2004 Ft. Lauderdale Air & Sea Show Pictures...

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 10:45 AM

These are pics of the flotilla around us. We were anchored about a 1/4 mile north of Las Olas Blvd. We had Don Smith ("Smith 42" center console) rafted up on one side and on the other side... I have no idea who these people were, but they had good ratios of women onboard.

It was fairly windy over the weekend, so many boaters opted to stay in the intracoastal. Thankfully, there were no "bumber boat" incidents. I did my own version of the air show with an r/c helicopter, but got upstaged by the Blue Angels.

Here's the first pic. This boat (plane?) was originally built by Howard Hughes. Subsequently, it was owned by Jummy Buffet and renamed the "Cosmic Muffin". It's under different ownership now, and while I don't have any details, I'm sure their website "planeboats.com" will be enlightening... and maybe interesting.

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 10:53 AM

Picture quality is poor here (sunscreen on the lense?). Taken by a friend as I was returning from a flight. I was surprised how many boaters approached us to ask if we had the helicopter with us this year. Seems to be popular with the crowd...

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 10:58 AM

Here's a picture looking east from the flybridge. Earlier, a 90' double deck dinner boat made his way through this mess. Kudo's to the captain!

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 11:00 AM

This was our "backyard" view, looking west. This parking lot got even more crowded later in the day.

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 11:04 AM

These were the "girls next door"...

YachtForums · 05-03-2004, 11:06 AM

Girls sunbathing on the aft deck. Not too hard to look at. I'll let this picture wrap up my mediocre coverage of the Ft. Lauderdale Air & Sea Show. Hope all of you make it to the show one day. You're welcome to raft up with us!

digitalvibes · 07-28-2004, 02:12 PM

Hey! I'm the 28 foot Wellcraft with the red Bimini in those pics. (that's my "other" boat, the main one is a 42 foot Endeavour).

It was hard to check out the girls with the binoculars, thanks for the closeup!

And as usual Carl, you were mighty impressive with the chopper!

YachtForums · 07-28-2004, 02:19 PM

Hey DigiVibes!

Long time, no post! Good to see you back onboard. Was that you off our bow?

Motoryacht · 07-28-2004, 02:44 PM

Thats you Carl? Holy smokes... your amazing with that thing. I have met some guys that have tried those things and gave up after a year. They barely hovered.

My deck hand said he knows you and your suppose to be one of the best in the world. We were watching you last year hovering upside down inches above the deck! I didn't know that was possible.

How many have you crashed?

digitalvibes · 07-28-2004, 03:06 PM

Yup, that's us at your bow. We usually go outside but it was a little rough for a 28 footer out there. I hope there's going to be another one next year.

YachtForums · 07-28-2004, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterYacht

Thats you Carl? Holy smokes... your amazing with that thing. I have met some guys that have tried those things and gave up after a year. They barely hovered.

I was one of those of those guys! Spent 3 weeks building my first heli and it took 3 seconds to crash it. I threw it in a box never to be flown again! But, I'm never one to give up. A couple of weeks later I decided to give it another whirl (pun intended). This time, it took a week to re-build it and 3 minutes to crash it. This means I was getting better!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterYacht

My deck hand said he knows you and your suppose to be one of the best in the world. We were watching you last year hovering upside down inches above the deck! I didn't know that was possible.

If I was inches above the deck, your deckhand was drinking! I don't hover inverted that close to the boat. I'll do it over open land, where parts can scatter without dismembering anyone, but with other people around, I'm more conservative than a republican in room full of liberals.

Quote:

How many have you crashed?

Surprisingly... not too many. I've built over 50 of them and crashed about a dozen (over the past 18 years). The first year is an expensive learning curve and you quickly learn to stay within your skill envelope, otherwise... B.O.A.T.! (Break Out Another Thousand)

The really expensive learning curve is inverted flight. This requires a credit card without a spending limit.

YachtForums · 07-28-2004, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalvibes

Yup, that's us at your bow. I hope there's going to be another one next year.

I heard the show will go on for 2005. They say this every year and then somehow... pull it off. Appearently, the City of Ft. Lauderdale doesn't want to "ante-up" each year.

I really wish you had joined us! We had CTDave, another YachtForums member onboard. He came down from Connecticut.

Next time you see us, raft up!!

yachtjim · 07-28-2004, 04:20 PM

I had 2 RC Heli's, still have one. My learning curve was a lot easier because I started with planes. My RC stable includes just about every variation of vehicle imaginable. I have sort of widdled my interest down to on and off road cars, airplanes, and sailboats. My fastest car does about 75 but can only be used on a well maintained track, my most able plane can hover like a helicopter, and sailboat racing is a great way to hang out on the dock and down a few beers. The most impressive thing about flying your helicopter off your deck is knowing that you will lose the $1500 in gear if anything fails cause its going straight to the bottom

. Too rich for my blood!!

digitalvibes · 07-29-2004, 05:01 PM

Will do!

YachtForums · 07-29-2004, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yachtjim

I had 2 RC Heli's, still have one.

Which ones?

Quote:

Originally Posted by yachtjim

My learning curve was a lot easier because I started with planes.

Planes? Are those the things with fixed wings and propellers on the nose? Yeah... I think I've seen 'em. Love to watch helis collide with 'em. Instant balsa dust!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yachtjim

The most impressive thing about flying your helicopter off your deck is knowing that you will lose the $1500 in gear if anything fails cause its going straight to the bottom

I actually turned one of 'em into a submarine 2 years ago. I was touching the skids in the water and my charging jack got wet (it dangles from the bottom of the canopy). This immediately cross circuited the on/off switch and... splash!

No worries though. The machine was fully amortized. Had about 1300 flights on it and it was ready to retire. The good parts got relegated to the re-supply bin.

My scariest flight was at the air show in the preceeding pictures. I hadn't flown for about 6 months prior and had no warm-up. Flying heli's is a "use it or loose it" skill and I was flying in a flotilla with some sailboat mast's around me. These can be very magnetic obstacles to an r/c aircraft!

Well, after I landed, my hands were shaking so violently... I couldn't hold a drink. I'm ashamed to admit, after I had a drink... I flew MUCH better.