District X
Tehama County Condors — Corning, California (IMAA event & Open House Fun-Fly)
Mike Brown of Bella Vista, California provided this report on two recent events hosted by the Tehama County Condors in Corning, California.
Weather, weather, and more weather. You just can't beat Mother Nature, can you? The Condors put on two events: the second annual International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) event in August and the annual Open House Fun-Fly in October.
The weather wasn't the most cooperative, but what was good was the spirit of the fliers who came to fly.
At the fun-fly, several pilots got together with .46-powered ARFs and did some mock pylon racing — "flock flying," as it is nicknamed. What is flock flying? It's a few guys flying together, turning at the ends of the runway, having a great time.
Heat and wind were the enemy of the IMAA event, as wind and cold were to the fun-fly. The Corning Condors and other clubs take the time to put together events such as these for us all to enjoy. In the past they have had great weather; this was just a double dose of bad luck.
The IMAA recently added autogiros to its list of qualified aircraft. Not exactly an airplane or helicopter, most autogiros have an airplane-type fuselage with a power source in the front and a two-, three-, or four-blade rotor (or rotors) on top to aid in lifting. Because of interest in this aircraft, the IMAA decided to look into what size autogiro would compare to its airplane guidelines. Through that research, the following were approved to fly at IMAA-sanctioned events:
- 50-inch single rotors
- 80-inch dual rotors
- 1/4-scale autogiros
The first approved autogiro flight came at the 2007 Corning Condors IMAA event. The autogiro was flown by John Lockwood, IMAA's vice president. It flew at the same time as a 42% Ultimate biplane flown by John Parsons and his son-in-law Bradley Oliver of Paradise, California. Bradley hovered, torque-rolled, and harriered the big biplane without distraction while John flew well, too.
Check out Autogyro Company of Arizona for a big kit for your next IMAA event or make one from plans.
Imperial Valley R/C Association — Woody's Wild Wings II
Wendell King of the Imperial Valley Remote Control Association in Southern California sent this report and photos from the club's event held in early November.
Woody's Wild Wings II was a blowout! We had 34 pilots sign up and limited the flying to five pilots at a time. The talent busted out from some pilots who have been holding back a bit lately, saving their airplanes for this event, and it showed. My son Jordan "Woody" King was one of them.
Woody did the "you copycat my run then I copycat your run" routine with "Captain Cliffhanger" — what a game! The crowd was on its feet, yelling, screaming, and jumping up and down as pilots performed knife-edge passes 2–3 feet off the deck at 70 mph with the props ripping loudly.
There was synchronized hovering, front-side then back-side sequences, exit right, high-alpha slow passes, full-throttle snaps, flat spins almost to the ground, and inverted harriers inches off the deck. Total mayhem.
Thanks to all of our sponsors. The pilots' raffle prizes were a big hit, and the pilots were absolutely stoked to receive these types of gifts.
A pair of Cirkus aircraft put on a show at center stage. A 50% Edge 540 flown by Jens was the biggest airplane out there and drew plenty of attention — it made everything else look like a toy.
Jordan "Woody" King flew his TBM Von Extra 260, putting it to the extreme all day.
Till next time ... Keep 'em safe and Keep 'em fly'n.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
