This article exists to house pictures that I've turned into a YouTube slideshow. June is usually the busiest month for HHAMS. The first week of June is usually the Port Washington HarborFest where we set up a tent to advance awareness of the aerodrome among natives of this town, and to advertise our upcoming paintball event. The paintball event takes place on the second week of June. Then we have our monthly meeting at the field.
HHAMS Flight Tests
This is a short article on flight tests that all new members must pass, before they can fly their model planes without a spotter, at the HHAMS Aerodrome.
It is spring again. Inquisitive visitors are starting to show up at the field. They want to know what it takes to be able to fly solo. Others have gone through the motion of paying the AMA, the county, and the club itself. They have a badge with a "novice" sticker on it. But they can't fly on their own, and must wait for someone else to stand with them to fly. On the other hand, friendly members are willing to help newcomers learn to fly, and to pass their flight tests. However, not everyone remembers exactly what was involved when they took their flight tests in their days. Thus this article.
HHAMS Reflections 2018
The end of the year is upon us again. As usual, it is time I try to make use of pictures I couldn't stop taking on my phone whenever I was at the aerodrome. In 2015, I compiled them into HHAMS 2015 Field Pictures. In 2016, I compiled pictures into HHAMS Pictures of the Year - 2016 and Pictures of Planes Sighted at the Aerodrome in 2016. I was busy in 2017. Thus nothing was done, despite plenty of pictures having been collected.
This year, the club decided to show slideshows at the holiday party. Bobby Alessi and I collected pictures and videos from folks. As a result, we now have 3 photo slideshows and 1 video compilation. Pictures from 2017 and 2018 feature heavily in these, but good materials from 2015 and 2016 were also used.
HHAMS: My Girl (reflections 3/4)
This article exists to house pictures used in the slideshow HHAMS: My Girl. It is part three of a series of slideshows and compilations from photos and videos taken by HHAMS members from 2015 to 2018. Part three showcases pilots with their beloved planes.
A few pictures here were actually used not in the My Girl slideshow, but instead in HHAMS: What a Wonderful World and HHAMS: Learning to Fly.
Photo and video sources came from Andrea Watson, Tyler A Chase, Mario Goldberg, Bobby Alessi, Paul Yovino, Fred Hsu and Elisha Huang.
Music in the slideshow features: My Girl by The Temptations, My Girl by Otis Redding, and last but foremost, Seabird by Alessi Brothers - that's our own Bobby Alessi.
HHAMS: What a Wonderful World (reflections 2/4)
This article exists to house pictures used in the slideshow HHAMS: What a Wonderful World. It is part two of a series of slideshows and compilations from photos and videos taken by HHAMS members from 2015 to 2018. Part two examines what HHAMS is about. It is about flying model planes. Sure. But there is so much more than that, as part two highlights.
Photo and video sources came from Andrea Watson, Tyler A Chase, Mario Goldberg, Bobby Alessi, Paul Yovino, Fred Hsu and Elisha Huang.
HHAMS: Learning to Fly (reflections 1/4)
This article exists to house pictures used in the slideshow HHAMS: Learning to Fly. It is part one of a series of slideshows and compilations from photos and videos taken by HHAMS members from 2015 to 2018. Part one highlights a key principle that RC pilots follow. That is, learn to fly responsibly, and try not to make spare parts.
Photo and video sources came from Andrea Watson, Tyler A Chase, Mario Goldberg, Bobby Alessi, Paul Yovino, Fred Hsu and Elisha Huang.
A Resurrected Ornithopter – the Flytech Dragonfly
The Flytech Dragonfly was one of the most innovative flying toys when it came out in 2007. It was the first radio-controlled ornithopter mass-produced for the general public. Sadly it is no longer available for purchase. To add insult to injury, there has been nothing in the market for ten years that delivers remotely the same level of giddy fun for the money. Some event reminded me of the Dragonfly recently, so I went through boxes in my basement to find the two units I bought in 2007.
