Hi ,
At Chennai majority of the Aero Modelers fly at the abandoned air field of Sholavaram .
Sholavaram : Location near red hills lake around 15-20 kms from Anna Nagar .

A few of us fly at Kovalam near the Crocodile bank on th east coast road ( ECR ) . This field is very prone to wind as it is just around a kilometer from the sea . Flying balsa Glows could be a bit tricky here  but since we are all electric  flyers we really dont mind the wind.

Another location off ECR is the lake bed opposite Krishna Temple ( ISKON) . the water during monsoon and the garbage dump are a nusiance here . Aravind of rotor is a regular here with his helis .

There is another ELITE flying area at Sathya Bhama college which is by invitation only ( never seen it though ).

Some pics of Kovalam
Chan can post some pics of Sholavaram I guess as he is the one who you can see both at Sholavaram and Kovalam .

Sai

Hi,

I do enjoy the privileges of flying at both the sites!! Posting some pics of the Sholavaram field...

Kovalam is good for all sorts of electrics and I prefer Sholavaram if I want to save my landing gear  !!  Wind is never a major constraint as we fly foamies also in howling winds !!

Regards,
Chan

Here  are some ariel photos of the place we fly at thanks to Rajesh and his slow stick with its hanging camera and servo arm clicker  

The flying field is inside the inner wall in the 1st picture
http://picasaweb.google.com/rmarichetti/CrocParkOpp#5376559127048562562

sai

where is this place in kovalam.? location in google maps will be appreciated 

http://is.gd/4DMlD

I hope this works

Sai

wow! thanks ! thats what i was looking for!

btw any near by landmark ? that  could be of great help!

You can make it even better using more "annotations".  

Here is an example of "guiding the way" using annotated maps : http://f4k3url.com/cy7p3a

Quote from: amulu10 on October 27, 2009, 11:40:31 AM
btw any near by landmark ? that  could be of great help!

Crocodile Bank .Made changes on the google map

Sai

this is perfect thank you!

All RC locations should be pin-pointed like so ! 

Ajo, you should point out all the car/race tracks on Google Maps, with the path highlighted 

Thanks sai uncle! your directions were spot on! I went to this flying site yesterday for my maiden attempt at flying the moss. But the place was really wet! More than half the place was full of slush,mud,standing water(some of it looked like a rice paddy field). One more problem was i went to the field at 3.30pm and boy the wind was sure high! Me being a beginner i couldn't cope up with the winds and crashed the plane 4 times. result-> bend motor mount(that happened a couple of times), wing has a 7-8 cm crack near the fuse and a lot of mud in the motor.!    . but i am not giving up, i ll be going next week after getting a new motor mount and repairing the wing.

i have a couple of question sai uncle!

1) is that field always muddy and wet with water or is it because of the rains.?(i think its because of rains because in your photos u posted , the field looked dry )
2) how to clean the brushless motor.?
3)is it ok to repair the wing(if so how? scotch tape is fine.?) or do i have to make a new wing.?

You would have been better off being patient and not flying on a muddied field on a windy day    Excited as you are (as a beginner), these are sane decisions you have to make, rather than put your first aircraft in harms way.

Obviously, almost nothing in Chennai can remain wet for extended periods  

ya i was too excited that i tried to fly it inspite of knowing that the filed is muddy!( i had driven around 30 kms to reach that field  )Thank god nothing major was done other  than a minor crack in the wing,muddy motor and a  badly bent motor mount!  Time to visit Sai uncle's shop  for some spares!

Ravi ,
First things  first  remember in aero modeling never take risks when it comes to safety of both yourself and your model .
I went flying on Sunday  and found the field too slushy . You are dealing with electrics hence   consider yourself lucky that you did not short circuit your Lipo  and  cause a fire 

We also flew on Sunday but  on a strip of dry land between the lake and the field  it was tight flying but  not advisable for beginners .

Having been a Chennai resident and having studied earlier some where in Geography I know the  around 3 PM is when sea breeze sets in  and this field is located  around 500 - 700  m from the sea as the crow flies What did you expect at  that time  .

sai

fire? wow! thank god except a cracked wing and bent motor mount nothing major happened!. next time ill make sure i fly there in the mornings when it is dry.!  thanks for the advice uncle!
ps: any tips to clean the motor is always welcome!
edit:
is it ok to repair the wing(minor damage near the fuse) or shall i make a new one? the best thing about the moss is that making a new wing is easy and fun with coroplast !

sai uncle, since the field in kovalam gets wet when it rains and really windy as its really close to the see i was wondering whether  sholavaram is a better place to fly.?(both are around the same distance from where i live!)
i have a couple of question
1)do i need to be a memeber/get permission of the club flying at sholavaram  (heard we need some approval)
2) all i have is the electric moss!,  i hear from people that usually big gassers and glow planes are flown in sholavaram,so can i fly my beginner moss over there ?

We do not need any membership to fly in Sholavaram.  Though we require the permission of the Air Force Base to use the strip on holidays.  Dont worry about the gassers and jets there.  I started off in Sholavaram with an Easy Star!! Come over on any given Sunday morning!

- Chan

Quote from: chanvivek on December 09, 2009, 10:14:43 AM
We do not need any membership to fly in Sholavaram.  Though we require the permission of the Air Force Base to use the strip on holidays.  Dont worry about the gassers and jets there.  I started off in Sholavaram with an Easy Star!! Come over on any given Sunday morning!

- Chan

thanks Chanvivek! ill come this Sunday after i mend my plane!

One thing you have to know as a beginner is that the  runway surface is hard concrete  so unlike Kovalam  where  for 4 crashes the  damage was nothing it will be far more severe  at Sholavaram . So if you go there don't try it out on your own.

Sholavaram will not be  forgiving  like Kovalam where you walked off with a few minor issues  despite 4 crashes in High wind


sai

double post sorry

Quote from: rcforall on December 10, 2009, 06:53:01 AM
One thing you have to know as a beginner is that the  runway surface is hard concrete  so unlike Kovalam  where  for 4 crashes the  damage was nothing it will be far more severe  at Sholavaram . So if you go there don't try it out on your own.

Sholavaram will not be  forgiving  like Kovalam where you walked off with a few minor issues  despite 4 crashes in High wind


sai

oh i didnt think about that at all!  . thanks uncle!
i hope then that the field in kovalam is dry on Sunday! 

well I was thinking of flying in akkarai it is near to my house just being 17 kms.
Well do I need any permissions to fly there and is it nice to fly there.
there is so much open space there.
the location from my house. https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Eldams+Road+Bus+Stop,+Eldams+Rd,+Lubdhi+Colony,+Teynampet,+Chennai,+Tamil+Nadu,+India/AKKARAI/@12.9687407,80.1768801,24814m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a52663512b1de7b:0x73b112fe7d999591!2m2!1d80.255856!2d13.038109!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a525c9c5b5203b7:0xa746bdc256eef20d!2m2!1d80.2464401!2d12.9025794!3e0

Hey all

I am a budding aeromodeller having trained in flying from ahamadnagar under the renowned Yogendra Jahagirdar as i was working in that area.
Now I got transferred to Chennai and luckily I am residing at Pudur and was able to learn that sholavaram is one good place to fly.

But i also hear about new regulations on the fuel and the flying in Tami Nadu.

Can anyone help on the regulations and nuances I will have to follow to start flying at Sholavaram ?

Itching to fly!!