These pictures of the First Exclusive airfield for RC Jets & airplanes at Chennai.
The runway admeasures 1000 feet in length and width 60 feet  including runoffs, with 10 pilot posts.
120 feet Pit area, with complete work tables/ power points for chargers etc.
Has an emergency grass area for Jets & other aircrafts that have landing gear failure.
The airfield is located about 100 kms from Chennai on NH45.  (2 hr drive from city)
The runway is managed by RCPA. (Radio Control Pilot Association) founded by K.Aravind (Rotor Sport), And by Film Actor Ajith Kumar. The runway is designed by Actor Ajith Kumar as per AMA norms. An RC car track ( on road & off road) are under way. Amenities and other details will be posted soon at www.rotor.co.in.
Membership by invitation, details of which will be made available soon.

Cool    Finally something like what we see all the time in other countries.

But the distance would be a small issue, considering that is about 4 hours of commute in total.  For someone who wants to stay on the field for half day or even full day, this is a dream location ! 

More pictures are posted on the Rotor website (http://www.rotor.co.in) with a link to : http://rotorsport.in/runway/

And a plan of the runway.

This airfield was just a flat piece of land barely a few weeks back having seen it myself. Amazing work and dedication by Aravind and team.  First of its kind in India.

Hope we can have the off road track set up as early as possible for a joint start.

  Great Effort and foresight of Aravind .

sai

the effort goes a long way for making rc flying legit. what about the membership ? cost of flying ? etc.

 A great milestone for aeromodelling in chennai 

Hope this would go a long way to bring some legitimacy, control and support for this sport....... slowly but steadily we seem to be getting there 

 

Looks fantastic...

May be its for the elite class.  .. I could be wrong though.

Are we jumping the gun   It could just mean people who are good enough flyers so as to not mess it up for everyone

Who is "elite" ?  The guys who can fly really well ? 

 The invitations will answer this questions I guess

Could be.  ... But the name "Mr. Ajith Kumar" should give a clue.

Anyway.. lets wait for the gun fire.

-Ismail

 
 
 
 
Fantastic Design

wow! that really has a nice "ring" to it

Ismail ,
In any case the planes we make and fly will look totally out of place in such surroundings  with shiny Jets and Gasser's flying around .

I am sure SPAD will not make the cut , its like the diff. between Armani and Kumaran Men's tailor  


Sai

Anwar ,
Please notify in case PM's are received  against this post as well .

OR

on second thought  would it be OK if I sent you the post to edit and sensitize prior to posting  

I hope it is just me who feels we are barking against an unknown, that can turn out to be good or bad    Then again, who here is sensitive anyways

I would consider the fact someone took the time to announce it here (and that too the person's first ever post on this forum!).  They could very well have chosen not to, and let the news seep in via third parties later on. 

I guess I am one of those "middle-ground" guys  (we have nice word for this in Malayalam called "Samavayam"!), who get alarmed when either baseless or unknown issues are raised !

They have not said elite class any where. Only mentioned by invitation which i think they are entitled to, as they have spent the money & time on developing the airfield. Also by having a proper r/c airfield even to go and watch fun flight or meets would be a great eye opener for many.
Its very simple if you are not a member of a club you cannot use its facilities.

Also Anwar from what i have been seeing that on a regular basis that people are comparing the jets, gassers, medium scale nitro modellers to an elite group, i don't think this is right at all as any modeller whether a builder, flyer or even a guy building a small free flight model is a modeller, we should appreciate it in that manner.

I know form what i have seen guys having gassers & also have spads, etc.

So lets not at least bifurcate this hobby on those grounds, like how the politicians do to the country.

Also would like to congrats to all those who made the airfield possible, right from the contributors, to designers, etc and also all the workers who worked at airfield.

