June 2021 - Model Flying NZ
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June 2021
www.hotrc.co.nz
www.hotrc.co.nz/buy-fly-race.html
www.hotrc.co.nz
www.hotrc.co.nz/buy-fly-race.html
www.hotrc.co.nz www.hotrc.co.nz/buy-fly-race.html
A large range of RC Aircraft and Accessories including great brands like
Futaba. O.S. Engines, Cox Models, Dubro, FMS, Freewing Model
Surpass Hobby and exclusive retailer VQ Models
www.rcnz.com
sales@rcnz.com
1
Page 1
Editor
Murray Race Model Flying New Zealand Council Contents
6 Stevenson Street 3 Council Affairs
Ph: 03 418 0969 President 4 AGM Notes
Mobile: 027 418 0969 Chris Jackson 6 Latest Wings Badge Recipients
Balclutha 9230 7 Regulations & Government Activities
021 0729 458 More Models For Aggregate
race.m@xtra.co.nz 8
President@modelflyingnz.org 9 Phil Sharpe’s Fiesler Storch
13 DB Mannock Abbreviated Build
Magazine Manager 15 Fibreglass or Finding an Alternative
Clive Martis 19 New Flying Field For Gore
021 884 323 Secretary 20 Whangarei Control Line grass Meet
23 Darfield Aerotow
Paul Clegg Alpine Aerotow
26
Copy Deadlines Secretary@modelflyingnz.org 31 Gareth Newton Memorial Vintage Event
021 986 566 34 Control Liners Flying Hard at Rotorua
March Issue 35 Upcoming Lake Forsyth 25th Anniversary
31st January 37 MFNZ Soar Championships Tai Tapu
June Issue 40 Vintage SIG
42 NZRCAA SIG
23rd April Treasurer 46 Pylon SIG
September Issue Brad Pearpoint 48 Free Flight SIG
24th July Treasurer@modelflyingnz.org 50 NDC
027 634 1030
December Issue
23rd October
Front Cover Northern North Island
Fantastic air to air photo
taken by Alex Hewson’s
drone at the Alpine
Aerotow. More photos
VACANT
from page 26 in this issue.
Central North Island
Frazer Briggs Special Interest Groups
CNIRep@modelflyingnz.org
Pylon Aerobatics
Les King Frazer Briggs
Ph 022 073 1133 021 288 9455
lesking@lesking.info frazer@pbgsoftware.co.nz
Southern North Island LMANZ Control Line
Graham Job Hamish Loveridge Dave Thornley
hamishloveridge@hotmail.com Ph 07 349 3719
027 357 5638 027 460 3848
SNIRep@modelflyingnz.org Free Flight
Large Model Co-Ordinator Rob Wallace
Rene Redmond Ph 06 878 4993
Ph 06 356 5861 ffonzrjw@gmail.com
largemodelpermits@
The Opinions expressed in this Northern South Island modelflyingnz.org Free Flight &
publication are not necessarily Dave Griffin Control Line Scale
those of the editor or 021 352 595 Radio Control Scale Ricky Bould
Model Flying New Zealand. Gwyn Avenell Ph 09 478 8949
NSIRep@modelflyingnz.org
Ph 09 298 4819 unimec1994@gmail.com
Neither this publication nor avenellsnz@gmail.com
MFNZ are responsible for the
contents or services advertised
Helicopter
Soaring Allen James
within these pages. Southern South Island David James 027 580 5630
All advertising is accepted Darrin Thompson Ph 06 354 3452 allenjames@orcon.net.nz
nzsoaringtc@hotmail.com
on the integrity of those 021 766 914 Vintage
placing the advertising. SSIRep@modelflyingnz.org NZ Jet Turbine Don Mossop
Printed by Craig Abbott 07 578 9783
Fisherprint Ltd president@NZJMA.com donmossop@gmail.com
Competitions Manager FPV & Multirotors
Kevin Botherway Mathew Wellington
mat_wellington@yahoo.co.nz
027 5570 470
CompMan@modelflyingnz.org
Recording Officer
Allan Knox
allan.j.knox@gmail.com
Administration/Membership Manager
The body Governing Paul Clegg
Model Aeronautics in New Zealand 021 986 566
Recognised by members@modelflyingnz.org
The Royal New Zealand Aero Club (Inc) Website
New Zealand Representatives of the F.A.I
www.modelflyingnz.org
2
Council Affairs
Paul Clegg
It amazes me to see the impact Covid 19 has had, and Personally, I’ve been kept really busy with MFNZ work.
continues to have on countries around the world. We sit in Responses to the Ministry of Transport proposed
New Zealand blissfully isolated and pretty well functioning regulations have taken up a lot of time as has the
as normal. Hopefully you’ve all been taking advantage of a finalisation of the MFNZ accounts and documentation
pretty calm autumn and getting out there doing a heap of required for the AGM. Thankfully I’m starting to get a bit of
flying. space and hopefully you’ll all have your membership
cards in the first few weeks of June.
March
2021
MFW MAGAZINE SURVEY
By now you’ve had an opportunity to see both the online
version of the Model Flying World magazine and the
paper version. We need your help to gauge your feelings
about what format of the magazine works best for you.
Jun
e2
021 We’ve put together a quick survey. It should only take
about 30 seconds to complete. The more MFNZ
members who provide us feedback, the better
information we will have to base our decisions.
March
2021
June 2021
CLICK HERE FOR
SURVEY
As an incentive, there's a prize
draw for a new upgraded E-flite
T28 Trojan PNP for one lucky
entrant.
If you haven’t got the tech to do the online survey
Please note that the survey closes on Monday 21st June email / call/ text me including your name and
2021. You’ll need to be a financial MFNZ member to enter for MFNZ number and I’ll send you a paper copy of
the prize. the survey.
Paul Clegg
Members@modelflyingnz.org
021 985 566
3
AGM
Saturday 3rd July 2021 at 1pm
The AGM will be held as an online Zoom meeting
The MFNZ 2021 AGM documentation is available on the MFNZ website
MFNZ AGM docs.. https://www.modelflyingnz.org/AGM_docs_2021.html
MFNZ Council has now been using the online Example email.....
meeting software Zoom for a couple of years. This is Hi …….
proven to be a really successful way of running Thank you for registering for "MFNZ AGM ".
meetings. Please submit any ques ons to:
members@modelflyingnz.org
This year we are going to extend the use of Zoom and
Date Time: Jul 3, 2021 01:00 PM Auckland,Wellington
try and run the AGM using Zoom. All MFNZ members
are welcome to attend the meeting. You’ll need to Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:
register as an attending to the meeting before the h ps://us02web.zoom.us/s/89145576359?pwd=
meeting starts. Following is some simple instructions Passcode: XXXXXX
on how to do this: The email will include a personalised link to the Zoom
meeting. Simply click on the link on the day and you
Instructions will be able enter the meeting. The link will
Zoom can be run on a variety of platforms including automatically install the Zoom client if it’s not already
tablets smart phones and PCs. To register for the available on your device.
