Gday from the Goldfields.
 

Goldfields Aeromodellers recently had the opportunity to participate in something a little out of the ordinary.

Hearing that the local RFDS base was having a family open day, I approached them to see if we could participate with a static display. Their response was terrific, offering their hanger for our use..

With less than a weeks notice my fellow members responded fantastically, bringing along a few of their favourite aircraft and helping to set up and be part of the successful day.

Two of our senior members, Mike proud and Mike White who were unfortunately working on the day, were kind enough to allow Cliff and myself to raid their workshops and steal a few prize exhibits, one being Proudy's beautiful 50cc four stroke powered Space Walker and the others being Mike White's suburb 1/5 scale Spitfire and his yet unflown ducted fan Jet.

The public response was such that those three aircraft, on their own, would have been sufficient to excite the mob. Having eighteen aircraft from choppers through to large competition capable gliders ensured that the public was well satisfied. It was a real treat to watch the very small members of our community as they could hardly contain their excitement as being so close to such a diverse collection of goodies.

Our members also enjoyed the other activities being run inconjunction with the open day.

An outback air race for charity used the RFDS as a stop over on their way to Esperance, so our members got to see a wide variety of light aircraft coming and going, including the diminutive jabiru and an Air Force PC9. Also on display was our locally based ex RAAF Wingeel which provided an interesting counterpoint to the PC9, both used for similar purposes by the RAAF, but light years apart on the technological scale.

Now to decide which to model first, although I must confess an attraction to the PC 9 for as many years as they have been in service.

It was great to do something different for a change, and I would like to thank my fellow members for their contribution to the days success.

I have heard through the grapevine the the RFDS has another commitment to an air race in August and are keen to have us back. Hopefully, by then my scratch built Caribou will be well sorted. Progress to date includes finalisation of all of the fuselage mounted hardware and I am now approaching final finishing of the fuse.

I have completed the wing structure, including hand carving the ailerons from balsa. That was quite a challenge, as I had to include the effects of wash-out over their length as well as being tapered in both chord and depth.

I decided on balsa sheeted foam for the wings with 3 ply spars reaching 150mm past the engine nacelles which are simple box structures.

The nacelles incorporate the rather large down thrust angle of the original and I also included 3 degrees out thrust in the nacelles to help in the event of and engine failure.

At this point final finishing or the wings has ground to a halt as I am in the process of fitting the navigation lights and aileron servos.

With construction of undercarriage, engine housings and placement of associated engine hardware, I obviously have a fair way to go on the wing, however I feel that the worst in behind me.

I hope that rabbiting on about my scratch built projects does not lead you to believe I am some sort of scratch building guru. The opposite is quite true as this is only my second ever S/B model and a lot of the techniques I am using are my first experiences with the technique. An example of this would be the balsa sheeting of the foam wings, which I have never attempted before proceeding, preceeded by my experiences at attempting to cut foam wings with built in washout. I threw away a few attempts before getting it close enough for use, but I learned a lot along the way, and I guess that this is the whole point of attempting scratch built models.

The challenge of overcoming building difficulties, learning old proven techniques, experimenting with new materials and methods of applications, and doing as much as possible with a very limited budget. I would encourage you if you have built a few kits to have a go.

There is just one qualification I would like to make on the previous comment. It is my belief and the similarity held belief of a large number of my fellow modellers, that in many instances the ability of the builder to construct beautifully finished models outpaces their flying ability. You may argue that this is personal choice, that if somebody prefers building intricate models to flying them, then so be it. However I see an inherent danger with this attitude particularly with the general trend to large, faster models as standard.

In my mind there is not a lot more frightening, particularly from a safety officers view point, than a large model lumbering around the field in the hands of a pilot who really if truth be known, would have regular difficulties flying a good trainer to a proficient standard.

My basic message is simple. If at all possible try to develop your flying ability at the same rate as your building proficiency. This is relatively easy and inexpensive to achieve. Go out and buy an ARF 40-46 size trainer and put is a few flights on a regular basis to maintain and improve your skills.

In the long run you will save yourself a lot of dollars and heart ache from wasted effort and may even unknowingly prevent a serious injury or death. Besides, your presence at the club at a regular basis will promote friendships, and you may be able to pass on a lot of your hard earned building knowledge to beginner muggins like myself. Believe me, it would be appreciated.

That’s all from Kalgoorlie this month. Unfortunately last weekends combat was rained out (and that is a shame… I was ready to trim your tail feathers -- PdeG) a very rare occurrence for us to lose a weekend through weather, but it did happen. Thanks on closing to Peter de Groot and Cliff Altus for helping to construct the trial safety barrier last Saturday. In hindsite, we should have been flying boys.

Note : I have finally got some snaps of the aforementioned Caribou on our web site. You will find the link in the construction section towards the bottom of the home page. She's a bit rough, but obviously, there is more to come. -- PdeG

Tim Bailye

G.A.M. 0890913714

Web Page : kalnet.com.au/gam