aspectivity june 2011 members - varms€¦ · the proposal is the build the 1/4 scale woodstock to...

Aspectivity, June 2011 1

Next Meeting

Friday 10th June

Glider basics for ‘newbies’

Glen Waverley Primary School Hall

1st

July - Deadline for next edition

Cover photo:

Isn’t this something to warm the heart?

A youngster admiring a Bergfalke scale sailplane

Issue 444

June 2011


Hi All

Well, we are still getting plenty of rain, the field has been awash, the road in has been a mess, but it hasn't stopped us flying!

Note! It is NOT OK to drive in via the worksite. Please don’t do this!

There have been a few improvements, starting with the working bee just after the last meeting. We had about 10 starters, and the day was spent on drainage, firstly to the south, cleaning out the drain we did last year, and also a few run-offs on the entry road. This has helped the flow down the south end, but we could have done with more bods on it. Another group worked on the water coming down from the north.... not our water, but our problem. By digging some drains we were able to divert the water into the creek before it got into our area. This should make a big difference to the water around the containers, and may also assist in the water sitting on the south end of the glider field. A good result for the limited manpower available. Thanks to those that turned up. There was only 1 starter for the Sunday working bee a fortnight later. No work was done, and there is plenty to do, mainly painting the walls inside, and putting up the sheets on the east and north wall. For this we could use 2 or 3 guys working together on week days, then we can clean up and get on to the next step. Contact either myself on 9561 9097 or Geoff Moore on 9802 2044 if you can help.

Next up is next years calendar. If there is something you want added, now is the time to speak up. I wouldn't mind seeing a dawn flight... perhaps with a brekky after, and also a Sunset flight, again with food involved. Maybe when things start to warm up again. Also an open aerotow weekend, a Power Scale fly-in, and some other open events. Let us know what you want.

The AGM is coming up. As you know, your insurance and membership runs out on June 30th, and the next VARMS meeting is July 8th. So we will be taking membership fees this meeting... June10th. Getting in early will also help us with the paper work.

It is also time to review the fees, and a lively discussion was had at the committee meeting, and we decided to put our fees up $20, and the MAAA/VMAA (Insurance) has gone up $2. Junior fees have been reduced. There was discussion on a working

bee levy, but that was not accepted. On the VARMS fee structure, our last fee adjustment was down, about 15 years ago, and that was because our running costs were low enough for an adjustment. This time things have gone the other way, and we anticipate it will be a year with more expenses, some of the things that will affect our spending... fuel for mowing, web site costs that we didn't have last year, higher postage costs, electricity and water pending, after connection, battery charging system pending, and other stuff that our working bee's can't deal

The President Colin Collyer

Collyer photo


with eg. drainage, road grading, car park leveling, etc). All improvements that will cost, at least for a few years.

On a related matter; The Aspectivity newsletter is one of our, and the VMAA's biggest costs, so there is a bit of a push to get as many people on e-mail as possible, that alone will help our bottom line. Please Fill in your latest e-mail address on the renewal form. Thanks.

The thank you bit…….

• Colin Smith for helping out with the motor fitting. I hear it's a bit more than that, but Colin will sort it out

• All those at the working bee

• Geoff Moore for his ongoing work on the kitchen

• And finally, thanks to Geoff Vincent on his altitude flying talk... the model stuff was very interesting.... 7ooo feet 3 times, but never with all the box's ticked for a record

Next meeting talk... some newbies have asked for a quick talk on theory, so I will do the basics on stability, wing incidence and such.... no calculator required.

We have enough numbers to justify a Woodstock build, but still can take a few more. Starting soon.... when the shed us useable.

Which brings up another subject. Tools. We are looking for some handyman tools.... Saw, hammer, screw drivers etc. Also we will need some modeling tools when the time comes. We are looking for donations.

Now I'm off. Going to look at the Jirilderie photo's again.... gosh that was a great event, thanks Theo and others

Enjoy Winter

Col

Neil Spencer’s Woodstock – Collyer photo

Flying Event Calendar

Name Date/s Location Further Info

LSF Tournament RCGA Thermal League #11 11 thru 13/6/2011 Jerilderee LSF

VARMS Training 19/6/2011 VARMS Glider Field VARMS

Scale Aerotow 2/7/2011 VARMS Glider Field VARMS

VARMS Training 3/7/2011 VARMS Glider Field VARMS

Please send articles & photos for publication to

[email protected]


Held at Glen Waverley Primary School Hall, Friday 13 May, 2011 Comm. 8.15 p.m.