MFNZ meeting open a browser and go to the
following link The meeting has been configured to allow online
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sc- voting.
ytqT0pH90AboMUhDgt1XMkqUvN7_lf
If you can’t attend the AGM there are two other
This will bring up a registration page methods of voting for the direction of the
Topic MFNZ AGM
organisation.
Time Jul 3, 2021 01:00 PM in Auckland, Wellington
Electronic pre vote
We’ve created an online voting system to
First Name* Last Name* allow you to vote before the AGM. Use
the following link to run the online voting
Email Address* Confirm Email Address*
system.
https://forms.gle/XovxjdNpNtKp9rGK6
Electronic voting will close on June 26th
MFNZ Number?*
Proxy Vote
* Required information
and the final way of voting is through the
good old Proxy Vote system. There’s a
Register proxy voting form available in this
magazine or on the MFNZ website. If
Fill in your details to register. Zoom will send an email to your you’ve got a buddy that’s attending the
registered email address. AGM feel free to provide them with your
proxy vote. Please note that proxy votes
need to be lodged with the MFNZ
Secretary (me) no later than 28th June.
4
PROXY VOTING FORM - MFNZ AGM HELD 3rd JULY 2021
This form is to be with the Administrator: Paul Clegg, members@modelflyingnz.co.nz
not later than 28th June 2021
I, (print full name)
being member number of
MFNZ hereby nominate (print name)
to vote on my behalf at the MFNZ Annual General Meeting on 3.7.2021.
Signed Date
I accept the nomination as proxy holder MFNZ number
(print full name)
Signed Date
PROXY VOTING FORM - MFNZ AGM HELD 3rd JULY 2021
This form is to be with the Administrator: Paul Clegg, members@modelflyingnz.co.nz
not later than 28th June 2021
I, (print full name)
being member number of
MFNZ hereby nominate (print name)
to vote on my behalf at the MFNZ Annual General Meeting on 3.7.2021.
Signed Date
I accept the nomination as proxy holder MFNZ number
(print full name)
For Against
Signed Date
5
Here’s a list that celebrates folks that have put in the hard yards and attained the necessary skill and
knowledge to successfully complete a MFNZ Wings Qualification since the March Model Flying World
magazine.
Name Club Description
Nathan van Slooten Redzone Drone Racing Inc Multi Rotor
Grant Plaisted Model Aviation Northland Inc Large Model
Brian Stewart Levin Model Aeroplane Club (Inc) Basic Power
Mark Kendall North Shore M A C Basic Power
Danny Young Model Flying Hawkes Bay Inc Basic Power
Ross Purdy New Zealand Jet Modellers Assn Turbine Jet
Arnold Carr Hamilton Model Aero Club (Inc) Basic Power
Kevin Foote Hamilton Model Aero Club (Inc) Large Model
Grant Fleming North Shore M A C Basic Power
Amy Phimphisa Vongsaly Highbrook Aero Modellers (Inc) Basic Power
Nick Ward Waimak Radio Flyers Advanced Power
Len Cooper Wellington M A C (Inc) Glider
Warwick Underwood Hamilton Model Aero Club (Inc) Basic Power
Behram Bajan Highbrook Aero Modellers (Inc) Basic Power
Kaden Newman Highbrook Aero Modellers (Inc) Advanced Power
Bruce Bowen Tauranga M A C (Inc) Basic Power
Jon Blunn Tauranga M A C (Inc) Basic Power
Jonathan O'Connor Warkworth Aviation Club Inc Basic Power
Jonathan O'Connor Warkworth Aviation Club Inc Helicopter
Paul Bolland North Shore M A C Basic Power
Neal Wanklyn Rotorua M A C (Inc) Multi Rotor
Thomas Edwards Rotorua M A C (Inc) Multi Rotor
Thomas Edwards Rotorua M A C (Inc) Basic Power
Thomas Edwards Rotorua M A C (Inc) Helicopter
Thomas Edwards Rotorua M A C (Inc) First Person View
Aidan Cartwright Hamilton Model Aero Club (Inc) Basic Power
David Vare Highbrook Aero Modellers (Inc) Large Model
MFNZ Nationals 2022 needs
YOU!!!
Len has stepped out the driver’s seat for the 2022
Nationals and the team of Kevin Botherway and Frazer
Briggs will co-CD the event to be held in Carterton.
But they need help to do this.
They’re looking for volunteers to assist them in both
administration and servicing of the flying fields. If you can
help, even if it’s for only a few hours, drop an line to the
MFNZ Secretary (secretary@modelflyingnz.org)
6Regulations and
Government Activities
Chris Jackson
The Ministry of Transport released their much-anticipated and geo awareness). The document does not detail
discussion document “Enabling Drone Integration” in what/where/how/why of designated areas, or if our
early April, with the document being rumoured to be current 300+ flying sites are designated areas already.
imminently released since late 2020. It is the current state No other aviation user is limited to particular areas, so
of the Drone Rules Project which MOT started why model aircraft?
approximately 3 years ago.
Removal of CAR101.202, which was written to allow
Over the past years we have had sporadic stakeholder Model Flying New Zealand to function as an organisation,
engagement with MOT, so were obviously very curious to raises many issues! Without 101.202 our current
see what the culmination of the previous work has Directors approval for our Large Models program, our
resulted in. Wings program, and even the ability to request NOTAMs
disappears. It has been suggested that CAR101.202
Model Flying New Zealand was well represented at all the could be replaced by Model Flying New Zealand
public events that MOT/CAA facilitated by members and operating under a Part 149 certificate (Aviation
council, as well as a number of “one on one” stakeholder Recreational Organisation).
engagement sessions. Many thanks to those that took the
time to attend the public meetings, I suspect the A Part 149 involves significantly more overhead and cost
overwhelming number of attendees to these meetings than our current CAR101.202/CAR102 certifications, so
were from our membership, which paints a good picture. if we are forced down the road to Part 149 we will need to
be doing in such a way that puts the least amount of
Model Flying New Zealand has a lengthy and strong burden on the organisation as possible. On the other side
relationship with both CAA and MOT thanks to the of the coin, a Part 149 does allow us various other
considerable efforts of people such as Jonathan Shorer privileges and opportunities.
and others before him, who have represented MFNZ
interests to these organisations over the years, which has MOT and CAA have reinforced that what is proposed is
left us in a globally unique position. not set in stone, and they are willing to investigate other
options. By the time you are reading this, Model Flying
One of the stated aims by both MOT and CAA is to try and New Zealand’s response document will have been filed
keep MFNZ running within the new regulations with as with The Ministry. The response document responds to
little interference as possible. The common phrase used in many of the points raised, answer questions, and
meetings is “MFNZ members are not seen as a safety suggests some alternative options for the future Civil
issue in New Zealand”. Aviation Rules. It is available on our website for those
interested.
