Big Biplane Bash - Model Airplane News

Big Biplane Bash
Central CT RC Club’s Multi-Wing event is a big Success
If anything, the 6th Annual
Big Biplane Bash proved
that it pays not to give up.
After being rained on for
the last three years and
having the constant
thought of giving up in the
back of everyone’s mind, it
was to everyone’s delight
that the weather finally
cooperated for the 6th
annual Big Biplane Bash.
Everyone had a perfect
opportunity to show off
their stuff. Contest Director
Gerry Yarrish, for one was
happy not to give his Pilot’s
Meeting from under an
umbrella!
Right from the start it
was obvious that the event
was going to be a success.
First thing in the morning
twelve CCRCC club members showed up and began
setting up the
tents and safety
lines that separated the pit area
from the open
space where spectators would gather to see the day’s
show. Before anyone knew it, the
parking area was a
sea of trucks and
trailers and it was
a sure thing that
there would be plenty of
action this day. Registration
opened at at 8AM and by 9,
there was a line of pilots
getting their paperwork
taken care of. The first
model in the air was a big
Hangar 9 46%
scale Ultimate
bipe and it set
the pace for
what followed.
A total of 46
registered
pilots showed
up and there
were at least
100 beautiful
models on the
flightline.
Several hundred spectators also came
to enjoyed the big biplane
bash and the club even
It really is
amazing
what you
can do
when it
doesn’t
rain!
Text by Gerry Yarrish, Photos by Mike Kaczynski & Gerry Yarrish
6th Annual
gained four new members
from the crowd. Pretty good
for an event that’s usually
all wet. The registration fee
for each pilot was $10 and
for that, they get a free raffle ticket as well as a free
hot lunch ticket for the food
served at the canteen.
At the registration
booth Gerry’s wife Anita
and daughter Rebecca handled the paperwork and the
radio impound with the
help of Rebecca’s friends.
Anita also had her worldfamous cookies and two
huge pots of clam chowder
for the hungry pilots. There
was even a cooler filled with
cold water at the flightline
to quench any pilots thirst.
Havin’ Fun!
To make things a bit more
interesting, a large circle
and cross painted was
painted on the runway, and
prizes were given out for
touch & goes as well as for
spot landings. As is always
the case, there were four
flight stations set up at the
CCRCC flying field and this
allowed plenty of time for
people to have as many
flights as they wished. The
only restriction imposed on
the pilots was that any aerobatic hovering had to be
done 50 feet away from the
safety fence and flown at
least 50 feet above the
ground. As it turned out,
this day was for scale warbirds and civilian classics
and no one hung it on the
prop.
Pilots came from all
over the Northeast including Connecticut, New York,
Long Island, Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, New Jersey
and Virginia too. There was
also one hearty soul that
ventured all the way from
the UK to fly with the
biplanes. Ted Galbraith
took the Road King award
for furthest distance traveled to attend the event.
Ted’s presence at the event
also made the 6th annual
Big Biplane Bash a true
“International Incident!”
Ron Weiss brought this beautiful Fleet Biplane and won several awards.
World War 1 fighters made
up close to 90% of the models flown at the event, and
a healthy portion of those
were regular flyers with
many years of Rhinebeck
Jamboree experience.
Several pilots started calling
the BBB a mini Rhinebeck
and by the looks of the
flightline, it was obvious
that vintage warbirds are a
very popular choice.
Beautiful Prizes
Each year, there is a pilots
choice competition and this
year there were six “Best of
Class” awards given out.
The awards were: Best
Military, Best Civilian, Best
Aerobatic, Best Sport (nonscale,) Best Electric and a
Best of Show. For the sec-
ond year in a row, Model
Airplane News magazine
sponsored the award
plaques which were beautifully laminated antique
magazine covers that were
originally produced by aviation artist Jo Katula. The
plaques were simply awesome.
Also for the second
time, there was a free flight
rubber-powered event held
during the noontime break.
A special part of the Big
Biplane Bash is the “Spirit
of Modeling” event.
