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Alan's Catalina !
Alan's Catalina !
What a break up! probably the biggest numbers for many years and your club thanks you for your support.
Sunday morning, sun shining, quite windy, but suitable for flying and many club members made the most of the air until lunch was ready. Andy and Barry Thomas were doing their best to cook up a great feed on the BBQ, no complaints here, everybody enjoyed the good food and drinks.
With our lunch over, the trophies were laid out ready for the Clubman Awards and the Presentations for the year of 2008.
Andy and Les were the presenters for this year, Les started proceedings by first delivering the council grant money to Andy for this year, for the purchase of a club computer.
Then Les informed the members of the numbers of club members who had entered in the clubs comps, during this year. 22 individual entrants which is almost 50% of the club membership, which is something the club is extremely pleased with, well done to those members.
Presentations to,
| Robbie Marshall and Stuart Sinclair | 1 point |
| John Newman and Noel Young | 2 points |
| Darren Tuohey,Gary Bright, Gary Smidge | 3 points |
| Graeme Beagley,Steve Davis, Bill Hughes, Ian Heather, Bill Matthews | 4 points |
| Neil Friswell,Phil Organ | 5th place |
| Mal Fields | 4th place |
| Alan Uren | 3rd place |
| Brian Deason | runner up, 2nd place |
| Shaun Power | Club Champion, 1st place |
| Phil Organ | won the Ramjet Trophy |
| Alan Uren | won the Thunder Tiger Trophy |
| Alan Roshier | won the Mitre 10 Trophy |
The President Andy Thomas then thanked everybody that was involved in the presentations in any way or any form for such a great day, then wished everybody a safe and Merry Christmas
Report by Les Davis. Photos here!
This week end we had our scale aero tow. Saturday 9 am saw Alan Roshier bright & early getting the canteen under way for the rest of the weekend with help from Les, Gary, Alan... & a little from Phil & myself. A very big thank you Alan & all who helped &/or offered.
On Saturday AM the weather was cold & Cloudy & WINDY (very) with flying getting under way by 9.30 am. We had about 25 entries, all with very nice LARGE scale gliders & some VERY BIG powerful tugs (actually 9 tugs) not all flew all the time.
Boy was there some large gliders, from Phils & my little 2.5 mtr discus up to a 7 Mtr Ventus. On Saturday Phil flew both his tug (a lot) & his 4 mtr Discus & I flew my scratch built (glass) 3 mtr S 1-26 Schweizer, and all handled the wind very well. Flying stopped about 6.15 pm on Saturday.
Sunday was better. Windy, yes but not as strong & not as cloudy. Very early I took my little discus up behind Phils tug for a very scale aero tow & flight. Phil then proceeded to fly his big discus. Also Noel Young joined us in flying his S 1-26 also for some very good flights. A lot of the flyers were getting some very big heights as did Phil & Noel as well as myself.
During Sunday a scale comp was held. As Phil & myself both fly full size , we were asked if we would do the judging. We were very happy to do it. Scale take off, scale(realistic) flight, approach (circuit ) and landing were all judged (against full size) for realism. some were excellent, Some? , well.
Tugs were also judged. Same sort of thing as gliders , some were realistic , and some , well ? Heights ? boy , thats all i can say. Flying, over all, excellent. Especialy when you see 8 gliders in the air at once.
The scale side of it ? Excellent. As always, BRCAC members were in the placings. Noel was runner up in scale, scratch built, well done Noel. I won 1st time scale with my S 1-26.
The weekend? All went well, very laid back , NO PRESSURE to fly. EVERY ONE WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THE W/END , the club (BRCAC), the airfield, the catering, the flying. All flyers were asking to come back next year . Every one went home HAPPY.
A photo record? Yes thanks to BILL MATHEWS who, as usual, took a photographic record of this FINE week end , THANKS BILL . Photographic Discs are available of this week end from BILL for a small fee , just give him a ring
Report by Neil Friswell, Secretary BRCAC
This event is part of the Thermal League events which are organised by the Radio Control Gliding Association. (R.C.G.A.) This body was set up some years ago to coordinate, organise, foster and encourage radio control gliding in Victoria. Examples are open thermal competition, F3B (multi-task soaring), F3F (slope racing) and scale soaring.
Open thermal competitions are held at various locations around the state including Wantirna South, Diggers rest, Warnambool, Bendigo and Mildura.
This year the competition at Bendigo proved to be a great day. The conditions were perfect for a thermal glider competition, not too hot or too windy, but simply ideal.
Thirteen pilots entered the event, including two pilots who came all the way from Mildura. Seven rounds were flown with no winch line breaks and no damaged models.
Thermal activity was really good, strong and quite massive. It was common to see all of the models in the same group to be in the same thermal....all circling away. Of course there was equally massive sink which we all experienced at some stage of the day.
The competition involves flying a 10 minute flight and then landing to a spot within a 12 minute working time. You are permitted 2 launches per round to achieve your best score. Four to five pilots would fly in each group and the scoring is calculated using the man on man system. (Winner of group receives 1000 points and everyone else receives a percentage of that) The draw and the scoring is done using a laptop with appropriate software program. This makes the running of the competition very easy and very fair.
All in all it was a great day and as C.D. for the day, I would like to thank all the pilots who entered the competition and for making the trip to Marong.
The results are as follows, and here are some photos.
| Place | Name | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcus Stent | 5993 |
| 2 | Alan Mayhew | 5987 |
| 3 | Darrel Blow | 5978 |
| 4 | Theo Arvanitakis | 5976 |
| 5 | Max Kroger | 5953 |
| 6 | Jim Houdalakis | 5888 |
| 7 | David Pratley | 5860 |
| 8 | Brad Wilman | 5663 |
| 9 | Gerry Carter | 5630 |
| 10 | Garry Whitfield | 5590 |
| 11 | Daniel Haskell | 5386 |
| 12 | Bernie Sizer | 4991 |
| 13 | Terry Passalaqua | 3892 |
I would also like to thank our club, the Bendigo Radio Control Aircraft Club, the committee and the members.
