One peaceful sunday, an unfamiliar loud gush of wind was suddenly felt in the new Radio Modellers Singapore (RMS) flying field, mimicking the sound of a gigantic vacuum cleaner! No, it wasn’t really a vacuum cleaner at all. It was a big blower - from a powerful Jetcat brand turbine engine that could produce six kilograms of thrust!
BIG ENGINE. SMALL BIRD. That was the epic combination of an extremely over-powered, yet puny and humble, L39 Albatros jet plane of Kalvin Lim’s. Thankfully, with Kalvin’s decades of flying experience, amassing numerous championship/competition trophies, he could tame that bird.
We couldn’t really measure the speed of the aircraft, but we knew our cameraman (with iPhone 7) had hard time capturing the flight, especially the high speed low passes. Once it climbed up in the air after the hot passes, it got very tiny so quickly.
Despite the searing speed, Kalvin conversely darted the L39 in the aerodrome of RMS with ease. It is both pleasing and exhilarating to be a spectator. Seemingly, the scent of the burning Jet A1 jet fuel smelled awesomely good on that day.