Issue No. 51 AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWS · Darren Mecklem’s Beech 17 “Staggerwing” is a Top Flyte...

April 2018

AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWS

Issue No. 51

2 Australian Model News

Contents 3. “BUSH AND BIPE DAY” AT MITCHELL FWAC 6. “BANJO PATERSON” SCALE RALLY

AT ORANGE 9. MIDWEEK AT DONCASTER MAC 11. THE SHORT BROS AND HARLAND LTD. TROPHY 12. THE 1948 “GOLD TROPHY” EVENT 14. THE LEURA FUN FLY 2018 15. THE GRAMPIANS MFC AEROTOW WEEKEND 18. “ACTIO(N)” AT BAIRNSDALE & DISTRICT MAC 21. BEGA DISTRICT MODEL CLUB 23. EUROBODALLA MODEL CLUB 26. ENGINES AND TRANSMITTER FOR SALE 28. 2018 APA MASTERS AND WORLD CUP 32. 2018 VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS CONTROL LINE AEROBATICS 36. WARNAMBOOL FLY- IN 2018 37. TYABB AIR SHOW 2018

COMING EVENTS

MONTY TYRELL MEMORIAL SCALE RALLY AT P&DARCS

WINGS OVER WESTERN PORT AT WPMAC

2018 VMAA TROPHY AT P&DARCS

TAVAS GREAT WAR FLYING DISPLAY AT CABOOLTURE

KEILOR & DISTRICT DISPLAY

TWIN CITIES MAC AUTUMN SCALE RALLY

OMP SCANNER CHALLENGE AT BENDIGO

ECHUCA MOAMA ANNUAL FUN FLY

MID MAY MUSTER AT BAIRNSDALE

ARARAT ANNUAL FLOAT FLY AT LAKE BOLAC

RICHMOND FREE FLIGHT SCALE RALLY

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/

The April issue is always a difficult production as I am away for a couple of weeks on my annual pilgrimage to Narooma and the late Summer / early Autumn fine weather always means that the flying calendar is full, with events on most weekends. Fortunately I have a number of willing helpers who contribute articles and photographs and my laptop com-puter and mobile wi-fi connection allow me to do some edit-ing work while away from home. This year my road trip timing allowed me to call at Bairns-dale for their scale event and to finally get to the Bega club field at Frogs Hollow after several aborted attempts. Once at Narooma it’s not far to the Eurobodalla field so I arranged another visit after missing last year. After reaching the half century with the February issue this is the next on the way to a century. I don’t know if I will achieve that goal but while there is life there is hope. I’m heading to West Wyalong for the Nats later in this month to cover that event for the June issue. As a bonus I’m looking forward to meeting many of the people that I have not seen since the last big Nats at Albury and others with whom I correspond. John Lamont

On the Cover. Rob Popelier’s 1/4 scale DH.60 Gipsy Moth taking off at the P&DARCS “Scratch and Kit built” scale event last November.

From the Editor


A scratch built DH.82 Tiger Moth by Ken Madill. The 1/4 scale model is powered by a Saito 150 four stroke engine and weighs 7kg.

Ken’s Tiger Moth is very nicely detailed.

I have the location of most of our model fields programmed into my GPS and this usually takes me to the correct location, although not always by the route that I would have preferred. Travelling north up the Hume highway I found that the usual turn off to the MFWAC field to the west was closed and I had to travel on to Seymour. Arriving at Seymour and unable to see any directions on how to cross the high-way I followed my GPS which took me around the same circuit, down south then turn 180º back to Seymour. I decided dump the GPS and ask a policeman so went to the police station where a nice man gave me some vague directions which would probably have been good if I was local resident but were useless for a visitor from Melbourne. Fortunately I finally found a way to cross over and eventually arrived at the MFWAC, albeit a lot later than planned. Since my first visit to the Mitchell field a couple of years back the club, with assistance from the local council, has made a lot of progress and now have a comfortable clubhouse with nice landscaping and some shaded pit areas. The strip still needs attention and this is included in the club’s future plans. I was made very welcome by the club president Barry Dunn and other club members and spent a few pleasant hours watching the flying. It was a sunny day but the wind was a little strong and low level turbu-lence made landing a bit of an adventure. It was a good event with a number of visiting flyers, hopefully next year will see another warm, sunny day with a good attendance and a light wind.


A Hangar 9 “Valiant” ARF by Keith Quigg. Another by Keith Quigg, his 1/3 scale Piper J3 Cub is a World Models ARF powered by a DLE 60 twin cylinder petrol engine.

Darren Mecklem’s Beech 17 “Staggerwing” is a Top Flyte ARF. The model spans 1.8m and is powered by an OS 160 Gemini Twin.

Darren Mecklem’s “Staggerwing” landing. The gusty wind made landings hazardous.

Pat Garro’s Extra 260 powered by a DA100cc petrol engine. Mark Radburn with his SE5 built from a Balsa USA kit and powered by an RCG 30cc petrol engine.

