Turnout for 2nd Annual Giant Scale Fly-In
Twenty eight registered pilots brought more than 40 aircraft to the Second Annual TIMPA Giant Scale Fly-In! The weather was perfect and the planes were beautiful, both on the ground and in the air. Not to be outdone, Billy Hempel brought his gianormous Fokker DR1 triplane and wowed everyone with a well executed flight demo. In the end the awards went as follows: Best Civilian Aircraft – 1st place, The Beast by Jeff Ohmstead; 2nd place, Cessna 195 by Brian Rhodes; 3rd place, Stearman by John Mangeno. Best Military Aircraft – 1st place, Bristol biplane by Keith Koppos; 2nd place, JU-87 Stuka by Jim Lynch; 3rd place, Lavochkin LA-7 by Fred Thompson; Best Civilian Flight - Pilatus Porter by JJ; Best Military Flight – French Pusher by Keith Koppos. Check out TIMPA’s Facebook page for lots of photos.
Night Wings 2 Draws Large Crowd at PASM
Pima Air & Space Museum’s Night Wings 2 event drew a large crowd and TIMPA’s jet display, setup and run by Clay and Debbie Sherrow with the help of Ralph Salgado and Bob & David Reynolds, saw lots of traffic. Kids young and old enjoyed trying out the RealFlight simulator setup on one of the tables and questions were fielded all evening by the five volunteers. The Night Wings event is a fun and popular event put on by the Museum. The next one is scheduled for August 24th with The Physics Factory and their exciting and inspiring science demonstrations. Check out TIMPA’s Facebook page for more pictures.
Memorial for TIMPA Member Chuck McCammack
A Memorial Service for Chuck McCammack was held at the field Sunday, April 28 at 10 am. Chuck was one of the original TIMPA volunteers and was instrumental in the early development of TIMPA. Due to poor health, he had been unable to participate for a number of years but he truly missed being able to help out at TIMPA.
AIAA Design Build Fly Competition
The TIMPA field was closed this past Friday thru Sunday for the semi-annual AIAA Design Build Fly contest. Beautiful weather and quality flying made this a very impressive event. The Design Build Fly contest, sponsored by Cessna and Raytheon, provides a real-world aircraft design experience for college engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their engineering studies. Student teams from around the world design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft which can best meet the specified mission profile. Go to the TIMPA Facebook page to see photos of the event.
FPV Flying Suspended at TIMPA
After considerable discussion the TIMPA Board of Directors decided it would be best if all FPV (First Person View) flights at the TIMPA flying field were suspended until the AMA and the FAA sort out and publish the pending federal regulations regarding private FPV flight. FPV flight is fundamentally different than traditional radio control line-of-sight flight in that FPV aircraft are capable of flying under the control of a pilot for much longer distances and at much greater altitudes. This effectively allows them to fly past the boundaries of the TIMPA flying site. For the neighbors of our flying site there is no way to differentiate between FPV aircraft and traditional line-of-sight R/C aircraft and their perception is that the R/C flyers are flying dangerously beyond TIMPA’s set boundaries. This puts TIMPA in real jeopardy of losing the lease on the land we lease from the city of Tucson. Until the FAA publishes its pending regulations there will be no FPV flight allowed at the TIMPA flying site.
