Loch Insh Highland Splash-In Photos
Clive Freshwater started the Loch Insh Watersports Centre 40 years ago.
Great flying conditions again on Saturday this year, light on-shore breeze. Dull and misty on Sunday with a very light off-shore breeze.
Below, sunset (by Duncan Cameron) on Friday evening, looks set for a good day the morn.
Below, Alan Gibson with his Flair Hannibal.
Alan Gibson's 17lb 90 inch span Flair Hannibal.
Powered by a Zenoah 26 magneto petrol engine and pulled along by a 18x8 APC propeller.
This model took Alan 4½ weeks to build, of which 1 week was spent on the paint job. All the internal structure is sprayed with diluted dope to ensure a long life as a waterplane. Alan covered the airframe in Solartex then handpainted the exterior with Humbrol enamels, finishing off with a coat of polyurethane matt varnish.
The model is controlled by a 35MHz Futaba radio and has a set of wheels as well as the floats you can see here. The floats are actually the floats designed for the Flair Magnattila, scaled up +50%. Needless to say, the Hannibal flies as well as it looks.
More pictures from Duncan Cameron below, click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.
 Goliath from 1949. |
 The CAVA twins by Dougie Eustace |
 Alistair Sutherland`s JayTee turbine. |
 DSCN9971_100.jpg |
 A dreich Sunday morn |
And more pictures from Martyn Harvey below, click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.
 Colin MacLean |
 Scott Kerr No.2 sadly met its end at Lochearnhead 3 weeks later. |
 Purrfect conditions |
 More dreich Sunday morning |
 Tx Control |
And a few words from Martyn Harvey to finish off :
"William Bremner from Invergordon brought his Aquastreme with an OS 61 doing the business. He said this was a crib off an Extreme, and it flew well.
Douggie Eustace sported a breeding pair of planes which at one point seemed to be held together with some sort of umbilical chord, perhaps a battery charger. They were called Cava 1 and Cava 2, his own design for twin electric 200 motors. The plans were published in RCM Flyer 2008, the planes weigh hardly 1.5 kg and go like stink with a wild whistle at take-off and fast low passes. When he wasn’t flying he was sitting in the sun with a large group from the Cumbernauld Club drinking Cava (hence the name of the model!) They earned the sobriquet “The Cumbernauld Reprobates” when they were found to be getting through more Cava in a weekend than glo-fuel.
The Radio Queen graced us with her imposing personality. She was a 120”span high wing monoplane in cream and blue with a big wing area and an Enya 91 fs standing sentinel at the sharp end. She floated gracefully round the skies. Alistair Lamb had built her after stretching the plans by 150% Now aged 84 he felt others might benefit from flying her, and Lawson Fargie twiddled the sticks.
The star of the weekend was, unquestionably, Alastair Sutherland’s Jaytee. This is short for Jet Trainer, but why he needs a jet to train on, I can’t imagine."
Good flying conditions this year, calm to light on-shore breeze and enough cloud so that glare off the water was not a problem.
It rained all of the following Monday and Tuesday !!
Below, Frank Garner's Jabawok rescued from the calm conditions by Duncan Cameron's Springer tug.
And more pictures from Bob Sims and Duncan below, click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.
 Alasdair Sutherland's jet grounded by a faulty starter motor. |
 Peter Henderson's ARC Beaver |
 Paul Shelton's Catalina |
 Dougie Eustace Cava 1 & 2 |
 Decathalon by Jim Burke |
 Ray Lambert's North Star and rescue boat |
 George Mungall's Seawind |
 George Thayre's Swedish built Heinkel H5 |
 Kevin Routledge - Flair ¼ scale Tiger Moth |
 Scott Kerr and one of the flotilla of Seamasters |
Your web editor about to fly his trusty OS70FS powered Tiger Moth.