While the intentions of the individuals involved appear
noble, this doesn’t appear to be practical within the We will continue to stay very much engaged with the
confines of the proposals. Many of the issues boil down to drone rules projects developments and will be at any and
not defining what a model aircraft is and then removing it all future meetings to make sure that we can point MoT
from the proposals effects. and the regulator in the right direction!
Model Flying New Zealand’s secretary has drafted an
opinion piece to members which summarises the 60-page
MoT document, as well as how Model Flying New Zealand
will respond.
There are two particularly contentious topics in the MoT
discussion document –
• Designated Areas
• Removing CAR101.202
The proposal suggests members will be able to operate
model aircraft within designated areas without
requirement for registrations (and presumably remote ID
7for
Aggregate David
Ackery
Two more suggestions of models that
would be useful for Aggy.
Simplex
The original Simplex was designed by Paul
Plecan in 1940, it was 60 inch span and
powered by a 9cc Sky Chief spark ignition
engine. Come forward a few years,
Aeromodeller magazine published a reduced
size version of 40 inch span in the May 1984
issue, suitable for small diesels such as the
Mills.75.
With simple lines and easy building the free
plan was an instant hit here in NZ. They could
be flown in Vintage Precision or Aggy making it
multipurpose. Huge numbers were built and
flown in NZ, so there will probably be many
examples hanging on the wall of someone’s
workshop waiting to get back in the air. Or you
could just dig out the plan and build from
scratch. It would be a low stress enjoyable
project, just take care to build the back half light Above:
otherwise you will end up tail heavy and need to Control Watch, I flick the
propellor and the engine
add lead at the front. will now start.
Right:
For power I suggest a diesel, either a Mills .75 Ricky Bould with
or a MP Jet 0.6. Simplex at the
North Island Free Flight
Quack Champs
Aggy is the opportunity to fly something a bit
different; we have seen bipes, flying wings and
chip chopping helicopters, but what about a
canard ?. From the Zaic year book of 1959-61
comes the “Quack”. This cute little guy is
powered by PeeWee .020 and will get the
crowd looking. Or you could scale it up 50% and
use a Babe Bee .049 . And best of all it is
designed by the one and only Bert Streigler, the
man who brought us the global phenomenon
that is the “Ebenezer”. As a pusher you will
need to find a pusher prop, or run the engine
backwards – which is not a problem for reed
valves (Babe Bee) or side port ( Mills .75).
Just a note on the profile of the front wing, it is
shown upside down, but I suspect that to fly it
needs to be to the other way up, (the normal
way - flat side down). These drawings are
squeezed into a finite space to get as many in
the book as possible, and I suspect that this is
just a method used by the draftsman to save
space on the page.
8The Man and his Machines
and his Fieseler Storch
Here at Model Flying Hawkes Bay,
we are fortunate to have in our
recent membership, Phil Sharp,
shifted here from Kerikeri in 2015.
An incredibly talented man with a
very interesting history that reads
He labels himself as a builder rather than a pilot with his
like a success story from a boy’s own
interest being in scratch building scale aircraft as is
magazine mirroring what many of us
evidenced by his Pup and Tempest, two of as fine an
might have dreamt that our lives
examples of models as we have seen at MFHB. His latest
might follow a similar path.
project is a Fieseler Storch, following the full size scale
He is quick to point out that he has no formal qualification. construction but using carbon tube instead of steel rod.
But natural talent and family history and encouragement
and an interest in motor racing saw him develop his skills. The plan is from the Paolo Severin Stable, The ¼ scale
At the age of 14 he worked with the famous Kenny Smith Fieseler FI 156 Storch;
and at 19 built and raced his own Formula Ford. In 1972 Download http://www.paoloseverin.it/Fieseler/Fieseler.html
with friends he went to England to join McLaren and Three View
became chief mechanic for Emmerson Fittipaldi. He also http://www.paoloseverin.it/Fieseler/Fieseler%20Download/files/Fi156.jpg
Wings plan
raced himself in the Formula Atlantic series in 1975/76. He http://www.paoloseverin.it/Fieseler/Fieseler%20Download/files/Wings.jpg
them moved to USA where he was chief mechanic for the Fuselage plan
Indianapolis 500 series for three years. Phil later http://www.paoloseverin.it/Fieseler/Fieseler%20Download/files/Fuse.jpg
established a very successful composite manufacturing
business in the UK, one specialty of which was making the
carbon wings for racing cars, adding another skill to his
already wide range of engineering experience.
He and Anne-Marie retired to Keri Keri in 2003, and in
2015, they saw the light and moved to Hawkes Bay having
built a beautiful home in the hills behind Havelock North. A
visit to Phil’s workshop is an eye watering experience,
equipped with an amazing array of machines, it’s like a
cross between a Formula One workshop and an operating
theatre with what must be the best view through the
picture windows of Hawkes Bay.
9Following the scale construction, instead of steel, Phil has When it comes to covering, he sourced the ProfiCover
used mainly 6mm carbon tube 1mm wall thickness and a Covering film from the Toni Clarke site where he got the
selection of 4 & 5 mm tube. Instead of welding as per steel plans from…..
he used a 3M product DP 420 Epoxy at all the joints. All http://www.toni-clark.com/index_en.htm
construction was fully jigged to ensure a “straight” build. … and is most impressed with the product, as he says it is
The model has a wing span of 3.54 metres, final weight not cheap but incredibly strong and has amazing
16kg and is powered an NGH four stroke IL Twin engine. adhesion and forms and shrinks well.
The instrument panel he built in carbon fibre and sourced
scale instruments saving many hours of work !
Phil with his early stages of fuselage construction with it
sitting on all his jigging material. Nothing is left to chance in
this workshop !
.
The power plant to be mounted scale as per the full size
but in carbon Fibre as opposed to steel.
Cabin and door detail, everything works as per scale.;
The cowling is huge and necessitated making an
accurate Plug, then making a Mould from that plug and
finally laying up the cowling. As the critics inevitably say,
you make three cowls to get one, but the effort is well
worth the result, and remember that you still have a mould
in event of the inevitable !! The mould plug is carved from
a moulding polyurethane foam, the Moulds are
epoxy/glass, and the cowl is Carbon. A lot of work, but Phil
was very pleased with the result! The accuracy and
Tail feathers construction is a work of art. attention to detail of Phils work is amazing. Let the
pictures speak for themselves
1038A Pukete Road
Hamilton
Ph 07 8499-008
sales@hobbyhangar.nz
new stock arriving soon
AT this
price can
you afford
16SZ $895.00Then came the day for the
test flight, which was
completed by John
Sutherland who acted as
Phil’s large model inspector.
Needless to say the aircraft
was so perfectly set up that
the flight was “almost” a
Cowling mould. non-event , apart from Phil’s
heart rate ! Covered Wings.
C/F Cowling mounted
Test Flight day, Start up.
The Storch looks and sounds amazing and full sized in
the air. A truly remarkable project and a testimony to Phil
Sharp’s ability.
