Official newsletter of the Christchurch Radio Fliers ClubTail feathersTail feathers

February, 2017

Now that summer is finally here, and in the absence of any photographs from our Burnham field for 2017, I couldn’t resist the temptation of posting a photograph of Anchorage in the Abel Tasman National Park where Jill and I spent a lovely day on holiday in January. The other pic is of your faithful editor getting in some ridge soaring along the dunes at Rabbit Island, near Nelson, with his trusty Radian powered glider (Yes, I had to cheat and use the motor on several occasions).Happy New Year!

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IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ THIS

From the Treasurer

Following the last newsletter, most of you would have received advanced notice of changes to renewing your membership of this club.In short, the date that your renewal has to be completed by has been brought for-ward so that everyone should be a paid up member before the 1st April 2017.If you are not paid up by then, then you will not be covered by insurance until you renew. To aid and speed up this process the club offers a $20 discount for those that pay on time.Once I have the list of paid up members, I forward this list along with the money to the MFNZ. Remember that their fees have increased by $5.00 for the year and we cannot increase the club fees until after the AGM for next year. We now have the cart before the horse.On or close to the 11th February I will send you all notification of the payment due. If you can start paying from the 18th February until the 28th March. This then gives me 3 days to tally and finalise the list for the association.Some have said that we will be short changed this year and I can’t argue against this. We currently are paying just under $3.00 per week, so by bringing the payment forward costs us nearly $12.00. Minus the increase in cost that the club should have been able to pass on after the AGM.

Club Field Rules1 Please park vehicles in the designated areas.2 Model flying can be dangerous, please have a look at the clubs safety plan and flight etiquette.3 All models to be kept in the pits.4 Starting motors is only permitted in the pits or runway.5 Please carry or restrain models to and from the taxiway. Don’t taxi in the pits.6 No flying from the pits.7 No flying over the pits, carpark or ‘no fly zone’.8 All flying from the main runway to be from the flight safety box.9 A maximum of 5 flying at any time on the main flight line.10 Last person to leave, please ensure that the caravan, tea room and gates are closed and locked.

(NB. Please be aware of these rules and practice them. In the event of an accident, especially one that involves insurance, the first thing that will be investigated is whether we are following these rules and MFNZ guidelines.)

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SAANZ fly-in at Ashburton

Ivan Campbell’s 3/4 scale Spitfire at Ashburton. The engine is an 8 cylinder Chev, but with the traditional 12 exhaust stubs.

A very hot and Nor’Westerly day greeted pilots and members of the public at the Ashburton Sport Aviation Association fly-in over the Waitangi weekend. Several modellers were also invited to put on a couple of displays. Mark Brown and Jer-emy McLean from our club were joined by Jared Mulholland and Sean McCurrie, to display some large models to an apprecia-tive crowd. Craig Clapham was also there checking out the many full size aircraft, especially the RV 6’s.

Mark Brown and his Zero taken at Ashburton Model club last year when the weather was a little colder.

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Hi guys,

This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but I am wondering if any of your club members may be able to assist me with making some dem-onstration models for a school visit from North Loburn School on Tuesday 14 March. The theme of the visit is as below:

Hello DesI am doing a Science/Technology study with my class this term called “Harnessing The Power”We are going to study how we can harness power from the Sun, Wind and Water and look at weather patterns created by these phenomena.I was wondering if you are still doing your weather experiments and could have a class of 24 year 7/8 (11/12 year old) students for a visit?Most days are suitable for us except Wednesdays and Monday mornings. If you could email me back as to whether a visit could be arranged and if so possible dates that suit you, I would really appreciate it.Thank youLois PettigrewNorth Loburn School

An appeal from our patron, Des LinesWhat I have in mind, is that it would be great to have something like a small water wheel driving something (depending on the size, by either con-necting to a garden hose or simply sitting under a tap over a sink.

Another option would be to have maybe a Dutch windmill or similar that was used to grind flour.

Even a small wind turbine connected to a small generator motor that can show a reading on a voltmeter would illustrate the principal.

I have got the solar power angle covered with a solar cell demonstration and also a working solar hot water system. I have also got some material on weather systems such as the mechanics of a nor-wester and a demonstration of a cold front in a glass box.

I realise, it is a bit different to what the guys usu-ally build, but I figured that they would have the lateral thinking and model making making skills to come up with something if given the challenge.