Beautiful laser-etched
acrylic trophies were donated by FX-Models of
Terryville, CT, and these
plus two kits from Dumas
Model Products were handed to the winners.
Hobbytown USA of New
Milford, CT donated several
dozen rubber-powered balsa
flyers to the event and
these went to all the pilots
and their kids for the “All
Up, Last Down” class. The
“Best of Class” event was
for the more serious stick
and tissue modelers, and
this year we had eight very
nicely detailed models compete for the prize. In the
end, it seemed that the free
flight event was just as popular as the rest of the Big
Biplane Bash, it was certainly just as much fun!
Special Thanks
When it comes right
down to it, the event really
was a big success because
of all the great pilots that
decided to make the trip to
2007 Winners
Sponsors
Best Military
Model Airplane News
Arizona Model Aircrafters
Backyard Flyer
Bob Smith Industries
Byron Fuels
Castle Creations
Die Cast X Magazine
Du-Bro Products
Dumas Model Products
E-Flite
FTE
Futaba
Great Planes
Hitec RCD
Hobbico
Hobby Lobby
Horizon Hobby
JR Radio
Kyosho USA
Landing Products
APC Props
Master Airscrew
Pat's Custom Models
Manzano Laser
MegaTech
Multiplex
Robart Mfg.
SKS Videos
Spektrum
Top Flite
Williams Bros. Products
ZAP Glue
Lou Cetrangelo
Best Civilian
Ron Weiss
Best Aerobatic
Rick Miller
Prize Table spilled over to the ground.
A combination of this and last year’s.
Best Sport
Lou Abraham
Best Electric
Don Wild
Best of Show
Ron Preston
Special Awards
Best Giant
Ron Weiss
Just a small part of the flightline!
about 100 models lined the pits.
Best Spot Landing
Sal Calvagna
Best Craftsmanship
Chauncey Dance
Most Flights
Bill Hotmann
Touch & Goes
Dave Wigley
Hardest Landing
Stan Kulesa
A pair of future biplane pilots discuss
the event! Everyone has fun at BBB.
Best WW 1
Ed Herscheld
Static Display
Henry Haffke
Tom Polapink
Dogfight!!! Sal Calvagna’s Fokker DVII draws a bead on Dave Wigley’s
SE5a. Just a small part of the action!
Above: Almost a perfect sport landing by Dave Wigley and his Balsa USA
RAF SE5a. Below: This Nieuport 28 makes a good attempt at the spot
landing but ends up on a wingtip. No damage though except perhaps to
the underside of the pilot’s pride!
the grills cooking. No one
can run an event properly
without the help of fellow
club members and close
friends and family.
Last but certainly not
least, the many sponsors
that have been contributing
to our event for the last six
years and the many new
first time sponsors, all have
my personal thanks for
their support. The awards
and prizes make the BBB
magical for everyone who
attends. Many of the local
modelers don’t attend big
regional events and the Big
Biplane Bash is to them,
the biggest show in town.
Letting them experience a
first-rate event without having to travel a long distance
helps keep their passion
alive and hopefully will
encourage a few to venture
out to other equally impressive events.
More to Come!
the event. The Club always
tries to make the “Triple B”
a success but without the
guys from Long Island, New
Jersey, upstate New York
and the regular, “comeunder-any-weather-conditions” like Whitney
Philbrick and his family,
the event wouldn’t be as
special. I want to thank
each and every one who
attended the event and
committed aviation. Our
event is the best because all
you guys are the best.
Thanks also goes to
the many Central CT RC
Club members that helped
keep the event going and
Weather permitting, I
am again going to put the
“Big Biplane Bash” together
and our 7th annual event
will be on the 4th Saturday
of September 2008. Let’s try
to break that magic 50 registered pilots mark! We’re
going to have more fun and
exciting events to keep the
friendly competition going.
I have a special event
planned for 2008. Wait till
you see the new handouts
at the WRAM show next
February. You’re going to
love it! Until then, fly safe
and build something with
two wings! Triple-B forever!