What next ? … watch this space, this will blow your mind !!
Barrie the editor.
Motor / mount / cowling detail. Model Flying Hawkes Bay. May 2021.
12DB MANNOCK
ABBREVIATED
BUILD LOG
(’cos I didn’t really do one at the time’)
Nick Ward
Specs at the time of the maiden flight,
11th April 2021
Span: 60”
Wing area: approx. 1000 sq.ins.
Weight : 6lbs 10ozs (dry weight)
Wing loading: 15-16ozs/sq.ft
Motor/Prop: OS70fs SURPASS turning APC 13”X6”
Receiver: Futaba 4ch R2004GF
Controls: Rudder/Elevator/Aileron/Throttle
Servos: 2x Futaba 3004mg (Rudd/Elev)
2x Hitec HS82mg(Ail)
1x MG90 10gram(Throt)
Battery: Eneloop 2000mAh (AA) 4.8V NimH
Fuel Capacity: 10oz
Initial flights have proved Mannock to be a joy to fly, very
scale like as long as throttle setting kept low. The OS70fs
is actually too powerful (the plan calls for .49-.61 cu.ins
two-strokes, so in theory it’s correct, but engines available
at the time Mannock was designed were not as powerful),
and only goes to half throttle or slightly above if doing
aerobatics (loops, rolls and stall turns are very realistic,
My first ever attempt at wire cabane struts – used copper wire
just like an old full-size biplane). With hindsight, perhaps epoxied, not soldered. Seems to work well. However, have since
my Magnum 52fs would have been a better match, and discovered Kevlar thread bound and glued with cyano is just as
possibly easier to fit within the cowl (OS70 was a bit of a strong, easier to do and much lighter in weight, so will
squeeze to say the least!). However, the pay off is that with incorporate this technique on my next build with wire structures
such low revs, the OS70 makes the Mannock sound very (U/C, cabanes etc).
realistic in flight, so I’ll stick to that engine/airframe
combination for now.
One very pleased owner/builder of a DB Mannock.
Components to date assembled for photo opportunity! Starting
to take shape – 60” biplane is actually quite a large model.
Wing and tail frames completed in first half of 2019
13-Undercarriage wire bent, filed, secured using copper/epoxy.
-dowels drilled and temporarily fitted.
-engine & motor plate, tank & cowl installations worked out.
-cabane fairings attached Kevlar thread/cyano.
Mannock completed after 2 years intermittent work.
Tail skid installation.
On bench for motor run-up and throttle-setting on transmitter.
Airframe on the bench for painting using acrylics.
Final motor &
tank
installation
Cockpit detail.
14Fibreglass or.......
Finding an alternative
Peter Duncan
I’m never sure whether bedroom or bathroom
is the better location for solving the inevitable
and endless challenges associated with
model building. Maybe it’s deep in sleep with
the right brain tirelessly debating with the left,
or maybe it’s when the rest of the brain is
washed into life under the shower that the
magic of a solution emerges.
Inspired by my now keyboard pal from Hawkes Bay, Barrie Russell, prodigious
builder, vintage enthusiast and editor of the internationally acclaimed and
worthy Model Flying Hawkes Bay newsletter, Propwash, I followed his lead to
build a 227% Vic Smeed designed Popsie. Twenty-twenty may not have been
much of a year. Building Popsie made it much more bearable.
From the early 1950’s Vic Smeed produced a series of cabin mounted high wing
models published in the British Aeromodeller magazine. They were all
attractive, functional and had those enduring qualities that today give designs
like the stick and tissue Tomboy a place in any modeller’s hangar. Popsie, a
design published in 1951, had a wingspan of a metre and a short stubby
fuselage designed to accommodate a single valve radio receiver operating a
rubber band powered actuator that moved the rudder sequentially with each
press of the hand held button switch wired into the bulky transmitter. Popsie
was, in my view, Smeed’s prettiest design, despite its accommodating but
stubby look. Always attracted to it, I saw its real potential
when I happened across a picture of Barrie’s big two
metre Popsie in a vintage newsletter.
Building was easy, aided by Barrie’s support with ready
answers to all my questions. But, I deviated from his front
end methodology. Barrie’s solution to the compound
curvature of the now large cowl was to build a foam form
lightly fibreglassed then digging out the foam. I had
decided to build the cowl as part of the fuselage and place
the battery athwart the cowl to bring weight forward under
a hatch cover beneath the windscreen. I would attach the
motor using blind nuts embedded in the mounting box.
A fibreglass cowl was not an option. I share an ample
warm upstairs barn workshop and studio space with my
wife’s creative activities and where resin fumes isn’t even
an ask. Winters in this part of the world make it too cold
outside for fibreglassing. The effort of building and
shaping the cowl with blocks of balsa tired me at the
thought. There had to be another way…
Either late at night with the brain on standby and dimly
alight, or in the shower where the unimportant cluttering
detritus was being washed away, it came to me—a
solution. Something I had tried some time ago to repair a
damaged detachable Cub cowling.
The solution required the minimum expenditure except for
one item.
15Strips of scrap 2 mm balsa, good quality exterior grade PVA glue, a tin of
baby talcum powder, 1 metre of Trace and Toile interfacing ($2.99 from
Spotlight), a small container of non-shrink dope (tolerable with infrequent
small doses) and the most expensive item, a dozen Bluff oysters at around
$30 when in season. The oysters can be discarded—eaten raw after being
dipped in vinegar, and applying a drop of Worcestershire sauce with a
pinch of Cayenne pepper, or crusted in polenta crumbs and cooked in an
oiled pan until brown—it’s the container you need.
The illustrations show the framework construction of the cowl. This
framework was then covered with 2 mm strips of balsa to form the
compound curves of the cowling. Once the light and delicate structure has
dried, strips of the porous interfacing material are laid over the surface
brushed with slightly diluted PVA from the oyster container. With the
surface covered more PVA is applied and the fuselage set aside for
overnight drying. When dry the interface material strips are applied in the
opposite direction with generous washes of PVA.
When again dry the shell is now quite strong but depressions and
imperfections are obvious. A paste of PVA and talcum powder is spread
into the depressions and blemishes. The cowling is not only beginning to
look good, it is also smelling wonderfully scented! Sprayed with grey
primer then sanded, the surface imperfections are obvious.
This time it’s a mix of dope and talc that provides the fill material again
sanded off when dry. Sure, the repetitious nature of the process takes
time, but the end result can be very pleasing. A spray of white undercoat,
spot fixing with dope and talc paste to where your sense of perfection
takes you, and then the final finish, in my case gloss white matching the
vinyl fuselage covering.
Detailing follows, distracting the observer from any remaining
blemishes.There is a probably weight disadvantage to fibreglass, but not
much I would guess. In the case of such a short-nosed fuselage like
Popsie more weight forward turned out to be a plus. With the motor and
battery in place the C of G was right where it was supposed to be. Next
time I am going to try fly screen material over a frame rather than balsa
strips. We’ll see how that works. At least it will keep the bugs out.
