The RC Geek Blog

By: Chris Wolfe

It’s hard to believe that the year is half over already!  It feels like since the US Scale Master’s Championships last year until now, I haven’t done all that much flying.  At least certainly not as much as I could hope for.  Between my kids getting into competitive travel sports added to having limited accessibility to our flying field here where I fly my large airplanes, it’s been a little difficult just getting to the field.  So when the Scale Squadron’s Warbirds & Classics event peeked around the corner, needless to say I was excited!  It was going to be 2 straight days of RC airplane goodness and some much needed flying!  Leading up to the event, I had been focusing my spare time in the shop trying to get our little kfir kit bash project finished up for the event and this was her debut outing!

Between the Scale Squadron’s hospitality, the picturesque back drop of OCMA’s Black Starr canyon flying site, and the incredible assortment of airplanes, this event is a must go for me.  I look forward to it every year and there’s always a ton of flying to be had.  Plus, it’s a chance to spend a weekend flying with my dad which I cherish deeply.  The beauty of the event is that there’s a great assortment of airplanes, but there’s never an issue with the flight line backing up causing much of a line.  Anytime anyone wants a flight, it usually happens straight away.

The event took place Saturday June 9 thru Sunday June 11.  I was there Friday and Saturday with my A-7 Corsair II , ASM Tigercat , and newly finished Kfir.  Through those two days, I racked up a bunch of flights in between capturing what video and pictures I could get.  I had contemplated heading out Sunday too, but by the end of Saturday following the banquet, I was absolutely exhausted.

The weather Friday was sunny and warm with just a light touch of wind straight down the runway.  It was about as perfect as you can get for a day of flying.  I think I racked up close to a dozen flights between the 3 airplanes I brought with me for the day.  Saturday however, was a different story; the day started out cloudy and breezy.  Though not a bad wind, the conditions in the air were pretty turbulent (especially headed into the afternoon) which were bouncing all size of airplanes around a bit.  It made for some interesting approaches and passes for sure!  Regardless, there was a ton of flying had by all, even in the more difficult conditions on Saturday.

So, here’s a collection of pictures from the event.  I only took a few as I was focusing more on video (videos further down).  In many cases, the airplanes I captured video of only flew once on Saturday.

Scott Plummer from airshowvid.com was on hand with his camera and captured some incredible pictures!  He captured some of the most real looking pictures of some of the aircraft you’d never even guess they were model aircraft!  Here’s a collection of what he took.  He is a master behind the camera both in video and still photography.

Here’s  selection of some of the videos.  This is just the first few, I will be adding more on my YouTube channel over the next few weeks.

CARF F4U Corsair – This airplane was just incredible.  Moki 250 radial, folding wings, and a wonderfully authentic Pacific Theater paint scheme.  Be sure to turn up the sound on this one!  This is one of the most authentic sounding Moki installs I’ve heard!

Ziroli P-38 Lightning – This was a previously crashed airframe that had been rebuilt back to flying condition.  The airplane was gas powered and featured counter rotating props.

Ziroli Dauntless – This was a really nicely sized Dauntless flown well.  The airplane featured the full compliment of scale dive brakes and flaps.

Hangar 9 P-51 – Horizon Team Pilot Tony Quist was rockin’ the skies with his Hangar 9 P-51.  I was playing around with some onboard video, which helps show the precision of the maneuvers.  Also, the airplane featured an electric onboard starter.

The post Warbirds & Classics 2017 RC Airshow appeared first on The RC Geek.

The RC Geek Blog is your place to learn about all aspects of the RC hobby. Learn to build, design, drive or fly that RC project you’ve always wanted to build, but have been intimidated to try. This blog is here to help you on your journey and provide tips and tricks as you go! My hope is to inspire builders both experienced and new! So, welcome, please look around, it’s an exciting beginning!  I’m currently documenting my latest competition scale RC jet build, a Mark Frankel F4D Skyray, along with some other fun tips and videos. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this front page, click on any of the categories to the right and it will show just posts related to those categories. Please feel free to add comments and/or contact me directly if you have questions, I’m here to help! And don’t forget to check out my YouTube Channel, I post new videos every week!

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