 The pits |
 Malcolm Jacob with Robert Orr and his Seamaster |
 Ray and that Tiger Moth again. |
 More pits |
Beautiful weather all day Friday, clear blue sky and light on-shore breeze. Flying Friday evening was a little difficult looking straight into the sun and its blinding reflection (as above) off the water. It does NOT help to walk along the beach a bit to avoid the reflection; think about it, I did after trying it! Bob Johnstone posted this report of the weekend on the SAA website :
"Well now, the forecast was right and wrong but this did not deter a large turnout with lots of models. Saturday was a bit windier than we would choose yet that did not seem to put many of the fliers off. The sky seemed full of planes for the first five hours and just a few less for the rest of the day. I guess the forecast put some off for Sunday, as fewer pilots arrived. The day itself proved much better than the forecasters predicted.
I was surprised at the attrition rate on Sunday though, had someone kept a video camera going they could have had quite a "Splatsh" tape. A very enjoyable weekend which gave me a first, I had no planes to fix at the end, not a without lot of luck though as I had one which came apart on the takeoff run leaving no damage or lost bits.
That shy fellow John Campbell again had everyone engrossed in his exploits. Alasdair Sutherland will no doubt have something to publish regards John`s saga. Watch the mags.
Roy Whitton (with his family helpers) has decided to retire from the organising of this event after many years. I am sure most will agree with THANK YOU ROY and family. Next years avent is already in hand under new management. I shall leave the details to others to publish (8-9th September 2007 - Ed.).
Get some planes on the water and put Loch Insh in next year's diary."
 Robert Orr's new Seamaster all set for its first flight off water. |
 Alasdair Sutherland with Team Cumbernauld |
 Clive Rose and Ray Lambert about to seriously damage a WOT4. Jen57 Engine recovered from the Loch next day with the aid of Scuba gear. |
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 John Campbell firing on all cylinders for the maiden flight of his Catalina |
 Still revving away |
 Still looking good, but a bit off the wind. |
 Takeoff aborted, too choppy; it gets deep just ahead John. |
Alasdair Sutherland wrote this report, which appeared in the December 2005 edition of Aviation Modeller International :
"There is something about the Loch Insh event that makes it special for me. Is it the setting, the organisation, the crowd who attend, or am I influenced by the superb dinner I always enjoy in the Ossian Hotel in Kincraig?
Saturday morning dawned clear and still but with a high overcast obscuring the sun. When I arrived at the loch side at 9.30 the water lay flat and smooth like a satin tablecloth. Before noon a breeze sprang up from across the loch and we watched as the area of ruffled water spread towards us. However even my small electric Albatross coped easily with the conditions which remained perfect all weekend.
This year was the 21st anniversary of the first waterplane meeting on Loch Insh and I think that only Clive Freshwater who runs the watersports centre and makes his facilities available has made every event.
Furthest travelled were Taffy Thorne and Peter Hales who brought their selection of Northstars and other models all the way from the Midlands of England, near Birmingham. Barry Scollay, from Wick in the far northern county of Caithness, brought some interesting electric models, notably a Grumman Widgeon which he designed and built himself. The fuselage is made from blue foam by cutting the side view from 2 thicknesses of 2" foam. These were put together, cut carefully to shape, and then separated and hollowed out. The wing was also cut from foam and skinned, and the tail surfaces are Depron. The small model handled surprisingly well in the water and flew well.
Not all the modellers who attend are such dedicated scratch builders and flyers. A bunch of reprobates from the Cumbernauld club bring their wives to Loch Insh and set up their shelter, chairs and wine coolers at the Loch side. Though they get through more champagne than glow fuel, they too enjoy a great weekend. Whether you are a dedicated balsa basher or just enjoy the occasion, whether you live in the wilds of Caithness or the wilds of Birmingham, come along to Loch Insh next year for a weekend's Splashing Around."
Group photograph courtesy of Alastair Birks. Click on the group photo to reveal the names.
