NEWSLETTER APRIL 2020 - TCCV · Robert Brody 0458 252 226 LU LIRARIAN Dennis Belcher 55734517...

1 Hamilton and District Veteran, Vintage and Classic Driver’s Club Newsletter April 2020

In this issue

• Calendar of events includes Club Captain’s Report

• Invitation events from other clubs

All events are cancelled until further notice

• President’s report

• RACV 1&2 Cylinder Rally (2 reports)

• The Grumman Avenger

• Land of the Northern Lights

• The Coronavirus

• Mt Tarrengower Hill Climb 1955

• This and That

• Exhaust Notes

Website

http://hamiltondistrictvvcdriversclub.webs.com/

Facebook @handdvvcdc

Please email all club correspondence oto

[email protected]

Newsletter items and reports NOTE NEW ADDRESS

[email protected]

Return Address

P O Box 174

Hamilton Vic 3300

NEWSLETTER APRIL 2020

RACV 1&2 Cylinder Rally at Skene Homestead


mailto:@handdvvcdc

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bendigoswaponline.com/files/logo2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.bendigoswaponline.com/&usg=__TUC2gFZhFHAEihQQxhUa-PcRD5w=&h=176&w=245&sz=9&hl=en&start=1&sig2=w7mUH5ctwbH_SPLswBAViQ&zoom=1&tbnid=cbu5-em9BawlUM:&tbnh


Committee 2019-20

Position Name Contact

PRESIDENT: Richard Neaves /Pam 0488 231 835 (Please ring mobile only)

[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Doug Palmer/Jan 55721070

0409 010 730

SECRETARY

PUBLIC OFFICER

Pam Pollock 0419 145 452

[email protected]

[email protected]

ASSISTANT SECRETARY Vacant

TREASURER John Barke/ Jenni 0427 724 519

ASSISTANT TREASURER VACANT

SUPPER COORDINATOR Jenny/Terry Hutchins 55722799

CLUB CAPTAINS WEEKENDS

MIDWEEK

VACANT

VACANT

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Lorraine Wilson / Peter 0427 724 572

[email protected]

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Graeme Ralph

Rod Potter

Robert Brody

Russell Ward

Dennis Dawson

Warrick Hanstead

0418 344 390

0427 507 693

0458 252 226

0412 407 893

0417 328 622

0417 865 048

FEDERATION REPS Graeme Ralph

Doug Palmer

0418 344 390

0409 010 730

WELFARE OFFICERS Doug Palmer Please contact if you know of an illness,

death or any special occasion.

BUILDING COMMITTEE

Denis Polack 55723284 Chairman

Graeme Ralph 0418 344 390

Doug Palmer 0409 010 730

Ern Polack 0428 352 538

Russell Ward 0412 407 893

Robert Brody 0458 252 226

CLUB LIBRARIAN

Dennis Belcher 55734517

PERMIT RENEWALS Richard Neaves

Rod Potter

John Barke

Graeme Ralph

Warrick Hanstead

Pam Pollock

0488 231 835

0427 507 693

0427 724 519

0418 344 390

0417 865 048

0419 145 452

NEW MEMBER CONTACT President/Secretary/Treasurer or

Doug Palmer 0409 010 730

Information for new members is available

on the website.

http://

hamiltondistrictvvcdriversclub.webs.com/





2020 CLUB CALENDAR AND CLUB CAPTAIN REPORTS All details will now be on this page

Clubrooms are situated at the Pastoral Museum in Hiller Lane Hamilton Meetings 3rd Friday of the month@7:30pm Bring some supper to share.

Sunday run is usually on THE Sunday AFTER THE General meeting Mid week run last Wednesday of the month

Club Captains ? Weekend runs ? Mid Week runs

12– 15 March Club hosting Veteran Car Club of Australia (1&2 cylinder rally) organised by Doug Palmer We are providing Tea on Thursday evening and Brunch Sunday APPROX 50 CARS

March 20 General Meeting Program TBA

March 22

Sunday

Federation Picnic Mortlake Depart clubrooms 8:30pm Leave at 9 otherwise make your own way- Again this great event will be held at Tea Tree Lake picnic area in the centre of Mortlake. Lots of interesting vehicles and some prizes handed out on the day. Lunch available for purchase

March 25

Wednesday

Mid- week run

BIG DAY OUT

Proposed all day outing to Pomonal Native Plant Nursery. Departing at 9:30am from the

clubrooms

The planned route is via Glenthompson to Willaura for a morning tea stop at the recreation re-

serve. BYO or purchase something from the well- stocked Willaura Bakery. We will move on then

to Phillip Vaughan’s nursery at Pomonal for a talk and the opportunity to inspect the wide range

of native plants on sale.

Lunch will then be at Halls Gap.( in car park near swimming pool) BYO or purchase from local

outlets. The final leg of our journey will be over Mirranatwa Gap, across Victoria Valley to the

Bridge Café at Cavendish for afternoon tea to round off a great day’s touring.

March 29

Sunday

Portland Woodchip NOTE WEEK LATER (Gus Kuilboer) Meet at clubrooms at 9:30am for a 9:45 am departure. We will be visiting the Woodchip facility at the Port of Portland at 11am.

You will need covered footwear. BYO lunch or buy in Portland. Please contact Richard if intend-

April 29

Mid-week Run.

Visit to Hotspur and the Collection of farm and garden tractors and implements of Daniel Spen-

cer. Assemble 1:15 for 1:30 pm departure. BYO afternoon tea to share. Tea and Coffee available.

More details later.

May 17 National Motoring Heritage Day Pastoral Museum Open Days—see flyer page 8

May 15 –17 Wolseley Car Club Rally Saturday 16th providing a lunch (Dennis Belcher)

June 5-8 Queens Birthday Weekend Rally Assistance required Registration forms will be available with this Newsletter.

The Wolseley Car Club state

rally, which was to be held

here in May, is cancelled. Per-

haps more properly labelled

as "indefinitely postponed."

