Stetson’s First Flight

We welcomed 2025 with the First Flight Fun Fly on January 1 with an attendance of 25 members and spectators. Seven pilots competed for the first flight bragging rights while others watched on in excitement.

The typical Ottawa winter weather greeted us with a 15 km/hr. north-east wind, a grey sky and wet snow flurries! Warm temperatures and rain had washed away the snow just prior to the start of the new year. This made for a very interesting situation and decision for pilots, especially the ones competing. “Should I opt for wheels over skis for low rolling resistance or put silicone on the bottom of my skis, etc. to get that competitive advantage”? Pilots had many different thoughts. They arrived with an assortment of aircraft configurations: wheels (conventional and tricycle), skis, pontoons, push or pull arrangement of motors and amphibious aircraft. In addition, we had a large array of types of aircraft and sizes.

Once models were assembled and radio checks completed, a pilot briefing was held. Pilots were advised not to run with their aircraft; to keep their aircraft close once airborne to maintain visual line of sight (VLOS) and to follow the other normal flight line rules and calls.

To launch the models fairly and safely, the five electric model airplane pilots were directed to position themselves behind their aircraft along an imaginary line at the east end runway entrance. When the starter commands were given, pilots then armed their aircraft and took off. Not long after everyone’s airplane took to the sky. It was exciting to see so many aircraft flying at the same time. The models that had lights on really stood out well. If clouds could talk, they might have been surprised to see so many small model airplanes invading the sky! Christopher Trinh flying a Flite Test Sea Otter took 1st prize! Christopher must have practiced in advance as he wasted no time in getting his amphibious aircraft airborne in quick order. Congratulations Christopher!

The second category, which was combustion powered aircraft, consisted of two glow powered airplanes. This was the second consecutive year that Greg Oliver and Gary Robertson competed for top gun! Both pilots started their models from the benches. Shortly after the start command was given, Gary had his Hanger 9 Twist engine running first. His engine did not falter as he carried his aircraft carefully to the runway and took off. Congratulations Gary! You have it down to science. Greg was not far behind though and took off his tricycle landing gear aircraft shortly afterwards. Greg, who has been flying for only a few years, has become a very skilled pilot and mechanic operating his engines with great success under the guidance of Robert Covell. Watch out next year Gary!

After the formal flying was done many other pilots flew their aircraft and socialized. Timbits and coffee were served along with Alain Richer’s excellent tasting molasses cookies!

Pilots dressed for the weather and used transmitter gloves to keep their fingers warm and nimble. Many brought higher visibility aircraft to counter the overcast and falling snow and the aircraft that were set up with lights were especially visible. Since icing on the wings was a concern, pilots cleared the snow ice off wings before takeoff. Some noticed wing icing after landing and stopped flying.

It was very nice to see Debbie Denyer in attendance whose late husband Jim Denyer, former VP, used to really enjoy participating in our Fun Flys. Dave Percy, a long-standing member, who was preoccupied with other activities in 2024 also attended. Dave is an excellent pilot filled with technical expertise. I think many people may have noticed our Club President with a new fur hat. You might be starting a trend, Pierre!

Jon and I would like to thank everyone who participated. All pilots operated their aircraft in a safe and responsible manner. Jon did much of the organizing for the first flight and his calm and energetic presence made the event enjoyable. Most people don’t realize the behind-the-scenes administrative work that our President, Pierre Coulombe does. Lately he has been very busy processing the 2025 memberships and directing club business. Hal Macdonald and Gary Robertson provided us with the memories taking excellent photos. Thanks guys! Finally, we are very appreciative of Great Hobbies for their continued support by providing us with gift cards.

Sincerely,

Michael Lalonde

Winter Fun Fly 9 March 2025

Overcast skies and gusty winds welcomed 13 registered pilots to the annual Stetsons Winter Fun Fly on Sunday 9 March. The early arrivals quickly noticed that Mike Lalonde’s, Charlie Colwell’s’ and Andy Leu’s field preparation efforts earlier in the week had been largely undone by the wind, but several helpers quickly cleared the snow drifts around the shelter areas, setup tables, and restored foot paths to the pilot stations. Thanks, guys! Our Events Director Chris Rebidoux launched the event with a pilot briefing at 10 am, and we were off to a good start with mostly electric planes on skis and floats taking to the skies.

Jon Harper and Pierre Coulombe soon got their cooking pots ready for hot chocolate and chili respectively. An early start paid off, because the cold wind was fighting hard against the BBQ burners, but eventually, we were able to partake of delicious hot chocolate (with marshmallows!) and hearty chili. Overall, though, the culinary hit was the loaves of home-made bread baked by Chris’s wife Jennifer. Thanks Jennifer!

Several members and a couple of guests also dropped by later in the morning. Flying continued for a short while after lunch and everything wound down by about 1 pm, just when the sun was starting to peek thought the clouds.

By all accounts, the event was a success. The food was well received and everyone who attended seemed to truly appreciate the opportunity to get together.

Many thanks to all who helped, including Hal MacDonald and Daniel Marcotte for taking the photos.

Pierre Coulombe
President

The Stetson Flyers Club airfield cleanup day was held May 9-10. Twenty-seven members volunteered to help maintain the airfield, make repairs and to make it safe and enjoyable for another flying season.

The rolling of all grass surfaces started on Friday afternoon and continued until 11:30 am on Saturday. In total the runway was rolled four times. The exchange of the seasonal shelter from winter to spring is a welcome change as it signifies good weather, special events and BBQ’s! The most labour-intensive part of the clean up was filling in potholes along the laneway along with scraping of loose paint, repainting curbs and touch-up other surfaces including flight benches, picnic tables, flight line and spectator fences. In all two full gallons of brown paint were used within a few hours. The painting brightens the facility and helps the curbs be more visible, avoiding the tripping hazards. The windsock, the Canadian flag and the parking lot warning markers were all replaced.

We installed heavy duty lawn edging around the perimeter of the west flight benches. In the future this material may be used for other areas. The culvert close to the seasonal tent was lowered to more easily allow water to drain. Pool noodles were replaced on all flight benches and the two starter stations at each end of the field. Flight tables were leveled and we spread pool salt surrounding the flight tables for weed control. The lumber projects involved replacing four vertical 4 x 4 posts along the west flight line.

The executive would like to thank the following people for their help:

Bill Ellis, Charlie Colwell, Francis Trepanier, François Charbonneau, Fred Lottes, Garrett Smith, Greg Oliver, Hal MacDonald, Jon Harper, Kevin McDougall, Laurel Goodrich, Lawrence Edmunds, Luis Borges, Nigel Chippindale, Pat Hennessey, Peter Wakefield, Pierre Coulombe, René Cyr , Ricardo Vieira, Tom Pellow, Wade Lyon, Kirby Newman, Jeremy Wakefield, Daniel Marcotte, Rick Ramalho, Tony Garbish, Michael Lalonde ,

A special thanks goes to Fred Lottes who brought his trailer to more easily transport gravel to low spots along the driveway and to Robert St. Germain for preparing the BBQ lunch and for donating the food!

You can help in several ways when you visit the airfield: Please take away your garbage. If you are using gas or glow fuel, please clean off the flight bench before you leave. Please do not donate and leave items such as deck chairs, aircraft parts, etc. at the airfield before checking with the executive first.

Happy Flying , Michael Lalonde