Sunday 18th May 2008

A good number of club members came to the field today. We had slightly dull conditions with a very tricky breeze gusting diagonally across the runway. Some of the smaller electric models stayed grounded and takeoffs for some models was difficult.

Sean Ledwiths trainer had it’s wing lifted by a gust  on take off causing it to flip over causing some damage to the nose area of the plane. Sean is determined to repair the damage quickly though.

Dave Foley had his Superair back at the field today but with the conditions as they were he decided to leave it on the ground, instead opting to fly his old reliable Shooter. In fact Dave seemed to be reveling in the breezy conditions with the Shooter.

Another victim of the unpredictable breeze was the nose wheel on John Sweeneys Tutor 40, David Furneaux was bringing the Tutor in for a Harrier landing but suddenly lost lift causing a slightly harder than expected landing.

Apart from the minor incidents above there was lots of flying done and in fact the session lasted longer than normal with the pilots flying well into the afternoon.

Dave Foley, David Furneaux, Angus Balfour, Colm Kelly, Gerry Shanley and Nick Jordan all ventured out on Tuesday night 20th for a few flights. The light conditions were poor so the session wasn’t too long but everyone got in a few flights

Sunday 11th May 2008

Another beautiful Sunday with a clear sky and barely a breeze. It must have been the good weather for several people brought along more than one model. Cubs seemed to be the order of the day with both James Killian and Aidan Connaire arriving with theirs, Aidan also brought along his Cessna.

Gerry Farrell and David Furneaux had the Swoop and the Fantom in the air (both Phase 3 foam models) with the calm conditions suiting the Swoops small wingspan.

Nick Jordan had an unfortunate collision between his Tucano (Phoenix Models) and the fence post whilst coming in to land. The Tucano came off worst but Nick, unfazed, just headed for the van, took out his Speedair and was back in the air again in minutes.

Colm Kelly brought along his 4 stroke powered Seduction and had a few good flights. Rumor has it that Colm also has a EF16 foam model from Phase 3 and will be challenging David Furneauxs Fantom soon.

Brendan Boylan, Sean Boylan and Paul Farrell also made the best of the good weather by getting in as much practice as they could.

Sunday 16th March 2008

Another blustery Sunday this week (last Sunday was the same), It was also cold-ish but thankfully no rain at all. Regardless of the slightly difficult conditions there were some brave pilots attending to fly their"pride and joy" in the somewhat turbulent air(especially at low levels).

Sean Ledwith and Paul Farrell were the first to get planes in the air and both had good flights but Paul's dad Gerry (landing Paul's TravelAir) and Sean had their hands full landing. However both succeeded in landing safely despite the conditions. Watching this wasn't enough to put off Gerry Shanley and James Killian off though, they had their
planes up next and got in some good flying time. David Furneaux and James Lennon were also on hand to help out if the going got too tricky.

A reminder to any members who haven't already renewed their membership that the insurance is up at the end of this month. David Furneaux or John Sweeney will be glad to accept it at the field on Sundays.

Some dedicated flyers were also spotted at the field on Monday (St.Patricks Day) flying in better conditions than those on Sunday.

Sunday 24th February 2008

Today was a good sunny day with a slightly blustery (and cold) breeze blowing down the runway. There was a good crowd out to fly and we were able to site the pit’s area with our backs to the sun. This made visibility very good.

John Sweeney had his new Irvine Tutor built  and had a couple of flights under the care of Liam Reilly. John (and Liam) felt that there was a bit more fine tuning to be done with the control surfaces of the Tutor and so didn’t push for a third flight. The blustery breeze made it difficult to trim the tutor under the circumstances.

Gerry Moffat was back after a slight absence. Gerry had the Black Horse Canter with him and was soon back in the swing of things. Sean Ledwith got plenty of flights with the Seagull Arising Star as did Nick Jordan who had his Seagull Models PC9 in the air for most of the time. Paul Farrell after previous engine unreliability continues to be impressed with the engine change on his Black Horse Travel Air to a 100% reliable Thunder Tiger GP-42.