When we are free of the cur-

rent plague, whenever that

might be, the Wolseley Club

will look forward to re-


President’s Report Richard Neaves

Hello fellow member’s how things can change in a very short time span. COVID – 19 has created a very big head

ache for all of us. The committee has suspended all club activities, until such times as it safe to hold meetings. As

the demographics of our member’s ages are high it was an easy decision for the committee to make.

The building members have been busy fitting a double sided cabinet into the green door, to house the Defibrillator

so it can be accessed by both Car Club and the Pastoral Museum thanks to all concerned.

Be patience when paying your Club permit rego’s at Vic Roads. To all members look after your health, take all nec-

essary precautions and we will meet in the not to distance future. Happy isolation.

A note from the editor Lorraine Wilson

In this time of social distancing we have made the deci-

sion that the future issues of the newsletter will be

emailed only.

I have been through the registration forms and although

75 members requested it to be posted I have 28 mem-

bers who have not provided an email address. Unfortu-

nately they will miss out on the next few editions.

If you know any of the members who will

not receive this perhaps you could organise to ring and

tell them any news or check if they have an email that

you could forward it to.

I will ring around to check as some email addresses

bounce back or tell me their in boxes are full.

Thanks to the few who have contributed articles.

Would love to hear from a few other members

with stories of cars, travels or anything else that

might fill the pages.

UPDATED ADVICE – ARRANGEMENTS FOR CLUB PERMIT RENEWALS AND CLUB PERMIT APPLICATIONS

I refer to recent contact about arrangements for club permit renewals, and my advice that permit should only be paid through mailing the renewals to VicRoads. I would like to update this advice. As you are aware, a number of queries have been made about the availability of payments by credit card, given that many people no longer have cheque books and money orders have a purchase cost. After some discussion today, it has been determined that:

• Whilst they remain open, VicRoads Customer Service Centres will continue to accept pay-ment for club permit renewals.

• If permit holders do not wish to attend a customer service centre, they can continue to renew permits though mailing the renewal to VicRoads, GPO Box 1644 Melbourne 3001

The renewal process is described on VicRoads’ website. Queries have also been received about applications for new permits. The process for applying for new permits has not changed, and is described on VicRoads’ website. https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/ New club permits can continue to be applied for at VicRoads’ Customer Service Centres. John Lewis Principal Practice Advisor - Registration and Licensing VicRoads

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/


RACV 172 CYKLIBER CARS VISIT HAMILTON A VERY INTENSE 4 DAYS

Pre Planning behind the scenes of a big event.

As most of you will know some five months ago I was asked to take on the position of Rally Director for the 2020 Rally for 1 & 2 cylinder cars of the Veteran Car Club of Australia (Victoria), of which I am a member. They rea-soned that as I have lived in this district for most of my life I would know of interesting places for them to see dur-ing the four days they intended to be in the Hamilton area.

I started driving to many different places, and speaking to many different people about supplying meals and ven-ues for the visitors to enjoy whilst in the Western District. The main stipulation was that no matter where I took them there were to be no major hills for their old cars to climb and that there was to be no more than 110kms. per day to be driven.

Then there was to be the accommodation which they requested to be close to Rally Headquarters (our Clubrooms) so I booked out 3 Motels and the Lakeside Caravan Park because they were all on Ballarat Road and arranged with our Club Committee, and the Pastoral Museum, for them to leave their Tow vehicles and Trailers on our site.

After a lot of driving and measuring out distances I had a plan worked out and I was invited to Melbourne at the beginning of December to give them a talk on what I had organised. The plan was to be a short drive on the Thursday afternoon (day of arrival), a trip to Victoria Valley area on the Friday, Budj Bim (Mt. Eccles) on the Satur-day, via the Wind Farm, and a public exhibition on the Sunday morning.

This went down very well with the Victorian Body so I decided to get stuck into the 'Nitty Gritty' and contact all those who had said they will help me out with food and venues and on reaching agreement about prices, etc. I did more driving and route layouts.

At the end of January Jan and I went to Geelong for a two week break only to hear that bush fires had wiped out Budj Bim. Bugger!. On arriving back home I contacted the Ranger to see if there was any chance of regrowth at the Park by the start of March and was informed that the Park was closed until further notice (possibly April).

So back to the drawing board and I decided to take them out to Coleraine to see the Old Railway Station, Geoff Waters' Car Museum, the original Blacksmith Shop and the Chocolate Factory. I knew that I could get them into the Town, but, how the hell was I going to get them out and I finally had to settle on the Melville Forest (one big hill for them to negotiate), Bulart and Hensley Park. It slightly exceeded the distance as requested but that was bad luck.

I then sat down and wrote out all instructions, and stories for the Rally Booklet, plus did a route diagram of the three maps required, sent it off to my Son-in-Law, Brendan Walsh, who lives in Shepparton and did all the pre-arranging for the Melbourne Printer.

Ah! Now I can relax for a while! Ha de bloody Ha Ha! I went for another drive to check out the Coleraine route only to find that the Shire had torn up a section of one road near Coleraine so I now had two kilometers of dirt to get them through and to make matters worse on coming home via the new route I had selected they had torn up part of Hensley Park Road and closed off a section leading towards the airport so that they could put in two new culverts before the winter period.

So off to the Shire to find out if the sections would be completed by Rally time and they said only the Hensley Park Road would be done by then. On top of that I had trouble with them in regard to the site for the Sunday Public Display area as most available would have caused Public Liability problems in regards to moving vehicles. But I eventually got that sorted also.

The big weekend finally arrives.

Anyway the big weekend arrived and we had 55 vehicles entered, which included some motor bikes as well, and after arrival about 25 of them decided to take the 'short' drive out and around the Lutheran Settlement areas of Croxton, Tabor, Yatchaw and Tarrington.

Following that the Hamilton members hosted 85 of the visitors to a barbeque tea and those who supported my request for salads excelled themselves, as usual, and it was a fantastic night of fellowship for the visitors. Once again Reg Jenkins, the Club Butcher, did a fabulous job with only short notice from me, and supplied his 'special' hamburgers for all. Many thanks to all members who worked hard on the night by cooking, serving and waiting on


the tables. A great effort.

