Issue No. 48 AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWSvalleyradioflyersofshepparton.weebly.com/uploads/5/...bration of...

Issue No. 48

AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWS

October 2017

JIM

FULLARTON 1917 ~ JIM FULLARTON

1917 ~

2 Australian Model News

Contents 3. JIM FULLARTON CENTENARIAN 8. KNOX WARBIRDS 2017 10. CHRIS ROWE’S FOURNIER RF-4D 12. VICTORIAN SCALE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 15. CAMDEN VALLEY SCALE COMPETITION 17. LARGE SCALE RACING AT BENDIGO 2017 19. SHEPPARTON MAMMOTH FLY-IN 2017 24. WORLD FREE FLIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017. 29. SAM 600 AT ECHUCA 31. NSW SCALE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 34. VICSCALE AT YARRA VALLEY 35. RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT AT DONCASTER MAC

COMING EVENTS

SUNBURY MAC AUCTION

RINGMASTER FLY-A-THON 2017

SEYMOUR IMAC

NAAS AEROTOW

RCM NEWS AIR RACE CHAMPIONSHIP 2017

TWIN CITIES MAC SEAPLANE WEEKEND

MMRC FPV MULTI-ROTOR RACING

MOSSKOSH ANNUAL FUN FLY 2017

AUSTRALIAN F5J TROPHY

ADELAIDE GOLDEN ERA AIR RACES

P&DARCS SCRATCH AND KIT BUILT SCALE RALLY

2017 INTERNATIONAL SCALE CLASSIC DOWNUNDER

NAAS ANNUAL MAMMOTH FLY IN

70TH MAAA NATIONAL MODEL AIRCRAFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

This newsletter is published bi-monthly to feature model aircraft building and flying and to report on aeromodelling events in Australia and New Zealand. Contributing material and requests for inclusion on the distri-bution list may be forwarded to — John Lamont Unit 5, 1326 Main Road, Eltham, 3095 Ph: 03 9431 0044 Mob: 0415 384 823 E-mail: [email protected] Visit our website at - https://sites.google.com/site/australianmodelnews/

Spring has sprung and our world of aeromodelling is back in action. This issue covers a lot of scale flying offset by Mal-colm Campbell’s excellent report on the World Free Flight Championships, the commencement of the Old Timer events and a report on Large Scale racing at Bendigo. Thank you to those providing the reports and accompanying photographs. A notable event taking place in early November is the cele-bration of NSW and Victorian aeromodeller Jim Fullarton’s 100th birthday. Jim has been a modeller since the age of thirteen, was a competitor at the fist National Championships in 1938, and is still an active builder and competitor as he approaches his centenary, a record that is unlikely to be matched in future years. The celebration will be held at the VARMS field on Tuesday, November 9th and details can be found on page 7 of this issue. For the last couple of issues of AMN I have been promoting the return of a combined National Championships organised by the NSW Free Flight Society for 2018. This event is to be run from 23rd - 30th April, 2018 at the NSWFFS flying field at West Wyalong and at other sites close by. It will be a return to the big Championships of earlier years and I urge all mod-ellers to support this event. Details are available on pages 41 and 42. John Lamont

On the Cover. Jim Fullarton preparing his scale model of the French Peyret tandem wing monoplane for flight.

From the Editor


Jim Fullarton was born in Sydney on the 9th of November 1917 and commenced his aeromodelling career in 1930 with the Rose Bay Club where he developed his building and flying skills and also learned the art of carving propellers under the tuition of Mr. Wright, a leading mod-eller of the day.

Joining the Bondi Blackhawks Club in 1931 Jim’s aeromodelling prow-ess grew as he won the Blackhawks Champion of Champions in 1933, The Australian Scale Championship in 1937 and the prestigious Wright Cup in 1938.

Competitors in the 1933 Wright Cup. Jim Fullarton is on the right in the second back row wearing a white shirt and hat.

Jim in 1934 with “Sampson” designed by Norman Lyons and displaying a fine collection of trophies.

A CENTURY OF AEROMODELLING

JIM FULLARTON

4

Models in those days were rubber powered and Jim became a leading exponent of the models flown for the Wakefield Trophy a handsome piece of silverware donated by Lord Wakefield as a world wide event. Held annually in various northern hemisphere countries the event was usually dominated by Europeans or Americans. Jim was a member of the Australian Wakefield teams of 1935 and 1938, his models being shipped abroad and proxy flown by overseas modellers.

In 1941 Jim moved to Melbourne to take a position with the Common-wealth Aircraft Corporation and his aeromodelling ceased until the end of WWII in 1945. Resuming his aeromodelling activities at war’s end Jim joined the strong Eastern Suburbs club and quickly became one of the leading figures in free flight modelling in Victoria.

Jim with his 1939 Wakefield design.

The same “Mighty Midget” engine powered Jim’s flying boat which he flew successfully on Rose Bay in 1940. This model still exists, now powered by a 2.5cc diesel engine.

With the advent of the early model aircraft engines Jim’s interest extended to power models. His first high powered free flight model was powered by a “Mighty Midget” petrol engine and flew in 1939.

Jim (top right) as a member of the 1949 Victorian Wakefield team.

Australian Model News

5

In 1949 and 1951 Jim was again a member of the Australian Wake-field team, sending his models overseas to compete. Always a dedicated free flighter, Jim did get involved with control line flying and in the early fifties produced a model of the Veco “Squaw” powered by a McCoy 19. This was the first flapped model seen in Victoria and its performance changed forever the design of our aero-batic control line models.

Jim’s aeromodelling was not entirely directed to competitions and he found time to experiment with many unorthodox approaches to flying model aircraft, producing a number of own design canard pushers

From 1949 to 1965, as a part of his aeromodelling activities, Jim also wrote a column in “Aircraft” magazine reporting on aeromodelling events of the day. With his outdoor free flight flying now limited by the need for assis-tance in reaching the flying fields and help in retrieving models Jim’s aeromodelling is largely restricted to indoor flying where he is still an active competitor and a winner in duration and scale events. Few people are able to reach the age of 100years and to do so while still retaining the ability and desire to construct and fly model aircraft is a significant achievement. Congratulations to Jim Fullarton our doyen of Australian aeromodel-ling.

Jim (right) placed second to Alan King in the Wakefield event at the Camden Nationals in 1951.

Jim preparing to start the McCoy 19 in his Veco “Squaw’.

An array of Jim’s canard pusher aircraft.

A modern version of an early 20th century “A-Frame” model con-structed using the remnants of damaged models.

A free fight scale model of the Bristol M1.


6

Jim’s highly successful model of Samuel Pierpont Langley’s “Aerodrome” is widely admired in indoor flying circles.

Jim flying his F1D duration model in competition at the Doncaster Indoor Sport Centre.

Preparing his Peanut scale Fokker Dr.I for flight.

A group of photographs featuring Jim’s recent activities at indoor model flying venues.



JIM FULLARTON

100th BIRTHDAY AT VARMS November 7th, 2017 (Melbourne Cup Day) 10.30am ‐ 3.00pm All aeromodellers are invited to celebrate Jim Fullarton’s 100th birthday at the VARMS field. Bring a model or ten (f/f, control line, whatever, the older the better). A BBQ will be available, but please bring your own food/refreshment requirements. A gold coin donation to help cover costs would be appreciated. To help with the organisation please contact Greg Stanfield on (03) 9459 -7026 or preferably at [email protected] if you will be attending . I hope you will join us for a great day and to give Jim a great birthday.


Despite blustery conditions there was a good turnout. Competing for the most number of models entered was the president Reeve Marsh and Alwyn Smith. However as it transpired it was not their day. It was good to see Mark Ellins put up his P- 40 and entertain us with some great flying and Murray Wilson also from Frankston with his electric powered P- 40. Reeve's foamie warbirds were a point of discussion around creat-ing some stunt trainers for those wanting to advance their stunt flying. Steve Vallve joined the Warbirds winners circle for the first time this year with his Corsair designed and built by the late Perry McNeilage, closely contested by Bernie Cosgriff with his Pentland designed Kawasaki Hien. Ken Maier was not far out of the picture either with his lovely little Elfin powered Spitfire. Steve Vallve

(Photographs by Les Vargas.)

