NEAT 2006

Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology Fair

presented by SEFLI (Silent Electric Flyers of Long Island)

Event Coverage

What a great year!  Thanks for all those who helped out in any way.  We could not put on a show this great (and large!) without the help of the
members.  This year we also had a lot of help from outside the club.  Their efforts were also greatly appreciated and recognized below.

The show started out a little damp on set-up day Thursday, but as the hours and days went by, the weather gradually improved with the three flying days being mainly rain free.  It was actually a blessing that the sun was not out too much as it would have been HOT!  Crowds were quite large on Friday and Saturday.  Arnold Banker (Campsite owner) had estimated that 2-3000 people passed through his gates over the three days.  We had a lot of great demo flights at the lunchtime slots, too many probably.  It was hard to choose who to have fly out of the numerous impressive models.  The event director and SEFLI president, Tom Hunt managed to grab a spot on Sunday for his KMP BF-109.  The Bergen County Club again put on some great seminars on micro powered flight.  The Boston Micronauts, lead by Gordon Johnson also held their Saturday night indoor fly-in at the Downsville High School.  The Saturday Night Slow flyer contest was well attended by spectators, but was down a bit in contestants. The use of the new Spread Spectrum radios on 2.4GHZ relieved the impound a bit this year, but we still had well over 300 Tx's/modules in the impound during the height of the day.  Those that did use the DX6 systems for their slow/park flyers enjoyed quick turn around times for flying.  It is possible that with the introduction of the new "full range" DX7 radio for 2007 that the impound will become even lighter.

Vendors and manufacturers donated many great prizes to the Pilots Raffle. Kits, ARFS, electronic equipment, ESC's, RX's and other great model products were sent out to many of the 300 pilots attending the 2006 fair. Hobby Lobby once again sponsored the John Sermos Memorial General Raffle, Junior Raffle and Most Impressive Junior Award.  The general raffle and T-shirt/hat sales go a long way to offset the cost of running the show.  We appreciate all of you who patronized these fund raising activities.

Here are some statistics from the 2006 Show:

Alan Ford prepares a breakfast in the HQ tent one early morning. Much more spacious then his two man pup-tent.	Nick Dannenhoffer taking a coffee break.  Nick and Frank Dellamura have been handling pilot registration for all the NEAT Fairs.
Tom Hunt, the NEAT Fair Event Director explains the rules to the impromptu Cox warbird races.	More than a dozen modelers participated in the late day even on Friday and Saturday
Assistant Event Director, Bob Aberle retrieves his indoor model, a small Playboy SR at the Saturday night indoor fly-in at the Downsville HS.	SEFLI President and NEAT fair Event Director talking about his KMP BF-109 demo flight on Sunday.
Have you ever seen a crowd this large at a model aircraft meet?  And this is only half of it... it is just as busy in the other direction (Ray was standing mid-show!)	Ray Juschkus receives a distinguished service award from the AMA (District VP Dave Mathewson) at the Indoor Fly-in.

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Webmaster: Joe Cabana