Alasdair Sutherland wrote this report, which appeared in the March 2005 edition of Aviation Modeller International :
"Fridays always have lovely weather it seems, and so it proved this weekend. It was a bit disappointing to have cloud cover on the Saturday and a bit of a breeze, but the wind direction was acceptable (onshore) and there was just a light rain shower. In spite of dull, damp, windy weather, an entry of 33 pilots, most bringing several models, was an encouraging turnout. I had a good collection of models to try, but I left the lightweight and low powered electric models and the brand new untested Northstar, in the car and flew the good old faithful Irvine 40 powered Sonas all day.
Another Sonas 40 powered by a Saito 45 FS was flown by John Ross. He built it from my plan, but used built-up wings for lightness and even built-up floats, covered with transluscent Profilm to show off the structure. His model weighs 5lb 4oz including floats. My plan shows foam wing templates, but John fed the root and tip sections into the Profili program (downloadable from www.profili2.com) and produced a set of blended rib shapes. John also flew his Laser powered Jenny and a 35" span 'bitsa' model with a 30 year old Enya 09.
Tom Bennett had a Kingfisher, from the Dennis Tapsfield plan, powered by a ST 3000, but it struggled to take off in the rough conditions. Having a big model helps in these conditions, but it does not guarantee success. It is wise to have a well proven model with well designed floats and a good reserve of power, like my Sonas.
John Campbell progressed from a profusion of of Northstars to Canadian designer Laddie Mikulasko's latest offering, the Arrow. It is superficially like his Northstar, with a delta wing and pylon mounted engine, but has a different fuselage and no tailplane. He too, struggled to get it airborne from Loch Insh's troubled waters and resorted to a hand launch from Phil Davies. Even that proved far from easy but the model did get a flight."
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 "Rage the Bipe", powered by a piped ST91, is an own design by Phil ???? (Phil is wearing the elephant hat in the group picture below). |
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No information about these photos. Can anyone help? Please email Cairngorm MFC
Group photograph courtesy of Alastair Birks. Click on the photo for a bigger image.
 Alasdair Sutherland's own design, the Sonas 40, featured as a free plan in RCMW Aug 2002. |
 The Sonas 40 plan #2935 is available from Traplet Pubs. 01684 588599 . |
 Roy Whitton and grandson James Darnley. |
 An atmospheric late afternoon shot at Loch Insh. |
 Dave Warren (rescue boat skipper), Ray Lambert (safety Officer) and Roy Whitton (transmitter control). |
 Alasdair Sutherland walking in water. |
 Colin MacLean plus auto gyro |
 Colin MacLean with his ¼ scale Tiger Moth |
 Dave Warren and Ray Lambert ignoring the British biplane duo - "Pup" and Tiger Moth |
 Colin MacLean again with his Sopwith "Pup" |
 Harry Graham about to fly his WOT 4 with Colin MacLean looking on |
 Harry Graham after another successful WOT 4 flight |
 Curtis Jenny battling through the waves |
 What !! No floats. |
 Pilot's box with fine on-shore breeze |
 But will it fly? |
 Anderson "Kingfisher" |
 82" span, Laser 80 powered Curtis Jenny built from AMI plan |
 Dan Green with a Piper Cub |
1995 Group photograph courtesy of Duncan Cameron. Click on the photo for a bigger image.
 The cover label that was on the envelopes of the first official airmail by model, from Loch Insh |
 Dr Jeremy Shaw and Geoff his mechanic prepare for the first "mail flight" |
 Radio Control Model World, November 1984 |
 And the article inside, written by Duncan Cameron |
And The Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, 21st September 1984, reported as follows :
"The Spey Valley Model Club, formed only six weeks ago, got a model launching on Sunday when some of the country's top modellers turned up on their doorstep at Loch Insh.
The occasion was the first sea plane competition to be held in Scotland, which was organised jointly by the British Water Plane Association and the Scottish Aero Modellers' Association.
And such was the success of the event that it could become an annual feature at Loch Insh, attracting hundreds of enthusiasts from throughout Britain."
The Strathy got it right !!