Reeve Marsh’s profile model of the Curtis P-40 Warhawk.

2017 KNOX WARBIRDS

The winners, Reeve Marsh 3rd, Steve Vallve 1st, Bernie Cosgriff 2nd.


Steve Vallve took first place with his Vought F4U Corsair.

Ken Maier placed third with his Elfin powered Spifire Mk.IX.

Another Curtis P-40, this one by Robert Hallowell. Alwyn Smith’s profile model of the B-25 Mitchell.

A nice model of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 by Robert Hallowell. Reeve Marsh’s P-51 Mustang.

Bernie Cosgriff with his second place Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien.


The Fournier RF-4D is a single seat motor glider designed by Rene’ Fournier in 1966. It is an aerobatic version of its predecessor the RF-3, which was conceived as a low powered but highly efficient sport touring aircraft. Of all wood construction the RF-4D, like its predecessors, is unusual in that its main landing gear consists of a retractable mono-wheel; the aircraft being stabilised by two wing mounted outrigger wheels. The particular aircraft which this model replicates, VH-XOS, is one of the very few RF-4Ds’ currently flying in Austral-ia. Following a crash in France in 1980 it was shipped to Australia in damaged condition. It was subsequently purchased by Bob Jenneson who, over a period of some 5 years, restored the aircraft to flying condition. The restoration process was fully documented by Bob, and both the process and the incredible results may be viewed at: Restoration Article - Bob Jenneson - Adam Internet My fascination with Fournier aircraft goes back to June 1973 when the RF-5 was featured in the Aircraft Described segment of Aeromodeller: I still have the magazine! My interest was renewed in July 2011 when RCME featured Peter Miller’s design for a 1:6 semi scale IC powered RF-4. The problem was that, if I was going to build such a model at this time of my life, it would certainly have to be a scale model, and that meant at the very least a retracting U/C and operational spoilers! Over the next couple of months I managed to scratch build a retract mechanism that worked, but belatedly realised that because my new U/C would retract forward up into the fuselage, there was going to be no room left for a fuel tank! My enthusi-asm for the project lapsed and the bits and pieces were stored away for another day! Late in 2016 it finally dawned on me that if Peter Miller’s design was modified for electric power, the problem of where to put the fuel tank would simply disappear. As I had never previously scratch built an electric powered model it was certainly a steep learning curve! However, with the plans suitably modified to accommodate electric power and correct various non-scale aspects of the original design, work eventually started on construction. It was during this period that, in investigating how the spoilers in the full size RF-4D were construct-ed, I came across Bob Jenneson’s photos which subsequently proved invaluable in producing an accurate scale replica of this lovely aircraft. 159 RF-4D’s were produced and, whilst all were originally delivered from the factory painted white with red trim, most have subsequently been repainted in a wide variety of colour schemes. I had always anticipated that my model would ultimately be finished in the original

factory colour scheme, and Bob’s restoration project provided the inspiration to replicate an aircraft that had in fact been completely restored to its original condition, and was now flying in Australia. Finally, a few words for those of you who, like me, have been tempted for many years to build a model of this lovely aircraft, but have been put off by well meant, but ques-tionable, advice that “you don’t want to build a model of a Fournier. Those long narrow wings are prone to tip stalling, and the models will be virtually impossible to trim for safe and stable flight” I’m now pleased to be able to confirm that as far as this model is concerned, it is simply not true! As Peter Miller suggests in relation to his RF-4D upon which my model is based, “With their high aspect-ratio wings, these models are not only capable of floating gracefully around the sky, but also performing classi-cally smooth aerobatics.”

I share the view previously expressed by Peter Miller, that the RF-4D is now “my favourite model to fly”! Chris Rowe

Specifications and Performance - Fournier RF4D Length: 6.05 m (19ft 10in) Wingspan: 11.28m (37ft 0in) Aspect ratio: 11.2 Gross weight: 390kg (860lbs) Power: 29kW (39hp) Rectimo (VW) engine Max speed: 196 km/h; (122mph) Cruise speed: 177kmh; (110mph) Range: 644km; (400mi) Max glide ratio: 20:1 G limits: +6 and -9 Design Features -1:6 Scale Model Wingspan: 1.88m (74in) Motor: OS OMA-3820-1200W Battery: LiPo 2200mAh 30C Weight: 1.77kg (62.5oz) Wing incidence: +3º Wing washout: 3º Tailplane incidence: +2º C/G on spar at 29% chord Right thrust: 3º Differential aileron limits - NO down

Chris Rowe’s

FOURNIER RF-4D


The main wheel retract mechanism replicates the full size geometry with springs substituted for bungees.

Undercarriage retracted and doors closed. The vulnerable retract doors and trigger assembly are attached only with snap hinges and magnets .

The spoilers are operated by aluminium torque rods powered by a single central servo.

Placing the ESC inside the cowling allows short connections and efficient cooling.

Ready for take off at Kelly Field (Hobart MAC)


After losing a number of events to our poor winter weather the VFSAA finally had some better luck and the State Scale Championships were held at the NFG field in almost ideal conditions and with a reasonable entry number. This year the new category of F4H was introduced but it seems that most fliers still prefer to enter Flying Only with fourteen in that event and only two entries in each of the International F4C and F4H classes. The sunshine was welcome but the light southerly breeze was cold and warm clothing was the order of the day, particularly for those sit-ting in the judges chairs. A minor incident occurred when Greg Lepp’s Bristol M1 lost a tyre on take off but continued on to complete the flight and land safely. Noel Whitehead was not so fortunate when the canopy of his CT- 4 came open in flight forcing a premature landing and a producing a zero

RESULTS F4C 1. R. Mitchell Lockheed Neptune 1827 2. N. Whitehead CT- 4 1500 F4H 1. G. Lepp Bristol M1 1500 2. M. Schembri Miles Hawk 1367 Flying Only 1. G. Lepp Extra 260 1000 2. S. Malcman Extra 330 918 3. S. Matthews Cirrus 914 4. T. De Hahn Ercoupe 884 5. A. Morrow Yak 54 874 6. D. White Spacewalker 852 7. B. Whellan Turbulent 846 8. R. Mc Donald Piper L- 4 842 9. T. Grieger Piper J-3 839 10. J. Finocchiaro Spacewalker 793 11. M. Peterson RV- 4 638 12. R. Dickson Piper J-3 634 13. A. Monteleone Piper L- 4 549

Noel Whitehead’s CT- 4 looked a comfortable winner in F4C until the canopy lock failed on his second flight.

VICTORIAN SCALE CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017


Mario Schembri’s Miles Hawk Speed Six flew in F4H.

Greg Lepp’s Bristol M1, entered in F4H, threw a tyre on take-off but flew on and landed with the tyre hanging from the axle.

Rod Mitchell came from Warrnambool for the event and entered his Neptune in F4C to provide some competition for Noel Whitehead. He became the winner when Noel’s seemingly unassailable lead disappeared with his zero score for his second flight.

Tim De Haan’s Ercoupe is a rarely seen prototype that looks and sounds impressive both on the ground and in flight.

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Rob McDonald’s Piper L-4 Grasshopper sported an unusual colour scheme.

Mark Peterson’s neat ARF model of the Vans RV4 performed nicely in Flying Only.

Mario Schembri flying his Miles Hawk with wife Evie acting as his caller.

Brian Whellan’s venerable scratch built Turbulent has been flying since 1986. Scott Mathews’ Cirrus is a state of the art electric powered ARF model .

Tony Greiger’s 1/3 scale clipped wing Cub usually performs as a glider tug at the VARMS field.

Rob Dickson surprised by forsaking the Luftwaffe for this Piper J3 Cub.



