By Flying Sites Editor
Peter Dennis

So way back in December the adverts were placed in all the leading magazines, web sites and newsletters were notified, and many personal contacts made, in an attempt to attract people to an unknown event. And even when a meticulous plan is executed you still have to contend with the vagaries of the weather!

The Club was in luck! After a poor forecast all week Sunday 15th May was blessed with some of the best conditions we had seen all year. And the 'E' flyers of the UK responded!

Flyers were arriving from early morning. And many had travel long distances. Three had travelled from 'up North'! Chris and Craig Martindale came down from the Widness Quiet Flyers and Dave Lucas from Chester. Pete Nicholson had travelled from Swindon. There was also a good crowd of guys from the Bath SPARCS and Woodsprings Clubs, who informally became know as the 'Puffin Flyers'. This was because they had brought along a large number of aircraft from the range of Puffin Models. John Emms, the proprietor of Puffin Models was also on hand to advice and, primarily be there to have a good day's flying, away from the rigours of the business and the forthcoming round of shows!

John was, in the main, flying his DHC Beaver. This was built from a HVP kit. The Beaver has a span of 75" and was powered by a Mega 22/45/3 motor and a 12 x 8 prop. The power source came from 10 HiFlow 3300's.

Richard Vale of the Woodsprings club made several valiant attempts to get both his P2 Neptune and P3 Orion into the air, but neither of these spectacular 4 engined scale models managed to break ground. The later suffering from a main wheel, binding on the undercarriage leg. However his Avro Shackleton, powered by four 400 size 6 volt motors to graced the skies several time through the day.

Several SWRCS members put models in to the air. In particular Tony Allen's Priory Models Lancaster (4 x 400 powered) and the very pretty Dart kitten built and flown by Cliff Pitman. A 600 brushed motor powered the Kitten. Jeremy Boswell buzzed the sky all day with his two ducted fan models, an Alfa Mig 15 and Kyosho T33, plus his Speed 300 powered Alfa F4U Corsair.

Clive Wyn-Hughes had never, before the day, been to a Fly-In out side of his Lliw Valley (Swansea) club. But after talking with Pete Nicholson, he arranged to meet up and compare notes on each other's Hangar 9 P51 Mustangs! Axi 9130/16 motors turning 15 x 10 props powered both models. And driven by a massive TP653P Lipo battery pack! 22 volts in total!

When Pete persuaded Clive to perform a dual aerobatic routine, the show they put on was, for many, the highlight of the day. Gracefully the models danced around the sky as Pete called the manoeuvres. After they both landed everybody gave them both a spontaneous round of applause. Clive was so ecstatic that he said that this one flight had made his trip worthwhile! He is now going to attend as many 'E' Fly In's as he can!

What a day it turned out to be! Many who attended said that they had a great time and that the turn out was very good, especially as it was the first time the club had staged the event. In fact 21 fliers registered, eight from SWRCS, and a massive of sixty-two models in total were logged in. There wasn't a moment throughout the day when there wasn't a models in the air.

Many people have made contacted since the event to pass on their thanks and John Emms summed it all up for every one with this message.

"Huge thanks go to organisers. I had a great day off, and the "Puffin Pilots" also simply came for a great day of flying (there was no three line whip!).

Chris Martindale is the LN fan (responsible for most of the huge number of LN models lined up!)

As I say, huge thanks to the organisers. There was an amazing turn out for a first event, and it just has to be done next year."

More Photos From The SWRCS 'E' Fly-In 2005