Hello all!!
Thank you All very much for your appreciation!
This RC airfield was initially only a dream for me....
There was no place in Chennai where one could go & fly in peace...we were always at someones mercy to permit us to fly for a few hours.....
Then my dream miraculously turned into reality when....
Actor Ajith Kumar who is also an Avid aeromodeller, took this project upon himself to design and complete this huge mammoth task in just 28 days!
Now finally we have an exclusive RC airfield dedicated purely to serious & passionate aeromodellers.(but please note there are Rules & regulations wherein safety is of paramount importance.)

This is not a flying field only for the 'Elite' !!!! All are WELCOME.
more on this in a week as soon as I return from Jet Masters, Germany!!

Thanks for the update Rotor/Arvind !  I hope that the field is accessible to as many as possible, of course with some common-sense restrictions for the sake of smooth conduct and safety.

A team from Qatar regularly participates in the Jet Masters, not sure if they are there this time.  I came to know many of them over the past year.  And some of them really build their large jet aircrafts from scratch, with the support and encouragement of the Qatar Scientific Club.

There you go SAI not the ELITES only everyone is welcome.

ok anwar, will be in & around the Vario stall at Jet Masters... lots of fliers from India will also be there at Jet Masters!

I got the same feeling a few times   It is just like the cross sections of society, there are various levels of resources, and that is just natural.  Some people tend to look down on it. 

Having an "elite" class in society is an unwelcome reality, dragging it into the hobby is something for us to guard against.

But the truth remains that affordable stuff is key to wider adoption of this hobby.

Agree that affordable stuff is Key. But putting people in an Elite Class or the other class because of the type of model that he flies is what i am against, but actually how passionate he is towards the hobby is more important.

Ok that clears all doubts... 

Great effort by Arvind/ Ajith. Shows their dedication to grow this sport...

-Ismail

cool 

guys how big is this field in terms of area 

Just massive, I think about 50 acres......

Affordable and accessible - two reasons why though aero modelling is considered not cheap even in the US its still a flourishing hobby there. Neat guidelines, availability of fields to fly, insurance against accidents, responsible groups/clubs all the good stuff.

But if you can fly a jet/gasser/scale planes then surely you are a member of an elite group of flyers - skillwise!!

Dear All,
I think mr. Anwar has moderated the issue the way it should have been done. Here someone has built a fantastic facility about a hundred km from chennai. We should be discussing the setup and how it can possibly be duplicated eslewhere/ whether it will help in regulating the hobby in india the way the AMA does in US.
No point discussing elitism and socialism here. NO ONE IS BEING FORCED TO GO THERE.
It is available and if one is keen to go, we have enough details on whom to contact about getting permission to go. It is a private facility after all.
And with the traffic at Sholavaram flying big planes and even helis can lead to problems.
Congratulations to M/s. Aravind and Ajith Kumar on their initiative.
Avijit

Great thing to happen, but for most of us it would be too far unless anyone is planning for a full day trip or even weekend trip.  

Now I can think of Jets!!  !

And a lovely place to fly my gasser!

Kudos to Aravind and Ajith!

Would love to visit the place once am back from Seychelles.. I think Aravind would also be returning around the same time.. Would be a nice place to chill out!

- Chan

A saturday night out (with family) at the place with Sunday morning flying would not be a bad idea at all!! You can let the wives do all the scheming against us  ! Probly might lead to some sabotage from their part    !

But on a more serious note, I think it would be more sensible if we can get there the previous evening, chill out with a couple of beers, and then hit the sack!! Get up early, start flying and keep flying till midday and then leave for Chennai! That should be more convinient if we visit that place.. But every weekend there might not be practical! Atleast till Sholavaram is operational..

Car pooling might also be a good policy here.. Would appreciate it if Aravind could arrange some van (of course at some expense on our part as well) to transport our planes back and forth.. This way we would be able to share cars and the fuel expenses would also be cut drastically!  I suppose once the club house and other amenities are built there, then all this would be really possible!!

Cheers again to Chennai's first private airfield!! No more dealing with pesky guards and local traffic!!   

- Chan

Or keep your planes there.  "Locker" facility for member's planes

Keep a shredder for those that crash   

If this is going to develop into a club then keep a trailer on the field or shed or something and keep the club's planes there.