Glen Dunstan’s Pilatus PC-6 Porter is scratch built. The model spans 3.1m and is powered by a Zenoah 74cc petrol engine.

Shane Hollingsworth’s 1/4 scale ARF clipped wing Piper J3 Cub was formerly owned by Steve Malcman. The ASP 160 four stroke engine is fitted with a self starter operated from the transmitter.


This CAC Winjeel, built by the late Ian Watts, now hangs in the clubhouse. Lunch time in the comfortable club house.

Graeme Anderson and Glen Dunstan relaxing between flights. Mark Radburn preparing to fly his Piper L4 Grasshopper.

Graeme Anderson checking his model controls before flying.. Graeme’s crop duster is powered by an OS BGX-1 and was not greatly affected by the gusty conditions..

Shade shelter in the pit area. Landscaping in front of the club house improves the appearance of the site.


Every year in February, Orange a town in the mid-western area of NSW, stages the Banjo Paterson Festival over a week. Our Australian hero was born in Orange and each year they celebrate this poetic idol with food & wine festivities, vintage cars, country music, poetry read-ings, breakfasts as well as the Orange Model Aircraft Club presenting the Banjo Paterson Scale Rally. All the town join in to make the week a family affair with plenty to do, eat and see. However, I do suggest you book accommodation well in advance as the numerous motel and hotels fill up very quickly. This year the weather was an aeromodellers dream. Wind was straight down the strip and the runways (helped by a quantity of wa-tering and TLC) were smooth, green and stood out from the bur-nished, drought affected surroundings. As the wind swung round mid morning, the cross strip came into its own and once again, take-offs and landings were into the breeze. It’s great to catch up with friends who share the same interest and there were lots of handshakes as pilots and observers ‘shot the breeze’ discussing all aspects of this wonderful sport.

The OMAC Scale Rally annual flying event is getting very popular with crews from Canberra & Coffs Harbour driving over to show and aviate their wares. A large contingent from Sydney also made up the num-bers and all were treated to the wonderful hospitality from OMAC, led by cheerful Registrar Peter Johnsen. Free coffee, tea and biscuits are on demand both days and the sit-down English breakfast on the Sun-day you couldn’t jump over. We flew that day with what felt like car batteries in our stomach! This very lay-back event is fly as often or as little as you desire. On Sunday pilots were asked to nominate their choice for heavy/light civilian and heavy/light military. Winners included the Ercoupe, Piper Cub and a Laird Turner. After the early presentation on the Sunday, it was back to flying as the conditions were too good to let slip. Next year is already pencilled in on the 16th and 17th February. If you love a great airstrip, friendly atmosphere and a passion for bacon and eggs, make a note. You’ll be made very welcome. Colin Buckley

Bill Mansell assembling his Stinson Reliant. This Ercoupe was among the prize winners.


Keeping cool in the shade. David Menzies preparing to fly his Piper Cub.

The big Decathalon flown by Benjamin Burrell. Benjamin Burrell in deep concentration.

John Crockford and Col Bruce. Ron Clark and his “Jug”.

Ron Clark's B-25 Mitchell bomber. Pilots Roger Crouch and Les Donavan.


Heinkel He.146 just a bit wobbly on touchdown.

Pilot’s wives Sandra Donavan, Bronwyn Crouch and Carolyn Sparkes. Tom Sparks cranking his Laird-Turner racer

Doug Radford's DH.82 Tiger Moth. Another Tiger Moth, this one by Bill Mansell .

Colourful sunglasses worn by pilot Andrew Dore from Canberra. The Orange MAC clubhouse.


DMAC members Andrew Fleming and his father Richard wandered into the control line area looking for a bare patch of ground suitable for a take off by Andrew’s small r/c Stearman. Andrew is 11years old and a capable flier who already has his Bronze Wings.

The control line group at rest as befits their age, from left - Steve Vallve, Doug Rochlin, Frank Godding, David Nobes and Alwyn Smith. The empty chair is mine.

Steve Vallve’s .15 powered profile model is aerobatic and very quick.

A new model by David Nobes

Doug Rochlin’s profile trainer. The OS LA .46 powered model is getting Doug into some aerobatic flying.

FAIR WEATHER ACTIVITIES

at DONCASTER MAC Fine weather on Wednesday and Sunday mornings brings a mixed bag of control line and free flight modellers to do a bit of circulating and model-in-tree recovery together with a lot of socialising and idle

talk. The following photographs were taken in balmy weather through January and February.


Some Sundays are quite busy with model aircraft and the Yarra Bowmen on site. David Nobes and Doug Rochlin with David’s throttle equipped “Hellcat”.

Norm Skene’s “Ringmaster”. David Nobes trustingly allowed me to fly his big Lew McFarland “Shark”.

Cliff McIvor was at the field checking the lawn mowing. He had a go with the Hellcat and soon got the hang of making slow approaches and three point landings.