1617
gavinshute@gmail.com 18
was the perfect spot. On a flood plain, but within the town
New Flying Field for Gore MAC boundary and separated well from housing. We have
never had any issues with safety or noise and the people
The Gore Model Aero Club has never had difficulty finding in the houses overlooking the field like the free displays
a suitable field to fly from thanks to the good nature of we put on as part of our club flying.
farmers in our region. The area's traditional sheep farming
history has meant that we fitted in with farming practices The Gore District Council, in their wisdom had decided to
for most of the year, with a brief halt to flying during lease the area to a beef farmer to help ease the cost to
lambing and sometimes hay making. As with many areas ratepayers and we had been forgotten along the way. An
this priority for sheep farming has reduced in our province approach to the Council to provide us with an area was
and we have seen an increasing focus on dairying or dairy made, and the wheels set in motion to allocate us with
support in the form of grass farming. And with the cost of about 1.2 hectares for exclusive use by the club. A formal
land skyrocketing, the owners of farms have to get every lease was required and a payment of $325 per year for
last part of their land earning. the rental. On top of this the Club was required to pay
$1000 for the legal document, and then to fence it off at a
Our farmer friend whose land we have used for the last ten cost of another $1000 or so. Treasurer said that we had
years was emphatic that we paid him nothing as it put him only $500 in the bank and how were we to fund it. An
in the category of a" person running an undertaking" under approach to Model Flying NZ resulted in a welcome grant
the Health and Safety rules, so we found other ways to to help, and members helped with the cost of fencing etc.
compensate our host. That was until April 2020 when he to secure the area from our bovine neighbours.
informed us that the land was being sold to the Gore
District Council to facilitate new waterworks piping for the Over the summer, we have established a wonderful
town. lawn strip which can be utilized by members at any time
they wish. To accommodate our Control line expert, a
So it was back to the drawing board to look for a new area, permanent circle is mowed, and our Helicopter fraternity
but, with the changes to farming practices and a plethora share the strip amicably with the fixed wing brigade.
of dairying in all the likely places we were looking at, there Access to the field is from a tar seal road that services the
was nowhere suitable close to town. Discussions with the Fulton Hogan gravel plant. We are happy for other,
members of the Club determined that if there wasn't a responsible, flyers to share this site so that we can all
flying field, there wasn't any point in having a Club. I saw enjoy the fruits of our Association's support in helping
red at that suggestion. This club, established in 1938 has fund this area. Its is almost as if we own it, and you know
been strong throughout its history and a good supporter of the best bit? There is no sheep shit!
the NZMAA / Model Flying NZ. Our newly vacated siteWhangarei
Control Line
Grass Meet
20th & 21st March 2021
Postponed from the scheduled 6th and 7th of March due
to the raised Covid alert levels, our annual Control Line
Meet eventually took place a fortnight later than planned.
Unfortunately this did affect the attendance plans of some
of the regular contestants but we did still host a good
number of modellers from across the North Island. One
positive was we timed the weather and enjoyed two full
days of pleasant flying conditions, if a little hot at times,
with a reasonably constant sou’east breeze upset only by
the odd thermal pushing through.
As is tradition the activity started early at the field with local
members helping to set up gazebos, pit barriers, height
markers and all the necessary contest paraphillania.
Steve Biggins too had the gang mower out and was busily
doing laps of the circle in a final effort to present the flying
surface in as good a condition as possible. Indeed the
preparation by Steve and the team of mowers over the
months previous had the circle in as good a condition as I
have ever seen and it was commented over the weekend
that it put some of the World Champ sites to shame.
Gradually our guests arrived and by 9:50am we were
ready for a contestants meeting and welcome before
competition began.
Saturday is stunt day and we kicked off with a round of
F2B/Intermediate alternating rounds with Sportsman. We
were fortunate this year to have three judges in
F2B/Intermediate, Karen Barnes, Gus Knapp and Don
Robinson and two in Sportsman, Gus Knapp and Dan
Walker. The normal alternating rounds allows the judges
to have a break in between but not for Gus, he was kept
busy judging all day and happily so. As he put it, “I like
watching model aeroplanes”.
In F2B Kim Webby and Kevin Barnes traded blows to
decide the winner by the narrowest of margins. Kim flying
his seasoned Aotearoa and Kevin the impressive
Yatsenko Shark. Owen Rogers placed third with his brand
new and as yet un-named electric powered model with
Chris Allen fourth with his Yatsenko Gee Bee. Flying the
full schedule in the F2B rounds, Gerald Wimmer was the
sole Intermediate entry with his Pizzazz.
Dave Ackery flew his classic Magician model sweetly to
take the top spot in Sportsman while Tawhai Webby lead
the junior charge, very capably flying the full schedule into
second. Not too far behind was Otto Wimmer in third while
brother Max showed he will be biting at their heels once he
has grasped the inverted maneuvers. Both days, lunch
Top to bottom:
again was the greatest patronised event. Superbly Chris Allen, left and Kevin Barnes talking shop in the pits.
catered spreads orchestrated by Michelle Webby. Chris Allen and Gee Bee.
Honestly, if the flying was called off and all we had was Andrew Robinson surrounded by jets.
20lunch and the chat, it would still be worth the trip. On the subject of
food, Saturday was concluded at the Walkers for those who stayed
over with a Fish and Chip dinner and associated banter.
Sunday began early for the hardy Aggy flyers. Dave Jackson was out
in the warm up with motor trouble leaving Tawhai Webby and Nathan
Walker to put in NDC times. The steadily building breeze and changing
direction proved challenging but Tawhai managed to put in some
consistent flights. Nathan meantime started slow struggling to find any
consistency at all. He did manage a score however with what was
revealed later to be a very wobbly engine mount, broken when hitting
the hall wall in an earlier practice flight.
Dave did record a score in Tip Launch Glider but the sport HLG and
CLG flying was retired early due to models flirting with the nearby trees
and rooftops.
The main event of the day was CL speed. With the pylon handy for
those who dared scores were recorded by a variety of models with
powerplants ranging from the humble Cox .049 up to the mighty pulse
jet. The later included two new jet models powered by engines from the
late Rees Jones collection assisted by Don and Andrew Robinson who
had travelled from New Plymouth for the weekend to share their
knowledge (and hardware). Even an indeginous Katipo diesel put in a
respectable time that could have been mistaken as by a proper engine.
The weekend was concluded with a round of Sport Scale. Gerald, Otto
and Max Wimmer fought out a very close contest electing to fly the
same maneuvers. The difference only being the appearance points
favouring Max with his tidy Hurricane model.
A successful weekend of Control Line and Free Flight flying. Thanks
must go to our Whangarei MAC members who helped organise,
prepare, participate and support the event. Thanks also to those who
travelled to join us to fly with special thanks to those who helped with
judging and assistance.