Many pilots who entered the competition commented on the fantastic field and facilities.
Terry Passalaqua - Contest Director.
With the early start of 11am all flyers were able to take leisurely advantage of the great weather. The Hokins contest rules were, as they are designed to be, modified to suit both the number of competitors and the flying conditions.
We started of with a free, "try the water/air", flight for each flyer and then we got stuck into 2 rounds before the lunch break. Conditions were rather confusing and perplexing as it seemed to blow from all quarters, or not at all, and the assumed accompanying thermals failed, mostly, to be found.
Despite this the sun was warm but not hot and although the flies were happy to share your sweat they were controllable.
Alan put on a truly amazing performance by recovering from a low ascent and imminent landing to grab a series of uplifts/thermals by flying over the dam ( damn good trick, that..) and avoiding the big gum tree while gaining an extra 2-3 minutes of airtime. But the apprehension was felt by all as he came in for a final glide only a metre above the dam bank and between it and the trunk of the tree.. Finishing up just short of a jagged fallen branch and the tree itself!
Lunch was taken at a slow pace under the tree ( the sheep were given eviction notice..) and much discussion centred around flying, and.. gardening ?
After lunch the flying continued with some really good performances but it seemed as though the die was cast for the winners dias.
At the final fly off it seemed pretty clear who the top placers would be. But in an amazing turn of form Brian upset the bookies, and the punters, and surged ahead to a conclusive win by grabbing the best conditions of the day.. Well done, mate.. And yes.. You DID win!
Final placings were...
| 1st | Brian Deason |
| 2nd | Alan Uren |
| 3rd | Mal Fields |
| 4th | Noel Young |
A demonstration of the "How-High" solid state altitude recorder was performed and was appreciated by all..
That's it until 2009...
Mal Fields CD photos
This Electric Glider comp is the second one that we've had, and the improvement in the performance of the gliders was quite evident.
Under sunny skies and blustery winds we started our comp, with five dedicated electric gliders this time. First away was Stuart Sinclair, Neil Friswell and Les Davis. All achieved good height of their motor runs, but Les was the only one that could manage a max time. Next off was Phil Organ and Bill Hughes who again got good height from their motor runs, but failed to obtain good flight times.
In rounds two and three flight times were woeful, with the cold air coming in, but at the start of the fourth round the air had become a little warmer again and it showed in the scores, with a large improvement in flight times.
Results:
| 1st | Les Davis | 13m 08s |
| 2nd | Bill Hughes | 12m 18s |
| 3rd | Neil Friswell | 11m 18s |
On the last flight for the day Phil Organ put on a aerobatic display with a borrowed glider. Bill Matthews, with camera in hand, almost fell over trying to catch Phil's low, fast passes up and down the flight line.
E Glider flyers note that next year(09) the motor runs will be reduced to 45 seconds.
Report by Les Davis 5620. Photos by Bill Mathews
CPR, Q500,and Sports Pylon we had a little of the lot, to create a great days racing under ideal flying weather. The course was set up and John's computer counting and timing equipment was tested and checked ready for the first race at 11am (Daylight saving time).
First class to be run was Quickie 500, with only 4 entries this meant 2 rounds of 2 flyers, first off was Darren Tuohey and Shaun Power, Shaun only lasted 2 laps before his engine stopped, leaving Darren to race by himself. Next round was Graeme Beagley and Ian Heather. Unfortunately Ian didn't get of the ground, and Graeme lost a muffler in the air. Result; no scores. A DNS and a DNF.
Darren showed his ability to learn quickly, as his flying was improving with every race he had. Shaun and Ian where plagued with simple little problems for most of the day.
After lunch we had time for a sports pylon race, to introduce new flyers to racing. We had 3 entries Gary Bright, John Newman and Brian Deason. In the first race Gary got away quickly, then John, followed by Brian but Brian only lasted 2 laps before a flame out. The second race was more exciting, with all 3 aircraft up and racing until a mid air between John and Brian that brought an end to their days racing. (But thats racing).
Time now for the clubs favourite event CPR . There were 5 CPR aircraft there but only 3 manage to race. First off was Les Davis followed by Graeme Beagley and Shaun Power going last. These races produced some of the most exciting racing that we had during the day, with all six rounds completed without a mishap, although quite a few cuts where recorded.
With all the racing over and all the gear packed up, a full size glider flew over quite low, then we realized he was looking for somewhere to make an outlanding. Next thing we knew there was a full size glider sitting on our runway!!!!
Results
Q500
| 1st | Darren Tuohey | 575 |
| 2nd | Shaun Power | 626 |
| 3rd | Ian Heather | 859 |
| 4th | Graeme Beagley | 1000 |
| 1st | Gary Bright | 2 |
| 2nd | John Newman | 1 |
| 3rd | Brian Deason | 0 |
CPR
| 1st | Les Davis | 380 |
| 2nd | Shaun Power | 502 |
| 3rd | Graeme Beagley | 591 |
Thanks to the timers, Andy , John, Gary, Ian, Graeme and Darren, for their help, also Alan Roshier who was used as the starter for the CPR race. Well done to these helpers as without them we can't race and have fun.
Report by Les Davis 5620 (Photos)
As with most of our comps lately the wind has played a big part on the outcome. Today was no exception, quite windy but flyable, with no damage to aircraft due to the windy conditions.
The competition was to fly a 2, 4, 6, and a 8 minute max flight times, and choosing the most suitable time slot during each flight, with only one attempt at each time.
Mal Fields had the bungee set out and ready to go at 1pm, and had already had a test flight, losing sight of his glider in the dark blue sky, before regaining control with the glider over in the next paddock, only meters above the ground, very luckily.
When the competition started, the wind changed direction and strengthened, but we still had flyable conditions. Times in the early flights were reasonable, but as the day went on it got harder and harder to achieve good flight times.
