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Please send an email to the webmaster with any news that should appear here. Tim's amazing "Cockadactyl" finally takes to the air!
On 9th January Club Vice President Tim Wooller completed the first successful maiden flight of his kit-built Marston Pterodactyl - known affectionately locally as the "cockadactyl" because of the yellow cockatoo crest Tim added! The cocky has a 2 metre (80") wingspan, weighs 1.65 kg, is powered by two 3S 2100 mAh LiPo batteries driving twin Warp 4 brushless motors turning 6.5" x 4" carbon fibre props.
Close followers of Tim's build-log on RC-Groups would know that after more than a year of painstaking building effort, his first maiden flight attempt in May last year was not quite so successful. Having recently completed repairs, with bigger props, less elevator throw and adjusted centre of gravity, the cockadactly has now completed more than a dozen flights, and Tim says that it is a total pleasure to fly. And it looks incredible in the air too! Results of 7-cell Glider Competition on 2 December 2007 The first "anything goes" 7-cell glider competition organised by Gary Andrews on 2 December 2007 was a great success. Gary will be organising another of these fun competitions soon - it is suitable for any skill level with almost any kind of glider including the ever-popular beginner's model EasyStar -so have a go!!! The task is to fly for 5 minutes and land on a spot. 1 point will be awarded for each second of flying time up to 5 minutes. 1 point is deducted for each second over 5 minutes, and 1 point is deducted for each second of motor run. 25 points are awarded for landing with the nose of the model within 3 metres of the spot, 20 for 6 metres, 15 for 9 metres, 10 for 12 metres and 5 for 15 metres. For any enquiries please contact Gary Andrews. Family Fun Day 2006 Photo Gallery
Jim Henwood (left) and Robin Simpson
manning the barbeque at the Family Fun Day on 26 November.
The gourmet September 2006
Instructor John Channon (left),
congratulates Tony Brown, Neil McNair, Robin Simpson and
Robert Watson
Deans Ultra plugs are renowned for reliability and high quality but because they are somewhat expensive you may be tempted to buy an alternative. Member Paul Hinson has some timely advice: There are several "pirate" Deans type connectors on the market frequently being black or grey in colour but recently there are some red connectors that at first sight may appear to be genuine Deans. From personal "lost model" experience these are potentially dangerous and should be avoided - especially if mixed with the genuine article. There is no guarantee that pirate connectors even paired with each other will perform properly . So how can you tell if a red connector is genuine? It is not easy but any connector that will not fit is a no brainer but if it is sloppy then it probably is not a Deans. Of course the complication of male and female combinations of genuine and pirate does complicate the issue if both are red in colour. There is no unique marking on the Deans connector to assist as far as I can see. Some pirates have a bad male spring profile allowing the spring to move away from the spade and even, on assembly, going over the female connector all together! A pair of undistorted genuine Deans Ultra is a very tough push fit. Any easy fitting connectors should be regarded as suspect. There is a complication in soldering the Deans connectors as, for a good joint, a hot soldering iron should be used for a short interval of time with both the wire and connector being pre-tinned. As the metal spade heats up it softens the red plastic so avoid overheating and especially applying any physical force to the spade during soldering as distortion may occur ruining the connector. I find that the main problem is with the female connector and to avoid distortion by overheating and physical pressures is to always solder Deans Ultra connectors with a pair assembled together. The other connector also then acts not only as a shape stabiliser for the plastic but also as a heat sink. - Paul Hinson, September 2006 June 2006
Club members Karl Miller with a
WindStar(left) and Chris Mort with a Brolga (right) show off
the Results of Round 3, held on Sunday 5 February 2005 Pilot Points Place John Ellis 974 1st Karl Miller 907 2nd David Foster 734 3rd Jim Henwood 716 4th Chris Mort 694 5th Round 4 of the 'Sunset Cup' will be flown Sunday 2 April 2006 October 2005 Results of Round 2, held on Sunday 6 November 2005 Pilot Points Place David Foster 885 1st Jim Henwood 859 2nd John Ellis 821 3rd Barrie Hill 798 4th Mike Gallagher 786 5th Results of Round 1, held on 1 Sunday 6 August 2005 Pilot Points Place Jim Henwood 1114 1st Karl Miller 890 2nd John Ellis 601 3rd David Foster 540 4th Barrie Hill 434 5th Andrew Baber 382 6th Peter Smith 366 7th Chris Mort M.I.A. 8th 'Sunset Cup' Round 3 will be flown Sunday February The 'Sunset Cup' is a
simple, fun competition suitable for any skill level.
