Saturday, June 19, 2010 was the last event of our contest year and what a great way to finish the year – with a “Tomboy” event! Contest Director, Chris Klimeck, will write a report on the contest so I’ll just give an overview of the day as a lead in to the photographs posted on our site.
This category is proving to be very popular amongst our club members. Why? you might ask. Talk to those involved and you’ll get these sort of responses …. “Cheap and easy to build a model..”, “Fits in the car easy”, “Reminds me of why I enjoyed aeromeodelling so much when I was young”, “Don’t be frightened – it’s not a real competition,more an event.” and above all “I’ve never had so much fun!”
Tony Gray and the boys from Hobart rang me a week earlier and expressed an intention to join us. Gavin Hallam was also going to bring his jet. Weather as usual plays a part and the forecast for Saturday didn’t look good. Tony said “I’ll call you on Friday to give you an update” Friday came but the forecast was still uncertain so we decided to have a phone hook up at 7am Saturday to check again. The uncertainty meant that Gavin and his jet would not make the trip as Gavin lives at Nubeena some 240kms and over 3 hours drive away! Saturday 7am and I called Tony. Tony asked “what’s the weather look like?” I said “I don’t know it’s still pitch black!” I checked the Elders web site and it said 18-20kmh at the airport. We decided to wait another half hour for the sun to come up and I could see outside. A bit after 7:30 and I report that the trees are hardly moving and all seems well but the airport is reporting 18-20kph; as it was at 6:30am and 7:00am. We determined that the anenometer at the airport was stuck so Tony would do a ring around and call back. Five minutes later the phone rang again “We’re on our way!” came the cry.
It was about 10am when Kerry and I arrived at the field but there were only three cars? What’s happened I thought? Greg R, Chris K and Terry P were there. Not to worry, behind us were Tony Gray and Peter Allen from Hobart, Will Deal and Scott Webberley also from Hobart. Then Kevin Hay and Andrew deWater, Bill and Faye Hellinga, Gerry de Groot and Geoff Hays. So quite a good turnout and some other vistors also arrived later.
Whilst the wind remained relatively light, beanies and gloves were the order of the day as the photos will attest to. Kevin Hay did some prelimanary test flights with his Powerhouse O/Timer and it started to “delaminate” in flight with the covering peeling off the rear fuz in flight. A roll of Nitto tape came to the rescue and quick repairs were made. The Tomboy events occupied the morning session. The clubhouse was a welcome refuge at lunchtime when everyone escaped for a hot cuppa and a nice barbecue – thank you ladies! After lunch the Old Timers got under way (they also got their lookalike models too!). Lastly some more Tomboy events. By 3pm or thereabouts, the cold had started to permeate the bones so it was time for us to head off. That seemed to trigger an exodus as all were getting ready to go too. As usual, the last man to turn the lights off was Terry Pearson who was fuelling his Liberty Sport as we all headed off after a most enjoyable day. Subsequent feedback from our close friends in Hobart was equally encouraging as they commented on the hospitality and the camaraderie that was there for all. If you missed this event, seriously give thought to building a Tomboy and joining in – you won’t regret it. (All right I know it’s taken a lifetime but I’m getting on with mine).
As an added bonus, Tony Gray and Will Deal have supplied an article on operating small diesels. This will prove invaluable to those less “in the know” and is very interesting. The pdf is here. Thank you to Tony and Will for allowing us to publish this.
On the subject of Tomboy’s, we are often asked what’s a good trainer? Well because of it’s Free Flight roots, you’d go a long way to find a more forgiving model, easy to fly, cheap to build (either diesel or electric) and if something goes wrong – you won’t have to remortgage the house. Now I’m not suggesting this is a long term trainer but to get the “feel” of radio control models at a slow and steady pace, learning how to co-ordinate turns etc. the Tomboy can fulfil this. As a trainer, the electric is the better option because you get throttle control, longer flight times and the ability to ROG (with suitable field and undercarriage). Food for thought?
Photos from the event can be found here (Thanks to Will Deal and Kerry Carnie for their contributions). Just a reminder if you <click> on a photo you will get an enlarged version and then <right-click> and you can download.
By the way the photogragh below suggests we were having a wake – it was anything but – This was the pilot’s briefing and some seem to be asking for divine intervention. Above all it was a great day!!