Unfortunately their tiny lipo batteries have since gone bust. With help from ancient posts on rcgroups.com, I managed to resurrect one of my dragonflies with a new setup. It allows me to reuse abandoned lipos from my Blade Nano QX which I have aplenty. Suddenly I no longer need to wait for 20 minutes between flying sessions, for the built-in battery to be charged. I can now fly it effectively non-stop.
HHAMS Paintball Event by DMS Films
One of our newest members turned out to be a professional filmmaker and FPV guy. He made a short video of our annual paintball event where kids turn up in droves to try to shoot at model planes. In a decade we had not had a film made of this event. Everyone at the club are duly impressed.
HHAMS 2015 Field Pictures
This article shows pictures taken in 2015 at HHAMS 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 picture of the year 2015 was not taken by me. I don't recall who sent me this picture. It is not of high-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.
Pictures of Planes Sighted at the Aerodrome in 2016
I have highlighted some pictures of main HHAMS events in HHAMS Pictures of the Year - 2016. But I have plenty additional pictures of planes, mostly taken at the field. Here is a complete list of all of them. You can click on each one to see the image at the resolution I uploaded them which is enough for most online viewing. But the majority of these were taken at 4 times the uploaded resolution. Ask me if you want a particular picture in its full resolution for other purposes.
HHAMS Pictures of the Year – 2016
I sorted through, in the comfort of my home, pictures I've taken related to model aviation in 2016 on my iPhone. All of them were about HHAMS (Hempstead Harbor Aero Modelers Association). As "the" picture of the year, I nominate Ben's Ironman plane.
HHAMS Field Calendar for Smartphones
In my time between two jobs, I wrote a calendar app for HHAMS. Or, at least, members see it as an "app", since the calendar runs on smartphones, and can be set up as an icon on the home screen. It is really just a webpage served up by a Flask server.
Custom RealFlight Airfields – Bethpage RC Model Airplane Field
This is another follow-up to the HHAMS airfields I made for RealFlight 7.5. This time I modeled the Bethpage state park on Long Island. The polo field at the state park serves as RC model airfield for various AMA clubs including Whitman Flyers and Cobra.
(Summary) Flying at Virtual HHAMS Aerodrome in RealFlight and Phoenix RC
Those of you who train using RC flight simulators may have asked yourselves whether it was possible to create, modeled on the HHAMS Aerodrome, an airfield for RealFlight or a flying site for Phoenix RC. I'd been thinking about this same thing for over two years. At last, I gave it a try a few …
Continue reading "(Summary) Flying at Virtual HHAMS Aerodrome in RealFlight and Phoenix RC"
(Summary) Corner of the Lost Planes
There is a “Corner of the Lost Planes” at the HHAMS Aerodrome. This section of the flying field is just a bunch of tall trees, seemingly indistinguishable from other thousand tall trees that surround the aerodrome. But almost every member recalls running into difficulties flying in this corner, if not losing a plane or two …
Corner of the Lost Planes at the HHAMS Aerodrome
There is a "Corner of the Lost Planes" at the HHAMS Aerodrome. This section of the flying field is just a bunch of tall trees, seemingly indistinguishable from other thousand tall trees that surround the aerodrome. It is probably safe to say that almost every member had lost a plane or two to this particular Corner of the Lost Planes, before they learned, from the sages of the HHAMS, secret incantations that free them from the curse of this corner.
Custom Phoenix RC Flying Sites based on the HHAMS Aerodrome
This is a follow-up to the custom airfields I made for RealFlight. This time I modeled the HHAMS Aerodrome on Long Island for Phoenix RC. One of the flying sites has been accepted by Phoenix RC as an official flying site.
Custom RealFlight Airfields based on the HHAMS Aerodrome
I had been thinking about modeling real RC flight fields in RealFlight for a year or two. It seemed like an impossible task. But it turned out that with modern cameras capable of taking panoramic pictures, plus a simple photo stitching app, this can be done in a few hours. I am using this page going forward, to post updates as I model the HHAMS Aerodrome on Long Island in different seasons under different weather conditions and times of the day.