Apologies None recorded Visitors- 4

President’s Report.-Topics – 1) “Meet & Greet” Segment

a) Geoff Vincent –joined Varms first in 1973 – former Club President- Favorite activity - flying at Glenfern Rd.& Camperdown. Claim to fame – World Record Altitude Project . b) David Sheehy – audio/visual technician. Favorite activity – watching Club aerotow days. Favorite. Model –“ Radian Pro”

2) VMAA Trophy 2011 – Report by Lindsay Henderson. –challenging weather conditions -& issues with slanted aerobatic contest rules. -2 medals won :

3) Club annual fees increase – likely small hike due to increase in VMAA Fees and need to cover some of moneys spent on clubhouse – member participation in Club working bees as a means of keeping fees as low as possible.

4) Request for help with motor installation in model - -via Knox Council – Colin Smith kindly volunteered to help.

5) VARMS Field & Clubhouse issues:

i) Installation of insulation sheets in Clubhouse interior walls – volunteers needed to complete job – see Geoff Moore for details. ii) Field drainage – report on recent meeting with Knox Basketball complex steering committee & talks with Project Engineer, Pat Meehan. –proposed Club working bee for Sat.14 May, to re-align pipe under road to club house & clean out old field drains &North side field drain of accumulated silt. iii) Club access road works –awaiting approval for roadside drainage works –proposed hiring of mech. digger for 8 hrs to undertake works. iv) Field site photos recent developments display - to be installed in clubhouse wall.

6)Treasurer Report. Update financial report in latest Aspectivity. – Challenging year due to large payouts for Club house construction and furbishing. – $40k spent (incl. $10k donation from Knox Council) Working acc. Bal.$ 5k . approx. Investment acc. - $35k.

7) Aspectivity Editor. Thanks for all the great articles and photos of Club activities – keep them coming!

8) GENERAL BUSINESS.

a) Henryk Kobylanski – report by Colin Collyer over unauthorized use of photo in early edition of May Aspectivity. b) Jerilderie Glider contest – report by Danny Malcman –over 100 models.

Meeting Minutes Roger Stevenson


c) Club training –progressing well – new winch line generously donated by Dave’s Toys for Big Boys d) May VARMS Trophy – report by Bruce Clapperton – next contest date - 29 May. Proposed Postal Competition –logging flights with observer. e) Knox Council –Salvation Army door knock – call for volunteers –see Colin or Max for details. f) Community Development Grant applications. – report by Max Haysom-outline of intense competition for grants, restricted categories& complex paperwork on any application. – “Mens’ Shed” assistance grant a possibility for our Club. g) Club Caps – available from Max Haysom for $15

9 ”Show & Tell” Segment a) Bowylie Scale event – fascinating report by Geoff Moore – magnificent photos including great shots of large scale Cessna model flown by Steve Malcman. b) Geoff Vincent – i) World Altitude Record project issues 1985 – display of project model – “Dynasoar” (large traditional constr. Rudder/elev. Model with “piggyback” barograph.) ii) Slide show on his involvement in RC modeling 1972-1985,connections with early VARMS Members eg. Phillip Hearn & Peter Mather. iii) Full size Gliding involvement- Power Point show –including competition flying, cross country and wave high altitude flight coaching.-dramatic accompanying photos from slide show presentation, of shots taken from glider cockpit. –enthralling! Meeting Closed 10.30 P.M. Next Club Meeting Friday 10 June 2011, at Glen Waverley Primary School hall.

Standard Operating Times for VARMS Glider Field:

*Aerotow: First Saturday each month, 12.00 Noon till 5.00 pm Glider means gliders and electric assist

Clubrooms: All days 7.00 am till 11.00 pm

For queries or problems regarding this timetable, please contact Max Haysom or Colin Collyer.

The Keyboard

Your frequency key should have your full name written clearly on it so that you can be easily recognised and contacted in case of a frequency clash. Mobile phone number on the key is a good idea too, in case you have departed and left your key in the board thus stopping someone else using that frequency. Members using 2.4 GHz sets should still insert a standard key in the appropriate section of the keyboard.

Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 8am-Noon (power) Power Glider Power Glider Power Power Glider Dawn-Noon (glider)

Noon-5pm (AEST) (power) Noon-5pm (AEDST) (power) Glider Power Glider Power Glider Glider Glider Noon-Dusk (glider)


Hello again. Welcome to another issue of Aspectivity. I’m struggling for articles to fill the issues at the moment, so unless you want me to rabbit-on about PSS models ad-infinitum, you may wish to put fingers to keyboards, or even pen to paper. Photos are more than welcome. Show us your new models, give reviews, whatever you like.

I’ve been laid up in bed for most of the last week with a dose of conjunctivitis – oh what fun…. Highly contagious, I’ve been bored out of my brain, but with blurred sight so I couldn’t even do much building. If you want to view some videos of Camperdown, Avalon or the JR Aerotow, please visit my You Tube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ozskunkworx

Dave Weller and his Scud II – Colin Collyer photo

Classifieds:

For Sale:

Wanted: Simprop Piaggio Avanti model. Contact Glenn Salisbury 0433799922

Editor Glenn Salisbury


[email protected]


The proposal is the build the 1/4 scale Woodstock to Col Collyer's plan. Lazer cut parts kit, foam wings, and canopy can be arranged provided we have a min of 10 starters. Price per kit will be $55.00 plus P&P. Interested parties contact Barry De Kuyper on [email protected]. For more information on the real thing, see: http://www.silentflight.net/index.php?/content/view/88/57/

Do you need some Woodstock inspiration?

Ian Slack’s Woodstock

Club Build Barry De Kuyper


Woodstocks at Bordertown 2008 – Collyer photos


Colin Smith sent me this photo of an impressive range of scale gliders that are about to be released onto the market. I’d love to be able to provide you with more details, but Colin is repaying me for my laziness and not replying to my emails requesting further information.

As an impromptu competition, I’ll award any member who can identify all of the sailplanes pictured, a free one year subscription to Aspectivity.

Tease………….. Glenn Salisbury


[email protected]


Aerial photography/F.P.V. Some things are just meant to be. I had planned a little story on my quad-copter aerial photography/FPV platform build and I get a couple of related photos as contributions for the mag. Queue ‘The Twilight Zone’ music now…..de, de, de, de, de, de, de, de,

Firstly, from Des Bayliss at

Camperdown, we get:

So, onto my contribution. At Camperdown 2011, several modelers arrived with Tri-copters, sorta like a Y shaped helicopter. As far as I can remember, all had cameras on-board and at least one of our guests from NSW had a full FPV setup. For those who don’t know, FPV is where the model is flown with the pilot looking through goggles that receive a live video feed directly from a camera mounted on the model. Pretty high tech, but the latest goggles even have a pan and tilt function, where the on-board camera moves in unison with the pilots head – if the pilot wants to look right to line up his landing for example, he can look over his shoulder and the camera in the model will do the same, whilst the model still tracks where the pilots thumbs on the tx demand. Another setup has a form of HUD (Head-Up-Display) where altitude, attitude, location to pilot, cell voltage and current draw etc are all included in the pilots goggled view.

Pan & Tilt camera Pilot goggles

All things old are new again…… Glenn Salisbury


There are some incredible videos of FPV on YouTube if you are interested in seeing just what is possible. The latest trend is for more rotors for better stability, and vastly improved control systems. The tri-copters in January had multiple gyros for stabilisation. Now only a matter of months later we use PC boards developed from the Nintendo Wii controls. The board I’ve got even has an auto-stabilising setting, so no matter what I’m doing, I just need to flick a switch and the model will enter a rock-solid hover. Great for photography, or for remedying dumb-thumbs……

My model is called a Scarab. It’s an Australian made product of excellent quality and reasonable pricing. The gear, motors, ESC’s etc are all from Hobby King, so you know it’s not going to be too high a cost. The assembly really is a exercise in soldering and screwing parts together.

My next purchase is for a Go-Pro – a full HD video camera in a tiny package. I’ll bring the package along on Friday for anyone who wants a look.

The 2nd

timely gem. Michael Richardson’s 1970’s photo of Ralph Learmont’s camera plane.


Part one of this story talked of the expectations I had for the little Schweizer I was making. Let's see how things turned out....

She's all ready to fly and looks a treat!

