YARRA VALLEY AEROMODELLERS

NEWS LETTER November 2011

All the news that’s fit to print (and some that’s not)!

President Jon Goudge 0400 688 787 Vice President Bill Wheeler 9761 0323 Secretary Hugh Coleman 59681 629 hugh.coleman@bigpond.com Treasurer Adrian Whiter 9739 6686 Registrar Steve Powell 9739 6686 Public Officer David Nichols 9752 5830 davidnichols83@dodo.com.au Web Master Greg Egan gke@optusnet.com.au Editor Hugh Coleman The YVA Club Day held last Sunday was a day of almost perfect weather and was enjoyed by all who attended. Even when things did not quite go to plan. On the right you can see Adrian Whiters’ Classic 40 come to grief during the Golf Ball Drop, when the pilot in a momentary lapse of attention pulled up while inverted instead of down. Surprisingly little damage for a cheap and cheerful Chinese ARF buried up to the fire wall in Terra Firma: Just a broken wing joiner and an OS 40 needing a good clean up. More photos from the day can be seen further on in this edition.

Next meeting: Monday 28th November 2011 8.00 pm Club Day Slide Show

Newsletter now on our website at:- http://home.vicnet.net.au/~caclub/

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!

Presidents Report Fellow members, Welcome to the November edition of the YVA news letter. It’s been a busy month with the October meeting delayed until November due to the race that stops the nation. None the less we enjoyed another great night with the show and tell as the highlight. October Meeting held in November The members who attended were treated to the fantastic show and tell provided by Adrian Whiter with his P40 scratch built project, Haydn Hampson and his P47 topflight build and An insightful presentation given by Prof John Bird on the early days of UAV development and the influence this had on some key individuals including Norma Jean (Marilyn Munro) discovered by Ronald Regan while visiting a fellow Hollywood actors’ UAV factory. John had put a great deal of effort into the research and presented us with Photos and facts that kept the audience captivated. Well done John. Adrian’s P40 is nearing completion and will be a delight to see when it commences its First flight trials (amazing job Adrian and something to be well proud of) I recently witnessed Haydn’s P47 Jug make some low passes down the strip at full noise and boy does that thing get up and motor. Maybe it’s just me but this build seems to fly much faster than his previous model. Keep your eyes open for this one next time it’s out there and see what you think. Club day 2011 Well the weather Gods were on our side for once and we were delighted by light cloud, sunshine and a breeze straight down the strip. Our new shade awnings were given a test run and with a new wind sock (thanks Adrian) and the rest of the facilities spick and span we were in for a great day. Peter Drayton stepped up to the challenge once again and kept us well fed and watered with an array of food and drinks, and thanks must also go to my wife Simone for supplying the Carrot cake and later in the day, the icy poles for the Kid’s. Some big kid’s got some as well! I was really impressed with the efforts of your committee in the preparation and work on the day to make this event the resounding success that it was. Full credit to Hugh Colman for the Event organising and the CD activity for the day. This was Hugh’s first go as a CD and he did a tremendous job, thanks Hugh. Of course the prize draw was a highlight and Adrian must also be thanked for the great selection of prises he planned out for all the winners. Thanks to Bill Wheeler for his assistance throughout the course of the day and Greg Egan for capturing the event for posterity. Rather than write down all the detail that could take me hours to do, I will help to deliver a slide show to the November Club meeting where we can relive some of the fun. We hope to run another club day next year so keep an ear open for the details. See you on Monday night 28th November, Happy landings Jon Goudge YVA club President.

Club Xmas Function Twilight Fly-in Saturday 10th December 2011 The YVA will hold its annual family Xmas function out at the field this year. The event is for members and their immediate family. The Club will provide a BBQ dinner including salads and cool refreshments. BYO , Chairs, Card tables / picnic rugs and alcohol Flying will be restricted to electric models only due to noise restrictions and consideration to our neighbours. Remember no flying once you have consumed any alcoholic drink!

