Wangaratta Jets 2006.

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This  was a different 'boys weekend' at a jet fly this time round as we have a new recruit, Darren Wilson, on board with Craig Dyer and myself.  It was also different for me as this was the first time I had brought my own model, the Alleycat, to Wangaratta and after damaging it at the Temora Jet Fly the name of the game was bring it home in one piece.  Darren was keen to fly off a sealed runway for the first time with his Boomerang and Craig had his faithfull L-39 Albatross and foam jet that he regularly flys at our home field.

On arrival at the airport it was straight to work, we wanted to get 3 days flying in if possible, Darren's re certification was done quick smart & away we went.  I have never flown on the first day at a jet fly & it came as a surprise to all of us how many models crashed on the first day, it was carnage & most of it dumb things not at all related to flying jets.  Wheels falling off, ailerons reversed, engine stoppages, spinning into the ground, days two & three were relatively quiet because by then all the iffy models had crashed. 

Other things to see & do on the weekend were the full size warbirds flying including a Wirraway, a Winjeel, Piper L4 Cub & a Tiger Moth.  One of the jet flyers, Paul Bennet, flew a Pitts Special aerobatic biplane down from NSW for the weekend, put on a demo & gave aerobatic joy flights for those who were game.  After a very hot day's flying cold beer was available at the aero club and the saturday night dinner at the Pinsent Hotel was enjoyed by all.

Darren flew superbly, the Boomerang thrived on the sealed runways although his soft foam nosewheel was about an inch smaller by the end of the weekend!  Apart from one bouncy landing, which came about after a really strong crosswind blew up half way through my flight, the half dozen flights I had also went smoothly.  My model suffered no ill effects from the landing apart from bending the shear pins designed for just these occasions & was ready to go again in 10 mins.  Craig had the bad luck of the weekend, tip stalling his Albatross just before touchdown breaking off a wing.  Fortunately for Craig (unfortunately for the other pilot) an identical model crashed breaking the fuselage but leaving the wing relatively intact which Craig scabbed up for spare parts!  After one unsuccessful take off the little foam jet went on to fly great amazing everyone with it's speed as it mixed it with the big models.

On day 2 we stopped at Woolies & bought some folding chairs, aware that we had packed carefully to fit everthing in the car & trailer.  Several distributors have trade stands with special bargains for the weekend.  After a heap of phone calls pleading with his wife Darren announced he had bought a shiny new model which would be ready on day 3.  Unfortunately when it came time to pack for the home run Darren dragged out a box as big as a coffin to squeeze in with everything else.  Somehow we made it all fit & we made for home tired but satisfied we had enjoyed ourselves.

John C