NSWSAS held the second round of Club Scale on the weekend of 22nd and 23rd July at the Camden Valley R/C club, Menangle. Three classes were run over a two day weekend with no wind on Saturday and a light10 knots wind on Sunday. Three rounds were flown over two days with some changes made to assist in the running of the event. Competitors are now also judging with Advanced (F4C) competitors judging the Open class and the Open class competitors judging the Advanced (F4C) class. Clubman class competitors sat next to the judges to write the scores down, exposing the Clubman flyers to the judging process with a experi-enced judges who gave tips and reasons for the scores they awarded. All scores were posted within five minutes of a flight being complet-

ed. Some great models arrived on Saturday and some stand outs come to mind. Craige Bryson flew his very large Sopwith Triplane which has a 260cc Evolution radial and as you can see by the picture this model is huge. The engine has enough power to loop from level flight with no dropping off at the top (not sure if that is scale performance). The model, built by Robert Zip, has a realistic presence in the air.

Graeme Brown, who builds some of the finest scale models that I have seen, flew his recently completed SE5a. Using a Dennis Bryant plan the model is 1/4 scale, spans 2.16m and is built from a laser cut kit from Bob Holman. Covered in Sig Koverall the model is painted with acrylic auto paint and took eighteen months to build. The engine is an OS GF30 petrol four stroke. Radio is a JR 11x transmitter with a Spectrum nine channel receiver and Hitech 645 servos. Weight is

11.5 kgs.


Ron Artiss, who flew F3A back in the mid seventies, decided to have a crack at scale and this was his first event with a new scratch built Spacewalker from Traplet plan service. The model is powered by a new OS FT160 which was a great choice with the cylinders hanging out on both sides of the cowl. Ron is a good example of how an entry class (Clubman) allows a returning or new competitor to fly in Scale.

Graham Harrod flew his now seven year old Chipmunk built from a Roger Pegg plan. At 2.08m wingspan the model weighs 7kg and is powered by Saito 150. Graham is planning to build 1/4 scale version of the same model next year.

James Price had the opportunity to fly this time and his model is a ARF 1/4 scale J-3 Cub from Hangar 9. Wingspan is 2.7m, weight is 7.5kg and the engine is an O.S. FT160 Gemini twin cylinder glow four stroke with a Microsens onboard glow unit for easy starting. The en-gine cylinders hang out of the cowl in a scale-like manner. Radio equipment is a JR 12X 2.4gHz transmitter, Spektrum 8ch. Re-ceiver, and the servos are mainly Hitec 645MG. The propeller is a scale "civilian" prop from Falcon Props and resembles the Sensenich propeller used on many J-3’s.

Alistair Heathcote flew a “Cassutt Racer", a model of a Goodyear racer rarely seen in Australian scale contests. The model is powered by a Saito 100 four stroke engine, the fuselage is covered with alu-minium Glosstex and the wings and tail in Monocote. Weight is 4.2kg. The radio is a Futaba T8FG with high torque Hitec servos. At one third scale it still only has a 1.8m wingspan. Chris White.

RESULTS ADVANCED 1. Graeme Harrod 1000.00 2. Graeme Brown 963.04 3. Alistair Heathcote 934.88 4. David McDowell 906.51 5. Dick Everett 743.38 OPEN 1. Craige Bryson 1000.00 2. James Price 990.82 3. Guy Young 901.59 CLUBMAN 1. Ron Artiss 1000.00 2. Andrew Hunter 991.81


Four months in the planning and now the day has come. The worry about the weather in the days leading up to the event was a bit scary but Mother Nature came to the party with two suitable days that, alt-hough sunny, were still very chilly mornings to start each of the days. However these are the winter races and we must expect that it will be cold, hopefully with mild winds and no rain. The entries numbers were just up from last year which is a good sign. There were two new pilots who had not previously flown in Bendigo, Peter Vaughan and Paul Hewitson both travelled down from NSW and were made very welcome by the other pilots and the Bendigo club . We had four race classes again this year those being in race order, Redbull 20/30 Class, AT-6Texan Class, Nemesis 35 (F2) Class and Goodyear (F1)Class. The race briefing was at 10.00am Saturday when all were made welcome to sunny Bendigo, well it was sunny but not very warm. The racing format was laid out for the two days, race rules explained followed by time for a photo shoot, then into the racing. Club member John Newman who runs the electronic timing and lap counting for the races added a new string to his bow by enabling the race results to sent direct to your smart phone as soon as each race heat was completed so there was no more waiting around for scores on printed sheets, it’s in your hand straight away.

Redbull Racers were set and ready to go and, after a quick check of the engine kill with loss of signal, the aircraft were restarted and off and racing. It usually takes a couple of laps to settle the nerves but they got into the groove early with some smooth flight lines. Unfortunately a couple had engine troubles, Jason Vanajek broke a crank on the start line and Steve Davis's engine would start and then stop for no reason. The rest of the field ran all the races out without a problem. AT-6 Texan was as popular as ever as these aircraft are the nicest flying of all, may be no so when it comes to landing as Rob Popelier found out when making a long flat approach clipped a tree branch dragging his Texan to grief. Jeremy Randle was running very nicely with Steve Green pushing him all the way and one of the new flyers Peter Vaughan was doing a great job keeping his Texan on a good flight line. Texan aircraft are the easiest of all the aircraft to fly but the Texan class had more cuts given than the other three classes combined. Strange! Nemesis 35 was a little disappointing with low entry numbers, we know there are plenty of Nemesis’ out there in race set up, but maybe the cold conditions kept them away. Riley Sills, Andrew Ward and Les Sawyer were having a ball racing as these aircraft are very close in speed. The lead was changing quite often and the most ex-citement for the day was when Andrew Ward was coming in to land and managed to clip the same tree as did the Texan, only this time the Nemesis kept on flying complete with branch proceeding from the left wing leading edge and managed to land safely. There was as much excitement after the race as there was during the race.

Bendigo 2017 Large Scale Racing


Goodyear F1, this is were everybody stops as these aircraft race. The Melbourne Cup can stop the nation and Goodyear F1 can stop everybody on the airfield for that 105 seconds of adrenalin pumping action. Hearing the sound of those four powerful engines as the aircraft come racing into the start line at high speed makes your spine tingle with excitement, the manoeuvering of these racing ma-chines at high speed in race is incredible and Neil Addicott and Steve Davis must have nerves of steel, one slip up and there’s a mess to clean up. Just love the noise and the speed and the excitement of these high speed machines, must thank the Wright Brothers for all this. Thanks needs to go to the light marshalls, David, Gary, Damian, Jor-dan and Jack who gave up their whole weekend just help these pilots have a wonderful Large Scale Racing event. We also need to thank Andrew and the helpers in the Canteen and John for the timing and scoring. The support for our races came from, DLE Aust. in WA, Aero Avia-tion Hobbies, Model Engines P/L Sydney, Desert Aircraft QLD and Mitre 10 Bendigo, our thanks to all of them, we really appreciate their support. Results Redbull Class 1. R. Hewitson 2. J.Randle 3. T. Jones. Texan Class 1. J. Randle 2. S. Green 3. P Vaughan Nemesis Class 1. R Sills 2. A. Ward 3. L. Sawyer Goodyear F1 1. S Davis 2. N Addicott 3. J. Randle

(Photgraph by John Newman)

AT- 6 Texan winners, supported by Aero Aviation Hobbies, Golden Square. Winners Nemesis 35 class, 1. Riley Sills, 2. Andrew Ward, 3. Les Sawyer, sup-ported by Model Engines P/L, Sydney.

Goodyear Formula 1 winners, supported by Golden City Mitre 10 and Desert Aircraft Qld.

Redbull winners, supported by DLE Engines Aust. Bunbury, WA.


