THE HISTORY OF V.A.R.M.S The Annual Diary 1990 - 2009

THE HISTORY OF V.A.R.M.S.
The Annual Diary.
1990 - 2009
The following pages contain details
of the elected Committee for each year,
and
other pertinent information on relevant
events that occurred for that year,
noted on a July to June basis.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(To quickly access a topic, hold CTRL and click on desired item)
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................2
1990 - 91 .....................................................................................................................4
Scale Gliders at the Bendigo Nationals ..........................................................6
The Flight Of The U-2........................................................................................8
1991 - 92 ...................................................................................................................10
The Flight Of The U-2 – 2 ND Stanza ...............................................................10
A Tribute To John Vanderwolfe .....................................................................12
1992 - 93 ...................................................................................................................13
Aspectivity Visits – Stan Mason (VARMS 36) ............................................13
Aspectivity Visits –Peter Mather (VARMS 6)..............................................13
Special Mention: The THIRD and possibly LAST flight of the U-2..............17
1993 - 94 ...................................................................................................................19
The 8 th & Last EXPO .......................................................................................21
A Tribute To Martin Briggs by Charlie Lambeth...........................................22
1994 - 95 ...................................................................................................................23
A Tribute to Stan Mason by Ralph Learmont ...............................................23
The R. C. G. A..................................................................................................25
1995 - 96 ...................................................................................................................30
1996 - 97 ...................................................................................................................39
1997 - 98 ...................................................................................................................43
The U-2 - A Postscript ....................................................................................43
FAI & ASAC .....................................................................................................45
1998 - 99 ...................................................................................................................48
1995 - 1998 LSF (USA) Nationals Nostalgia Sailplane Event Rules............49
1999 - 2000 ...............................................................................................................54
General Club Rules - Brigg's Field (15/8/99) .............................................55
Powered Flight Operations ............................................................................56
Glider Solo Rating...........................................................................................57
Power Solo Rating (Including Electric) .........................................................57
2000 - 01 ...................................................................................................................58
2001 - 02 ...................................................................................................................67
2002 - 03 ...................................................................................................................70
Bronze Wings for GLIDERS (2 May 2005).............................................71
Gold Wings for GLIDERS (2 May 2005)................................................71
2003 - 04 ...................................................................................................................74
Opening Of State Field – Darraweit Guim.....................................................76
2004 – 05 ..................................................................................................................81
A World Championship for Australia & VARMS...........................................82
AspectivitEE in Colour ...................................................................................84
The death of “The Tree” at Camperdown .....................................................85
JERILDERIE – Scale - 2005 ............................................................................85
THE DEMISE OF THE “VARMS Membership Number”................................91

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2005 – 6 ....................................................................................................................92
2006 – 7 ..................................................................................................................101
A 2 nd World Championship for Australia & VARMS...................................103
Aerotowing. A "How To Get Started" guide.............................................105
LANDINGS YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM.................................................109
2007 – 8 ..................................................................................................................123
The DLG.........................................................................................................124
VARMS to CELEBRATE 40 TH ANNIVERSARY ...........................................128
How High Is My Glider?................................................................................129
VARMS 40 th ANNIVERSARY.........................................................................132
2008 – 9 ..................................................................................................................142
THE END .........................................................................................................................143

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1990 - 91
The Committee
President Martin Briggs Secretary John Lawrey
Treasurer David Waterhouse Editor Neil McLeod
Contest Director Peter Cossins Publicity/Sales Jim Robertson
Asst. C. D. Scott Lennon Scale Group John Gottschalk
August Aspectivity 216 has the following statistics and comments relating to competitions compiled
and supplied by the current Editor - Neil Mcleod
EDITOR'S THOUGHTS ON THE VAST RESULTS
With 11 months available for contests, 8 official events were recorded. On some days
the weather prevented the scheduled contest or any substitute. On others, many people were
deterred by the weather at home from attending — either it looked too bad or it looked too good to
waste at a comp. It's true that in most contests each entrant doesn't fly very much. Neither does it
give much chance for useful practice: but it shows the results of practice in the previous months.
Looking at the results and referring to "How to Lie With Statistics" from time to time we find:
MOST POPULAR *One Model (Prelude) = ~State Thermal Comp 18 entrants
*Hand Launched, 2 task 16 '
*ABC Glider Day (Open thermal) 15 '
#2 Minute & Spot landing 14 '
~Cross-country 9 '
LEAST POPULAR +Slope Aerobatics = *Towline Aerobatics 7 "
Sites: *High Street Road, ~Leakes Road, #Fountain Gate, +Bass Hill.
So what? Don't forget the foul weather for those last two and the attempts to hold the State Slope
Championships also frustrated by weather. But it does seem that:
(1) the simpler the contest the more people will attend and actually participate
(2) the advantage of High St. Road's proximity to most of VARMS's membership seems to be
demonstrated
(3) the large entry in the State Champs and the ABC Glider day reflects the fact that serious
competitors come from all over for the chance to be recognised in their field
(4) my own case suggests that even a non-competitive type can finish well up just by going
along to all or most of the scheduled contest days and not being afraid to exhibit his
shortcomings to a sympathetic group who have mostly been through the same experience
not long ago.
CONCLUSIONS: (1) I druther be flying. ... But..... Look at that < > weather
(2) I druther be building ..But.. I'm not going out in that cold garage!
(3) Leave Statistics to the Standard Deviants
DECISION Quit & Print & Coffee looks like the best bet.
November 3 & 4 1990, EXPO held again (5th) at Waverley High School. 133 models were on
display and the following were the top six:
"Ettamogah Pub boat by Vivian Kenny,
"Mississippi Gambler boat by Vivian Kenney,
Bell 222 Airwolf by Barry Marx, also voted best Model
Curtiss P40E by David Law,
Spacewalker by Doug Anderson,
Elfe glider by John Gottschalk.
Also on display and in all its splendour was the club project U-2, albeit, still not quite ready to fly
but looking very LARGE and VERY impressive!!

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December Aspectivity 220 contained the following guidelines for the fun-fly at Camperdown, and
are probably the most comprehensive ever used.
CAMPERDOWN FLY-IN 26 - 27 - 28 January 1991
The following proposals for the new format of the VARMS Camperdown Fly-In were
accepted by the Committee and, with the goodwill and good sportsmanship of all our Scale and
Sports flying enthusiasts, these suggestions should provide the ingredients for a most enjoyable and
safe week-end for everyone.
I. RE SAFETY
OFFICIALS
One Director of Flight Operations
One Assistant DFO
Several Safety Officers — according to need.
A) Scale pilots should have the assistance of an observer.
B) Pilots will announce take-offs and landings.
C) Models are not to be flown closer than 30 metres from people and cars.
D) The use of the keyboard will be strictly adhered to by all.
Keys will be placed and removed by the relevant pilots only.
E) All transmitters must have current certification.
F) Aircraft above 6Kg must have appropriate permit to fly.
G) All pilots need their current FAI Sporting Licence card.
If a pilot has no FAI card he must report to the Director of Flight Operations
or any Safety Officer.
II.
III.
IV.
COMMUNICATIONS
ONE information board will be placed at the entrance to the Park, showing the current
flying site in use and activities for the day.
ANOTHER information board at the flying site will show safety arrangements and
procedures for the day.
DAILY FLIGHT SLOTS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK-END
General Sport Flying from: Sunrise until: 10.30 a.m.
SCALE ONLY 10.30 a.m. 11.30 a.m.
Sport 11.30 1.00 p.m.
SCALE ONLY 1.00 p.m. 2.00 p.m.
Sport 2.00 p.m. 3.30 p.m.
SCALE ONLY 3.30 p.m. 4.30 p.m.
Sport 4.30 p.m. Sunset.
SCALE GROUPING FOR JUDGING PURPOSES
1. Vintage (Any wingspan for ALL groups)
2. Modern
3. Power Slope Soarer
4. Salto
5. Unorthodox
V. SCALE JUDGING
STATIC
A. No documentation is required.
B. Models to be judged must have appropriate markings.
FLYING
Two roving judges will assess both static and flying.

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There should be not more than 5 SCALE models flying simultaneously.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
OTHER EVENTS TO BE STAGED DURING SPORTS FLYING TIME SLOTS
A.. Ridge Rats
B. Southern Sailplanes models
C. Balloon Bursting
D. Photo Sessions
E. Night Flying
The BARBEQUE on Saturday night at the Caravan Park will be held in ONE area,
so everyone can enjoy the entertainment! (?)
SITE MANAGEMENT
NO Smoking - NO Alcohol at the flight Line
NO rubbish ANYWHERE please!
ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES
Aerotowing:— at the Racecourse
Power/Electric Flying:— at the Racecourse
Seaplanes (by arrangement with Director of Flight Operations re frequencies)
—at Lake Bullen Merri
X. DINNER, SUNDAY
VENUE: to be announced
Presentation by VARMS President.
The emphasis is on maintaining the original, low-key concept for the meeting, which goes
back to the early 1970's when the late Brian Laging and a few VARMS members who flew large
aircraft, gathered annually on the Australia Day week-end and, making use of the beautiful slopes
around the lakes, usually had a ball, just flying during the day and gathering around the camp fire at
night. The low-key "Clayton" contest developed from there, as the attendance grew with time. It is
now the biggest slope flying-and-social event involving R/C sailplanes, particularly scale, in
Australia.
.............
44th Nationals 1990/91, at Bendigo Vic.:
Thermal David Hobby 2nd - unconfirmed
F3B John Lawrey 2nd - unconfirmed
Thermal(Jnr) 1. Andrew Benton
Also at these Nationals, an un-official event "Scale Glider' was held as per the following report.
SCALE SNIPPETS
By John Gottschalk
Scale Gliders at the Bendigo Nationals
So, it finally happened! Our fraternity was included for the first time at an Australian
National Championships – as an unofficial event under provisional rules. The event was scheduled
for the last day, so we did some practice flying during the week, sharing the R.C. practice field,
about 13 kms away with a variety of Radio activists, mainly helicopters and some sports flyers.
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. we were usually clobbered with some unmentionable high
temperatures, so we ventured out on two evenings, with Mr. Murphy (of Murphy’s law) winning
again on the first occasion by seeing to it that the tug would break its tail wheel assembly. So, back
to Melbourne we went and during the dying hours of 1990 a new tail wheel assembly was created.
Everything went fine after that. Even the Golden Eagle towed up nicely and, in the absence of
Robert Goldman, a very talented young pilot, Peter Jordan from Swan Hill took on the task of
towing the Elfe up, which turned out to be a very enjoyable flight, as it looked very realistic.

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On Friday the weather changed and it rained steadily from then on. Saturday morning we
went out to the R.C. club field and it was obvious that we could not conduct the static judging under
the prevailing conditions, (it still rained), so we got permission to do it at the Nats Registration
centre in Bendigo. Off we went in the rain, went through the static contest and by 12.30 we loaded
up again (in the rain) and back to the field we went. The deadline was set for 3 p.m. to start flying.
By 2.30 p.m. it cleared up somewhat and the Tug was readied for action. To our relief and
disbelief, it stopped raining completely by 2.40 p.m. and away we went. With three manoeuvres of
your choice to do in two flights and a working time of ten minutes each, it was a relatively easy task
provided you did it right! Unfortunately, due to the wind direction. we had to take off and land near
the end of the field. which had some tall trees nearby, so the landings were not all what they should
have been. The gusty wind was not very helpful either, and flyers and judges had some anxious
moments. Nine models were entered in the contest, seven actually flew.
Results in R. C. Scale Glider
1. Robert Goldman Olympia Meise 389.0
2. Colin Collyer Golden Eagle 370.2
3. Frank Smith Grunau Baby IIB 350.1
4. John Gottschalk Elfe S-4-A 333.1
5. Wayne Jones 305.7
6. John Lawrey 304.7
7. Darrel Blow 244
8. Peter Wright 102.4
Congratulations to the winner and all placegetters!
John Berry, Barry Dundas and Gary Sunderland officiated as judges and we thank them for
their efforts. Special thanks to the Contest Director, Peter Mather who had done his homework in
the most diligent and meticulous way. The professional touch was most evident. Tim Mellor
helped with the score collection and David Hobby was Our man on the Ripcord. Well done
fellows. We also thank the Bendigo Club for their hospitality. We shall return on the 24 th March.
Feb. '91 - Geoff Hearn commences Glider Training scheme at VARMS High Street Road site on a
weekly basis. ((Still going in 2005))
February ’91 – in Aspectivity 221 we have an article that is at the very heart of out hobby-
BALSAWOOD
Models are no different than any other type of flying machine, large or small – THE LIGHTER IT
IS BUILT, THE BETTER IT WILL FLY ! With that in mind, it is easy to understand why balsa
has been the standard material for model aeroplane construction since it first became readily
available in the late 1920’s. Its outstanding strength-to-weight ratio enables modellers to construct
durable models that will fly in a totally realistic manner. Balsa also absorbs shock and vibration
well and can be easily cut, shaped and glued with simple hand tools.
WHERE DOES BALSA COME FROM
Balsa trees grow naturally in the humid rain forests of Central and South America (and New
Guinea). Its natural range extends from Guatemala, through central America, to the north and west
coast of South America as far as Bolivia. However, the small country of Ecuador, on the western
coast of South America, is the primary source of model aircraft grade balsa in the world. Balsa
needs a warm climate with plenty of rainfall and good drainage. For that reason, the best stands of
balsa usually appear on high ground between tropical rivers. Ecuador has the ideal geography and
climate for growing balsa trees. The scientific name for balsa is ‘ochroma lagopus’. The word
balsa itself is Spanish meaning raft, in reference to its excellent floatation qualities.
HOW DOES BALSA GROW
The is no such thing as entire forests of balsa trees. They grow singly or in very small, widely
scattered groups in the jungle . For hundreds of years, balsa was actually considered a weed tree.
They reproduce by growing hundreds of long seed pods, which eventually open up and, with the

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help of the wind, scatter thousands of new seeds over a large area of the jungle. Each seed is
airborne on its own small wisp of down, similar to the way dandelion seeds spread. The seeds
eventually fall to the ground and are covered by the litter of the jungle. There they lay and
accumulate until one day there is an opening in the jungle canopy large enough for the sun’s rays to
strike the jungle floor and start the seeds growing. Wherever there was an opening, either made by
the farmer or by another tree dying, balsa will spring up as thick as grass, A farmer is often hard
put to keep his food plot clear of balsa. As new balsa trees grow, the strongest will become
predominant and the weaker trees will die. By the time they are mature, there may only be one or
two balsa trees to an acre of jungle.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE A BALSA TREE TO GROW
Balsa trees grow very rapidly (like all weeds). Six months after germination, the tree is about 1 ½
inches in diameter and 10-12 feet tall! In 6 to 10 years the tree is ready for cutting, having reached
a height of 60-90 feet tall and a diameter of 12-45 inches. If left to continue to grow, the new wood
on the outside layers becomes very hard and the tree begins to rot in the centre. Unharvested, a
balsa tree may grow to 6 feet or more in diameter, but very little usable timber can be obtained from
a tree of this size. The balsa leaf is similar in shape to a grape leaf, only a lot bigger. When the tree
is young, these leaves measure as much as 4 feet across. They become progressively smaller as the
tree grows older, until they are 8-10 inches across. Balsa is one of the few trees in the jungle which
has a simple leaf shape. This fact alone makes the balsa stand out in the jungle.
WHY IS BALSA SO LIGHT
The secret to balsa’s lightness can only be seen with a microscope. The cells are big and very thin
walled, so that the ratio of solid matter to open space is as small as possible. Most woods have gobs
of heavy plastic like cement, called lignin, holding all the cells together. In balsa, lignin is at a
minimum. Only about 40% of the volume of a piece of balsa is solid substance. To give the tree
the strength it needs to stand in the jungle, nature pumps each balsa cell full of water until they
become rigid – like a car tyre full of air. Green balsa wood typically contains 5 times as much
water as it has actual wood substance, compared to most hardwoods which contain very little water
in relation to wood substance. Green balsa must therefore be carefully kiln dried to remove most of
the water before it can be sold. Kiln drying is a tedious 2 week process that carefully removes the
excess water until the moisture content is only 6%. Kiln drying also kills bacteria, fungi and insects
that may have been in the raw balsa.
GRAIN STRUCTURES
“A” Grain – This timber is characterized generally by its lightness, flexibility across the sheet, and
fairly long straight grain pattern. Best used for wing sheeting, curved fuselage upper and lowers
etc.
“B” Grain – This timber, although similar to A grain when one glances, it exhibits shorter grain
length, less flexibility, and is usually slightly heavier. It is a good choice for wing ribs, fuselage
sides (try to select 2 pieces with equal flexibility), and general structural parts. This is also the type
of timber one should select to cut sticks or spars from.
“C” Grain –(Also known as Quarter Grain) – Characterized by its distinctive mottley appearance,
this cut of timber is extremely rare. Sheets of this timber are very rigid, and selected properly can
yield a structure of considerable strength. Totally un-suitable for long thin or stick type lengths due
to cross or quarter grain structure. Supplied by Mike Christoph and courtesy of SIG
Manufacturing
The Flight Of The U-2
Jun. '91 - The U2 P.S.S. (Club project) flies "backwards" at Kilcunda. Here follows a complete
report by Tim Morland as reflected in Aspectivity 226/July '91).
Yesterday our U2 leapt into the wild blue. Now we gotta fix it. To say we have a slight
problem with incidence would be an understatement. I'll explain.
Weather was perfect for the maiden flight. 20 to 25 knots from the north west (Kilcunda).
The right day had finally arrived. People and models crowded the top of the slope and parked cars

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trailed off into the distance.
Immediately after the launch (about 1245 hrs) it became apparent to me pushing and pulling
the sticks that sufficient down elevator was not available. The nose of the craft would not stay
down. I appeared to have no effect at all on the attitude of the rearing beast. As those who were
there will attest, the ride up and post-stall descent 50 metres downwind were dramatic, to say the
least. The subsequent heavy landing broke the port wing at the end of the dihedral bar. There are
also some stress fractures in the fuselage. Considering the impact, I think we got off rather lightly.
Our U2, as you know, has some closely related cousins. Two half-size replicas have been
built. The required position of the C of G is therefore known. And that's where it is on the big U2.
Same place.
The difference between large and small is ..... what we are going to find out.
Incidence of the mainplane on the club model is currently 3.5 degrees. The way she went up
yesterday, the same degree of incidence may well be appropriate for the tailplane.
Working bees are being arranged to do the repairs. Anyone with ideas and action in mind
are welcome to come along.