Rubber powered models by Graeme Watson and Greg Stanfield. It’s a very small area for free flight models and trees are a constant hazard.


The Short Brothers and Harland Ltd. Trophy

for

Victorian Junior State Champion of Champions.

This Trophy was awarded from 1953 until 1982 in which year the award was discontinued, probably because no-one knew where the trophy was lo-cated. Early winners were free flight modellers but it seems to have been dominated by control line flyers in later years. Many of these old trophies have been lost over time but occasionally they turn up again, as did this one. Peter Byrne, who hails from Benalla, discovered this long lost trophy when it was destined for the tip. It was very grubby when found but Peter, on realising that it was a significant part of Victorian aeromodelling history, cleaned it up to reveal both the donors and the long list of winners.


In winning the first 'Gold Trophy' Aerobatic Control-Line Contest at Northampton, Pete Cock of Southampton not only put up an outstand-ing performance personally, but pegged the supremacy of British en-gines in spite of a notably strong Cyclone invasion. Although sixty-seven entries had been received, the quality of the experts taking part in the elimination round, allied to an extremely tricky wind, thinned out the actual contestants to less than a score. First off the mark in the morn-ing was Henry J. Nicholls with a polished performance ex-actly within the framework of the preliminary round, take-off, level flight, climb, dive and wingover and a single inside loop, bringing the model sweetly in to a down-wind dead stick landing. Mike Booth of the Zombies fol-lowed with 'The Barge', pow-ered with an E.D. Competition Special, and treated specta-tors to the full works, including inverted flying and figure eights in addition to minimum requirements. After this hardly an elimination passed without the entrant putting in some 'extras'. By the time some dozen had been through their paces there was a complete lack of enthusiasm amongst the outsiders who sadly put away their models confident that they were outclassed and sat down at the feet of the masters and, unfortu-nately, in all too many instances on their lines in the absence of any official 'line pits'.

The competition proper commenced after lunch when the elimination round was waived in favour of those desiring to take part in the final direct. In spite of this concession there were literally no flights that could not have won with a little more luck of the wind or mixture. Henry J. was washed out with a balky American engine that just would not two stroke, and in spite of two brilliant landings and hectic borrow-ing of tools, could do nothing in the ten minute limit. Ron Moulton,

flying the De Bolt. 'Bipe', as his glo-plug powered low-wing was off colour, crashed within half a dozen circuits and withdrew. Ted Buxton did much the same, though he struggled manfully to get going and had three re-starts, but was com-pletely out of form. First sensational exhibition came from Dennis Allen of the West Essex Club with his Su-per Cyclone powered 'club model', a slab-sided sidewinder with a wide chord high wing of basically simple design, modifi-cations of which seemed the regular West Essex machine.. He went through the set evolu-

tions, including five inside loops and two inverted. circuits, and was ready for his bunts when the engine cut. He could not restart in the limit, but seemed set to win, barring accidents, with 375 points.

Pete Cock’s winning “Kan Doo” powered by a 2cc ED Competition Special diesel

After 70 years this report on the 1948 Gold Trophy by D. J. Laidlaw-Dickson makes interesting reading.


Ken Gregory of the Zombies went to town with his 'Mills Bomb', pow-ered with the new Mark II Mills, but the wind proved too much even for his skill and he constantly lost height in evolutions with disastrous results. In spite of running hand-launch starts - about four of them - he could only cover the fringe of the machine's obvious fair weather pos-sibilities. Mike Booth followed but failed to get the revs from his E.D. and had to be content with a performance much below his morning standard, finally crashing 'The Barge' when the handle slipped out of his moist hand. Two more West Essex entries in the shape of Lewis and Taylor put up quite creditable performances but lacked fellow clubman Dennis Allen's ability to cope with the wind, though flying similar 'goat' models - one in a hideous shade of mauve! Almost at the end came Pete Cock, who gave no indication of his prowess at the start. A shock-headed bespectacled young man, evi-dently conscious of the crowd, his flying stance was awkward and his E.D. Competition Special powered model came in almost at once. Restarting, he came again and seemed to shed his gawkiness with a remarkable display of normal and inverted flying including five inside loops and two outside loops from the inverted position. It was noted that his hand was not turned for inversion, but controls reversed with cross lines, a style approved by the best American masters. Marking was difficult as in all he had several stops and restarts, so that it was not till some time after completion of his set patterns that it was real-ised he had passed Dennis Allen with 385 points, and become the first British Control-line Champion.

