Third Annual Hirobo Cup Slated At Lums Pond

     Friday, July 25th through Sunday July 27th marks Delaware's biggest radio controlled helicopter event of the year. Hirobo Cup East Coast has been presented for 3 consecutive years and is sponsored by the Delaware R/C Club as a family oriented fun fly which benefits Boy Scout Trip 30 and the local community.

     Expected to participate are more than 75 pilots from throughout the U.S. and 150 model Helicopters, both scale models and conventional model configurations. At mid-day on Saturday July 26th some military jets are expected to take to the sky for some demonstration flying.  These models are powered by true jet turbine engines - scaled-down versions of the engines that power our country’s military aircraft.

     Friday is a set up and free flying day.  Saturday is when the main event will be held and prizes awarded; clinics on how to get the most out of your Hirobo will be scheduled; and one-on-one set-up help and support will be going on all day and thru the weekend. Sunday is a final clinic day with free flying as well. There will be fun-fly competitions scheduled throughout the weekend. All are welcome to attend and participate. Pre-registration, helicopter model info, and frequency info is highly preferred to smooth out the daily operations at the event.

     As an introduction to model helicopters for kids, there will be a training helicopter for anyone to try. The helicopter has a dual set of controls to allow Club members to oversee these new pilots on what will most likely be their maiden flights. The training helicopter is being provided through financial donations of the Delaware R/C Club members. Vendors will offer helicopter-related items of interest to pilots and spectators alike. Boy Scout Troop 30 will serve up excellent burgers, dogs, and other food and beverages at reasonable prices as a troop fund-raiser throughout the weekend.

     Bob Chapman from Cecil County, Maryland, is the Contest Director (CD) for the event this year. Many volunteers would help the event run even more smoothly. Club members are invited to show up and contact Bob to help any day of the event.

Warbirds Fly Over Delaware For The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society

Perhaps the best way to wrap up Warbirds Over Delaware 2003 is through the eyes of the pilots who participated. Thanks to John Kirchstein, we are pleased to present these comments from Internet postings following the event:

Andrew Benjamin :

…The Delaware R/C Club was an excellent host as always. I thought everything went especially smooth this year. There were no radio issues that I know of nor any midairs either. A number of us participated in SUMs, that's spontaneous undercarriage modifications, when we failed to cope properly with the aggressive cross wind that kicked up on Saturday afternoon however. I was having the time of my life flying with a big fast loud Jug, Byron Corsair, and Dauntless in fast formation diving fly bys. Only the Dauntless landed first without incident in this impromptu warbird gaggle.  A vicious, 85 degree crosswind grew in strength after lunch from the southwest that turbulated over the trees and the pavilion adjacent to the runway. Andy Kane, flying the Dauntless, was wary enough to perform a fast, no flaps, wheels landing past the pavilion close to the flight line which kept his plane intact as did his big wheels and wide stance gear.

Chris "Wildman", who enjoyed a ringside seat with the crowd from NY, told me he counted 26 landing gear modifications etc. in the following next couple of hours including ours. After yet another storm blew through, it was beautiful flying conditions again. My Spit is easily fixable but since I had a number of very good flights from Friday on, I didn't bother trying to field repair it, but sat back and just enjoyed BSing with everyone the rest of the time. It was all just too much fun!...

Bob H.

Back from WOD... was excellent per usual!!!.. Saw several Group members there.. Lots of pilots and planes.. I don't have a count but several hundred pilots and more planes. Weather was nice but touchy with cross winds most every day and T-storms in the evening. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.. Regards BobH.

John, Please thank everyone associated with the hard work for WOD ok.. Its truly a fantastic event and takes lots of preparation and work!!.

Again Thanks MUCHO!!! BobH.

Bob Chubb:

Wendy and I made it home safely after about 2 hours, Rt 95 was brought to a stand still in Wilmington due to construction. We jumped off and took several country roads to get around the congestion. I sure had a great time and enjoyed meeting with and talking to many of the list members. I can't [wait] until next year and I'll also post some photos once I download

them from my camera.

I wish to express my gratitude to those who came by to offer consolation after the loss of my P-38 lightning on Saturday. I especially want to thank several of your club members for assisting with the recovery of the plane. The woods out there are dense with much under growth which made the search extremely difficult. I am also thankful that the crash was well away from the crowd. The damage to the plane was surprisingly minimal and I will have it back for next years event.

Thank You

Charles Kellogg

Hey Everyone:

Just wanted to say Warbirds Over Delaware was a blast. It was great meeting Bob C., Ira and seeing Bob H. and everyone else. If you weren't there, Saturday afternoon was quite interesting. Andrew was flying the Spitfire, a P-47 was up and then a Corsair took to the Skies. The leading edge of a storm began to roll in and the winds went nuts, perpendicular to the runway.  The P-47 was the first to land. He came in just fine but about three feet off the ground, windshear just slammed him into the runway. Andrew was second and the exact same thing happened but he was able to recover slightly to avoid major damage, just the gear getting dorked. No sooner did that happen that a bomb went off. The Corsair wing failed and she went in vertically.

Thanks

Bruce H

CDs Pete and Dave Malchione have expressed their thanks to the many volunteers who, together, created another successful Warbirds. We plan to have a fairly comprehensive listing of the volunteers in a forthcoming newsletter. In advance, we would like to thank the management and staff of Lums Pond State Park for all their assistance and support; and Phyllis Crain, who worked tirelessly to prepare pins and badges for the pre-registered pilots and volunteers.

   A number of companies and groups were critical to the succes of Warbirds through their contributions of goods and services.

