GOLDFIELDS AEROMODELLERS
Getting laid, and steel
erections, ahem!, that’s exactly what our club members have been doing lately.
Concreting and building that is, for our new club expansions. Our new shed
extension is well under way with the new floor and frame work already
completed. This will double our existing shed space and improve our flying
field facilities. Big thanks and well done goes out to all the members who have
kindly donated their time and equipment towards making all this possible.
Our AGM was held recently
with Garry Adams taking the helm as president for another year. Jon bates was
elected vice president and Cliff Altus was elected secretary. Paul Murnane was
chosen as the safety officer while yours truly was nominated as public relations
officer. Our club membership has remained steady for the last year which is
good news.
Ray Harding’s classic
trainer is no more after a mach 3 vertical landing. His highly modified battle
truck flying machine will be sadly missed with its on top of fuse mounted
gravity fed fuel tank and custom made engine cooling fins. Splintered balsa
wrapped in plastic covering was virtually all that remained of this slightly
agricultural looking plane with its wire ties and steel clamps. Ray still has
his superb looking Piper Cub and that little sweet sounding four stroker in it.
I have recently finished my
latest scratch built project, at last! Not without a few little dilemma’s
during its construction. Accidentally dropping it one evening and snapping the
fuse was just one of the many problems that I faced whilst building it. When attempting to remove a slight twist from
the vertical stab, another break occurred resulting from too much opposite ham
fisted force. (Well I am a mechanic after all).
What is supposed to resemble a “Reno Racer” pylon racer has been renamed
by my fellow colleagues as “Renal Failure”. But we all know that they are just
jealous, right ? This 40” foam wing and balsa pocket rocket sure delivers the
goods with nice razor sharp knife edges due to its grossly oversized rudder and
a roll rate that left me and my thumbs way, way behind. After its maiden flight
with a brand new Magnum 25 it was found to be lacking in the grunt department
so it has since been upstaged by a Magnum 46 BB. Fast? Not arf fast!, with a
nice audible whistle to go with it! Rates are being increased after every
flight as I start to get acquainted with its flight characteristics.
Greg Leech has gone from
strength to strength after receiving his wings. Lately he has been the first
member to the field on Sundays throwing his trainer all over the place with his
Enya 40 screaming in the wind. Loops, rolls, inverted flight, wingsnappin power
dives no problem for this new pilot. I can see the high wing trainer saying “ I
just can’t do this anymore man” and disintegrating under high structural forces
and being replaced with a new aerobatic model of some sort in the near future.
Greg’s landings are always spot on too, which shows his good, all round flying
ability.
Tim Baileye’s Caribou was out recently due to the nice calm weather. Looking very scale like doing circuits of our field. The twin motors purring away nicely. Landing this big rig always provides an element of excitement for onlookers as Tim brings her in on its final approach for landing. Hot and heavy probably describes it the best as Tim wrestles it to the ground safely with a nice slide down the opposing runway after using the full length of the first strip. Nice stuff.
Mike Proud blew the cob webs off his Xcell 60 chopper in more ways than one. After completing all the preliminary adjustments and trimmings he started to proceed with his flight, only for it to suddenly flip and start to whack the ground like a rotary hoe! Some minor damage to the blades and associated gear resulted, the jury is still out on the cause of the problem. It is never good to see one of these expensive things hit the deck.
Gary Adams has recently
purchased a Great Planes, Kit, 1/3 scale, Extra 330L. He also has an 80cc twin
motor to provide the necessary power up front. This is one hellova big plane
indeed! The motor would be about the same size as my lawn mower down the shed.
Paul Murnane has been busy
clocking up the hours on his PC9. Spiral dives and high speed flybys are the
norm for this aircraft, which it performs flawlessly. Paul’s F4U Corsair has
been getting some attention in the repair shop and is due out to the field in
the near future. Some wing and fuse corrections required after an unplanned
landing. This warbird is always a pleasure to watch as it thumps around the
sky.
Cheers
Jarred Brown