In 2009 Cliff Key lent me a Joe Nall DVD and suggested that South Carolina in the USA is not really that hard to get to . I duly watched the DVD and it took all of ½ an hour ( the length of the DVD ) convince that experiencing the Nall is a “ bucket list item ”.
In May 2010 Cliff and I found myself in ourselves on several planes to South Carolina . The experience was more than I could ever have hoped for and as a consequence I had to repeat the experience in 2012 .
The Joe Nall is more than just a rally – it ’ s about the people , the place and the atmosphere and is arguably the largest “ fly for fun ” rally in the world . When deciding what to write in this article I came to the conclusion that a whole lot of photos of models would not capture the essence of the experience and hence I have decided it best to write about the place , the people and the atmosphere .
Joe Nall 2012 was best-ever at 1095 registered pilots . If you can imagine a Warbirds over Awatoto of Lake Forsyth rally and multiply it by 200 then you pretty much have a mental picture of the magnitude of the rally .
Whilst primarily an IMAA rally ( confined to the main and 3D flight lines ) the rally is all about “ fun , fellowship , and hospitality ”. The atmosphere is such that there are etiquettes of cleanliness , respect of the property and respect of each other . Everyone is there to just fly models and have a good time without any competitive pressures .
The Joe Nall is held every year at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff which is very Small Township in South Carolina . The rally is run by an extremely hard working and dedicated bunch of volunteers and runs from Saturday to Saturday . The property is owned by Pat Hartness who has placed the property into trust so it can be used for aviation in perpetuity . Pat did a lot of the work on the property himself including driving the bulldozers to develop the landing strip , lakes etc …. The site is so long that standing at the top of the hill forming the entrance to the property it is difficult to see the 3D area at the far end of the property . Triple Tree is a 440-acre property with , a 50-acre lake stocked for fishing , a 5-acre duck pond ( ideal for tail dipping ) , Lush Bermuda bentgrass ( read bowling green standard ) full size runway which is 400ft wide and 7000ft long . The main model flight line occupies only 1000 feet of the full length runway .
Top to bottom The gates to Triple Tree Main flight line pits Last third of main flight line pits Main flight line in panorama