2006 Cub Scouts Pack 433

What a dilemma! The weather had just turned rainy and the wind was swirling on the morning of October 15th, the date for our scheduled program with Cub Scout Pack 433. Laura Adams called early that morning and we agreed to meet anyway and brave whatever weather we were faced with.
We had three pop-up canopies, a grill, plenty of food, and some airplanes… What else did we need? Sandy DuVall, Brian Illston, Brian Richardson and Ron Swift arrived early to set up for the event. The scouts started to arrive by 12:45 PM. As they arrived, the Scouts and Leaders pitched in and helped. This year there were 40 who signed up to attend and we ended up with about 23 visiting guests.

Ron, Brian, and Brian put their planes together for the event. Brian Illston brought a Beaver foamy and an electro-glider. Brian Richardson had his Builder’s Competition plane and Ron brought the 110-inch Rascal and his ever present Fun Fly 40 3D.
We started the program with a brief introduction and welcome by Ron. Then Brian Illston covered the electric model setup and differences. Ron discussed the transmitter controls and answered questions from the Scouts and Leaders.

As luck would have it, the rain stopped and the wind died down to a slight breeze! Brian Richardson and Ron started up the Rascal 110 and flew a trim flight. After satisfied that the plane was safe to fly, Brian connected the buddy box and set the trims for flying. Connor Adams was the first Cub Scout to fly the Rascal using the buddy box. He did a great job looping and turning the huge plane.
Some fog rolled in, making seeing the model difficult, so Ron landed the plane while he could still see the plane. Once the plane was refueled and the battery levels checked, Brain and Ron flew the Rascal again. It flew a reported 43 minutes with many of the cubs taking turns on the sticks. Ron again landed the model. It experienced a dead stick on appoach. This was caused by a cracked fuel pressure line at the muffler! No problem, the plane landed safely.

Ron flew a demo flight using the Fun Air 40 3D with some hovering, inverted flight, rolls and loops, etc. After some high speed maneuvuers, he later slowed down the model to near stall to illustrate the kinds of things these models can do. Total flight time ~4 minutes.

Brian Illston and Brian Richardson then continued to provide flights for the Cubs and Leaders using Brian’s electro-glider. Some of the student pilots preferred the calm easy flying of this glider to flying the Rascal 110. Others liked flying the giant more. We were asked questions about motors, model sizes, fuels, kinds of models, safety and lots more. Everyone who was willing to try to fly got at least one flight in.
While all the flying was going on, Sandy cooked burgers and hot dogs for all of the attendees. Some of the Scouts wanted to know if they could go back for seconds. We assured them that they could (and many of us did!). Thanks again to Sandy for providing this valuable service for all. Some of us snuck back for thirds…Many thanks to both Brian Illston and Brian Richardson. Without their help we couldn’t have had a successful event. And thanks again, Sandy, for cooking and taking care of shopping for all the goodies!
And a special thanks to Laura Adams, who coordinated the event for the Scouts and also thanks to the other the Scout Leaders for coming out to share our hobby. I think we all had fun. Maybe it was especially fun because we didn’t let the weather get in the way of having a good time.
The event was finished by about 3:20 PM and the Scouts left as we finished cleaning up. We got in a few post event flights as well and just as we finished packing up all the planes and support equipment, the rain and high winds set in again. The weather held up just long enough for our event. Based on the number of smiles and laughter from the kids, this was a huge success.