Half way through the comp a full size glider blessed us with its presence, putting a hold to the comp until the aircraft had cleared the area. The glider made thermal turns for some 10 to 15 minutes,before gaining height to fly off. We also had a visitor from South Aust. who had been travelling through town, wanted to check out the Bendigo Club, his name was Ron Grosser. After checking the power field and found nobody there, he travelled out to the glider to find us. Ron is into flying electric aircraft.
Back to the comp, with the strong wind giving good height to the launches, flight times were still a struggle, and a bigger problem still was trying to penetrate the winds. Mal Fields had an up and down day, scoring the best and worst times for the day.
Results:
| 1st | Mal Fields | 745 pts |
| 2nd | Les Davis | 687 pts |
| 3rd | Alan Uren | 630 pts |
Thanks to Mal for the bungee job and the time keepers, etc.
Report by Les Davis 5620
Next:
Club Meeting Monday 29 th Sept. 7.45pm
CPR and Q500 Sunday 5th Oct 11am EDST
Unfortunately, due to high winds this event was cancelled.
The weather was a bit iffy, but with birthdays to celebrate we had a great turnout. Neil organised a barbeque, Dave and Alan cooked up a storm and the usual friday mixed bag of glow, electric, gliders, trainers, racers, foamies and whatever was flown.
Happy birthday to Bill, Ian and Alan, and well done Neil! (photos)
It seems this event is struggling to achieve a start this year.
With blustery, gale force weather bursts just prior to the start time it was unlikely that anybody venturing out to the Leichardt Field would get a flight in.
Upon arrival at the field the sun was out and although brisk, the wind was not over strong. However this was short lived with a broad ominous weather front approaching from the N.W. With strong winds. To those of there it was clear that the day was not to be.
Please note that this event has been rescheduled for Sunday Nov 9th at the Glider field, more details including the early start time later.
Thanks to Brian and Alan for making the effort.. ( Les was unable to participate this time..)
Mal Fields - CD
Sunday dawned a fine and sunny day with light winds. Just perfect for Texan Racing, even though it was still the winter period. With only 10 entries this was a little down on last year, mainly due to clashes with other scale type events in the state, but this didn't stop the Texan flyers from having a great day, although it was easy and relaxed all day.
The excitement started early, in fact in the first race for the day. Rounding number three pylon Adam Crossman and Rob Lauder had a tangle. Adam's aircraft flew on ok but Rob's aircraft, with a portion of the wing damaged, went out of control for a period before he gained some control, and managed to land safely.
The most exciting race of the day came in the last round, when Adam Crossman got in the groove with Les Davis, the pair were locked together, swapping the lead until the last lap. This is what racing is all about, excitement plus.
Again Steve Davis flew a great line all day to take out First place, from Les Davis in Second place, with Phil Pope coming in Third.
Thanks goes to John Newman for his running of the scoring system and the others in the cage, Garry, Macca and Andy, also thanks to Alan R. in the canteen and Graeme B. for his help with the equipment. Phil was the starter for the day, and does a great job of it, and was assisted by Neil. Thanks goes to them also.
Report Les Davis C.D. 5620 - Placings, photos
A cool to cold day with southerly winds, and about ten minutes of sunshine, were the conditions for the, 4 in 20, glider comp. Before the comp started, were given a Parachute display by 4 parachutist, who jumped out of a Cessna aircraft, who were they and what were they, doing over our glider field, who knows....
We had only 4 starters, as three of the other glider flyers had gone to pylon racing at Werribee. In this event you have 4 flights to obtain a total of 20 minutes flying time.
In the first round Brian and Les found good lift, scoring over 7 minutes. Round 2, Alan found the lift and clocked more than 7 minutes.
When round three came around it was Mal's turn to score well and he did, with over 8 minutes. To the last round,and the final round scores were worked out, they were: Mal required 3m 50s, Alan 2m 57, Brian 2m 54 and Les 2m 07seconds.
Brian was first away and had a perfect flight, landing on the correct time.
Mal was next off. He had a good flight but fell 6 seconds short. Then it was Alan's turn to fly and with his new glider he almost made a perfect flight... just falling short by 4 seconds. As the sunshine came through, Les was the last to fly,and he also put in a flight to land on the correct time.
Results:
| Equal 1st | Brian Deason |
| Equal 1st | Les Davis |
| Second | Alan Uren |
| Third | Mal Fields |
To finish off the day, Brian flew his electric aircraft as we packed up, a great day was had.
Report by Les Davis 5620, photo Alan Uren
Next on the calendar is Large scale racing , the Great Texan Race on the 24 of Aug, followed by the club meeting on Monday the 25 Aug,
Today 4 BRCAC members went to Werribee model Aircraft Club to compete in their Q500 racing. Only three competed (Graeme Beagley, Phil Organ, Neil Friswell), and Bill Mathews went with us & took all the excellent Photos. AS USUAL WELL DONE BILL, thank you very much for these excellent photographic records. As well as Q500, sporty was held, but we didn,t compete in that.
Q500 was fast & exciting for all. The carnage through out the day was incredible. I don’t know how many had MID AIRS , but there was a lot INCLUDING ME. Graeme raced extremely well to come in a credible second. Phil raced very well indeed but could not finish the day due to a broken muffler (missed the last 2 races because of this) but still managed to come in No 6. Neil missed the last 2 races also because of a massive mid air in lap 4 of the 3rd race, the plane is a wreck, the motor is a write off, (the side of the case is completely gone ). But Neil still managed to come in 8th out of a field of 12 for all that.
Graeme was unlucky in that he had landed after race 3, going to pick up his model when, you guessed it some ones plane ran into the back of his model & cut the tail off!! But Graeme was lucky, HE HAD A SPARE MODEL & was able to complete the day. The field ? BRCAC is spoiled by our field!! We have so much room ..
The racing was fast & I mean furious , but a load of fun , very well organized. This was Graemes 1st foray out side of his home field & he found it a big eye opener, especially to the size of the field compared to BRCAC club field. Rain? Just about, a little drizzle but not quite enough to stop the racing. Cold? You bet! Windy? You bet, but every one still enjoyed the day. The trip home ? the trip down ? lots of laughs , as you see we all went in the one car . Thanks Phil ..
