G,day from the Goldfields.

I now have a better understanding of the phrase "highs and lows of competition" after returning from the Nationals held in Busselton. I had a great week but certainly experienced both extremes during my two days of competition.

The lowest point for me was undoubtedly the first morning of the Stand-off scale comp when I assembled the Caribou and found that a throttle servo had chosen that moment as the competition started, to mysteriously die. It was then that the level of support that I was unaware I had came into full swing with the organisers doing their utmost to make allowances for the delay that I was obviously going to suffer rectifying the problem.

The first priority was to confirm that it was a servo fault through the usual process of elimination. It was then that a spectator stepped out of the crowd and offered the use of a multi meter. Jerry Hartley is an avionics specialist in the RAAF , attached to the A97h Hercules. Not only did he let me use the multi meter, he GAVE it to me once I had finished tracing the fault. It was then that a Kalgoorlie member, Grant Andrews, arrived from another field. As soon as he realised that I did not have a spare servo on hand he went to his vehicle and took out a brand new servo and a length of fishing line from his rod so we could drag the wires through the wing wire channel. I must also thank Chris Mounkley who offered to pull his Jet apart for parts if need be. Thankfully that was not necessary. Quickly re-assembling the aircraft I was soon into the competition.

The aircraft scored very well in the static component, mostly due to its eligibility for maximum points being a designer scratch built model. I lost points by not having a glazed cockpit or cabin windows. This was a fair call as all the other aircraft in the comp did so at some effort by their builders.

It was then on to the flying stages by which time the weather had deteriorated with a strong wind coming down the field (fortunately reasonably parallel to the strip). Having never flown the plane in a wind I selected flaps for take-off and immediately realised my mistake as the plane took off and headed almost vertically in wonky fashion for the heavens. It was then a matter of regaining control of the aircraft and my nerves to complete the flight in a semi controlled manner. Flaps for landing were also a mistake and I abandoned them for the rest of the day. The aircraft looses lateral controllability with too much flap selected and also drops too much airspeed, causing it to flop onto the runway at the last moment resulting in a series of damaging bounces from then on.

I completed the three rounds with a steadily improving score for each with a few minor areas of damage to the model due to not getting a decent landing in. The second of my flights turned into a marathon as it was halted twice due to rain. I took off and completed a couple of manoeuvres then was called down by the Judges as the rain arrived.

After waiting for a time the flight was restarted, only to be called down again about three manoeuvres later. The delay this time was considerable, resulting in the entire twelve minute flight taking in excess of an hour. The only positive was that I was getting more take-offs and landings in to familiarise myself with the conditions and the aircraft. This was handy as the wind was so bad for my third flight that the Judges cabana had to be taken down before my flight as it was in danger of blowing away.

My sense of relief at the completion of my three rounds was overwhelming, however I wasn’t able to enjoy it long as I was invited to fly in the following days Mammoth scale event as they were short of entrants, and the Caribou at two metres just qualifies, unbeknown to me. Heading home to my accommodation I started the process of repairing and cleaning the jolly green giant as best I could for the following days event.

The day dawned clear and calm and I headed out to the field. With no technical hitches my day proceeded with little drama, except for delays caused by full size aircraft comings and goings. Following Ken Wansborough’s advice, I used high rates on the elevator for the landing on the second flight and pulled off a greaser, the first decent landing it had ever done, apart from the fact that once it was back on the ground I was so excited about landing it in the proper attitude that I ignored the roll out and did not steer straight or throttle back and lost points. Truth is I couldn’t have cared less if I scored two out of ten, such was my joy, however the judges were very generous and awarded straight eights, despite being half scared out of their seats by my shout of joy on touch down.

Knowing that I only needed to fly two of three rounds I decided to quit at that point as it had been an intense two days. It turned out to be a good decision as the cross wind that had been gentle for most of the day, picked up to give the remaining competitors some problems.

Apart from the support of the organisers, officials and fellow competitors, my greatest satisfaction was the response to the aircraft from many ex-military and general spectators. All wanted to express how good the Caribou looked in the air and when taxying back to the pits with the lights on. After the problems I had before the Nats with the engines they never missed a beat although an inability to pull full revs and a rumble from the right engine suggests I will putting a new set of bearings into it soon.

Many people also showed great interest in the brown paper over foam method that I used on the Caribou, especially the use of brown paper to cover the foam core, balsa sheeted wings. If anyone would like some more information on this easy, very light and very cheap method, please feel free to contact me. The method was also described in the March 2000 and subsequent issues of the Windsock.

I would like to thank Ken Wansborough who called for me for both days, talking me through all my flights, and being largely responsible for my gradually improving scores as the comp progressed. Ken was also competing on the first day and judged static on the second and is to be admired for his stamina and generosity.

I also had the assistance of Mark Stubbs, a young beginner who stepped in to assist during the first day of dramas any way he could. Thanks Mark.

Apart from some minor difficulties with the supplied map, unkind weather and poor attendance from eastern state competitors it was a great week and I got to see many different disciplines and aircraft in action. For instance, I can now categorically state that I think that the boys who fly pulsejets are probably certifiable. You would have to be at least a little mad to want to hang on to one of those things as it roars around in circles until sanity and peace returns when the fuel is burnt up. The fellow who tripped over while trying to get his pulsejet airborne is very lucky that it stopped when it did as he would have ended up wrapped up tighter than a bug in a spiders web!

At least the control line pulsejet guys would have someone to talk to in the Institution as it would already be full of pylon pilots! One pilot in particular did a very fair imitation of a Japanese Kamakazi dive bomber, just failing to blow a hole in the scorers cage, clipping it before smashing into the tarmac at full speed. Not much of the plane was identifiable.

I also got to meet and put names to faces for people I have had dealings with, or read about in the past. A huge thank you to the organisers, volunteer officials and fellow competitors for a week to remember. The food, facilities and support of the Busselton Aero club was also a definite highlight.

Goldfields Aeromodellers have been invited back to participate in the RFDS open day on the 13^th of May. Our first involvement last year with a static display was very successful and I hope to be able to report a similar days activity in an upcoming edition of the Windsock.

Regards, Tim Bailye.

timbailye@hotmail.com

0890913714