Welcome to WSI!

Our first WSI Event ...

What a great start for a new event! -

The first WSI event on February 7/8 at the facility of the Coachella Valley RC Club (CVRCC) was a great success and it seems almost certain that there will be many such events to follow. Saturday early morning started out with a few remaining rain clouds and some light drizzle which was part of a huge weather system that brought a lot of rain to Southern California. The conditions improved, however, very quickly and when we started registering pilots for the event the drizzle has stopped. Volunteers of the CVRCC swept all the water puddles from the runway and by the time the first test flights were made the runway was mostly dry.

Most of Saturday morning was used for static judging the models and for putting in some preparation flights. Participants new to scale modeling were able to get a lot of useful tips and tricks not only from fellow modelers but also from the static and flight judges. There were two pilot stations with two flight- and one assistant flight judge each. Because only two rounds were flown per day the atmosphere was very relaxed. The weather conditions could not have been better during the flying portion of the event. There was practically no wind on Saturday and only a light wind down the runway on Sunday. The result was some great flying with not a single crash; the biggest snafu was a pulled-out landing gear that resulted from an overshoot during a landing. We are also pleased to report that there were no radio problems at all, even when there were multiple airplanes in the air and when using JR 2.4 GHz radios. Such it appears that the problems with these radios that were reported during the Best In the West Jet event two weeks earlier in Coachella are not related to neither the field setup nor the environment of the CVRCC field.

The idea of having an entry level scale class with less stringent rules and the availability of qualified and seasoned scale modelers to provide advice for the static and flying portion of the event was well received by both the participants and people helping out. This low key approach to the event and the welcoming atmosphere of the CVRCC contributed significantly to the success of this event. It was simply great to see everybody working together. There were the ever friendly members of the CVRCC who not only allowed us to use their facilities but also prepared lunch for everybody and chipped in wherever work was needed. The WSI group provided staff for running the actual event and although this was Version 1.0 of this new event it seemed as if everybody had worked together many times before.

The great reception of this new type of Scale event and the fact that participants came all the way from Arizona, despite a not-so-good weather forecast, seems to validate the idea of a combined entry- to expert-level Scale RC event. We are currently discussing additional events of a similar scope here in Southern California and will post any results on our website.

Thanks again to all the participants and everybody who helped making this event a success!

Our rules and documents are always being reworked and improved. After evaluating our last event in Coachella in February we made some changes based on our observations and your comments. Please check them out under our Documents & Rules Section.

It has already been a week since we had our first WSI event in Coachella. In order too keep the good memories alive we have updated our Photo Gallery. If you took pictures of the event and if you would like to share them, please send your images or a link to them to webmaster@WRCScale.org. - Thanks!

George Muir, the CVRCC's videographer, has posted some great pictures on RCUniverse. Don't miss to check them out! - And while we are at it, George did also bring his video camera to the event and captured the event on video as well. Thanks a lot George!

Southern California will see some rain towards the end of the week; however, the good news is that in Coachella the rain will be falling on Friday before the event. On Saturday and Sunday we should have perfect flying weather, with clear air and great visibility.

You can get the local weather forecast by calling Jackie Cochran Airport and asking for the current condition and forecast (760-399-8054).

We have posted a tentative schedule of the Feb '09 event on our Events page. We are still working on some details but this should provide you with a first glimpse at what the event will be like. Like usually, if you have any questions or comments please send us an e-mail at info@wrcscale.org.