His model is the essence of simplicity, being a solid ply and balsa sheet fuselage, reinforced with ply at the bearers, mounting the en-gine as a side winder. High wings of about seven inch chord and sym-metrical section, ribbed and tissue covered, fifty-fifty tail unit and 'yacht rudder' fin, which he claims is less susceptible to blanketing during the transition from normal to inverted position. His E.D. inci-dentally was tuned to perfection; unlike the unlucky Mike Booth's. A review of the main entries showed eleven out of twelve sidewinders - only Gregory's ‘Mills Bomb’ being conventionally mounted; eleven out of twelve using Tekni-flo props. There were seven American en-gines, mainly Cyclones, two Italian Super-Tigres, one a Mk.16B and very hot, the other an obsolete Mk.13, two E.D. Competition Specials and a Mills Mk. II. The British engines occupied first, fourth and sixth places. We would comment on the high standard of flying generally, with the interpolation that contestants were mainly trade or semi-trade, which suggests that at present only trade or trade-supported entrants have either the finance or spare time necessary to attain a 'National' stand-ard of skill. The performance of the low-powered light-weight diesel entries was exceptional in the prevailing weather conditions, and might have been better had the judges consented to 35-feet lines in lieu of the minimum 40 feet specified. Pit work of assistants in getting restarted was commendable, and the punishment models took and yet still flew is a tribute to the strength/weight ratio of these high perfor-mance machines.

Ron Moulton’s De Bolt “Bipe”.

West Essex “club” designs.

Mike Booth’s “The Barge”, Ken Gregory’s “Mills Bomb” and Henry J. Nicholls’ biplane.

Robin Hiern’s replica “Kan Doo” was on display at a recent KDMAC meeting. The model was built by the late Doug Grinham and is powered by an ED Racer 2.46cc diesel engine, a much better performer than the older Competition Spe-cial.


Saturday afternoon saw Rick and I loading the trailer and heading to Camperdown for their annual Fun Fly. Some of the long distance trav-ellers also arrived on the Saturday, so it was down to the local for an enjoyable dinner and chat.

Sunday dawned overcast, cool, and with 20km winds, however this did not stop anyone from flying. Planes varied from War Birds to Tiger Moths to turbine powered jets.

Fliers came from Seymour, Mt Gambier, Naracoorte, Bellarine, Gee-long, Greensborough, Keilor, Warrnambool, Ararat, Hamilton and Warracknabeal.

Thanks again to the Camperdown members for hosting yet another enjoyable weekend.

Rick and Pam Pimblott

LEURA FUN FLY 2018

Rod Mitchell fuelling his black widow for a flight. Mark Radburn with his Balsa USA Newport 11 which flew well in the conditions.

Jack Williams with his scratch built Baby Boomerang powered by a Kingtech 80 turbine and flown by Rod Mitchell.

Murray Ellis with his Ugly Stick powered by a DLE 60.


Craig Brister has his arms full with his large “Olympia”.


The GMFC Aero Tow weekend was held over the weekend of the 17th/18th of February. As you can see we had a fantastic turn out and great weather for this our first big event. As we are a very new club there were a few teething problems, but we got though them.

A bit of background on this event, it all started with a late night call from Ross Bathie who asked if the club would be interested in putting on the event. This was followed by some more calls to the Grampian soaring club with whom we share the Ararat Airport and before we knew it we had interest from all over south eastern Australia. It was full steam ahead from there.

With the help of the VMAA and the club committee we were ready to go on the morning of the 16th. Our first visitor arrived at 9.30am and they just kept coming all day. Flying started Friday afternoon until my own tug broke a header pipe.

Saturday morning was up early for the 9.00am briefing for all pilots, both r/c and full size. After a few flights the wind changed so it was time for a quick runway change and a meeting was held between the safety officers to make small but important changes to flying directions to benefit all. Some of the r/c guys had flights in full size gliders while the full size guys showed great interest in their smaller counterparts.

Some of the problems we faced were with general aviation planes that use Ararat as a place to do some touch and goes, which means we had to land, frustrating not only for the modellers but the soaring club as well.

Sunday flying came to a halt with the big tugs breaking down so we resorted to Dave’s old faithful Boomerang 60 powered by a 120 AX which surprised many of the glider pilots as it towed their glider to 1000ft with ease.

Saturday our catering girls Lorraine Lovell and Bev Daynes went to work providing lunch for all and a two course dinner for more than forty happy pilots. They also supplied lunch on Sunday before people packed up to head home. As a club I think we learnt a lot and when we do this again we will implement some of the feedback suggestions that we received.

Our thanks must go to the pilots who came so far to fly with us, we hope you had a great time. Thanks also to the Grampians Soaring Club for their co-operation and for allowing us to use their hangars for overnight storage for in excess of forty fully rigged models, with room for many more.

Special thanks to the tug pilots, Ross, Keith, Anthony, Andrew, John and Dave, without them the gliders would not have left the ground. To Andrew Neil Downing for all the photos, they are amazing. Great job mate. If you would like to se more of Andrew’s fantastic photos please check out the club’s Facebook page at - www.facebook.com/grampiansmodelflyingclub/

Phillip Daynes.

Wayne Jones’ 1/3 scale Fauvette.

Ross Bathie’s 46% Piper Pawnee tow plane.

