Recently, MultiGP drove up to the Flying Circus event that Jeremiah Guelzo and Matt Stoneblue of Stone Blue airlines put together at the Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise, VA. This was a special event since we were able to trailer Chris's powered parachute and fly it in the mountains.
Chris Thomas(DJChris), Andrew Finegan(afinegan) and Zachary Buendia(ZackThrills) rode together from Florida. When we arrived, we met up with Alex Greve(IBCrazy) who is more like a brother after the last adventure with Chris to Flite Fest. We set up the course and raced on Friday but Saturday was a no race day. That was definitely a disappointment but ultimately it was not my event to run. We still had fun though!!
MultiGP Having Fun at the Flying Circus
Sunday I took several people flying introducing them to a maneuver I refer to as a "Death Spiral." Most volunteered for the maneuver. Chris didn't hear Zack volunteering....DOH, It was an honor to take Patrick Smith flying, we dove 500 feet into a valley before returning to the airport.
Sunset Powered Parachute Ride in the Mountains at Stone Blue Airlines Flying Circus (4k)
As the winds picked up Jeremiah launched his Chimera then strapped in. As soon as we left the ground he dropped his goggles and followed us over and down a valley. He landed the Chimera just before we did. On the ground he said it was the best simulator he ever tried. Chris was really glad to have been able to share his hobby with everyone.
Jeremiah in the back of the PPC FPV'in (PPC engine sound loud, turn down sound before clicking link)
https://www.facebook.com/StoneBlueAirlines/videos/740124469466682/
Ground Station Flight with the Chimera from Stone Blue Airlines
Then, We packed up and hit the road from Wise, VA to Canton, OH. Alex drove his RV with Zack while Andrew and Chris pulled the PPC. The trip was fairly uneventful. We did find a great place to fly in the mountains only to have it cut short by video loss.
The next morning we went to meet up with Austin Furey at Flite Test HQ. It was a reunion since Flite Fest and really nice to see the place where so many great Flite Test videos are made. Josh and Alex greeted us and we all spent the next few hours with everyone in their own conversations.Michael Gianoutsos met up with us at this point as well. Chris was concerned with Peter not being present as we intended to build things.
Austin pulled Chris into a room with Michael and Alex Greves and we recorded a podcast. Chris was amazed at how quickly the time passed. It will be interesting to re-listen to the conversation. Overall I think we did a good job telling the MultiGP story and sharing the vision.
MultiGP|Flite Test Podcast
We packed up and headed out to a park. Turns out this is a race track that Paul Adkins uses with Ben See and others. Really nice spot! We shot an episode showing how setup and run race with the crew. It was a great flying day. Joshua Melvin Bixler got a chance to fly the Fast Forward.
MultiGP Flite Test Episode
MultiGP | Flite Test Race Day! | Flite Test Live
Andrew Finegan was very adamant that we attend a team building exercise at Cedar Point amusement park. We drove that night and slept in the RV just outside of the park. High winds prevented any powered parachute flying. The next day we entered the park, purely for team building and definitely not for fun, and rode every coaster in the park. We cannot recommend that place enough. The Top Thrill Dragster ride took us from 0-120 in 4 seconds.
We drove to Columbus Ohio to visit Ready Made RC and Buddy RC the next day. ReadyMade crew was very busy so we headed over to BuddyRC. We had a great time with Doug Tussing and the crew. They took us to lunch and showed us some of their toys. Chris picked up wing they had in stock to race. Also grabbed some Glacier batteries and ZTW Spider ESC which we have really have been impressed with.
We drove next to Atlanta, GA to meet up with Todd Wahl, Jonathon Davis and Steele Davis. Todd met us for breakfast and then took us out to fly. We went to a nice park where he graciously set up tents, flags, gates and power just so we could fly. After a few hours Chris took Zack and Andrew to get a rent car as they needed to get back to Florida.
Chris returned to the field to find more pilots there. Mr. Steele was hurting some propellers at the time. Chris offered his Fast forward to him and he flew it in ways that he did not know was possible. You do not have to believe me, The video at the bottom of this post proves it. He even made the tune better, sorry Kalyn Doerr. No balls were ripped but so much awesomeness happened that the ESC's desoldered from the back motors. 2700kv on 4s will do that.
That night we went to dinner with Skitzo, Mr. Steele and Kevin. Kevin is another great Atlanta pilot hidden in the shadows but watch out for him on the race course. We ate strange food and had good conversation. Chris tried to convince them to go fly in the powered parachute but the biggest issue was the time. Saturday Chris met with Cliff from Atlanta hobby and also purchased some Tri-Blades.
Sunday was race day at the 2015 Robot Expo. Todd, Chris, Vivian Van Zyl, and Lionel among others with the DRC put together a nice event. The course was tight due to available area to fly and safety concerns. Everyone had a job and did it well. Very well done guys. 700 people watched the races and many new fans were made. Chris won the first round of races but stripped a motor after crashing into the net in the second round of races. We packed up quickly due to potential rain. That was probably a good thing, Chris was having a good time with good company and would have definitely stayed late.
DRC MultiGP Atlanta Chapter Robotics Expo 2015
It was time for us to go home. Chris drove from Atlanta to Palm Bay, FL and pulled in the driveway at 12:45AM. The drive home gave him plenty of time to think of all the fun he had on the trip. It is clear that FPV racing is growing exponentially. This will be bigger than 3d helicopters, bigger than RC car racing and bigger than pylon racing, combined. The efforts of the local organizers are what will make this dream a reality. What a great trip.
If your interested in Joining, Starting or Sponsoring a local chapter visit http://multigp.com/flitetest
MultiGP Wise+Canton or Bust
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