As already mentioned, I had the foresight to incorporate a tow hook in the plane so I could go tow-lining on the football field over the back fence at home- for some relaxed thermal soaring. Well, since I started making the little plane, Casey Council has banned flying of ANY model aircraft in Casey ! What the @#$%^&*! Not happy Jan! So the tow-hook is yet to be used. She might however be a bit of a handful going up on a towline, if the performance on the slope is any indication. The maiden flight was on the slope down at Kilcunda in a south easterly off Ridge Road. What a great spot. During the maiden flight however, I was astonished at the speed and manoeuvrability. Even with more than enough nose-weight, she's a very lively girl. Manic is close. Schizophrenic maybe. To say that the girl is aerobatic and quick is an understatement. During the early flights there was an exciting tendency to “drop a wing” - which I put down to the excess of nose-weight. But yet, the little plane was very eager to gain altitude and disappear in passing thermals. Spiralling upwards in 30' gulps has become a signature manoeuvre. Because of her light weight (790g), high “g” turns come and go with little stress on the airframe. Speed her up, and consecutive axial rolls can be done with no elevator input – yes, sometimes I'm just lazy. Snap rolls seem to come in pairs, lubricated by the tendency to tip stall. She did however have one final surprise for me. Landing.

So So many surprises. Pt 2 Text & photo by Tim Moreland


Yes, landing seems almost impossible if you can't get her out of the lift. She's had some pretty awful arrivals after Tim tried vainly to get low and slow and out of lift at the same time. I can get her low, but slow is another matter altogether. When landing on a slope, I consider that being simultaneously low and slow is mandatory. My tried and true formula for a slope landing is: �Fly far away from the slope straight into the wind �(Now the hard part.) Force the plane down to the horizon and stay there. Don't proceed

to the next dot point until the plane is flying along the horizon. �Bring the plane back to the hill in a big and wide quarter circle (going left or right), all the time constricting the altitude down to the horizon, or even lower. �When the plane is directly cross wind (maybe 120m away- depends on the size of the

plane and the shape of the hill), bring it in from the side, not permitting any altitude gain (by now, expect the plane to be flying quite slowly).

�Depending on the terrain, maybe drift downwind just a little whilst approaching the landing area from the side. Stay in front of the hill. Keep the plane down on the horizon. �By the time the plane is at your feet it will probably want to land. All speed and altitude has dissipated by that time. �There you go, another greaser! Well, now you know: that is my recipe for nice landings on the slopes. Oh yes, the magic about this landing technique is that if things aren't going quite right, just fly out into the lift, and try again. It is a great way to practice landings. For a start, I recommend flying through about 2 metres off the ground, it's all about dominating the aircraft and dictating where You want it go. But: The above doesn't always work with the little Schweizer. My slope landing technique has the plane in lift all the time and the speed doesn't seem to disappear as per the plan. I recall a landing at the point at Camperdown when she actually hit the ground travelling backwards! Oh well. There was no escaping the lift. It was a big tip-stall, or something. Things can happen pretty fast with small aircraft. Spoilers would be great, but I hadn't anticipated the need. Smacking the plane into long grass works pretty well – but talk about undignified! Since the maiden flight, I have done a lot of experimentation with ballast, looking for the best position of the CofG. Because of the tendency to increase speed in turns, I resorted to sticking bits of lead down the back of the fuselage below the tailplane. Yes she was significantly nose heavy – weird. Being careful with the C of G has helped the landing issue a bit and diminished the tendency to tip stall considerably. Unlike my ¼ scale version, her state of balance has proven to be quite critical, especially with respect to slow speed controllability. Is it the small tailplane that makes the plane so sensitive to balance? (The tailplane is as close as I can make it to “scale”.) I have often seen plans of small scale aircraft with silly looking enlarged tail-planes. The English always seem to do it, and even those at the USA. So maybe she would be more controllable at low speed with bigger tailplane. However, I have certainly found that you don't need a stupidly big tailplane to make a small scale aeroplane fly like a thoroughbred. I think the answer may be careful adjustment of nose weight. Maybe the air-foil (Eppler 374) has something to do with it too. Maybe it's both. So, things appear to have settled down as much as they're going to. From 5 knots to 25 knots the little plane zooms around, never running out of breath. She can either be bullied by thermals or show off doing consecutive snap rolls that almost spin the wings off. It's good when a plan comes together – err, even when the outcome maybe isn't quite what you had in mind. She's great fun, but certainly not the gentle thermal machine I originally had in mind.


NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2011

The Victorian Association of Radio Model Soaring (Inc.) will hold its Annual General Meeting including

the Election of Committee, on Friday 8th of July 2011 immediately following the General Meeting. All

nominations for Committee must be submitted on the form below and mailed to: VARMS Inc, P.O. Box

4096 Knox City Centre VIC 3152, or handed to the Secretary, no later than 7 days prior to the AGM.

VARMS Committee Nomination Form 2011

I, ...........................................................................................VARMS No: ................................

hereby nominate .........................................................................................................................

for the position of .......................................................................................................................

Signed .........................................................................................

Seconded by ................................................................................

Candidate’s consent:

I hereby accept this nomination for the aforementioned position,

Signed ..........................................................................................

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FORM OF APPOINTMENT OF PROXY

I...............................................................................of.........................................................................

being a financial member of the Victorian Association of Radio Model Soaring Inc., hereby appoint

...............................................................................of...........................................................................

being a financial member of the Incorporated Association as my proxy to vote for me on behalf at the

Annual General Meeting of the Association and at any adjournment of that meeting.

My proxy is authorised to vote in favour for/against/abstain (delete as appropriate)

1. Election of Committee

2. Acceptance of the Balance Sheet for 2010/2011

3. Other: Please nominate items.

Signed ............................................................. VARMS No. ............................

This ......................................................... Day of ...................................... 2011

AGM2011.doc MLH 04/06/2011


are still

Mowing Roster

Mal. Buckmaster 9763 1632 June (early) Robert Kassell 9795 1330 June (late) Henri Wohlmuth 9764 1921 July (early) Jim Baker 9803 2185 July (late)

Bruce Robinson 9887 8996 Aug (early) Graeme Hollis 9739 4886 Aug (late)

Geoff Moore (Heliport) 98022044 Max Koludrovic (Runways & Pits)

Our special thanks to Kelly & Ian Costello from the Bakers Delight at The Glen Shopping Centre, Glen

Waverley.

Also to Bruce Robinson for collecting and bringing it all to the meetings each month

Any Problems with the field, ring

Martin Hopper

9873 8256

Training Dates

19th June & 3rd July

Training radio Frequencies are:

641, 643 & 645

VARMS Training is kindly sponsored by:

Hyperion Australia


All material published in Aspectivity is the copyright of the author of the article. Opinions expressed in Aspectivity may not represent the view of VARMS Inc. Editor or Printer. VARMS Inc., the Editor and the Printer accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the content.

President Colin Collyer 9561 9097 VP & Site Liaison Max Haysom 9801 3899 Secretary Roger Stevenson 9830 8293 Treasurer Ian Pearson 5996 5019 Contest Director Alan Mayhew 9887 7885 Editor Glenn Salisbury 9404 2157 Ordinary Member Martin Hopper 9873 8256 Registrar Bruce Clapperton 9803 3108 Heli Group Rep Geoff Moore 9802 2044 Sports Power Rep Ray Douma 0409 356515 Webmaster Steve Tester 9724 9728

VARMS Web Site: http://www.varms.org.au – for up to date info on VARMS

Current Members: If you change your address, please notify the Registrar and VMAA,so that we can maintain the correct addressing of this Newsletter.

Potential Members: If you are interested in joining VARMS, or learning more about our activities, please contact the Secretary, or other Committee member.

VARMS (Inc.) was formed in 1968 to get together aero-modelers who were interested in building and flying radio controlled gliders. Members fly at many places, but have a home field on High Street Road, Wantirna South (Melways Map 72, C1), where training classes are free to all and are held on Sunday mornings, generally on a fortnightly basis. Exact dates and times are posted on the filed entrance gate.

VARMS Training is kindly sponsored by Hyperion Australian.

VARMS organizes regular competitions in both Slope and Thermal Soaring, for many kinds of radio controlled gliders, ranging from fun-fly models to competition models and scale replicas.

General Meetings are held on the SECOND FRIDAY of each month (except January) – at the Glen Waverley Primary School Hall, in High Street Road, Glen Waverley (next to McDonalds on the corner of High Street Road and Springvale Road) Meetings start at 8:00 pm and visitors are welcome. Formalities are usually followed by lively discussions on matters of interest to all modelers and a light supper, suppliers by Bakers Delight, The Glen Shopping Centre.

Victorian Association of Radio Model Soaring Inc. Organisation No. A0001504U

Affiliated with the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)

The World Air Sports Federation

aspectivity june 2011 members - varms€¦ · the proposal is the build the 1/4 scale woodstock to...

Documents