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1991 - 92
The Committee
President Max McCullough Secretary Barry Dundas
Treasurer David Waterhouse Editor Neil McLeod
Contest Director Stephen Frodsham Publicity Jim Robertson
" " Tim Mellor Scale Group Colin Collyer
July 1991 (A.G.M.) - James (Jim) Robertson awarded Life Membership.
Jul. "91 - Gallagher's paddock (VARMS H.S.R. site) selected by Knox Council as site for a tip &
land-fill, (Did not proceed)
Asp. 227 / August '91 - Southern Sailplanes advertisement for entire range of models including the
Eclipse & Apollo
Asp. 228 / Sept. 91 records the production and sale of a "Club" electric winch, the basic items being
produced by a club member (Jim Robertson) for purchase by club members (and others)
Nov. 3 - 4, EXPO (the 6th ) at Waverley High School Hall.
Expo excerpts: Winners Top 6 Exhibits
D. H. Tiger Moth Les Briscoe C.A.C. Boomerang Noel Whitehead
F15 Eagle Les Briscoe Model Railway Layout Moorabbin Tafe
H.M.A.S. Darwin Sam Camelleri Spacewalker Mark Collins
Best club stand Doncaster Best Trade stand GJ Kites/Models
(Note, in the late 90's this school was demolished and replaced with very pricy real estate.)
The Flight Of The U-2 – 2 ND Stanza
Aspectivity 230 of Nov. '91 reports on the 2nd flight of the U2 which resulted in a very hairy flight
in 30 knots of wind. General consensus was, that the model was tail heavy, twitchy, and likely to
stall and spin, which it eventually did resulting in more (repairable) damage.
The following from Aspectivity 233/March is part of the Camperdown '92 report and shows the
better side of the U2.
The highlight was the successful flying of the VARMS club U-2 Power Slope soarer. Test
pilots, Messrs Sullivan and Fiddes showed us all how it's done; they have both been promoted to
Astronaut status - despite the two or three tip-stalls and least one spin, which almost saw them
demoted to Ground Crew.
The landing was interesting, as Graham (Sullivan) executed one fly-by after another, each
time achieving a better approach. The touch and goes saw all the spectators take on the
appearance of a line-up of open-mouthed carnival clowns all waiting for the insertion of the pingpong
balls - and just as the ball was to be inserted he executed a perfect roll with this 43 lb
monster.
April saw the 45th 1991/92 Nationals at Waikerie, S.A.:
Thermal 1. Rob Benton 2. Leo O'Reilly 3. Mike O'Reilly
Aspectivity 235 of May 1992 reports that VARMS memberships exceeds 200 for the first time and
also contained the following rebuttal from a 'universal' law maker:

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22 Morden Court,
NUNAWADING 3131
10th April 1992
The Editor,
VARMS.
Dear Sir,
Mac'
Friend,
Pal !
'ENUFF IS 'ENUFF ! I realise you are not to blame, you have to publish rubbish, no matter
how scurrilous: I should have forwarded an epistle earlier, but the latest onslaught has driven me
to it, so before falling onto my bed of pain to brood on the ignominy of it all, I'll beat into
submission the keys of my ancient Olivetti !
Old Chum, this all started back when John G. blamed me and Newton for causing the
demise of his power tug.
Sir ! I have not had any truck with Newton since he did something rude with an apple or a spider !
He and I pass each other in our broughams looking the other way ! Further-more, I would not dare
to damage one of John's beautiful machines, he is bigger than me, and can run faster !
Then in a later issue several scribes sank twice to impugnment.... Can you imagine the
enormity of it all, now in the latest issue - One, a former contest director, I believe has made
imputative comments !
Mate, where will it all stop ! Why can't it be altered to say... MORLANDS LAW, or you
might think of someone EVEN more blameworthy, and then I'll be let of the hook ?
Sir, I am disgusted of Morden Court !
Yours Sincerely,
Morrie Murphy
PS. I'm off today to St. Vincent's Private Hospital for a Bowel Tumour operation. I tell you, when
you pass 70, there's never a dull moment !
May '92 - passing of John Vanderwolfe (ASP 237/Jul'92- Tribute):-
Jun. '92 - John Lawrey takes command as O.I.C. of VARMS training scheme
VARMS membership for end of year was highest ever at 210.

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A Tribute To John Vanderwolfe
By Ojars Balodis
It is with much sadness I write that John Vanderwolf, a good friend to many of us, passed
away on the 25th May 1992, following an 18 month battle with cancer.
There is no doubt that John deserves a place in VARMS history for he was instrumental in
helping VARMS to grow and consolidate during the 1970's and early 80's.
John first became interested in R/C models after his son, Ronald joined VARMS in 1971.
Living only a few minutes from Glenfern Rd., John and his family soon became regular builders
and flyers at the site. At the time large scale models were only just beginning to appear, Ralph
Learmont's Kestrel, John Gottschalk's K13 and Ray Cooper's Foka 5, for example. John soon
became interested in building a 1 : 4 scale glider and in 1972, with Peter Prussner, purchased
original scale drawings from Czechoslovakia and commenced building a Blanik L-13. John put his
varied talents to work and built the entire model from aluminium sheeting, complete with thousands
of rivets. After all, it was supposed to be scale! The model ended up weighing 25lb.
Apparently the model was first flown at Berwick, towed into the air by a towline held by
Ronald on the back of a motorbike. The pull of the model was strong enough to pull him clean off
the bike into the air. On landing, the Blanik collided with and took out a red gum fence post! After
repairs it was flown several more times and eventually retired, considered to be a little on the
"heavy" side.
John was a prolific builder and to his credit, has built many 1 : 4 scale gliders, including no
less that 4 Pilatus B4's, a Cobra 17, Standard Cirrus, SB 10 another Blanik, a 12 foot 1 : 8 scale
Catalina PBY-1, a 1 : 3 scale Robin tug plane and a handful of large Cumulus inspired models.
John will always be remembered for his Meteor, built in 1976. He developed a technique
for making large models quickly by carving large blocks of styrene foam, suitably sealing them and
then fibre glassing over the outside. When finished, John would simply pour in petrol to dissolve
the foam. Result -- one fibreglass fuselage, without the need to make a mould. The Meteor was 17'
wingspan and is famous for its 26 odd huge consecutive loops at Apollo Bay, following elevator
failure. The model eventually pancaked on top of the slope after most people wisely chose to leave
the area!
John devoted a lot of his time and energy in the 1970's to the benefit of VARMS and its members.
He often helped in training new members and would tow the club's trailer to meetings all over
Victoria. He instrumental in helping VARMS to maintain its Glenfern Rd. flying site and also in
obtaining the use of a site on High Street Rd.(Norton's Lane) near the current site. He also
organised special VARMS events such as trips to Naracoorte, Sth, Aust., and Apollo Bay.
John served as President of the club in 1978 and also served as Contest Director, Property
Officer and Site Controller for many years. John's wife Willie, was Treasurer of VARMS from
1976 to 1981.
The last 18 months were extremely difficult times for John and his family. Fortunately, he
was able to maintain his positive attitude and, with some help and inspiration from Knut Neumann,
he commenced his final project. John always thought BIG and this project was no exception. He
started work on a wooden 1/2 -scale model of the aerobatic glider Lo 100. The fuselage is
enormous, yet very light. John had completed the fuselage construction and was well into the wings
when he was hospitalised. Sadly, he was never to complete this project. His sons, Ronald and
Andrew have promised to complete the model in the future. It will certainly be something special
to see.
To John's wife, Willie and to his sons, Ronald, Andrew and Darryl, we extend our
deepest sympathy. He was a special man.
===== + =====

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1992 - 93
The Committee
President Don Hauser Secretary Barry Dundas
Treasurer Marcus Stent Editor Neil McLeod
Contest Director Tim Mellor Committee Member Brian Andrew
Publicity, Meetings Jim Robertson Scale Bill Denheld
& Brian Andrew
"92 A.G.M. - Geoff Hearn awarded "Clubman of the Year" & "Life Membership".
Sep. '92 - An early request to land-owners (Parks Vic.) for consideration for the use of power
models at H.S.R. for Aero-towing.
Oct 3 & 4 - Aust. F3B Championships at Wangaratta, Results :-
1. Evan Bengston QLD, 2. David Hobby VIC, 3. Garry Jordan QLD.
VARMS EXPO, 31 Oct - 1 Nov. 92
Aspectivity Visits – Stan Mason (VARMS 36)
Aspectivity 240/October '92 provides a profile of Stan Mason (No. 36) by Brian Andrew.
When one has a father who served in No 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps it is inevitable
that AIRCRAFT would follow on in his son's blood, especially when father and Stan visited Central
Aircraft in the 30's to purchase rubber powered model accessories. Stan was then involved in the
Melbourne Aero Club, flying mainly gliders. This was followed by control-line flying after the war
at Surrey Park where Stan was an enthusiastic helper.
In between modelling Stan worked at Metro Gas as a cadet engineer and later became a
Civil Engineer, amassing experience in sewer and drainage projects, then to Coates for
approximately 18 months, where he designed a large crane for the Keepit Dam project. When slot
cars were the rage at East Burwood Stan also served as Treasurer. Then the club moved to the
Canterbury theatre where they raced in the upstairs area.
After the slot-car era, it was back to aeromodelling, information coming from the model
Dockyard on R/C gliders and slope sites. Stan was then seen at Glenfern Road with Grundig singlechannel
models and at Mt. Hollowback in the 60's when everybody parked their cars at the bottom
of the hill, and at Torquay where Stan joined VARMS.
After many years and models, some tail-less, Stan suffered a heart attack while flying at
Kangaroo Ground, terminating his climbing of hills, so he turned to sitting by the Lake sailing R/C
yachts, though he soon returned to aeromodelling and to his flying wing designs.
When on the field modellers gaze in awe as Stan lifts the hatches on any of the eleven
models he has at the moment, the workmanship in the scale type construction, attention to detail and
mechanical linkages continue to amaze them.
If members visit Stan at home he could be tending his orchids, using his lathe, running the
four stroke or designing new mechanical linkages.......
Aspectivity Visits –Peter Mather (VARMS 6)
Aspectivity 241, Nov '92 contains a profile of a longstanding VARMS member, Peter Mather
(VARMS No 6), provided by Brian Andrews.
Peter is possibly not known to a large number of current VARMS members, as his chosen
profession has taken him interstate on two occasions since the VARMS foundation meeting in
1968.
So, let us turn back the clock to 1956 when the young Peter could be found flying very basic
free flight models in the Sandringham area. As the years rolled by he graduated to control line and
free flight at Dendy Park and Elsternwick Park, until the day he lost a free flight model to a thermal
(something he hadn't known existed).
1966 was the year Peter joined the Air Force at the R.A.A.F. Academy, Point Cook. He
enjoyed flying models at the base, among them a Marcsman and a Hearns Hobbies Eagle, and still
found time for slope soaring at Beveridge and Bacchus Marsh.

14
He also found time to study and 1970 was promoted to Flying Officer. When transferred to
Edinburgh S.A., Peter could be found navigating P3C Orions on maritime surveillance with No. 11
Squadron, and in 1975 was responsible for flight trials and project management between Laverton
and Edinburgh. 1978 saw him as Senior Navigator, No. 10 SQN. on Orions. Then in 1980, it was
back home to take charge of the A.T.C. as Sqn. Leader P. Mather. 1981 saw Wing Commander
Mather relocated to Dept. of Defence, Canberra. Returning to Point Cook in 1986, he managed and
co-ordinated staff at the R.A.A.F. College. In 1991 he took up the position of Staff Officer,
Operations, H.Q., Training Command, whose duties are too numerous to mention.
In between his career moves Peter found time for his love of thermal and X-country flying.
His first X-country model was a modified Cirrus called "Rainbow". He has fond memories of many
X-C flights with Geoff Vincent and slope X-country events that Geoff organised for VARMS. His
current model is an 8 year old modified Sagitta, complete with log book. In the workshop he has his
latest own-design H.L.G. called Stubby, named for its low aspect ratio. And there are also thoughts
of a suitable model to achieve L.S.F. Level 5 as he has already achieved Levels 1 to 4. The tasks
become increasingly difficult, where will it all end!
A few copies of the Werribee M.A.A.'s Werribee Flyer received lately reveals Peter as an
active member of that club.
(Peter also served as VARMS President 1981-2-3 and was also responsible for arranging and
running the popular X-country event, The Werribee Wander in the late 90's.)
Nov. '92 - Report from World Electrical Flight Championships on the performance of VARMS
members: David Hobby - 27th in Championship, Scott Lennon 13th in Pylon and 20th in
Aerobatics.
Aspectivity 242, Dec '92 contains yet another Profile by Brian Andrew of yet another well known
VARMS member, Colin Collyer (VARMS No. 81)
This month we interview Colin Collyer, a member, who, over the years, has been renowned
for F/F models, C/L aerobatics, car racing, rally-cross, circuit and hill climbs, R/C gliding (he
prefers scale) and large powered aircraft to tow scale gliders - seemed like a good reason to Colin.
To place all this activity in perspective; Colin's introduction to model aircraft came from his
next-door neighbour in Clayton who thought the only way to get his "Chief" glider into the air
would be to tow it behind his Volkswagen.
At the tender age of 15 Colin joined the Oakleigh Model Aero Club to fly C/L and F/F on
what is now the Monash Uni. site, with the occasional train trip to Albert Park, then graduating to
bicycle with model and battery strapped to his back, to fly at Ormond. An FJ Holden took Colin to
the Nats at Strathalbyn, S.A., his first Nat. meet. He recalls that the FJ used more oil than petrol,
but flying C/L aerobatics and F/F glider compensated for that.
1959/60 saw Colin concentrating on A2 glider, mainly at Boundary Road, culminating in a
State Championship win in the '70's. He constructed and developed a Renault Dauphine Special
powered by a suitably modified 16 TS engine, competing at Hume Weir, Winton, Calder and
Sandown, and also at Morwell and Newcastle hill climbs. He also competed in Calder rally cross
events, staying true to the marque in a Renault 10. Between motor racing events, Colin was
introduced to R/C gliding at Beveridge. On Colin's first solo flight his instructor said, "See you
later, I'm off home." The model survived. Colin's next memorable flight was of 3 hours duration at
Drouin with his "Daddy Kool" model- a little like a "Cumulus". Scale gliders came to the fore with
a slightly used 1/4-scale "Kestrel", duly repaired and flown. It was the only one to weigh about 11
lb. After the "Kestrel" came names familiar to scale modellers, like "Sperber Junior', "Kirby Kite",
"Golden Eagle" and "K6". To tow these models Colin built a large "Chipmunk", powered by an
S.T. 2500; not to tow just one but, on occasion, two or three. He has also been known to tow them
while inverted. And to collect prizes at scale power model meetings. (Colin was pictured with his
latest model the "MOBA" which has had many hours of flying, and according to Colin: "It flies
great.")
46th 1992/93 Nationals held at Bundaberg Qld.:
Thermal 1. Stephen White 2. Ray Pike 3. Evan Bengston