Finally, don’t forget the club AGM next week(6th March).

Sunday 17th February 2008.

As luck would have it our intended flying site for Sunday was one of the worst hit places with fog. We had a good turn out and several people optimistically got their planes ready for flight. However as we were chatting the slight lift in the fog began to reverse again and eventually we resigned ourselves to being grounded for the day.

Our A.G.M. is to be held on Thursday 6th March at 9pm in the meeting room at Brownes Pub (on the Market Square in Longford town). All members are invited to attend. Membership renewal fee’s may also be paid on the night.

Sunday 10th February 2008

The weather was dry with a slight breeze across the runway. Visibility was reasonably good even though the conditions were slightly dull.

It was a busy flying session with as many as five planes in the air at times. Nick Jordan brought along his Pilatus PC9 and Speed Air and flew both, the Pilatus first and the Speed Air for the remainder. Nick said that the Speed Air was an easier fly as it was slower that the PC9, though he enjoys the PC9 too. Nick spent time honing his inverted flying with the Speed Air, all those flying hours are certainly paying off.

Paul Farrell had his Travel Air at the field again. Paul recently fitted a Thunder Tiger GP40 to the Travel Air after having lots of dead stick landings previously with the MDS40 due to mid flight engine cuts. Paul said that he was delighted to report that the only time the Thunder Tiger engine stopped in the air was due to running out of fuel. As a result Paul got plenty of flying time this week.

Angus Balfour flew his Adrenaline and demonstrated some impressive prop hanging among other maneuvers. At one point we though Angus was going to reach out and grab the Adrenaline, it was so close (see gallery).

John Sweeney has demonstrated great improvements in his flying lately but his Tutor suffered some damage today ending his flying the day. John says he’ll be back in business very soon. 

Also flying were Gerry Shanley, Sean Ledwith(with his son Jack), Gerry Farrell and Brendan Boylan with Liam Reilly, Dave Foley and David Furneaux in training mode.

Sunday 25th November.

A large turnout at the flying field today, no doubt encouraged by the calm(ish) dry conditions. The strip is in excellent condition even after all the rain we’ve been having.

There was loads of training and practice done with everyone doing an extra long stint of flying staying until after 2:45pm, what dedicated members we have. Welcome to our latest new club members Nick Jordan and Gerry Shanley who were in attendance today. Dave Furneaux and James Lennon were busy as usual with the training of our potential “A” Cert candidates, the way things are looking there should be quite a few “A” Certs passed early next year.

Angus Balfour once again impressed all with his aerobatic maneuvers, and is certainly an inspiration for others in the club to improve their flying.

Sunday 4th November.

The morning started off with an almost negligible breeze up the strip but gradually worked up to a breeze changing direction to be across the strip. Luckily it was dry even though the sky was very cloudy. The dry conditions brought quite a gathering of flyers and spectators and Dave Furneaux, Dave Foley and James Lennon were busy helping out the “A” Cert students and some new starters, with the training showing visible improvements as each week goes by.
Angus Balfour entertained all with the highly skilled control of his model although unfortunately the display was cut short by an engine cut. Angus got the model landed on the strip safely though.

There were a few new models at the field including Brendan Boylans Thunder Tiger Sport 40 and Sean Ledwiths Hanger 9 F-22 Raptor both of which had flights. Seans unusual looking Raptor has an add on to the outer leading edge of each wing to prevent unwelcome tip stalls and spins e.t.c. during the training period with the model. Dave Furneaux took it for a spin and was very impressed.

Colm Kelly had some nice flights with his Seduction and Dave Foley brought along the Shooter (still unusual looking no matter how long you look at it) which I think may be his favorite model at the moment. James Killians tutor 40 is certainly more visible in a grey sky since he re-covered it with an all yellow colour scheme. Paul Farrell got the problems with his MDS 40 engine sorted for a long second flight with his Black Horse Travelair.
All in all a busy Sunday morning, here’s hoping for similar Sunday weather over the rest of the the winter.

