Hangar Talk – November 2023

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This past 2 months has flown by (mainly due to excessive wind!). Due to the strip having just been seeded and rolled, it was decided to cancel the October Club day however, we did manage to get a club day in this month.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know –

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December Events – Don’t forget to register for the Christmas Lunch

• Working Bee Day – Saturday, December 2. Many hands make light work, so this should not be a long day. Even if you can make it for an hour or so, please make an effort to help maintain the grounds in preparation for the Christmas Lunch. There will be a complimentary “sausage sizzle” for the workers.
• Christmas Lunch – Saturday, December 9. As of 21/11, there are only 13 of 34 members who have registered as attending, and registration close this Sunday, November 28. If you can’t make the working bee or the Christmas lunch, please let us know by Sunday.

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Club Day – November 4

An excellent turnout, the first on the newly sown but still unfinished strip. Unfortunately, Kerry and myself could not attend as my son was having his 50th birthday bash that afternoon (Now I really feel old!). MeiLin kindly stepped in and prepared the BBQ for everyone and was assisted by Jo Green. Thank you ladies.

There were 18 members in attendance – Alan J, Nara T, Ray, Jo & Micah G, Greg R, Liam & Phil E, Mark H, Max W, MeiLin H, Mick G, Peter S, Rodney K Chris J, Richard C, Daniel H and Vince B. We also welcomed 4 visitors from the Dalgliesh family. Angus Dalgliesh, who is 14yo had been keen to visit the club for some time and had been communicating with me, through his grandmother Denise, since October 2022. Due to cancelled club days or their own commitments, we were never able to find a mutually convenient time to visit the club. November changed that. Max W very kindly allowed Angus to have a fly of his Hobbyking glider.

Max reported that Angus flew it very well with no problems and he has asked both Angus and his father to study the list of flight manoeuvres on the silver wing sheet just to know what they will need to do to get their wings, when they are up to doing their tests. MeiLin provided a brief report on the day and wrote –

Hi George
It was a good day a little breezy but settled down in the arvo.
Mark had a pretty big smash with his Extra and Daniel’s trojan canopy flew off during flight, which was later found with the help of Rod.
Oh and my big stick had its maiden, but I didn’t land it.
All in all a good day
Regards
MeiLin

MeiLin says she didn’t land her big “Ultra Stick” – keep a look out for a runaway model! (Although I am sure Vince probably landed it for her 😊). It seems MeiLin has a penchant for Ugly Stik’s or they are breeding in her hangar! MeiLin has 3 now. The “baby” Ugly Stik is in the process of being covered. –

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I spoke with Mark later in the week and he was disappointed with the Extra crash, especially considering the $$$’s investment he had in the model. He added that the OS FS95 motor he had in it suffered extensive damage, with a cracked crankcase, pushrods, pushrod tubes, rocker caps and more. Not to mention the entire airframe and add to that, the servos and Rx are now unlikely to be used again. When he was building the Extra he asked Vince about what glues he uses, and Vince said he uses white wood glue rather than epoxy. Mark used it on the tail feathers of the Extra and said Vince was right as the only remaining part that was intact was the tail section, where the wood glue was used! Unfortunately, everyone suffers a bad crash at some stage and I’ve had my share too.

UPDATE: Mark ordered the replacement parts for the OS FS95 when he returned home on the Saturday, had the parts delivered by Wednesday and the motor was rebuilt that night.

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Mark also brought along another new model. A Hangar 9 “Ultra Stik”. This was fitted with an OSMax95AX. It is a very smart looking model Mark, did you fly it?

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Mark took a number of shots on the day and a video of Rodney’s Corsair. Thank you Mark. If your model is included, let me know which one so I can identify in the Gallery.

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Maintenance works

After a bit of a staggered start, the grass is really progressing well. The club is certainly fortunate to have a new “maintenance crew”, in Mick G, Mark H and Rodney K, who have generously stepped in to assist where possible.

The biggest challenge we have faced with the new strip has been watering. Lack of rainfall has meant that daily watering of the strip has been essential. Not an easy task when you consider the strip takes up an area of approximately 4500m2 (a bit over an acre). Fortunately Ron the farm manager, has stepped in to provide daily support by moving the sprinklers.

Just when we thought watering was all we had to worry about, I received a message from Seona the agronomist, advising that we had some emerging weeds coming up, including capeweed, erodium, hogweed and clover. Seona provided another herbicide recommendation for spraying and the farm kindly donated the required herbicides. Due to Mick G having work commitments, Mark H stepped in and sprayed the strip and pit area to control the emerging weeds.

On Friday, November 17, Rodney mowed the strip, taking care to only take about ⅓ off the top of the grass. Getting the grass down to a length suitable for very small wheeled aircraft will be a gradual process as we mow the grass lower each cut until it is almost level and growing laterally like a football pitch, so please be patient. Rodney took a video and I have extracted an image to show you how much it has grown and as you can see there is plenty of growth, which will spread out as we have repeat mowing sessions.

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New Members

We have at least one, maybe 2 new members to report. We are pleased that Richard Cooper has nominated a friend of his, Phillip (Pip) Hollow to join. Mark H has taken Pip for some trial flights with his model and Mick G observed that he thinks Pip is a natural. Pip will join from January 1, under the half-year membership rule. Until January 1, Pip will no doubt be at the field under the umbrella of a “visitor” with Mark showing him the ropes. If you see Pip, I am sure all will make him feel welcome. We have also had a commercial drone pilot express interest in joining and also another junior, both may also join for the half year. The drone pilot is Matt Stephens and Mick G has met him a few times at the field. Matt flies FPV and the committee is currently reviewing our Rules as the MAAA and CASA have very strict conditions on anyone flying FPV. We need to ensure that any member wishing to fly FPV understands and complies with these rules, as is the case for all our rules of course.

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BEGINNERS TIPS

Center of Gravity (CG). Assuming the build is sound, I think this is probably the most critical step before you maiden a new model. I saw this article on the web and thought I would share it, especially for some of our new members who are learning some of the basic model set ups.

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From the WWW..

Talking about crashes (as we did on Club day), have a look at a collection of crashes in the video below. What sets this video apart from other crashes is the guys are all laughing when there is a crash. Something I took from the video is that these New Zealanders are not afraid of flying in the wind. In fact some flights are flown in a proverbial GALE! Crashes are a part of flying RC aircraft. If you have a crash, whilst it might hurt at the time, get “back on the bike” ASAP and enjoy the hobby.

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Well that’s it for another month. Hopefully you found it interesting. Leave your suggestions or feedback in the Comment section below.

Don’t Forget – Put a Spark in your life and fly electric!
George