“THE FLYER” YARRA VALLEY AEROMODELLERS NEWS LETTER

August 2014

David Law showing off his Championship “Diploma” and Bronze medal at the closing of the World F4c Scale Championships. David will be the guest speaker at our next general meeting on the 25th of August. More photos from the World F4c Championships are later on in this issue.

Next Meeting -

The Next General Meeting will be on the Monday 25th

of August, 2014 at the Red Earth Centre in Mooroolbark.

Newsletter now on our website at:- www.yarravalleyaeromodellers.com.au

The Committee:

President –

Jon Goudge 0400 688 787

Vice President –

David Nichols 9752 5830

Secretary –

Hugh Coleman 5968 1445

Hrcoleman66@gmail.com

Treasurer –

Adrian Whiter 9739 6686

Registrar –

Alister Nicholson 97362058

Public Officer –

Hugh Coleman 5968 1629

News Letter Editor

Hugh Coleman 5968 1629

Please send all For Sale and Wanted adds to me at hrcoleman66@gmail.com

Mary Hipwell Accounting Services – Lilidale

Tel: 9737 6495

Email: mary1950@ozemail.com.au

The YVA Committee would like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of

Andrews Scale Models 20 Hewish Road

Croydon VIC 3136 Tel: 03 9723 1003

Email: enquiries@andrewsscalemodels.com.au Scale Model Kits, ARFs, RC Radio Equipment. Spares, Balsa and Building Supplies.

If he hasn’t got it, he will make every effort to get it in. Andrews Scale Models has now introduced a VIP Club. Call in to Andrews to pick up your card

– to be stamped at the time of each purchase.

Dates to note!

Sep 7 Club Day Round 4

Oct Meeting Club Auction

Dec 6 Proposed as Twilight Fun Fly

Dec 20 Christmas do

Note that the October Meeting will be the

Annual YVA Auction.

Check out your parts bins and wing racks

now and select the stuff you would like to

sell on!

Presidents Report

Hello YVA members one and all and welcome to the August edition of YVA news Time is flying by and we have seen the brunt of winter in the last few weeks. The field is remarkably dry given the recent rain and cold weather, and I have managed to get out to do a bit flying even with the cold wintery conditions that currently prevail.

Frank Curzon Regrettably, I share the news of the passing of Frank Curzon, a man whom inspired me in the art of scale model building and flying when I first joined the P@DARCS Club back in 1992. Frank was a great ambassador to the hobby and a true Gentleman. He was laid to rest at the Lilydale memorial park and underneath the flight path into Lilydale Airport, Something I am sure he would have liked. I will miss Frank as I am sure most of you will. Our thoughts go out to Audrey and the entire Curzon family.

14/15 Committee Elections. Thanks to those members who attended or AGM to see the current committee re-elected. Congratulations go to Alister Nicholson for accepting the nomination and taking on the registrars job .The committee have met since and I can confirm the team is on board and committed as per previous years. We welcome Alister who brings a new and fresh mind to the committee discussions.

Club competition Round 4 September 2014 Our secretary will provide a detailed report later in this news letter

Property Lease The property lease is now complete and signed off by myself and Bruce Waters. This has been a major achievement given the discussions on this subject started more that 4 years ago. The conditions included in the lease are by no way onerous and have been unofficially recognised as how we have operated in the past.

Working Bee We are looking for volunteers to assist in the job of repainting the windsock mast associated with the GA Hangar at the other end of the strip. Bruce waters is looking at the possibility of unbolting it and bringing it down to the car park area for the refurbishment. More on this subject to follow.

Air league day Congratulations to all involved in making this day a great success. From the mail we received , it seems the kids had a lot of fun and so did the parents. Happy Landings; See you at the next club meeting on the 25th of August at the usual venue and don’t forget to bring your Show and tell, and Buy swap sell items. Jon Goudge

Austars de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (by Jon Goudge)

Some of the YVA members may have seen this model before. The de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver

It was several years ago when our former president Hayden Hampson was refining the performance of this model after having spent some time with the power plant. The original petrol engine he fitted was lacking performance for this large scale model. The motor in question was an MLD 28. At the time this model was considered to be well underpowered and potentially lacking in wing area as well. These challenges took the level of motivation and interest down to the point where the model spent most of its life hanging from the garage roof at his home. It was named the “Hangar Queen” by the members of the spitfire club crew as a consequence. The model suffered some minor damage when Hayden’s garage hosted an unexplained fire, however fortunate, this model was at the opposite end of the source of heat and suffered more from the corrosive smoke. Sometime later, Hayden made a decision to swap out the engine for a DLE30 and even later made an interesting modification to the wing using the foam cutter and some ingenuity. Cutting lengths of Foam into carefully crafted shapes that formed a new leading edge and adding about 95 square inches of wing area made an incredible difference to the flying performance according to those whom bore whiteness to its test flights. Several years have passed and the “Hangar Queen” lay dormant strung from the roof. I decided to purchase the model form Barbara and continue the legacy of the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from Austars. I also acquired the float set from another member and plan to get it flying off the water.

