1 For Ozzy :

[Bazza]

Spotted this at an Air Show yesterday and managed to get one photo before my xx&88%^$$## digital camera ran out of batteries.

Air show publicity claimed it to be the World's largest radio-controlled model plane.   Personally I think that it was a practical joke on the crowds despite a guy standing out front pointing a radio-control unit at it.  A second person flew inside it but it was stated that he didn't fly and was only along for the ride - yeah right.

Anyway, the plane had about a 15 foot wing span, and a similar fuselage length.   It was powered with a 65 HP Rotax engine and is classified as a micro-light (at least here in New Zealand.)

It flew like a dream, about 130 knots, and from the ground just looked like a real Spitfire.

Feature of the day for me were demo's from a beautifully restored Catalina Flying Boat.

The weird looking shape behind is a small amphibian.

[Daz]

sweet... kinda strange though why he made it RC if he could sit in it oh well

[ozzy72]

Nice one Bazza, do you have any more info about this?

Mark

[Hagar]

sweet... kinda strange though why he made it RC if he could sit in it oh well

Daz. I think from what Bazza is saying that this was a joke. I doubt very much that anyone would be daft enough to sit in a R/C aircraft while someone else flew it from the ground (oh I don't know though ) or that this would be allowed at any air display in the world.

[ATI_7500]

i think it's the SA 180 Silence, a small high-tech ultralight airplane which is -in the opinion of the guy from "fliegerrevue"- very much fun to fly. it's powered by a four-piston jabiru-engine (59kw) and its weight is just about 350kg! this gives her a top speed of about 250kph and a maximum flight level of 4500m. it can resist up to +6Gs and -4Gs.  i don't know anything about the price,but it seems to be quite cheaply for such a beautiful high-tech aircraft.

any gmax guys in here who have a bit of free time? *hint,hint*

-edit: oh,sorry. the plane on bazza's pic ain't the "silence",but it looks very similar to it. however,this is the real "silence":


and this is the official site:
http://www.silence-flugzeugbau.de/

[Bazza]

Ozzy,

I'll try and find out a bit more for you - this may not be easy as I'm pretty sure it's not a local plane and just flew in for the day - obviously it would have flown very far all things considered.

The local radio station are still burbling on about it being radio-controlled.     I agree with "the exploder" in that I can't see authority given to play around with something that size over a City area and crowds.

[Hagar]

Bazza. I'm sure you're right & that this was a joke. It reminds me of the trick by the "crazy pilots" in the old days when they used to pick out someone from the crowd for a flight. Then the "instructor" got out to fix something & the plane took off without him. I've seen similar things quite recently at various displays. I'm sure it would be illegal for a R/C aircraft to carry a passenger. LOL

I rather like the look of Silent's "SA 180 Silence" (is that a coincindence or what? ).
Despite what I've said about replica Spits I wouldn't mind one of those myself.

[ozzy72]

Well some more info on this kite apparently its "ZK-JNM, L M Harris, Spitfire U/L" according to one of my sources.
Here is another gorgeous snap. I love it in silver. V.Nice

Bazza what have you started?

[Smoke2much]

If any of you guys have a spare one of those lying around that you don't want...

Will

[Rifleman]

The weird looking shape behind is a small amphibian.

That amphib is a Seawind homebuilt, similar to this one.....

[Bazza]

That's the one, quite a neat piece of engineering.  There were three amphibians at the show, two like this one and one with a "pusher prop.", that's not counting the Catalina.

Where was this shot taken Rifleman ?

[Rifleman]

I took this shot on Vancouver Island at Courtenay Airpark,....a 5 min walk from where I live. I have more shots of it, but had this one posted already and just reloaded the link to it.
The bird was built by a couple of co-owners who live in Vancouver B.C., I believe.

[Bazza]

Great stuff.     Why I asked about the location is it looked familiar however, I've never been there.  On a number of occasions I have been told that your part of the world is very similar to New Zealand where I am, and the background could be anywhere over here.