EVENT COVERAGE: 2010 Las Vegas Fun-Fly (Saturday)

Man… what an event. There’s something about the Vegas Fun Fly that sets it apart from all other events. Sitting back here in my room looking over the strip is a nice change from the usual Comfort Inn. I arrived to the field Friday afternoon. The weather was fine but the forecast planned for 30mph winds all day Saturday. I have a feeling that Saturday morning most thought the event was blown out because there were only a few people out there. That, or a bit hung over. Early on in the day, it didn’t look good. The wind was gusting hard and no one was flying. Around 10 the wind passed and left a beautiful 4 hour window for flying, which everyone took advantage of. By 1 the winds had returned closing off flying to all but the brave or insane. We witnessed Curtis Youngblood and Nick Maxwell make some stunning 1500 foot autos and 130 mph passes with the strong tail winds. Some were even brave enough to play in the wind with their 450′s. Needless to say, it was very entertaining. Read on for the rest of the story on the event.

Team Avant and Team Outrage made a strong showing at this years event. Both brought many non local pilots that put on amazing flights throughout the day. It was refreshing to see a larger variety of helicopters being flown at this years event. Andy Rummer, Kyle Dahl, and Jesse Kavros from Team Mikado were also in attendance putting on some incredible high speed demos.

As the sun set, the raffle was held to the remaining pilots who toughed out the weather for the prizes. As usual, I did not win anything. However some people were lucky enough to take home a T-Rex 700LE, T-Rex 600LE, Logo 400, 450 Sport, and multiple Compass helicopters among many other great prizes.

Gyro Hobbies, MTA, AMainHobbies, and Heliproz all made it out to this years event to supply pilots for with all the parts they needed. Heliproz raffled off the long awaited MA Fury 55, which was almost more anticipated than the event raffle. All the vendors had a multitude of kits and parts that would impress even the most savvy hobby shop patron.

The new A to B fuel container was unveiled at this years event. This convenient tool keeps all your fuel for a days flying in one container that can be carried with a shoulder strap. The kit not only includes an electric pump, but a high quality carrying case with pockets for any tools that you often use when fueling your helicopter.

I said it before and I’ll say it again. Even though this years event was hampered by wind, there’s just something completely OK about a blown out event in Las Vegas. It’s a nice place to be stranded for the weekend. The flying was great even though the window was rather brief, and people enjoyed the company. Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate, but hey, I’d rather be stuck in Vegas for a weekend than Muncie.