August - Yarra Valley Aeromodellers

“THE FLYER”
YARRA VALLEY AEROMODELLERS NEWSLETTER
August 2013
The Committee:
President –
Jon Goudge 0400 688 787
Vice President –
Dave Nichols 9752 5830
Secretary –
Hugh Coleman 5968 1629
[email protected]
Treasurer –
Adrian Whiter 9739 6686
Registrar –
Adrian Whiter 9739 6686
Public Officer –
Hugh Coleman 5968 1629
News Letter Editor
Hugh Coleman 5968 1629
Depending on which way you look at it, this photo either shows the moment of Bill
Wheeler’s agonised demise, or the moment of Daniel Goudge’s glorious triumph.
The Limbo event at the recent club day saw two clear rounds at 2.2 meters for both Bill and
Daniel and then a clear round at 1.8 meters for both as well. It was not until the tape was
lowered to 1.2 meters – Daniel achieved 5 clear passes and Bill 4. But on Bills last pass, the
wind caught his model and the prop cut the ribbon.
The rest of the day saw 8 competitors in various events vie for placings in half a dozen different
events… The weather being variable with winds gusting up around 25Km and in all directions.
Nevertheless, all had fun at the second of our four club days this year.
More details on the day are later in the issue.
Next Meeting - Auction
Our next club meeting will be on the Monday 26th
of August at the Red Earth Centre in Mooroolbark.
Newsletter now on our website at:- www.yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au
WANTED
Any OS Brand Engines in good order or New.
Call Adrian Whiter 9739 6686 or 0419 535 460
FREE TO GOOD HOME
David Hipperson has a large collection of builders plans that he is looking for loving homes for.
There are rubber powered Old Timers, Electric Sport and Scale and IC Sport and Scale plans available. David’s only
stipulation is that these should go to genuine builders and not just sit in the attic gathering dust.
Contact David on 9728 4889 for a list of those subjects that might fall within your particular interest.
Please send all For Sale and Wanted adds to me at [email protected]
WHAT’S ON AT THE YVA
August 26th (General Meeting)
September 1st
September 8th
December 1th
December 7th
-
Club Auction
VIC Scale Rally at YVA
Club Day
Club Day
VIC Scale Rally (Xmas Function)
(The Field will be closed to general flying on these dates)
The YVA Committee would like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of
Andrews Scale Models
20 Hewish Road
Croydon VIC 3136
Tel: 03 9723 1003
Email: [email protected]
Scale Model Kits, ARFs, RC Radio Equipment. Spares, Balsa and Building Supplies.
If he hasn’t got it, he will make every effort to get it in.
http://yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au/
The New YVA website is up and running and
updating on a regular basis. Members are
required to register on the website in order to
get regular updates and alerts by email.
News Letter availability will henceforth be via
the website only.
News Letters will not be individually emailed to
members!
Presidents Report
Fellow members welcome to this August edition of the YVA
news.
The AGM meeting moved through the formal business relatively
quickly.
Committee positions remained unchallenged however after 10
years of service to the club in various positions Bill Wheeler
stood down.
We presented Bill with a gift certificate for his contribution and
welcomed David Nichols back on to committee as Vice
President. The rest of the committee members remained in their
current positions.
Hugh Coleman administered proceeding’s as the club secretary
and public officer and so we are off and running as your
2013/2014 committee.
July club day competition.
We ran our second club day competition on the last weekend of
July and for those whom came along for the fun and entertainment, it was a great day. These events have really become
something to look forward too so make sure you have the next event listed on your calendar and get prepared with your
competition entries. See photos and secretaries report later in this edition. Just as a side note, the combat event was exciting with 3
models fighting it out for ribbon cuts. Euan and Daniel G both had 5 cuts and one mid air. My Sumo wing has a large chunk missing
but that’s the most fun you can get out of $20 (hobby king Sumo wing kit).
TX Certification completed for another two years
In line with the club rule if you are operation on 29, 36, or 40Mhz you need to renew your TX certification (due every 2 years).