Jonathon Greeves with his 6m KA8.

Jonathon Greeves’ 1/2 scale 7.5m KA6.


George Buzuleac’s longwing “Kookaburra”. Two big models — the 46% Piper Pawnee towing the 50% KA8.

Rolf Hedt of the Horsham club at the controls.

“Duster” on Tow.

Shane Talbot’s K21 on tow.

Ross Bathie with his “Libelle”.


My annual fishing trip to Narooma comes around in March and this year I found myself travelling through Gippsland on the same weekend as the Bairnsdale club’s ACTIO(N) scale fly-in. I had already arranged for Rick and Pam Pimblott to report and take pictures at the event but a short detour off the Princes highway was not going to affect my trav-

el plans so late morning on Saturday 10th saw me arrive at the field, meet Rick, Pam and the Bairnsdale fliers, take some photographs and move on towards Narooma.

Over to Rick and Pam.

Friday 10th March saw Rick and I back on the road, this time heading to Bairnsdale for their annual scale / fun-fly event. Saturday dawned clear with a light breeze and a forecast of around 30°C. Scale competition started about 10am after all had some prac-tice flights, each competitor flying seven manoeuvres for two rounds. After each flyer had completed their two rounds the field was opened up for general flying and this brought out the jets and some of the big scale models such as the Catalina. Sunday saw a similar process, with the competition finishing around 12.30pm. Our thanks go to all the Bairnsdale club members who made this a wonderful weekend. For those who have not been to this state field there is excellent mat-ting runway, with grass on the side for those who do not want to use the matting, and the outfield is reasonably smooth. The gardeners among the members have placed some nice plants around the start up area giving it the feel of a hotel garden. The club house is a large building with excellent cooking facilities that enable the members to serve up gourmet hamburgers, hot chips and pavlova dessert, as well as cakes etc. I would encourage all those who have not been to this event to put it on your calendar for a fun and relaxing event next year and give it a go. Pam Pimblott

The Bairnsdale club house and pit area.

Dave Lewis with his MXS-R Racer powered by a DLE55 petrol engine.

(Photograph by Pam Pimblott)




Ken Nichol’s Seagull ARF Fairchild PT-19 and scratch built Vought OS2U King-fisher. Both models are electric powered.

Brian Hutchinson’s 1/5 scale scratch built Fairey Swordfish is powered by a Saito 300 twin cylinder four stroke engine.

Fred Chegwidden’s scratch built 1/5 scale Gloster Gladiator has a wingspan of 2.2m and is powered by a Zenoah 45 petrol engine.

Ken Nichol’s Kingfisher in flight. Adrian Fasham’s Skymaster ARF turbo propped Pilatus PC-21 at take-off.

Tony Wilson with his 1/4 scale Precedent Stampe SV-4 powered by a Saito 120 four stroke engine.

Adrian Fasham’s Cessna Bird Dog powered by a 3W 155 won the Pilot’s Choice award.

Andy Coleman’s Spitfire was judged “Best Flight” on Saturday.


(Photograph by Pam Pimblott) (Photograph by Pam Pimblott)






Adrian Fasham’s PC-21 lost the canopy and cockpit contents on its only flight however the model was landed safely.

Andy Coleman with his P-51 Mustang powered by a DLE55RA petrol engine. Alan Waters’ ARF Cessna 182.

Rick Pimblott’s Morane-Saulnier threw the propeller in flight but the model survived without serious damage.

Alex Chegwidden (left) and Darcy Wilson were the youngest competitors.

Cameron Dyson with his 1/4 scale Fokker E.III “Eindekker” powered by a Zenoah G26. This model was awarded “Best Flight” on Sunday.

Dave Lewis with his Supermarine Spitfire powered by an OS 91FS won the Barry James Memorial award for flight realism.


(Photograph by Robert Kas) (Photograph by Pam Pimblott) (Photograph by Geoff White)


I pass the Bega field every year on my way to Narooma and have made a couple of attempts to reach the site from the Pacific Highway. Each time I have been thwarted by an inability to negotiate a dry creek bed, which crosses the entry road, when towing a boat behind the car.

This year we had an additional car in our entourage so I decided to try again. Despite the car being a medium sized SUV it still required some care (the proximity sensors gave a few pings when the steep walls of the crossing loomed in our path) as we made the creek cross-ing.

The Bega field shares an airfield runway with full sized aircraft, a sys-tem which has been used successfully for many years but is now in jeopardy with plans for a commercial Flight Training School to oper-ate from the field. The club has only a small membership and if the plan proceeds then it is likely that the club will lose the facility and be forced to find another site.

In the meantime the members still enjoy their flying and made me very welcome. I did not have much time available but managed to spend an hour meeting members and photographing their models which were typical of the models flown at most model aero clubs.

Wes Wright’s Pitts S12 Python is a 38% scale Composite-ARF spanning 2.7m and powered by a Moki 250cc radial four stroke engine. The picture on the right shows the model stowed away in its trailer.