James with his re-covered Tutor 40	Daves Shooter
Concentration	Dave coaxes home Pauls deadstick Travelair

Flyers and spectators	Brendan with his new Phonix Models Tiger Sport 40
Dave in training mode	Angus making flight preparations

Angus up to his tricks	Sean and his new Hanger 9 F-22 Raptor

Sunday 2nd November 07.

No flying today due to wet and windy weather.

Sunday 30th Sept.

No flying took place, as we had been asked to put on a static display at the Lough Rynn festival which was held in Roosky.
This was our last show for 2007 and we had a good turnout of members at the festival and a nice selection of model aircraft on display.
The weather was very pleasant, which helped to ensure that the show was a success for all concerned.

We are all wondering if Liam is preserving the Giles 202 just for static displays only or will he actually fly it !

A word of thanks to all the members who willingly spent many Sunday’s attending the various shows on behalf of the club throughout the year.
A special word of thanks to James Lennon for all his P.R. work etc. for the club with the various committees and organizers of these events.

Sunday 23rd Sept.

The weather was quite windy, however some of our more fearless members, namely James Killian and Sean Ledwith were not be deterred by the inconvenience of windy weather.James was flying his nifty PC-9 and Sean was flying his arising star.

Surely the ‘A’ certs can’t be far away for these dedicated flyers.

Sunday September 10th 2007

Another nice day for flying with just a gentle breeze and dry.

James Killian was out again with his PC9 and had some great flights, Dave Furneaux did a nice bog landing (in the rushes) with the PC9 after it ran out of fuel. James likes the PC9 but says he will repair his Tutor 40 to fly again.

Paul Farrell had two long flights with his Travelair and managed his first loop and first roll today under the watchful eyes of Dave Furneaux of course. As well as James Killian and Paul, Sean Ledwith continues to make great progress in his training.

James Lennon had the Groovy out again and Colm Kelly brought along his Seduction (4 stroke engine), and while they had flights both felt that their engines weren’t at full potential. Aidan Connaire had his latest design in the air. Aidans plane is made up of an Arising Star trainer body, the wing of a Venus 40, 0.S. AX46 engine and odd bits from a PC9, and yes it flew like the clappers.

Colm with the Seduction	James and Dave getting ready to take off the PC9
James deadstick landing the Groovy OOPS	Liam hand launches Aidans latest design

Paul with his Travelair and Gerry	Some of the crew on Sunday

Sunday September 02th 2007.

A dedicated group flew today even though the weather was a bit showery, but not too bad overall. Sean Ledwith was practising his left and right hand circuits. The next thing on the agenda for Sean has to be a few landings.......and then the "A" cert ! James Killian brought along his PC9 and proved that his flying skills are not just limited to flying trainers !
Billy (one of our Polish friend's) brought along his brand new Sebart Katana S 50E. This model is powered by a Hacker electric motor / speed controller and Kokam 5 cell 3200 Li-Po. This model had it's maiden flight and flew very well, even on 1/2 throttle it seemed to have plenty of power. (see photo's)
Don’t forget our monthly meeting this Thursday night 6th Sept in Browns pub as usual.

It'll never take off Dave	Dave landing the deadstick travelair
Billy with his Katana	Serbart Katana S 50E

Sunday August 26th 2007.

The good weather brought out a good group of flyers today, there was almost no breeze and and conditions were very pleasant. The early arrivals caught Dave Furneaux giving the strip a quick trim but it wasn’t long before we were getting some planes airborne.
Paul Farrell had his Black Horse Travelair in the sky on two occasions under the tutelage of Dave Furneaux but engine cuts cut the flights short. James Killians trainer is in the workshop at the moment so he dusted down his Pilatus PC9 (Seagull models) and proceeded to impress all with his skill level.
Sean Ledwith is getting in as much flying as he can at the moment and Liam Reilly was on hand to help Sean get a few flights. “A” certs are certainly on the horizon for a number of people in the club.

Sunday August 12th 2007.

The weather forecast was not so good which have deterred some of the lads from flying, however the weather turned out quite good.
We had some intensive training sessions with James Killian and Sean Ledwith. James now has no fears about landing his Tutor.
James also recently changed the colour scheme of his Tutor to yellow. (Probably the first yellow tutor in Ireland, Europe or the world maybe !).
Dave Foley was also there to put his Limbo Dancer through it's paces.