Any enquiries - contact David Foster 9948 1790 September 2005 Links Page Updated Our RC Modelling
Links
Page has been
extensively updated - some interesting new links New Sunday Field Setup Roster to End of Year Posted The Sunday field setup
roster up until 18 December 2005 has now
been posted. Please
check 3 October 2004 New R/C Aerial Photography page added including an aerial movie of our site! Our second Show & Tell Night on Wednesday 22 September at the Aurora Drive Clubhouse was a great success - full report and photos here. The next night will be in early December - keep a look out here for details. The club's copy of the fantastic radio control flight simulator AeroFly Professional is now available for weekly loan to club members.. 25 June 2004 We have completed a comprehensive survey of the radio frequencies used by all members of the club. Before buying a new transmitter or crystals, please check here to find an unused - or less used frequency - giving you more flying time at the field! 4 April 2004 We now have an agreed 'Code of Conduct' - please have a look, read carefully and fly by the rules. Thanks Barrie for pulling this together! Here is new President Peter Smith's April newsletter in Microsoft Word or in Adobe Acrobat format. 2 April 2004 At the AGM we elected a new Club Committee. Please take a look here. Also, the AGM decided to put a moratorium on the use of LiPo batteries at our flying site. 2 December 2003 Lithium-Polymer cells have the potential to multiply flight times due to their much higher energy density compared to conventional cells. However, they need careful treatment, because they can ignite and cause fire due to impact and incorrect charging - people lost their houses, cars and models due to lack of care. If you consider Li-Po cells please make sure that you study and adhere to the following Ultimate
Guide to Lithium Polymer
Batteries
(thanks to rc-groups) 30 November 2003 Safety is the paramount consideration when flying our models. Did you know, for example, that the maximum height you can fly your model is 400 ft AGL (Above Ground Level) which is about the length of our field. And that you cannot fly closer than 30m to any person unrelated to your flying activities. Please take the time and read the CASA regulations Part 101 which govern our hobby
28 October 2003 We expect that a photo series on our club will appear in the The Bulletin's Christmas Special - watch out for it. 17 June 2003 As of Wednesday 18 June we have leased the Golden Jubilee Field from 9-1pm on Wednesdays, in addition to Sundays. Special thanks to Matt Gorringe for making this happen! Remember that we need to put signs and cones out. The annual IMAC
Electric Fun Day is on again Sunday 22nd June. There will be
lots of time for general flying but we also intend to run a
few short fun events that were very popular last year. These
may include: Aircraft Carrier Landing, Limbo, Slow/Fast Lap,
Musical Landing, 5 Minute Scramble, Secret Landing Spot and
All Up, Last Down. Hot food and hot/cold drinks will be
available on site. Come earlier for a hot breakfast. Entry
fee will be $10. See you there - Lou Directions: 4 May 2003 Following John Waddington's visit to our Club in January he wrote an article that was published in the UK magazine Quiet & Electric Flight provided extensive coverage in their April 2003 issue. Thanks, John. Stars include Carolyn Michael, Mike Gallagher, Norm Fielder, John Ellis, Andrew Baber and Chris Jones. Please see the section Press coverage for the full article. 16 April
2003 A fantastic article has appeared on our Club in the April issue of the UK magazine Quiet&Electric Flight (QEF). Rather humorously written by John Waddington. His visit was arranged by Chris Jones. Many thanks, Chris and all others who contributed. I will try to copy this article on to this web site, if QEF allows me to do this. Chris Jones found a
great source for carbon fibre tubing. Please contact Jon
Hartley, Director, Archery Mart Australia, in Adelaide |