I missed Shepparton last year while I was recovering from my hip replacement operation in August but I made better plans for a knee replacement in April of this year and when September came around I was up and about and ready to travel. The weather forecast for Saturday was not promising and Sunday looked to be the better of the two days but as is often the case the forecast was not quite right. Saturday was clear of rain and with only a light wind while Sunday was perfect with bright sunshine and virtually no wind. The only drawback was the low number of entries which, while disappointing for the organisers, at least meant that there were no long queues of models and pilots waiting to fly. This year Shepparton only attracted forty entries and sixty models, a large drop in numbers compared to earli-er years, and many formerly regular attendees were not to be seen. The Melbourne modellers in particular were notable for their absence. This may have been due to lack of notification and advertising for the event but numbers have been falling for the last few years and obviously something needs to be changed to bring this

event back to its former leading position on the flying calendar. Spectator numbers were also down and Ivan Chiselett’s knowledgea-ble commentary from his position high above the pits was mostly for the benefit of the pilots who seem to like hearing their model details explained as they fly the circuit. There were a couple of standout large models on show with Corinne

Pellatt’s 50% Clipped-wing Piper J3 Cub and Ross Bathie’s 46% Piper Pawnee both providing spectacular flying displays. These large aircraft exhib-ited the flight characteris-tics of the full size aircraft, flying with authority and at near scale speeds. Ross Smith’s turbo-prop pow-ered Pilatus PC-21 flew well and was accompa-nied this year by another turbo-prop PC-21, owned by Adrian Fasham, that was untested and did not take to the air. Those who attended were rewarded with a fine week-

end of flying, let’s hope that the event recovers and gets back to its position as the popular scale event that was not to be missed.

Colin Mitchel’s Stinson Reliant on a low fly by.

SHEPPARTON

MAMMOTH SCALE

FLY-IN

2017


Models in the pits include Adrian Fasham’s PC-21 and Colin Mitchell’s Stinson Reliant in the photo at left and a collection of models on the right by Melbourne flyers David White

The big Pawnee is very impressive in flight.

Ross Bathie’s 46% Piper Pawnee spans 5m and is powered by a 3w 342cc twin. Weight is 52kg.


The very large J3 Cub in flight. The DLE 170cc twin cylinder petrol engine installed in the Cub.

David Foster’s SE5 is built from a Balsa USA kit. The model is 1/4 scale and spans 2m.

Corinne Pellatt’s 50% scale clipped wing Piper J3 Cub is a modified ARF by Bill Hempell. The model spans 4.9m and is powered by a DLE 170cc twin cylinder petrol engine. Weight is 37kg.


Colin Buckley’s model of the Brazilian Paulistinha P-56. The full size aircraft was copied from the J3 Cub and Colin’s model is 1/3 scale at 3.58m wingspan. Powered by a DA 85 petrol engine the model weighs 14kg.

Colin Buckley also flew this 1/3 scale Spacewalker built from the SIG kit. Pow-ered by an OS GT33 two stroke petrol engine the model weighs 9.2kg.

Bruce Hoffman is a regular visitor from Sydney at this event and again flew his Pierre Clostermann Hawker Tempest. The model is scratch built and spans 2.4m. Powered by a DA85 it weighs 21kg,

Dennis Davis brought a Top Flite ARF Zero, 2.2m span powered by a Saito 3-cyl petrol engine and weighing 13kg. His Spitfire is an ESM ARF with a span of 2.1m, powered by a DLE 30 and weighing 9kg.

Bob Irving’s Hangar 9 ARF model of the ASW 20 is 4.7m wingspan, electric powered and weighs 9kg.

Adrian Fasham’s Skymaster ARF Pilatus PC-21 is powered by a 10kg thrust Jetcat turbine. The model spans 2.4m and weighs 22kg.

Alan Wright’s model of the Bowers Fly Baby is scratch built and powered by an OS 110 four stroke. Wingspan is 2.1m and it weighs 6.6kg.

I missed getting details of this ARF Miles Hawk, my apologies to the owner.


Not a scale model but a very pretty aircraft, Bruce Bryant’s SIG Rascal is 2.8m wingspan and powered by an OS 160 twin cylinder four stroke engine. Weight is 8.5kg.

Colin Mitchell’s ARF Stinson Reliant spans 2.9m and is powered by a DLE 56 engine. Weight is 15kg.

Ross Smith is another regular from the north with his Pilatus PC-21. The turbo prop model spans 2.5m and is powered by a KingTech turbine. Weight is 23kg.

Keith Quigg’s Super Cub is an ARF by Hangar 9. The model spans 2.7m and is powered by a RCGF 21cc twin cylinder petrol engine.

Doug Radford’s Tiger Moth is from a Flair kit. The model is 1/4 scale and spans 2.2m. Powered by a DLE 35 engine and weighs 8kg.

Corinne Pellatt’s back up model was this Hangar 9 ARF Beaver. At 2.8m wing-span the model is electric powered and weighs 9kg.

A couple of photographs of the field taken from Ivan Chiselett’s commentary tower.


Wednesday 2nd August During the first afternoon at Szentes Hungary, we drove out to the field to test our GPS settings. My diary notes say “seems a sub-standard for a World Champs field, we’ll see how it goes”. I noted stands of trees, a winding stream, reedy swamps, corn, sunflowers, and a black soil entry road. The tempera-ture at 6.30 pm was still 380C but it started to cool by 8 pm!

Thursday 3rd August - PRACTICE: It was daylight by 5.30 am and the blue sky heralded another hot day. So we were on the field by 7.30 am. Two of my gliders performed well out of the box and needed no work. I might add that four minute flights took them close to a stream, just beyond where the flight line was being set up. My windy weather #3 model needed some work. New fields often dictate a change in trim.

Friday 4th August – MORE PRACTICE: We got up at 5 am to beat the heat on the field, and were in the air by 7.15 am. Flyers were scattered around everywhere, more than yesterday, but still not as many as I expected. Aussie flyers Albert, Roy, Craig and Vin were already flying, Vin from 6.30 am. The breeze was very light so I had to dial back launch parameters – my early rounds model was good enough for 3.5 minutes but not for 4 minutes, and the Budapest Cup had R1 set at 5 minutes! My thermal model got down to work straight away and both models were doing 4 minutes before I packed them away. The ground was rough in places, with cracks and dips that would make some areas treacherous for circle towers. Albert fell twice while towing. Matt Hannaford was yet to arrive and, as it was only four months since he fractured his ankle, I felt concerned for him tow-ing on this ground. Craig and Vin put up a number of very good flights, as did Roy. It was still 370C at 7 pm. Tomorrow is the Budapest Cup and it is predicted to be hotter.

Saturday 5th August - THE BUDAPEST CUP: We were up at 4.30 am and at the field by 6 am. This was a good shake down prior to the World Championships. Albert elected not to fly in this event. The Budapest Cup had A’s, B’s and C’s all flying from the same flight line with six on a pole, so it was a long line, with the three classes segregated of course. 200 flew in the competition! The organisers generously allowed us 90 minutes per round. We would need all of that. Even at 6 am it was warm and the winds were quite strong, blow-ing at 5 – 6 m/sec. R1 at 7 am was 5 minutes and I made it, first time ever! Quite a few dropped and those who did max were in for long retrieves. Some crossed the highway and railway line, but most were in or near the crops. Mine was seen down behind the corn.

My tracker led me to where the model was but it involved travers-ing corn and sunflower crops, both 2.4 m high. I hate sunflowers when they have lost their colour! As I waded in, the big dried heads slapped me across the face and the lower ones wrapped around my arms and yagi antennae. It was hard work and freeing these pesky obstructions and the stifling heat wore me out, made me angry and took time. As I commenced the 2 km walk back to the flight line, I noted various mod-els nestled in the vegetation, avoiding detection.

I needed the full 90 mins for that round but made short work with an easy max in R2 using my six panel model. R2 started the horror period, as the winds had changed direction and were now taking mod-els into major danger zones, with a stand of tall trees, thick under-growth, a deep stream and hideous 2.4m high reeds in stagnant wa-ter. This was not a nice place to be and, as the winds had dropped slightly and the temperature had crested 400C, it made retrievals very testing.


In R3, my model misbehaved, looping and stalling off the line; I felt too hot to reason why. Even with my 2m 5 sec time, I was sitting 13th out of 100 flyers, such was the difficult nature of the event. The re-sults show a lot of top line flyers either doing badly or pulling out, such were the conditions. Some elected not to fly because of the physical demands of a long very hot day and/or field conditions.

I heard and saw a number of full carbon wing failures, more than previous years. While the two AUS F1A flyers were having fun, our two F1B flyers were not enjoying the day at all.

