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

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 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.

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

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

Roie and Cheryl have so far participated in most of our HAFFA events to date (actually all). Thanks guys! So we wish them both the best of luck it re-invigorating Roie’s childhood hobby in 2019!

HAFFA’s Annual Indoor Model Airplane contest concluded successfully with a great mass launch effort by all of the “Pit Crews” for the stars and aviators with 7 planes simultaneously competing for the coveted longest time in the air 1st place.

Humphrey Bogart, a consistent winner, proved once again that he was “worth his salt” by beating out Jimmy Stewart, Bette Midler, Pappy Boyington,, Marilyn Monroe, Glenn Miller, and by narrowly beating out Natalie Wood by two seconds to take the grand prize.

The April 6, 2019 Mass launch video can be see here:

2019 INTRA-CLUB HAFFA INDOOR CONTEST RESULTS

April 6, 2019 Indoor Flying Session Scores:

Comet ROG:  Renz 3, Field 2, Nisley 1

Glider: Field 3, Vetter 2, Renz 1

FAC Phantom Flash: Nisley 4, Field 3, Vetter 2, Renz 1 

P18: Baker 5, Field 4, Vetter 3, Renz 2, Nisley 1  

Starting with the March totals for the 2019 year and adding the April scores… see totals below.

1 Nisley  Total 39+1+4+1=45 (HAFFA 2019 CHAMP)

2 Renz  37+2+1+1+3=44

3 Field 23+4+2+3+3=35

4 Vetter 27+3+2+2=34

5 Baird 17

6 Baker 11+5=16

7 White 2

A big thanks goes to the Contest Director, Jeff Renz, for all his work to run the contest and the substantial paperwork needed to keep track of the scores this season and the contest itself. Awards will be handed out at our next HAFFA Business Meeting, April 16. Thanks to all who attended.

At the last HAFFA Indoor Flying Session, February 2, 2018, “Bette Midler”, Dennis Baker’s contribution to the Stars and Aviators Take Flight fleet, took first place in the newly created Mass Launch Event featuring Vanguard P-18 Indoor model airplanes built by HAFFA members.

Jeff Nisley’s entry, “Marilyn Monroe” made a respectable showing coming in second—losing by a mere 4 seconds. Needless to say, it was an exciting spectacle to participate in and to watch.

The “Movie Stars and Aviators” Mass Launch Event is a newly implemented idea For Model Airplane Clubs to generate interest for visitors. Visitors are allowed to pick their favorite Vintage Movie Star or Aviator from a fleet of planes that the club brings to each indoor session. A member of the club will then show the visitor the process of winding the rubber motor and will instruct the participant on how to launch the model. When the countdown begins at high noon, expectations are high for their favorite celebrity. Win or lose everyone enjoys the event.

Below is a video of  the current line-up of HAFFA’s fleet showing 5 planes—4 Stars and 1 Aviator. We expect to have more as this idea catches on.

Stars and Aviators Take Flight
Vanguard P-18 Mass Launch HAFFA Fleet Line-up

Because this has been such a success with the Heart of America Free Flight Association (HAFFA), we believe it is time to reach out to other area Model Airplane Clubs and offer a challenge for them to get on board and have their own members create a fleet for their respective clubs. HAFFA members would certainly enjoy the competition.

Details of the program are set forth on this webpage:

Movie Stars and Aviators Take Flight – Indoor P-18 MASS LAUNCH

Questions about the program can be sent via email to jeffnisley@ymail.com.

If this Idea Catches on there is No Reason that Clubs Across the Nation can’t Join in on the Fun.

Thanks for viewing and we look forward to hearing from our Sister Club in Wichita, Wichita Historic Aircraft Modelers (WHAM) and from the Model Airplane Group in Omaha, Nebraska.

Humphrey Bogart is declared by far the winner of the event, with Pappy Boyington coming in Second and Marilyn Monroe finishing Last.

Sunday January 5, 2018 marked a historic day for the Heart of America Free Flight Association’s Visitor Participation Mass launch.

Three Vanguard P-18 Indoor Planes participated in what many people are saying is the NEXT BIG THING for Indoor Modeling Clubs.

A relatively new idea, this unique program encourages Model Airplane Clubs to persuade their members to build Vanguard P-18 indoor model airplanes available in laser kit form from LaserCutPlanes.com so visitors to the events can partner up with the members to experience the basics of Indoor Free Flight.

The Mass Launch commences at 12 noon, allowing a welcome break for fellow modelers, and a fun event for visitors to participate in what they are sure to grow to appreciate. Win or lose, it’s fun to see your VIP up there trying their hardest to win.

What originally started out as Movie Stars Take Flight — Indoor P-18 MASS LAUNCH has evolved to include your Favorite Historic Aviator, whether it is one of the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, or the controversial Howard Hughes, it’s up to the member who they want to represent their plane. Along with the new name for the program came an updated Logo for the wing tip that spells out clearly what the program is all about.

Happy for his tremendous success, below is what “Bogie” has on his left wing tip—the new “Official” Updated Logo—complements of Jeff Nisley, his proud owner.

One of our long standing HAFFA members, Wally Freeburg, requested a plane to be built to honor the World War II flying Ace, Pappy Boyington. So the “Black Sheep” aviator has joined HAFFA’s growing fleet, and is now competing with the “Best of ’em”. ____________________________________________________________________

Members of different Regional or National Model Airplane clubs can claim victory for their club with their plane if their VIP has the longest flight time. We expect competitions between clubs to help generate interest among spectators to the indoor events as well as to add a fun event for the club members who didn’t bring a plane to fly that day.
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Each plane is decorated with a theme consisting of a vintage Movie Star or a historic Aviator. This consists of the photo of the star or aviator printed on tissue placed on the rudder of the Vanguard P-18. The left wing tip is reserved for the Star or Aviator’s name and the Program’s Official Logo is placed on the right wing tip.

Full instructions on how to accomplish this will be forth coming from the Program’s founder and promoter, Jeff Nisley. For questions and comments his email address is jeffnisley@ymail.com.

February 2, 2018 is HAFFA’s next Indoor Flying Session and expectations are high that many more planes will join HAFFA’s fleet—the first ever of its kind in the nation.

So to close out this POST, the Indoor Participants of HAFFA challenge our Sister organization in Kansas, the Wham or Wichita Historic Aircraft Modelers, to join in on the fun. We also challenge the folks up in Omaha that fly indoor model airplanes to contact us, get on board, and build a fleet of their own. We look forward to the competition!