Secretaries Stuff Nothing special to report this month. I would however like to thank all those that weren’t put off by the weather last Saturday in order to come along to the soon to be Bi-Annual YVA Club Day. The weather turned it up to 11 for us and we had a sunny day with the wind fairly steady and blowing straight down the strip. I think I would not be mistaken in thinking that all who attended had a great day. Only one other issue to raise this month and that is one of Visitors/Guests. It is a requirement that all visitors or guests at our field must he hosted by a current member and MUST sign the visitors book. This ensures that the Visitor is covered by MAAA insurance in the event of a mishap. Note also that visitors can only attend the club four times as visitors – After which time, they must become members. There have been many new members this year and the committee cannot be expected to recognise new members on sight, so we ask that any new members please not be offended if one of us approaches you and asks you for your bonafides. As time goes on, we will all get to know one another better and misunderstandings will be avoided. But in the meantime, please bear with us. Please be reminded that young children brought to the field must e supervised at all times. Please keep them safe and out of the pit area.

Seen at the field…

Haydns’ Top Flight Thunderbolt coming in for a landing and yours trulys’ Great Planes Electrofly Fokker DVII on Maiden (which was great until all three motor mounting bolts came adrift)… 

TopFlite P47 Thunderbolt  This is a modified Topflite kit of 85" wingspan, weighs 10 kilos and has a Zenoah 45cc petrol motor driving it along.  The plane is all balsa build‐up, covered with 3/4oz glass cloth, filled and sanded.  The retracts are Robart brand and the radio system is Hitech 2.4 Aurora.  As for the build, Topflite are well known for producing good flying planes. Although not really accurate in outline and missing some detail (for us purists), it would make a great 3rd or 4th model for anyone interested in warbirds.  Haydn  

Curtis P-40 Kitty Hawk Modelled on Squadron Leader Dick Creswells’ aircraft (Dick was the first Australian Pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft at night, an incident occurring off the coast from Darwin and the victim being a Japanese “Betty” Bomber). The machine had distinctive nose art consisting of four flags overlapping, being the USA, British, Australian and RAAF flags (Only applied to the left hand side of the nose). Construction began with the fuselage plug in September 2010 and the model is now up to the stage where all surface detail is being applied. The final Scheme will be Australian Dark Green and Grey (dark Brown???) Camo. The Model is based on the Nick Ziroli plan of 1980 but has been modified in several areas, notably in the construction of the wing (foam core) and the fibre glass fuselage. The power plant will be a Sachs Dolmar 60cc petrol engine that Adrian purchased form Rau Botton in Canberra… He thought it was a bargain at $100.00! Retracts are the US Sierra Precision brand. Overall finished weight should be about 25-30 pounds (at the moment, it’s slightly nose heavy).

More Seen at the Field… Graham Jenners’ 6th scale Sopwith F1 Camel - Originally built by Mick Lynch does a slow pass for my camera.

YVA Club Day (All Photos courtesy of Greg Egan) Just a selection of the 400 odd that we have on file… More (not all 400!) will be shown at the November meeting as a slide show.