F3B
15
Cancelled due to insufficient entries.
Camperdown '93. To indicate what organisation has been put in place for this weekend, the
following is taken from Aspectivity 242 Dec. '92 as a lead up for this event;
CAMPERDOWN FLY IN - January 30 to 1 February 1993.
The emphasis is on maintaining the original low key concept for the event which began in
the early 1970's when the late Brian Laging and a few VARMS members gathered annually to fly
large aircraft, making use of the beautiful slopes around the lakes during the day and gathering
around the camp fire at night. Attendance has grown with time and it is now the biggest slope
flying and social event involving R/C Sailplanes, particularly scale, in Australia.
DAILY FLIGHT SLOTS (EVERY day of the event subject to exceptions)
A. General sport flying from sun up until 11.00 am
Scale only 11.00 am " 1.00 pm
Sport plus 1.00 pm " 3.00 pm
Scale only 3.00 pm " 5.00 pm
Sport plus 5.00 onwards
B. Sport Plus may consist or Ridge Rats, Southern Sailplanes and all other models, speed run
timing, aerobatic display and floater duration. Consideration may be given to the number in
the air depending on the conditions. Craftsmanship, finish and flying skills will be judged
by two roving judges.
C. Scale
Vintage, Modern
Power slope soarers or unorthodox
Although there will be no contest, there will be scale judging for static and flying by at least
two roving judges each day. There should be no more than five scale models flying
simultaneously.
SAFETY
Officials
Several safety officers according to need
One Director of Flight Operations
One assistant D.F.O.
• All Pilots should have the assistance of an observer
• All pilots will announce take off and landings
• All pilots should group themselves together to allow communication. When making a pass,
make your intentions clear to all. Call the direction from which you intend to pass.
• The use of the keyboard will be strictly adhered to by all. Keys will only be placed or
removed by relevant pilots.
• All transmitters must have current certification.
• All pilots need their current FAI Sporting Licence card. If a pilot has no FAI card, he must
report to D.F.O.
• Aircraft above 6 kg must have appropriate permit to fly.
COMMUNICATIONS
One information board will be placed at the entrance to the park, showing the current flying site in
use and activities for the day.
Another information board at the flying site will show safety arrangements and procedures for the
day.
SITE MANAGEMENT
• No Smoking - No Alcohol at the flight line.
• No rubbish ANYWHERE please!
• There will be no toilet facilities on private property sites.

16
• Drive cars very slowly on private property roads. The biggest worry for farmers
during the summer months is "FIRE". Do not smoke out in the open or at the road
side if we are flying on private property.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES
If there is no wind, aero-towing, power sports and electric flying is planned at the Racecourse.
Seaplanes by arrangements with D.F.O. re frequencies at Lake Bullen Merri.
NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Camp fire and video post mortems, etc after 9.00 pm every night.
Fire drums will be procured subject to C.F.A.
BYO firewood please.
SATURDAY night Bar-B-Q and night flying.
SUNDAY at 1.00 pm, Show Down. Everyone will get to fly in their category, scale and sports.
There is no requirement to fly but please show up for photo session. The crowd pleasing "Clayton"
contest will be judged by all - record your vote with any roving judge during the day.
SUNDAY DINNER
Hampden Hotel
Presentation by VARMS President - Don Hauser Followed by more video by campfire.
*************
Camperdown '93
1. Most Appealing Large Scale Modern Model - Wayne Jones - G 103 Accro
2. Most Appealing Large Scale Vintage Model - Dieter Prussner - Professor
3. Most Appealing Small Scale Modern Model - Mathew Wood - ASW 24
4. Most Appealing Small Scale Vintage Model - Barry DeKuyper - Goppingen Wolf
5. Most Appealing Power Slope Soarer (Jet) - Peter Cossins - Learjet
6. Most Appealing Power Slope Soarer (Other) - Steven Anderson - Spitfire
7. Best Presented Floater - Mike Elsner - Thermal Swift
8. Best Presented V-Tail - David Hughes - Viper Mk 3
9. Best Presented Slope Aerobatic Model - Brian Wellam - Flame out
10. Most Unusual Model - Terry Robb - Swept-o-maniac
11. Airmanship Award :(Includes safety factors, outstanding flight and consideration of
others)
- Peter Averill - Pirat
12. Most Realistic Flight, Modern Scale - Colin Collyer - Moba
13. Most Realistic flight - Vintage Scale - Martin Simons - PWS 101
14. Most Consistent Lady Flyer - Clare Averill
15. Junior Flyer - Steve Malcman
16. Gunna Award (Who is gunna rebuild that model) - Tom Wickers (The U-2 & Fence)
17. The model that travelled farthest to Camperdown - owned by Ken Millson
Special cricket Awards
1. Javid Meandad Award - for Father Son/Daughter Team - Owen & Neil Williams of S.S.L.
2. Waugh Brothers Award - for best model of a War plane - Wayne Plunkett – Vampire

17
Special Mention: The THIRD and possibly LAST flight of the U-2.
"For those not present the story is, that the U2 was successfully launched and flown by
anyone present who had participated in its building and wanted a go. When the lift died Tom
Wickers had the death or glory task of landing it in the paddock below. The big, heavy model just
would not stop until it encountered an unseen fence, which stopped the wings. The joiner bar now
could serve as handle bars for a Harley."
The last report on the U-2, was, that it would be returned to its pristine flying condition and remain
as a STATIC model only.
..... with so much already said about '93 at Camperdown, a few subtle observations from Tim
Morland will not go astray!
The last of "THEM" as we know it.
Well, if you haven't been to Camperdown on Australia Day long weekend with VARMS, you
are now obliged to wait until 1998. Our unique way of celebrating Australia's birthday has been
sunk. Cast aside in the sea of change that is supposed to make ours a better state, it's a crying
shame.
There were about 160 people at Camperdown this year. On Saturday as well as Sunday
most had fun, although some didn't, but that I guess is the name of the game. Crashes have a way
of finding out who is really keen,
I've written plenty of reports on Camperdown, others don't appear to be very interested in
spreading the word, of how Camperdown is simply the best way to start off a modelling year with
your friends and aeroplanes all over the place. It's the best kick start I know of. One of the few
times I get the chance to fly myself "out". That is, have enough of it and going home contented.
It would be great if lots of other people would write about their experiences of the weekend.
No two would be the same, giving all of us a window into their experiences.
For instance, why don't David Hobby and Scott Lennon get together and tell us all about their
flying wings.
John Lee could perhaps tell us why his lovely Schweizer T26 flew to the bottom of the hill, out of
control.
John Lawrey could give details about how you relocate a model at high altitude and then proceed
to land it in a paddock the other side of the camping ground.
Barry and Carol could tell us just exactly how much they have had to drink before they come to give
lucid commentary at the video rushes.
Harold Elliot could give a lecture on why Tom Wickers should not be given a plane which can
easily be flown too fast. The poor old Pelican started to flap!
Robert Goldman could give an analysis of why his Lo 100 flew down to the bottom of the hill,
again! He managed to get it back up last year.
John Gottschalk could give a piece on how not to hand-launch large models.
Max McCullough would explain why he described on the registration board the scale Spitfire as
"small" including a sketch of a fisherman to demonstrate its wingspan.
Dieter Prussner could write about the first VARMS meeting at Mt. Hollowback just 25 years ago
this February - he was there you know.
Tom Wickers may like to explain why he didn't land the U-2 at the top of the hill while he could (no
hard feelings). Its the first time I've ever seen a plane stretch a wire fence.
Barry Nugent may like to explain the circumstances which lead his Alpina to be firmly planted in
the ground about 2 feet from his feet on Friday afternoon.
Terry Robb could bless us with an explanation of why his Star ship Enterprise is able to fly, apart
from the fact that it has a motor.
However, the person who left the gate open and almost finished our weekend off for us two days
early probably won't own up!
The council workers could justify putting the gate at the point on the wrong end of the flying field, I
prefer the old fence. More walking means less flying. They got the landing area right though,

18
didn't they?
NOTE - Tim flew a new model - a ROBBE SF 36 motor glider, very pleased with it except its
landing glide path is constantly about 100 metres too long - Ho Hum.....
Aspectivity 244, March '93 provides a report by Rob Benton of a X-country flight with his 14 year
old Bird of Time, where he flew a 42 km flight (49 km by road) commencing in the Werribee area.
Rob was assisted by Alan Flack and Peter White.
Mar. 13 & 14 - VMAA Trophy (Re-run) - VARMS equal 2nd with P & DARCS.
April 1993 - VARMS celebrates its Silver Jubilee, founded April 1968.
Apr. 24 & 25 '93 - Annual Scale meet at Swan Hill (ASP247/Jun'93)
Apr 25 '93 - Vic. State Thermal results:- 1. Rob Benton, 2. Marcus Stent, 3. Max Kroger.
Jun. 25 - Phillip Conolly hosts inaugural meeting of Electric S. I. G.
Jun. 27 - Glider Speed Trials at H. S. R. - results (ASP249/Aug. '93).

19
1993 - 94
The Committee
President Greg Hung Secretary Glenn Salisbury
Treasurer Marcus Stent Editor Richard Budge
Committee Member Brian Andrew Publicity, Meetings Jim Robertson
Contest Director Tim Mellor:- Thermal Alan Mayhew
Slope Trevor DeHaan 60' Pylon Glen Salisbury
Fun Fly's Lindsay Henderson Electric Philip Conolly
Scale
Dave Anderson
Aspectivity 248/July contains a reprint from November 1977 of Brian Laging's record-breaking
12 hr flight at Mt. Hollowback on Oct 22nd 1977.
Dawn! October 22 1977
The moment of truth!
Here we were assembling the Foka in a freezing South wind on the top of Mt. Hollowback,
trying not to forget things, such as the wing retaining rubber bands (I nearly did!). The remote
transmitter unit on the car roof, the big battery on the ground near the car door so I could read the
meter during the long hours ahead. Mike shivering in the cold holding the heavy model as I
checked for the last time that Left WAS left etc!
LAUNCH! TIME 5.23 a.m. Feel things out for a few minutes as we gain height for a
range check, plug in the rooftop R.F. unit and re-check range, finally we plug in the 12V battery and
check that current draw is correct. Collapsing the transmitter aerial we retire to the warmth of the
car, trailing leads through the window. A problem is immediately found which will annoy me all
day: the model is hard to see at height without craning my neck. Oh well, so much for forethought
and preparation!
For nine months we have been slowly setting up for this day, firstly seeking a battery of
sufficient capacity with acceptable weight. (Thanks Charlie Wyatt). Finally opting for a Yuasa 6V
9 amp lead acid of 3lbs 10ozs. Leaving the ballast out of the Foka this gives us an all up weight of
14lbs. with a loading of 23 oz.sq.ft. Kraft technician Eric Beilby gave every assistance in adapting
this to suit the receiver. Kraft also modified the transmitter to use a remote 12 V car battery for
power and lastly matched up a second R.F. stage and antenna assembly to my transmitter. This unit
allows the transmitter to be used with the antennae collapsed so it is easy to sit inside the car and
fly. By quickly pulling plugs and raising the antennae the transmitter is back to standard, allowing
full mobility in case the model drops below the hill-top.
The weather over a 12 hour period at Hollowback was interesting. At dawn it was 20-25K
from the S.S.E. with low cloud 6-800 ft. above the hill. Cloud could be seen forming on Mt.
Buninyong on the E. face and streaming off down wind. This was strange as the wind on our hill
was still S.S.E. Quite suddenly the cloud stream from Buninyong curved and was blowing small
clouds our way at about 500 ft. above us. As the morning dragged on this cloud began to lift and
street. We would spend some time slipping the model to lose height and even flying off around to
the side of the hill to get down, then the wind would shift 10 or 15 degrees and we would have to
keep in close to the hill to stay up.
This continued through lunch time with a couple of exciting moments when the lift faded
altogether, but the wind was still blowing. We noticed a tendency to have a 45.deg. total wind shift
as we got through the day. There also appeared to be some type of wave and thermal combination
from the hill in front, as each time the wind changed the lift moved from one end of the hill in front
to the other. Lunch time meant pies (hot, thanks to the wife) and flying with one hand on the left
sticks only, using rudder and elevator. Bob Sellars was here from 11.30 a.m. with his sons and they
put up some models into the good lift. Thermals were still coming through by 1.30 but some very
poor lift periods had us back on the ridge. Some time around this the model started to climb
towards a black cloud and was starting to go up at a fantastic rate, I kept slipping the model to try
and find an area of slower ascent but suddenly lost sight of it at about 45 deg. up in front of the hill.
It was in cloud without spoilers! I started to slip it as steeply as I could and it screamed out the

20
bottom of the cloud in a 45 deg. spiral dive! If you have ever seen the Foka in a dive you STILL
don't know how fast it was going!
Hoping not to pull the wings off I levelled it out trying to get as far out of the lift area as
possible. The model must be stronger than I ever thought it was as nothing fluttered or fell off so I
kept slipping around the sky for 10 minutes to get it back to 200 ft. *Oh yes, cloud base was at 100
ft. above the hill as our altimeter read 1000 ft. on landing. Shortly after this conditions began to
moderate and by 3.30 p.m. strong, pleasant, steady, smooth, lovely lift was everywhere. Eric
Beilby arrived about this time with a big smile when he found us still on the first flight. As time
came up to equal the Australian record I seemed to recover a bit of energy, and felt a lot better. We
were equipped with lights for a bit of night flying if it was needed after a late start, but as the record
was exceeded by a comfortable margin we decided an early landing might be prudent, as I had only
had 9 1/2 hours total sleep on the previous 2 nights! After doing a few mild aerobatics during the
last half hour or so (I only rolled it once) an uneventful but rough landing was made, ending the
longest model flight in Australia to date.
Thanks to Mike Richardson on the dawn shift (also relief pilot during toilet breaks for about
7 mins), and Bob Sellers on the afternoon shift. Kraft Systems for the radio backup. Chloride
Batteries for the receiver battery. Norm Ross the helpful owner of the property. And Hughie the
weather God who helped out also!
Brian Laging
Trivia:-
At 30 M.P.H. cruise speed, 12 14 hours, 367 Miles!
Eyes weren't meant to do this continual staring!
Thumbs do get tired!
Cessna’s increase the heart rate when too close!
BRAKES are needed!
Coming down is sometimes harder than going up!
12 ¼ hours = over ¼ flight time on Foka in 22 months.
Batteries still had 27 hours at 225 mA left AFTER the flight!
Hoping this spurs others to have a go at something new.
December 1977 Aspectivity contained the official submission of claim for the 12 hour
duration record. Above it was a claim for record distance with a radio controlled sailplane of 22.3
Km. on 13.3.77, also by Brian Laging, using an own-designed Outcast.
The Australian record was only a prelude to a full-scale attack on the World duration record.
At the time VARMS had a group dedicated to record attempts, which were regularly reported in
Aspectivity.
A year later, on 30 September/1 October 1978, Brian and his crew achieved a new duration
record - 28 hours 0 minutes 28 seconds., still the Australian absolute duration record for any
category of model flight.
Peter Mather, survivor of the Record Group, still seems to be accepting Brian's challenge,
and by coincidence, Mike Richardson was a visitor at the June 1993 VARMS meeting.
Sep. '93 - Glider Training changed from every Sunday to every 2nd Sunday commencing February
1994.
Oct. '93 Shire of Pakenham extends planning permit P6650 for Huxtable Rd. to July 29, 2003.
Oct. 9 & 10 - VIC State Slope Championships - Results :-
1. Michael Fiddes, 2. David Hobby, 3. Tim Mellor
Aerobatics Michael Fiddes (Slope Ricochet), Pylon Tim Mellor (LB4)