On Friday morning all assembled for an early start and a drive into Victoria Valley where we visited 'Sierra Park' and Bill Crawford gave a talk on the Super-fine Merino Wool production that his Family specialises in. Unfortu-nately some of the cars didn't quite get that far so the 'Tail-end Charlies' did a fair bit of to-and-froing back to Ham-ilton.

Following this we then set out for lunch at the Grampians Golf Club where the Dunkeld Kindergarten ladies set out a picnic-style meal that staggered the visitors with its quality.

After lunch we headed back towards Hamilton and called in the the 'Skene' Historic Homestead where Don Robert-son welcomed the visitors and allowed them to park in the circular driveway in front of the very old home. Don and I had a very special surprise for the visitors when it was explained that they were allowed to walk through the inside of this 3-storied building. This turned out to be the highlight of their weekend and they spoke about it for the rest of the Rally.

Friday night the visitors sat down for Dinner at the Grange Burn Restaurant and this was followed by a visual lec-ture of the 'Early Hamilton Garages' by myself.

Another early start on Saturday morning saw them start out for Coleraine and on arrival most of them didn't seem to mind the small gravel section even when their cars seemed a little skittish. After wandering around visiting the various tourist spots they visited the Coleraine Football Club rooms for yet another great picnic lunch before de-parting for home via the set route.

I was amazed at these low-powered vehicles as they tackled the 'one big hill' on the way home as the drivers were determined to get to the top under their own power even though my Son, Jason, and myself were stationed at sev-eral spots to help out. Some of the cars made it, at walking pace, by unloading their passengers which I drove to the top of the hill and I only had to tow one of them in the long run. Jason had to help push two motor bikes to the top and was knackered after.

On arriving back in Hamilton the visitors assembled at the Campe's Motor Museum for a look at Glenn's collection and the Hamilton public a look at those fascinating vehicles.

At the sit down Dinner-Dance on Saturday night which was held at Alexandra House they were congratu-lating themselves for making the hill without assistance. The meal was fantastic and following it presentations were made, including one (of a special book voucher) made to me for the time and effort I had put into the week-end.

Sunday morning saw quite a few of the entrants put their cars on show on the grass and tree-lined area behind the Uniting Church where a lot of Hamilton people spent time looking over the cars and talking to the owners before the contestants returned to our Clubrooms for an egg & bacon Brunch before departing for home.

Cliff Brinkmann opened his 'Deutcher Museum' for those who wanted to have a look and quite a few took ad-vantage of this.

Our visitors had come from Western Australia, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Tasmania and of course Vic-toria and lower New South Wales and were singing the praises of the Western District for its scenic beauty.

Unfortunately the oldest Renault in the World (1898) didn't make it but we had all ranges of vehicles pro-duced up till 1914 and this included 3 steam cars (two of which broke down) but the huge Stanley Steamer (1911) made most of the journeys and used gallons of water on the trips.

Thank you

Before I finish this report I would like to thank my Tail-End Charlies who rarely finished up in the same spots that the rest of the visitors did as they shuttled vehicles back into Hamilton. Denis & Glennis Polack, Russell Ward and his sidekick, Warrick Hansted, did a marvellous job and deserved all the accolades that were heaped upon them. Great job, perfectly done.

To the Hamilton Club members who helped out over the weekend with Corner Marshal and car parking duties the Visitors were staggered at the degree of control we had over their journeys, either by road signs or friendly Mar-shals, and stated that they rarely ever see this on their rallys.

In all it was a fabulous weekend and I don't think I regret, at any stage, having to take on the job.

Doug Palmer, Rally Director


1911 Swift

1911 Stanley Sreamer

1916 Morgan Grand Prix

1913 Tweenie Cyclecar

1914 Perry

1907 Sovereign M/C

1912 Little Midland Cyclecar

1909 Sizaire Naudin

Photos courtesy of Doug Palmer


Collage of photos of 1&2 Cylinder cars—taken by Peter Wilson (none identified)

Editor –front page photos are mine taken at the Skene homestead where Graeme Ralph and I had the pleasure

of being doorkeepers to keep the rally entrants from straying from the indoor areas that were open.

Don Robertson, the owner of Skene had a drive of the 1911 Maxwell around the house and was very taken with

it and probably would have kept driving!

We had a treat after everyone left of having coffee with Don and friend Mopsy and Judy and Peter Fitzgerald

owners of the 1911 Maxwell. We heard and shared some very interesting car stories and some extra insight into

owning such an old homestead. Judy and Peter also had their two dogs on the back in a specially built cage.

A huge thank you goes to Doug Palmer who pulled together a fabulous rally for the RACV 1&2 Cylinder entrants

and certainly showcased our club and the district. Well done. Perfect timing before the country went into lock-

down.

Lorraine Wilson Editor


In all my years of messing about with old bangers, I had never been involved with the ever-popular Veteran Car

Club 1 & 2 Cylinder Rally. Thus, I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about, given that it was being held

“on our patch.”

Thursday 12th, arrival day for the veterans and a shakedown run in the afternoon - a loop via backroads taking in

Lake Linlithgow, Tarrington, and return to Hamilton. Unable to be present on that day, I had accepted Russell

Ward’s invitation to join him on the Friday and Saturday in his Jeep; one of the “Tail End Charlies” for the duration

of the rally, the other being Dennis and Glenys Polack with their Pajero – both vehicles equipped with tandem

trailers of course. I think their first call to action was on the Thursday afternoon.

Friday morning, and a great sight as the vehicles arrived at the Pastoral Museum grounds and our Clubrooms. Re-

nault, De Dion, Cadillac, a couple of Stanley steamers, Humberette, Sizaire-Naudin, plus a gaggle of others, some

makes quite obscure. My favourite was the 1916 three wheel Morgan piloted by Catrina Sargent and accompa-

nied by mother Merralyn. This vehicle had plenty of “steam,” off and racing into the distance each day. There

cannot be many pre WW1 Morgans extant these days – and perhaps this example is the oldest Morgan in Austral-

ia.

