S.M.A.L.L. 2024

MauricioB wrote:

Kim wrote:Late in the afternoon, the winds dropped and Top Dawg put in three great flights with its O.S. "Bow Tie" .10 barking away as I tried to imitate a pylon racer. Behaving pretty much the way I expected, the only UN-expected thing was having tiny Ken Willard bail from the Dawg halfway through the second flight...he now sleeps with the grasshoppers!

I don't know if it's the translator, or I can't interpret, but you say that: did you lose a Ken Willard model?...was it the parasol model? or what was it? and what happened friend?...sorry for my questions, but I'm interested to know what happened.

rdw777 wrote:Thanks for being our eyes and ears for this event Kim…. I used to see it covered in the model mags…. Lots of really interesting and unique planes (and people) have attended over the years….. Top Dawg made a good showing!!….Ken Willard designs are pretty solid!

MauricioB wrote:Kim dear friend, thank you for sharing all these photographs and videos, once again holding the burning torch of one of the most beautiful activities that exist, model airplanes.
I have seen that the place is very nice, really beautiful, so beyond the time (climate) and the fact that you may feel a little more exhausted, it is very good to see you in shape, always interacting with so much enthusiasm.
Congratulations!
I don't know if it's the translator, or I can't interpret, but you say that: did you lose a Ken Willard model?...was it the parasol model? or what was it? and what happened friend?...sorry for my questions, but I'm interested to know what happened.
Thanks again....

Hey Mauricio!

George is correct...I had just named the little plastic William's Bro. Brand pilot "Tiny Ken Willard" as an attempt at humor, and tribute to Top Dawg's designer..

I'd intended to modify the pilot to resemble the real Ken Willard---giving it graying hair/eyebrows, glasses, with a little sculpting on his neck and cheeks.  I'd purposely glued him "lightly" to allow him to be removed after S.M.A.L.L., but didn't count on the pounding O.S. .10 shaking him loose!

Yes, this is a beautiful place the Sky Tigers have, and they've worked tirelessly to improve it since member/owner David invited them to fly here. They now have electricity run to the field, replacing the big generator they were using to provide power to the flight building. I'd heard they are going to include work to make the lake a bit more accessible for float plane and R/C boat usage.

Should you ever get the chance to visit, we should REALLY try to include a trip to Sky Tiger Field, whether or not a S.M.A.L.L. event is in progress!

MauricioB wrote:

rdw777 wrote:Thanks for being our eyes and ears for this event Kim…. I used to see it covered in the model mags…. Lots of really interesting and unique planes (and people) have attended over the years….. Top Dawg made a good showing!!….Ken Willard designs are pretty solid!

Bob and Kim...maybe it's happening like in many places...the activity itself is losing followers or enthusiasts...it's sad...I don't know if that will be the case here. In my own club there are fewer and fewer of us and in real activity we are 3 people who even have different schedules. I maintained the tractor to cut the grass with a partner and now I have to assemble part of its pulleys, the grass is growing and has to be cut, in short there are few of us and it costs more and the activity in my club decreases a lot.