The 8 th & Last EXPO
21

Nov. 6 & 7 - VARMS EXPO at Waverley Secondary College (8th & poss. last).
22
Nov. 14 - F3J at Leakes Rd. - Results :-
Qualifiers 1. Peter White Final 1. Max Kroger
2. Rob Benton 2. Terry Pasalaqua
3. Terry Pasalaqua 3. Des Bayliss
4. Max Kroger 4. Rob Benton
5. Des Bayliss 5. Peter White
6. Marcus Stent 6. Marcus Stent
47th 1993/94 Nationals at Wagga Wagga, NSW.:
Thermal 1. Scott Lennon 2. Peter Abell 3. Alan Mayhew
F3B 1. Peter Abell 2. Phil Bird 3. Andrew Goddard
Review of Best of Camperdown - ASP 254/Feb94
March 1994 VMAA Newsletter reports the induction of Brian Laging (Deceased) into the
M.A.A.A. Hall of Fame (One time holder of R/C Sailplane Duration World Record 1979).
Mar. '94 - Institution of 60" Slope Pylon - Glenn Salisbury.
9th March. 1994 - Martin Briggs passed away - H. S. R. site re-named Brigg's Field, Martin elected
as a Life Member of VARMS, also instituted, a Martin Briggs Perpetual Trophy to be held March
yearly - first held May '94.
A Tribute To Martin Briggs by Charlie Lambeth
(Aspectivity 256 - April 1994)
It is with regret that we learned of the death of Vale James Martin Briggs after a long battle
with cancer. As you are no doubt aware, he was an active member of VARMS and an ex President.
He was a model builder from childhood and of course used his building talents to construct the
shelter at our High Street Road site.
Martin started his full sized flying with a licence in Yorkshire, England in 1947. He came to
Australia, married and raised a family. After attending a talk on gliding by well known pilot Alan
Patching in the 50's he subsequently joined the Victorian Motorless Flight Group and flew gliders
from 1960. He quickly rose to instructor and became VMFG President. When the club moved to
Bacchus Marsh and started aero towing in earnest he became a tug pilot and in 1974 tugged at the
World Championships at Waikerie. He was a glider engineer, part owner of a Libelle and won his
gold C and two Diamonds.
I next caught up with Martin when he was building a Model D11 aeroplane and I had the job
of carrying out inspections on it. Very frustrating as you can imagine as it was a job to find
anything wrong with his work. He had self imposed quality standards of a high level. He went from
there to building ultra light projects. I know that his wife Barbara, sons Peter, Paul & Keith along
with daughters Karen & Susan & his extended family will miss him as we shall. Sons Peter & Paul
carry on the gliding traditions and all the boys apprenticed to Martin as he was to his father and he
to Martin's grandfather. Not bad continuation of trade qualification and what can we say about his
human qualities? A real top and talented bloke.

23
1994 - 95
The Committee
President Tom Wickers Secretary Chris Gauld
Treasurer Graham Gibson Editor Ross Peasley
Contest Director Tim Mellor Ordinary Member Reg Neville
Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
July "94 - Scale Day at Leakes Rd. ASP 260 Aug '94
This was the first outing in the official VARMS year for the scalies. As Leakes Rd. is a flat field
venue the order of the days activities cantered around aerotowing. The weather at this time of the
year is usually pretty bleak, dull overcast days with rain being the rule not the exception.
There was good thermal lift around in the early afternoon and this lasted for around one hour or so.
Many good flights were carried out in this time span. Some of the more noteworthy flights were
Peter Averill with his Pirat, Colin Collyer, Brequet complete with towline attached, Frank Smith,
Grunau Baby. All these flights were in the vicinity of 15 - 20 minutes, and I (Geoff Hearn) even
managed to achieve a flight of around 20 minutes with my draggy Grunau 1.
The following is a list of flyers and their models that were present on the day:-
Peter & Claire Averill Schweizer 2-23, Pirat and Little Bear (their J3 tug),
Colin Collyer
Ask-18, Brequet, Stampe & Chipmunk tow aircraft
Colin Handley
Schweizer 1-26, Clipped wing Cub tug,
Dean Mangan
Schweizer 1-26, DG-600,
Dave Anderson
K6E, ASW-15,
Andy Smith
Mosquito,
Frank Smith
Grunau Baby,
Bruce Howard
ASW-20L, Salto,
Neville Leo
K6E,
Paul Cooke
K6E,
Rob Goldman
ASW-24, Pawnee tug,
Ross Bathie
Hikari Primary, Norseman tug,
Wayne Jones
Grob-103C, Orlice,
Harold Elliot
Slingsby Swallow,
Geoff Hearn
Grunau 1, Grunau Baby,
Brian Andrews
Avia-40P,
John Gottschalk
Piper Super Cub tug.
Aspectivity 264, December 1994 reflects a strong move in the direction of Hand Launched Gliders
(H.L.G.’s), recently seen around the traps are the following:
Gerry Carter Worbitz Lindsay Henderson Zinger
Ross Peasley O.D. polyhedral Tod Watkins Vertigo
David Hobby RO8 Tim Mellor O.D.
Tim Whitford Flinger & Waco Alan Mayhew Worbitz
Neil McLeod Varicois Ducks Marcus Stent Vertigo
Geoff Pentland Mini Sunfloater
... others already flying - Flinger, Stylus & Eliminator.
48th 1994/95 Nationals at Mundijong W.A.- No results for this contest.
17 Jul '94 Inaugural 60" Slope Pylon, (See Contests)
21 Aug '94 - 2nd 60" Slope Pylon contest ,Mt. Hollowback - Results:
17 - 20 November - Australia hosts the Sanyo Electric World Championships at Wangaratta and the
events flown were: F5A (Aerobatics), F5B (Distance/Duration), F5D (Pylon), Big Glider (Min.
3.75m wingspan), 7 Cell Glider. The Australian team consisted of Ray Pike, David Hobby, Brian
Green, Scott Lennon & Bob Hickman
A Tribute to Stan Mason by Ralph Learmont

24
Oct '94 - ASP 262 relates passing of Stan Mason with tributes from John Rawnsley (Past Master,
Canterbury Lodge). & Ralph Learmont (VARMS).
On behalf of Stan's many friends from the modelling fraternity...
"We'll miss you Stan."" ...So many fond memories flash through our minds, it's hard to
single out any one facet of a very special and unique person, a man who was a privilege to know.
From your cheery laugh, to your wry sense of humour, you probably typified what most of
us would believe to be the ideal clubman. A profile of your many achievements would fill a book,
to count your close friends would add more chapters, to amass all your special, handcrafted models,
would fill the Expo display.
So where do we begin? -"Glenfern Rd," would (of all the many slopes you've flown at),
probably be the place where most of us have the most vivid memories. Your fold-out chair, and
thermos flask. your boisterous "HELLO'S," and of course your models' colour schemes ...bright
yellow and red, -highlighted with thin black stripes.
Then the night-time VARMS meetings, and plenty of good yarns. Without disrespect to
your many friends (whose names just can't fit here), it has to be told that your regular flying
mate/travelling companion, and visitor to the workshop -Ray Murrel (a very quiet person), was the
one whom you probably traded most of your neighbour-like modelling favours, (as we all tend to do
in our hobby).
Stan became a member of VARMS (No. 36) back in 1969, about one year after it started,
but well before that time, he'd been actively flying gliders along with others (Des Leahy, Morrie
Murphy and others), whom he had met at sites such as "Kangaroo Ground" as well as Glenfern Rd.
In fact, Stan was probably one of the first to have trodden the grass at Glenfern Rd., a
considerable time before VARMS came to be. It was that close knowledge of the place, and Stan's
rapport with the property owners, along with his quick witticisms, that got us through many of the
historical loss/regain episodes of our popular gliding site!
On a personal note, I had come to know Stan as a true and willing supporter whenever I was
in need. Back in those early days, He'd visit us regularly at our Burwood house, after a day's work
at the "Gas & Fuel." -All we'd do is talk "models" and then "family," ...along with my wife "Bev,"
and of course with that cup of coffee and biscuits. On many occasions, Frank Smith would join-in
quietly, and he and Stan would continue yarning for hours! )...I'd get back to work).
On the flying side, Stan loved it, ...but not competitively. All the same, If ever I needed
help, whether in flying or in running events, Stan would be there to help!
The story I have clear memories of, was in the early, annual "Cross-Country" weekends at
Warrnambool. It was done differently then, -Instead of the long single-launch flights we do now,
the task in those days, was simply to get to the "barbeque-field" ...at the other end (nearly 40 km
away), But one could relaunch as many times as necessary along the way! The scores were based
only on 'time taken.' For most, the plan was to hand tow off the side of the road.
W'ed arrived at "Tower Hill" crater at 9.30 to be marshalled off into a strong northerly,
toward the destination. Sitting in the back of Martin Williams car (a Celica), progress against the
wind was difficult. After several frustrating handtows, snarled lines and cut fingers, Bev was out of
action, so she drove and Martin did (or tried to do) the tows. By this time Mike O'Reilly was
catching up, and things looked grim! Luckily, Stan and Dawn were following in their own car.
Stan jumped out, lifted the boot and positioned my winch (all-in a flash; and the helpers were
swapped)! From then on Stan did the launches (all of them along the road, regardless of crosswinds
and powerlines), and only snagged the chute once.
The "Sunbird" finally grazed in around the cars at the barbeque. We'd taken 2 hours 47
mins and 21 launches. Simon Morris took 3 minutes more, but in 13 launches. A hot dispute
ensued with dawn and Simon slugging it out. Stan stayed diplomatically "out of it."
Those memorable times, the VARMS camaraderie, the times with Stan and Dawn, Ojars,
Cliff Fiddes, the Murphies....
Before I'd met Stan, he'd been heavily involved with "slot cars." He'd explained to me the
many intricate procedures involved with their construction, and in that era, Stan developed strong

25
friendships with most of the devotees of the car world, who would regularly gather at his Ashburton
home. -As well as gliders, Stan had become actively involved with model boats and R/C sailing.
It's not hard to imagine him letting lose hid building prowess there! Particularly with Des Leahy,
Stan pursued yachting to the fullest, until later returning to aeromodelling.
Stan and Dawn enjoyed expeditions and dining out, building long social friendships with the
Murphies, the Gottschalk’s, the Collyer’s, the Goldman’s, the Coopers, the Smiths, the Learmont’s
and so on.
In more recent times, Stan and Bill Eunson developed strong ties, exchanging deeds of
goodwill. Recently, along with members like Jim Robertson, Martin Briggs, Neil McLeod, Paul
Cook and Peter Cossins, Stan was active for many years promoting the annual VARMS Expo.
Stan shared a special interest in "Flying winds," along with his friends, Colin Collyer and
Des Leahy. The picture above shows Stan with his 1/4 scale "Pioneer," (a homebuilt design of "Jim
Marske"). In finishing this masterpiece, Stan became a regular visitor and good friend of John
Lynch from Tocumwal (who has a full scale Pioneer). Stan finished that immaculate model, and it's
still in pristine condition!
Stan, ...We'll miss your cheery laugh at Glenfern Road...
Ralph Learmont.
The R. C. G. A.
1 December 1994. - The Radio Control Gliding Association (R.C.G.A.) is created with the
following Statement of Purposes:
(1) To co-ordinate, foster, and promote the flying of Radio control gliders both for
Recreation and Sporting contests.
(2) To liaise with State and National bodies in matters relating to R/C gliding.
(3) To co-ordinate rules affecting gliding activity.
(4) Promote and oversee a flight proficiency program for all categories of gliding activity.
The following persons were elected to the Executive Steering Committee:
President Max Kroger Secretary Max Haysom
Treasurer Graham Johnson Newsletter Ed. Peter White
Thermal Glider Alan Mayhew Slope Soaring Shane Anderson
Scale Soaring David Anderson
(Whilst this group was created with very good intentions in mind, it rapidly developed into a group
that only co-ordinated Gliding competitions in the Melbourne and surrounding areas as it is made
up of only competition flyers. In respect to its Statement of Purposes, it achieved the Contest side of
(1), Some of (2) & (3) and never attempted any of (4). It is also a group that is responsible for the
continuation of the 'Dropped round anomaly' that has plagued all Open style competitions since
1993.)
The following item is ‘borrowed’ from the LSF Newsletter 1, 1995/6, and is included to portray an
example of a “typical”description of Australia’s premier Glider tournament.

26
JERILDERIE 1995 by Gerry Carter
JERILDERIE
What does it mean? What’s the magic that attracts so many to do so little flying so far away in
what can be such awful conditions? I hope that this will tell you.
Jerilderie itself is a little town just over the border into NSW. For miles and miles around the
town the countryside is completely flat. To get there from Melbourne you go through
Shepparton to Tocumwal and after an easy trip of about five hours by car from Melbourne,
there you are! It’s less time if you don’t take too many breaks. The Jerilderie council provides
a lot of assistance and support to the competition.
The competition is held in the middle of the local horse racing course which is a very large
grass covered flat field with no trees (i.e. no shelter) and is about two minutes drive from the
centre of town. Accommodation is available at the models and the caravan park which offers
cabins, on site vans and camping sites.
Prizes aren’t really what it is all about. However, there was a JR Max 44 Computer Radio and a
Chain saw (for the rough modeller) as major prizes. Peter Abell won the chain saw! Carl
Strautins won the juniors prize of the Radio. There were many other prizes and trophies.
WHAT HAPPENS
Teams of fliers, who are all members of LSF (more about that in a minute) compete for
individual and Team trophies. There are normally six in a team i.e. you plus five of your best
friends. People who arrive who haven’t managed to get into a team are put into one. Nobody
is left out. Each flier is allowed up to three gliders. This year there were about 60 entrants and
they came from S.A. Vic., N.S.W. and the A.C.T.
LSF stands for “League of Silent Flight”. It is a non-profit (in fact free except for the cost of
postage and $10 if you want to get the newsletter) International organisation which has a
graded program of gliding proficiency Level awards. These go from Level 1 (easy) to Level 5
(very difficult). To be a member you have to have completed Level 1 which comprises a five
minute thermal duration flight, a 15 minute slope flight (or a second thermal flight on a
different day) and three precision spot landings within three metres. To get a form, write to the
appropriate LSF contact at the time enclosing a stamped self addressed envelope.
Despite the fact that each person does relatively little actual flying over the weekend, perhaps
15 flights if the weather is kind, there is never a dull moment. The team members are busy
piloting, retrieving winch lines, towing, fixing broken lines, launching, timing, calling (i.e.
observing the other gliders and pilots to see what they’re doing), preparing for the next flight,
making running repairs, getting food etc.
In each heat you compete against a different group each time of up to about eight other fliers.
You have a slot of eleven minutes in which to complete a flight of eight minutes and to land
within one metre of a designated spot on the ground (one spot per team). You get one point for
each second of flight time up to eight minutes, i.e. a maximum of 480 points. If the flight time
goes over eight minutes then you lose one point (off the 480) for every second that your flight
time is too long. Also, you get a landing bonus of 100 points for landing within one metre of
the spot. For every additional metre away from the spot you lose five points. Beyond 15
metres there is no landing bonus. Beyond 100 metres you score zero. Fly past 11 minutes
and you also score zero.