Sunday August 05th 2007.

Some of our dedicated members represented the club with a staic display of a good selection of model aircraft at the Carrick on Shannon vintage show.
This was a charity event which was run for the benefit of the Our Lady's Childrens hospital.
Once again the Gazebo came in handy, it was certainly worth buying given the weather conditions we have had "this summer".
A word of thanks to all the members that helped out on the day.

Sunday July 09th 2007.

We attended the Vintage show in Streete (Co. Westmeath). There was a good turnout of members on the day to help out with handing out leaflets and giving advice etc. We had mixed weather on the day, it was mainly sunny, however we had rain, hailstones including thunder and lighting, therefore the Gazebo which we recently purchased really came in handy. There was a good selection of aircraft there and James Lennon added some extra entertainment by putting on some good flying displays with his Cub and the Groovy. There seemed to be loads of interest in the models as there were plenty of spectators. A word of thanks to all members who assisted on the day.

In general we have done very little flying lately due to the inclement weather etc. If any of the members are planning to go flying during the coming weeks, please contact a member of the commitee for details of location and flying times etc.

Support crew for the day	Display models
James getting ready for take off	Model in flight

James returning back after an entertaining flight	The lads putting on a great display

Sunday June 17th 2007.

Some of the club members went on a field trip today, see the attached photo's. No flying at Gowlan next Sunday 24th June due to club members attending full size air shows.

The pilots in models look so realistic these days, this one looks like James Killian	Dave Foley looking for the throttle servo
Dave Furneaux holds the Tutor while James Killian starts his engine	Dave Foley's Limbo Dancer

Sunday May 27th 2007.

The weather was very windy with occasional showers of hailstones,therefore no flying took place.James Killian, James Lennon, Aidan Connaire and Dave Furneaux were kept busy representing the club at the Kilbeggan Vintage show with a static display of models. This was the first time that our club have attended this show. We found it to be a very good show with plenty of attractions.Fortunately we were provided with an area within a very large shed, we even had our new banner on display (see photo) and there was plenty of interest in our aircraft and loads of leaflets were handed out to any interested persons.A word of thanks to the members which helped out on the day.

Lads at the show	Are Aidan and James really thinking of buying those illuminated jackets for flying ?

Sunday May 20th 2007

The weather was qiute breezy, however a few of the seasoned flyers turned up to fly. The learner pilots certainly benefited from having the dedicated tuition on the day. James Killian did some takes offs and landings from the new site and John Sweeney had some very good flights. Also Sean Ledwith will soon be ready to try a landing.

Sunday April 13th 2007.

We had another very pleasant day for flying with a slight breeze coming in across the runway. Once again we had a good number of flyers taking fulladvantage of the nice weather.

James Killian brought out his PC90 to blow the cobwebs off it, it flew very nicely, unfortunately we only had to do a dead stick landing out in the bog. Fortunately, due to the forgiving surface of the bog, there was no damage to the plane.

Billy Harrison flew his Bell Huey, this is a very impressive machine and we look forward to seeing more flights with this helicopter.

Peter (from Ballyhaise) flew his Thunder Tiger "OBL" trainer. (This aircraft can be either glow or electric powered). Peter opted for an OS 55AX to power his trainer.Slightly overpowered one could say, however it did take off quite rapidly at half throttle an flew vey nicely.

We also wish to welcome Brendan and Sean Boylan as new club members.They are progressing very well at learning to fly, considering that they have only had a few flights. We also wish to welcome new junior member Jess Hannell to the club.

