G'day from the Goldfields.

Well, not a lot has happened in the past month, unless you include two trips to Perth by Royal Flying Doctor, the arrival of our three month premature, two pound baby girl, and the A.G.M. of the Goldfields Aeromodellers.

On the home front I am happy to report that mother Naomi and baby Emma are doing fantastically well. Unfortunately at Emma's current growth rate the quarter scale Cub I had planned for her first birthday is not going to be big enough. It is very humbling to experience the incredible care and attention provided by professionals such as the R.F.D.S. and doctors, midwives and staff at both Kalgoorlie and King Edward Memorial Hospital. I have had a great deal of my faith in humanity restored in the past few weeks and have also gained a whole new respect for the inner strength of my lovely lady, and am awed by he amazing recovery from what was a near death experience.

On the modelling front, we have been having a good time getting back to basics. For various previously revealed reasons our more experienced flyers haven't been very regular attendees, but a lot of our new pilots have been enjoying the calmer conditions (and lack of flies!) getting a lot of air-time and making remarkable progress in their airmanship.

Pilots such as Trevor Parnell, Peter DeGroot and Peter Oxenham are well past the trainer stage and are throwing their low wing craft all over the sky and having a ball, with a few hair raising close calls along the way.

Trevor and Peter D have both discovered the virtues of the A.R.F. Pheonix Scanner, a perfect choice for a second aircraft. On low rates it is a forgiving low wing trainer, with lovely landing characteristics. On high rates it comes alive, especially with a strong .46 up front.

Being such good value for money there has been a lot of discussion about the merits of using the Scanner for R.C. Combat and hopefully by the next issue of Windsock I should have results of our first experiments.

Our only set back so far has been finding a suitable streamer that survives being towed at high speeds without being turned into confetti or too strong to be cut with the risk of wrapping around a pursuing aircraft's propeller or wing. We are currently seeking information via the internet on combat specifics - perhaps you may have had experience with combat streamers, especially if you have had anything to do with control line combat, for which I must profess ignorance, having never seen it done (any suggestions gratefully received on 9091 3714).

Our newest trainee, Brent Waddell is unfortunately lacking an aircraft at this point in time, due to the premature demise of his Hustler MkIII. Brent suffered a phenomenon known locally as the 'Javelin effect' when the wing departed from his craft at height and speed. Initially the rubber bands were suspected but it appears that the forward wing dowel ripped out of the fuselage, possibly proving a suspicion that I have always held about the Hustler. That being that if you remove the window cut outs to give the Hustler a more scalish appearance, your severely weaken the cabin section. By far the best alternative I would recommend to newcomers, is to push out the window inserts, coat their edges with epoxy and refit. Using the optional supplied balsa block windscreen also adds a great deal of strength to the cabin area.

Brents misfortune also proved another theory that I have held for a long time: That being 'an aircraft's fuselage actually contributes very little lift' in most cases. Bad luck Brent, but I am sure you'll be flying again soon.

Regular readers may be wondering about progress made with my Britton Norman Trilander. Yes it is finished, the computer graphics specialist did a fantastic job. I have run up the three engines with a few of the usual teething problems along the way, however they do sound great running together. I have been waiting for the real aircraft to come back to town so I can get some photos of the two together for Windsock. Hopefully this will be possible this afternoon. Keep ya posted.

I will leave you with this thought for the month. A good landing should be like a good child; seen but not heard.