Peter Cousins attended our meeting and did a great job at getting through all of the old and some newer sets that you just can’t
part with. (Yes I am guilty with my current collection of 15 fully working sets). Peter was surprised at the number still in use at our
club but as I explained to him, Our membership very rarely has a conflict with channel usage and so there is little motivation to
move to 2.4 when you have perfectly good radios for sport flying. That said I have moved to 2.4 and will reluctantly part with some
of my gear at the August meeting (club auction night).
Please remember that if you are flying on 29, 36, or 40Mhz you need to renew your TX certification (due every 2 years) so if you
missed Peter on the night you can contact him separately for this service. His details are on the VMAA web site.
New Web site up and running
It is with great thanks to Matt McNiece and Greg Lepp that we now have a new web site with more features than ever before.
The site has enabled the team to work with information updates in a far more convenient way, and I encourage all of you to register
without further delay. www.yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au
Once registered you will be automatically notified via email when an update or news letter has been posted. Please note we will not
be E-mailing your news letter in future, but you will receive a notification that it is available on the web site for you to download (See
secretaries report later in this edition).
Show and tell
Please bring along your show and tell as this remains a key feature of the club meetings.
We have seen some interesting projects over the years but I do want to remind you that we like to have a brief written detail on the
project to incorporate in the news letter, so please be prepared if you want your project featured in our club news letter.
We are planning to have a special guest speaker attend a meeting later in the year to share with us the detail on his latest scale
project so keep an eye out for this event you won’t want to miss.
Club Auction night (August meeting)
For our new members, the club runs an annual auction night for the fun and amusement of the members. It’s a great way to share
the spoils of the hobby and clean out the shed (if that is the case)
This year we will have a professional auctioneer attend to help move those unwanted items. This is a great opportunity to acquire
all manner of things relating to the hobby, and if history repeats itself, at very low prices.
The club does not make any money out of this so if you are selling please ensure you have a reserve price for your item and don’t
expect too much. Once sold you can collect the cash at the end of the night.
The rules of the auction will be called out on the night and for those selling there will be lot numbers assigned to your specific items.
We may have limited space depending on the number of items for sale , so it could become standing room only for the audience.
Good luck and I will see you on the 26th
Editors/Secretaries Note:
Hello All.
I encourage you all to go and have a look at our new and improving club website - http://yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au/
Further, I encourage you to register for email updates.
Now, I know there may be some of you who object to registering for email updates from websites, but let me give you one good
reason why you should do soThat’s how you are going to get Newsletters in the future!
From September onwards, unless you are one of the lucky few getting hard copies mailed to you, I will no longer be emailing the
News letter to you. I will post it to the Club Website and so long as you are registered, you will be notified that the News letter is
available.
Gate and Club House Lock
The combinations to the gate and Club house will be changed over the next couple of weeks. Please note that the new
combination is printed on your new membership card… Obviously, if the new combination does not work, try the old one and visa
versa.
F3A World Champs
The F3A World Championships are currently underway in South Africa. Congratulations to Dennis Travassaros and Mathew Baily
on making it on to the Australian Team.
If you are interested in having a look at how they are going, check out www.f3a2013.co.za
The bathroom renovations/remodelling continue. The vanity unit is nearly finished (constructed from recycled Oregon Beams) and
the tiles are nearly ready for applying a sealer (I used raw terracotta tiles, and black grout (bloody stupid idea, the black grout))…
actually, I already had a sealer applied, the one that the “Expert” at that major chain hardware rhyming with runnings sold me. But
it was a topical sealer, and not at all penetrative. And it has already started to lift from the tiles after only 6 months. So that is being
stripped using a chemical which the guy at Mitre 10 cheerfully told me was the most toxic thing he had in the store… Applying that,
waiting 5 minutes, using industrial grade steel wool to scrape the old sealer off and then washing down with water… very
therapeutic.