Craig had his model clocked off OOS by the timekeeper 30 secs early in the 5 min first round, but the team had seen it down, and it had done 5 mins. That was unfortunate. It too was in the sunflowers. A long retrieval meant Craig was late getting back for the start of the next round, and his woes continued into R2. His model had DT'ed high from a strong thermal, and it was either in or over the forest. Craig said it was another very tough retrieve and he kept getting con-flicting signals from his tracker. Eventually he spotted the model on the ground. It was amongst very high and thick trees with one small gap, where it was safely nestled. As it had a cracked boom, he had to miss R3 and commenced flying an older expendable model. He re-tired after dropping 8 secs in R4.

Vin had a far more debilitating experience. He was maxed out after R3 and then his model landed in the treacherous swamp, with 2.4m high thick reeds. Earlier on, Donna had reluctantly waded in to that swamp to get one of Matt’s F1A flights but Vin’s was more of a challenge, much, much more. He would be searching for a long time.

Matt and I recorded two damagingly low scores in sink – we both agreed that our flights looked good, from the start, as they do. It was nice that a lunch break was called after three rounds. I am certain that some wouldn’t have completed the final two rounds without a break; they needed hydration and a rest. After all, the temperature crested 41.5ºC.

My R4 flight maxed high over the tall trees in front of the stream and swamp and it took me some time to locate it as I had to struggle through the thick 2 - 3m dried reeds under the forest of trees that Craig had encountered to keep on line. It was found barely 3m from the stream. I saw Vin with tracker in hand on the other bank, dressed only in black jocks. He was using the halo aerial, and he would be down to just the receiver later, as he struggled to locate his evasive model. When Vin has tracking troubles, you know that it’s difficult! He had been there for a long time, and this would extend to over 3 hours before it was discovered the next day.

Trees, the stream and the reeds all trapped models; they were all on the flight path of the later rounds. Because of the wind direction, the organisers wisely dropped the R5 time from 4 minutes back to 3, to avoid the trees, stream and reeds. Matt and I both maxed.

Vin needed ambulance attention back at the flight line for lacera-tions. Roy should have too, but he didn’t and needed two doses of antibiotics back home to fix his cuts. The ambos also treated some for heat exhaustion on the field – I was surprised they didn’t have a lot more customers.

In F1A, only eight maxed out and six remained for the 9 min sec-ond fly-off. In F1B, only ten maxed out and five contested the second fly-off. Surprisingly, only two maxed out in F1C.

The Budapest Cup was the most exhausting event I have ever competed in and Facebook chatter that night suggested it was the most gruelling World Cup event ever. In the 300m walk back to the car with my flight box at the end of the day, I had to rest four times!

Sunday 6th August – THE OPENING CEREMONY: This was to be another hot day with thunderstorms predicted. In the afternoon and drove to the Opening Ceremony at Hódmezővásárhely 24 km away. The ceremony for the World Championships was short and sweet, unlike the previous two occasions. We hung around for a few drinks and then drove back to the Aus panzio to have dinner at their adjoin-ing restaurant. We were home by 10.15 pm and thinking of a swim, but the thunder and lightning caused us to think otherwise. The storm when it came through was noisy with some close strikes but there was little rain. Unfortunately, there was good rain at the field and Hódmezővásárhely actually had a severe storm with wind, hail and lightning.

Monday 7th August – REGISTRATION + NO OFFICIAL DAY 1 PRACTICE: A reprieve from the heat, much cooler after the storm but temps were to return to the 40’s during the week. We drove to Regis-tration to be there by 8.30 am. The Aussies were first through so we were home by 10.30 am. USA would have to wait until the next after-noon, as inspections were being done in alphabetical order. Like others, we used this day as a rest day, taking a walk through the his-toric and pretty city centre of Szentes.

Bad news - last night’s storm made the in-road impassable. The Brits got bogged and needed a tractor to get out, so one day of official practice was cancelled. This would become a real problem if more rain came through during the week. At this stage, weather for the World Champs looked hot, with F1A scoring the strongest winds with afternoon storms.

Tuesday 8th August - OFFICIAL DAY 2 PRACTICE: We drove out to the field, to find many cars parked either side of the main road. The road in had standing water in its muddy tracks. A few slithered out successfully then one only made it 100m and got bogged. We thought that would act as a cautionary message for the faint hearted.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast and then drove back to the field. It was a bit tricky getting in. There were cars everywhere – careful RDTing would be a must! Most of the Aus team were practising. The team took some hits – Gary wrecked his good Slava model when the bunt stayed in and Terry damaged a Babenko folder when the wings broke during an urgent RDT.

Albert was happy with his testing but he wanted to come back later to do more work on his full carbon model. I was also happy with my R1 model but I again dialled it back for light airs although my #2 thermal model flew very well. My #3 windy weather model continued to misbehave pulling right and bunting on its side. Turns out I had a loose solder joint on my rudder line.

The Australian Team members, helpers and supporters.


Long international flights have a habit of shaking things loose. #4 flew very well, a pleasant surprise. It would go to prove its worth in the World Championships later in the week.

Terry, Vin and Craig put up lots of flights and things were going very well for them. Even glider flyers Per Findahl and Jama Damier were deputised to fly F1B. Per acquitted himself very well. We attend-ed our second team meeting to learn what had been discussed at the Team Managers’ meeting.

Wednesday 9th August - F1C WORLD CHAMPS: The World Championships begin, starting uncharacteristically with F1C. The flight line was set at nearly right angles to the road and the wind was com-ing from the east and tracking at 900 to the road. I managed to get a few photos in as we started to walk out. A few F1C’s were planted in the warm-up. There were about 41 poles and the wind was light, at about 3 m/sec. The event was delayed slightly, as the organisers rea-ligned the flight line. Because of a sudden wind change, our first re-trieves were long, as we had to drag most of our support gear an addi-tional 1km south from where we initially set up.

Identifying the models in the air proved hard as they came out of the sun, and most were black Babenko folders! Gary had motor trou-ble in the first round and had to change models. Terry and Gary’s colourful models were easier to see but Gary’s tracker had a very poor signal. Unless seen to the ground his models risked being lost. Roy’s first flight wasn’t clearly seen to the ground so I took over from Albert who took Terry’s model back, and I headed out to find Roy’s, locating it in the far end of a paddock much further out than first thought. Kathy, Albert and I were run ragged, as we had used up the first hour and then some because of our operating difficulties.

Vin sorted out Gary’s tracker by R3 so we had to work hard during R2 trying to catch up. We’d barely finished sending all R1 models back when Roy was up and away in R2, his model landing in long grass, grass that was being mowed and rotary hoed by 3 large tractors, as we walked towards where it was supposed to have landed. How could that be allowed to happen in a World Championship event?

Terry’s model was easy to identify, his tracker was tuned and he didn’t fly too far out. We liked that. Gary had reverted to his model of choice in R2 but it was set for 5 mins, giving Albert a long retrieve, and this caused Gary to miss R3, and then he had to RDT his R4 flight as the wing didn’t unfold correctly. He swapped models but the round had closed. Roy and Terry maxed R4. Gary’s woes continued in R5 when his remaining model failed to run cleanly and put an end to his flying for the day.

R5 dealt a cruel blow to Roy. Both he and Terry were maxed out but R5 sealed Roy’s fate. He launched with 5 other models and things looked good until his model fell out of lift, landing near the river, so dropping a whopping 110 secs, plummeting him down the order. Until then, he was looking very promising. Terry did max and went on to record 210 secs in the first fly-off, becoming our top-placed F1C flyer, finishing in 22nd place.

Canadian Yury Shvendenkov took 1st place.

Thursday 10th August - F1B WORLD CHAMPS: The day started with slightly overcast skies and a noticeable breeze of 3 - 4 m/sec, coming straight down the flight line (not good). Nothing was done, so it was going to be a day of surprises. At the start of R1, just like F1C yesterday, the wind shifted SE and models flew over the canteen, car park, trees and river, landing in the paddocks beyond. Many made the 4 minutes, others flew OOS behind the trees and others fell short of the trees in the car park. After a wave of protests the round was halted and an announcement made that it would be cancelled and re-flown at 3 minutes, after the flight line had been swung around 900.

