Archive for the ‘Elsewhere’ Category

Gone Cookin’

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Dryfuss shows his smile.

Sorry for the recent inactivity here. After 3+ years of blogging about flying, crashing, the Slough of Despond, hats, Baylands, birds, gopher snakes, my misadventures and my friends, I slowed to stall speed.

Nowadays, I fly occasionally, mostly indoors with the members of Bay Area Micros, and I still keep in touch with a number of my flying buddies, but much of my energy is consumed by two major new interests:

  • Managing and participating in a new blog about sous vide cooking: http://svkitchen.com/.
  • Walking, playing with and learning about our new rescued greyhound, Dryfuss.

Thanks to all of you who joined the party. If you enjoy food, good photos and interesting writing, please visit us at SVKitchen.

And don’t count me out yet. I’m still fascinated by our ability to remotely control tiny flying machines, and I may one day pick this site back up like I never left.

Indoor Flying Season

Monday, October 12th, 2009

During an evening of indoor flying in a large City of Sunnyvale gym, I hover my tiny E-Flite mCX helicopter at face level. Photo by Mike Bowns.

Helicopter Nose. Photo by Mike Bowns.


We kicked off the year’s indoor flying season Friday evening in a cavernous City of Sunnyvale gymnasium.

Don Cohn, administrator of the BayRC discussion forums, organized the event, which drew close to 20 flyers. Most popular plane: ParkZone Vapor. Most popular helicopter: E-Flite Blade mSR.

In this photo I’m flying an E-Flite Blade mCX helicopter, which is also quite the rage.

Each helicopter weighs about an ounce.

The mCX is remarkably stable, easy to fly even for a novice.

So my nose-high hover is hardly amazing.
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The Enthusiast

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

A novel about a writer who moves through the world of special interests.

A novel about a writer who moves through the world of special interests.


Acrobats, Beekeepers, Campers, Divers, Fossil Hunters, Glass Blowers, Hikers, Kite Flyers, Lego Builders, Model Railroaders, Numismatists, Orchid Growers, Poker Players, Rollerbladers, Skydivers, Tinsmiths, Videographers, Wind Surfers…

We live in a world of enthusiasts, special interests who flock to their own websites, discussion groups, activities and magazines.

My friend Charlie Haas has written a novel, The Enthusiast, about Henry Bay, a writer who works for magazines of this sort. Bay jumps from specialty to specialty, learning the language and meeting the players.
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Getting Warmer

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Mark hovers his helicopter just above the sand.

Mark hovers his helicopter just above the sand.


Mark Indiveri writes:

If you like the beach AND you like to fly helis, I highly recommend a combination of the two. This was a really great flying day, my best so far. Flyin’ ’er over the ocean is a total rush. Plenty of spectators. Some even got fly-overs (against AMA regs!). Watch out for loose dogs! Check out my nose-in hover (last pic).

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Tackling the Volcano

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Flanked by her team, Emily pilots the helicopter toward the volcano.

Flanked by her team, Emily pilots the helicopter toward the volcano.


Remember the team of young women who intended to learn to fly a radio-controlled helicopter in one month?

Saturday was their day of reckoning, when they had to guide a payload of six ping pong balls to a target inside a model volcano 20 feet away.

It was Tech Challenge 2009, sponsored by the Tech Museum.

More than 1,000 students in grades 5 through 12 competed, 250 teams from around the Bay Area and as far away as San Diego and even New York.
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