ITS ALL ABOUT DONUTS This article is about RC range or how strong the received signal is at the part that matters - the aircraft. The article would be improved by a few diagrams but being flyers we are all great at visualising things in 3 dimensions. So, what determines received signal strength at your aircraft? Well, it’s all about donuts. Let's start with the Tx end and imagine a donut (the ring type ones not the balls) slipped over the antenna all the way to the bottom and then imagine what we can see from the centre of the donut. If there is a lot of donut thickness between the aircraft and the centre of the donut we are in good shape. Unfortunately most of us point the antenna, in a boy style way, directly at the aircraft so looking from the centre of the donut we can see the aircraft directly with no donut in between. This is not a good situation and what normally happens when we get glitches is we raise the Tx above our head with the antenna vertical. If you look at most guys that know what they are doing, with a 2.4GHz rig, and flying close in, they have the antenna pointing down at about 45 degrees. Similarly thermal soaring guys, often with 36MHz rigs, who may be flying a Km or more away, have their Tx antenna vertical. This gives "maximum donut" in the direction of the aircraft. Now there is not just one donut in this game but two with a 36MHz rig and hopefully at least three with a 2.4GHz rig. The extra ones are at the Rx end in the aircraft. So with a 36MHz rig and the aircraft directly away from us the antenna runs down the fuselage and the holes in the donuts are directly in line and we have minimum signal strength - not a good thing, particularly if the aircraft is going away fast. If the Tx antenna is vertical then it is still not all that good as the signal strength is actually the two donut thicknesses multiplied together. So if it is a hole one end and maximum donut the other end then 0x1=0 or nearly so. Many/most 2.4GHz rigs have a main Rx and a slave Rx each with its own antenna. It is very important that the antenna in the main Rx is at right angles to the antenna of the slave(s). So if you have one with the antenna pointing vertically then the associated donut is maximum thickness horizontally. If the aircraft is vertically overhead you see a hole. So the other antenna can point out the sides of the aircraft, which gives maximum donut fore and aft. Some argue the antenna should point forward and backward but this reduces how much signal you get when the aircraft is flying away, if my logic holds of course ;). Greg Egan Reference: Kraus, J.D., "Antennas", McGraw-Hill, 1950. YVA General meeting Minutes Date: 7-11-11 Time: [8:00PM] Location: LILYDALE Aero club rooms Attendees as per the registration book (Pass the book around) 21 at 8.00

Applogies – Glen Dunsten, Mick Lynch, Steve Powel, Greg Lepp.

1. Previous meeting minutes acceptance August minutes circulated in October News letter 1st acceptance

[Bill Wheeler] 2nd[Dangerous] 2. Correspondence in / out

VMAA News letter 3. Treasures report

None presented 4. Registrars update

None Presented, 114 members. No more members to be accepted if members of other clubs. Spaces to be left for new to the hobby.

5. General Business A] Tree planting Complete and thanks to all of those whom worked on the day.. B] Club day competition (members only) Sunday the 20th November

The YVA will hold a club day on the 20th of November and invite all members to come and join in the fun. The Club will provide a sausage sizzle and cool refreshments for lunch. Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd , & 3rd place getters in each comp! Events will include ; Limbo IC climb and glide Electric climb and glide Spot Landings Streamer cut Junior events will include; Spot landings & climb and glide Frequency management will be necessary for 36Mhz Radios Make sure you put this event on the calendar

C] Club Xmas Function

Twilight Fly-in Saturday 10th December 2011 The YVA will hold its annual family Xmas function out at the field this year. The event is for members and their immediate family. The Club will provide a BBQ dinner including salads and cool refreshments. BYO , Chairs, Card tables / picnic rugs and alcohol Flying will be restricted to electric models only due to noise restrictions and consideration to our neighbours. Remember no flying once you have consumed any alcoholic drink!

D] 2.4 GHz Radios Please be aware that there are several brands of Radio equipment available from off shore suppliers that are not MAAA approved. Despite the advertising that they are compliant with Australian standards, the equipment is made for a price and may be prone to interference. List to be updated on the club notice board.

E] Shade facility project progress Have purchased 3 x 3.6m sqr marquee’s. Decided as more practical than Umbrellas. Locker to be arranged for secure keeping of these.

F] Club Apparel available for sale. See Adrian. General Business.

Long grass – Being cut for silage. Hopefully in the next week or so. Adrian read an article from RCM News regarding an accident caused by taxiing a model in the pits and accidentally turning off the transmitter before the engine was stopped.

G] Show and Tell Adrian Whiter - P40 Haydn Hampson - P47 Thunder bolt Bill Wheeler – Gliders Frank Curson – Pilatus Turbo Porter John Bird Model aircraft in the film industry.

Below is a listing of 2.4 GHz systems which ARE approved for use by the MAAA. If your system is not on this list, then you are not permitted to use it at the YVA field, or any other VMAA/MAAA field. Please refer MOP058 for further details.