From memory, this rehash cost about 90 minutes, 90 additional minutes in the draining heat. So in the first 3 rounds, models flew SE and some landed at the mid-point where Kathy and I were stationed. Those that overflew us landed well east of where our backline retriev-ers where stationed, so it seemed easier for us to get those as well, although it was hard work.

By R4, the winds had shifted more ESE, so the models started missing the carpark and landing closer to the stream. Terry and Vin were the only ones clean. By R5, Roy, Albert and Gary had relocated closer to the drop zone when Craig put his model into a boomer. It was so high that 4 minutes looked easy, then it dropped like a stone, and didn’t max – unbelievable. And Terry fell short of the river, miss-ing the 4 min by 39 seconds. Vin had an even bigger drop. So in R5, a lot failed to max in that very strange air.

On paper before the event, our F1B team looked almost unbeata-ble with excellent models and superb lead-up preparation. I honestly felt at least one could have made the podium, so their disappointment must have been massive.

The first fly-off was conducted in two groups at 5 and 5.30pm. Second fly-off was to have started at 6.30pm but it was announced that, because of the wind shift towards the setting sun, the second fly-off would be delayed. I left at 7.10 pm and I believe it was flown about 7.50pm. By 7.30pm, it was still 340C!

Stepan Stefanchuk picked up his second World Championship. Kiwi Paul Lagan did a fantastic job to make the first fly-off and place 19th, but there were some catastrophic drops – multiple World Cham-

Drinks at the Opening Ceremony.

Setting up camp on the F1C day.


pion Alex Andriukov was 92nd! Friday 11th August - F1A WORLD CHAMPS: The forecast for

the day was good, fine and 340C with winds of 4 – 6 m/sec. It did change. The flight line remained at 900 to its original setting, so it ran parallel to the in-road. It was set as far east as it could go, and there was a ridge just in front of where we towed up. Very few, if any, would be towing upwind and the tow up area was rough in places. We would have to be careful.

R1 started with a 3 – 4 m/sec breeze and I made the 4 minutes easily; Albert‘s was a little close but it was a max and Matt fell just 9 secs short. Our motley team looked good, and models had not gone far for the retrievers.

R2 was as easy although I thought I saw my model take a tumble over the roof of a car in the carpark. Actually it had overflown the carpark and the trees to land across the road and had maxed. I sent retriever Vin off telling him to “pick up the pieces in the car park”. I’m glad I was mistaken. Albert also maxed and it was good to see Matt’s leg hold up sufficiently to allow him to circle, but his drop of 90 secs in R2 was unfortunate. The ground was definitely tricky and there were falls – we were hoping Matt would not be one of them, Per Findahl was.

Wind strength increased in R3 so I put away my early rounds model and brought out the thermal model. Albert also swapped. Matt flew his Yablonovsky for the whole contest. I maxed R3 and Albert had a scare with a premmie release and RDTed down in 15 secs. He maxed the second attempt, although Matt fell 10 secs short. With increasing winds, our retrieval team had quite a workout. By R4, winds were 5 – 8 m/sec, so I bought out my “rock ‘n’ roll” model, a strong winds short model with polyhedral. It proved to be the right decision and it revelled in the conditions, DTing high for a long re-trieve. Craig jokingly said “Stop setting the DT at 5 minutes!”. Albert found circling too difficult in this round and just went up and off. Matt, confidence up, circled! Albert and I maxed, Matt dropped 10 seconds.

By now, the winds were pushing up towards 10 m/sec, so the organisers placed a one hour halt to proceedings, and reduced the 4 minute final round to 3 minutes. The winds had dropped considerably when we resumed, perhaps to 5 m/sec. Already, a lot of big names had dropped out of the running. The ground condition, the winds, the lift and general ambitions of many flyers caused mistakes they simply should not have made.

I maxed the final round from great height, and was in the fly-off. Craig remarked that he had found my model in Serbia! He had done a sterling job in retrievals. Albert fell just 13 seconds short, after low level turbulence upset his model. That was so disappointing for him. And Matt maxed, after a powerful launch, then a low recovery and a very lucky batch of air to make the max high up. He was happy to finish all rounds of his first World Championship competition.

So I was the only Aussie to make the F1A fly-off. I was in the second group of 14 at 5.30pm. I focussed on the air and got away for a very good launch. The model held launch height for an unnerv-ing period of time and then locked in on a thermal and started its climb to a great height. Downwind retrievers had it in the binos from early on and it was very evident that it would overfly our furthest outpost by a considerable margin. It did – by over a kilometre! But it was seen to the ground, and a faint tracker signal could be heard, so Matt gamely started off across two ploughed fields and two stands of trees to reach it. This was a gallant effort for someone who broken his leg just four months prior. When Matt hobbled back into the outpost area, Gary took over the second leg of the relay, handing it to Terry at the floating

pontoon bridge. Realising time was of the essence, I asked Craig to jog down to meet Terry and bring it the remaining distance. The mod-el was back at the flight line with 10 minutes to spare – a magnificent team effort. Twelve were in the second fly-off.

In the second fly-off Albert was out on the line with me when I said the air felt really good. He agreed but just then, someone circled into my airspace. His model held well and he nearly went.

I really wanted to go but had to wait for his second circle. Regard-less as he shaped up for a launch I started my run-up, putting in my best launch of the day. The model bunted high, in good air, and then it did a tail slide, flattened out and rocked around a bit and then it started to stall. It recovered and then stalled again, to be down in 100 seconds. The old battery, overworked in the previous long flight and retrieval, couldn’t cope with the pressures of the launch and gave up in early stages of the bunt sequence, leaving the model on slight up elevator – a smidgeon less and I may have got a satisfactory glide. Of course if the battery was good, my final placing could have been spec-tacular! And I had coincidentally launched in the same air as Igor Bombek, the winner, but 12th place out of a quality field of 113 wasn’t too shabby!

And the F1A team got an unexpected surprise – we were fourth in the Teams placings, just 35 seconds off a podium and 76 seconds off the top step. Now wouldn’t that have been the icing on the cake if Matt had maxed his second round? Not bad for two old blokes, one who only straight tows, and a wounded warrior.

Saturday 12th August – THE AWARDS CEREMONY AND BAN-QUET: The Banquet was greeted with mixed feelings as we crowded into a small room for the numbers who paid the 40 Euros each. So-cially it was good and the music was pleasant but there were opera-tional problems. Many were outside in the cool and had to be herded in for the meal. Fortunately the prize giving was well executed and received, and Jim Parker proudly carried the flag in readiness for the USA World Championships to be held at Lost Hills in October 2019. It was a pleasantly cool evening at last, with light rain to finish the 2017 World Championships.

CONCLUSION: The organisers had dodged a bullet with the in-road, more rain would have been a catastrophe. But I felt sorry for them – they had high hopes and in the end perhaps not the numbers or experience to run such an important event.

There was a lot of chatter and criticism on the Internet before, during and after the event. A lot was warranted and good suggestions put forward. One thing for sure, the Budapest Cup will go down as one of the most gruelling events ever conducted in aeromodelling

Matt Hannaford with the Australian team at the beer tent.


history and flying the whole week and the World Championships in a 20 year record heat wave will probably take a lot of beating.

In 2017 only Hungary put its hand up to run the event, and it seemed to fall on too few people to make it work. Organisers are often the unsung heroes of an event. Those who have run events already know this, and I empathise with the organisers, but the field and administration had many limitations.

F1B winners, from left, Gilad Mark (Israel) 2nd, Stepan Stefanchuk (Ukraine) 1st, Rolandus Markus (Lithuania) 3rd.

F1A winners, from left, Robert Lesko (Croatia) 2nd, Igor Bombek (Croatia) 1st, Julien Sion (Roumania) 3rd.

F1C winner, Yury Shvenenkov (Canada).


