Ed Rae Memorial Fun Fly June 4th, 2023 The event was held on Sunday, June 4th, due to quite breezy conditions on Saturday. We wish to thank the twenty-two pilots who registered plus guests and spectators who attended. In total, we had 40 people.

This year’s event catered to a special request from Mrs. Ann Brown, widowed wife of Jim Brown, a former Stetson member who passed away earlier this year. She spread some of Jim’s ashes on the runway, then gave an emotional eulogy, which described Jim’s passion for RC Modeling. All who were present could relate to Jim’s feelings about the hobby and the relationships he enjoyed with this great community. After a moment of silence to reflect on the dearly departed, the club offered Ann a bouquet of flowers as a memento for this day.

The day proceeded with many flights by pilots from our club and all over the region. Our great cooking team prepared lunch, which was followed by draws of $25 gift certificates from Orleans Hobbies, Great Hobbies Ottawa, an ARF Skyward 25 (donated by David Janashvili). There was also a people’s choice award prize presented to Mark Winstanley for his Snowbird model.

Events like this would not be possible without volunteers. For many years Daniel Marcotte and the Stetson Executive planned and organized this Fun Fly with a very high level of success. This year we were fortunate to have him and other returning organizers plus others who offered to become involved. The team consisted of: Pierre Coulombe, Jim Denyer, Debbie Denyer, Marc Cote, Jon Harper, Dan Marcotte, Hal McDonald, Dave Percy, Pat Hennessey, Alain Richer, and Michael Lalonde. We cannot over emphasize the importance of volunteering.

Take ownership of your club’s activities and you will discover an awesome community.

Marc Cote 2023 Ed Rae Event Co-director June 8/23

Aerobatic Fun Fly Day Sunday Aug 13th, 2023 2023-08-13: On a weekend normally reserved for IMAC competition, the Stetsons organized a different flavour of fun fly with an 'aerobatics' theme and some old-school fun and games! After pushing to Sunday for weather issues, the fun began bright and early on a sunny morning.

Weather cooperated for once and gave us a warm and not too windy day for some aerobatic hi-jinks from many disciplines.

Some twenty pilots signed up and flew about every style of R/C and Control Line aircraft imaginable, from the most modern Giant Scale Jets and Gassers to the tiniest little foamies.

Control Line Balloon Bust was held and we actually managed to break some balloons! John Weekes was the eventual winner in a tight battle. The very wet field conditions added to the laughs with splashdowns instead of landings, and a lot of wet feet, etc. Thanks go out to Peter Wakefield and his c/l crew who made the apparatus and ran us through, for me, the first event like this in 50 years!

Not to be outdone by the circle burners, the R/C crowd put on a hilarious Spot Landing event which had everyone laughing and jeering as multiple efforts failed to find the magic spot! The variety of aircraft trying this on was astounding, from the beautiful Giant Scale Tiger Moth, through many different sport planes and foamies. Many attempts later, the winner was again John Weekes who managed multiple close stops after some very sneaky rudder work with his beautiful Sig Kadet. Honorable mention to Rick Ramalho as well who nailed it right on the bullseye!

The day's activities saw many different styles of aerobatic flying from mild to wild as pilots defied the laws of gravity while avoiding any figure 9's!

We were treated to Control Line patterns from Richard Gareau, Giant Scale Jet maneuvers by Top Gun champion Elckar Monsalve, impressive F3A sequences by Team Canada member Xavier Mouraux, and some hard charging 3D flying from Eric Charlebois.

In a year when pilots must comply with many new rules including a 400-foot AGL ceiling, it was really great to get out and have some fun with many different disciplines of the hobby represented. The superb lunch by Marc Cote and his canteen crew ensured that no one was hungry! They even had to open early as the wonderful smells from the BBQ had hungry people ganging up on him demanding to be fed! Many thanks to Marc and the crew! Well done all!

Big thanks go out to the hard-working volunteers at Stetsons who put together a successful fun fly in lieu of the normal IMAC Competition weekend. I think we all learned that adding some of these really old-school activities to our other events would be a popular idea, and a way to spice up fun flies in the future.

Hey, when life serves you lemons, make lemonade!

Giant Scale EventSunday Aug 27th, 2023 Well, the weather gods and Mother Nature welcomed the Stetsons Flyer’s to a beautiful and gorgeous day in which to meet, greet and make new friends in an environment where “like minded” model R/C aircraft enthusiasts; (that’s us); Big Boys with cool Toys to a relaxing day of fun and enjoyment.

Approximately 26 registered pilots participated in this year’s event.

On behalf of the Stetson Flyers, I would like to thank club executive and all our sponsors, (Great Hobbies, Orleans Hobbies and KC’s restaurant) for their kind and generous prizes and support.

I personally like to thank all our volunteers who graciously gave up their free time and participation in making this year’s Giant Scale event a very enjoyable and rewarding event, Thank You.

So enough of me, enjoy the pictures.

We had Fun

Hal MacDonald, Event Director

Thursday November 30 saw some 46 members and family join together at Mandarin Buffet restaurant for the annual Stetsons Christmas Party. While the numbers were down a bit, the crowd more than made up for it with enthusiasm and fun. A big Stetson Thank You to Mandarin. Great food as always. It always makes me chuckle to see the kids go for pizza and fries, in the midst of 100 delicious buffet items!

Santa's helpers were able to provide gifts to the children again this year. We tried for Santa, but he was tied up in C of A issues on his sleigh! Louis' folks at Air Inuit were trying to help out, but reported issues with a red nose light not meeting Transport Canada regulations. Fancy that! Special thanks to Pierre Voyer for adding to the gifts with his hand-made toys from his 3D printers. Fantastic! The kids were delighted.

Several awards were handed out and accomplishments celebrated throughout the evening.

Many thanks to Great Hobbies and Orleans Hobbies for contributing the many door prizes. We really appreciate your continuing support.

Among the most unique was the club's participation in the Ringmaster World Flyathon, where over a dozen members and a few guests spent a weekend flying control-line Ringmasters at Stetson Field. When the dizziness subsided, the club had tallied 1011 official 5 lap flights. This total was submitted to the powers that be, and in due course, was informed that this was the WORLD RECORD Winning Score for the year! Huge congrats to all the participants!

Those members who were major contributors in flying ten or more flights included John Weekes, Charlie Colwell, Tony Garbish, Mark Winstanley, Peter Wakefield, Ricardo Vieirafilho, Brian Pepin and Xavier Mouraux. Honorable mention to well over a dozen more who came and added to the totals!

Three deserving members were inducted into the Stetsons Clapping Wings Club this season, for their demonstrated abilities to disassemble an aircraft while in flight. Pat Hennessey and Gary Robertson each managed the balsa planting feat with 100% success, while Brian Pepin made the cut for his persistent attempts with figure 9 moves!

We celebrated the fantastic service of two club members this year. Really nice souvenir plaques were created for these two gents as mementos, by our own John Jackson, of "Things Made" fame.

Peter Wakefield has acted as our Safety Officer for three years. Thank you Peter for your very significant help! Your attention to detail and the activity at the field has been much appreciated. We will miss your help! Len Streefkerk has for years, and continues to be, our Flight School manager every Tuesday evening. His attention to detail on all fronts of the school operations and his many hours of hands-on repairs and testing are what make it all possible. We are very grateful to Len for his tireless help!

After a very difficult start to the year, we are pleased to see the enthusiasm at the club and the continuation of good times flying! Merry Christmas to all the members and friends, and fingers crossed for a much more normal 2024 ahead!

Best Wishes,

Stetson Executive.