MICRO-FLYING
2024 NEAT FAIR
By Joe Malinchak | joemal@echoes.net
THE 2024 Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology (NEAT) Fair was held September 12-15 in Downsville, New York. It was the 25th anniversary of the event! I still remember attending the first one. I was among a small group of modelers who pushed the limits on building the smallest micro-RC aircraft. The smallest models we flew at that time had wingspans of 13 inches or more. They used NiCd batteries for power and were on the heavy side in today’s standards; however, what we were doing captured the attention of many people around the world.
My friend, Henry Pasquet, and I were asked to do a seminar about our micro models, and this grew into a yearly presentation on the topic. Micro RC at NEAT became so popular that people from all over the world came to participate in the fun. We then reached out to the local school, and it let us use the gym for indoor flying on the Friday and Saturday of NEAT. The attendance of spectators and pilots soon grew because everyone was fascinated with what we were doing.
When LiPo batteries became available, everything changed for us because we could then build even smaller and lighter-weight models. I remember the big challenge at the time was to see whether we could fly a model in the seminar tent. We soon did and made even more advances in our designs year after year!
2024 NEAT Fair Seminars
It has been five years since we last held the micro-RC seminars, so we figured that the 25th anniversary of NEAT was a great time to bring them
back. They were all held in our tent that was set up right on the flightline.
On day one, Henry started things off with the history of RC development and early electric flight. He showed some old radio systems, electric motors, and some historic model airplanes from the past.
Next up was Gordon Johnson with his talk about 3D resin parts in micro-RC airplanes. He showed how you can print some highly detailed, lightweight parts for your models. I talked about how I got started in micro RC and showed off some of my latest model designs.
Adam Woodworth talked about his UMX Ultrix electronics-based airplanes. They are all amazing designs that fly very well. He also talked about his work with the drone delivery company Wing and all of the progress that they are making in this field.
We were also treated to a talk from an unexpected guest. Rob Caso showed us the outstanding workmanship on his 1/6-scale Fieseler Storch Fi-156 C-3. His model features pultruded carbon-fiber fuselage construction, a full cockpit, and will even have a folding wing when it is complete!
Day two started out with Joe Clements and the history of CO2 motors. He had an amazing collection of CO2 motors on hand, including some of the world’s smallest motors and some larger, multicylinder motors. Martin Newell talked about micro-RC equipment and showed off his work on a lightweight servo that he has developed.
We finished things off with Matt Kennon
MICRO-FLYING
and Ben Pipenberg, who talked about Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter, and its story. Their fascinating presentation lasted more than an hour and was a great way to end the micro seminars.
If you are interested in viewing the seminars, you can watch them on Gordon’s YouTube channel, listed in “Sources.”
Indoor Night at NEAT
On Friday and Saturday, everyone enjoyed indoor flying at the Downsville Central School gym. We treated spectators to flights of many different types of micro-RC models, including CO2 models, Free Flight, Scale, and even some F3P models.
The 2024 NEAT Fair was one to remember. It was a reunion of friends who are all like family that we haven’t seen in a year or more. I am already looking forward to next year’s event!
SOURCES:
NEAT Fair
www.neatfair.org
Gordon Johnson’s YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/@gordon10402
