Mike Nadler, Gary Morgan, Dave North and I rolled and tumbled in ceaseless Wild Wing combat on a recent sunny day at Baylands.
Gary hadn’t yet built his Wild Wing so I shared my orange-finned WW with him and shot photos of the combat. In return, he took pictures later in the morning when I flew my new red-finned Wild Wing.
The result of this team photographic effort was nearly 400 pictures, about half by Gary and half by me.
The Boomers and Wild Wings we’re using for combat sessions have plenty of power, enough that it’s easy to climb straight up with a flick of the throttle.
So Dave North likes to show that they can take off from the grass: all you’ve got to do is point them up.
The usual Baylands breeze is a bit of a challenge to keep a less-than-7-ounce plane propped upright on the grass, but Monday the winds were gentle, so it was a snap for Dave to prove his point. Multiple times.
We’ve got the photos and a movie to prove it.
We have reached a peak in our pursuit of the perfect combat plane.
The perfect candidate can float slowly in the air, then zip forward, up or down for a lightning strike or getaway. It can loop in a heartbeat and speed straight to a target. It laughs at wind and spins in a tight victory roll after bashing an opponent.
Our quest has taken us through Mini SpeedWings, Boomers and hacked Wild Wings. We’ve looked at other wings, too, including HyperFleas and even Strykers.
The Great Meadow is our laboratory and we’ve had altogether too much fun conducting this research.
Here are a hundred or so more pictures from Saturday’s spectacular Baylands Battle of the Bay event.
See Slow Sticks of every hue, dramatic crashes, focused competitors and exotic contraptions.
I’ve posted brief captions which you’ll see in slideshow mode.
Not sure what this is all about? Read Saturday’s BBOB report, and enjoy even more pictures.
The longest day of the year was also one of the hottest: 101° at Sunnyvale.
But the heat didn’t deter determined flyers, who packed the two proximate Pickleweed Place parking bays by 8 a.m.
After all, today was the BBOB: Baylands Battle of the Bay, Pete Lane’s annual celebration of the Slow Stick.
Last year in The Baylands Battle Bash, I wondered why the word “Bay” occurs twice in the title of the event. This year I learned the reason: so Pete Lane can call it “BeeBob,” as he did several times during the day. I had thought it was “BeeBeeOhBee,” which is much less cool.
Red Funjet. Browse 1437 pictures in the Photos section, updated Aug 27.
Pete Flying (10/18/07)