Look forward to seeing you next year.
Daniel Walker
Middle to bottom:
Top left to right: Otto Wimmer flew his Skyshark in both
Chris Allen flying his Gee Bee in F2B. Sportsman Aerobatics and Sport Scale.
Kevin Barnes flying his Shark in F2B. Daniel Walker with Dyna Jet powered
Dave Ackery flying his Magician in Sportsman Aerobatics. model post its first flight.
21Top to bottom:
Max Wimmer in Sportsman Aerobatics
Lunch break
NDC Aggy action
22AEROTOW Words:
Ian Harvey
Photos:
ICH - Ian Harvey; LW - Lisa Ward
Towing congestion
A good number of fliers (partners and spectators)
attended the this aerotow event on ANZAC weekend.
Fliers came from as far afield as Nelson, Twizel and
Oamaru.
Saturday was a steady southerly with smooth air, and lift
for those who got high launches or knew how to read the
signs. The afternoon gave up better lift and some great
flights were had. The day was organised jointly between
McLean’s Island Fliers, Christchurch Radio Fliers and
CMAC. The field was immaculately mown and a large
marquee was provided for over-night storage of models.
We packed up around 3:30 just as the rain started, and
adjourned to the Darfield pub for some sharing of soaring improved and we all got in the air after 12 noon, with
stories. Later that evening, a fairly intense electrical storm some awesome lift to be had as the afternoon
came through but with little wind. All the models seemed to progressed. There were some lovely gliders on display,
survive in the tent. and Lisa Ward caught all of them either on tow or in the air
with her lovely new camera with a great telephoto lens.
Sunday morning was a bit slow, with many waiting to see Monday was pack-up day as the NW wind put paid to any
what the Nor-wester was going to offer up. The day further flying.
Ken McMillan (launcher), Rob Ward (Tow
pilot), Allan Knox (observer) and Dave
Griffin (glider pilot) watch the ASH 31 get
airborne. Note the ping pong balls. (LW)
23Ian H's KA8B Don Selbie's Hangar 1 Zero on your tail
showing off Heron (stretched B of T)
its underbelly
appeared to have escaped
(LW)
from the local penitentiary
(LW).
Allan Knox's SHK was All the gliders and tugs tucked
all back in one piece away in the marquee (ICH)
and flying well (LW)
Aimee, Sam
and Bevan
This mystery glider of Bevan
Allan's was a repaired Minimoa
with a modern nose (ICH)
SC stands for Scott Chisholm.
Father Paul constructed this Jackson Ward
nice ASH31 (LW) is intrigued by
Allan K's
T o m b o y .
Grandad keeps
watch (LW)
The dedicated designed SD Greenley
towplane of Bevan Allan. (ICH)
24gavinshute@gmail.com 25
ALPINE
AEROTOW
Peter Hewson A T T RACTS
TATIO N ERS
LAKE ESCORD NUMB Left:
R Ian Harvey's ASK 21 showing its
“We are cursed with an incredible enthusiasm for scaled underside to great advantage.
flight,” says Chris Norris when he reflected on why so Above:
Paul Chisholm's 1/3 scale Pawnee
many aerotow fliers had gathered at Lake Station, near flown by son, Scott.
the Nelson Lakes National Park, on a beautiful weekend in Below:
February. With 26 pilots and 59 models, this was the The field from the drone camera
largest soaring event held in New Zealand, according to of Alex Hewson.
event organiser, David Griffin. “I am stoked with what we
have achieved,” he says.
Pilots came from as far afield as Waiheke Island,
Matamata, Hawke Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch,
Waimate, Invercargill and Gore – a truly national
gathering. Asked why he came so far for a model flying
event, Matamata resident, Bill deRenzy, says, “I enjoy the
company and it is good to keep in touch.” Bill has been
flying RC gliders and powered models for many years and
got into the hobby because his father was a modeller. He
says he also likes building and he enjoys seeing the
diversity of models at events such as this where he might
get new ideas from what he sees.
Lake Station is the name of a sheep and beef station
owned by the McConochie family in the upper Buller
Valley, some 5 kilometers from St Arnaud and Lake
Rotoiti. At 600 meters in elevation and surrounded by
spectacular mountain peaks, such as those in the St
Arnaud Range, Muntz Range and the Robert Ridge, the
site is ideal for flying gliders, RC as well as full size aircraft.
There is a full size airfield at Lake Station, but because the
Nelson Lakes Gliding Club was operating from there
during the weekend, we had a special strip prepared up
the road by an enthusiastic Sam and Aimee Laidlaw, who
had travelled several times from Nelson to complete this
task.
Above:
Keeping the sandflies out with a sealed cockpit.
26 Bottom:
Group shot ... smile :)Full page photo:
Alex Hewson took up his drone (FPV) to get some great
air-to-air video footage.
Right top to bottom:
Glider country.
Paul Chisholm's home built KA6E.
Peter Hewson's 4m Schweizer.
27Thermals and valley convergence foster long flights which
were quite common during the weekend. This
encouraged several pilots to have a go at GPS Triangle
Racing. Dave Griffin achieved a New Zealand record with
9 laps of the 2.4km course in just 30 minutes. “I love the
size of big RC gliders,” he says. “They look cool. I also
love the challenge of thermal flying where you compete
against yourself in order to stay aloft as long as you can.”
Another GPS pilot is Rob Johnston who travelled all the
way from Auckland. He has recently retired from Air New
Zealand where, as a 767 captain he used to enjoy flying
RC gliders in Hawaii on stop-overs. He says that GPS
flying adds an extra challenge for those who want it and it
is not difficult to add the necessary gear to your model to
achieve this. Rob has noticed some changes in aerotow
events over the last 20 years. Gliders have become larger
and tow planes have become an issue. In his first meeting
at Matamata in 2005 a 2.5 to 4 metre sailplane was
considered a large model. Now, they are almost twice that
size. An Antares was Rob’s first big model and he enjoyed
its performance.
Chris Norris (Woo) comes to aerotow events because he
likes to be with kindred spirits. He enjoys designing and
building models. “Modellers get it,” he says, “even if my
wife doesn’t.” He can talk with other modellers and see
that they appreciate how gliders fly. He especially likes the
challenge of building a scale model that behaves like the
full size equivalent. “My star of the weekend is Alec
Taylor,” Woo adds. “He unselfishly gives so much to
enable others to fly.” Alec had driven all the way up from
Gore with two large tug aircraft – a 42% Piper Pawnee and
a 1/3 scale Wilga, both with big engines capable of towing
the largest gliders present, some of which were 50% in
size. His tug planes were the busiest over the three days.
“Everyone’s your friend, until you stuff it up,” says another
tow pilot, Greg Clarkson from Waimate. “I have learnt a lot
from aerotow and it has made me a better pilot.” His 1/3
scale Piper Pawnee motivates him to fly aerotow. “I
haven’t flown as much as I have done this weekend,” he
says. “A good tow is really satisfying.” When both pilots
work together in synergy it makes glider towing look
easier than it is.