But I’m hoping that I will have it finished in time to be able to get back to some modelling before I die…
Cheers and till next month,
Hugh
Guillows
Lockheed
Lighting
I have a rubber-powered P38 built in
1974. I thought some members may be
interested to inspect it as a matter of
memories of past construction etc.
1. A Gillows kit purchased from
the Model Dockyard in Melbourne.
2. It was the last rubber
powered model I constructed, and was
chosen because of its complexity of
build.
3. The kit was presented as
one which could be built as 3 different
configurations, a. A display model. b. A
control-line model. and c. A rubberpowered flying model.
4. I built the model as partly a presentation come - flying model.
5. It has flown successfully, One flight only from a asphalt car-park powered by rubber bands - 300 windings each. It
reached a dizzying altitude of approx. 1/2 m.
Regards,
Keiron.
The 2 meter sailplane non-comp on the 11th Aug
Regrettably we were only able to run one
round and I commend all of the six
contestants for risking limb and model in
the high winds so thanks to all for turning
up. As it happens the weather wasn’t bad
in terms of temperature but the wind
though flyable (just!) did not make for
pleasant sailplane flying. Euan’s Samurai
was a standout under these conditions but
even then could only manage five minutes
with the model almost at a stand still
above the strip.
We are intending to attempt a re-run
during September but I am leaving it to the
committee to offer a suitable vacant date
which is possibly published in this
newsletter. – David Hipperson
David Boddington twin rotor Autogyro
In needed of trying some alternative models I
apologise to those who love ‘em but helis have never
been my thing whereas autogyros on the other hand
fascinate. Not wishing to be a fool or re-invent the
wheel an autogyro (AG) “trainer” seemed a sensible
move. As it happens a couple of free plans popped up
in various magazines but I preferred to bite the bullet
and buy a kit. In this case it was the laser cut kit
version designed by Dave Boddington whose models
always fly well and this was produced superbly a by
DB Sport and Scale.
I felt the price (even with carriage) reasonable but
on receipt the inspection showed just what good value
it really is. Very complete with a good plan together
with full instructions plus first rate balsa and ply
together with all hardware. Not only was all of the wire pre-bent precisely but even the cut edges ground to smooth ends.
The build would be dead easy even for a newcomer but everything fitted so perfectly the process was relatively fast. The only
changes were to convert from IC to electric using an elderly Axi 2820/10 and to use slightly larger wheels otherwise it was all per.
Covering was a mixture of scraps of Solartex, Oratex and Solarfilm for my workshop odds and ends box. This took longer than the
build but only because the tail and rudder is a little complex in covering to get it in the right order.
The advantages with an AG is that unlike helis the un-driven rotor system, particularly in twin rotors, is fairly basic as the plain
balsa blades just run free. The instructions suggest that no balancing is required and that prototypes had flown even with the odd
blade missing. Nevertheless I chose to weigh each of the blades and match them closely in pairs. The wood supplied was a near
perfect choice feeling tough and springy which seemed about right.
The recommended flying weight was 1300 – 1500g and mine complete with a 3S 3200 pack came in at just on 1300g proving
that either the builder knew what he was doing or I was very lucky.
The interesting bit comes from the fact that some aspects fly in all of my preconceived ideas on that the CG is aft of the rotor
centers. I checked on several similar models just to make certain. Similarly, different designers have been seen to choose different
rotation directions for the rotors which is all very puzzling for the new comer.
The maiden flight wasn’t perfect as wasn’t feeling that well, weather was indifferent with a slight blustery wind but my wife Jan
braved it out to the field to keep me company. To be honest it was a brief (very!) circuit with me realizing I needed adjustments to
the throws but it was down in one piece. The cat lives!
The next flight was in almost too perfect conditions with barely any wind at all. However two flights were achieved with complete
ease. OK, because of the lack of breeze take off were long but away she went. During the first flight I just did circuits and checked
the very non-event stall. Second was to include loops, stall turns? and rolls off the top with landings in both cases being a cinch.