Report by Neil Friswell, Secretary BRCAC, photos by Bill Matthews
First test flights of Phil Organ's CM PRO Discus. Testing proved extremely successful. Phil has made some modifications to the kit resulting in a 13oz wing loading. Mods included moving all servos to the front of the model, snake cable to elevators, adding nose release and a silver steel wing joiner. It proved very stable on the tow and test flight. Model was towed up on the Boomerang tug powered by OS 46 AX flown by Neil Friswell. At this stage there are 5 models in the process of being built.
I had my first attempt at flying the tow plane. What Fun ! (NEIL WAS THE TERRIFIED TOWEE. I FEEL THAT THE DISCUS HAS TO BE THE BEST VALUE FOR MONEY THAT I HAVE SEEN FOR A LONG TIME!)
Report and photos from Bill Matthews
Bendigo wins again! Steve and Les Davis managed first and second placing's at the Coota National Air Races, in the AT-6 Texan class.
Rain cut the comp down to four rounds, but that was enough to be called a competition. In the wet conditions not every thing went to plan. Steve scored a cut (!!) and Les damaged one aircraft (minor/ major repairs), then used the spare and put the fastest time for the comp.
Steve's winning margin was 8 seconds from Les, with Les beating third place by a further 22 seconds.
The Bendigo flyers have now won Coota, Shepp and Bendigo races, and there is still one more race to conquer, Adelaide Scale racing, who knows?
Report from Steve and Les. Photos
(Martin Lang has put some video on YouTube)
First off , lets "THANK EVERY ONE WHO IN ANY WAY HELPED TODAY". Also S POWER for being CD, & P Organ who was starter for a lot of the races, as well as B Mathews for taking the Photos.
Today we had our Pylon race day, Q500 & club CPR ( club pylon racer). First off we had Q 500. We had at the start 8 entries, including 2 from Bacchus Marsh, Dete Hasse & Charlie Meeson.
Before the racing every one was busy test flying their models. Phil Organ did not start because of a faulty servo on the throttle, scratch 1. Neil Friswell had just settled into a test flight when the model started looping by its self. A quick throttle cut saw the model do a stall landing with no damage ( the throttle servo >brand new< has a crook pot) , scratch 2.
When the racing started the action was fast & furious. Ian Heather couldn't get his motor to run & missed the first 2 races. Dete Hasse came around pylon 1, up the back straight & you guessed it, wop straight into the ground! Scratch 3, another dodgey servo pehaps?
Next was Charlie Meeson, happily flying 'his' model, going great guns when his caller said Charlie what do you think you are doing, he said racing my model! No said caller, your's crashed way out to the side 3 laps ago.
"Oh" said Charlie, well what model was I flying? "SOME ONE ELSE'S model" every one yelled out. Scratch 4.
After that every one settled down to the rest of the racing.
CPR. FAST & FURIOUS AGAIN.
We had 10 entries. Steve completed 1 race then had to go. Dete had trouble again & didn't race any more. Ian, well he came around pylon 1, up the back straight & wop, dived straight into the ground, problem? Broken elevator push rod (damaged in a previous heavy take off).
Phil, well what do we say, coming around pylon 3, yes thats right, he cut pylon 3 clean in 2, yes clean in 2, (about 5 feet off the ground ). No plane, no pylon. Boy what a mess !!! All Phil could say was I COULDNT DO THAT IF I TRIED.
Boy o Boy , what a day , never seen so much carnage. After that every one got stuck into the racing & had fun !!!!!!!!!!!!
At the end of the day the results were, first off Quickie 500.
| 1st | L Davis |
| 2nd | S Davis |
| 3rd | S Power |
| 4th | G Beagley |
| 5th | C Meeson |
| 6th | I Heather |
Well done every one. - CPR
| 1st | L Davis |
| 2nd | C Meeson |
| 3rd | G Beagley |
| 4th | S Power |
| 5th | N Friswell |
| 6th | S Sinclair |
| 7th | S Davis DNF, P Organ DNF, D Hasse DNF, I Heather DNF |
WELL DONE EVERY ONE
N Friswell on behalf of CD S Power
The AGM was held to elect the new office bearers for the coming year, and the results were as follows:
| Secretary | Neil Friswell elected unopposed |
| Treasurer | Barry Thomas elected unopposed |
| President | Two nominations, Graeme Beagley(woof) and Andy Thomas , Andy Thomas was Elected by vote |
| Vice President | Graeme Beagley was elected unopposed |
Andy Thomas thanked the club members for their special efforts through out the year, and felt that the club was in a good position to keep moving forward, especially with the "Special Interest Groups" coming to use and enjoy the club facilities (best flying field in Victoria, if not Australia!)
Andy also thanked individuals members for their extra special efforts through the year, its these extra efforts that help to make our club so successful, and great.
Report: Les Davis
Over this weekend at BRCAC we had the VMPRA. Pylon at its best with FAI, Formula 400 and Q500 (these last two on Saturday). The sky was overcast on Saturday with a steady breeze, and the flying was fast & furious with the Formula 400 ( fast ? wow ! ).
Then along came Q500 with 4 local entries; Shaun Power , Graeme Beagley (beagle, woof), Phil Organ and Neil Friswell. The highlight of the day was Friza's Q500, in race 1. Coming around pylon 3 on lap 6 it started doing uncontrolled loops (very low) over the heads of the other pilots. This caused him to scratch for the rest of the day (and it turned out to be a faulty elevator servo).
Shaun couldn't complete a full race, and it turned out to be a leaking tank, with also a clunk adrift off the feed line. Phil? Well he launched but couldnt get off the ground as his model went off tune , at that particular moment Dete Hasse's model was released, he lost sight of it on the ground & it run into Phils model & chewed the tail off (Phil's) & broke Dete's own model ( what a start to the day so far ). Graeme ? well he went GOOD! Then to Phil's for a sit down 3 course meal for every one involved!
