HHAMS 2015 Field Pictures

This article shows pictures taken in 2015 at HHAMS (Hempstead Harbor Aero Modelers Society) field events. These pictures were processed after I posted 2016 field and plane pictures. Maybe I’ll get to 2014 pictures after this one.

The “winner picture” of the year 2015 was not taken by me. I don’t recall who sent me this picture. It was apparently exported at low resolution, unfortunately. If you are the photographer, please send me your original. The picture shows Eugene and Paul working on a plane in front of the shed.

Again, I’ll show pictures in roughly chronological order. I don’t have pictures from the month of January. I guess we were all busy shoveling snow. Or at least, I was.

My first picture was taken at the school gym where we flew our micro foamies.

At the March meeting, invited guest Bob Hunt talked about battery and propeller choices for electric aircraft.

People flew on a cold March Sunday.

hhams_field_2015_cold_march_img_2334 — Most folks chose to admire planes, instead of getting their fingers frozen to their radios out there

hhams_field_2015_cold_march_img_2343 — Mike putting his plane together for display

hhams_field_2015_cold_march_img_2336 — Finally someone took off. Was this Paul the 3D wizard?

Spring arrived. This was the first weekend of May. It was still chilly. Some wore short sleeve T-shirts, while others still sported multiple layers of winter clothing.

hhams_field_2015_may_img_2506 — Rich thawing his Avistar

hhams_field_2015_may_img_2512 — The same crew that won the Picture of 2015 award, plus Larry

Roariness is a word.

hhams_field_2015_may_img_2518 — Roy approving the roariness of Vince’s plane with a decibel meter

hhams_field_2015_may_img_2547 — Another high-roariness machine

hhams_field_2015_may_img_2536 — Ahh… my eardrums

Almost no one took pictures of airborne planes. I was no exception. But someone took these pictures and gave them to me. This was the same person that took the Picture of the Year.

hhams_field_2015_footage_img_2558 — My humble Corsair

hhams_field_2015_footage_img_2557 — My Corsair in the air

hhams_field_2015_footage_img_2560 — Fred N.’s plane?

hhams_field_2015_footage_img_2552 — Vince’s Pulse

We flew on a foggy morning.

hhams_field_2015_foggy_morning_img_2602 — Ron and Anthony tried hard not to fly out of sight

Everyone laughed when Ben showed us the Snoopy biplane he designed and made himself, out of some cheap construction-grade foam that contractors used as floor insulation.

hhams_field_2015_snoopy_on_a_foggy_morning_img_2609 — Snoopy plane made from floor insulation

But remember, this was the man who later designed, made and flew the Ironman Superplane in 2016.

hhams_field_2015_snoopy_on_a_foggy_morning_img_2635 — Ben and his Snoopy biplane – it flew!

Another glorious May weekend at the field. Everyone broke into song.

hhams_field_2015_singing_img_2644 — Larry sang the national anthem

hhams_field_2015_singing_img_2665 — Eric sang “Over the Rainbow”

hhams_field_2015_singing_img_2656 — Not to be outdone, Paul sang the Habanera from Carmen

Glorious day continued.

hhams_field_2015_may_field_img_2677 — Joe owning the sky

hhams_field_2015_summer_img_3205 — My micro 3D biplane

hhams_field_2015_may_field_img_2646 — Rich and his overpowering stunt plane

hhams_field_2015_may_field_img_2642 — Manny and his war bird

A guy showed up at the field in full pilot uniform, “wanting” to fly his “toy chopper”. Eric stood by him as a safety officer. Jaws could be heard dropping to the floor all around the field as Stefan flew his toy chopper. Some almost suffocated from holding their breath, until the chopper landed where it took off by autorotation.

hhams_field_2015_stefan_img_2709 — Just a toy chopper

hhams_field_2015_stefan_img_2743 — Those are not suspenders for pants

Many a folk signed up on the spot with Stefan for their gardening needs, especially those with tall trees.

chopper_mowing_trees — Many fly aircraft into trees. Only one can prune them deliberately & safely.

An ornithopter flew for the very first time at the field, in HHAMS history, with yours truly at the pilot station. Here is a video of the its successful maiden flight, plus the many failed attempts preceding it. Some screen-captures are shown below, but the they don’t do this ornithopter justice – go watch the video.

hhams_field_2015_skyonme_spybird_fred_01 — Last-minute sanity checks before the maiden flight

hhams_field_2015_skyonme_spybird_fred_10 — Mario indicated the direction of wind

hhams_field_2015_skyonme_spybird_fred_15 — We have liftoff!

hhams_field_2015_skyonme_spybird_fred_09 — The ornithopter shared its sky with a muggle plane

hhams_field_2015_skyonme_spybird_fred_13 — Mario welcomed the bird back to the safety of his hand

This is not really a HHAMS event. Here is a passenger jet over Flushing on its landing approach to LGA. At the pace they build taller and taller apartment buildings at Flushing, one day these planes are going to scrape a lightning rod or two.

Summer is now in full swing.

We spontaneously decided to have group pictures taken.

hhams_field_2015_summer_img_3218 — Traditional display of planes

hhams_field_2015_summer_img_3225 — Slightly non-traditional view of our planes

hhams_field_2015_summer_img_3227 — A not-safe-for-work view of our planes

I engaged in an unscripted hot air balloon chase in Lancaster. Some pictures from that chase are shown below. Yeah, yeah, it’s not a HHAMS event. I know. But it involves things that approximate flying. I guess it counts.

2015_birds_in_hand_balloons_02_image_frd — You know a Kodak moment when you see one

2015_birds_in_hand_balloons_07_image-2_frd — A second balloon surprised us

2015_birds_in_hand_ballons_img_7923 — Safe landing for both balloons

We don’t fly at night at the field. But that doesn’t stop people from bringing planes with flashing lights to show off. I actually turned an Apprentice S 15e into a night flying machine.

hhams_field_2015_dusk_flying_img_3625 — Augie showing off his LED-equipped plane

hhams_field_2015_dusk_flying_img_4034 — The Apprentice S 15e I retrofitted for night flying

Some planes at the field fly. Then some planes “really fly”.

hhams_field_2015_rockt_plane_img_3723 — This one has an extra rocket engine

hhams_field_2015_onw_design_img_3735 — This kid showed up with a plane he designed and built

People have different ways of carrying their planes to the field. I fold down backseat chairs in my sedan to make space for planes. Then I secure them to the trunk floor using Velcros. I learned this tip from Chris.

hhams_field_2015_securing_planes_in_trunk_img_3104 — These are Velcro stripes for tying cables. I just tape them to the trunk carpet.

I don’t have pictures of the paintball event. I was busy manning the paintball station, and running errand to refill air tanks. But I do have pictures of the flyer being posted to community locations such as the LIRR station and the Port Washing Library.