The Big Jolt II EDF Fun Fly took place at the Pomona Valley Model Airplane Club (PVMAC) in Chino, California June 2 and 3, 2023. Flying field is within the Prado Regional Park Area near Chino California boasting a huge, 800-foot asphalt runway with plenty of width for those questionable approaches with enough pit area to support 30 canopies. Event hosted 31 registered pilots primarily from the Southern California, and as far as Sacramento, California.
Big Jolt is a Southern California event that started way back in 2010 and has been a pretty popular electric model airplane fly-in since. Big Jolt experienced a hiatus due to economics and then of course the COVID era. Back in the day prop planes dominated the sky. As the industry evolved a mix of prop and EDF aircraft ruled the air. Fast forward to 2023 EDFs will have their own day in the sun.
PVMAC Field was a buzz with one hundred people in attendance to include overnight campers, pilots, vendors, spectators, family and those just having a great time. Saturday was the primary day for flying, socializing and vendor exhibitions. Pilots took to the air showcasing what modern day EDFs are capable of. From generic 6S systems to modified 8S and 12S systems the sky was buzzing with excitement. Foam is the go-to material for most electric model airplanes today. There are some really cool foam birds out there these days that have recently become available. Most manufacturers airframes were present from the basic foam BNF to 100% composites that would dent your savings account. What struck me this year was the variety of aircraft that were there that included some really unique stuff aircraft.
Several vendors were onsite with generous industry support such as Horizon Hobby, FrSky, RCBattery, Pegasus Hobbies, Progressive RC, Ted Novack, House of Balsa, RC Plane Stands and RTL Fasteners for the now infamous end of day Pilot’s Raffle.
In addition to the non-stop flying of EDFs Gary G from EffluxRC conducting an exciting high speed demonstration.This was followed by the Speed Contest that drew some fierce competition. At the end Danny Serrato with his BVM Electra claimed the Title as Fastest EDF in Southern California clocking an average speed of 182.5 mph with a top speed of 201 mph. EffluxRC manned their vendor space providing technical and physical hardware for those with the desire to upgrade their power systems.
Our local Horizon Hobby group of fliers under the command of Doug Anderson took off in formation piloting F-16s in coordinated formation and tactical flying demonstration. With EDFs flight time and landing sequence is paramount. The Horizon Team were definitely a crowd-pleaser with fellow pilots and spectators.
At the close of the meet most of the birds went home with their owners wearing a big smile waiting for Big Jolt III in 2024.
BY ERV MYERS