There is even a link between sailing and gliding, suggests
Vic Shaw from Napier. Both disciplines like using the
elements and get used to “reading” the sky in order to be
successful. There is a lot of opportunity to get thermals
and use the valley convergence at Lake Station he adds.
Vic has a PPL and is a full size glider pilot. He particularly
likes the vintage RC gliders and one of his favourites is the
Hall Cherokee. The Napier community has a good
collection of pilots who like soaring and gliders, according
to Vic, but there are not many tow pilots. Lake station has
been great in that there were seven tugs available. It is
also an accessible location for North Island fliers as it is
only one day away, he says.
Top to Bottom:
Alex Hewson is another pilot of full size gliders as well as Rob Johnston from Waiheke Island with his green machine - an
Antares by Baudis Models.
RC models. He flies with the Canterbury Gliding Club at Dave Griffin with his favourite 7M ASH 31.
Springfield and has been modelling since he was a boy. Ricky Bruce from Invercargill giving some scale to his 50% KA6.
He is an ex. world champion with the F3K discuss launch Vic Shaw from the Hawkes Bay with a lovely Hall Cherokee.
28gliders and is equally at home with a glider or flying a tug
plane. “Lake Station is one of the best sites in the country
for gliders,” he says, “and the scenery is pretty
spectacular.”
Paul Chisholm, from Christchurch, is a very experienced
model pilot who has seen model flying in many different
countries. He likens New Zealand to Australia where the
models tend to be much the same and rely on thermals or
the slope where possible. In the UK, however, Paul notes
that they are really more interested in flying gliders from
slopes. “There are some amazing sites over there,” he
says, “especially on the Welsh borders or in the Midlands.
People in the UK tend to like to build their models rather
than buy them, whereas in Europe the models tend to be Above:
purchased. Paul got into RC flying with F3B and F3J Bill deRenzy's model glistening in the Rotoiti sunshine.
competition gliders and he enjoys building models too. Below:
Corrie Hoult and Peter Hewson proved you don't have to fly a
large model to go aerotowing.
Perhaps the last word should go to Ken McMillan from Bottom:
Christchurch. “I love the peace and tranquility of soaring,” Another ‘Alex’ drone air to air shot.
he says. “It is good for the soul.” Ken likes to see a well-
crafted and machined model which performs well. One of
his favourites is the DG 1000, a sleek machine that looks
destined to make the sky its home.
Three days of model flying at Lake Station, Nelson Lakes.
Great weather, good comradery, a chance to get into the
outdoors and have fun with like-minded people. More of
the same next year!
Thanks to Ian Harvey, Alex Hewson for the photos &
video.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
FNE6Son2NQ&feature=youtu.be
29Top to bottom: Top to bottom:
Hall Cherokee on tow The Blanick is light and easy to carry.
You do not need a large model to go gliding. Allan Knox retrieving Alex Hewson's 5m ASH glider which has
been around for 20 years, but still flies well.
Corrie Hoult with his reliable Pilatus Porter tow plane.
There were 7 tugs to get the large gaggle of gliders into the air.
Bevan Allen forom Waimate showed that he and Greg Clarkson
can pack a lot into their trailer.
30MEMORIAL VINTAGE EVENT
Stew Cox
Levin 27th & 28th March
The weather leading up to the original date for the event
was brilliant with about ten consecutive days of very
flyable weather. However, as the planned date neared, it
was apparent that the dire forecast was coming to fruition
and the event was postponed to 27/28 March. This
decision proved to be wise with wind, rain and very low
cloud each contributing to an unflyable weekend. The
postponement date was by contrast much better and the
event was held in very pleasant autumnal conditions with
light winds all weekend. Top left & right:
Wayne Elley with his
beautifully built Miss
Attendance was down with a number of regulars not able America.
to make the revised date due to prior commitments but Miss America heads for
those that attended had fun and enjoyed themselves in the sky.
idyllic conditions for vintage flying. Twelve fliers attended Middle:
Bryan Treloar with his
from nearby Ashurst, Feilding, Levin, Kapiti and Lanzo Airborne assisted
Wellington. It was good to see Noel Fisher from Kapiti b y t i m e k e e p e r Te r r y
bring along a new Buzzard Bombshell for his first vintage Beaumont.
event. While the model needs a few minor tweaks before Bottom:
recording times, Noel enjoyed some good sport flying. Graham Lovejoy enjoying
himself about to release
Both competition and sport flying of vintage models is his catty
welcome at these Levin events. It was also pleasing to
see Owen Stuart who has sport flown at previous Levin
vintage events this time flew in both Precision and
Duration and enjoyed the experience.
Precision was the most popular with Bryan Treloar the only one to make the spot for
all three rounds. He managed the spot again on his flyoff flight which was only two
seconds off a perfect score. Second to fifth were very close with each missing only
one spot, that being on the last of the three flights for all but Terry Beaumont.
Previous winner Barry Hall was one of this group missing the spot by only about half
a metre……
It was pleasing to see more attempting other classes in addition to Precision. IC
Duration saw Terry Beaumont put up some excellent flights with his very floaty
Lanzo Bomber. John Miller also flew his lovely Mamselle in Classical E Duration.
The spot seemed particularly elusive for the duration events with only seven of a
possible 18 spots made. As with Precision, landing on the spot is a key challenge in
all vintage classes.
31In 1/2A Texaco, the challenge of getting a long run out of a
standard Cox Babe Bee 049 saw Bryan Treloar and Stew
Cox get good runs from two of their three flights but early
cuts on the other flight made the difference in the scores.
Most of us will recall in our youth getting runs of 2 ½ - 2 ¾
minutes with Cox Babe Bee full tank. Flying to an 8 minute
max for this endurance event, Stew managed an
astounding 8 minute 20 second engine run on his first
flight and 7 minutes and 28 seconds on the last thanks to
the advice gleaned from excellent articles in AVANZ
News.
A Texaco is another endurance event in which the diesels
dominated able to run a long time on the limited capacity
tank made from a standard Humbrol paint tin. Bryan
Treloar’s Oliver Tiger powered Lanzo Airborne ate the
target flight time of 10 minutes and he made all his spots.
Bryan then went on to put up a fly-off flight but an early cut
kept the flight down to around 11 minutes. Trevor Glogau
had a new model he built in lockdown, a 1945 Corsaire
covered in Solartex and powered by an Enya diesel. The
Corsaire is an interesting design with a box fuselage and
shoulder wing and flew extremely well.
Free Flight was represented at this event with Des
Richards, Graham Lovejoy and Stew Cox indulging in a
fun Vintage Catapult Glider competition. For those that
think such simple models are child’s play, think again.
These small models with fixed surfaces launch at
extremely high speeds and need very fine adjustment to
climb, transition and then circle optimally in glide let alone
be launched into a thermal picked from the ground. Des
flew well to post a very creditable six flight score and all
involved agreed that we will fly this class again at the Levin
vintage events.
