“Goldfields Aeromodellers”

What is it with man and his obsession for speed ? What makes him strive for that extra ounce of performance? Where will this craziness end I ask you? : ) What makes our club Prez compress extra nicads into his already crowded fuse on his F5B glider. Transforming an already high speed airplane into a battery melting bolt of lightening. Something which sounds like a supercharged vacuum cleaner on steroids! Sort of gives a whole new meaning to the term “hand launching”. Kinda like “ when your feet are dragging along the ground, and your arm is gunna snap, let go okay! “ “Umm yeah , sure, is this gunna hurt? “And so this is how I describe Garry Adams “ Clash” glider. Truly an amazing sight to see. Whistling past our heads at terminal velocity and in the next instant, nothing but a faint cross on the horizon. Soaring vertically upwards towards the clouds before looping back for another flyby. Very impressive. I think that this is what aeromodelling is all about - Pure adrenalin rush.

Paul Murnane has been getting down to business with assembling his new Great Planes, 40 size F4U Corsair. A lot of time and effort has gone into building this rig. The Warbird is nearing completion with just some hardware and film yet to be applied. He has picked out a Saito 91 four stroke to power up this monster and it will be great to see this all time favourite patrolling our airfield and carrying out sorties.

“ Zero’s at three o’clock!!!” “ I gottem in my sights, Takka! Takka! Takka!”

(sorry, got carried away there )

It is good to see Ray Harding back up in the air with a “ Classic Trainer “ after the sad loss of his “ Willy Trainer”. Get straight back up on the horse as the saying goes. How is it that no matter what Ray flies, he still seems to take out the longest flight duration award? Ray can be seen doing his usual bag of tricks while other pilots will head out, do their stuff, and return to the shed before Ray’s plane is even thinking about chugging on that last ounce of gas. “Hey Ray! What size tank ya got in that thing anyway?” : )

Jon Bates has also been giving his Phaeton 90 Biplane a good workout with some low level aerobatic displays lately. How those wing strut bolts stay put has got me stuffed. The master at work performing his signature, touch and goes, with a dash of full rudder and full noise for good measure. More like a touch and go u-turn really. His prop hangs still sound like a whipper snipper up against a tin fence when it falls back through its prop wash. This aging crate can fairly lumber around the sky at a fair speed. His trusty Saito 130 Twin pumping out the horses while running on Jon’s secret fuel mix. Known to contain such ingredients as printer ink, armour-all, paint thinners and petrol (unleaded of course) amongst other things. But that is top secret!! So don’t tell anyone ok?

Tim Bailye graced us with his presence recently with a fine display of precision flying. As always he was sighted pushing the envelope with his PC9. Arguably the best inverted, 6 foot high off the runway flyby’s I have ever witnessed. “ Hmm, How did ya get those funny scratches on top of yer canopy Tim? “

I myself have managed to set free an 8 year old Hurricane 40 which I rescued from a garage sale. Sitting in the corner all covered in dust it was just begging to be bought at a bargain price of $20. After fitting all the electrics and a Russian Hand grenade (MDS 40) up front she weighed in around 6lbs! A little heavy I thought for such a tiny plane. The 10 coats of paint on the fuse provided by the previous owner possibly the cause. Anyway, she turned out to be a real doozy. Able to perform all the basic manoeuvres expected of a low wing. A diet for this little porker in the near future is planned with some lightening holes in the tail feathers and fuse.

Peter DeGroot’s Tango is still whizzing and whirring it’s way overhead. After upsizing to an OS 46 La it really cranks! It has been spotted doing some loops, rolls and even inverted flight as well. Peter’s favourite trick is to head into the wind and either slowly hover and travel in a reverse direction or hover and float downwards. A real rotor stopper! Sounds a little bit scary and believe me it is, but it is still proving to be a crowd pleaser.

A little reminder that props and fingers do not mix. We should all be aware of the dangers associated with aeromodelling and be sure not to become complacent. Yes, spinning props are not fussy whose fingers they bight! Be they rookies or the most experienced pilot. Safety, Live with it.

Jarrad Brown

Goldfields Aeromodellers