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Float & Field Fly-in, Lake Forsyth, 2011Record crowds flock to Lake Forsyth. A fine weekend and record crowds added a carnival atmosphere to the annual Float & Field fly-in at Lake Forsyth near Christchurch in late August. Over 80 registered pilots brought a wide collection of float planes, helicopters, jets, scale and sport models to the popular event. There were four flight lines in operation catering for park fliers to jets and plenty to see for the large number of on-lookers. The Christchurch Radio Fliers Club have run the fly-in since 1996 and it seems to gain strength year after year with modelers coming from as far afield as Invercargill, the West Coast and the North Island. The site is superb with large open spaces and a lake surrounded by hills which give a great backdrop to the models in the air. This year, as a result of the 436 Model Shop not being able to be in attendance, Play Concepts from Christchurch stepped in to the breach and brought out their stock to the event in a large tent. They also helped sponsor prizes along with 436. A popular Buy, Sell and Exchange was also busy for both days, despite a strong gust of wind upending that tent overnight on Friday and unceremoniously dumping the structure in the lake. A great display by Richard Race from Invercargill in his 30% Extra was a crowd pleaser and drew thunderous applause. He then teamed up with Alex Hewson from Christchurch and flew an LA 9 together with Alex’s large Typhoon in a co-ordinated display which also brought strong crowd applause. Five pilots then mounted a combat mission with electric foamies and streamers. Cuts were made on many occasions as the quintet dominated the sky in dogfights which saw coloured crepe paper drifting earthwards in swarths. A large contingent of float planes and seaplanes enjoyed good conditions on the lake and kept the crowd entertained there too, while the helicopter flight line was also busy. The food tent was on the go the whole time to keep pilots and members of the public well watered and fed. The Trevor Henderson Float and Field Trophy was judged this year by club patron, Des Lines, and was awarded to Peter Hewson for his 1/5 scale Percival Gull 6. Other winners were: BEST FLOAT PLANE: Banana boat Ray Homan BEST LAND PLANE: LA 9 Richard Race BEST HELICOPTER: Hughes 500 Robin Sallabanks OLDEST FLIER: Des Bryson YOUNGEST FLIER: Jonathan Gardner (Dunedin) Thanks to Paul Spinoglio from the Dunedin Model Aero Club for the photos and an amazing video he did. See it at Here's a selection of the action at Lake Forsyth 2011.
Float & Field Fly-in, Lake Forsyth, 2009In the words of the famous cliche - it was a game of two halves; well two days at least. Beauty and the beast! Beautiful on the Saturday, and beastly when the wind didn’t let up on the Sunday. Eighty-two pilots registered, all but one on the Saturday. This equalled the record for the event and underscores the popularity of Lake Forsyth as one of the premiere fly-ins of it type in the country. Once again, there were a wide range of models on display from the large to the small, twin-turbine jets to foamie park fliers, helicopters and a wide variety of float planes as well. The four flight lines operated smoothly and a slight modification to the location of the 3-D and float areas improved access for modellers and models alike. The land strip was in good order, the lake proved popular for many fliers, the 3-D boys were happy and there was a good turn out of helicopters. It was good to see modellers from Nelson, Blenheim, the West Coast, Ashburton, Timaru and further afield. Special mention should go to those who came from the Hawkes Bay and even Hamilton was represented by Aunty and his mates. Caroline and Graham from 436 were once again very busy in their tent. Caroline closed the tent for a break at lunchtime and said that she was amazed when she came out how many cars and members of the public there were on the Saturday. Galtech again sponsored the registration scene and the lucky last to register, ……., was the lucky number winner. Amazing luck. It was also good to see Ian and Heather from Watts Up Models with their van load of models to put through their paces. Ian’s Hughes 500 electric helicopter was a delight in the sky. There was little doubt that the crowd pleaser was the huge A-10 Warthog of Jared Mullholland, although the expectant crowd had to wait until late in the day to see it fly. Worth the wait. Jared won the Float and Field trophy for best model. Best Model (Float & Field Cup) - Jared Mulholland (A-10 Warthog) Best Landplane (pilots’ choice) - Graham Smithson (Vampire) Best Floatplane (pilots’ choice) - John Kitley (Super cub) Best Helicopter (pilots choice) - Robin Sallabanks (Hughes 500) Oldest Flier - Donald Brown (75) Youngest Flier - Kurt Browning (13) The October issue of NZ Aviation News ran an article on this year's event. They have allowed us to make it available as an Acrobat file from our "downloads" page.
Forsyth 2009 One of two Lancasters attending.
2008 EVENT A record turnout of 83 pilots registered
at this year’s Float & Field fly-in. This makes this event one of the
largest fun fly-ins in the country.
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This site was last updated 13/09/11