Away went a happy bunny so now for a single rotor Cierva,
AddendumAfter our aborted sailplane comp’ I tried flying the AG
which I admitted was sheer stupidity in view of the
weather. After some serious struggling I lost the
battle and the AG went in on the far field. Fortunately
damage was minimal but it did raise some thoughts.
In flying it was obvious that I simply didn’t have
enough rudder control particularly going down wind
when turning was a real struggle. Some modification
will be made during the repairs.
Regards and thanks
David
Hobby King Ju-52
Hugh said this needed to
be short and sweet. I
don't know about sweet
but I'll try for short Oh and
BTW I am not the guy at
the BOM.
Having been the the NFG
Twins n' More club day
now twice I need a new
multi motor model. My
1460mm Canadair (page
49 under the table in the
current issue 120 Radio
Control Model News) is a
crowd pleaser but slow. I
take it out to show the kids
too and let them hold it.
New model needed to be
no bigger than 12001300mm for storage and
transport and EPO foam.
I found the relatively
unpopular PNF JU-52
airliner model perfect and a nice change for the many many warbirds around.
Problem was it came with two dummy props and a silly oversize 9" central prop. What I love about these modern foam models is
often the quite high quality and easy modifiability. The 'Iron Annie' came with a very nice silver paint job over very scale
corrugations. A large wooden wing spar and carbon fiber spar well hidden right along the horizontal stab. The landing gear could
be more scale but it was certainly solid. The foam will finished and just thick enough to have a solid feel.
Two new motors, parts and 5mm ply I've fitted the motors with 6x4x3 props and a central 7x4x3 blade. Sure it was a bit of work but
only took a week working a few hours each night to build and modify. All up on a 3 cell battery it pulls 22A and about 230W fully
charged. Certainly enough for a 1063 gram model in the air with a 1200mm wing span. Will take a few different batteries but I'm
guessing about 8-10minute mixed throttle flights. 7 channnels with motors ESCs directly to the RX and off-set even using the
mixes on my Spectrum DX7.
I'm still looking forward to maidening it when the whether goes moderate and I get a chance . Maybe Sunday (4-Aug) Hopefully
before this newsletter is released and I get to edit this with positive results. I thinik this airliner will out race some of those warbirds
mentioned and goods and looks goods. No bad for a bloke only flying reliably for a year now.
Top Flite
Spitfire
Mk IX
a beautiful job of this kit and we hope to see it on the wing real soon.
Bill Coombs Top Flite Mk IX
Spitfire was built before he
learnt to fly… in fact it’s the
reason he joined the YVA!
Finished in Auto Enamel,
with the fuselage and wing
glassed, it is powered by an
OS 90 Surpass and has Air
Retracts.
Bill hopes that one of our
more experienced
members will maiden it for
him… which given it comes
in at over 9 pounds, could
be interesting.
Nevertheless, Bill has done
Fokker DVIII
Mark Holly describes his latest Build…
This is a 69 inch Fokker D8 I decided to
build from plans I found on the net.
If I built it again I would change a few
things on the plan, but hopefully it will turn
out ok. The plan had way too much
dihedral and there was no mention of
dihedral braces. It's pretty strait forward
build so far. The only tricky bit is soldering
up the struts and getting all the wires
together at the correct angles. The wheels
are made of two bits of light ply with balsa
in the middle and some foam tube that I
got at clark rubber. Suspension is
incorporated in the sub wing and appears
to work well.
Not too sure what to power it with yet.
Mark Holly
And While Mark is showing off, we must
belatedly congratulate him and his wife Carolyn
on the birth of Nicholas last May.
Mark says he already has a couple of Kits (a
Pilot Super Cub and a Flair Puppeteer) waiting
for him to get the bug just like his dad has.
“What am I bid for this…
Um…”
The Yarra Valley Aeromodellers 2013 Annual
Auction will be held at the August General
Meeting – Monday 26th of August at the Red
Earth Centre, Mooroolbark.
The Services of a professional Auctioneer have
been secured to add to the fun.