Build a clubhouse for club meetings. Arrange for night flying, build-n-fly training sessions, competitions, fun-flys, on-field swap-shops, a swag shop.

Check this club http://www.arvadamodelers.com - they do this every year -static displays at malls, frequent and annual fun-flys.

Else why do you need a  RC flying field with no/limited future on the cards 

Katty ,
Read properly I have never mentioned the word elite in any of my posts , BTW Aravind and me are good friends and he mailed me these photos much before he posted them here . We have been discussing this idea far before many knew  of it .
In fact we discussed this idea when it was at the idea stage itself .Check it out with Aravind himself if you want  and he will bear me out on the fact that I was one of the earliest to support this idea .

BTW it was Ismail who mentioned the word elite in his post , I was just having  a lighter moment with him as we both apart from Doc Basu are the Spadders around  and  don't fly very pretty looking planes .

If you read the thread  earlier you will see I have congratulated Aravind on this earlier on .

So get your eyes and your head in the right place  before throwing in your 2 penny bit on everything I say and write here.
Your reactions are letting out the obvious frustration I don't know about what ?

Sai

This topic is getting exciting, but lets keep the frustations out, please....

I was about to suggest Aravind on transportation pooling and the equipment safe custody. Chan and tg, spot on.

Lot of race tracks in the US have them. But not sure on aircraft due to the larger size. Many guys leave their stuff with a caretaker, usually an older or disabled person who cleans, services the cars and keeps them ready for the next week all at a cost. They even charge batteries and fill fuel (I would personally prefer just safe storage as outsourcing the basic maintainence takes the fun out of the hobby, ok for critical service)

Good idea if Aravind can implement this since storage at home is a becoming a big issue lately with increasing number of models and scrutiny from family.

Please please please add a bar lounge also.....................

Its  Hot as it is........ and getting hotter by the minute..........

A disco would not be bad either 

The fun has started... 

More to come.. ! Let me not spoil the fun by spilling the beans!!

- Chan

what's the update on this field ? when its to be opened ?

It is already operational and we fly there after prior intimation to Aravind.  The proper launch would be very soon.  I do not have first hand information and it would be better if Aravind would comment on this..

- Chan

nice place n video 

well i should drive up from vellore one of these days  to try out. was expecting some kinda opening during the diwali.

Heres another video of the Viper Mk2 flown by Guru.  Video and editing done by Aravind!



- Chan

wow great .. the fascination will remain till i get my own..

BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE RCPA FIELD YESTERDAY

Finally loaded the edited version of the FPV Video of the RCPA field yesterday .



2.4G interference from other radio sources does effect the Video transmission  

But over all I think the video is reasonable for the initial attempts I have to improve on the receiver and recording ground station. I think the 500 MW Tx has done in the air  what ever is required  .

Sai

Can someone post Google Maps location or GPS co-ordinates, please.

Hi Guys,

Here are some pics I promised long back!! Taken during a get together in Alpha3 Runway!!

- Chan

more pics..

more pics..

some more..

more pics...

final lot of pics!!

Cool 

Looks like you have an opportunity to build a car track also !

Was that you doing Raptor heli tandem flying with someone else ?

Thanks Anwar.. And it was Ajith and Aravind doing tandem flying!! Am not upto the mark yet... though I had a good weekend with the heli!! Now am able to do stall turns, loops and nose in landings!! Also high speed circuits!! Lets start hitting the stunt mode switch!!

- Chan

in his recent movie MANKATHA,one scene in a song I have seen a RC Plane hanging in his wall and a animation of the palne flying..Nice flying by THALA..

May I know whether this field is still functioning if yes may I know the location of this field and for going to this field whom should I contact

Post a Google maps link for this field please

Hi, Can any one help me in sharing the location of this new RC field and guide route from Tambaram . Thanks

Wow , what a field is it still active ?

yes it is still active but only on sundays morning that too only when arvind of rotorzone goes for flying there.