GM 2015 Report
By Mike Parker
I am pleased to report that the number of participants has increased slightly this year after a steady decline since the peak of over 300. Co-Originator Loren Dietrich and I always thought this would be inevitable, but neither of us imagined that the event would still be going over 20 years on!
The continued level of interest is in part due to the enthusiasm of groups like those at Epsom Downs and Carrollton Nike Park and our Czech and Slovak friends in Ocova. We also welcomed the first group to represent Italy, in the form of Gruppo Falchi from Bergamo. Not forgetting, of course, the many lone flyers who have supported the event over the years and the amazing exploits of the hardy souls in New Zealand who have been getting up to fly in the middle of the night in Winter since before the turn of the Century.
As is customary, I will let the participants tell their own stories about GM 2015 and hope to hear from you all after GM 2016.
Hi Mike,
The Auckland mass launch was a bit smaller this year but the three of us who did attend had calm but cool conditions at 0400 a day ahead of you all. The usual site in front of the War Memorial Museum was used. My last flight almost circled the Cenotaph. The other culprits were Paul and Martin Evans who also had good flying. The flights were necessarily short because recovery outside the floodlit area can be challenging. We stayed on for 30 minutes just enjoying the flying.
I think Bernard Scott also flew in Hamilton.
Then it was back to bed and a lie in. Great fun and for us and a unique time to fly.
Ricky Bould
Hello Mike,
Just to let you know I flew my Cloud Tramp yesterday at the appointed time. My friend didn’t make it this time so I was solo (as far as I know) here in Milton Keynes but it was good to know that I was with so many people enjoying themselves on Flying Field Earth.
Thanks for organising it as ever.
Best Regards
Paul Burdett
Here’s our launch within a second of GMT 1700 +1 at my sister Debby’s place in Benson, NC. The onlooker and timekeeper is my brother Greg. The temperature outside was 93°F and there was a broken strand, so we didn’t try anything elaborate like going to the local RC field. On about 40 hand turns the venerable Cloud Tramp 10 did a nice gentle right turn across the lawn and landed on the grass near but not in the goat enclosure. This plane has been a little fluky since it spent the night in the Genesee River in 2010 or so.
Best regards,
Bob and Miriam Morris
Mike, we had 6 flyers participate in the Mass Launch for the CHGMIMLOCT this morning. They were Ron Boots; Mike Myers; Gary Acord; Luke Napier, Jim Lueken; and Dave Gee.
The weather was good—it’s been hot and humid here in Los Angeles, but at 0900 PDT the temperature was in the high 60’s with threats of a bit of rain, which never came.
Messrs. Boots and Myers were part of the old firm—they’ve been flying in the mass launch since at least 2004—and have faithfully attended each mass launch.
I should note that I looked down at the tailplane of my Cloud Tramp this year. In the early 2000s, I was in the habit of putting a tape label on tail planes indicating the month that I built the model. The Cloud Tramp bore the date 7/06. This would make the 10th year that particular Cloud Tramp has been taken down off the wall and out to the Sepulveda Basin for the mass launch. The wing broke on an “arrival” later in the morning. It may be time to retire the old veteran and build a new one.
Mike Myers
Was all set to go just before 1200 EDT, wound about 50 turns and dern motor broke. Quickly retied broke ends and launched for about 10 seconds in our very small field… Reckon I’ll do better net year… only participants were my wife, Margot and myself…/ gets lonely for free flite modelers around hyar… Charleston, WV
Reese Otts
Just got back from my Cloud Tramp flying, beautiful day and just a breath of wind. Nothing sensational, a bit early for a thermal and I had to resort to hand winds but got in about a dozen flights, best about 45 seconds, but is still a thrill! My Grandkids weren’t available so didn’t
bother with setting up the stooge and winder. Made up two motors from my old Jabberwock, one for my ‘Tramp and one for my old flying buddy’s.
Jim goes back to High School days in Edmonton, he had a Brownie and I had my Ohlsson 23 in a Bay Ridge Mike. Jim passed away last winter and after his grandkids had gone through his stuff, his wife was about to trash the rest when I noticed his old Tramp, a bit the worse for wear and rescued it. Needed some TLC, but it made a flight today, too.
Might be nice to have to have Jim’s name on the list (in absentia)- he was Jim Cowley, MAAC 7383, SAM 3240.
Keith MacDonald, MAAC 5015, SAM 4898
Five CT’s flown together this noontime: –
Gary Hunter
Les Sayer
Jean Sayer
Janet Moseley
Jim Moseley
Flown at a sod farm at Courtice, Ontario. 78F, breezy … and over an hour to get to it in weekend traffic congestion!
Jim Moseley
Well, I flew my Cloud Tramp at noon.
Luckily, the alfalfa field right behind my house was cut on Wednesday and bailed on Thursday, so I just had to walk about 70 feet to fly.