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BEFORE JERILDERIE
Once our team of Alan Mayhew, Scott Lennon (from ACT), Tim Mellor, Alan Gissing, and Gerry
Carter was formed, the planning and practice stage commenced. You see, Jerilderie starts
months before Queen’s Birthday weekend. We scheduled early morning (8am) practice
sessions to try out flying in still conditions. Equipment was sorted out. Winches, winch lines,
hand tow lines, turnaround pulleys, timing clocks etc. Launching on winch and hand tow lines
was practised as was thermal seeking and precision landings. Jerilderie became the whole
focus of our gliding activity. We had a common purpose i.e. to improve our flying skills out of
sight.
Anyone wanting to join in was welcome. Several members of the Doncaster club came over
and practised with us. Graham Johnston and his team got involved. We had more people at
some practice sessions than we usually see at competitions.
It was also time for reviewing the suitability of models for the task. I built a Stepp 3 to fill a gap
in my fleet, the very antithesis of my Ellipse. As it turned out, the conditions didn’t allow me to
use it. Tim Mellor bought a Multiplex Flamingo.
FRIDAY JUNE 9
Well, the preparation had to end sometime and the reason for all of the activity had arrived.
The weather forecast was terrible. So 60 fliers headed for Jerilderie. I started driving in rain
and it really didn’t stop until somewhere north of Shepparton. It was obvious that there had
been very heavy showers with minor flooding everywhere.
Arrived at the caravan park at about 3:30pm and by 4:00pm was out at the field where most
people were packing up after a good days practice. It was about then that the rain started and
gloom set in. Given the weather forecast, was any flying going to be done at all? So all headed
back to the warmth of the Colony Inn for a drink, a chat and eventually a meal. And this is the
other side of Jerilderie. This is where the socialising gets done, the post mortems, the
theorising etc., and where new friendships are started.
Off to bed and pray for better weather next morning.
SATURDAY JUNE 10
Morning..........
It rained all night and there was no sign of a let up at all at first light. Cloud and rain from
horizon to horizon. When I got to the field I found everyone gathered in the horse saddling
shelter while waiting for something to happen. Then we all moved into the hall at the race
track and waited some more. There were some breaks in the rain and wind strength was high.
To fill in time we then went through registration, having transmitters checked for currency of
certification and cards check for memberships of the FAI. Fortunately, by this time the Lions
Club caravan had arrived and was putting out breakfast, tea and coffee etc.
I took a break to go and get some supplies (bread etc) for the rest of the weekend. The bakery
has good bread but sells out early. Everything shuts in Jerilderie after 12 noon on Saturday
except for the pubs and the milk bar. Be warned!
To fill in more time. the LSF Annual Meeting was held. Otherwise this would have been held on
Sunday night. The main decision was to move the tournament to Easter for next year only. The
reason is that at that time there will be a Soaring Symposium held, involving a flier with an
international reputation (probably Nic Wright) and extra time at Easter will allow people from
further afield to attend, to listen, see and to learn. It is not to be missed. A similar symposium
was held in New Zealand a few years ago where Joe Wurtz was the star attraction. This has the

28
effect of moving them instantly forward to where they might otherwise have been in 5 years, or
maybe never. The preliminary plans for flying over the Easter are for two days of Thermal and
two days of F3B. Scale and X-country will probably be accommodated and two fields are
available.
Another decision was to allow aspirants (i.e. people who had started their LSF Level I but who
hadn’t completed it), to enter the LSF Tournament.
Afternoon..........
Let the flying begin!
During the LSF meeting the rainfall had gradually diminished to nothing and stayed away
(during the day) for the rest of the weekend, but the wind was still very strong. So out to the
field we went. Much of the field was an inch (2.54cm approx.) under water but the pit area was
relatively OK. Gum boots were the order of the day and out came the tarps, models and
winches etc.
Launching was a test of either not breaking your model if the winch line was the stronger, or
not breaking the winch line if the reverse was true. There were quite a few broken winch lines
through the weekend, and also broken models. Andrew Goddard ( the Competition Director)
lost his model through mistakenly flying on the wrong frequency, something he had warned
everyone about!
Flying continued until about 5.00pm so it was pack up, go to town, clean up and off to the
Town Hall for the organised dinner. This was put on by the Lions club and for $12.50 you got a
three course meals plus tea or coffee. Good value. Afterwards there was indoor flying of
hanger rats, Scot Lennon’s rubber powered helicopter and even an electric powered RC
helicopter.
Some people moved on to the pub after this.
SUNDAY JUNE 11
There was rain overnight but this had cleared by morning. Starting time was 8:30am for the
first heat and I was in it. Unusually for me, I was on time!
This was a very full day of flying. No break for lunch. You had to get it when you could which
wasn’t too difficult since the Lions club caravan was on the field not far away from the flight
line.
We set up in a slightly different position to Saturday and unfortunately for me (and some
others) my turnaround pulley had to be pegged down in a puddle about an inch (2.54cm
approx.) deep. I missed the peg with the hammer once and hit the water with the inevitable
result. The strange thing was that the ground under this puddle was like iron. Really hard to
get the pegs into it, and even harder to get them out!
I had a few interesting things happen to me on this day.
• Before the first heat I tried a full-blooded launch to see if my 200lb winch line could
take it without breaking. It broke about 150ft into the launch so I immediately set about
changing to 250lb line. I managed to break this on the first launch too, so I concluded
that “pedal to the floor” in these conditions was not the way to go. Some finesse was
required.
• Later in the day I had my first experience of a winch line breaking with the sound of a
loud pistol shot. Apparently this happens when there is extreme tension and the break

29
occurs at the turnaround where the line whips around it very quickly. Tim, who was at
the turnaround end said that it was deafening.
• I had two spectacularly good launches and on both occasions I completely lost sight of
the model after the ping. The first time that this happened I wasn’t expecting it and was
naturally worried until the model came into view again. The second I reasoned that it
must be “about there” somewhere so I pushed down elevator at about the normal time
and sure enough, there it was. But I do feel a little cheated. I would have liked to have
seen the whole thing myself rather than just hearing about it later.
• Another happening was where the Ellipse had a fight with somebody else’s winch line.
This line became jammed between the left flap and aileron. From there it cut sideways
into the aileron for about three quarters of an inch and then ripped the corner of the
aileron off, releasing the model. While I wasn’t too happy about this, at least the model
was otherwise undamaged and I went on to win the heat!
• The day progressed with good flights, bad flights, broken winch lines, broken models,
good landings, poor landings, spectacular launches, interesting launches, people falling
over in the mud to retrieve my model (thanks Tim). On one flight Tim Mellor’s
“Flamingo” went off the air, crashed and broke into many, many pieces. The end of a
very nice model, and the second Flamingo to be lost (Dave Jones lost his when it broke
up on launch. The Competition Director was using a new computer program to do the
scoring and this was great because it could print out a leader board immediately after
every round. You could see exactly how well or badly you were going and who you
weren’t beating, yet!
It was a very tired group of fliers that left the field that afternoon and once again retired to the
Colony Inn for dinner and some very lively socialising into the night.
MONDAY JUNE 12
These were the conditions we were waiting for. Floater weather. Or were they? Tim set up his
big floater and Alan Mayhew paid out the hand tow line before the first heat (scheduled for
8:30am). Well, everything went fine for the first 100 ft of the launch and then..... well, the
notorious Jerilderie wind shear just ripped the model apart. Anybody who had been thinking
about using a floater had been put on notice! Only one that I saw of any size and used on that
day was a Stepp 3 with carbon reinforced spars. It survived. Others didn’t.
The final two heats were flown and the team had mixed fortunes. I managed to find a thermal
(with the help from a bird) and work it and win my final heat, so I went out on a high. Al
Mayhew did the same. Alan Gissing destroyed his Eclipse on launch (apparently an aileron
control horn ripped out of the control surface on a very high tension launch, flipping the model
around uncontrollably into the ground). Tim flew his “Apollo” but lost out in the landing points
because of this models lack of sufficient control authority for landing. Scott continued to fly
steadily and consistently, as he had done all weekend. Probably won his heat.
CONCLUSION
Jerilderie is a bit of winter madness which is a lot of fun, despite the sometimes atrocious
conditions. The weather was fine last year. Not such good weather this year. Next year at
Easter..... well, who knows? I’ll be there. I hope that I see you there too. Don’t be put off by
the apparent carnage in this report. There were many more undamaged models than damaged
ones. Some people did not to fly in the conditions. You can do the same. It’s an experience
not to be missed and it’s all about having fun, meeting people and becoming better pilots in
every way. The tournament is very well organised, everybody gets a fair go, we all learn a lot
about flying and about ourselves and in a very real sense, we all come away winners. Thanks
to the LSF Executive for yet another great tournament. The effort that you all put in is
appreciated.

30
1995 - 96
The Committee
President Tom Wickers Secretary Chris Gauld
Treasurer Graham Gibson Editor Ross Peasley
Contest Director Gerry Carter Ordinary Member Reg Neville
Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
A.G.M. - Maurice "Morrie" Watts voted Clubman of the year.
9 July 1995 - Scale Day - Leakes Road
Fliers and models in attendance:
Peter Averill Zefir, Schweizer 1-30 (tug)
Clare Averill Skylark 3
Frank Smith Grunau Baby (!/6 Scale)
Dave Anderson K6E, DG300, J3 Cub (tug)
Bruce Howard Grob 109B Moterglider
Wayne Jones LS4
Rob Goldman Spalinger
Colin Handley Schweizer 1-26, Clipped Wing Cub (tug)
Harold Elliott Slingsby Swallow
Barry Dundas LCF
John Gottschalk Piper Super Cub (tug)
Geoff Hearn Grunau 1
July - F3J attains World Championship status effective 1 January 1997 and to alternate with F3B,
F3J, initial inclusion at Australian Nationals at Ballarat for 1995/96.
Electric Flight Special Interest Group (EFSIG) monthly meetings move to the Uniting Church,
Essex Road, Mt. Waverley (this group currently has an active membership of approx. 50).
Brady Road (Police paddocks) under consideration as a flying/club site.
16-17 September 1995 - SCALE WEEKEND AWAY - Yarrawonga
Up until now most of our preceding outings have been one day affairs, so with the promise
of good weather, flying at a new site, plus catching up with Don and Margaret Hauser, Don is a past
VARMS President. Don and Margaret have established themselves at Yarrawonga and Don was
keen to have us up there to bask in the good country air.
Having worked on the Saturday morning, with the car packed the previous night, I was able
to leave straight from work and on my way through pick up Frank Smith in Burwood and some
three and a quarter hours later found ourselves at the Yarrawonga Model Aircraft Club some 5 km
east of the township. This field would have to be the best site I have ever seen for aeromodelling or
any other aviation activity for that matter. Perhaps the best idea I could give your as to its size is to
imagine Leakes Road, then double it!
There was a little bit of everything to see on our arrival, down one end of the paddock Hang
Gliders were being launched by aero-tow, and only a few metres from the model pits, one could
browse over a full size motor-glider and for the technically minded it was a Sportavia RF5B
Sperber, owned by Len Tinker and based at Tocumwal. Along side of this machine was an Ultralight
called a Koala Q, this is a Piper Cub look-alike only smaller and had the unusual and not often
seen geodetic lattice-work construction made famous on the Wellesley and Wellington bombers of
World War 2.
At around five-thirty when everyone was packing up we were entertained by another couple
of Ultra-lights, one in particular a Sapphire giving a spirited display of its agility, the other aircraft I
believe was a Kara One.
Although we arrived late in the day those present reported soaring conditions had been good
all day with a number of flights around the 3/4 to 1 hour duration.
Saturday night our party travelled over into N.S.W. and we had a very pleasant meal at the
Mulwala Services Club at the invitation of Don and Margaret Hauser. Those present were John
Gottschalk and wife, Colin Handley and wife, Peter and Clare Averill, Frank Smith, myself and

31
Harold Elliot.
Sunday dawned with almost still conditions and a promised increase in temperature on that
of Saturday. We arrived out at the field at about ten o'clock and proceeded to assemble our models,
aero-towing got underway shortly afterwards and continued in a relaxed manner throughout the day
until around 3.30pm when a light cool breeze came in from the south dissipating the lift conditions.
During the morning John Lynch from Tocumwal arrived in his home build Corbon Baby
Ace D, this aircraft is powered by a Continental engine of 65 Hp and according to John Gottschalk
is the sweetest sounding horizontally opposed aero engine he has heard. John Lynch may be known
to a number of our members, as he is an active aeromodeller with a strong leaning to the glider
variety. There have been a number of articles on his creations in Airborne magazine over a number
of years.
It was John's intention to attempt a glider duration record over the weekend, however as no
official observer could be located he had to shelve plans for the time being. After finding out of
these plans and the postponement I suggested he take charge of my 2 X 6 model and bungee and go
and enjoy himself whilst I concentrated on my scale model.
I didn't take much notice from then on until some time later I was engaged in looking for a
dropped tow line about half a kilometre away from our take-off point, when one of the Yarrawonga
Model Aircraft Club member's wives approached me with some concern. John had sent out a
message advising that he was concerned as to how much battery time the model had. I thought this
was a little strange until I started looking for the model and when I spotted it at some 3,000' in
height and only a dot I became the second person now concerned. As the radio gear and batteries in
this model are old stock, I had previously conducted discharge tests which revealed a safe operating
time of around 1 1/2 hours.
Having had a few short flights prior to handing over to John I now calculated that about 1
1/2 hours had been expended so far, so I walked briskly back to where John was flying and made
the suggestion that it might be a good idea to terminate the flight as soon as possible as a fly-away
situation seemed more than likely. John managed to get the model back OK without any drama.
We estimate the flight time in excess of one hour, with most of it having been achieved in the climb
configuration, John also advised that on a couple of occasions during the flight the glider entered
cloud. I suppose this flight was in part consolation for his aborted record attempt, and he thanked
me for the opportunity to fly the model.
At this point I must mention that in addition to his aeromodelling interests he also owns a
full size Pioneer II flying wing (built as a model by a VARMS member, Stan Mason), a Pilatus B4
which has a Konig 3 cylinder radial engine mounted on a fixed pylon, which allows him to operate
the glider in self launch mode, and in more recent times John has owned a Piel Emerald homebuilt
and a DH-82a Tiger Moth. After his flight with my 2 X 6 he strapped into the Baby Ace and flew
back to Tocumwal arriving back at the model field mid-afternoon in the previously mentioned RF5.
Most of us were astonished when he exited the aircraft on arrival, as perched on his shoulder was
his grey and pink coloured galah, his companion for the last 15 years. According to John his bird
whose name escapes me for the present, travels with him on many of his flights in enclosed cockpit
aircraft, truly unbelievable. Sundays soaring was superb with just about all fliers achieving flights
in the 3/4 to 1 hour bracket. Bruce Howard even has a 26 minute flight with his 1/6 scale Salto
rocket. All in all a fabulous weekend. The Yarrawonga Model Aircraft Club are to be
congratulated on their hospitality, turning on meals and refreshments to us southerners, and making
us feel welcome. They indicated they would like to have us back again next year, and we will have
no hesitation accepting their offer. The time of year appears ideal, not too hot, although I did go
home sunburnt, but this was small consolation for the otherwise fantastic weekend.
And finally a thank you to Don and Margaret Hauser for their hospitality offered to all us
V.A.R.M.S. members and particularly to Frank Smith and myself,
Thanks a million, Geoff Hearn.
The following is a list of modellers and their models:
Peter Averill Little Bear (Tug), Pirat.

