The Southern Model Air Show 2012

SMAS 2011 Diary

Friday 16th Sep 11
Friday night at the Hop Farm and most things are setup, just the finishing touches to do. The New Hop Farm Ground control command module is in place with the Broadband connection up, radios on and tested and the TV had been wired up to the DVD, bring on the Friday evening film, Spinal Tap ! The Weather is warm and sunny and the weekend is looking good. News is in that Dennis Kenyon will not be able to do his display, I believe there was an issue with his heli but given what he does with it I think it was a good move to call it off if he's not 100% sure. In his place we have the superb Dave Stephens for the Saturday and on the Sunday we have secured another helicopter display, the pilot comes highly recommended by Dennis himself. every cloud has a silver lining as they say.

Saturday 17th Sep 11 - AM
Talking of clouds, what a difference 12 hrs makes, yesterday evening was really nice and yet this morning we woke up to grey sky's and showers.. still quite busy at the gate so the people are arriving as per normal, the pilots are doing as great job of keeping the flying going as well. We've now had a couple of short stops while showers pass but some like the legendary Ali Newman just kept on flying his Avicraft Panic as if nothing was happening, true class !! Latest forecast is for the showers to move away and the afternoon to be much better with sunny intervals - tomorrow looking much better.

Saturday 17th Sep 11 - PM
The better weather is here now, the sun is out, the sun makes the whole place come alive.
Just finished the Lunchtime sessions, First Dave Stephen's displayed his full size Mustang followed by the Toffee bomber for the kids. always fun to watch a few hundred kids (and parents) running across the runway after the sweets.
The Lunchtime "Have a Go" flight training was well subscribed with lots of people having thier first go on a RC plane. "Have a Go" will be back again tomorrow and cost is only £1 - This years "Have a Go" is sponsored by Model Technics fuel, Avicraft Bromley and J Perkins, many thanks to them for their support.

Fun Fighters are back
This year heralds the return of the Fun Fighters but as a private team. There are no words that adequately describe the shear chaos and brilliance of the Fun Fighters, its just one of those things you have to see and this year was no disappointment. 15+ small .25 size fighters in the air at once dog fighting and dodging huge pyro explosions from the ground. Just to make it even more interesting, Joe from Firework Effects has devised a Roman candle mortar that he uses to take put shots at the fighters with. still one of my favourite slots of the day.

Its Not just about the planes
While the Southern Model Airshow does have a lot of planes its not exclusivity a plane show. On the main show field away from the runway is a very large trade area and a very large area dedicated to similar sports and hobbies.
Firstly on the tour round the back fields are the model boats with several clubs and societies displaying thier wares all superbly organised by the Cygnets Model Boat club from Maidstone, these guys are also sporting a tent from the RNLI.

Next on the quick tour is the RC Car and Buggy track. these guys are racing all sizes and scales of car and truck in real races with heats throughout the day. if your interested in this sport its worth going to see Gareth and the guys from the Dover Bashers who with his crew have organised the arena and competition.

Further on is the Kit Car builders and Classic bike clubs, both have stunning and expensive wares to drool over. my fav is the v8 Cobra, if the owner wants to give it to a good home I'll be happy to oblige.

Lastly for now in the marquee is the Dalek builders club, imagine full size working Daleks indistinguishable from the real thing - great for the kids and as a photo op... you don't want to annoy them though, trust me on that !!!

Sunday 18th Sep 11
Sunday morning and we awoke to thick mist, thankfully by 9:00am it had cleared to reviel a crystal blue sky - I think today is going to be the better day weather wise !

Pilots Briefing this morning was very well attended, this is just some of the guys who will be flying today and we would like to thank them for there time and energy.



After a superb performance all weekend and some of the lowest low passes i've seen for a while, Best in Show goes to Michel Donnaly flying the Tomahawk Futurua 1.9. This large scale jet flew in all weathers and piloting by Michel was faultless. Congratulations to Michel (and his Dad / Groundcrew) on the win. hope to see you again next year..

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