This is DEAN McNEILL's delightful little Flair Attila and was my favourite model at the club field a couple of weeks ago. Dean picked it up second-hand at our local model shop complete with ·20 engine and servos for a real bargain price, and it flies beautifully. 

I had read about the method of launching models from a dolly but had never actually seen this curious system in action until NEIL SCRATCHLEY turned up at the field with his ducted-fan British Aerospace Hawk. For those who have not come across it before, the model is loaded on to the tricycle dolly for take-off and, on rotation, leaves the dolly behind on the field.

It all turned out to be quite an hilarious episode for all of us who watched in mounting anticipation as Neil and his mechanic, Jim Barnett, tuned up the engine until it was screaming most impressively. 

The model was duly loaded onto the dolly, but first attempts were aborted as the model just trundled across the field in a rather uncertain manner and was certainly not going to leave the ground! 

Next day, with further tinkering to the engine, things sounded more hopeful, and once again we eagerly lined up to watch the launch. This time, she's being launched on a more well-worn part of the field where, hopefully, some additional speed might be gained. With much encouragement from the side-lines, Neil gave it everything he could and she actually lifted off the dolly, climbed to about 3 feet and then tipped over, coming down heavily on the starboard wing tip and cart-wheeling on the field. The wing and fuselage were both quite badly damaged, but the experts on the field seemed to feel the model could be repaired. General view was that a tarmac surface would be better for launching, but she definitely needs grass for a belly-landing. I didn't have the heart to take a picture of the damaged plane.