“Around the Hangar” – Club Day, October 3, 2009
- Club Day, Saturday October 3 saw the flying field opened up again after a hiatus due to the seemingly endless rain over the last couple of months.
- Many thanks to Terry P for his work on getting the strip and pits mowed so that we could at least see the strip! Also to Greg R for the road repair.
- The writer donated a roll of rubber matting to enable members (and particularly his wheelchair) to negotiate past the “swamp” that still exists. Credit to Kerry for manhandling the rather large and weighty roll into the trailer, then unloading and rolling it out in the pits. No mean feat but she’s built of tough stuff!
- Kevin H brought out his recently refurbished Extra along with his Tomboy powered by a “Boddo” Mills. The Tomboy achieved a great climb and some nice long flights. Seems the extra wingspan made all the difference.
- The “Boddo” version of the Mills is receiving mixed reports, Merv C saying his engine is nowhere near as good as the “Doonside” Mills he has. I spoke with David Owen of “Owen Engines” fame and he confirmed he had also had mixed feedback about the”Boddo”, apparently a lot of running in to get them right.
- Merv C had a flight of his Duster and was seen practicing the Pattern – any chance of a comeback Merv? Maybe he’s secretly getting ready for the LMAC Pattern Championships next year?
- Fred W brought out his two Greg R built Tomboys. one electric and the other diesel powered.
- Terry P flew his Extra 330, that is almost identical to Kevins. The motor was a bit temperamental (very unusual for Terry’s aircraft) but probably due to long lay off and some gunk has probably settled in the carby. The result was Terry had a dead stick downwind landing and whilst to the naked eye the landing was perfect, the long grass ripped out the undercarriage. Unlike Kevin’s identical landing a few weeks ago, the undercarriage broke away cleanly and an easy repair job would result. Terry was more disappointed that he was looking forward to an enjoyable afternoon of flying, the first in a long time. Never mind the trusty “Liberty Sports” was brought out to ensure the day was not lost.
- Whilst the wind tended to be a bit gusty before lunch, it did ease somewhat later in the day. Kerry cooked the barbecue and a reasonable roll out of members enjoyed the usual fine food and the usual lunch time banter.
- Richard C brought out his refurbished Telemaster. Very unusual to see Richard flying an IC powered model given he seems to be all electric. The model flew well but on his last flight the length of the grass made the roll out for take off a little tricky and a ground loop resulted. No major damage and we’ll see the Telemaster back again soon.
- The writer flew his trusty Magister. The Hyperion powered model with a 3S 3700mAh LiPo gave me a 19 minute flight with still plenty of charge left in the pack.
- The strip will get another mow this week and it won’t be long before we’ll get things in order.
Check out the photos below.