Kind regards,

Des

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A 1/4 scale model of the Schweizer 2-33 glider which I am currently building. The model comes from a short kit from Aviation Concepts in the USA with excellent plans and construction manual. It is designed to be aerotowed and to thermal. The full size aircraft has been used extensively in the States and in Canada as a trainer since the 1960’s. I hope Jane, the pilot, can take me to new heights! - Peter

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Another competition for you - What’s this aircraft called? Be the first to get your entry in to the editor ...

Congratulations to GEOFF TIE who got last newsletter’s poser correct - the ugly looking aircraft below is a Royal Italian Airforce 1942 fighter RE2000.

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When it comes to the Illusion of scale, one of the most im-portant ingredients for any RC plane is the scale pilot figure that sits in the cockpit. Nothing is worse than seeing a beauti-fully built scale model airplane fly by without “someone” man-ning its controls. Yet for many modelers that little intrepid aviator is only an afterthought and not really considered im-portant. For the sport flier and scale competitor alike, an occupied cockpit goes a long way in making the aircraft look more like the real thing. It should be a crime to fly scale planes with a doll’s head or a stuffed ani-mal just strapped in the cock-pit. It’s better to just black out the cockpit with a coat of black or blue paint sprayed on the inside of the canopy. Any type of model, scale, pattern or sport, will look much better with the addition of a little life added but, remember, it should also be appropriate for the style and scale of the plane to really be of benefit. Today, there are so many companies offering pre-painted and inexpensive pilot busts, that there’s no real excuse for going the “Barbie” route! If you fly a WW1 biplane, pickup a vintage aviator, if you have a FW-190, stick a Luftwaffer pilot in the front office. Your model will look so much more profes-sional and finished with just a little bit of effort. This guide includes some of the more popular scale pilot figures available today. Some come painted from the factory, while others have to be assem-bled and painted by the mod-

http://www.modelairplanenews.com/blog/2010/04/04/scale-pilot-figures-and-busts-add-life-to-your-rc-plane/

SCALE PILOTS FOR YOUR PLANES

eler. These lightweight crewmen come in a variety of styles and several sizes, ranging from 1/8- to 1/3-scale. Go for it and add some life to your model.

These manufacturers can be found online at:

ACES OF IRON PRODUCTIONS

info@acesofiron.com http://www.acesofiron.com/home.htm

AH Design—The Pilot People

AH Design, Mountain Ash, Rhyd-y-Foel Road, Llanddulas, Nr Ab-ergele, Clwyd,

AXEL SCALE PILOTS

www.axels-scale-pilots.de ; email info@axels-scale-pilots.de .

CAJUN RC SPECIALTIES

Cajun R/C Specialties—LIFE LIKE Scale R/C Pilots

WARBIRD PILOTShttp://www.warbirdpilots.com

PREMIER PILOTS

http://www.premierpilots.net/index.html

TAILORED PILOTS

http://www.ytinternational.co.uk/tailored_pilots/tailored_pilots_home.

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Committee CornerMINUTES of the Christchurch Radio Fliers Club Inc.Committee Meeting, 23 January, 20177:30pm, Peter’s place

Present: Craig Clapham, John Isitt, Peter Hewson, Jeremy McLean, Dave Bately, Nigel Phillips, Keith Reid, Chris Hellyar

1. Apologies: Roger Atkinson2. Health: No major health problems were reported.3. Minutes of the previous committee meeting were distributed and read Accepted (CRAIG / KEITH)4. Matters Arising: a. Two gates had been donated by our landlord and these were fixed and feet added kindly by John Goddard. They have now been placed on the Burnham strip to provide two pilots’ boxes. The hope is that pilots will land close to where they fly from and not drift on and off the runway.b. The charge station, made by John, is now up and running with two large batteries provided by Keith. It is hoped that large solar pannels will be mounted on the caravan roof to provide power for the charge station. 5. Correspondence: a. Two emails had been received from a Joe Messina and a Nathan Barnes indicating that they would like to receive our club emails. They both live overseas. b. Email from Paul Clegg, the new Membership Administrator at MFNZ informing us about his position and that he will be send-ing out up-to-date club membership lists and other useful details, such as wings badge hold-ers. The Secretary replied to him thanking him for his support and suggesting that he might like to update his own lists as he had sent the email to Dave Bately, our secretary three years ago.6. Financial: John presented the November and December amalgamated accounts which were approved (CHRIS /NIGEL). Discussion of the MFNZ new financial year which requires clubs to have their membership

