South East Regional Aerotow May 4-7, 2017

[rtlsoaring]

Mac hodges address is 428Neil Hodges Road .Andersonville Georgia 31711 I am coming in on Tuesday with my RV so I can do some camping , an do a lot of flying . See you all their .

[kd4jaz]

Google maps has the field marked at well. 3.45miles from the center of Southern Field on a bearing of about 70 degrees.

[BStaley]

I'll get there Wed. mid afternoon-ish. Marc will be a little bit behind me. Bill

[Kris]

Loaded up and plan to be on the road at 6am and should be there between 12 and 2 pm..

[Swiss1]

I know Jim and Len have been there for 24 hours, and no pictures or report

Jeremy and Ben
SCCAAA TT TN

[Stew2]

I thought you would be there by now also Jeremy? No go this year?

[Swiss1]

Our daughter Anna get's married on Sunday, so lot's to do every evening after closing the shop this week.
Next year for sure, unless Ben decides to get married that week

Jeremy and Ben
SCCAAA TT TN

[FlyingMonkey]

I'd like to say thanks to the great group of guys that were at Macs on Thursday and Friday. The weather was questionable, but you still made the trip up there worthwhile!

I've posted the pictures and video on the Freefall RC Podcast Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/freefallrcpodcast/

I hope to attend again next year, with something to fly. ('ll be bringing the van, not the motorcycle!)

Thanks!

[RLake]

Had a great time! Thanks to organizers and workers
(tow dudes, lunch, Mac again for use of the facility,etc),
and especially those willing to travel SO far to make it a worthwhile event. Thanks to Len for the quick repair class, the continuous airshows, the training session (early tow release procedures!) and especially the golf demo ( he scored a birdie, just glad for his sake it wasn't an eagle!)
And remember, there is only one Rick Lake, the other is a Richard!

[ARUP]

+1 Also, met some super great new folks, too! Pictures: tow pilots compare notes and a re-maiden about to proceed!

[ARUP]

More pics!

[ARUP]

More pics!

[ARUP]

More pics! These are just from Friday.

[JackA]

I want to thank Len, Michael, Jim and all of the other guys for a great weekend of flying. I had a great time regardless of the unusual weather. I've wanted to get into the sailplane aspect of RC flying for a very long time but just didn't have a venue to do that. Thanks to all who have promoted and created this wonderful part of RC flying and my hope is that it will continue to grow and become more commonplace to see RC sailplane meets around the country. I also want to thank Len and Michael for the fantastic repair you guys did on my plane after my landing mishap. I thought is was finished for sure and thought the rest of my time was going to be spent just taking pictures but now its better than new and flies as good as ever. I look forward to future soaring events and hope to have my ASK21 completed at the next event.

Happy and safe flying
Jack

[JimD]

SERA 2017 and the Team Gorgeous Aerotow in Midland, VA seemed to be a copy of each other in that the first day we were there for each place was beautiful and the second day was cold and raining...ugh!

Len and I drove straight from Cumberland to Americus on Tuesday (13+ hours) which put us on Hodges Airfield first thing Wednesday morning. Wednesday was a beautiful day, except for the very persistent gnats, and we got the planes together, met folks as they arrived and settled in for the event. You can see from this picture that it was a near perfect day:



Then Thursday morning arrived...oh my!



We put on three shirts and a jackets and still got cold to the bone, still the aerotalking was great! The group decided to go to a restaurant for lunch to get dry and warm and we found the Roman Oven Buffet. Good food, good friends, good conversation, and best of all warm and dry!

The rain relented in the afternoon and we got in some flying in spite of the blustery wind. Thunderstorms rolled through Thursday night and proceeded to make life miserable for the guys camping in tents. Friday was mostly dry but overcast, windy, and cold. Still, we got in a lot of flying. The good thing for Mac's field was that the fertilizer he had applied on Wednesday got soaked into the ground perfectly with the rains of Thursday and Friday.

The grass was brown and worn down when we got there on Wednesday and the planes just rolled on seemingly forever on the smooth hard ground, the brakes on my Bidule were and absolute blessing and got a serious workout. Friday and Saturday saw a lot of flying and skills were sharpened by the windy conditions.All in all, not a bad thing.





For those that stayed on, Sunday was the perfect day. Sunshine, mild temperatures, little to no wind. great day to end on after what we endure for the prior three days.

The field is magnificent and the facilities top notch, Mac had provided an exceptional venue for we model airplane enthusiasts.

Kris deserves a major thank you for organizing the event and dealing with the associated conditions and stress. His Bidule 111 was most impressive and Kris did a superb job towing with it. Guess I sort of hogged the towing time, but I was on a mission to try and top my personal best of 16 hours of tow time at an event...might have done it if not for the weather, still, we got 15-3/4 hours!

This event was far away from my normal circuit, so we got to meet many new people as a result. Making new friends that love this piece of the hobby is always a good thing, so to Tom, Jack, Dan, Rick, Christian, Marc, Bill, Doug, Dave, John, Russ, and Steve (and I sure I missed someone) great to meet you and spend time flying together.

As for Kris, Andy, Mike, and Len, great to log another event together with you guys, always a good time whether we fly or not!

Next event for me will be the New England Aerotow in Salem, CT and then on to the Windy Ridge event after that.