With winter almost over we were back into it again with a competition at Echuca on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of September, Saturday was overcast with a medium to strong and very cold wind. The first event was 1/2A Texaco both I/C and electric with five entries in I/C and seven in electric. It seems that electric attracts more peo-ple, probably because it is clean and trouble free as opposed to I/C which is oily, and those little Cox’s can be devils at times. An example is Don Grant putting in three perfect flights to qualify then unable to get his Cox started for the fly-off. Rob Taylor also had trouble and it was suggested that we should replace the Cox engines with some-thing more reliable such as the MP Jet .6 cc diesel, readily available and starts easilyy, what are your thoughts? Electric 1/2A saw the usual very spectacular mass launch, the event being won by Kevin Fryer with a new concept power wise. Kevin was using a geared motor with a 10" x 10" prop turning very slowly, again an idea worth investigating. We got everything over before lunch ex-cept the I/C fly-off and again the catering by the Echuca boys was exceptional, I have said before that a lot of us go to these competi-tions for the camaraderie and the food, flying is secondary. The fly-off for 1/2A I/C was won by Kevin Fryer flying, you guessed it, a Cumu-lus. Duration had seven entries in I/C and once again Pat Keely with his Bomber with an O S 56 F/S up front got up to beat all of the fast climbing two stroke and YS four stroke motors. (I think we may have to change the rules in this event to stop this sort of thing as it’s not fair on the fast climbing fellows.) The electric mass launch was interesting. As they took off they almost ran into each other and if they had streamers on their tails you would have said it was a combat comp. The ever reliable Gavin Dunn came in first with Kevin Fryer in second place with, you guessed it again, a Cumulus. This is his standard duration model and he just swaps mo-tors over from I/C to electric when needed, no longer nose, no extra ballast, it just goes to show you don't need to extend the nose to make it balance as some electric flyers maintain. It was now 4:00pm with Burford still to fly so it was agreed to fly two rounds with only one to count. This event was taken out by Kevin Fryer flying his Atomizer. The next day started at 9:00am with the AGM and flying commenced at 10.30am in perfect weather. We started with Texaco six entries in I/C and four in electric. It would have been seven in I/C except Pat Keely left half his Airborne home but looking on the bright side it gave the other flyers a better chance to win. Unfortunately, in the fly-off

Kevin Fryer’s full size Cumulus went off the air and spiralled in invert-ed with the O K Super 60 screaming its head off, I don't know if it was in fear of what was going to happen or whether it just leaned out. Electric saw Gavin Dunn win again with Steve Gullock coming in sec-ond with a new Dallaire. ‘38 Antique was the last comp of the day with only four entries so it was decided to just have a fly-off. This became a huge tussle be-tween Lyn Clifford and Steve Gullock with both models catching nu-merous thermals and getting so high that they were almost out of sight. After about 32 minutes Steve decided he had had enough and brought his model down, followed by Lyn, with Lyn in first place and Steve second. This completed a very rare and good weekend, let’s hope all our com-petitions from now on get the same weather. Thank’s to Brian Dowie for his work in running the competitions and most of all to Fred West and the members of the Echuca model club for making us feel so welcome, we all really look forward to flying at Echuca.

See you all at the next competition. Brian Laughton

(Photographs by Graeme Gulbin)

ECHUCA September 2017

Don Grant and Pat Keely starting the Anderson Spitfire in Don’s RC 1.


COMPETITOR MODEL ENGINE RD. 1 RD. 2 RD. 3 FLY- OFF TOTAL

1. K.FRYER CUMULUS COX 420 420 420 461 1721

2. R. TAYLOR STARDUST COX 370 420 420 240 1500

3. L. CLIFFORD STARDUST COX L/O 420 420 DNF 1260

RD. 4

420

1/2A TEXACO

RESULTS

COMPETITOR MODEL ENGINE CC/SEC RD. 1 RD. 2 RD. 3 FLY- OFF TOTAL

1. P. KEELY BOMBER OS 56 32 420 420 554 1394

2. D. GRANT PLAYBOY YS 63 28 420 420 484 1324

3. B. TAYLOR CUMULUS YS 63 28 420 420 442 1282

DURATION


1. D. GRANT BOMBER ANDERSON

SPITFIRE 24 600 600 1230 2430

2. S. GULLOCK BOMBER ENYA 53 15 600 600 1099 2299

3. G. GULBIN BOMBER OS 60 18 491 600 600 631 2831

TEXACO

COMPETITOR MODEL ENGINE CC/SEC RD. 1 FLY- OFF TOTAL

1. K. FRYER ATOMISER PB 40 300 405 705

2. D. GRANT CREEP BB 38 300 328 628

3. S. GULLOCK STARDUST BB 38 300 313 613

RD. 2

RD. 3

BURFORD


1. L. CLIFFORD CADET ATWOOD 60 112 2031 2031

2. S. GULLOCK STICKLAN GB 5cc 205 1921 1921

3. D. GRANT RC 1 ANDERSON SPITFIRE 64 942 942

‘38 ANTIQUE

COMPETITOR MODEL RD. 1 RD. 2 FLY- OFF TOTAL

1. K. FRYER ATOMISER 240 600 1236 3036

2. G. DUNN STARDUST 600 600 1173 2973

3. M. HEAP STARDUST 600 600 1129 2929

RD. 3

600

600

600

RD. 4

600

1/2A TEXACO (ELECTRIC)

COMPETITOR MODEL RD. 1 RD. 2 FLY- OFF TOTAL

1. G. DUNN RACER 465 600 1012 2212

2. S. GULLOCK DALLAIRE 600 600 983 2183

3. R. MITCHELL BOMBER 600 581 814 2014

RD. 3

600

600

600

TEXACO (ELECTRIC)

DURATION (ELECTRIC)

COMPETITOR MODEL FLY– OFF TOTAL

1. G. DUNN HAYSEED 767 1607

2. K. FRYER CUMULUS 681 1521

3. L. CLIFFORD BOMBER 559 1399

RND. 1

420

420

355

RND. 2

420

420

420

RND. 3

420

CC/SEC

25

25

25 Lin Clifford with his Cadet.

Texaco I /C winners, from left, S. Gullock (Bomber) 2nd, D. Grant (Bomber) 1st, G. Gulbin (Bomber) 3rd.

Texaco Electric winners, from left, S. Gullock (Dallaire) 2nd, G. Dunn (Racer) 1st, R. Mitchell (Bomber) 3rd.

‘38 Antique winners, from left, D. Grant (RC1) 3rd, L. Clifford (Cadet) 1st, S. Gullock (Sticklan) 2nd.


Rod Mitchell, seen attending to his Neptune water bomber, travelled from Warrnambool while Brian Green brought his WACO from Melbourne for this event.

Andrew Hunter’s Stampe SV-4 in flight.

The NSW Scale Aircraft Society held the NSW Scale State Champion-ships over the weekend of 16th and 17th of September at the RAAF Richmond Model Aero Club (RAAFMAC) located adjacent to the RAAF Richmond air base. 5 categories were run over the two days with strong winds on Saturday and zero wind on the Sunday. A total of 19 entries were spread across the five categories - F4C, F4H (Stand Off Scale), F4G (Large Scale), Open and Clubman. Static judging was carried out on Saturday morning for F4C, F4H and F4G with flying of the Clubman class commencing around 9:30am. Unfortunately, the weather showed its ugly side at around 10:30am and the flying stopped shortly after. Only four flights were flown on Saturday before the wind picked up. On Saturday night we had a great social dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Great food, great company and many tall stories. We got to an early start on Sunday morning at 8:00am and with two flight lines operating it allowed all competitors to get their three flights in by 2:30pm.

This turned out to be a great initiative and added a bit more excite-ment to the competition. The callers did a great job, allowing the two flight lines to run very smoothly. Two competitors traveled up from Victoria, namely Rod Mitchell flying his Neptune and Brian Green with his Waco YMF biplane. Thanks to these guys for making the effort to come all that way for our event. RAFMAC should be congratulated for providing such a great field and catering for us all weekend. I would also like to thank Val for tabulating the scores all weekend. We are very excited and looking forward to running the Scale Nation-als at West Wyalong in 2018! Chris White

NEW SOUTH WALES

SCALE

CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017


Brian Green’s WACO taking off.

Corinne Pellatt took second place in the Open event with her Pilatus Porter. Kel Thomas has been flying his Morrisey Bravo for many years.

