The Flying Aces Club (FAC) might be better described as an "international movement" rather than a "club". Flying Aces has a worldwide membership engaged in stick and tissue freeflight modeling. Geneseo New York where the annual FAC Contest is held, is a picturesque college town with a spectacular view overlooking a broad valley . Adding to the interest of the event, the actual contest site is an aviation museum and airfield located on the valley floor. Participants arrive mainly from the USA and Canada, with a smattering from other countries. On even-numbered years, the contest is a 3 day event; on odd numbered years it is a two day event. In either case you can expect in excess of 150 registered entrants, each with 4 or 5 freeflight airplanes to fly. The flight line extends for well over a quarter mile.
FAC contest-categories exist for nostalgia designs and for scale replica models. Under those general headings, separate categories exist for rubber propulsion, electric propulsion and rocket propulsion, interwoven with a variety of "theme" events such as "World War I", "World War II", "the Best French Airplane", Olde Tyme Rubber Cabin etc., etc. etc.
(Below) Models ready for judging
Prior to the first flying day of the contest, scale models are submitted for static judging in a nearby auditorium. Lots of examples of beautiful workmanship can be seen. You can talk to the creators of these models, and it's likely that you will recognize some of their names from popular hobby magazines. The same auditorium is where you will also find freeflight kits and materials for sale. Freeflight cottage industries do a brisk business at Geneseo, or you can do transactions with them later, over the Internet.
The next day, flying begins. Compared to R/C contests, Geneseo is a very casual event. The majority of flights are "trim flights" which attempt to optimize the adjustment of a model before attempting an "official" flight. Simultaneously, and mixed in with this contest-related activity, a lot of flying purely for fun is going on. It's a big sky with room for everyone and where there are no radios, there are no radio frequency conflicts. Stick and tissue models don't weigh enough or travel fast enough to pose an acute danger. You can lob your an airplane into the sky, whenever you want, and as often as you want.
(Below) Vance Gilbert launching ... photo from Geneseo 2005
In some contest events, individual pilots launch at random intervals over the course of the day from various points on the field chosen according to their own inclinations. For other events, a bizarre spectacle known as the "mass launch" is organized, where all of the competitors launch simultaneously from one place on the field. In either case, an event typically consists of several rounds of of timed duration-flights, with a fly-off if the total score is tied at the end of the scheduled rounds. The competition is friendly but intense.
By design, free flight models circle continuously while drifting with the prevailing wind. The airport where the contest is held is a very big field. Two minutes is usually specified as the target flight duration. Models that land within two minutes usually land within the field's boundaries. However, two minutes is an artificial constraint which many of models refuse to respect. They really, really want to fly ! On any given day several fly-aways can be expected, sometimes disappearing into thermals straight overhead. Windy days mean longer flight distances and on the horizon, modelers will be searching for airplanes in the vast potato, corn and soy bean fields that surround the airfield.
Equipping your model with a dethermalizer system helps to keep the model on the field. A dethermalizer generally consists of some form of onboard timer that initiates a soft landing by actuating a control surface. Even so, windspeed, wind direction and thermal activity will vary widely during a flight. For any selected flight duration, the actual distance covered and direction traveled are often hard to predict in advance.
(Below) A variety of historic aircraft from Geneseo's air museum are usually on hand. They often fly during the model airplane contest, adding to the general excitement and uproar.
I've lost the exact count, but 2009 must be at least the 12th consecutive year that Sam Burke and I have gone to the Flying Aces contest held in Geneseo, New York, just south of Buffalo. In recent years, Warren Kelly has also attended, and Geneseo has become an annual outing that we all look forward to. Each year we buy the current Flying Aces Geneseo souvenir tee-shirt, and I now have quite a pile of them to wear and treasure.
(Below) SOGGI member Sam Burke with Warren Kelley, in 2008
After the day's events, it's back to the hotel (or depending on your tastes, reserved space at the local college dormitory) to shower off and then we search out some dinner. We try to eat all the things our wives won't let us eat at home. Later on at dusk, we may return to the field to fly some more trim flights, and to meet and greet friends.
It was at least partly by going to Geneseo that we discovered that other freeflight modelers live within the vicinity of SOGGI. Over about the last five years, SOGGI has strengthened these connections by holding a one-day freeflight funfly. Well organized this year by Warren Kelley, our funfly of June 27 at Fletcher Road provided a nice practice opportunity leading up to the Geneseo contest. It was a great success with good flying weather and about 20 participants.
I'm already looking forward to going to Geneseo again next year.
Bob H.
Flying Aces Contest at Geneseo, NY ... July 16-18, 2009
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Bob H
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Flying Aces Contest at Geneseo, NY ... July 16-18, 2009
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