WHAT a MEAL & NIGHT , THANKS MANDY , LOUISE , PHIL ,BILL M , a good night .
Sunday ? WET WET WET , & a little racing in between , FAI & more Q500. Phil repaired his model over night (with new tail feathers ) Shaun fixed his tank & I put in a new servo ( thanks Les , Graeme ) The racing for us? Very successful with no more dramas except we actually raced in the rain, YES IN THE RAIN !!!.
FAI ? Well all I can say BOY, ARE THEY FAST. You have to see them to appreciate the speed !!!!!!!!!!!! At the end of the day Graeme Beagley came 3rd in Q500 Well done Graeme !!!!
Well done everyone, With a big thank you to EVERY ONE who BOTHERED to come out and HELP .
Report: Neil Friswell, Secretary BRCAC
Photos by Bill Matthews
The night started at 7.15 PM with Gary Schmedje already flying when I got there at 7.30. In attendance was Andy, Gary, Phil, Barry, Stu, Peter, & Alan and his son Rob who enjoyed himself as a spectator very much, plus myself. The action was fast & furious from every one and no one escaped the night with out some carnage including ANDY ( but more on that later).
Barry flew both fixed & rotary very well. Me,? I flew fixed and rotary ? (I lost the memory on my TX for the heli & decided that the stadium is not the place to trim fly a heli). Stu ? well what can i say, A FLYING BOAT, literally!!!!!!!! you aint seen nufen till yu see this one, GRRRRRR, well done Stu. Barry, Gary, both hovering, with Phil loose in amongst them , weaving and dodging. Wow!
ANDY , well ANDY, what can WE all say? I dunno. Andy was hovering & LANDED on the Ceiling, yep shore did, but the trouble was THE PROP CAUGHT IN THE WIRE HOLDING UP THE SILVER PAPER!
Yep, and there it stayed put despite repeated efforts by Barry to nudge it loose with his shockie. Down to his last battery Barry HAD success & Andy's model fell to the floor and every one cheered, what a show.
Then PHIL & myself had a go at indoor aero towing, with a shockie tug & a shockie glider. The glider got off, then the tug. The glider lifted up & the tug lifted DOWN ... wop into the floor! (not much damage, just a broken undercart, the glider is fine) we know what was wrong, WE WILL SUCCEED, but it was FUN.
Report thanks to Neil Friswell. Photos by Alan Uren
This event is a little different to our other glider comps. In this event all flyers fly in the first 3 rounds to obtain 5 minute max scores. Then the top 5 flyers move into the sudden death finals until we are left with an outright winner.
Seven flyers paid up to enter this event, flown under varying weather conditions including strong wind, no wind, cold then warm with a little rain thrown in.
In the first round with strong winds almost every flyer gained good scores. In the second round the scoring was a bit up and down, as light rain was falling. When the third round started the rain had stopped, as did the wind. In fact it went dead calm! All flyers did well except for Neil, who's glider was maybe a little heavy for the very light conditions.
Now we are down to the sudden death fly offs with the top 5 flyers from the first 3 rounds, they are Graeme, Les, Mal, Garry and Phil. This round was flown with calm and cold conditions. The flyers had to work hard to try and get good scores, we eliminated 2 more flyers, the 2 lowest scores,leaving only 3 flyers left.
In this next round are Les, Mal and Phil, this time the sun has come out, a touch warmer than before, but the flyers still had to work hard for a reasonable score. Phil missed by 8 seconds and was put out.
Now to the fly off, first off was Les and he scored a 5.01 one second over a max score, now Mal's turn to fly, and he was trying hard with his new glider, called a "Fling" but could only manage a score of 4.53, just seven seconds short.
Results :
| 1st | Les Davis |
| 2nd | Mal Fields |
| 3rd | Phil Organ |
| 4th | Graeme Beagley |
| 5th | Garry Bright |
| 6th | Neil Friswell |
| 7th | Bill Matthews |
Thanks to Mal Fields for the bungee job, and time keepers, also to Bill for the photos.
Report by Les Davis 5620
Next comp, VMPRA pylon racing week end 19 & 20 July, followed by our Annual club meeting on Monday the 28th of July
Perfect day, 5 entry's so we held small impromptu comp involving 4 min max and spot landing. Flyers were Ian Heather, Neil Friswell, Gary Bright, Phil Organ, Alan Rocher.
Gary's model suited the conditions and the combination flew perfectly and he emerged the winner (Congratulations Gary ) with Phil second and Neil third. And also lots of Aero towing by Phil and Neil. Myself being the towee, so challenging and what fun ! Phil's turn around and descent time tow time was as fast as the Boomerang could go. I think the covering exceeded its design speed! Cooper Davis was being given Flying Lessons in the morning By Grand Pop Les
Is this a third generation Pylon flyer emerging?
Report thanks to Bill Matthews
Sunday we had our fun day . The day started off a little windy , blowing from the south , giving us a cross wind to contend with . We had 12 starters which was a good turn out. With an 11 am start we had one round before dinner, which was the spot landing. It was in the form of a bulls eye , with 3 concentric circles, and only one person finding the centre , well done Gary Schmedje! Only 3 others found the target at all.
Next was touch & go on the Bulls eye, with only 2 persons finding the area. Next we had max amount of loops in 20seconds and tops was Shaun Power with 10. Next we had a pack of cards toland on, ranging in size from LARGE (Min points) to Small (max Points). Top score was again Gary Schmedje, landing on the smallest card.
Next we had climb & glide, with a 30 sec motor run then dead stick glide. Top score there was Shaun with 4 min 1 sec glide. The closest to that was Gary with 2 min 30 sec.