Linda and Ivan from the Levin club put on a nice BBQ on
the Saturday which was appreciated by the fliers.
The next vintage event at Levin is the Bob Burling
Memorial on 8 and 9 May, 2021. Look forward to seeing
you there on one or both days.
Top to bottom:
Terry Beaumont & Owen Stuart Prepare their Playboys while
Wayne Elley looks on.
Trevor Glogau with his Corsaire
Des Richards with his 1936 Hervat catty
Barry Hall's Buzzard rolling down the strip and heading for the
wild blue yonder
322021 Gareth Newton Results
Vintage Precision
1. Bryan Treloar Ashurst Red Zephyr 1936 600+198 = 798
2. Barry Hall Wellington Buzzard Bombshell 1940 590
3. Wayne Elley Kapiti Miss America 1936 589
4. Terry Beaumont Kapiti Playboy Senior 1940 588
5. John Miller Kapiti Buzzard Bombshell 1940 583
6. Owen Stuart Kapiti Playboy Senior 1940 576
7. Stew Cox Wellington New Ruler 1940 561
8. John Ellison Kapiti Tomboy (2x) 1950 459
Vintage IC Duration
1. Terry Beaumont Kapiti Lanzo Bomber 1938 764
2. Stew Cox Wellington New Ruler 1940 703
3. John Miller Kapiti Buzzard Bombshell 1940 655
4. Owen Stuart Kapiti Playboy Senior 1940 386
5. Wayne Elley Kapiti Miss America 1936 361
Classical E Duration
1. John Miller Kapiti Mamselle 1955 712
Vintage 1/2A Texaco
1. Stew Cox Wellington Playboy Senior 1940 1250
2. Bryan Treloar Ashurst Rambler 1939 1045
Vintage A Texaco
1. Bryan Treloar Ashurst Lanzo Airborne 1938 1860 + 669
2. Trevor Glogau Wellington Corsaire 1945 1218
3. Stew Cox Wellington Brooklyn Dodger 1942 1028 John Miller makes the spot with his Buzzard
Free Flight Vintage Catapult Glider Bombshell
1. Des Richards Levin 278
2. Graham Lovejoy Feilding 267
3. Stew Cox Wellington 229
33misfortune to hit the ground on his third sportsman round
and break the elevator off.
Kim won F2b by only 4.5 points from second placed Kevin
Barnes. That’s 4.5 points ahead in his total of 2,259.5 (or
0.2%) A very close result no matter how you calculate it! In
fact with the Gore final round still to come, after Rotorua,
ANZAC weekend at Rotorua saw round seven of the CL both are placed evenly and unless on them travels to
Stunt Series. The preceding two days had perfect flying Gore the series will be decided on a count back. Owen
weather with sun and light breezes, but TV Dan the Rogers from Palmerston North was third with 2195 and
weatherman’s forecast for the event day was not Adrian Hamilton the SS co-ordinator forth with 2119.
particularly promising, continuous rain overnight with a These are all quite close results.
slow showery clearance in the morning.
Young junior Max Wimmer couldn’t keep clear of the
In the event he got it wrong, light rain overnight and nice ground with the breeze just too strong for his small model
sunny periods all day. Although much stronger than the resulting in loss of line tension. His diesel was a reliable
previous days, the typically brisk Rotorua breeze was engine though and restarted readily after three crashes
steady and did not impact too much on the flying. All during which the model survived, but the fourth was just
participants seemed to have had a most enjoyable day. too much, and the tail broke off.
As usual, the RMAC hosted SS event is held on Arawa Dad, Gerald Wimmer had a disappointing day with engine
Park, the infield of the Horse Race track, with lots of space problems on his LA46 in two rounds of the F2b. His next
for clear winds and the only hazard being a couple of model is destined to be electric powered! Your reporter
inquisitive dogs running into the circle from owner walkers had the same unreliability issue with my LA46 a number
around the park edge. of years back and built an electric model to supposedly
cast-off IC power, however with an extended venturi and
Flying started at 10.30pm and went continuously through Super Tigre needle valve set up (by Danny Walker) it now
the day with no timed break for lunch. This was necessary runs like a top, and in winds I much prefer to fly that model.
to cope with the increased number of rounds to be fitted in This is what I used during the Sportsman event, but was
for the newly introduced F2B intermediate class (which beaten by Roscoe, being 25 points behind. Juniors Otto
has started this year to encourage flyers to take the big Wimmer and Tawhai had their own contest with Otto
step into the F2B pattern manoeuvres from the sportsman taking third through consistency and persistence.
event) This new class allows for some F2b manoeuvres to
dropped and has a simplified scoring system. Late in the afternoon, Classic Aerobatics started, and
since it was very late, we only squeezed in two rounds. As
Roscoe Smith took advantage of the F2b intermediate the sun set, the wind dropped away and the final round
class to win it and also fly sportsman with a win there and a was flown in quite lovely evening conditions with dusk
finally second place in classic, a busy man with nine setting in.It made a pleasant change to fly in no wind.
rounds flown! Adrian Hamilton flew his Stallion to first place with Roscoe
and his Nobler second.
The winner of F2b was Kim Webby, coming all the way
from Whangarei with his son Tawhai who had the Everyone pitched in to clear away the safety railing, and it
was almost dark as we left the field. With continuous flying
from 10.30 am to 5.30pm you can’t do more flying than
that!
A late afternoon, picture showing lengthening shadows,
of those remaining at 5.15pm after over six hours of
continuous flying action.
34F OR S
E
YT
LA K
H
FIELD & FLOAT
FLY-IN
This year is the 25th anniversary of the
Christchurch Radio Fliers Club’s Float & Field
fly-in.
The event began as an invitational event in 1996, under
the organisational direction of Mark Halliday and Russell
Ramsden. This was an attempt to return the hospitality of
the clubs, such as those in Blenheim, Timaru and the West
Coast, who invited club members to their events.
CRFC held its first fly-ins down at Lake Chrichton, near
Dunsandel, where the farmer host had build a man-made
lake for water-skiing and a paddock nearby for the land
stuff. The club moved the event to Lake Forsyth about 20
years ago when the Dunsandel farmer decided to build Above:
next to, and to extend the lake. Overnight storage
Left:
Float flying
There have been some memorable moments over the
years at these fly-ins, but only one year, to the memory,
has the event been cancelled. We can recall Ray Homan
cooking up sausages in the caravan while it snowed
outside during the preparation day on Friday. Incredibly,
the sun shone the next morning and the event went ahead.
Last year, the event was limited to under 100 people on
site, including members of the public, due to Covid Level 2
restrictions, but the event went ahead with permission
from the local Council, MFNZ, Airways and ECan and the
fliers had a great time.
The Christchurch Radio Fliers Club has had the site at
Forsyth flooded when the lake rose dramatically overnight
necessitating moving the main strip slightly further inland
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