The Beauty of Bitumen

We have a new field. Now Curtin was nice, don't get me wrong, but the oval in Kambah across the road from the Burns Club has so much going for it.

The field is nice and green, there is some basic shelter, plenty of space (although three large light posts do need to be kept in mind), not many dog walkers in the morning etc but by far the biggest plus sits between the atheletics field and the two football fields. For seeingly no reason - perhaps a project that was started and abandoned, a large 25x40 m square of perfectly formed bitumen is in the middle of the field.

If you have never taken off and landed your models on bitumen it really is something special. Nose overs are a thing of the past, both on landing and takeoff, and you can do medium power takeoffs with ease and planes pick up speed when taxing quickly (take off run for the zero is probably down to 2 metres) rather than having to be driven through grass at WOT.

The relatively small landing area has another advantage - it really makes you focus on getting your approach right. This is really tricky. Hitting a 25m long strip early enough so that you can taxi to a stop is not that easy, especially in things with high stall speeds, but it is great practice.

Needless to say, belly landings on the bitumen aren't such a great idea. But for everything else - it is awesome.

The wind was up today. Binary boy almost landed his SuperCub at a standstill, and the RV4 came in at about a slow walk just fine. The wind was gone a bit for both zero flights, and she came in a bit hotter (as always) but no nose over thanks to the bitument (go bitumen - you rock).

DJ had his second outing with his new SBRC Spitfire - it really is slick and beautiful in the air. Can't wait til he gets some paint on her rather than the current green tape.

Anyway, better do some work.