32
Clare Averill Skylark IIIB.
Colin Handley Clipped wing Cub (Tug), Sweitzer 1-26
Harold Elliot LS-3. Slingsby Swallow.
Bruce Howard Grob 109, Salto.
Andy Smith Discus, Ask 14 (Moterglider).
Don Hauser Grunau IV, Slingsby Swallow.
Doug Anderson Sportster (Old timer) flew like a glider.
Geoff Hearn Grunau Baby (1/4 scale)
October '95 - This Victorian Slope Championships at Mt. Hollowback, Ballarat, was the last where
the event was a combination of Aerobatics and Pylon, and in future pylon events models flew ONE
at a time (F3F) because of the increased value of modern models!
Yet another article unashamedly removed from LSF Newsletter No. 2 of 1995/96, and included
because the author is a well practised and renowned Contest Director of Jerilderie and Nationals
contests fame, is female, and tells a nice story!!!
A BIRDS EYE VIEW
Sometimes I sit, sometimes I sit and think, sometimes I sit and study and sometimes I sit in a
paddock full of sheep and watch planes go round and round and round.
about the October long-weekend. NEMAC and QFS co-organised an F3B comp in Armidale. And
so off we toddle after putting Rikky dog and Tiny puss into the happy holiday home.
The field was the same as always – full of sheepy poo and sheepies, and big and flat. Civilisation
had encroached however, joy oh joy there was a loo on he field. For those of you trying to convince
your partner-in-life to come to a flying comp take my advice – having a loo on the field is a BIG
PLUS (PS. they’ll have loos on the field at the Expo too).
Dave Morgan, the local glider nut did a fabulous job organising lunches, good weather, drinks,
Saturday dinner, cut price rates at the caravan park, etc. I still can’t work it out though – all Dave
did all weekend was complain about the bad weather. For us from the nether regions of the Blue
Mountains the weather was great and certainly nothing to complain about and warm too (though I
think the Queenslanders might disagree about the WARM bit).
Temps all weekend were about 18-20c, a steady little breeze and sunny enough to ensure that the
sun got in your eyes in speed and distance and that we got a little sunburnt despite the blackout.
What happened – well many things”
The abovementioned Dave Morgan did the bonding with the son-in-law and father to be bit
with David Vels who came down from Queensland (it was sooo cute)),
David discovered that sometimes prawns can make you a teensy bit sick., but that Anzac
bikkies don’t (I still have to send you the recipe David),
4 came down from Queensland (and some of them went home with a headache.....),
David was the only local Armidalian,
4 came from the Sydney region,
Charlie Smith (ACT) forgot which weekend it was and so didn’t turn up,
we discovered that Armidale hamburgers and sandwiches are huge and too much for lunch,
and MOST notable – John Haren DIDN’T LAND IN A TREE – would have to be the first
comp in ages that I’ve been to that he hasn’t.
John was in fine form all weekend. You know he has the most amazing telepathic connection with

33
his plane. Would you believe that as the plane is going round a corner and pointing at the ground in
the strangest angle at MK II, and across the course he can talk to it and the thing responds and
automatically corrects itself..... A phenomena we witnessed many times over the weekend.
Seriously though, without John running lines which he did almost non-stop all weekend, we would
have been in serious trouble.
Oh yes, about the flying – we completed 6 rounds (F3B Triple task) over 2 days. We could have
finished many more if we had more competitors – helpers were extremely light on and sometimes
we just had to stop to bring lines back, change people on the buzzers etc. Peter Abell did a very fast
16 or 17 something in speed ( I don’t remember what the time was, but I imagine you’ll find the
times and results somewhere else in the newsletter), and eventually won the comp. Phil Bird came
second and Evan Bengston came third in Expert. John Haren won Sportsperson ( and I’m sure he’s
still in shock at the sportsPERSON) on the certificate. (NOTE TO JOHN: when madam CD
prepares the certificates non-sexist language will rule...) (Sub Ed note: sportsPERSON and madam
CD??? methinks this non sexist stuff is a bit confused!)
Anyway – we had a lovely weekend, the cat had a lovely time in happy holiday home and the dog
was happy too – he shared the geriatric ward with a girl..... Everybody got home tired, but safe and
we look forward to next year. See you then,
Nerida (Ashby) Abell
The Scores
1. Peter Abell 15000 4. Andrew Goddard 13238 7. John Haren 12034
2. Phil Bird 13930 5. Garry Jordan 12860 8. Steve White 11413
3. Evan Bengston 13551 6. David Vels 12701 9. David Morgan 9773
Peter Abell’s speed run was 17.28 sec and the fastest of the comp.
November 1995 - Aspectivity 274 notes the issuing of VARMS membership number 1000 to Adam
Kobelt.
..... and also in the same edition of Aspectivity, a very common-sense article on a little-understood
topic:
What's the difference?? by Peter Averill on the request of Geoff Hearn.
Adverse aileron yaw is a troublesome aerodynamic phenomenon that affects both full size and
model aircraft. It can be a particular problem on aircraft with high aspect ratio wings.
What is it?
Consider an aircraft being rolled to the right using aileron. On the right wing the aileron
moves upward which reduces the camber of the airfoil section of the wing over the span of the
aileron - in fact, it reflexes the camber line. Reducing the camber reduces the lift generated by the
wing on this side of the aircraft. On the left wing the aileron moves downward which increases the
camber of the wing section over the span of the aileron. The increased cambered section creates
more lift on this side of the aircraft. With more lift on the left side of the aircraft and less lift on the
right side, the aircraft will roll to the right.
Unfortunately, the reduction and increase of lift is not the only effect of moving the ailerons.
As a by-product of the increased lift caused by the increased camber of the down-going aileron,
there is also a corresponding increase in the induced drag caused by the wing section generating lift.
It follows, then, that the right wing has less induced drag because it is not generating as much lift.
If the ailerons are a long way out from the fuselage there is a large moment arm around the
yaw axis. In this situation, the additional induced drag from the down-moving aileron can cause a
severe yaw to the left. If the aircraft is one with high yaw-roll coupling, that is, yawing the aircraft
to the left also causes it to roll to the left (this type of aircraft would be easily steered by rudder), the
yaw to the left can actually cancel the original desired roll to the right, even to the point of causing
the aircraft to turn to the left. Aircraft with large dihedral, parasol wings and some biplanes will be
very much affected by this problem.