New batteries and a replacement elevator servo were fitted along with a significant modification to the throttle linkage, and I was satisfied it was ready for further test flights. A small group ventured out to the field on Sunday 10th August and battled the 20Kt cross wind for the pleasure of flying. The Beaver was fueled up and started within a few cranks of the engine. It taxied out with ease and was airborne within a short take-off run. Back in the air and flying well the

model was photographed and a text message to Barbara with the good news finished off the day.

The next stage will be to fit the float set and go to lake Eildon for the sea trials.

Specifications: (no float)

Austars DHC2 Beaver Wingspan: 96 inch Engine: DLE 30RE Radio: 5 channel & 9 servos Weight: 20 lbs

Epoxy resin fiberglass fuselage and cowl. Built up and covered balsa wing with unidentified plastic covering.

The history of the de

Havilland DHC-2 Beaver

Some of the worst flying conditions found anywhere in the world exist over the densely forested terrain of the Canadian North Woods. In addition to being subjected to long, blizzard-filled winters, the millions of square miles that stretch between the Labrador Sea and the North Pacific Ocean above the 50th parallel are sparsely populated, and modern airfields are few and far between. In fact, were it not for the uncounted thousands of lakes that dot the Canadian North, air travel within that vast region would be all but impossible, for there is

nowhere else to land. It takes an exceptionally rugged aircraft to operate safely and reliably in the Canadian bush. One such airplane is the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, a single-engine high-wing monoplane.

The versatile all-metal Beaver made its inaugural flight in August of 1947, and since

that time more than 1,650 have been constructed. Nearly 1,000 of this total were sent to the United States for the use of military services. The Beaver, which was designed only after consultation with some 80 veteran Canadian bush pilots, is a true STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft. It features a high-lift wing with its entire trailing edge hinged, hydraulically operated flaps and slotted ailerons. These special features permit the aircraft to take off and land in extremely short distances. Another outstanding advantage of the Beaver is its ability to operate equally well on wheels, skis, floats or as an amphibian. Thus, the plane has the capability of flying anywhere there is smooth land, water, snow or ice.

The Beaver can carry a crew of two, plus six passengers or more than 1,500 pounds of cargo. Powered by a 450-horsepower, nine-cylinder air-cooled radial Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engine, the Beaver has a maximum

speed of 180 miles per hour as a landplane and 155 miles per hour as a seaplane. The plane has a wingspan of 48 feet and measures just over 30 feet in length. Its maximum range is 800 miles. Aviation experts consider the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver to be one of the most perfectly designed small utility aircraft ever built, and a great number of them remain in service today in many parts of the world. (information reference from pilotfriend.com)

Memories with Frank Curzon

I first met Frank at the Horsham Nats where he was flying in scale and if my memory isn’t failing I think he won with his Bleriot. Other than occasionally seeing his name pop up in magazines I did not see him for quite some time as Jan and I were living in W.A. We then moved to the U.K where I got to know a modeler called Ian Medhurst. Move on a few more years and when we chose to return to Oz Ian asked me if I happened to know Frank Curzon. On saying I did, as people overseas do when you mention Australia, he assumed it would be near by and asked me to pass on a letter as he and Frank had been best friends when both in the RAF. So, Jan and I came to Victoria and by pure chance purchased a home in Mount Evelyn at number 13 Clematis Road. Two or three months after this I discovered that Frank and Audrey lived at number 26. Fate is very strange! From that time on in 1997 we became close friends. We both shared the same taste in models having had much of the same

model background both in the UK and Australia. We endlessly discussed full size aircraft as well as the models we were either building or thinking of building and there is no doubt that ideas rubbed off in both directions. When later on Frank dabbled with electrics I must take much of the blame. Equally well it was at Frank’s instigation that I started writing my column in RCM News. Although we both enjoyed ARFs and these frequently were sent our way for reviews in the magazine our real enjoyment came from building. Frank possessed rare skills in his draughting of his own scale designs which then, I’m sure, gave him even

greater pleasure when he could share the flying with his son Anthony. I feel a deep loss with Frank’s passing but at the same time a real privilege in having him become my friend. Even when we disagreed, as we did frequently, it never broke the bond and that, perhaps, is my greatest pleasure. David Hipperson

World F4C Scale Championships – Marmande, France.