Paul McKeown was the only entrant in F4G with his Morane-Saulnier 29. Ron Artiss won the Clubman event with his Spacewalker.

Guy Young’s DC-3 flying in the F4H event.

Alf Williams with his F4C winning DH.Tiger Moth. James Price flew his Piper Cub to third place in the Open event.


COMPETITOR STATIC ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 TOTAL

A. WILLIAMS 1000.00 876.55 942.68 859.00 1909.62

R. MITCHELL 895.07 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1895.09

J. CONSIDINE 808.66 872.89 883.65 861.61 1686.93

W. MANSELL 731.21 858.88 802.41 824.75 1573.03

K. THOMAS 560.68 763.25 842.49 892.05 1510.62

1

2

3

4

5

MODEL

DH. TIGER MTH

LOCKHEED P2 NEPTUNE

P- 47 THUNDERBOLT

SPACEWALKER

MORRISEY BRAVO

COMPETITOR STATIC ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 TOTAL

A. OGLE 500.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1500

P. GOFF 489.68 983.46 935.98 935.83 1449.41

G. YOUNG 345.58 825.26 822.31 504.45 1169.39

B. GREEN 320.12 695.36 640.35 DNF 987.97

1

2

3

4

MODELMODEL

NIEUPORT 28

DH. TIGER MOTH

C– 47 DAKOTA

WACO YMF-5

COMPETITOR ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 TOTAL

B. BURRELL 1000.00 1000.00 993.20 1000.00

C. PELLATT 969.43 978.19 1000.00 989.09

J. PRICE 942.93 942.55 976.31 959.62

R. PEARCE 639.27 780.78 931.11 855.94

J. STARKEY - - - -

1

2

3

4

5

MODELMODEL

PIPER SUPER CUB

PILATUS PORTER

PIPER J3 CUB

MITSUBISHI A6M5 ZERO

VIPER JET

COMPETITOR ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 TOTAL

R. ARTISS 869.53 1000.00 982.56 991.28

A. HUNTER 923.48 960.16 1000.00 980.23

A. SCHULTZ 1000.00 916.15 933.32 966.66

M. TRAINOR 944.70 - - 472.35

1

2

3

4

MODELMODEL

SPACEWALKER

STAMPE SV- 4

PILATUS PC-21

P-51D MUSTANG

COMPETITOR STATIC ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 TOTAL 1 P. MCKEOWN 1000 1000 - - 2000

MODELMODEL

MORANE-SAULNIER A1

F4C

F4H

F4G

RESULTS

OPEN

CLUBMAN


Competitors were greeted by a strong cross wind when they arrived for this event and unfortunately the wind increased as the day moved on. There were only two entries in the scale section but Flying Only was better supported with ten competitors. Flying ceased at 2:00pm and only one round of flying was completed. RESULTS

COMPETITOR MODEL STATIC RND 1 TOTAL

1 D. LAW PITTS S2 1000 1000 2000

2 M. SCHEMBRI MILES HAWK 577 770 1247

COMPETITOR MODEL RND 1 TOTAL

1 G. LEPP EXTRA 260 1000 1000

2 N. WHITEHEAD VANS RV4 890 890

3 D. WHEELER ULTIMATE BIPE 819 819

4 M. SCHEMBRI KATANA 678 678

5 W. WHEELER ULTIMATE BIPE 662 662

6 T. DE HAAN ERCOUPE 646 646

7 D. ANDERSON SBACH 625 625

8 D. WHITE YAK 55 623 623

9 D. NICHOLS SPITFIRE 458 458

10 A. MOTT TURBULENT 422 422

SCALE

FLYING ONLY

Anthony Mott’s venerable Turbulent did not handle the lush grass on the air-strip and the cross wind well.

David White produced this new Yak 55.

The father / son combination of Bill and Daniel Wheeler shared this Ultimate Bipe.

YARRA VALLEY

VICSCALE at


I was almost ready to wind up this issue when I received a call from Doncaster member, Greg Stanfield, to say that it was a fine, calm day and he was going to the Doncaster MAC field with his friend Graeme Watson to fly some rubber powered free flight aircraft. I accepted his invitation, picked up my photographic equipment and headed for the field. The Doncaster field, with adjacent sports fields and tall trees right on the boundaries, is far from ideal for free flight models . Flights must be kept short to save having to retrieve models from the very tall gum trees but, despite their best efforts, the occasional thermal takes a model and the aircraft is lost forever in the surrounding suburban area. I spent a couple of pleasant hours watching the models and taking the photographs included in this article to allow our younger model-lers to gain some appreciation of the early models flown before the days of sophisticated radio control systems. These models had to be inherently stable and on release were subject to the vagaries of the air both vertically and horizontally. The only control system was a dethermalizer, a clockwork timer set to change the angle of the stabi-liser after a predetermined time and causing the model to stall and descend rapidly.

It was a very

Greg and Graeme’s collection of rubber powered models.

Graeme winding his Aeromodeller designed “Pongo”. Graeme Watson winding his “Skylark”.


Greg Stanfield winding his Yeoman “Meadowlark”.

Greg’s “Meadowlark”in flight.

Graeme’s “Pongo” in flight. Note the single blade folding propeller.

Graeme Watson launching his Hearn’s Hobbies “Sparrow”.

Greg launching his “Meadowlark”. The three DAC radio flyers in the back-ground are contemplating this peculiar event.

Graeme launching “Pongo”. Those trees are not far away.

Graeme’s “Sparrow”in flight.


At the recent MAAA Council Conference held in Tasmania, the proposal submitted by NSWFFS, to hold the 70th Nationals in West Wyalong was unanimously approved. The dates are 23rd - 30th April 2018 The opportunity exists for a successful, memorable and enjoyable 70th Nationals in West Wyalong in 2018. We believe West Wy-along is a fitting site for the celebration of 80 years of MAAA Na-tionals, and possibly the only site in Australia capable of hosting a fully combined MAAA National Model Aircraft Championships. The campus of venues provides a sound basis for a “reunion” of all those members who have been to previous Nats and all those who have wanted to attend a traditional Nats. In addition the opportuni-ty exists to demonstrate some increasingly popular, cutting edge events such as FPV Drone racing, and introduce a new generation to the Nats. The town is well situated, centrally, on the Newell Highway and while it boasts an array of services and facilities, it is small enough for an event of this nature to have a significant impact, with various media coverage almost guaranteed. This will be the first time in many decades that all events are within a 15 minute radius of a town centre and that two or three disci-plines will be able to fly on the same flying field.

A 70th nationals Committee has been formed and the posi-tions already identified are: a) Chair and MAAAA Liaison Officer - Tahn Stowe b) Secretary - Gary Goodwin (VP NSWFFS) c) Treasurer - Gary Pope (Treasurer NSWFFS) d) Registrar - Gary Pope (Treasurer NSWFFS) Administrators for each discipline: e) Control Line - Bruce Hoffman ( President CLAS) f) Free Flight - Terry Bond (President NSWFFS) g) SAM’s - Peter Scott h) Radio Control - Greg Lepp (President VMAA) i) Safety Manager - Michael Towell j) Public Relations Officer - Jeff Stein (CDO, BSC) k) CASA and WW Airport liaison - Wayne Broad (BSC) l) West Wyalong MAC liaison - Joseph Danczak m) Merchandise / promotional event design - Colin Crowley With five separate venues catering for ten separate flight lines the committee will be programming events to allow maximum inter-discipline entries and opportunities to spectate. The Programme and Entry Form will be published nationally in early September 2017. Please contact your Special Interest Group to make sure that your favourite event is being held.


2018 NATIONALS VENUES


General Meetings of the Victorian Flying Scale Aircraft Association are held bi-monthly on the first Thursday of the even months at the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria, 1 Gardenia Street, Blackburn. Visitors are always welcome and a highlight of meetings is the presentation of new models as they are constructed, and discussion on building techniques by members.

The VFSAA Calendar of events is available on the VFSAA web-site at http://vfsaa.org.au/

Issue No. 48 AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWSvalleyradioflyersofshepparton.weebly.com/uploads/5/...bration of...

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