Incidentally, many positive and admiring comments were made about our Clubrooms and the John Corcoran me-

morial workshop during the rally.

The Friday run took entrants around the Victoria Valley area, though Russell and I were delayed leaving – the first

breakdown for the day occurred before leaving the Clubrooms! A couple of recalcitrant screws had dropped out

of the carburettor butterfly on a Renault. Many thanks to our club member Roy Polack who took the owner to PK

Bearings where a couple of screws with correct thread were obtained, albeit too long. Roy to the rescue again, he

carries a hacksaw in his well prepared toolkit; after said owner had installed the screws and refitted the carbu-

rettor, the Renault puttered off an hour or so after the others. Thus, our team missed the visit to Sierra Park

where I believe a most interesting talk was given by owner Bill Crawford about the production of superfine wool.

A tasty lunch of ham and salad rolls, cakes, and slices was provided by the Dunkeld Kindergarten Group, and was

partaken at the Grampians Golf Club rooms.

The visit to Skene homestead was most enjoyable in the afternoon. Don Robertson gave an interesting talk about

the place, which has been in his family since inception. He also graciously allowed us into the house to look

around, a rare and wonderful experience. Many thanks to Don, who seemed to be quite taken with the veterans –

and was seen driving all over the place on the property on a Maxwell he had purloined – the owner of which was

becoming increasingly doubtful about getting it back!

Saturday proved somewhat busier for the Ward/Hansted and Polack “Tail End Charlie” teams. The run took partic-

ipants via the backroads to Coleraine where lunch was provided by the Coleraine Football Club. The afternoon

return run was via Melville Forest and Hensley Park back to Hamilton.

Five breakdowns occurred that day, so the “Tail End” teams were passing each other in opposite directions

throughout the day transporting broken cars back to Hamilton – which took most of the day. For Russell and I, our

first was a newly restored 1905 Cadillac stopped on Morris Road at the Wannon. It was overheating and losing

power. Understandably, the owners did not want to risk damage after all their expense and hard work – so onto

the trailer. Just prior to this we had helped to physically push a Humberette up a hill when it ran out of puff, after

which it puttered off into the distance. Back to the Cadillac. As Russell lashed it down on the trailer, a famer in a

ute pulled up and said “you’ve got one on fire a couple of hills further on.” Hell! The four of us - Russell and I plus

Cadillac occupants – were into the Jeep and off. Luckily, the fire had been extinguished quickly by the time we

arrived. It was the little Humberette to which we had previously applied “push power.” Not too much damage

thankfully, apart from under-bonnet scorching. Denis and Glenys were already on the way to another car in trou-

BRINGING UP THE REAR – ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE WARRICK HANSTEAD


ble and which needed transport back to town, so for Russell and I it was back to Hamilton, unload Cadillac, grab

some lunchtime rolls for all from Vinnies, and back to pick up the Humberette. At this stage Peter Cay kindly arrived

on the scene with rolls to sustain the Humberette crew, so there was plenty for all !

The Polacks were on their way back out again (to Coleraine) to pick up a car with a broken diff, while Russell and

self rejoined the tour in the afternoon at the intersection of Bulart Bridge Road and the Henty Highway. Not for long

though, a Clement Bayard with suspected run big end to be picked up and taken back to town too. So both break-

down teams were kept busy for the day!

I was fortunate to be invited to the dinner at Alexandra House, and it was first class. Excellent meal, plenty of it,

and the staff there did a wonderful job.

On the Sunday it was a pleasure to work with the brunch team at the clubrooms to feed everyone with bacon and

egg rolls. This went down a treat for those rally participants who had booked in for it after displaying their cars be-

hind the Uniting Church in Lonsdale Street. A remark I heard was “what a great idea, brunch instead of breakfast, a

time to relax and talk with others in your lovely clubrooms, and now we won’t have to stop for lunch on the way

home.” An idea for future such events, I thought.

Many of those filing through for the brunch said “what a great rally, we really enjoyed it.” And it was indeed a great

rally, but as we know, these things don’t just happen. Therefore, I will finish with a couple of acknowledgements.

First and foremost Doug Palmer, Rally Director. Doug put in a huge amount of work over many months to plan, de-

sign, and organize this rally. Full credit to him. It went off like clockwork, and judging by all the happy faces the

event was a great success.

The rally programme/catalogue was of superb quality, the best I’ve seen, and was produced by Doug Palmer and

Brendan Walsh. It contained excellent information, maps, and directions. Acknowledgement also to “Tail End Char-

lies” Russell Ward and Denis and Glenys Polack who gave their time, their vehicles, and their equipment to

“transport the injured” (vehicles, that is).

And also to the wonderful and willing band of our club members who pitched in on all fronts to help make the

event the success that it was – those who worked hard and provided the barbeque tea to all those people on the

Thursday night, marshalls, brunch workers, and helpers of all sorts in every direction. Fantastic teamwork. Makes a

person proud to be part of a club where the members pitch in like that.

Cont. BRINGING UP THE REAR – ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE WARRICK HANSTEAD

single-cylinder engine is a piston engine with one cylinder. They are often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-

terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery (such as lawnmowers, rototillers and string

trimmers). Compared with multi-cylinder engines, single-cylinder engines are usually more simple and compact.[1] Due to the

greater potential for airflow around all sides of the cylinder, air cooling is often more effective for single cylinder engines than

multi-cylinder engines. This reduces the weight and complexity of air-cooled single-cylinder engines, compared with liquid-

cooled engines.

How does a 1 cylinder engine work?

This is the part that pushes the valves open for intake and exhaust. On a single cylinder engine, the cam rotates once for every

two rotations of the crankshaft. This allows each lobe of the cam to open the valve corresponding to the current stroke of

the engine's cycle.

How does a 2 cylinder engine work?

Two-Stroke Engines: Defining Their Purpose. A two-stroke engine performs all the same steps, but in just two piston strokes. ...