34
Adverse aileron yaw is worse at low air speeds. At low airspeeds the wing has a greater
angle of attack and therefore has a high amount of induced drag. The worse case scenario is when
the wing is close to the stall and down-going aileron increases the camber to a point that the wingtip
stalls prematurely. This is because higher camber airfoils stall at a smaller angle of attack and the
down-moving aileron effectively increases the angle of attack of the wing over the span of the
aileron.
Keeping our example of rolling to the right, if the left down-going aileron causes the tip on
that side to stall, not only won't you get the desired right roll, but you will get a sudden flick roll to
the left accompanied by the nose of the aircraft dropping dramatically. I have witnessed this
situation many times over the years and generally radio gear failure is blamed for the outcome. The
pilot is certain that they initiated a right hand turn and a rapid left one into the ground has occurred
instead - must be the radio!!
What to do?
There are two methods to overcome the problem of adverse aileron yaw. The actual hinging
method of the aileron itself can influence and significantly reduce the problem. Two methods I am
familiar with are as follows; 1. Top Hinging, and, 2. Frise Ailerons (Bottom hinging).
Another method of overcoming adverse aileron yaw is the use of differential aileron. This
involves gearing the linkages to the aileron in such a way that the movement of the down-going
aileron is less than the up-going aileron. This method is popular in full size aircraft and a number of
aircraft that I have modelled over the years have employed its use. The Tiger Moth has noticeable
differential aileron and the Pirat workshop manual recommends the following aileron throws: 30º
± 2° up and 16° ± 1° down. The amount of difference in movement can be quite pronounced to
the point that a Taylor Monoplane that I built had virtually no downward movement on the ailerons
at all.
In installations that use separate servos for each aileron, differential can obviously be
obtained using computer radio to reduce the travel in the downward direction. Another method is to
adjust the servo to aileron linkages in such a way that the differential is mechanically built in. This
has the advantage of being able to be used on single servo aileron installations.
The theory of obtaining differential is the same whether it be applied at the servo,
intervening bell crank, control surface itself or torque rod drives. In all cases it is a matter of not
connecting the clevis at the normal 90° to the pivot point. If this is done at the servo, the linear
movement created from the rotational movement of the servo is greater in one direction than the
other. This can also be achieved at an intervening bell crank but will require a bell crank of less
than 90°.
If the application is to be at the control surface horn or torque rod drive, the equal linear
movement of the push rod is converted to unequal angular movement of the control surface, that is,
more up than down.
Using mechanical linkages there is a limit to the amount of effective differential that can be
obtained and a ration of 2 : 1 is a good aim point. On computer radios 100% differential (all up and
no down movement) can be obtained and it is easy to experiment with different amounts and then
test fly to monitor the difference in flight characteristics.
~~~
49th 1995/96 Nationals at Ballarat Vic.:
F3J Thermal 1. Alan Mayhew 2. Rob Benton 3. Rod Watkins
F3B Multi task 1. Phil Bird 2. Scott Lennon 3. Tim Mellor
Thermal Task A 1. Rob Benton 2. Tim Mellor 3. Scott Lennon
7 Cell Elect. 1. Scott Lennon 2. D Whitten 3. Bob Hickman
F3F Slope Pylon Cancelled due to NO wind, a LARGE Wedgie and a very potent
incoming electrical storm on the top of Mt. Hollowback.

35
Airborne 140 of February 1996 in the 'On Silent Wings' column by Paul Ferguson contains an
evergreen topic on what is or ain't a glider.
LETTERS
The first letter this month is from Bill Tinker in South West Rocks, NSW. For those of
you who are unaware, Bill was the original columnist for On Silent Wings from No. 16 Spring
1976, to No 59, Sept-Oct 1983. Bill, while offering encouragement, takes me to task on my
definition of a glider in my second column, I defined a glider as "a motorless aeroplane for
gliding from a higher level to a lower level by the action of gravity or from a lower level to a
higher level by the action of air currents (source Macquarie Concise Dictionary)."
I concluded that a glider, in modelling terms, could be:
a. A purpose built RC Thermal Soarer,
b. A purpose built Slope Soarer,
c. A purpose built RC Hand Launched Glider,
d. A purpose build FF Towline Glider,
e. A purpose built FF Hand Launched Glider (outdoor or indoor),
f. A motor (IC or electric) powered RC model in the glide,
g. A motor (IC, electric or rubber) powered FF model in the glide,
h. A Cl model in the glide,
i. A model parachute.
Bill says that he would like to continue on the long battle of words that he was having
with the then Electric columnist, Jack Black. Jack has since passed away (that's one way to
terminate an argument), but I seem to have re-ignited an interesting subject. Bill and Jack
were discussing if there can be such a thing as an electric glider (item f in my list).
Bill's letter is very long, so I cannot publish all of it, but I will include the important
couple of paragraphs.
"Having provided the Macquarie definition of a glider, you then proceed to list aircraft
types which DO NOT FIT THAT DEFINITION! There is common confusion between a MOTOR and
POWER or ENERGY. Fuzzy logic may be very well within computer language, but I'm fighting for
my mother tongue, which is being fuzzed out of existence - nobody, even journalists, seem to
know the difference between LESS and FEW or NUMBER and AMOUNT, and so on, ad
nauseam. Language needs to be clear, concise and accurate if correct communication is to be
achieved. What you have tried to infer (aided and abetted by the Editor) is that anything that
flies can, at some stage, be classified as a glider. Incidentally that includes a brick launched
from the top floor low side of the Tower of Pisa!
"Jack got very irate when I insisted that a model with a motor can in no way be
described as a glider - but it's true. The definition includes the word MOTORLESS; that is
WITHOUT A MOTOR. Any dictionary defines a MOTOR as 'that which receives and modifies
energy in order to drive machinery". So anything airworthy that carries an energy converter of
some kind cannot be a glider. Therefore items f, g. and h on your list are out!"
That's the relevant part of Bill's letter. Now let's turn to the letter from Ross Faggotter of
Laura in SA. Ross says: "At this point I must take you to task over your definition of "What is a
Glider?" Firstly you extracted from the Macquarie Dictionary "A glider is a motorless aeroplane
...." My dictionary says "A glider is an aircraft similar to an aeroplane, but without a motor".
"Note the 'motorless' and 'without a motor' bits. Therefore, the moment you add a
motor, IC or Electric, your plane is not motorless, so it is not a glider. No matter who calls a 7
cell or a 10 cell model, or even a 27 cell F3B model, an electric glider, by dictionary definition,
they are all wrong. Your bit about ".... in the gliding phase, becomes a glider!" Wrong!!! It still
has a motor, running or not. Would you still claim that a F-86 Sabre or a SAAB Viggin, with a
flame out, is suddenly a glider?
I think not!!! Your first 5 examples are correct, but from f on, NO WAY!!!"
Now, I must approach Bill's and Ross's comments with an open mind. However I think
that the problem is that the English language has such a loose syntax that it is almost
impossible to pin down a true definition of anything. Just look at any legal document. If the

36
lawyers find it so hard to cover all their bases, what hope have we?
I must return to the most convincing argument that I know of to support my point of
view. Next time you get tired of flying your F3A RC aerobatics rocket off a runway, take off the
propeller, go down to your local slope in a brisk 25 knot breeze and throw it off. After enjoying
a long quiet flying session for absolutely no outlay, think about whether you were flying a power
model or a glider. Is the expensive lump of ballast mounted up the front a motor or just a
means of keeping the centre of gravity in the correct position?
I argue that you are flying a glider, and are in no different a position than if the model
had run out of fuel (thank God, silence). The only difference is that, in the latter case, you have
a stationary propeller that slightly destroys the L/D ratio. Just as an afterthought, don't forget
to lower the retracts before you land on the slope.
Editor's Note. Who remembers the Gibli glider, the 767 that ran out of fuel on a scheduled
RPT flight a couple of years ago? For those who cherish our language, it appears that our
inventiveness has let us down. When we invented a solid state electronic valve we call it a
transistor. Having combined to make a hybrid machine, we should accept the hybrid term, motor
glider. The FAI does!
"Reprinted by the kind permission of Airborne Magazine".
April 1996 - Nic Wright (Past World Champion F3B) visits VARMS as part of a visit to Australia
giving lectures on Glider design, model Construction and flying techniques.
Aspectivity 280, June 1996 reports the possible use of Lewellan Reserve (Cathies lane) as an
alternative flying site. (The current High Street Road site and Lewellan Reserve are too close to
operate at the same time without specific frequency allocation to each site).
….. From Aspectivity 279, May 1996
BACK TO BEVERIDGE
31st March 1996.
Back in 1995 Col Collyer suggested it might be a good idea to hold a vintage scale outing at
Mt. Frazer, Beveridge, some 45 Km north of Melbourne on the Hume highway.
As Barry and Ted DeKuyper, VARMS members, are regular fliers at this site they were
aware of the historical significance this site held as it was the home of the Gliding club of Victoria
for some fifteen years from about 1935, with regular slope and thermal soaring being conducted.
(This was 1 : 1 aircraft)
It was agreed that it would be a good idea to invite as many of the glider pilots of that era to return
to Beveridge and in some small way, relive their experiences, and witness some slope soaring from
models representing the types that they flew from the site during that period.
At this stage I must thank Charlie Lambeth, VARMS member and Life Member of the
GCV, who spread the word far and wide and who is still in contact with many of the pilots who
flew sailplanes from this site.
The plan was for everyone to meet at the Beveridge Post Office/Pub around 11 am and we
would take things from there. Our arrival around 10.30 surprised us somewhat as many pilots had
already gathered and were deep in conversation, talking of old times and re-introducing themselves.
By eleven o’clock a substantial number of people had arrived and it was suggested they venture into
the Pub, to have a bite to eat and view a video covering film footage taken during the GCV’s
activities from the site during the thirties and forties. This gave us modellers time to assemble our
machines at the base of the western slope and start the leg breaking climb to the launch point at the
top of the hill. I’m glad that we don’t fly here often, it sure shows up one’s lack of fitness,
especially carrying all your gear together with a large model.
On our arrival at the top we were able to regain our breath and sat around talking for
sometime as there wasn’t enough wind to sustain the type of models we intended to fly. The wind
was from the south-west at around two knots.
By around one o’clock many of the glider pilots had arrived at the top of the hill courtesy of

37
a 4 wheel drive vehicle which had been made available by the present owner of the site. It was also
interesting to note that many had decided not to take advantage of the vehicle ride but actually
walked up the western slope, which is the steepest side; this in itself was a historical act as many of
the climbers were in their seventies.
The opportunity was taken to film the assembled veterans and discuss various aspects of
Sailplane operations from Beveridge so many years ago. As the afternoon wore on those fliers with
models were able to manage some respectable soaring flights, which made the walk up the hill
worthwhile.
The following is a précis of the fliers who attended:
Ian Kinross early GCV member, 2nd World War fighter pilot and builder of a Dragonfly.
Mervin Davies early Coode Island and Beveridge pilot and aeromodeller.
Mal Alexander early GV member and instructor and more recently a prize winner in the
Birdman rally.
Ernie Smith early glider pilot and member of the Smith family who owned the property
the club operated from. Current RC glider builder/flyer from Echuca.
Geoff Richardson & wife Bettye, designer/builder of a primary glider and the Golden Sailplane
which flew at Beveridge.
Alan Patching long standing VMFG member, glider pilot/instructor and present owner of
the Golden Eagle. (The oldest registered flying sailplane in Aust.). First flew
in 1937. (Colin Collyer has a flying model of the Golden Eagle).
Leo Dowling early GCV member who flew at Beveridge and past owner/builder of Blue
Grunau Baby sailplane on which the Geoff Hearn quarter scale model is
based.
Ken Davies founding member of GCV in 1929. Prolific builder of gliders, namely
Primary, Hutter H17, Olympia and in later years a Woodstock, and also had
the distinction of wrecking the GCV Primary in the mid 30’s at Beveridge
and flew continuously at the site until the end of the war. Held the new
Australian altitude & Victorian distance records, from a shock cord launch at
Beveridge attaining an altitude of 3700’ and covering 17 miles, landing at
Nth. Essendon in 1938 in the “Grey Grunau”.
Reg McConnell GCV member and pilot since the later 30’s flew GCV machines at
Beveridge, instructor, old modeller and survivor of a terrifying flight in a
Grunau baby in the 1950’s at Benalla, where he was sucked up into a thunder
storm and on his return to the airfield his face was covered in blood from hail
stones which peppered his face.
Dick Duckworth Film make extraordinaire, glider builder, instructor, winch designer and
builder, started the Australian Gliding Association, producer of a coordinated
news letter for the Glider movement during the 1930-40’s, before
the establishment of the GFA. Many gliders were built and repaired at
Dick’s place at Seddon during the early years, secretary and Auditor at
different times for the GCV.
Ian Robertson early GCV pilot who flew at Beveridge, Lancaster crew member during
WW2 who was shot down over Germany and became a prisoner of war.
Dave Darbyshire GCV President for approx 8 years, flew regularly with GCV. Builder coordinator
of the club’s T31 project. Has run his own airline, also builder of a
Primary Glider, Pitts Special and Skybolt Biplane homebuilds.
Keith (Brolly) Chamberlain holder of an Australian altitude record by flying up the side of a
thunderstorm in a Grunau Baby at Benalla.
Jack Hearn flew often at Beveridge machines, one of the three Hearn brothers who flew
with GCV. Later commanded a squadron of Boomerang fighters in the
Solomon Islands.
Bruce Hearn (Jnr) son of the late Keith Hearn who was an instructor with the GCV and flew at

Graham Barton
Ted DeKuyper
Jim Fullarton
Vern Rosenfealt
Charlie Lambeth
38
Beveridge and who helped finance and build the club’s first two seater
(Merlin).Bruce is an active GCV Glider Pilot and presently owns and flies a
DH-82 Tiger Moth which he has restored.
brother of Jim Barton, the longest serving President of the GCV, himself a
glider pilot of many years experience and GCV Treasurer for many years.
early GCV member who did some initial training on Primary Gliders and in
the Merlin Sailplane, co-ordinator of the days activities.
long standing aeromodeller, early glider builder/pilot with VMFG, still active
in aeromodelling.
current GCV instructor/tug pilot and sailplane owner, longstanding GCV
member who instructed the author in his early stages of training.
VARMS member, first joined the GCV in December 1938, held the
Australian single seat duration record set at Beveridge on 20/11/43 at 9 hours
51 minutes in the “Grey Grunau”, also held the two seater record in the
Merlin at Beveridge at 1 hour 5 minutes. Life Member of the GCV and still
active in Gliders at the age of 75.
From feedback received from those who attended the day, it was a resounding success and it
is hoped that in the near future, we can again organised a similar get together,
Gliding forever,
Geoff Hearn.

1996 - 97
The Committee
President Tom Wickers Secretary Graham Johnson
Treasurer Tim Morland Editor Tim Wilkin
Contest Director Gerry Carter Ordinary Member Graham Gibson
Publicity Jim Robertson Fund raising/
Site Liaison Graham Partridge
August 96 - Des Bayliss takes over Training School organising from Ross Bathie.
14 Sept. 1996 - Indoor Competition - Monash University:-
Chuck Glider Harry Sokol 15 secs Scale Rubber Adolf Haas 1 min 55 secs
Rubber Graeme Flood 33, 46 & 47 secs One Model Reg Neville 17 secs
R/C Electric Neil Hardiman Facetmobile Best Flight Jim Fullerton 12 mins
Most Unusual Arthur Smith Ornithopter
15 Sept.1996 - P.S.S. Fun Fly at Mt Hollowback:-
17 pilots attended with a total of 28 models - Results (by vote of all participants):-
(See Contest for full results)
PROPELLER Aircraft
Max McCullough Douglas C-47 1st
Supermarine Spitfire
Messerschmitt Me-109
Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina
Stephen Anderson Supermarine Spitfire 2nd
Mitsubishi AM-6 Zero
North American P-51D Mustang
Glen Salisbury Messerschmitt Me-109 B-4 3rd
North American P-51D Mustang
JET Aircraft
Max McCullough Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II 1st
Rob Lewis Vought A-7 Corsair II =2nd
Glenn Salisbury GAF Canberra =2nd
39
HI-TECH GLIDER TROPHY - BRIGGS FIELD - 13 OCTOBER 1996
One of the best attended events of recent years, a total of 27 people flew, 18 competing for the Hi-
Tech Trophy (Sponsored by Model Engines) with 2 channel models and 9 in the (Open) third leg of
the Thermal League. Results:
VMAA Update (Newsletter) of December 1996 contained the following item on Keyboards:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KEYBOARD
The keyboard system concept was the brain child of Bob Young of Silvertone Electronics
around 1970. At that time we were operating on 27 Meg. - 6 spots, 40 KHz apart. With the
advancement in R/C technology we soon had 20 KHz equipment, this was a giant leap forward for
R/c systems since it meant the 6 channel limitation on 27 Meg. went to 12. At that time frequency
control was by the use of coloured pegs (clothes pegs) clipped to your T/X antennae. The rule of
the field was "no peg no fly". But fliers used to bring along "spare pegs" and the inevitable would
and did happen, two "spare pegs" in use at the same time equalled disaster.
As well as its other limitations, the peg system could not manage the then new requirement
for simultaneous operation of 40KHz and 27KHz systems at the 20 KHz spacing. Bob Young at
great personal effort and expense, developed the concept of the keyboard system. This overcame
all the shortcomings of the peg system. His next and what turned out to be a greater task was
gaining the modelling fraternity's acceptance of the keyboard concept.
With the MAAA's standardisation of the keyboard in 1982, we now do not have a problem
with the implementation of the new frequency allocations.

40
In handling bandwidth control, the keyboard utilises the width of the frequency key as a
measure of the R/C systems bandwidth requirements. The broader the system bandwidth the wider
the key. In the early days 40KHz systems had 100mm keys, 30KHz had 75mm & 20KHz had
50mm keys.
This meant that if the keyboard slots are at 20KHz spacing (50mm) then a 40KHz key could
not be inserted in a frequency slot where the adjacent channel was already occupied by a 20Khz
key. Now we are faced with the control of 20KHz bandwidth systems in a frequency spectrum
having frequency allocations at 10KHz spacing.
Now with the new system if a flyer has inserted his key into the slot provided for one of the
new channels eg. 630, if flyers 629 or 631 try to insert their keys into the keyboard they will be
blocked out by 630. The keyboard will ensure that no two 20KHz sets can be operated with less
than 20KHz frequency spacing between them.
(NOTE: As at 2001 VARMS prohibits the use of 'even' numbered frequencies as their use is in a
minority, blocks out "two" of the more commonly used 'odd' numbered frequencies and the fact that
10KHz spacing between frequencies if still a long way from being a workable reality).
Airborne 150, Dec '96 - Jan '97 (Page 63), makes a contribution here courtesy of Paul Ferguson "On
Silent Wings.'
CONTEST FLYERS V SPORT FLYERS
As time goes by the gulf between the sport flyer and the contest flyer seems to become
wider. When I started flying RC Gliders in the early 70's, the contest flyer and the sport flyer
were one and the same. Anyone with enough experience could go out with their Graupner
Cirrus or Aquila, and have as much chance of winning as the next flyer. We were all in our late
teens or early 20's then, and we all seemed to have a bottomless bucket of spare time. It was
nothing to spend two days of every weekend flying and socialising. Even our wives enjoyed the
flying, but that was before the kids arrived!
These days everyone seems to have so little free time. Even the unmarried flyers try
and fit too many different activities into their lives. It is this factor that has formed the gulf
between the contest and sport flyers.
The average sport modeller is a very self-centred person who wants only to do what
takes their fancy at the time that is most convenient. This is very easy to understand because
they have so little time, and they wish to use it in the most effective way to their maximum
enjoyment. Sport flyers may occasionally enter a contest, but cannot be bothered with complex
rules. Because they see flying as a relaxing activity, they cannot see the point of regimenting
everything that they do. They spend just enough money and time to get a model into the air,
and even that may have taken a lot of creative accounting to get it past the wife. For this
reason they are not prepared to take any risks with their model and will only fly when
conditions are ideal.
On the other hand, the contest flyer has decided to go and make his mark on the sport.
He may have a whole fleet of models (some of them all-moulded) to suit all possible weather
conditions. Some of the models may be the result of hundreds of hours of development time.
He will have at least one winch (maybe two), and practices whenever he can. Because of the
time and money that he has invested, he wants every eventuality covered by the rules of a
contest or the local flying site. On the other hand, he wonders why all the sport flyers cannot
get enthused by all these regulations, and why they oppose any spending of club funds on the
contest related activities of the club!
I have noticed this gulf widening as each year passes, no doubt due to all my mates now
having teenage kids who demand more and more time, as well as the general pace of life
increasing. There is no easy solution to this problem short of ensuring that all types of
members are catered for within the MAAA structure
(Editor's note. There is no problem here; just one of the facts of life.)
..... and O. S. W. continues on in a similar vein on another well discussed topic .....

41
LAUNCH HEIGHT
As the general strength of models increases and the average flying skills increase, the
launching heights achieved at contests are becoming more and more of a problem. It has
reached the stage where at most contests the average modeller with a traditional balsawoodplastic
covered model cannot hope to compete on equal terms. The strong, high performance
models can exceed the launch heights of the traditional models by so much that they more
than make up for any deficiencies in their thermalling ability; a deficiency that is becoming
more and more difficult to see as the models improve. On top of this, they can roam the skies
to such an extent than any lift will be found. The flyer of the traditional model must make
a decision to search in one area before they launch. If they do not find lift, their models do not
have the performance to fly to another part of the sky and they must therefore either accept
their flight time or re-launch.
The only solution for the traditional modeller is either to join the high technology group
and compete on equal terms, or try to change the rules to limit the launch heights by adopting
weak links in the winch line or reducing the power of the winches.
This debate will not be concluded in the near future. My view is that we should leave
the high technology route to F3B and F3J, as they are regulated International classes.
However, we need to change the rules of the Australian Open Thermal class to allow both high
tech and traditional models the chance to compete equally, and it is my belief that the only way
is to reduce the power of winches by increasing the resistance of the motors to the point where
