The year is 2011 and I am just travelling back from the EXFC in the Czech Republic, having earned an 11th place in Europe on my first attempt and had a blast flying after hours with my Pilot-RC Sbach 107″. Having travelled there with my good friend Emilio, we had a few days to kill on our way back home so decided to visit some interesting locations, such as the Powerbox-Systems factory, the JetCat factory and Tony Clark among others, all RC related.
Much to my surprise, Emilio had been able to get us an invite to meet Phillip Steinbach and visit the factory of the full size Sbach, located on the edge of an actual airport.
Phillip made us feel most welcome, and despite having only an hour allocated, our excitement and Phillip’s exuberance had us there all morning. We were amazed at how scaleable everything was! Having been at the Krill-Models factory just a few days earlier, it seemed to use much of the same ideas, just a whole lot bigger!
As soon as Phillip learned that we actually had an Sbach with us, he asked us to show him it, which led to a request to actually assemble the Sbach (as it was in the trailer) and finally once assembled there was only one thing left! Fly! And for this Phillip even stopped the whole factory and had everyone come out and watch!
Phillip spoke with the control tower who advised we must wait 15 minutes for a Ryanair flight to land, and we could then fly from that same runway! As planned, the Ryanair landed and taxied away, at which time a Follow Me car came and opened the gates between the factory and the runway.
What an experience! Flying on a full size runway, one with a Ryanair parked not far away. Amazing! Both amazing to fly at such a location, but also oh so scary in case anything went wrong! Fortunately everything was a success, even though we sadly don’t have any video from back then…
Phillip then decided it was his turn, and did his own display in the single seater Sbach, our own private airshow. Unforgettable…
Massive thanks to Phillip for being so welcoming and also so generous with his time