Merry Christmas & Stay Safe.
Author: Jeff Nisley
KC Free Flight Visitors — There’s a New Video on our “MEMBERS’ MOVIES” web page — Check it Out!
If you haven’t visited our MEMBERS’ MOVIES web page in a while now is a good time. It goes to the very heart of what Free Flight is all about with an over 5 minute flight of an Hodek HK-101. Click the MEMBERS MOVIES link below:
NEWS FLASH! — It’s the TOP one!
Be sure to view all the video’s you haven’t seen yet and if you have an idea or and actual YouTube video send it our way through the comments at the bottom of the page.
— ENJOY! —
HAFFA Marion Contest 2020 to be held Oct 3rd and 4th
The 19 annual HAFFA Marion Contest is being held this weekend. All the latest can be found at this web page:
HAFFA 2020 Marion KS Free Flight Contest
A current flyer for the event can be downloaded and printed and further down on the page you will find two links to Weather Apps showing the weather for the weekend. They can also be found here:
Underground Weather 10 Day Forecast for Marion, Kansas
Emporia, Kansas Aviation Weather Report and Forecast
Lastly there is a Google Map to plan your trip at the bottom of the page. It can also be accessed here:
— We wish all who attend this event good luck and stay safe. —
Roie Black Unknowingly Submits a New Video for our “Members’ Movies and Video Picks” web page.
At exactly 4:14 pm on July 20, 2020, Roie Black sent an email to Jeff Nisley—the webmaster for our HAFFA website—with a link to a video he happened to like. Little did he know then, that it would end up on our HAFFA Website on September 9th, 2020. It’s a great video and the newest entry to date and if you haven’t visited this new page for our recently revamped website, here’s your chance. Look for Roie’s submittal 3 videos down on this page:
Enjoy “Winding A Rubber-Powered Twin – Start To Finish” here: Members’ Movies & Video Picks
In the future if you want to return to Members’ Movies & Video Picks, it’s the fourth and last menu item under the main menu item called Freeflight Checklist.
The web page “Freeflight Checklist“ is kind of a catch all—a Go-To List if you will— for several notable pages that Aeromodelers like you will want to return to in the future as content is regularly added.
The staff at KC Free Flight — 9/9/20
The page title FreeFlight Checklist was inspired by what all pilots do before they take off and that is to check their Preflight Checklist, a list that pilot Roie Black is well aware of.
If you have a suggestion for a video you think our Aeromodeling community would like, send an email with the YouTube URL link to Jeff Renz or Jeff Nisley. If you don’t have their email addresses, submit your movie or video by using the CONTACT FORM on our CONTACT Page. Thanks in advance. The KC Free Flight staff.
Hello! Welcome Back to our Revamped HAFFA Website! Have a look around at your convenience.
As the Webmaster of our HAFFA website, I am pleased to have our site back up and running. The word REVAMP means to give a new and improved form, structure, or appearance. To improve, typically through making wholesale or significant changes.
Hopefully I hope you believe that I have lived up to this definition. The site has what WordPress calls a new Theme. Quoting from Wikipedia “Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website without altering the core code or site content.” So most of the changes that you see are a result of changing from the theme that I was using to a new one called Karuna. And by the way, the font you are seeing on most of the site now is called Adelle. You will also find a few entirely new web pages on the site that I am excited about and will let you know what those are at the end of this article.
But first I want to point out something you probably noticed right off. It appears that we have changed the title of our website to KC Free Flight. Yes. This is the title we have now given our website. We are not changing the name of our organization. It will always be the Heart of America Free Flight Association or HAFFA for short.
The KC Free Flight name is an attempt to build on our core belief in Free Flight while also giving us an identifiable regional identity for the purpose of attracting members that live in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area or even outlying regions. We have some members as west as Wichita and Salina, Kansas, and recently we were able to attract a new member who found us from Fulton, Missouri. It troubles me to say he had trouble finding our organization on the Internet, but he was persistent enough to eventually find us. As a result we are looking at ways to improve our “web presence” and one of the ways is to have an easy to “spell and remember” web address.
“So as a better way to have visitors find our site, it is our intention to gradually transition to a new domain name (or label if you will) on the Internet, KCFreeFlight.com. We feel this is a better way to brand our organization and to show our location to others. At the same time we also have plans to gradually phase out our current domain name Flyhaffa.com so as to not hurt our Search Engine Ratings.”
