Pacific Aeromodellers

08/30/2026

Yesterday Mision Wings held another "fun fly" but with a twist. The purpose of the day was to give the flying experience to family, friends and any "general public" members that came by. While this was the brain child of Stan and Douglas and originally ment as a radio control "buddy box" event, I just had to stick my control line nose in. Douglas did the legwork and said that this was MAAC's first "buddy box" event so there were MANY hoops and hurdles to go through with Nav Canada - it took three months. The three "buddy box" instructors were Stan and Evan on fixed wing and Darren on rotary wing (heli). They gave several people their first experience with radio control.
I went to the field thinking it would be too wet to fly my electric planes so I only took the trainer. Complete with the wrong batteries. Douglas rescued me by having 2 of the correct size (thank you!). I got three to try control line, Stan, Evan and Dennis. I made a test flight on the recently repaired "trainer" then Stan, yes the "buddy box" expert, tried. We took it off and after a couple of laps he had complete control with me following around in case he got dizzy. He completed the flight with a good landing. Next was Dennis with the same sequence and result. He knows where and when PAC flies and may just show up. Lastly was the other "buddy box" expert, Evan. Evan is also a full scale pilot instructor. It was the same result and with him not being dizzy he did a second solo flight right from takeoff to landing. It was only a total of 6 flights but they opened eyes as to how easy it wasn't. In the end I would be confident to let the three of them take the trainer and go have fun. As a side note Douglas had also successfully flown the trainer.
Tight lines & stay safe, Larry L.

08/24/2026

Yesterday was a regularly scheduled PAC Clayburn fun fly. Vancouver had been hit with a severe thunderstorm overnight and in Abbotsford it had rained most of the night so it did not look good. Ten o'clock was a "no go" but the forecast looked good for the afternoon. Brian was the first there, just in time to see a black bear run across the field. Larry B and I were not much later. All set up and then we sat around and yaked. Barb came about an hour later and Keith B. followed soon after. Keith had three planes, his Cosmic Wind for it's maiden flight, a 0.19 sized (scratch built) Cosmic Wind "look alike" and a Lil Wizard. Larry B. did the maiden then Keith flew it's second flight. All looked good so on to the 0.19 size. This had been maidened before by Denis C. So Keith did a solo on it, again all looked good. Finally Larry flew the Lil Wizard. Everything went well, except being a 1/2A the speed was fast and furious. Keith didn't think he could keep up with it so opted not to fly it, good decision. Brian flew his Shoestring twice with the only mishap being a broken prop on the second landing. It was nice to see the "club photographer" out again. She will add pics to the comments. Tight lines & stay safe, Larry L.

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08/24/2026

A week ago was the Mission Wings annual club member's "fun fly". With the CD. Paul (Lefty) B. on the side lines it was up to others to stand up and take over. Brian F was in charge of the registration, Terry S. brought the hydration ingredients and I was in charge of the catering. We all managed to achie3ve our required goals. There was expected to be a significant crowd. as it turned out the crowd was all the Sunday regulars. Ed, Will, (neither of you signed in), Valdy C., Walter Z., Bruce C., Brian F., Dennis M. and I were the club members and we had two guests, Dennis M.'s wife and her sister. Some nice scale heli flying (and 3D) and a beautiful Rascal, a lot of "discussion" and wonderful friendships recemented. As to other hobbies, Brian brought his Camaro. Tight lines & stay safe, Larry.

08/10/2026

Like Brian F. said in his post at 12:24 last Wednesday "Weather looks awesome for this Sunday lets fly some planes!". It was and we did. It was a scheduled PAC fun fly at Clayburn Park and it wasn't raining!
I picked up the field equipment from Larry B. and went to the field to see Brian and his brother Wade sitting at the parking area and their planes already placed in the pit area. After set-up, about 10 minutes, Wade got his plane ready for the first flight of the day. The grass was short but not short enough for a normal ground launch so I gave him a hand launch. Man was that ever lousy, but Wade was able to save it! The "take-off" was more reminiscent of the slow laps in a carrier contest. He then changed the prop from a 9 X 6 to an 8 X 4 and the plane was able to take off from the ground. On the second flight the engine overheated and stopped so Wade changed the prop again, this time to an 8 X 5. That worked. One thing I didn't find out until later was the Wade also took a lot of weight off the tail that Brian had used to "balance" the plane. It flew a lot better afterwards.
Brian flew his Shoestring 3 times with absolutely NO problem. So his problem at the NS with BS was solely to lack of handle time, and as flyers know, if you haven't done it for a while, you can get dizzy.
Dave D. had 1 flight on his Ringmaster. He thought about doing a loop but decided to not. He said he is also looking for a .15 sized engine.
Dennis M. flew the repaired coroplast creation that he flew at the NS with BS. This time he didn't do any loops but nothing broke either so it was a good flight. Dennis next tried his pink & blue plane but the engine wouldn't start and we found a leak in the tank. Lastly we tried his Zero which also had a tank problem.
Jora and I flew the Elec Tric A 2 flights each. After the motor quit on his second flight it was on the up-wind side and started to come in on him, backed up to maintain line tension he almost tripped over the cone we use to mark the centre of the circle. The plane went in from about 15 feet. Needs a new firewall/motor mount and some work on the cowl. Oh yeh - broke the prop. Still can't get him to do a loop.
The last flyer to talk about is Paul B. He had the repaired Fancypants to fly. Two flights and he is flying quite well. On the third attempt things went "south". Fingers and props are not supposed to mix and when they do the finger always looses and it did. Lets just say he has a new nickname - Lefty.
I have to thank Dennis who stepped up and taking Paul to the hospital for stitches and stayed with him until family arrived.
I talked to Paul last night and asked if he wanted this incident on the post. He said "Yes, it's a reminder to be careful."
Brian posted photos on his site at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2069264873617474/
Tight lines & STAY SAFE!, Larry L.

