E-Fest 2013 A welcome break from winter By Jim Ryan
Sean Cassidy’s fantastic 1/19-scale
Vickers Vimy took first place in the
scale competition. ;e Vimy features
functional rigging and controls and
four droppable bombs. ;e bomb-drop
mechanism is ingenious; the bombs
are secured by tiny, rare earth magnets
on a rotating rod. When the rod pivots,
the magnetic polarity reverses and the
bombs are ejected.
Like many of you, I have a handful of “can’t miss” RC events spread around the calendar—trips I look forward
to for weeks in advance. Hobbico’s E-Fest indoor fly-in, held each February at the historic armory on the
Illinois University campus in Champaign, is certainly on my short list. Indoor flying events are a fun way to laugh
o; the cold winter weather, but this event stands out for its terrific venue and huge turnout. ;is year’s event
pulled in 300 registered pilots and the ample airspace was crowded most of the time.
;is shows the E-Fest crowd. Planes and people were everywhere!
Every year, Matt Andren of Horizon Hobby shows up with another wonderful
indoor scale model. ;is year, he flew this outstanding Helio Courier, built from a
Herr Engineering kit. ;e six-ounce model features functional flaps and leading
edge slats, along with operating nav and landing lights. Power is provided by an
E-flite BL180 motor with 200-2S battery, and the STOL performance with the
huge flaps and LE slats is really impressive.