Jeff Nisley — August 22, 2020 — HAFFA Webmaster
We have used the domain name flyhaffa.com ever since I have been working with our HAFFA website and for all intents and purposes it has served us well. However I want to let you in on something that came as a surprise to me and I think it will have the same affect on you.
If I happened to be a person interested in model aircraft building and wanted to join a group I would probably do a search on the internet. I would soon learn that the words Free Flight are good key words to use as a starting point in my search. If I did a search on Free Flight I most likely would get a result like FreeFlightBirds.org at the top of the list which would take me to the Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary. ( Go ahead, click on the link—it’s a great looking site!) The amazing thing about the results to me as I tried this search on my own is that 9 entries down on the list I found the link to a web page titled What is Free Flight? which is a webpage found on the website FreeFlight.org. So it turns out FreeFlight.org is the domain name they use for an organization many HAFFA members know and recognize—The National Free Flight Society or NFFS for short.
Now if you step back from this a second, it seems that HAFFA has the same dilemma.
If you were a HAFFA member and were attending one of our summer Outdoor Flying Sessions, and you had someone interested in our activities—you would probably want to tell them to go to our website to get some useful information about our club, how to formally contact us, what our club is all about, etc. You would of course like to tell them to go to something that was easy to spell and also easy to remember so you wouldn’t have to write it down for them.
In the past I have had to write down flyhaffa.com on a sheet of paper for the many visitors I have met at many of the Open Hanger Days put on by the Commemorative Air Force Heart of America Wing. (Check this link out also as they are one of our sister organizations.) Or I have handed them our club’s flyer with the name of our website printed on the back numerous times and I can’t remember any person getting back to me.
So it’s not a surprise to me that NFFS decided to use the domain name FreeFlight.org.
Their thinking is that at least people could remember the name long enough to go home and type it in the URL Box at the top of their browser.
So as a better way to have visitors find our site, it is our intention to gradually transition to a new domain name (or label if you will) on the internet, KCFreeFlight.com. We feel this is a better way to brand our organization and to show our location to others. At the same time we also have plans to gradually phase out our current domain name Flyhaffa.com so as to not hurt our Search Engine Ratings.
Having said all that there are some brand new ideas that I have integrated into the new website that I think you will like. One that I am excited about and can see potential for adding future content is the “Plane Tales” page. You will have to go to that one to see what it’s all about. Also check out the brand new Plans & Documents.
Click around the site and see what else is new. I’m hoping to add some additional HINTS’n TIPS pages in the future but for now you can see what’s in the list below the link in the sub menu. Hopefully these links will get you started on your journey around the new site.
It’s been a “Journey” for me learning the new “Gutenberg Block Editor” that was necessary to implement the new Karuna WordPress Theme that the site’s now using, but that my friends, may be a subject for another Post down the line. I hope you enjoy the site and thanks for not sending any complaints my way with the site being down. Respectfully yours. Jeff Nisley — HAFFA Webmaster
Hedy Lamarr Wins Stars and Aviators P-18 Mass Launch
Setting the stage for the March 7th, 2020 Stars and Aviators Mass Launch matchup were four Vanguard P-18 hopefuls. Hedy Lamarr, made and flown by HAFFA Member Roie Black, edged out Pappy Boyington, flown by Wallie Freeburg in the final second of the contest. Pappy’s respectable 2nd place came after winning both the January and February Mass Launches.
Hedy’s pit crew, Roie Black, spent the better part of the morning making final trim adjustments propelling her to success. Roie’s statement after the win was:
“It’s taken me 35 years to get to a point where I have truly won something!”
Hedi made her debut last month bringing the fleet total to nine Vanguard P-18’s that Heart of America Free Flight Association (HAFFA) Members utilize in a friendly Mass Launch contest. Open to spectators participation, the program has been a resoundingly popular feature of our monthly Indoor Flying Sessions since it’s inception last year. Details about the Stars and Aviator’s Program can be found HERE.
Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian-born actress Hollywood once dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world”, was quite ahead of her time.
Below you will find links to YouTube videos that will showcase the fact that she was truly a mix of beauty and brains.