Pat Watson with his 2m wingspan Spectra ARF electric powered glider.

Wes Wright’s alternate plane was this 1/3 scale Hangar 9 ARF Extra 300S pow-ered by a 3W 110 petrol engine.

Graeme Chapman’s Hangar 9 ARF Ultra Stick is powered by an OS GF 40 four stroke petrol engine.

Brendon Hassell with his 1/4 scale Stampe SV-4 built from the Precedent kit and powered and powered by a NGH 38cc petrol engine.

Ken Roberts’ was taking his Seagull ARF MXF-R to the Formula I Racing at the NFG field. The model is powered by a DLE 30 petrol engine.

The Bega club has a relatively small membership but the facilities are adequate for a comfortable days flying.

The covered spectator area at the front of the clubhouse and shade shelters in the pits area.

Hangars for the full size aircraft at the north end of the field.


In 2016 I was given a fine welcome on my first visit to the Eurobodalla club and this year I made sure that I could call in again after missing in 2017. After contacting Lionel Carpenter, the club president, we arranged to meet at the field where I was able to enjoy the flying and socialising with the members. The modellers and their models are an eclectic group with interests ranging through scale, aerobatics, powered gliders and various types of old timers — there was even a vintage rubber model on show which flew very well and brought back memories of an earlier era.

Club President, Lionel Carpenter, starting the Saito 120 four stroke in his scratch built Transair Ag Truck.

Laurie Trimmer with his OS 20 FS powered Keil Kraft Junior Sixty.


Dave Pryke’s Douglas DC-3 , built from a Top Flite kit and electric powered.

Dave Pryke with his electric powered Hobbyking “Le Petite” biplane.

Dave Thomas’ FROG “Linnet”, a vintage rubber powered model, flew well.

Mike Ward is a new member who has just arrived from Canberra. His ARF Extra 300 is electric powered and performed some nice aerobatics.

Robert Oldfield with his ARF E Flite “Apprentice” about to take-off.

Alan Lauder with his 1/6 scale Flair “Puppeteer”.


Dave Thomas picked up this ARF ducted fan BAe “Hawk” at the bargain price of $40. Model performs well.

Dave Pryke’s ARF Hobbyking “Le Petite” biplane.

Lionel Carpenter’s Transavia Ag Truck in flight. Model is powered by a Saito 120 four stroke engine.

Lionel Carpenter’s Bowers “Fly Baby” powered by a Saito 72 four stroke engine.

A Yak 55 by Lionel Carpenter, powered by an OS 33 petrol engine. Electric ducted fan DH Vampire by Lionel Carpenter.

Robert Oldfield’s E Flite “Apprentice” in flight. Alan Lauder’s Flair “Puppeteer” takes off.


OS 40 GF A new engine, this was a late purchase and has never been

run. Includes a 1.75”stand-off set. $650

OS FS-200S A used engine in very good condition.

$300

OS FS-91S II Used engine in very good condition.

$200

OS FS-120S-E Used engine in good condition.

$200

OS FS-91S Used engine in good condition.

$150

FOR SALE ENGINES AND TRANSMITTERS

CONTACT: JOHN LAMONT

Home: 94310044, Mobile 0415384823, Email: [email protected]

OS FS -200S A new engine, this was another late purchase and has never

been run. $450

SOLD


OS BGX-1 Used engine in very good condition.

$250

MOKI 210 Used engine in good condition.

$200

SAITO FA-80 Used engine in good condition.

$125

Super Tigre G4500 Used engine in good condition.

$200

JR XG8 Transmitter (Mode 1) a late purchase, c/w charger. $200

Hitec Aurora 9X Transmitter (Mode 1) c/w charger. $200

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD


The Premier event on the Australian Precision Aerobatics Inc. calen-dar is the APA Masters and World Cup event. Last year this event was held at the Charles Kingsford-Smith Club in Pitt Town NSW, this year it was at the P&DARCS club in Victoria. The event is open to all comers including any International fliers who wish to make the journey to Australia. Last year we had four international entrants plus four entrants from New Zealand. With the F3A World Championship being held in Argentina mid-way through 2017, only the Kiwis came across to keep our local fliers honest. Having said that, three of the Kiwis were Granddad, Dad and Grandson Ewan, Hamish and Sean Galloway flying in Expert, F3a and Sportsman respective-ly. The remaining Kiwi, Andrew Palmer was assisted by his wife and caller Suetonia Palmer. We also had a very special guest all the way from France, Roland Poidevin and his wife. Roland invented the new judging system, Notaumatics, which has revolutionized F3A judging and streamlined the scoring process enor-mously. Australia, driven by Irish Queenslander James McAllen, has been at the head of the world queue in adopting this system. The state organi-sations have all adopted the system for their local competitions. A suitable model was found for Roland and he flew in Expert. The weather outlook could not have been better, low 30’s all weekend and low 20’s on Monday for the F3A fly-off. The event attracted forty one entrants

