Piston Popper picnic and Fun Fly

[wwwarbird]

 The Minneapolis Piston Poppers held a club picnic and Fun Fly day today at our home field in Fridley, MN. There was also a "Fargo Rules" Rat Race thrown in just for fun. Thanks to Bob Cheney, Jeff Lange, Tony Kubes and all the rest for the great field prep and setup. It was a bit warm out there, but we all had a great time while grabbing burgers and dogs off the grill between flights.

 Here are some photos from the days activities...

[wwwarbird]

 
 And a few more...

[john e. holliday]

Looks like you guys are having way too much fun, even with the heat.   Thanks for the pics.

[Paul Taylor]

Thanks for sharing Wayne.

If you can't beat the heat, join in.

Can you tell us a little bit about the delta wing plane. I went looking for lead outs and don't see any. I'm sure it has some, I'm just blind as a bat at times. Also why is the tank set into the wing. I assume for CG. Looks different thats for sure.

[wwwarbird]

 Paul,

 All I know about the swept wing plane is that is an actual C/L design, and it's called a "Novette". I'd heard of the design before but hadn't ever seen one. The one shown in these photos was recently purchased RTF at this years Brodak contest by Tony Kubes from our club. The AMA number on the wing would be from the previous owner.

 There were a couple other club members shooting photos yesterday too, hopefully they'll add some here.

[Steve Scott]

Couple of more pics.  Hopefully in the next day or two I can upload and link to a YouTube video but in the meantime...

Keith Sandberg's 5 year old daughter Rachel is shown inspecting her ½A "Student" trainer at a Piston Popper meeting in June.

Special "awards" were made by Bob Cheney for the Fargo Race contestants at Saturday's picnic.  L-R is Keith Sandberg (1st and 2nd place pitter); club president Tony Kubes (2nd place pilot); Wayne Wiley (1st place pilot); Jeff Lange (3rd place pitter) and Bob Cheney (3rd place pilot).

Fargo Race rules are any airplane; any engine; 10 minute race and minimum 2 pit stops.  Pretty simple and fun.  Ya, sure... you betcha!

[jim gevay]

Thanks for posting the pictures guys.
Yes it was a little warm but it was fun with the racing and food.
How did that little old car get in there?

[Steve Scott]

Two videos from the Piston Popper summer picnic featuring Keith's daughter, Rachel.

This first video was her first flight and she managed to fly the tank out, stumbling a bit from dizziness after landing.



This second video she demonstrates her confidence by ordering her ground crew to "Start my plane, Wayne."

[wwwarbird]

 Nice job Steve, thanks for sharing!  It was a fun day out there.

[john e. holliday]

Great videos.  Sure brings back memories.   Really nice when you are told to learn how to set a needle from a certain grandaughter.