This pressure drives the piston down the bore, rotating the crankshaft. As the piston continues down the bore, it begins to

expose an exhaust port in the cylinder wall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocating_engine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylinder_(engine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-cylinder_engine#cite_note-1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-cooled_engine


(A Carrier-Borne Torpedo Bomber Aircraft)

After seeing this magnificent plane perform at the Nhill air show I was most impressed-awestruck really. For such a heavy looking machine and quite cumbersome, it performs beautifully in the air, with such power and speed it al-most takes your breath away. It is also very agile, something you would perhaps not expect.

Once again, Mr. Google was called upon and I thought I would share with you a few facts I was able to find on the Grumman Avenger Aeroplane.

In 1939 the US Navy needed a replacement for the Douglas TBD Devastator. The Avenger Carried a crew of three: pilot, Navigator/radioman, and machinist’s mate/turret gunner. Its internal bays could carry 500lb (about 227kg) or a 2,000lb (about 908kg) torpedo.

“It was the only completely cast iron plane ever designed by man” former Avenger pilot Lee Pasley had stated.

The Grumman began service in 1941, but prototypes were produced as early as 1939, when the Grumman compa-ny designed it in just five weeks. The Grumman design was selected over other contenders by the Navy who or-dered 286 craft in April, 1940- before the prototype had even been in the air. The ungainly design earned it the nickname “turkey” or “pregnant beast”, but she later became the Avenger when during the opening of Grumman’s new production facility, word came that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour.

Early operational service found few changes had to be made to the original design, a rarity in aircraft engineering.

Because of the need for aircraft, General Motors later also manufactured these planes, with a total of 9,835 being produced in total and production ceasing in 1945. The Grumman Avenger was retired from military service in 1954 and in 1956 were taken up by the US Forrest Service as tankers to use in fighting forrest fires.

The Grumman Avenger is powered by one Wright R-2600-8 “Double Cyclone” air-cooled radial piston engine pro-ducing 1,700 horsepower that drives a three-bladed propeller unit on the nose. It has power folding wings that can fit flat against the sides of the fuselage for improved stowage aboard the space-strapped carriers of the day.

THE GRUMMAN AVENGER Pam Pollock


Some statistics:

Length: 12.23m. Width: 16.51m. Height: 4.7m. Weight (empty): 4,572kg, Max. Take-off weight: 7,214kg. Speed: 436kph. Ceiling: 6,828m. Range: 1,955km. Rate-of-Climb: 628m/min.

Capabilities:

Fighter, ground attack, airborne early warning (AEW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-ship, Navy/Maritime, reconnaissance (RECCE).

The Avenger had its initial combat action at Midway in 1942, with six aircraft launched and only one returning. They delivered torpedoes over water and drop ordnance over mainland Japan as well as having the capacity to serve as a basic cargo transport. Many were used to air drop supplies to cut-off Marine and Army units in the Pa-cific Campaign and Avengers were used to directly attack mainland Japan once air superiority had been gained by the allies.

Probably the most famous Avenger pilot was former US President H.W.Bush, who after being shot down was res-cued by an American submarine.

So, a very versatile and useful aircraft of which there are not too many left. I was told at the air show that there are only three still flying- one in Australia, One in New Zealand and one in Canada, but I don’t know how accurate that information is.

More information might be found at AnvilOfWar.com or GlobalFirepower which are sites that this information was gleaned from.

cont. THE GRUMMAN AVENGER Pam Pollock

TOILET ROLL HUMOUR—hope you have enough supplies.


It seems it was opportune that my friends and I had chosen to travel into the

frozen North and returned home when we did. We were not, however im-

mune to the madness, anxiety and fear the Corona virus has caused through-

out the world.

One of my friends developed a dry throat and cough about ten days into our

holiday and soon after I followed suit. My other friend has been asymptomatic-nothing. By the time we got home

friend one was nearly better, but with the many hours commuting and being in the air, then a train and then car

to finally get home, I was not feeling at all well. A phone call to the Medical Clinic got an appointment that was

soon changed (new policy) for me to present to the Emergency Department at the Hospital.

I had to ring before entering and mask up. There was no greeting, but I was shown to a room where they were

taking everything out except a chair.

I did not feel well and also had an extremely painful shoulder, all of which I relayed to the doctor when he came.

Obviously not really prepared for screening, all testing equipment was laid out on the floor and six nasal swabs

and blood tests later, I could go. That’s it! Nothing done about how I felt. Nothing done about my pain. Nothing

done to make me comfortable. I was moaning with each breath due to my shoulder pain but no-one checked

that I was OK. No one came anywhere near.

I had to ring the bell to go home and even though the nurse did not have to come near me or touch anything at

all (and I had a mask on), she fully gowned up and masked and kept her distance. She didn’t even speak to me.

Overkill!

Someone else buzzed me out.

I then waited from that Tuesday to late Friday after calling several times and different places to get results. Finally

finding out that I was Corona Virus Negative. BUT having to self isolate until then. MY cough has taken over two

weeks to disappear and that is all it was-a cough.

Why tell you my story? Well, to say we do not ask to get sick. It happens. We can only do as much as we are able

to keep ourselves healthy and do what we can if we are unwell to prevent others from becoming sick also. But

also to remember to look after each another.

It is just as scary, if not more so for the person thinking they may be carrying a potentially fatal disease/virus as it

is for others. They worry for themselves, their family, their friends and others in the community.

Think how you would like to be treated if it were you. You don’t have to get close. You might have to use personal

protective equipment such as masks and gloves, but that does not exclude you from showing compassion, empa-

thy, or most importantly to give a smile. I say a smile is important because to me it really is. Having been a sus-

pected infectious case twice now, I know how a person’s attitude can have either a positive or negative impact on

how you initially deal with your situation and feel about yourself. This feeling might stay with you throughout

your experience and if negative, may have a detrimental affect on your mental well-being and recovery.