across all classes. Friday was all about practice, chin wagging, meet-ing up with old friends and getting the organisational side up and run-ning. Although the competition flights would be on two flight-lines practice flying organized itself into an orderly queue and one flight-line. At the end of the day, pizzas had been arranged by the APA Vice President Peter Pennisi from the local pizza emporium. These fed around fifty people who sat chatting about all things aeromodelling

while others undertook a little night flying with combat wings. Saturday’s competitions and entries were — F3A twenty entrants, Expert eleven entrants, Advanced six entrants, Sports-man four entrants. After a short pilot’s briefing on Saturday morning, the compe-tition began at 9:20am with Sportsman and Advanced combined to complete two rounds. Expert completed two rounds and F3A closed out the proceedings at 4:15pm. Our VP Peter Pennisi organised a local catering company to come to P&DARCS and cook our evening meal — spit roast and salad/veggies. As darkness descended on the proceeds, it was time for the auction. Sponsors of the event included Falcon, OMP, Model Sports and Precision Aero Products. Sunday repeated Saturday’s plan com-pleting the competition for all classes and setting up the top ten fliers in the F3A class who would fly the FAI schedule on Monday for the Masters trophy. Once the top ten knew who they were, most left for either the SWAMPS field or Nepean field to practice the schedule.

F3A winner Glenn Orchard.


Sunday is also the AGM of the APA. Nomination forms had previously been sent out and received back. Russell Edwards took over the meeting and the committee stepped down. All were re-elected to their previous position and newcomer Durwin Dharmaraj joined the commit-tee as an ordinary member. With the official business out of the way, it was feeding time and dinner saw the reheating of Pizza and carving of left-over meat for rolls and sandwiches. As predicted, Monday’s weather was cooler and windier than the pre-ceding three days. With only ten fliers to work through only one flight-line was in operation. Once again they fought their way through three rounds and to say that the outcome was close would be an under-statement. Glenn Orchard pipped Andrew Palmer to first place by 0.02

points! Overall a great event once again, well supported with entrants from around Australia. Next year is presently planned for Queensland with three International fliers already stating their intention to makie the trek South. On the organisational side of things, James McAllen, Roland Poidevin and Artur Uzieblo worked behind the scenes faultlessly, providing training in the Notaumatics system and collating the scores for competitors to follow their progress throughout the event. Roll on 2019. Bill Wheeler

2018 MASTERS and WORLD CUP - F3A

1. Glenn Orchard (AUS) 2133.40

2. Andrew Palmer (NZ) 2133.28

3. John Tonks (AUS) 2097.48

2018 MASTERS and WORLD CUP - EXPERT

1. John Brann (AUS) 5396.43

2. Mike Ralph (AUS) 5392.27

3. Artur Uziebio (AUS) 4964.19

2018 MASTERS and WORLD CUP - ADVANCED

1. David Marriner (AUS) 5130.09

2. Daniel Wheeler (AUS) 5081.67

3. James McAllen (AUS) 4819.59

2018 MASTERS and WORLD CUP - SPORTSMAN

1. Michael Smith (AUS) 5295.49

2. Tony Sheppard (AUS) 4813.78

3. Mario Schembri (AUS) 4469.14


Colin Briede came from Perth WA with his “Allure”. Colin bought the moulded fuselage and built the wing and tail surfaces himself. Interior photo shows the very light construction required to keep the model below the max allowed weight of 5Kg. The model is electric powered with contra rotating propellers.

The Greensborough club opened their field on the Thursday before the event and several competitors turned up for some early practice.


Friday Night was Pizza night. Camping at P&DARCS.

Auctioneer James McAllen at work.

Saturday night was Spit Roast night.

The flight line with pilots relaxing while waiting to fly.

Roland Poidevin from France. Andrew palmer came over from NZ to place second in F3A


The Championships were held over the Easter holiday period at Knox MAC and drew a very small entry in the three classes. Had it not been for the attendance of three NSW flyers then the event would have been cancelled. The early control line flyers of my generation are almost gone and the following generation are barely able to sus-tain this branch of aeromodelling. It now seems certain that, when they too have departed over the next ten or fifteen years, the control line era will draw to a close. However, while it lasts, let’s enjoy the moment and marvel at the advances made in the models and their incredible performance. Most noticeable is the continuing trend to-wards electric power in the F2B class. With electronics controlling start up and shut down of the motor there is no difficulty in keeping within the time frame and the reliable and constant power output allows the pilot to concentrate on the manoeuvres without concern about variations in engine performance. Weather on Saturday was almost perfect allowing the preliminary rounds of F2B to be completed along with the two rounds of the Vintage class. Sunday weather was not as good, the final rounds of F2B were completed early but the strengthening wind forced the Classic event to be limited to one round.