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08/03/2026

This is an "update" on my Tempest build. There has been ongoing progress, slow as it may have been.
1, - the fuse bucks (molds) are completed to a point that they can be used. After the initial forming is complete I will cut the wing and stab holes and then complete the fuse sides.
2, - I have been very cruel to a bunch of balsa. I put it on the "rack" and stretched it. Now if only I could figure out what to do with it now. Actually Walter from the Mission Wings laser cut "fingers" so I could lengthen them for the fuse.
I've had other things "on the go" but that is another report. So for now, Tight lines & stay safe, Larry.

07/26/2026

Sunday July 26th and another Clayburn Park flying day. Unfortunately it is also a rainy day so flying was "cancelled" and will go towards a future additional "dry" day. Don't take me wrong, we do desperately need this rain just why does it always seem to happen on our flying day. A day for building (or watching the F1 race your choice). Anyway have a good day.
Tight lines & stay safe, Larry

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07/12/2026

Sunday July 12th and a beautiful day to go flying at Clayburn Park. Larry B. and Brian F. were already there so we got busy and set up the field safety items. With all that HARD work done, we all sat down and yaked until Denis C. arrived. He didn't come over and start talking but went straight to the flying circle and proceeded to set up his Ringmaster for the first flight of the day. It seemed that Denis had installed a 40oz. tank as it flew "forever". Paul came by but did not bring anything to fly. His truck is in the shop. Larry B. flew his Ringmaster and Brian flew the Shoestring. about then I felt it was about time to come home to see if Kathy needed anything. So I don't know how the rest of the day went. Tight lines & stay safe, Larry L.

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07/10/2026

I have to say "Sorry that I haven't gotten this done earlier." but it has been a "week". I still do not have a list of names of all the fliers so if I get you wrong please correct me in the comments.
July 05, the annual NS with BS. To start I'll do all the thank yous. Firstly and most importantly, Paul B. the originator and main organizer. Without him there would be no NS with BS. Secondly to Kelley C. for being the CD for the combat portion of the day. Thirdly to the Mission Wings members who 1 - did all the maintenance of the field. Brian F. and Terry S. mowed the field Saturday and Paul ang Bruce C. trimmed, and 2 - the Mission wings itself for allowing this event to happen. And lastly, and most importantly, to all the participants who either just came out to cajole or even fly.
It seams that a number of R/C fliers are remembering their roots in model aviation and are interested in coming back to control line. Case in point, there were 4 members of the Riverside Flyers out, 2 have already taken up the handle, Wade F. and Keith B., while Ken did fly Wade's "trainer" and Marcel only observed. Wade's "trainer" was originally built by Harold Y. and donated by Dennis M. that Brian F. brought back to a flyable condition. Wade, Keith and Ken Mc. made several flights. They were having fun! Chris "Partner" S. was out with his Super Ringmaster. This year it was joined by 2 others built over the winter by Greg D. for himself and Kelley. Paul flew his Barnstormer and is working on the full stunt pattern with success. Brian flew the Shoestring but filled the tank a little too full, he ended up too dizzy to make a proper landing but the plane only broke the prop and oh yes - he was ok also. Later we maidened his Twister. Denis flew both the Bi-slob and a combat (wing ?) made from coroplast. Even it flew well(?) with a couple of loops at the end. Turns out the the bellcrank mount came unglued and the loops were by accident. This plane was reminiscent of the cardboard wings we made back in the 60s. There were all these people willing to try control line and I haven't mentioned my "trainer" yet because it had an early exit. It's first flight was short ending up requiring a new prop and some C. A. I did a test flight next and found I had either full up or full down, nothing in between. needless to say it flew no more that day. The best I can think of is that during the first incident the stab had cracked and I didn't notice it. Oh well, it now has a new stab and elevators and should be ready for Sunday. I flew the Elec-Tric-A two flights, no more because (I believe) the magnets have shifted in the motor. One thing, about me, that surprised me, was that I was bottoming out the maneuvers at (or below) the proper height. That is new.
There were too many people there that I had not seen in too long, one being Ron K. whom I went to high school with and flew with back in the 60s. Others were all the guys in the combat circle. Greg, Kelley, Mel L. and Lyn M.
There were others also, from the Mission Wins were Valdy (sorry but by the time you arrived the :trainer" was already toast) and (?) and Don and Barb, Henry H. and my wife Kathy from PAC. My son-in-law Paul D. with his grandson Tristen, (I am still trying to get Tristen involved) and a new face, Art P. whom I will see tomorrow at the VGMC luncheon. please note that a lot of the combat pictures were taken by Art. Thanh you.
You will note that there is no combat report, because I was kept busy and only observed "from afar" so I intend to not plagiarize, but purloin Kelley's report for Flying Lines, with his permission of course.
As I stated in the beginning, if I missed you, I'm sorry, and please comment below.
The best thing about all of this is the people you meet and get to know in this hobby/sport and the laughter and stories that you share. To me everyone shown or mentioned here are very special. Tight lines & stay safe Larry L.

07/06/2026

Today, July 05, was the annual gabfest, liar's convention and general organized chaos that is known as the NS with BS! And it was! When you see this on the road into the field, you know it will be a great day. Right now I am too tired to do more than give a teaser, more later in the week. Tight lines & stay safe.

06/30/2026

Remember - Mission Wings Control line NS/BS + Combat - this coming Sunday!!!