Please take care of yourselves and each other. Take precautions to protect yourselves whilst being mindful that

we all have feelings and fears that at this time might just be a little fragile.

Editor Please note this was very early days into screening people and I’m sure they will

be learning how to cope better with this unprecedented outbreak

A big shout out to all the frontline medical staff. Very challenging times ahead

The Coronavirus


My two friends and I set off on 17th March to embark the cruise ship Magellan at Tilbury on the 19th for a leisurely wander along

the coast of Norway to take in the sights and hopefully see the wonder of the Northern Lights.

Car, bus, train, plane, you name it , we used all! The experience wasn’t without hiccups, but that’s what gives you things to talk

about when you get home.

We were cruising in the Northern Hemisphere in winter so one must expect it would not be smooth sailing all the way. So, to

start the adventure, in transit to our accommodation in London for the night we were informed the ship was a day late due to

bad weather and we would need to find another night. Luckily we were able to stay where we were already booked. Not every-

one was so lucky. It is not easy to get accommodation in London.

We had to then meet then the next morning at the London Coach Station for transfer via coach to Tilbury to embark. A night-

mare exercise as not only did the station have its usual traffic, but an extra 600 plus people all arriving at the same time. The

Coach Station is not a big complex and really needs expanding-but there is nowhere for it to go.

The cruise itself was fourteen days and we also ended up spending five days in London, four that we had planned. Weather of

course played a big part in our plans and some had to be changed or cancelled. Altogether, we did the things we set out to do

and mostly had a good time. I would venture to say that cruising is good if you like to eat, not do too much physical activity and

not expect too much time on shore. You only get a short time at each port and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you may miss

some ports of call altogether. However the ship has some very good entertainment in the evenings if you wish to take ad-

vantage of it.

We had a couple of really rough days at sea and guess who got sea sick-yep! me. The ship has a supply of sea sick tablets that

you can get from reception and they work quite well. You still feel like sh.. but can at least function.

Our first stop was Rotterdam in the Netherlands where we visited a little village called Kinderdjike. It has the oldest working

windmill that is still lived in. Windmills have become popular again, but you must have a Miller’s Licence to live in one. But the

only way to get a Mill is to wait for the previous owner to decease. The family cannot stay once this happens unless one of them

has a licence.

We were to stop at Tromso and Alesund, but due to the bad weather we continued at sea until Alta where we spent two days in

port. Here we had a Husky adventure which was on our bucket list and was well worth it. Nearly dark, snowing, snow blanketing

LAND OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS TO NORWAY

A fishing village in Honningsvaag, Norway


everything giving the whole experience a magical feel. The dogs were so friendly and obviously enjoyed what they did and

could not wait to get going. Our driver just happened to be Louisa from Sydney! Having her own Norway experience.

The retired dogs are sent to foster homes all over the world and two recent retirees were due to go to new homes in England

to live out their lives being pampered.

Whilst at Alta we joined an excursion to see the Northern Lights-our other main reason for choosing this particular cruise. The

temperature this evening was a cool -20 degrees, the coldest night we had had so far. It took nearly an hour by bus to get to

the venue, three hours of freezing our butts off and watching. We had to go inside every now and then to warm up. NO

LIGHTS. Back to the ship and out on our balcony, what do we see but our own private viewing of the Northern Lights. We did-

n’t miss out after all.

We visited an Ice Hotel and had a Horse Sleigh ride. Both also not to be missed.

The ice hotel is built every year by about 10 people. It takes about six tonnes of ice and

the same of snow and lasts for about three months when it begins to melt. Every year

there is a different theme.

The sleigh ride is just like a Christ-

mas card. The horses are bred at

the farm and again it was snow-

ing making it more magical for

us, not seeing snow like it before.

Horse and sleigh at Alta, Norway

Cocktails in ice glasses at the Ice Hotel, Alta


Next stop was Honningsvaag an island that has two fishing villages. Mostly

wild salmon, pollock, mackerel that they have to go further a field to catch

due to the warming of the oceans. The women of the villages have come up

with some innovative ideas to make money from the tourists to keep money coming in to the villages to keep them afloat, so

to speak. The island is inhabited mostly by indigenous Sami people who once a year swim dear across from the mainland to

graze and then ship them back. There is a tunnel seven kilometres long that connects the island to the mainland.

Trondheim is a very old, hilly city dating back to the 18th century. The buildings are mostly wooden and colourful. Some are

sinking, but to keep the look they rebuild them in the same way they were built originally and with the same type of tools and

techniques, so even though the building may be hundreds of years old, it may have been rebuilt several times.

From Andalsnes we took a train up to a ski town of Bjorl passing some amazing scenery on the way including the Troll Wall.

Trolls play a significant role in Norwegian Folk-lore.

Some


“With an excellent entry of 33 cars, the meeting start-

ed in beautiful sunshine with a true picnic atmos-

phere. The track being in very good condition, the

competitors looked forward to new record times.

A new form of public address was used, this being

effected without land-lines. The method is to broad-

cast per medium of a transmitter from the broad-

casting point to a receiver at each set of speakers.

A good attendance of officials carried out good spec-

tator control which is required for a climb of this

length (1,900 yds.).

In class A, interest was shown in J. M. Wynne’s 125c.c. Special (with a time of 3 min. 46 sec.) and H. J. Davies’ 2CV

Citroen.

Class B was dominated by Peter Manton’s A30, with gear-changes described as fabulous, and Class C (850-

1500c.c.) saw keen competition between the Charge Bros. TC (driver S. Charge), M. Robertson in the Indian and E.

Hider-Smith (G.N. Morris), all with times of under 2 minutes.

A neat car making its second appearance in recent Hill-climbs was the Morgan-Vincent of R. E. Bridsen.

Class D consisted of a variety of Holdens, TR2’s Triumphs and Austin-Healey’s each fairly well matched amongst

themselves.

The Open Class drew three entries, namely I. C. Blackmore’s Mercury (which recorded fastest time of the day), K.