How Hedy Lamarr Developed a Secret Communications System
In 2015 Google celebrated Hedy’s 101st birthday with a Google Doodle:
Click here for Hedy Lamarr’s 101st birthday Google Doodle story
If you haven’t seen the movie Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, you can see it on Netflix. It’s well worth your time.
Trailer for Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
HAFFA Member Roie Black Completes His First Flight of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress at the Sept 7th, 2019 CAF Open Hanger Days
Having flown in a B-17, his flight in “Doc” rounds out his wish list for flights aboard WWII “Warbirds”. “Fifi” and “Doc” are the only two remaining roughly 75 year old B-29’s that are now capable of flying.
As a souvenir of his flight, Roie is holding up a “Docs Friends” B-29 patch shown at right that will be sewn on his bombardier jacket.
Roie described the flight as “Amazing”. His seat was in the rear of the plane near the ball turret where the machine guns are still theoretically positioned to fire. He said that looking out through the three Plexiglas blisters windows there gave him an appreciation of what the crewmen must have experienced when they tried to fend off enemy attacks.
More info about this plane can be found at this Wikipedia web page:
Boeing B-29 Superfortress – Wikipedia
There were 5 very successful Open Hanger Days Events this year put on by the Commemorative Air Force Heart of America Wing. Look for the dates on this site next year during the summer months so you can be sure to enjoy a flight in a “Warbird” as so many others have already done so.
Although these videos below are not of “Doc” per se, they provide more info about the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
Jeff Nisley’s Half-size Wakefield Lands safely in Flying Field while Charlie Tailer’s — isn’t so Lucky
Jeff Nisley’s Half-size Wakefield is featured in a new “HAFFA Members of the Month” web page titled: Jeff Nisley —Aug 2019 HAFFA Member.
At our Aug 13th Outdoor Flying Event Jeff recorded a flight time of 1 minute 14 seconds. He’s extremely luckily it didn’t fly out of our limited size flying field west of the Frontier Middle School nor did it land in a tree, as did Charlie Taylor’s Half-size Wakefield (1/2 Awake) plane.
Charlie got it back the next day, however, but not without paying a ransom consisting of a case of Miller Light beer (and coincidentally an 80 mile round trip from Independence) to retrieve the plane. It seems that the ransom was not for the plane but for the propeller found in the grass. It goes without saying that the real work was the work courtesy of the man’s son who actually climbed the tree to retrieve the plane.
A Joyest Day for CAF Open Hangar Days Event Goers but a Sad One for a Solitary FPG9 Foam Glider
In the foreground of the above photo lies one of the first ever Foam Plate Glider Airplanes known to have been left behind at an Open Hangar Days Event. Sponsoring the summer monthly events is the Commemorative Air Force Heart of America Wing.
Because the gliders are so popular it is rare to have one left behind. So rare in fact it is newsworthy, hence this Post! “Haven’t seen one left over in the 5 years we have been hosting the event.” was one of the comments heard.
During each event, Members of the HAFFA club guide eager kids with smiling faces make their very own Foam Plate Gliders.
The Foam Plate Glider, officially known as the
FPG9 Foam Glider, is an easy to construct glider made of foam plates (best ones to use are the inexpensive ones at Walmart) using a pair of scissors and a penny for the nose weight. The FPG9 Foam Glider was designed by Jack Reynolds. This design and many other Foam Plate and Plastic Straw gliders can be found HERE.
Yes, in addition the unlucky young person who left the foam glider behind is probably feeling a little sad right now. But never fear as one can make another one at next month’s event that will fly even better.
A schedule for future Open Hangar Days events can be found HERE. They are free to the public.
Here is a link to Jeff Nisley’s Half-size Kansas Wakefield web page
Here is a link to Jeff Nisley’s The Bostonian Bludgy web page
HAFFA Boasts Two New Members!
GREAT NEWS! We now have 2 new HAFFA members as of this month. Roie Black and his wife Cheryl stopped by our HAFFA June Business meeting and introduced themselves!
The Blacks have just recently moved to their recently renovated home here in Kansas City from Texas. Roie has had a fascinating career as a aerospace engineer and a computer scientist.
Jeff Renz found this blog written by Roie on the internet entitled: How I became a Rocket Scientist. A great read: http://www.co-pylit.org/blog/how-i-became-a-rocket-scientist.html