At the end of the comp every one had a good time & thoroughly enjoyed themselves
Results were:
| 1st | Gary Schmedje |
| 2nd | Shaun Power |
| 3rd | Les Davis |
| =4th | Ian Heather & Neil Friswell |
| 5th | Graeme Beagley |
| =6th | Ryan Carter & Bill Mathews |
| 7th | Gary Bright |
| 8th | Brian Deason |
| 9th | Robbie Marshall |
| 10th | Alan Uren |
At the end of the day BRIAN DEASON successfully attained his BRONZE WINGS, well done Brian. Well done every one, a special thanks to ANDY for helping to run the comp
CD Neil Friswell 20907
Members of the BRACC were invited by members of the Bendigo Glider club to their annual social and bonfire night.
A beautiful Roast meal was provided and the nocturnal aviation was a sight to see , with the glider clubs gigantic resident foam nite flyer lighting up the night sky with an intensity similar to times square, there were also lots of very unusual aerial events.
Members from VARMS entertained all weekend with high powered free flighters, control line and gliders and beautifully illuminated night flyers. Phil Organ and Dete Hasse gave their usual immaculate aerial towing display, while Stuart Sinclair flew with his usual skill and flair not seeming to notice the darkness and to cap it all glider joy flights were available to those that wanted them.
A great night was enjoyed by all!
Thanks to Bill Matthews for the report and photos
At last we've had our first Electric Glider Comp day, and what a day it was, probably a little too good, warm, sunny and very little if any wind.
Seven members arrived to compete, but motors that wouldn't or couldn't run changed the make up of the aircraft that would be used. There were 4 glider types with one high wing trainer and one 3D aircraft.
With six entries paid up, on with the comp, one minute power climb, 4 minutes glide for max flight time. In the first round, Les was the only one to score a max flight time. Second round times were all down, third round, things picked up quite a bit, with two max flight times were recorded by Phil and Bill H.
Two more max times were scored in the last round by Stuart and Bill H.
Results were:
| 3rd | Stuart Sinclair | 10m 06s |
| 2nd | Bill Hughes | 13m 40s |
| 1st | Les Davis | 14m 07s |
A great day was had by all with no damaged aircraft, although Phil came very close.
Thanks to the time keepers etc,
C D Les Davis 5620.
Next comp day will be June 29 at the power field for 40- 46 size engines a fun day comp 11am start, followed by a club meeting Monday 30th, YMCA K.F.
Note your fees are to be PAID by this meeting
It looks like they have some great facilities at Gratton Field in Queensland!
The flyer and entry form for this year's Great Texan Race have been put on-line!
Our first race day for the year, came with ideal weather and some green grass runways. Quickie 500 was run first, with 7 entries paid up, we were off and racing just after 11am. This was some of the best quickie racing that we've had, with only a few seconds between the scores in each round.
One of the highlights was when Neil came around pylon 3, and made a high speed touch and go, with very little damage, in fact only a broken prop and bent undercart, how luckily was that!
Results:
| 1st | Les Davis | 390 pts |
| 2nd | Shaun Power | 396 pts |
| 3rd | Graeme Beagley | 410 pts |
CPR Racing started after lunch, with 10 entries, 2 heats of 3 flyers and 1 heat with 4 flyers. Five of the flyers were really on the pace with some very close racing which was evident by the closeness of the scoring. John Newman was relieved of duty in the scoring cage to take pictures for our web site, have a look to see how Johns' shots came out.
The day finished without a midair/crash, just a great days racing. Can't wait until the next race day.
Results:
| 1st | Shaun Power | 402 pts |
| 2nd | Steve Davis | 424 pts |
| 3rd | Charlie Mason (non member) | |
| 3rd | Phil Organ | 440 pts |
| 4th | Neil Friswell | 448 pts |
| 5th | Graeme Beagley | 491 pts |
| 6th | Stuart Sinclair | 552 pts |
| 7th | Dete Hasse (non member) | |
| 7th | Ian Heather | 623 pts |
| 8th | Les Davis | 700 pts |
Thanks to John, Andy, Noel and all the helpers for the support to run this day.
C.D. Les Davis 5620.
Next event June 15th Electric Glider, 1pm start, rules are on the web site, followed on the 29th of June, Fun Day for any 40 to 50 size aircraft , 11am start.
The initial rules for club Electric Glider competetions (starting on June 15th) were posted last year, but for those who don't recall them here they are!
Could members please ensure they have a key to the gate from the carpark into the field. It is important that people stop jumping over the fence and stretching the wire!
Keys are $5 from the Neil or Les. Please help us preserve the quality of our facilities.
Two nice days of flying, with some (photos) by Andy.
Only half of the rounds of racing could be achieved due to the wet weather especially on the Saturday. A good number of entries were in attendance with a few good midairs and one lost to radio failure.
The course set up was the hardest that we've had to fly on, with the pilots standing on number one pylon and the lights at number three, some 250 meters away which made it very had to judge the distance for turning.
The results for the AT-6 Texan class :
| First place | Steve Davis, Bendigo |
| Second place | Gregg Voak |
| Third place | Les Davis, Bendigo |
Report by Les Davis.
Today we had 3 minute max & spot landing at the glider field. With a total of 5 entries we were not to rushed with our 11 AM start . First off was Mal Fields. As Mal was landing it started to rain making all run for the shelter of our cars. After about 10mins we set out to complete the first round with Neil Friswell next followed by Phil Organ, Ian Heather & Bill Mathews. Bill, Ian & Neil all scored a max with Bill, Phil & Neil all scoring the spot as well.
The second round every one did quite a bit better, with the 3rd & 4th rounds everyone doing better still! But conditions were VERY TOUGH with a very strong WIND ( very blustery as well ). Both Phil & Neil had High Performance gliders. The others had only light thermal gliders, because of this they were asked if they wanted to continue, and they said YES, but had to be very careful in the conditions which they handled very well.
At the end of the day the results were:
| Place | Name |
|---|---|
| 1st | Ian Heather |
| 2nd | Bill Mathews |
| 3rd | Neil Friswell |
| 4th | Phil Organ |
| 5th | Mal Fields |
Well done chaps ! Thanks to Mal For Seeing To The Bungee.