Un-lucky was the 15 mph wind that kicked up in the last 1/2 hour, with gusts so strong I wouldn’t have flown electron guided models. But I flew with reckless abandon and the wind turned what should have been a nice flight into 2 large sideways loops.
But it felt good to do it anyway, knowing all the others worldwide were doing the same, and maybe under more stressing conditions.
Thanks Charlie Grant!!
Jim Polles
Well add my list to the cloudsters who launched CLOUD TRAMP at the appointed hour. There was a strong breeze in the air so my pane had a couple of short flights to trim and then came the official launch. Airborne 10 seconds. Then I decided to get in an official flight and reduced it from 3 loops of 1/8 to two by lengthening the motor that did it! She got up there and stayed up circling until she circled right into some tree branches too high up for me to get at them. Maybe it will be blown down later today but who knows. I can always renovate CLOUD TRAMP II.
Jim Norfolk
Saint John NB Canada
That was fun, Thank You for organizing the mass launch. I am flying in Spicer, Minnesota, U.S.A. the weather is beautiful, 75 degrees almost no wind. I made one flight, I need to make some improvements. As usual the Cloud Tramp always flies well.
Please forward to me the details of getting a plan. When I built mine, I built it with a group, I no longer have a plan.
Thank You Again
Brian Ross
Spicer, Minnesota, U.S.A.
I made two flights with my 1/2 size Cloud Tramp. I got shaky videos of both flights, they did not go as planned. The person who asks “Is that a rubber band powered airplane?” got a full description of the plane and the event after I retrieved the plane and assured that it would be safe from the dogs. I took a chance on a second flight, but the wind drift got too much for further flights. I’ve lost too many planes that way. I had to go across the street to find a tree branch in someone’s yard waste pile to get my plane down from the tree.
Details are provided in the Description that accompanies each video. The lady in the group said the dogs were saying “BIRD! LOW FLYING BIRD!” and “Let’s get it! What kind of bird is that? I’ve never seen one like that before.”
I used the 1/2 size plane because I broke the prop on the full size plane. I have run into all kinds of trouble replacing it; finding balsa of the required density, finding that the hand jig for drilling the hole was not precise enough, finding that the table saw was slightly out of square in both directions, finding that the thickness of a pencil line could put the blade angles off by one degree. I want to measure prop performance, so precise angles are important. It gets discouraging after ruining so many blocks of balsa wood. I think I have all the problems worked out. Now I must get busy with saws, knife and sandpaper.
Gary Hinze San Jose, CA
Mike, Dick Strang and I made our CT flights in south central Arizona on the time hack.
Dick had to use my back-up airplane and landed after about ten or so seconds, but mine climbed to around two hundred feet and attracted a flock of Barn Swallows, who flew around, over, and under, it until it landed and then continued to circle it until I walked out and picked it up.
Unique to say the least.
Jean Andrews
The 2015 Cloud Tramp Mass Launch had 15 people today at the Carrollton Nike Park.
We arrived at the Carrollton Nike Park today and started trimming out our Cloud Tramps for the mass launch at 12 noon. Kendal Bowen had the longest flight on one of her trim flights this morning.
We had 15 participates today.
Here are the group of flyers lined up ready to fly.
From left to right: Bobby Mathison, Jimmy Welch, Judy Welch, Marjorie Mathison,
Kendall Bowen, John Tate, Fran Hurd, Steve Kolet, Mike Ose, Dianne Tate,
Dean Giaceopassi, Garrett Sisk, Janelle Sisk, Peyton Sisk, & Travis Sisk.
All Cloud Tramps flew very nice. All we had to do is go down field and find our own Cloud Tramps.
After the launch all we had to do is vote on where to go for lunch. Soon after that the field was empty.
Carrollton Nike Park is located in Isle of Wight County, VA. USA.
The site used to house the Nike Ajax Missile magazines. Thankfully the missiles are long gone now and the site is a large park for us to fly on.
Copy and paste the following link Carrollton Nike Park: http://www.historicisleofwight.com/nike-park.html
John Tate
Hello Mike and Pete,
Well we did it again. Had nice weather here in Dayton, Ohio, USA, home of the Wright Brothers. Our McCook FAC group was smaller this year but we got the job done nicely with four flyers. They were Jim Bair, Dottie Bair, Tom Ersted, and Stu Cummins. I am enclosing one picture just so you can see how nice the Clouds were for our flying.
Thanks to both of you for keeping this fun event going.
Stu Cummins
‘afternoon, Mike: Just wanted to check in, Carol and I made our usual
few second flights at 12:00 here in WNY. About 20 knot wind with gusts up to maybe 25, small boat warnings up on lake Erie, wind strong enough the wings wouldn’t stay in position so flights in name only. Haven’t had a decent flying day for the event since who knows when 😀 .