   For the second year, the Young Marines provided manpower to help with parking, crowd control, and event setup. These young men and women worked long hours in the hot sun without complaint. We salute them, as well as their leaders and organization, as we are most fortunate to have them on our team.

   Boy Scout Troop 30 has served up great burgers and dogs at Warbirds for a number of years and continued the tradition this year. We thank them for a tough job again well done.

   We don't know what to say about "Fast" Eddie Leuter. (I can imagine Eddie chuckling over that statement!) He interrupts his busy schedule to donate announcing services to Warbirds year after year. And he continuously challenges us to provide more timely information to feed his announcing appetite. We thank him for his contribution that helps us grow in the eyes of our community.

   New to Warbirds this year was Cooper's - a local company that sells and services John Deere lawn, garden, and agricultural equipment. On very short notice, Cooper's (www.coopersjd.com) provided a John Deere Gator vehicle to the Club for the Warbirds event. For those of us who were involved with operations the Gator was invaluable -  including retrieving downed aircraft from the wetlands; circulating with raffle tickets; and hauling supplies, materials, and trash bags. We sincerely thank Bob Ritchie, manager of Cooper's Glasgow store (302-834-0114), and Mike Kern, manager of the Cecilton store (410-275-2195). John Deere is a major sponsor of EAA's AirVenture and we are grateful for their presence at Warbirds.

   Model Airplane News (www.modelairplanenews.com) has reported on Warbirds in the past and we were delighted this year to have its Senior Editor, Gerry Yarrish, present once again at the event, both as a participant and a reporter. As Gerry stated in a post-event e-mail, "I had a great time with you guys and I will most definitely be back with the family next year! The photos came out great and I am ready to start writing." Welcome back, Gerry, and thanks for your support as well as the magazine issues for the benefit of our participants!

   Vendors are a crucial component of any successful event, providing the opportunity for participants to replace lost or damaged items and to stock up on "wants". They also provide the avenue for spectators to turn what they are enjoying in the air and on the ground into tangible objects that can be taken home and used over and over. We thank these vendors for being with us this year or, if unable to join us, for providing event sponsorship through extremely worthwhile items for our welcome bags and raffles: J&R Hobby Hardware (sales@jrhobbyhardware.com); Great Planes/Futaba (www.futaba.com), who donated a radio for the raffle; SKS Video Productions (www.sksvideo.com), who donated items for the raffle; Precision Cut Kits (larrypck@aol.com); JGRC (www.jgrc.biz); Helis and Hobbies International (www.giantscaleplanes.com), who donated an excellent P-47 kit which was combined with a JR radio to become the top raffle prize this year; Esprit Model (www.espritmodel.com); Multi-Electronics (sales@multi-electronics.com); Sky Blue Hobbies (302-475-7681); H.F. Hankinson of Sonic-Tronics (215-635-6520) who is no stranger to Warbirds or Delaware R/C and once again provided a number of items for the raffle; Y-Not Color (www.y-notcolor.com); MPI (www.maxxprod.com); Vel Tye L.L.C. (www.veltye.com), who donated items for the raffle; Handibond, of Honolulu, Hawaii, (www.handibond.com) who once again donated their products and decals; JR/Horizon Hobbies (www.jrradios.com), who donated a radio for the raffle; BVM Jets (www.bvmjets.com), who donated items; Marty Moran, who donated items, and FTE/ZAP (www.franktiano.com), who donated items. We apologize if any vendors were inadvertently omitted; just let us know and we will recognize you in an upcoming newsletter. We can't name every item that was donated but we appreciate and thank each of the vendors for their contributions. A number of participants were disappointed that The Creamery at Woodside Farm was unable to join us this year; we hope they, and all of the fine vendors present this year, will be back again next year.

   Delaware R/C has been most gratified to receive extended media coverage for Warbirds almost every year, both locally and nationally. In particular, two individuals have been unfailing in helping to get the word out about our event.

   Sal Calvagna reports on the Warbirds event in his RC Giants column in Model Aviation (http://modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/publications.asp). We can't thank Sal enough, both for his reporting and for the large group of skilled and enthusiastic flyers he brings to our event each year from Long Island. Sal has reportedly indicated that he needs more space next year!

   Scott Stouffer's SKS Video Productions (www.sksvideo.com) has been with us for three consecutive years. Each year they produce a film about Warbirds Over Delaware which is sold nationally in both VHS and DVD format. Each year the film gets better. We can't wait to see what Scott's creativity will add to this year's film!

   We were extremely gratified for the full page coverage given to Warbirds by the local Hockessin/Greenville/Mill Creek Community News (302-239-4644); last year these papers provided two full pages of coverage!

   Statistics: 160 pilots and 234 aircraft were registered. Only a few of the pre-registered pilots were unable to attend. We will try to include additional statistics in our next newsletter.

   A representative of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society attended our last Board meeting and reported that the Society was very pleased with this kick-off benefit. He expressed a strong desire to continue our relationship.

Around the Pattern

Welcome To New Members

   The officers and members of the Delaware R/C club extend a warm welcome to our recent new members: Les Sachau, Newark DE; and Philip Langell, Newark DE.

September Club Meeting Location

   Check your next issue of Glitch Busters for the location of the September Club Meeting. While we hope to return to William Penn High School, construction at that site may require us to relocate.

Help Keep Us Keep You Up To Date

   In order to keep all our members informed of all Club news, it is crucial that the Club remain informed of all changes to our members’ contact information. Please send all changes of address and phone number to our Treasurer, Dick Stewart (302-368-2911 or BALTICPLY@aol.com). E-mail address changes should be sent to John Kirchstein (jakirchstein@comcast.net) and Carl Hauger (cewhauger@yahoo.com).

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