CONTESTANT RND 1 RND 2 RND 3 RND 4 TOTAL

1 M. HOWELL 1011.33 1054.83 1104.83 1065.67 1079.83

2 R. TOWELL 976.33 1045 1058.50 1077.67 1061.33

3 M. ELLINS DNF 1012.17 DNF 999.50 1005.83

4 F. BATTAM 933.50 978.17 974.83 973.33 976.50

5 D. PICKARD DNF 705.83 DNF 437.67 571.75

CONTESTANT MODEL ENGINE YEAR RND 1 TOTAL

1 R. TOWELL T’BIRD FOX .35 1955 1019.5 1019.5

2 F. BATTAM BEARCAT SAITO 56 1969 987.5 987.5

3 D. PICKARD EPIC ST .60 1969 980.5 980.5

4 M. HOWELL CHIEF OS .46LA 1954 973.0 973.50

5 A. NUGENT NOBLER OS .46LA 789.3 789.3

CONTESTANT MODEL ENGINE STATIC RND 1 TOTAL

1 D. NOBES JAMISON SP ATWOOD 59 119 354 473

2 K.MAIER RINGMASTER FOX .35 112 299 412

3 D. LACY JAMISON SP OS .40FP 93 221 314

RND 2

316

300

175

F2B

CLASSIC

VINTAGE


Frank Battam’s electric powered Gee Bee. Murray Howell also flew a Gee Bee. electric model.

F2B winners, from left — Mark Ellins 3rd, Murray Howell 1st, Reg Towell 2nd.

Reg Towell starting his semi-scale Hawker Fury assisted by Frank Battam. Mark Ellins flew a model built by the late Doug Grinham.

34

Murray Howell starting his “Chief” assisted by Frank Battam. Andrew Nugent and Frank Battam waiting to start Andrew’s “Nobler”.

Classic winners, from left — Frank Battam 2nd, Reg Towell 1st, Derek Pickard 3rd.

Derek Pickard takes off with his “Epic” model. Frankk Battam with his Bearcat inverted.


David Nobes starting the Atwood Triumph in his “Jamieson Special” assisted by Peter Byrne.

Dave Lacy filling the fuel tank in his “Jamieson Special”.

Vintage winners, from left — Ken Maier 2nd, David Nobes 1st, Dave Lacy 3rd.

Ken Maier flying his Fox .35 powered S1 “Ringmaster” in the vintage event.


The forecast was for heavy winds all weekend with possible rain on Sunday but despite the forecast twelve brave pilots from surrounding clubs made the trek to Warrnambool with a good number coming from Ballarat as usual. There were several other visitors from other clubs who arrived but without models. A moderate wind was blowing by 9.00am Saturday morning but as the wind was to get up a few pilots took to the air early. Norm Ed-munds from CHAMPS had a couple of good flights with his Cess-nax310 (members commented how great his engines sounded) until on the third flight the Rx battery failed. Peter Stefurak also flew a large aerobatic model. Stewie Kinghorn has his Ultimate Bipe going well. Jamie McLaren put in a flight of his 17kg 80cc Extra, Geoff McCarten from Keilor had brought his well worn Tiger moth and I think put in one flight before the wind got up. The Ballarat guys had two big Tiger Moths but the wind was too much to even consider fly-ing them. Wayne Goodwin from Ballarat braved the conditions and flew his Westland Wyvern. He told me that it was an ARF that he stripped back, glassed and repainted. He had done quite a good job and the model flew well. All in all there were about a dozen or so flights before the wind really got up. Flying stopped by 1.30pm and after distributing some prizes to the visiting pilots, most people packed up hoping to fly again in the morn-ing. I received a call at 11.30pm on Saturday night from Murray Anstis, who was camping at the field along with others, to say there was a fire coming at the field. Needless to say by 12.45am we had all the campers, caravans and trailers out to a safe site and everyone had a bed to go to, although Murray missed the turn and slept in his car outside the Koroit police station! The winds got up to 104kph over-night. It turned out that the fire we could see was a long way from the field but Sunday morning the winds were still blowing at 60kph, with rain, so event was called off. We would learn later just how bad were the fires to the NW and SE of Warrnambool. I would like to thank Murray and the rest of the Ballarat guys for their help and cooperation on the Saturday night. Rod Mitchell


TYABB AIR SHOW

(Photographs by Stephen Gray)

2018


This "Scanner Challenge" is Bendigo's race event number six and is rather special as we now have a new supporter of the Challenge in O'Reilly Model Products who have come on board to help us celebrate the 20 years of the ARF Phoenix Scanner. The Bendigo Club would like to thank OMP, Phoenix Models and OS Engines for their support of this fun filled race.

Issue No. 51 AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWS · Darren Mecklem’s Beech 17 “Staggerwing” is a Top Flyte...

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Transcript of Issue No. 51 AUSTRALIAN MODEL NEWS · Darren Mecklem’s Beech 17 “Staggerwing” is a Top Flyte...