fees paid by 31 March each year. This will make it impossible to present accounts at the AGM before fees are due or potential fee increases are voted on. It was decided that we will have to put up with any under-resourcing/finances this year, but that the April AGM will have to make decisions about the next finacial year in advance. John said that members will have to pay their fees earlier, by the end of February, to give him enough time to get all the details to MFNZ. If members are late they will NOT have insurance cover.7. Club captain: Keith reported that the strip had been mowed recently and all looks good, although there have not been many fliers at the club due t the weather.8. Newsletter: The Editor reported that all was well and that he hoped to have the first edition for the year out within two weeks.9. Webmaster: Little happening over the Christmas break, but Chris said there had been some spam and some genuine contacts about the club.10. Safety & Noise: OK.11. General Business: a. MFNZ President, Jonathan Shorer, had contacted our secretary to arrange a meeting with all the local presidents when he and the MFNZ Council come to Christchurch for their Council Meeting on 11 February. b. New field rules were tabled and dis-cussed. Some minor changes were made and discussion took place about 3-D fliers, especially hovering, being courteous to ther fliers whose aircraft are in the circuit. c. Coming model events included a model flying display at Ashburton on Waitangi weekend, a MANZ and large model event at Darfield on 17-19 March, an aerotow event at Omarama at ANZAC weekend and the hope to run an aerotow at Burnham in June. d. AGM set for Monday 10 April.

Fin. 9:20pm

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If you are not already a member of the Christchurch Radio Fliers Facebook group, have a look and sign up. There are some cool photos, videos and other stuff that you can look at and also you can share that video and photo you have taken. There are currently 36 members so plenty of room for more. Chris Hellyar runs the site for us, so get in touch

President: CRAIG CLAPHAMVice Pres. JEREMY McLEANSecretary: PETER HEWSONTreasurer: JOHN ISITT

Club Captain: KEITH REIDCommittee: NIGEL PHILLIPS, CHRIS HELLYAR, ROGER ATKINSON, DAVE BATELY

Committee, 2016 /17

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Prez sez

Gidday CRFC,Hope you all had a good xmas and behaved yourselves on New Years eve. Now that it’s the second month of the year the holiday times are a dis-tant memory and summer has finally turned up so we’d bet-ter make the most of it as it surely can’t last longer than a day and a half! It seems to me that the media should give up talking about sunshine hours and focus on average and peak wind speeds as that’s the current meteorological (whew that’s a big word) growth area, I can’t recall a summer with so much wind. And so little model aviation. Bring back Jim Hickey I say, he’d sort it out.

For those hardened souls who have ventured skyward the flying conditions really have suited heavier proven models, it’s just been too much of a washing machine to be trying to trim out newer projects or fly lightweight foamies. That said yesterday (Sunday Feb 7) looked pretty good but I wasn’t able to make it out.

Over Waitangi weekend the Sport Aircraft Associa-tion (homebuilt aircraft build-ers group) held their annual national fly in at Ashburton airport, this event swaps be-tween the outer populated island to the north (recently Tauranga and Matamata), and the mainland on alternating years. They struck it lucky with the weather being stinking hot all weekend, and a few of our club members helped out with 2 model flying demonstrations on Saturday of larger models. I was down there as a spec-tator but saw Peter Hewson, Jeremy Mclean, and Mark Brown, there may have been others too. Clearly my focus for the weekend was on RV aeroplanes, of which there were a dozen or thereabouts, but I was impressed by pretty much everything that was on show. There was a demo of the (I think 7/8 scale) Spitfire built by Ivan Campbell of Loburn,

which is powered by a Chev Corvette V8, and I was sur-prised how convincing it looked in the air (not least because it was being flown appropriately), and even the sound, while not the same as a Merlin, was still quite a realistic tone which held the illusion of reality really well. I was lucky enough to get a ride in an F1 Evo Rocket (google Team Rocket F1 for more info) which is owned by a friend from southland and was just amazed at how much go it has. The fastest we saw in my ride was around 220 knots, which isn’t a lot slower than a Eurotrash (that’s ATR72 trans-lated into English). My neck is still stiff from holding my head in place on takeoff!Right enough rambling from me, go and build yourself a slope soarer so we can do some flying on the treelines at Burnham because this wind just isn’t stopping