Guimelli’s Speed-Car (which we believe was partly rebuilt from the previous Thursday), and W. Atkinson’s Ford A

speed-car which had its annual Easter outing, recording 1 min. 53.8 sec.

The fastest saloon was local lad Keith Laity’s Holden (Grey Goose) with 2 min. 2.2 sec.

Winner of the Maldon Handicap was L. Penna in a Norton-powered 500.

At the conclusion of the meeting all trophies were presented by the President of the Mt. Tarrengower Hill-climb

Association, Mr. W. Ashbury. The Hill record, we might add, (held by the late Cec. Warren of 1 min. 40 3/5 sec.)

stands.

Before the next meeting, big improvements (in the form of a new return road) will be built. This will be of great

assistance in keeping the programme running smoothly.”

The first hill-climb was held at Mt. Tarrengower, Maldon in 1928 on an unsealed course, originally constructed as

a rough track so the tower atop the mountain - an old mine poppet-head brought from Bendigo - could be carted

into place. The track is 1,900 yards (1,737m) and still exists.

In 1962 it was superseded by a shorter, sealed tourist road of 1,457m which is the course in use today. It’s Aus-

tralia’s longest hill-climb.

Over the years many well known motor racing identities have competed at Mt. Tarrengower, including Arthur

Terdich, Ron Edgerton, Charlie Dean, Cec Warren, Lex Davison, Jim Russell and Graham Hoinville - all of whom

recorded fastest-times-of-the-day.

Our own Lloyd Hocking competed there for many years in his 1932 Renault engined-Austin 7 special.

The current course record was set some 41 years ago in 1978 by the late Werner Rodkin in his Rodkin-BMW spe-

cial. He covered the 1,457m in the astonishing time of 37.1 secs.

To put that time in perspective, the closest anyone has come to it since is 40.07 secs, and the fastest-time-of-the-

day at last year’s meeting was 43.9 secs. From the pages of “Australian Motor Sports”, May, 1955

Mt. Tarrengower Hill Climb Easter Saturday, April 9 [1955]

thanks to Peter Lowenstern


I have just been reading an old copy of the "Automobile" August 2010 in which the

background of Charles Rolls (Rolls of Rolls-Royce motor cars} is set out.

Rolls father had an estate of 6000acres "The HendrieU near Monmouth on the Welsh

Border in England. This gives some idea of the privileged circumstances he came from.

Rolls was a keen motorist and aeroplane enthusiast of those very early flying days

but unfortunately was killed in a fatal aeroplane crash in 1910 at the age of 32.

Here are some details of the wealth and property Rolls came from. there were 400 workers on their farms,

19 live-in domestic staff and 15 game keepers! There were three mansions on the 6000 acres and as well

owned and rented out property to working class in South East London, Rolls father also had a 3OOft steam

yacht! Charles education was preparatory school, some private coaching, Eton College, then Cambridge Uni-

versity, His University degree was in mechanics and applied science, After University he Spent some time at

London North West Railway Company Workshops in Crew building up his practical experience. He also spent

some months at William Stephenson-Peach's engineering School where he claiméd he learned more than

when he was at University! Quite a comprehensive education, Charles Rolls must have been “Disappointed"

with his early death , when as a great car and flying enthusiast he missed out on all the great progress Of his

interests up to 1920! Think of all the great aeroplanes and cars which were available up to 1920! and he

would have missed out on! I thought all this on Rolls was worth repeating—He came from a very privileged

background but what a privilege it was !

I had brief look at some of the veteran cars, one and 2 cylinder models, which came to

Hamilton for the recent Rally, I liked the 3 wheeler Morgan with 2 ladies on board, The engine which stands

out the front , a motorcycle type is a 2 cylinder and there is a wheel both sides and at the rear is the lone

wheel which is chain driven. A 3 wheel machine. I was most impressed by the engine starting. A handle is

inserted just behind the seat and then a lot of vigorous turning by the starter and then the engine sprang into

life and the two young ladies leapt aboard engaged gear and off they went. They are very light those 3

wheeler Morgan’s and the veteran model has from memory a maximum speed Of nearly 60mph!

Here l am at present about to put in another week for Coronavirus 2 weeks with my own company at 28

McArthur St, A little over 12 months ago I decided to retire from Motor Racing. I had been Hill-Climbing and

Sprinting for about 30 years and as I had never had an accident and was now well into my 80's I thought I had

better finish!

About 30 years ago there was an advert. in The Melbourne Age for an Austin 7 racing car for saleI rang the

phone number end was told that it was complete but required assembly , It had been repainted and had new

tvres, I then decided to purchase it and with the help of one of my sons took a trailer and drove to Ballarat. It

was all there and after some instruction of what went where we loaded up and headed for home (after pay-

ing!) The engine was a 845cc Renault Dauphine 4 cylinder, The car had been built for the 750 formula which

was brought in in the earlier days of Austin7 racing when there was a lot of Austin 7 crankshafts being broken

when racing. Because of this it was decided to allow other engines other that Austin 7's, This only lasted a

short while as 3 Austin racers from Australia took their cars to England to race and there found that Austin 7

crankshafts were manufactured in England at a reasonable price— I believe they came home With several as

"cabin-luggage.

Now this Renault engine I had purchased was in reasonable shape. An engineering friend Of mine ground the

shaft and replaced the bearings and said the top end was in good condition. The only "Hotting-up" the engine

This and That Lloyd Hocking


was to greatly port and polish aluminium head and add a very large SU carby. The standard of the 4 speed gear

box was sent to John Needham who turned it into a close ratio box. And What a box it turned out to be —Best

box I have ever used—a very fast change! On my last run up Mt.Tarrengower about 100yards from the finish I was

as usual flat out in 3rd gear—I always used 3rd gear the whole wav—and I very carefully hid a look at the rev.

counter and I was pulling 7000rpm flat out in 3rd gear—What really pleased me was that the engine note was

constant the whole Not a stutter or miss from the engine! What a great engine I thought…. 7000RPM all

from845cc!

