location of this flight line , getting power there would be no simple task . The flight line has 5 pilot stations and primarily Pattern , Park flyer and slow flyer style models are flown . Flying style is open to pilots .
Helicopter This is an area close to the entrance of the property , has 7 pilot stations and caters to 3D and extreme Heli flying . This flight line is a relatively new one but the attendance by Heli pilots is growing rapidly .
Each year the Joe Nall organisers try to beat the record to serve the masses and in 2012 they broke the record and served all 2200 people in 22 minutes . Now that takes some organising !. During the meal a Blue grass band plays and continues into the night .
Control Line There are three 150 foot diameter control line circles which have been graded and smoothed to within 1 inch side-by side . The site has been levelled and new grass has been planted and , permanent irrigation installed . The Control line area was first available at the 2012 event .
The Vendor areas There are two main vendor areas and each year , approximately 80 vendors set up ( and also take the opportunity to go flying ). All the main vendors such as Futaba , Horizon Hobby , Balsa USA are in attendance and the balance are all the second tier vendors such as Robart , Aeroworks , Hitec etc … are there in abundance . Chief aircraft Ltd erect two very large marquees and fill them with their IMAA size models at the start of the rally . By the end of the rally the marquees are empty !. It is not unusual for a modeller to “ deck his model ” then head up to the Chief aircraft tent , purchase a model , go to the next vendor and pick up a petrol motor and put it together overnight and be flying the next morning !. Often one will witness a pile of balsa next to $ 200k worth of RV and someone assembling a 40 % model in his mobile workshop . Often the RV has 25 % of available space allocated to living quarters and 75 % allocated to model storage and workshop area . The workshops in some of these RV we would only dream about !
A ritual soon develops where one walks through the vendor areas each morning and drools at all the goodies . The result is often very injurious to the credit card however , and one is always thinking about how we can get it back to NZ on the plane , and how much does it weigh . My sins were to invest heavily in Balsa USA and spent many hours in the hotel room packing two kitsets into the one box and weighing suitcases after our purchases of the day . Suitcases go over empty and come back full .
Transportation The property is so large that it would take a very healthy 40 minutes to walk from one end of the site to the other . An old school bus is used to transport people and is a 30 minute return trip .
The variety of modes of transport around the property is always amusing . People pack ‘ golf carts , quad bikes , motorbikes and Mules into their RV and travel around the site using ingenious methods . Hopefully some of the included photos will give you an idea of the ingenuity of some of the people attending .
The infamous BBQ On the Friday evening a mass BBQ is held that includes coleslaw , chicken , pork , and shrimps . The BBQ is limited to 2200 people and ticket sales are often done and dusted in the first few days .
Top to bottom 25 % living and 75 % model space Note the speakers on top Drive in garage ! Stack em and rack em !