Members are encouraged to scour their sheds, workshops and
book shelves for all Models, Kits, Engines, Plans, Publications,
Tools, Transmitters, Receivers, Servos and any other items that
they think other members might be prepared to pay good money for.
All items presented for sale WILL be put on the stand.
Bring along your unwanted detritus and make
sure you bring some cash as well!
The Wallace
Trainer
“Phoenix”
Ken Wallace – Having come to grief in the Bomb
Drop at the May Club day and rendering his “Trainer”
inoperable, has set about rebuilding it.
He has added ailerons to the wing and souped up the
power somewhat to a wopping 850 watts!
Watch (out) for it at the field in all weathers.
Ken Wallace – 2013 Holy Cow Winner!
Congratulations to Ken Wallace on winning this years Holy Cow Award with his “Wally Bomb Drop”, rolling over the target and then
pulling full up!
Let’s see who can better it for next year’s award.
YVA Club Day – July 28th 2013
Adrian Whiter preparing for his Limbo round, which
unfortunately was put paid to by engine troubles.
New Member, Carl Weller gave the limbo a
crack, but the blustery conditions saw him out
fairly quickly.
The Combat event is always hectic (and it’s a
pain to get more than one model in the frame)
Daniel Goudge’s Sumo Wing on a Limbo Pass
Who needs Main Wheels? Adrian Whiter only
needed a nose wheel to get his borrowed
Trainer Airborn for the Bomb Drop (and the
saving in Drag was handy in the I/C Climb and
Glide)
Cold and Windy it might have been, but
competitors and spectators alike, always enjoy
these Club Days.
Event
Limbo
Bomb Drop
Touch & Go
Fun Scale
Spot Landing
IC Climb & Glide
Electric Climb &
Glide
And the results for the Day…
1st
2nd
Daniel Goudge
Bill Wheeler
50
50
Daniel Goudge
Bill Wheeler
30
20
Euan
Fernando
30
20
Daniel Wheeler
Daniel Goudge
30
20
Daniel Goudge
Euan
30
20
Fernando
Adrian
30
20
Daniel Goudge
Euan Haig
30
20
3rd
Daniel Wheeler
40
Carl W
10
Bill Wheeler
10
Bill Wheeler
10
Fernando
10
Daniel Goudge
10
Bill Wheeler
10
YVA Annual General Meeting Minutes 2013
Date:
Time:
Location:
29-07-13
[8:02PM]
Red Earth Centre Mooroolbark
Attendees as per the registration book
Agenda
1. Welcome to members and acknowledge Visitors (Greg and Tom Mullins, Simon Tarrant) and guests (Peter Cousins).
Apologies David Hipperson, Greg Lepp, Bill Ansell, David Nichols, Mark Holly, Stev Smith, Steve Dengate, Mick Haymeister, Bruce
Thompson, Daniel Wheeler,
2. Previous AGM meeting minutes read by Hugh and call for acceptance - Bill Coombs, Graham Jenner.
3. Presidents report read Jon Goudge and then stand down as president, Hand over to Hugh Colman
This past 12 months has been another great year for the YVA and its members .
As we moved into 2012/13 our new club name of YVA became common place in conversations with other clubs and the VMAA
committee. Our club has become well regarded and one that is the envy of many other clubs.
A great deal of the activity that has brought about our popularity comes back to the membership. That is you ,the members. We have
a great club due to the people and the facilities we have on offer. That said our membership cap has been reached yet again, within
existing club members renewals for 2013/14.
Club Badges are available tonight and Adrian will be happy to hand yours over later in the evening.
Our club competitions have been a great success and we have run six club days for the members enjoyment since we introduced
them.
This activity is something that other clubs are missing and it is my belief that it has brought about greater level of Clubman ship within
the members by uniting them in healthy competition just for fun.
I would like to thank Roger Eggleton and the individuals on the mowing team for their support in keeping the field in great shape as
always. We are lucky to have this field and take pride in keeping it in good condition.