After the comp was over every one was offered & had a fly of Neil Friswells high performance glider which made them feel very pleased with themselves at given the chance to fly this type of glider , again well done chaps !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil Organ flew for the first time a new sleek O D machine , you have to see it fly to appreciate it , FAST is not the word , WOW is all i can say . Get one by hook or crook if you can!
Regards, CD - Neil Friswell
Sunday morning came with a grey, overcast sky and a chance of a shower, well that's all that happened.
Mal, the CD for the comp, had arrived early at the glider field, had the bungee set up ready to go at 10 am, but he was the only one there. May be I've got the wrong field, thought Mal, so he packed up the bungee etc and headed for the power field, meeting myself(Les) half way back to Marong.
First thing Mal said, "Which field are we flying on"? "Glider field" was my reply, but theres no one there, says Mal, do you think the its a mess up in the start times, WELL.................
Mal and myself travel back to the glider field to wait for flyers to arrive at the later start time, waiting , waiting, waiting 11-30 comes and goes,still no more contestants, COMP OFF.
Mal was very disappointed, he had worked on this comp, rules etc to make it very interesting competition for us to fly in, and then only to find himself and one other club member came to participate, very disheartening, especially when the weather was very suitable for gliding.
This comp off report, by Les Davis
Next glider comp is 18th of May "Spot Landing Comp"
Following week, State Champs Aerobatics. 24-25 May.
Members of the BRCAC and the Bendigo gliding club travelled to Mount Hollowback on Anzac day. A very pleasant day was had by all. A very impressive display was given by Stuart Sinclair with his Swing wing (working ) twin ducted fan model which on its first flight flew perfectly with a wonderful sound coming from the twin turbines. (YouTube Video)
A spot of aerial combat vandalism with Zagis was enjoyed by flyers and spectators. Phil Organ gave a thrilling display of low flying with his Beautiful scale glider. ( photographer frightener).
We had to use the Northern rocky slope resulting in a couple of rock damaged models. None too serious. Thanks to Phil and Mandy for their post flying wonderful Barbecue.
Bill Matthews (Photos)
A few shots of us enjoying ourselves in the dry, warm days of Autumn! (Photos)
Sunday morning was warm and sunny and no wind to speak of, but by 1pm the southerly winds had strengthen making conditions tough for the competitions.
With only four entries, that was a little disappointing, to say the least. First off was Brian Deason followed by Bill Matthews,then Robbie Marshall and last away was Les Davis.
First round, flyers struggle with the wind, and best time was only in the six minute bracket. Second round wasn't much better,although Les managed to score a eight flight.
Third round scores again were poor, except for Les who got the one and only max for the day. Fourth round scores were a little better for most.
Results were:
| Place | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brian Deason | 24m -21s |
| 2nd | Bill Matthews | 19m -39s |
| 3rd | Les Davis | 18m -42s |
| 4th | Robbie Marshall | 16m -24s |
Thanks to Andy and Alan for their support to run the comp.
Report by Les Davis
(Next comp is "Hokins Heroes" Glider comp, at the glider field ,start time 10 am,Mal Fields C.D.)
Sunday came with light winds, but was extremely HOT, and the wind was from the north meaning that the launch was in the centre of the field, where there's no shelter from the blaring sun.
Eight flyers entered the Ramjet 2m glider comp, which is 4 rounds [flights] to gain a total of 20 minutes flight time, plus bonus points which are given for AUS No's on your aircraft, and carrying your FAI membership card with you.
In the first round flight times were poor, with Phil recording the best time of 4m 22s. Second round was no better, most flyers struggled except for Billy who had a great flight with a score of 9m 28s.
The third round was worst than the first round, leaving large scores for the last round and the end of the competition.
Results were:
| Score | Name | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 7m,41s | Graeme Beagley | 8th |
| 10m,53s | Robbie Marshall | 7th |
| 13m,33s | Mal Fields | 6th |
| 13m,47s | Ian Heather | 5th |
| 15m,55s | Bill Matthews | 4th |
| 16m,03s | Les Davis | 3rd |
| 16m,58s | Neil Friswell | 2nd |
| 20m,13s | Phil Organ | 1st Well Done ! |
Thanks to Andy for bring the gazebo out for a bit of shade it was appreciated by all, and also the bungee fetchers, thanks again.
Three onlookers were present who were flyers from various parts of Australia and called in to say hello, they were:
| Neil Shay | Yarram Vic. |
| Andrew Shay | Paraburdoo W.A. |
| Max Spencer | Charlton Vic. |
The day finished with an aerial tow of a 2m glider by a 40 size trainer, well done, Phil, Neil and Bill, may be we can see more of this ?
Report by Les Davis.
Next, is the big ASAA aerobatic competition, on March 27 thru to 30th, followed by our monthly club meeting on March 31.
Next club comp,Old Timer Club Texaco, on April 13th.
BRCAC has thru Les at Aero Aviation Hobbies been raising funds for James Dargue to go to the Masters Helicopter Championships in England later this year.
The funds where raised thru the sales of Jim Dargue's modelling gear, which came to a total of $600.00.
As you may know, Jim passed away on the 23 of February 2008.
All the members of this club wish James the very best at the Masters.
In the week leading up to Sunday March 2 the winds had been extremely strong to say the least, but Sunday's weather was almost perfect for flying, ideal for the duration event.
10 entries paid up to entry this simple comp, using 300mls of fuel and any 2 stroke engine. The entries were split into 2 groups,and the first group were off and flying just after11am.
Five minutes later Ian Heather was down with a fuel block. Next to land was Trevor Nesbitt with fuel tank problems. Shaun and Robbie were running neck and neck and landed with only 1 second between them. Alan Uren was just putting around without a worry in the world.
At 12.30pm we called lunch, but Alan was still flying. When the second group got prepared and were ready to fly, just after 1pm, Alan's fuel at last, had run out. The second group now in the air, it only took 4 minutes before Bill Matthews was back on the deck with a dead engine. Brian Deasons engine also stopped at 17 minutes, and he landed safely, at 34 minutes Gary Bright was down safely, which was a great effort for Gary.
