“Around the Hangar” – Club Day, November 7, 2009
Apologies for the lateness of this report. An oversight on my part.
The weather was picture perfect for club day on Saturday, November 7 which resulted in a reasonable turn up for the day. The recent favourable weather and subsequent mowing of the strip and surrounds shows a marked difference in the state of the strip as the photos will attest.
A welcome return to the field was Craig Homan who brought out his Piper L34 “Grasshopper” and his SIG “Rascal”. Now we need to see you more regularly Craig so you get some regular flying under your belt and obtain those elusive “wings”. We also welcomed new member Mark Lucas who was introduced to the club through Terry Pearson. Mark has a Boomerang trainer and will be under Terry’s tuition to get his “wings”. Greg R flew his electric powered pattern model, the Adrenaline 90. Power comes from a Hyperion ZS4025-14 with a 16×10 APC-E prop. Electrons provided by 6S 5000mAh Hyperion G3 battery capable of 5C charging (25A). The model was very swift in a straight line and required very little of the strip to get airborne. Geoff Hays brought his electric Rainbow out for a flight and balanced that with his IC powered Ugly Stick. President Gerry de Groot brought along his Piper Cub. Jacques Wakae and Dave Jacobs also took part on the day. Jacques flying his Buzzard Bombshell and doing a lot of low level “buzzing” of the field!
The proliferation of “Tomboy-esque” models never ceases to amaze proving that this is a very popular category. Merv Cameron brought out 2 new 75% Sportsters – why two? One for Merv and one for Kevin H. Both were powered by engines from Merv’s collection. Merv’s powered by an Allbon Super Merlin .75cc (red cylinder) and Kevin’s using the standard Allbon Merlin. Kevin has since returned (reluctantly?) the Merlin to Merv and repowered with an MP Jet 0.40 cu in that I got for him. Kevin reports many flights using the MP Jet and states it is “10 times the engine the “Boddo” Mills he originally used. Kevin also reports that the MP Jet took a little bit to get the settings right but once set he locked the compression screw and has never touched since. He also reports flights of up to 2.5 minutes of engine run.
Pattern models were a plenty as pilots were no doubt getting in some practice in preparation for the Pattern event scheduled for November 21. Andrew McEntyre flew his “Super and Cheaper” pattern model however a dead stick downwind landing resulted in the loss of his undercarriage. This happened to Kevin’s, Terry’s and now Andrew’s similar models – Could this be a new design trend? Given the demise of the S&C Extra and the older ex GR Extra, Kevin Hay dusted off his Magic to get some practice in. Terry also flew his S&C Extra. All in all a good day was had and for once the weather gods were smiling.
Check out the photos below.
