John Thompson and Scott Riese do the Bi-Bi, a double Bi-Slob demonstration, at the Lucky Hand Fun Fly in Salem. That's Scott's .60-powered Bi-Slob on the left, and John's Fox .35-powered version on the right, both in hover mode! Tom Kopriva photo.
One of the highlights of the Oregon flying year is always July's Lucky Hand Fun Fly at Bill Riegel Model Airpark, where this year an even dozen fliers signed up for the poker hand. Several others were on hand just for some flying.
The way the fun-fly works is, every time an entrant puts up a flight of any kind, a playing card is drawn for them. The best five-card hand wins.
It was a great day for flying, sunny with light and shifty winds, and temperatures approaching 90. There were stunt and sport flights, and even Mike "ZZ" Hazel's little monoline trainer went up for a cruise. There were two Bi-Slobs on hand, and John Thompson and Scott Riese did a double-Bi-Slob flight (A Bi-Bi flight, you might say.) Gerald Schamp also got into the fun, flying both John's Fox .35-powered version and Scott's .60-powered Bi-Slob.
Fliers in the poker draw were: Leo Mehl, Scott Riese, Dean Singleton, CJ Underahl, Tom Kopriva, John Thompson, Floyd Carter, Mike Hazel, Dave Royer, Alice Cotton-Royer, Craig Bartlett, and Gerald Schamp.
Winner of the $60 pot was John, with his three sevens. Leo came up with two pairs to win a gallon jug of fuel. Floyd had the best single pair, and took home a package of wheels.
Gerald Schamp's planes always have a little "extra" touch. This is his ARF/ARC hybrid Profile Cardinal, powered by a Saito .40 four-stroke, slimmed and trimmed and slightly reshaped. A great flier! Flying Lines photo.
Fun-flies always bring out the unusual planes. On the left, Craig Bartlett shows off The Thing, definitely unusual plane of uncertain origin acquired by Ron Bennett. It's powered by a Fuju .099 now, but once had a McCoy .19. At right, Dean Singleton's more conventional Shoestring Stunter.
Left photo: Floyd Carter with his Larceny (a reshaped Brodak Legacy) powered by SuperTigre .51. Right photo: Scott Riese gets ready for a flight on his Profile Cardinal -- powered by a Leo .37 and held by another Leo (Mehl).
A fun-fly like the Lucky Hand involves a lot of hobnobbing.
At left, Tom Kopriva (left) and Gerald Schamp talk about Gerald's Cardinal.
Note both are clad in the fashionable Northwest Regionals T-shirts from
previous years.
Next event upon the Northwest schedule is the Northwest Skyraiders Summer Swap meet. See Where the Action Is for info.
This page was upated July 12, 2006