Down to the last 2 aircraft flying Neil Friswell and Les Davis, to fly out the rest of their fuel to finish the Duration comp, Neil's engine stopped at just under the hour, Les's flew for almost 1 1/2 hours before his fuel ran out and landed safely, comp over, now to the results!
| Place | Time | Pilot |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | 0.4.14 | Bill Matthews |
| 9th | 0.5.08 | Ian Heather |
| 8th | 0.17.21 | Brian Deason |
| 7th | 0.34.37 | Gary Bright |
| 6th | 0.43.52 | Trevor Nesbitt |
| 5th | 0.55.00 | Neil Friswell |
| 4th | 1.14.00 | Shaun Power |
| 3rd | 1.15.00 | Robbie Marshall |
| 2nd | 1.28.00 | Les Davis |
| 1st | 1.59.57 | Alan Uren |
Thanks to the helpers, Andy, Alan R, Bill S, and Mal, who just came to help run this event.
C.D. Les Davis.
Next comp, Ramjet 2m Glider on the 16th of March, followed by
IMAC, on March 27 thru to 30th
Report and photos by Bill Mathews
Karen, Les, Neil and I travelled to Haddon Field for their comp. but as of late it was still blowing a gale and very few brave souls flew. They were, however, testing a new tow plane (Hots with Zenoah 61), a rocket ship I can assure you! Only a couple of visitors including ourselves turned up.
Neil managed a nice flight in spite of conditions and supersonic tow launch. Les discussed logistics of future Texan events with club members. We were however made very welcome. And we had a nice social day and we do hope for better conditions for them next year. These folk support our events, so let's support theirs!
The Electric Fun Day was held on Sunday 17th of Feb, on quite a warm sunny and a little bit smoggy type afternoon. It was a little disappointing how few turned up to fly. With the number of members in the club who have electric aircraft we were hoping for a large turn out but, alas we only had 7 flyers, with some very nice aircraft.
Barry Thomas was the first to fly after the 1pm start time, and was having a ball with his high powered, red colured Stik. Next was Roy Butterfield, who was zipping around the sky with his powered glider, followed by Les Davis with his little orange thing, zapping here and there and all around, and then latter with a couple of 40 size aircraft.
Bill Mathews had his very reliable yellow Sherbert, and flew into some good lift, and had quite a long flight. John Newman was next into the air with his white and red Subaru, having a good couple of flights before radio failure took over and ended his day.
Andy Thomas and Neil Friswell both had Shock flyers, and had quite a few flights, but unfortunely for Neil he had to land early with radio glitching.
All in all it was a good days flying with time to talk and fly, with a member from a long time ago, Mr Bill Kent, who now lives in S.A., but comes over here on work and family matters, and loves to call in and say hello, when he can.
Next club meeting is on Monday 25th of Feb, at 7.30 pm. Next comp day is Duration, any 2stroke and 300mls of fuel, start time 11am, Sunday March 2nd. [bring your lunch]
Report by Les Davis, AUS 5620
The first club comp for the year, brought 12 flyers to enter the Loops and Duration event, which was great.
The weather was quite warm, with light winds, and not too many flies, which should be good for some really great glider flying.
Ian Heather and Brian Deason laid the bungee out ready for the comp. While adjusting the tension on the rubber it broke and Ian was stung,,,,,,,,,,,
which brought tears to his eyes. Rapid repairs were made to the bungee, but this hold up caused two of the entrants to leave before the comp was completed.
After the late start, we were into the looping part of the comp, some aircraft do loop better than others, with some high numbers recorded, such as Roy Butterfield with 22, Neil Friswell and Les Davis with 19 loops.
The duration part of the comp was a very hit and miss affair, at times with strong thermal action and then almost total sink. The best duration flights were put in by Noel Young, Robbie Marshall and Brian Deason.
Unfortunately the comp was cut short, only having 2 rounds of each completed, before time run out. Normally we have 3 rounds of each.
Results were as follows:
| Name | Loop Points | Duration Points | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Davis | 9 | 8 | 17 | 1st |
| Brian Deason | 7 | 9 | 16 | =2nd |
| Noel Young | 5 | 11 | 16 | =2nd |
| Neil Friswell | 9 | 6 | 15 | 3rd |
| Roy Butterfield | 11 | 2 | 13 | =4th |
| Bill Hughes | 8 | 5 | 13 | =4nd |
| Robbie Marshall | 2 | 10 | 12 | 5th |
| Larry Bethel | 6 | 3 | 9 | 6th |
| Phil Organ | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7th |
| Ian Heather | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8th |
| Bill Mathews | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9th |
| Mal Fields | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10th |
Thanks to the helpers, timers and contestants, for making a successful first up comp for the year. Well Done !
C.D. Les Davis, 5620
Hope you all survived the Christmas period safe and well, and are looking forward, to having a good/great, year of 2008.
The Friday morning training sessions will start again on the 18th of Jan, if weather permits [ NO TOTAL FIRE BANS, ETC, ]
The first general club meeting for the year will be held on the field in the clubhouse, on the 28th of Jan. "All are welcome!" Remember that Monday is the Australia Day holiday, so maybe you could come late in the afternoon, have a fly and stay on for the meeting, now thats a great idea !!.....
Our first competition for the year will be the following Sunday after the meeting, on the 3rd of Feb," Loops and Duration " for all size gliders, start time 1pm. [ weather permitting ]
There has been quite a bit of interest shown in our Duration comp, [ 300mls of fuel, on March 2nd ], with members changing engines, changing carbies, changing props and doing fuel testing runs. Its great to see so many members showing interest in such a simple competition, why don't you have a go?
All you need is trainer type aircraft, any size and any 2 stroke glow engine. No aerobatic, pylon or glider skills required here, just fly for as long and slow as you can, until the fuel runs out, how simple is that???
Oh, yes, seats are provided for those who need them !
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL, and fly safely during the year, and make a lots of good landings.
Les Davis- Vice President