Eventually I put the whole car together and did have the odd run around some quiet back blocks in Hamilton to

make sure all was well, Then I had to get myself a Cams Racing licence which in those days was quite straight for-

ward through my VSCC membership.

I then entered for my first event which was the Hill Climb at Mt Tarrengower—on the Saturday before I travelled

to Castlemaine and staved the night at a motel and next morning set off to Mt. Tarrengower—This was 30 Years

ago and then there were not as many entries in those times, so you could get a comfortable position in the Pits

With car and trailer nearby.

One of the first things you have to do when racing is to go through scrutineering, and then register yourself where

your entry form is held and present your cams licence, After all this there is a drivers meeting held near the

starting line where you Will get instructions mainly on the conditions of the track. I remember one meeting years

ago when the day before there had been heavy rain and the instructions were don't get off the track stay on the

bitumen, This I did and had the best time had ever had, Shortly after the drivers meeting we were lined up in or-

der to commence the climb I did about 66sec on my first run— Straight after this David Lowe another competitor

came over and said have you got heavy Oil in the SU carby—l did not know so he had a 100k and said no so he

had some and changed it, Evidently the large SLI needs heavy oil otherwise there is flat spot in the David Lowe

had owned that car many years before when raced by his then wife Maggie Lowe so he knew a lot about it, He

was right about the carby my next run was 62secs—4 secs. Improvement

Well that was the first of my racing 30 years ago which I have enjoyed for about 30 years, I have sprinted at the

Geelong Sprints in all sorts of weather—Wet and Hot, Hill Climbed at Myrniong, sprinted at Eddington, and hill

climbed at Arthurs Seat. What a climb that was, 13 hairpin bends and up and down the gearbox from third to sec-

ond.

I have been asked why never track raced but only sprinted

and hill-climbed. Well I ran a Pharmacy in Hamilton for about

43 years and if I had an accident and was out of action for a

good while it would not have gone down too well with my

partners.

After 30 year of motor sport I look back on all the good times

I had and saw, all the great cars I have seen and all the racing

blokes I have known.

I must also thank two great mates of mine, Bob Martin and

Dennis Dawson who often came with me and helped with the

race —car pushing, loading and unloading and in later years

driving me to and from meetings. Great memories.

My best times Mt.Tarrangower 59Å72sec. (The climb is a mile,so that is equivalent to nearly an average of

60mph.) My best time at the Geelong Sprints was 17.98secs.


With the ongoing series of non events

around the nation our members have

been spared the searching ears and eyes

of our reporters so we will have to cast

back to the depths of our repressed

memories for inspiration.

On our February mid-week run we had

Rick and Meeka Schaap with their 1952

Wolsley 6/80. This is a nice piece of

British engineering, but seemed to be

lagging behind somewhat. It seems that

the Bendix on the starter motor was not

functioning, thus necessitating a crank

handle start on each occasion. Hopefully

the Bendix is sorted out and Rick can rest

his aching cranking arm!

New members Andrew and Lesley For-

syth are in fact returning members. An-

drew held membership number 77 in the

1970’s and has been re-allocated his old

number. Back then he drove a 1924 Chev

4 which still resides at their Byaduk farm,

Albeit with a motor in a sadly damaged

state. We think he may be smiling now,

not because of the Chevrolet, but be-

cause Lesley has recently surprised him

with a nice birthday present—a bright

yellow 1968 MGB. Are there any jealous

husbands out there???

We also welcome Graeme and Glenda

Porter with a 1983 Holden Commodore

station wagon which we haven’t seen in

the flesh yet, but hopefully it will join our

convoy when we all get back on the

road!

The One and Two Cylinder Veteran Rally in Hamilton was a spectacle to behold with so many rare and attractive

brass endowed vehicles. The certainly kept Doug Palmer and the many helpers from our club on their toes, with

our tail end Charlies Denis Polack and Russell Ward doing a sterling job!

Doug was observed at Skene Homestead looking just a little frustrated at the unbridled enthusiasm of quite a few

of the drivers who opted to set their own time table and leave some of our marshals somewhat flatfooted. Doug,

at one stage, was said to be letting off more steam than the Veteran Stanley Steamer!

Exhaust Notes


Crawford present day homestead

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turn in business. Hopefully we can

support them and shop locally.

Exhaust Notes

With an uncertain year ahead, there is one big event that we should all be pre-

paring for and that is the Fiftieth Anniversary of our club to be celebrated in

style in November 2020. Anyone with special memories to share is invited to do

so through the Newsletter. Please forward your memories to the Editor.

Last month we mentioned our petrol pump at the Vintage Garage which desper-

ately needs some TLC to ensure that it is preserved for future generations.

Again, here is an opportunity for someone to make a valuable contribution to

the Club and help enhance our display. There is some rust that needs treating

and the paintwork needs refreshing. It would also be great to source a glass

bowl for the top.

In this time of social isolation many of our members will be reassessing social

interactions and travel plans. Even a trip to the supermarket takes on a new challenge.

Bob Martin decided to chance a trip to Asia but found himself scrambling to return home and is now in the man-

datory 14 day lock down.

Travel interstate has now been curtailed with border lockdowns. Who would have thought that we couldn't nip

across to Mt Gambier for a quick shop.

Peter and I were looking forward to the National Hillman Rally in Wagga in May and of course two years of plan-

ning now shelved for the time being.

Wishing everyone who has a birthday or anniversary a memo-

rable one. Two can drink champagne and pretend to blow out

candles practicing social distancing. Maybe try the many

online apps Zoom, Skype, Houseparty to keep in touch and

share precious moments. We will be doing that for our grand-

daughters first birthday. Already witnessed her first steps

online.

Lets hope the end of 2020 brings us safely through this pan-

demic and life may return to some form of normal.

Exhaust Notes


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NEWSLETTER APRIL 2020 - TCCV · Robert Brody 0458 252 226 LU LIRARIAN Dennis Belcher 55734517...

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Transcript of NEWSLETTER APRIL 2020 - TCCV · Robert Brody 0458 252 226 LU LIRARIAN Dennis Belcher 55734517...