Wombat (Neil Dennis)
Just got back from the field and a short first aid stop at my neighbors, with a scratched up Cloud Tramp along with its ripped up motor and me with a number of scratches and “minor” injuries …
It was a bit breezier than I would have liked and blowing towards the road, so I only wound in 500 turns on the OLD (like three years) motor and set up to launch way over on the Northeast side of our field boundary and launched as the clock struck 6 PM (CEST). On 500 turns, my CT doesn’t climb very high, especially with a worn out gummi, but this flight was obviously into lift. The plane got nearly as high as when 1400 turns get wrapped in and the glide was noticeably flatter than “usual”, and the breeze…
Over the Eastern rough, over the (quite) active flying field and into the Western rough (that abominable area, home of the dreaded BLACKBERRY THICKET!). A couple of zigs and a couple of zags, did the Cloud Tramp make before opting to overfly the one tree on our patch and lazily circle/drift toward that durned thorny bush that had messed up my RUTANGO a few months ago – AND THAT’S WHERE IT DECIDED TO PLANT ITSELF!!!
Getting to the model was not too hard – I was able to still “use” the path I had cut into the thicket, even tho’ it had started to recover – but the exposed and quite long motor had tangled up nicely in the thorny shrubbery and was done for. I tripped while turning around, landing unceremoniously and painfully in the brambles – BUT THE CLOUD TRAMP SURVIVED!
I have NO idea how long the flight was, but it must have been over a minute. One club member said it was up for a LONG time, and this guy has seen many of my CT flights.
Pete Brecker Germany
Just back from flying our Cloud Tramps, Caroline and Martin Ambrose from Wells, Somerset. Two new models this year built from the Czech kits produced by Jiri Kalina, very nice wood but I need to make a better prop shaft assembly as the thrust line was moving all over the place, making them impossible to trim. At least they didn’t get stuck in trees this year!
Regards, Martin.
Here is a photo of our mass MIMLOCT launch in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
They are from left to right: Jon McVey, Paul McIlrath, Rick Knight and myself Don Ratzlaff
It was the windiest MIMLOCT day with 15 – 20 mile an hour gusts.
We quickly learned not to put very many winds into the motor.
Thanks,
Don Ratzlaff
Mass launch of Cloud Tramps during SAM Slovak Championship becomes a nice tradition. On Saturday, at eighteen o’clock, thirteen Cloud Tramps took off from Očová airfield (LZOC).
List of participants:
Milan Ježík (SVK)
Bohuš Ježík (SVK)
Marek Mach (SVK)
Alenka Rábeková (SVK)
Pavel Rábek (SVK)
Adam Jakeš (CZ)
Luboš Koutný (CZ)
Július Kákoš (SVK)
Karel Ošmera (CZ)
Andrej Janovec (SVK)
Viliam Valent (SVK)
Ľudovít Pec (SVK)
Miroslav Dvořáček (CZ)
One participant was missing. Jiří Doležel’s Cloud Tramp was a superb flyer, so Jiří flew with this model during competition. Unfortunately, the second contest flight was the last. His Cloud Tramp flew away.
Our Cloud Tramps had perfect weather: clear blue sky, almost windless. Best flights were over two minutes. But most important is that we met with friends, Czechs and Slovaks, old and young together. Group photo was taken by Fero Swiety, president of SAM 119.
More photos from Championship:
http://md-modelar.rajce.idnes.cz/1.-2.8.2015_-_Majstrovstva_Slovenska_historickych_modelu_Ocova/
http://feroswiety.rajce.idnes.cz/Ocova_1._-_2._8.2015/
http://www.mm-foto.sk/sk/galeria/2214/ocova-2015/
Adam Jakeš
SAM Chapter No. 78
I think, the three best things on aeromodeling are:
· build by own hand some plane,
· learn to fly this creature,
· and meet the peoples with same affection.
Every point from this list is important. But third point, I think, is most important for MIMLOCT. I have been promoting this superb flyer in a Czech republic (and Slovak republic too) as an extraordinary plane, because Cloud Tramp is a thing for meeting with peoples from far countries (for us, of course).
Adam Jakes
I have tried to gather few Italian fellow modeller friends to build and
fly the Cloud Tramp at 18:00 Italian time .
Here enclosed please find some photos which I hope are acceptable for you to publish .
There are more to come, and I have also loaded them on our website:
http://www.gruppofalchi.com/eventi–foto-e-video.html
Everybody enjoyed building and flying in memory of Charles Hampson Grant to whom ad the end we had some toast with some good Italian sparkling wine.
Hoping to share the same feelings, all the best, UP WITH MR. CHARLES HAMPSON GRANT …
Paolo Rossi,
Secretary – Gruppo Falchi Bergamo, Italy
As usual, I flew alone at a small-to-medium-sized park in Brier, Washington, USA. It was a nice, sunny morning with no discernible drift. Mindful of how pitifully underpowered my plane was in 2013, I went with four strands of 3/16″ rubber this year which proved to be ideal for the site and conditions.
After the 9AM official flight, I continued on for some time till a bent prop shaft put and end to the proceedings.
I hope the many other fliers around the world had as much pleasure as I did–and more company!
Thank you,
Pat Jupiter