Sadly we saw the passing of two of our members in the past 4 months , Gordon Jackson and John Bird due to long term health
issues. I attended John’s funeral and it was great to see so many of you there to pay your respects to John and his family.
The enthusiasm for general sport flying is alive and well and many of you are keeping up the scratch built activity through your scale
projects.
Perhaps the honour of winning the Hayden Hampson trophy will inspire more of you to the building board. Our first HH trophy event
was run in Feb this year and was a great draw card for our scale enthusiasts. The inaugural trophy being won by Greg Lepp and his
Bristol MI (and Congratulations to Greg just elected CFI for the VMAA).
We formed another great Team for this year’s VMAA trophy and we all had a great weekend away as a team flying the YVA colours.
Again another event where we made friends with many other club and people in the hobby. We will be putting another team together
for next year’s event as previously advertised in our news letter and encourage your participation.
Thank you for your prompt response to membership renewal allowing the processing of VMAA payments to occur promptly. You
should all be receiving your MAAA cards in the mail very shortly if you havn’t already.
After a couple of years enjoying the clubrooms of the Lilydale Aero club we made our transition to the current facility (The Red Earth
Centre) brining some convenience to the larger part of the membership. This is our 3 rd meeting here and is our home for now and the
foreseeable future.
4.
5.
6.
Our Web site refresh activity has gained some significant momentum in the last month with the assistance of Matt McNiece and Greg
Lepp. Matt has volunteered his services having resigned his membership with the Lilydale club after relocating and taking on home
duties with the birth of his fourth child. Matt has offered his help on a voluntary basis . The updates include a new URL
www.yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au
Hosted by hostgator in the US and built using the wordpress application. The new site has been built with the latest tools enabling
site updates to be performed by others and the ability for members to post comments etc. It is also configured to automatically
present a mobile optimised layout when viewed on handsets or tablets.
This will be a great asset for the club and a great way to communicate to our members. We will cut over to the new site in the near
future.
Again our news letter has improved and credit must be given to the contributors and the editor for producing a quality document each
month.
My thanks go out to a terrific committee whom have individually contributed their time and effort without fail and have helped to make
the YVA what it is today. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Bill Wheeler whom after serving the club in various committee
positions over the last ten years will not be continuing this next term.
Each year we look an outstanding contribution from one of our members for the performance of an aviation mishap. This year comes
with no exception to the spectacle and entertainment freely given by one of our most consistent members. This year’s recipient is
recognised for a remarkable manoeuvre we have named ”The Wally bomb drop”
Our Holy Cow award winner this year is Ken Wallace.
At this stage I will stand down as President and
hand over to our secretary / public officer Hugh Colman to preside of the next part of the meeting.
Committee elections
President – Jon Goudge
Vice President – Dave Nichols
Secretary – Hugh Coleman
Treasurer – Adrian Whiter
News Letter Editor – Hugh Coleman
Correspondence in / out
Treasures report
Club Cheque Account $3,857.81
Money Extra $17,199.81
Accepted Bill Coombs
, Seconded Euan Hague
7. Registrars update
We have reached our cap of members at this stage. Thanks to all members who with only one or two exceptions paid on time. Note
that the number printed on the top right of the card is the new gate combination.
8. General Business
Great club day held yesterday – Report to be included in the next news letter.
Trainer Pylon racing will be held but Date is not yet certain.
VMAA trophy team Volunteers wanted.
Glider challenge, all encouraged.
Thanks to Peter Cousins for coming along and Recertifying radios.
Discussion of possible facebook page – No.
Further discussion regarding the New club Website is response.
Question Raised regarding suitability of Red Earth for meetings. Leading to discussion regarding the Christmas party.
G) Bumper Raffle (Super tiger 90 2S) & cup of tea
H) Show and tell
Bill Coombs Spitfire – Top Flight Kit OS 91 FS. Pneumatic Retracts.
David - Hobby king Junkers JU81
Kieran Hampson – Guillows P38 – Has flown… once.
Ken Wallace – The Poenix.