Billy Harrison with his Bell Heuy	The Bell Heuy
Bell Heuy in flight : Pilot : Billy Harrison	Peter & Family with his Thunder Tiger Trainer

12th May 2007

A word of warning from the webmaster:

For those of you who currently have Windows XP as the operating system on your computer, and might be thinking of upgrading to the new Windows Vista system it may be of interest to note that after upgrading my computer,which has been running perfectly for the past few years, developed so many problems I have had to revert to the XP operating system. The main problem I had was with Norton Internet Security which, after installing Vista, developed a problem (LU1812) which virtually disabled my firewall. Following this other programs installed on my computer developed "mysterious" problems culminating in my being totally unable to upload updates for the web site to the server hence no updates for the past month! Although Norton offered me lots of advice, and solutions, nothing worked and the computer had to be returned to PC World who were also unable to resolve the problems.

In conversation with the engineers at PC World I was told that I was one of many who had problems, it was on their recommendation that I have reverted to XP, having purchased the upgrade to Vista I have no confidence whatsoever in reinstalling it until all the bugs have been ironed out especially as regards Norton Security, it may be of some help to any of you who are considering the upgrade to heed my warning and wait until such time that all of the apparent bugs have been sorted out with Vista.

1st April 2007

The clear blue sky and slight breeze (across the runway) brought out one of the largest groups we've had at the club, both flyers and spectators. There was an unusually high number of Helicoptors at the field and definitely the most noteable event of the morning was the spectacular display of aerobatics put on by Mick Halpen who was visiting our club. Mick was flying Colm Kelly's new helicoptor and put it through it's paces while everyone looked on. No doubt this will improve the already increasing interest in heli's at LMAC. Not to be outdone Gerry Farrell landed his Pilatus PC9 on a bush after an engine cut, much to his relief the plane escaped with just one small hole in the covering. Plenty of training done also with Simon Sweeney stepping up to help out.

Don't forget the annual draw in taking place in Brown's Pub on Thursday night 5th April at our meeting. All members please return all ticket stubs to a member of the committee on that night or before.

Simon giving Jessie a lesson	Club Men and Spectators
Helicoptors!	Planes and Helicoptors

27th March 2007.

As you will have noticed the site has not been updated in the last two months, In January I suffered a complete failure of my hard drive which resulted in a total loss of al the Longford MAC files, also, during the failure, the site login files and ftp information were also lost.

With the invaluable assistance of David and Simon I have now been given the information required to get back in action, a couple of updates have been lost but I feel sure that David will soon have me working hard again!

Once again my sincere apologes to all of the members.

Alan Forrest.. Webmaster.

Sunday 25th March 2007

With the last few Sundays having bad weather for flying it was no surprise that there was a good turnout on this Sunday morning, with everyone itching to get flying again. The day was almost perfect with the only adverse condition being the slight cross runway breeze that sprung up every now and again. Young Jessie Hannon flew his Ripmax Trainer 30 and made some good progress with Dave Furneaux doing the tuition. Jessie pointed out to Dave that he himself had made some good turns during the session. Jessie's Trainer 30 has a Thunder Tiger GP42 mounted up front which makes it potentially very fast but it can be throttled back during training to reduce the speed. Gerard Moffatt gave his new Blackhorse Canter its first flights and looked very happy with it's abilities. The Canter has an O.S. 46 AX engine fitted which is a good match for the Canter. Members are asked to remember that the annual draw is taking place at our April meeting on the 5th in Browns pub, so don't forget to return those ticket stubs on or before the 5th April. Fingers crossed for good flying weather for the forseeable weekends.

Sunday 18th February 2007

It was a perfect morning for flying with a clear sky and a slight breeze blowing down the runway and as a result there was a good attendance at the field. Simon Sweeney brought along his Raptor 30 heli and has impressed all with his progress in a small number of months. His dad John had the Tutor 40 in the air and is getting more confident every flight. "Not long to wait for the "A" cert now John". Francis Kelly had a little setting up to do on his Black Horse Twister but his effort was rewarded with a good flight later on. Dave Furneaux had his Fellowship with him and as usual looked to be enjoying putting it through its paces. Gerry Farrell brought along his recently built Pilatus PC9 (Seagull Models) and said that he was happy to say that it had the same good flight characteristics as his previous one (which sadly met it's end a few months back). Dave Foley had his Black Horse Superair back at the field which he had very skillfully repaired. .

Return to Home Page