Some more photos from the World F4C Scale Championships.

Secretaries/Editors Report.

Greetings all. Apologies for the lateness of this months issue. I have been flat out both at work and at home and have hardly had time to scratch myself. Thanks to David White for contributing some photos for this months issue! Always nice to see what the membership is up to. Members can always feel free to contribute! I’d like to add my own personal condolences to the family of Frank Curzon. I spent several afternoons sat at Franks dining table with a cup of tea and a biscuit just chatting prior to the obligatory tour of his workshop to see what was the latest on his building board. Frank was the epitome of a gentleman. Polite, friendly and generous to a fault. Always willing to provide advice and resources when asked. I could always count on Frank to come up with a strange subject for a scale article at short notice. I will miss him as I am sure many of our members will. Nothing further to report this month… Other than if you have not yet received your club badge in the mail, look again tomorrow. It’s sure to be in your mail box then. Cheers, Hugh

What’s been happening at the field?

Some photos from today (16th August) at Yarra Valley Aero modellers at Dixons creek. We had a great day with nearly zero wind and a good turnout of flyers there (about 20 approx.) I had 4x flights of the Spacewalker and it ran very well. Very easy to land and can do most monoeuvers with adequate power. It was certified at the State field a fortnight a go by Brian Whellan. It weighs 9.7 Kg and uses about 200 mls of pump petrol for a 15x minute flight. It uses about 300 mA of battery power per flight. There

are two 2300 mA Life batteries powering the power box that equalisers the batteries and amplifies the signals to the servos from the radio receiver also it regulates the voltage to the radio in the aircraft. The ignition voltage is regulated to 6.1 volts via a kill switch isolator which is controlled from the Aux 2 channel on the transmitter. Regards, David White.

YVA Annual General meeting Minutes 2014 Date: 28-07-14 Time: [8:05 PM] Location: Red Earth Centre Mooroolbark Attendees as per the registration book Agenda

1. Welcome to members and acknowledge Visitors (Greg and Tom Mullins, Simon Tarrant) and guests (Peter Cousins).

Apologies Frank Curzon, Bruce Thompson, Fernando Monge, Dennis Travasaris, James Student, Glen Dunstan,

2. Previous AGM meeting minutes read by Hugh and call for acceptance Bill Coombs, Karl Wahrenburger.

3. Presidents report As tabled

4. Committee elections Committee Re-elected unopposed. Alistair Nickolson elected to the position of Registrar.

5. Correspondence in / out Email from Coldstream Airfield regarding New Club Rooms and our possible support.

6. Treasures report Club Cheque Account - $6,633.55 Money Extra - $4,048.07 Accepted Bill Wheeler, David Nichols.

7. Registrars update

8. General Business Gate and Club Room Locks. New locks will be fitted in one or two weeks. The one on the club house is currently a new lock but will also be changed. Air league training day. About twelve cadets expected to attend next week (Saturday). The field will not be closed during this day. There will be four instructors. Adrian White again suggested solar panels and batteries for charging of Lipos. Jon to investigate.

Graham Jenner suggested that the job of putting up the electric fence should be ours and not the property owners.

Jon also is donating an old golf buggy that will be adapted to accommodate the fencing paraphernalia.

H) Show and tell

Darryl Doyle.

Tim Nolan designed Anderson Kingfisher. Glass Fuselage – Scorpion powered. Darryl got this one off RC Trader. Bill Wheeler – Ansaldo. Jon – Chihuahua Tony – Hobby King Fly Baby Bill Coombs – Warbirds over Wanaka Pamphlets and Program.

SHOW AND TELL!

Left - Roger Eggleton showing off the model he picked up for next to nothing a few meetings ago. I think it was Bruce Thompson that contributed the model. Below – Darryl Doyle was inspired by Jon Goudges talk of float planes at last months meeting and could not wait to join in the fun. Yet another RC Trader bargain!

Left and Below – Bill Wheeler has almost finished his Ansaldo (From an old Radio Scale Models Plan) hopefully to fly at the HH day next year! Check out the cool paint job!

Below – Jon Goudge with his Art Board Chihuahua.

Below – Also on show was the Hobby King Flybaby. Takes a 3200 MaH 4 Cell.

Congratulations to Daniel Goude on the Awarding of Gold Wings for Fixed Wing Aircraft.

PARTING SHOT

The Local French Newspapers had the Australian F4C team in prominence. My Mother in Law (who speaks Fluent French) tells me that the Head Line translates as “The Competitors from the !ss end of the Earth”… But then, she may just be having me on…

Until next month, Pull for up!