ping launches are not possible.
.... and on the same topic from the same column in a previous Airborne (146 - August 1996),
we have the following;
The following is a letter that I received from Martin Simons in relation to my proposed
new rules for Thermal Soaring event. For those who do not know, Martin rarely takes part in
contests because he does not feel motivated by the format of the traditional Task A event.
" Your recent remarks in Airborne about thermal soaring events always seemed to me
that thermal soaring contests should be thermal soaring contests. It is a pity that the existing
rule have directed so much attention to the launch and the launching apparatus.
I was at Jerilderie over the Easter weekend, where it was demonstrated by Nic Wright
and others that, with the right launching technique, a modern F3B multi task model can win
the traditional type of thermal soaring event without actually having to do any soaring.
Providing that the air is not actually sinking, the model can stay in the air for long enough to
achieve the maximum permitted time. Even if the air for a particular hear is bad all round, the
model which is highest after the launch is most likely to win.
(History compiler's note: World F3B Champion Joe Wurts has been quoted as saying "He who
launches highest, Wins", and he should know).
Given the kind of launch altitudes measured by Nic Wright, between 220 and 250
metres, to achieve an eight minute flight requires a sinking rate of about 27 metres per minute,
or about 1.5 feet per second. Calculations published recently in the American magazine, RC
Soaring Digest, show that a lightweight floater model, like the old Olympic 2, can achieve this
sink rate. An Olympic cannot safely be winch launched at 250 km/h, however.
A modern F3B model has about the same minimum rate of sink, but it can be launched
to much greater heights, so it will, if well flown, beat the lightweight every time in the same air.
This has had the effect of concentrating all attention on the launching apparatus and the
launch technique and turned us away from thermal soaring.
A thermal soaring contest should be won by a person who can most skilfully locate and
use thermals for soaring. I can think of a competition in which competitors' attention and
ingenuity could be directed in this way. (Martin goes on to detail an extended, closed circuit, on
foot style of X-country competition that has not been reprinted here).
"Printed by kind permission of Airborne Magazine."

42
Victorian State Thermal Titles - Brigg's Field 27 April 1997,
A smoothly run event with 27 entrants having a good days flying in very good conditions. Five
rounds were flown with the best four to count towards the final score as per the Aus. Open Thermal
Rules.
1st Tim Mellor 4000 pts, equal 2nd Gerry Carter & Max Kroger 3997 pts.(See Contests)
May 1997 - Runways laid down at Brigg's Field for the initial introduction of Power (Internal
Combustion) aircraft.
1 June 1997, Open Day at Brigg's Field with almost all forms of model aircraft flown on the day,
Aero-towing, Electric flight, Helicopters, Competition gliders, Sport power and Chuck gliders, all
flew at the field during the day. Over 100 people enjoyed the day with VARMS providing a
barbeque lunch. The Power field strips, Glider area, Hut surrounds and car-park are now serviced
by a recently purchased ride-on mower.
L. S. F. Tournament - Jerilderie - 7/8/9 June 1997:
1st Alan Mayhew (VARMS), Winning Team - VARMS (Tim Mellor, Alan Mayhew, Des Bayliss,
Gerry Carter, Scott Lennon, Greg Voak).
HITEC TROPHY
OPEN EVENT
1. Max Kroger 1919 1. Rod Watkins 4931
2. Des Bayliss 1855 2. Gerry Carter 4884
3. Jim Robertson 1516 3. Alan Mayhew 4853

1997 - 98
The Committee
President Tom Wickers Secretary Max Haysom
Treasurer (Vacant) & Barry Dundas
Contest Director Peter Cossins Editor Alan Connelly
Fund raising
Committee Members Jim Robertson
& Site Liaison Graham Partridge /John Gottschalk
July 1997 saw the 50th Nationals (for 1996/97) held at Darwin N.T.:
Thermal 1. Rob Benton 2. Brett Solanov 3. Graham Roberts
F3J 1. Rob Benton 2. Alan Mayhew 3. Brett Solanov
HLG 1. Ray Pike 2. Theo Merrifield 3. (Miss) Kieren Pike
43
September 1997 - World F3B Championships - Ankara, Turkey. The team to represent Australia
was Gerry Carter & Tim Mellor from VARMS, & Greg Voak (W.A.).
The following excerpt from Gerry Carter's very complete and detailed report is included to
demonstrate some of the things that can happen during International competitions.
"The first days practice was not good, I managed to destroy another glider (leaving two, one
new, one borrowed) and an hour later Gregg did the same thing, destroying a brand new Calypso
Cobra. Tim gave his model its maiden flight without mishap and sorted out some problems with his
winch which had been run, but never used to launch a model before. The second days practice at
this field was safe. No mishaps. Greg elected not to fly.
The first Official Practice day at the Official field arrived. Winches were set up downwind
and pilots were routinely towing around to the other side of the turnarounds and launching back into
wind, something we had heard about but never done or even seen before, however, we tried and got
better as the day progressed."
October 1997 - State Slope Championships held as a Pylon only event.
The U-2 - A Postscript
To commence this topic with a nostalgic trip back into time:
Aspectivity 201 April '89 reports that at the March General Meeting a 'Club project" was initiated
by Jim Robertson, being the building of a PSS Lockheed U-2 with the following specifications:
Wing Span 4480mm 14ft 8in
Length 2210 7ft 3in
Root chord 490mm 1ft 7 1/2in
Tip chord 130mm 5in
(from Aspectivity 294 - October 1997 - Author anonymous)
For relatively new members or those lucky enough to have forgotten, the U-2 was a
VARMS Club project to build a biggish scale glider trainer! This was way back in the early
nineties or should that be the roaring early nineties, as it needed a roaring gale on the slope to fly.
And she flew.
Like most democratic committee/group projects the various compromises made in its design
and constructions resulted in it exceeding its design weight of 25 lbs by, I am reliably informed,
some 23 lbs. The two amazing things though are that it was eventually finished, a TAD overweight,
but finished, and the thing flew!
Flight for the U2 though was fraught with a fair degree of peril and some comedy. The
nominated pilot was usually on Rohypnol (at least) and the launch crew, the runners, grunters and
heavers, looked like a bunch of caber tossing sumo wrestlers trying to run in step whilst grunting
and heaving the beast into the air.
Resurrection
Whilst at Tom's (Wickers) factory cadging a bit of welding a month or so ago the subject of

44
the long deceased U2 came up in general conversation with the half a dozen members present. It
was decided to drag its remains out of its tomb in the loft and have a post mortem. With hindsight,
I should have forgotten about the welding, excused myself and gone straight to the pub. More fool
me.
Well, decency prevents an accurate description of her condition, but to say it was stuffed is
pretty close to the mark, although more colourful terms were used. Someone offered to "shoot her
and put her out of her misery".
I don't know the aeronautical term, but in yachting parlance the fuselage "hogged" about
20% in any direction and when placed on her end about half a bucket of crushed foam bits, big
chunks of balsa, assorted bits of servo's cascaded from her tail pipe. The main impact from the
fence post that somewhat spoilt her last landing had been taken at the junction of the fuselage and
the left wing root and this obviously sudden stop had somehow removed the bottom of the fuselage
'in toto". The right wing had shattered the foam, balsa and glass, but was repairable. The left wing
you could not complain about because only the stump of the wing root remained. Tail section was
fair, but had numerous impact cracks and the tail cone was missing, as was the canopy, the wing
joiner bar, hatches etc., etc.
The end result of the post mortem was that she was dead, finito, deceased, passed on, gone
to God, etc., and was not even good barbeque fuel due to the amount of foam, fibreglass, paint and
plasticine(?) in her. Someone suggested the dumpster. One thing was for sure and that was that she
was not going to fly no more, no more.
One dill, nevertheless, felt that she deserved better than the ignominy of the dreaded
dumpster and stupidly suggested restoring her as a sort of static, i.e. not flying, display model, as
she represented a rare example of a committee designed club project that actually worked. I
recalled that she had been built by nearly 40 club members working together as a team (excuse the
cynicism) for once.
First problem, the missing tail cone. It eventually turned up under some boxes tucked away
under a cupboard. The main spar was never found (apparently in her altercation with the fence post
it had bent like a set of bicycle handlebars). The horrid plasticine had been added by some
misguided individual who had plans of taking a glass mould off her fuselage but had given up after
adding about 2 lbs of the stuff to the jet intake area. If anybody knows of a paint that will "take"
over plasticine soaked balsa and foam let me know - I used 2 litres of various solvents trying to get
it out without dissolving what was left of the foam at the same time - hours of time.
I shall not mention any of those present at the time who said "strewth mate, if you want a
hand to do her up, let me know mate", I did and they didn't.
I will mention "One Stop Plastics" at Ardena court, East Bentleigh, where Dave Cook gave
me yards of 2oz cloth and pots of Epoxy, cans of Bog etc., free, and Peter at Waverley Hobbies who
gave me lots of bits and pieces nearly for free. Gentlemen, the pair of them.
Now she is a U2 again, or as much as she ever was and is in roughly the same shape as when
she was built in the first place.
I shall not mention what she has cost me for fear of incurring the wrath of the club solicitor
for not putting in a budget, bless him.
Conclusion
Anyhow, the alternatives were dumpster or static display model and the latter is the case.
She represents an historic project by the club and I hope her condition meets with general approval,
especially if you appreciate what I had and didn't have to start with. Her colours are those I
remember of the ones that were based at Laverton in the late fifties or early sixties. Some sod has
got the club book on the U2 and despite all efforts, is not telling - all I have is a couple of black and
white photos and some small 3 views. I would like, even at the risk of losing my anonymity, to
request the loan of any and all videos (short term - priority post return) that members may have of
her construction, first launch, first flight (the Graham Sullivan one), her subsequent flights, prangs,
flights, crashes and last flights. I know that they are out there because I've seen them and really
would like to make a half hour record of her and the effort that went into building her for posterity

(a long time even). See Jim Robertson please.
Name of author withheld on request.
45
FAI & ASAC
(If you follow Australian teams at International competitions to any degree, you may seem a little
confused when the Australian team is seen to fly under the banner of ASAC. The following
article taken from the VMAA Newsletter of December 1997 shows why this is so!)
Federation Aeronautique Internationale is the organisation at the top of our structure, administering
all types of aero sports including aeromodelling. All countries are affiliated to the FAI through
their respective National Aero Club. Australia’s NAC being the Australian Sport Aviation
Confederation. This year our affiliation to ASAC cost $3.00 per member and this allows us access
to International rules and participation in International Competitions amongst many other benefits,
including liaison with Government Departments.
February 1998 - VARMS celebrates it 30th Anniversary
1 March 1998 - VARMS holds an Airshow at Brigg's Field, Budget outlay $6,645.00.
(See field layout as per information leaflet)
The following is "A retrospective view by John Gottschalk", Planning/Operations &
Co-ordination.
Our objectives were:
1. To promote all facets of Model Aviation, result: Achieved.

46
2. To consolidate our presence at Martin Brigg's Field, result: Achieved.
3. To support the City of Knox Community Support Services, result achieved to a lesser extent
than expected.
4. To raise funds for necessary improvements to the field, result: as per 3.
The overall analysis of all details regarding the planning, preparation and execution of the event is
currently being done and the results will be available in due course, however here are a few items
worth mentioning.
The Highs, not necessarily in order of preference.
a) The high level of support and interest to participate by 38 pilots invited with 35 actually
taking part.
b) The magnificent preparation and running of the Transmitter pound by Reg
Neville/Wolfgang Schmidt with his frequency scanner. Several models were saved from disaster
after constant interference was detected on channel 36.150
c) The total professional layout and operation of the P.A. system, donated on the day by the
one and only Angelo Favoloro, whose expertise in all matters of sound and acoustics played a great
part in the total outcome. Our Principal commentators were Peter Cossins and Neil Bathie
(L.D.M.F.A.), who provided a first class commentary all day long, with occasional support from
Cliff McIver, a difficult job well done.
d) The setting up and running of the static display by our own Dieter Prussner, the actual
founder of V.A.R.M.S. in 1968. Ask anyone who ventured into the big Marquee and had a look at
the displays. The favourable comments by experienced model aviation experts were very pleasing
indeed.
e) Receiving the great news at 9 p.m. the night before the show that a distinguished helicopter
pilot was on his way from Shepparton (where a Heli-Fest was in progress) to participate in our
event. All this, after months of inquiries and endless phone calls to persuade the helicopter
fraternity to take part. Up to that time, Ian Cole was the only rotor power item on our flying
program. Many thanks to Damian Mould who so proficiently filled that worrying gap.
f) The program and general information leaflet handed out to the public at the gate,
Composition and Artwork by Ralph Learmont, Printing and Folding by Neville Leo. Fellas you are
indispensable.
g) The two ladies at the gate, Monika and girlfriend looking after the tickets and change
dispensation. A fantastic job.
h) Ah, yes, our new V.A.R.M.S. flag, more on the behind the scene story at the next club
meeting on 13 March.
i) The great job done by the glider training team. Des Bayliss and his crew were flat out all
day due to the phenomenal interest by the public in the "hands-on-time". They did all they could
and more, it shall not be forgotten.
j) The almost superhuman efforts before and on the day by some V.A.R.M.S. members and
members of other clubs who helped doing all the necessary tasks for this display - A VERY BIG
THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.
k) Our security staff on night duty (3 nights), Morrie Watts, Prue Cook and her dog and Chris.
Report - no incidents. Result - nothing damaged, nothing lost, what more could you ask.
l) Who was everywhere at any time? Yes it was Bill Denheld with his video camera, who
kindly agreed to spend all day capturing the happenings on the field for posterity. (More of that at
the next meeting). A great effort.
m) The bloke responsible for the weather on the day. How much do we owe him? Seriously,
the weather statistics for this time of the year pointed to a 1:26 chance for bad weather, another
reason why the 1st of March was chosen.
n) Jim French, retired Auto Electrician and his amazing home build, true replica of the very
first motor car ever built, the 1885 Benz 3 wheeler. What does it take to acquire the necessary
documentation in the first place, and then actually undertake the building of such a historically

47
important machine ? Motivation, skill and endurance - nothing less! Jim, we will have you any
time again, God willing! A marvellous attraction enjoyed by lots of spectators and kids and parents
who were fortunate to get a ride on your masterpiece.
0) Where would you have to go to see an own designed, own build 7 cylinder, 350cc radial
engine, driving a 42" propeller, actually running in front of your unbelieving eyes ? 20 feet south of
the commentary enclosure! Paul Chernikeeff demonstrated his creation with well-earned pride; a
world class exhibit no doubt. Having followed the genesis of the marvel for a number of years, I
finally went and heard it running! Model aviation will never be the same again! Congratulations
Paul!
p) Safety! The radio controlled flying displays were performed with great proficiency,
particularly considering the crosswind situation, which was somewhat interesting but was handled
very well by everybody. All pilots are being congratulated on their safe conduct and competence.
No doubt the relative low damage occurrence to aircraft was the result of this. Our sincere
condolences to Ron Schulz who has the misfortune of having his aircraft destroyed in a midair
collision during the R. C. combat sequence. Apart from this and a few undercarriage incidents,
mostly due to the condition of the runways, the level of the glue should not have altered much!
q) The public behaved very well indeed, rubbish was disposed of responsibly and the clean up
on Monday was a relatively easy job (contrary to expectations) with the help of anti wasp spray, our
practical rubbish receptacles were collected and disposed of in a jiffy.
r) Total strangers as well as experienced model aviation experts offered their complimentary
comments with a big smile on their faces, to me the ultimate proof that we are on the right track.
The following participants were elected by the public to receive trophies in 6 categories: -
Best Glider - Kestrel 17 by Bill Denheld
Best Electric Powered Aircraft - Hercules by Cam Wylie
Best Combustion - Fokker D7 by Norm Bell
Best Flying Display - "Jam" by Cliff McIver
Best Aircraft of the Show - Sabre F86 Jet Fighter by Dennis Dracup
Special Award - 7 Cylinder 360cc home build Radial Engine by Paul Chernikeeff
Our congratulations to all recipients.
The Lows
Yes, we had them too. One of them was the collapse of the driveway entrance with some cars
getting bogged. Tom wickers, with quick, alert action pulled an adjoining fence post, single
handed, out of the ground and created a new driveway. That's what you call crisis management!
Tom will tell you about some other experiences he had in preparation for the show at the March
meeting.
The other lows are being thoroughly analysed, investigated and "Watergated" by the committee.
Believe me we are fully aware of the necessary changes that have to take place in order to achieve a
better result in the future, if there should be another V.A.R.M.S. Model Aviation Air Show.
All you guys who came forward to help prepare and run the show, my most sincere thank you to all
of you,
Yours truly
John Gottschalk
April 1998 had the 51st (1997/98) Nationals being held at Waikerie S.A.:
F3B 1. Greg Voak 2. Steve Keep 3. Tim Mellor
Thermal 1. Graham Garner 2. Steve Keep 3. Mal Pring
F3J 1. Steve Keep 2. Rob Benton 3. R Cant
The May 1998 issue of Aspectivity was the 300th of the series.

1998 - 99
The Committee
President Des Bayliss Secretary Ian Slack
Treasurer Richard Weil Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director Peter Cossins Ordinary Member John Gottschalk
*Co-opted Members:- Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
*Registrar Geoff Moore *Sites Liaison Max Haysom
48
10 - 15 August 1998 - FIRST World F3J Championships
(Time 10 - 15 Aug.'98., location: Fish Meadow, Worcestershire County, England - 81 Entrants.)
An Australian Team attended, and a report will be found.)
1. Joe Wurts USA Diamond RG15
2. Jan Kahout CZE Pike Plus RG15
3. Arend Borst CAN Gazelle RG12A
4. Skip Miller USA Emerald SD 7037
5. Stefan Eder GER Stratos 3 F3J MH32
6. Henning Czerny GER Star Light MH32
7. Alex Hoekstra Ned Twister MH32
8. Peter Hoffman AUS Wizard MH32
9. Ben Clerx USA Espirit SD7037
10.Dion Liebenberg RSA Tokolosh ?
11. Bas Breijer NED Stork SD 7037
12. Phillip Kold GER Stratos MH32
Of the 297 models flown in this competition, the most popular types of models were:
Espirit 43 Elipse 22 Cobra 12 Nordic 11 Tragic 700 11
October 1998 - State Slope Championships cancelled due to lack of wind - an impromptu
R/E Aerobatics contest and was won by Geoff Moore.
9 October 1998 General Meeting night was also a “Show Nite” for member’s models with the
following results:
Scale Glider 1. DFS Reiher – Barry Dundas 2. DG 500 – Des Bayliss
Sport Glider 1. Bird of Time – Reg Neville 2. Sagitta X-Country – Peter Mather
Electric 1. Hercules – Cameron Wylie 2. Trenton Terror - David Hipperson
Best of Show DFS Reiher – Barry Dundas
November 1998 - VARMS again permitted to use the Glenfern Rd. site, use was suspended while
sale of property was underway, new owner amenable to use of slope by VARMS.

49
13 December 1998 - Inaugural "Nostalgia" Rules Thermal competition held at Brigg's Field for
models "released for publication of plans or sale of kits prior to January 1980".
For the sake of 'Nostalgia' overall, the following is a complete list of known eligible models as
published in Aspectivity 302 July 1988:-
1995 - 1998 LSF (USA) Nationals Nostalgia Sailplane Event Rules
Design Release Requirements:
*Date of Release*:
The latest accepted magazine date for the published design or the release of a kit will be 1
Jan 1980. If the kit or published design has several release dates that included modifications to the
design, only those prior to Jan 1980 will be accepted. In the U. K. the "Classic" rules stipulate 1 Jan
1983.
Airframe Requirements:
*Items That Must Duplicate the Original*:
The plane must replicate the original styling and appearance and comply with the vision of
the Nostalgia event (Vision is stated under Special Items).
Airfoil, flying surfaces, planforms, moments and surface areas, fuselage form or styling in
outline both in side and plan views, basic construction i.e. open bay wing structure, wood vs. FRP
etc.
*Items Than Can Deviate from the Original*:
Control surfaces if desired, on a plane with no glide control capability, spoilers may be
added to the upper wing surface as long as the plans do not call for any other glide control device. If
the plans have a glide control system, it must be the one used and shall not be deviated from.
If spoilers are added, they must be designed to minimize the effect on the styling of the
original aircraft. (An example would be on an open structure wing, the spoiler system must be of
minimal dimensions including the area around the spoiler bay used to attach the covering.)
Any interior, non-visible, structural modifications to enable the plane to handle modern
launch equipment and techniques, some examples:
- Substitute spruce for balsa - CF reinforcements
- Larger joiner rods - Stronger tow hook systems
- Wing incidence and decalogue - Wing mounting (bolt on vs rubber bands
- Removable or bolt on stabs rather then permanent stabs as long as the assembled position
replicates the original and visible architecture is unchanged
- Dihedral (either tips or centre or both) can be modified a maximum of 25% of the original for
personal handling characteristics
Special Items:
Radios can be any type legal to operate and electronic mixing is allowable on any set of
surfaces.
The use of landing arrestors devices is prohibited. This does not eliminate the use of a
smooth surface skid to protect the bottom landing surface of the aircraft from scratches and nicks.
The CD will have the final vote on legality for 1997 on any item not covered in this
document. Bear in mind that the vision of the event is to duplicate the spirit of the old days in
styling and form of aircraft and flying capability of said aircraft and only those changes consistent
with launch and landing safety will be allowed.
Final proof of legality of the design for this event lies with the contestant and having an
original set of plans would be the optimum way to settle any questions.
A List of Eligible Nostalgia Plans from RCM
Name Plan W'span(Ins.) Designer(s) 8/65Date
Gary I 152 48 Gerald Leak 9/65
Kahunaa 153 96 John Toomer 10/67
Erin's Lass 301 70 Don Dewey 2/68
Snipe 330 72 Phil Phillips 3/69

WIndsong 387 72 Owen Kampen 3/6
SlopeMaster 398 62 Ken Willard 6/69
Suoflex 408 79 or 99 Harley Michaelis 10/69
CliffMaster 412 62 Ken Willard 11/69
Gus 419 72 Willie Richard 3/70
Super Sonic Soarer 428 80 Willie L. Hill 5/70
Sport Evolution 431 74 Bob Brugger 6/70
Maxisailaor 449 98 Ken Willard 1/71
Orange Julius 455 96 J.W. Headley 3/71
Monterey 457 100 Bob & Roland Boucher 4/71
Esprit 468 85 Lee Renaud 8/71
Specialist V 481 106 Kevin Flynn 2/72
Little Plank 492 56 Chuck Clemens/Dave Jones 5/72
Windfree 495 99 Mark & Rod Smith 6/72
Skylark 496 144 Hack Headley 3/73
Slingsby T-53B 497 111 Bob Andris 3/73
Snoopy 498 125 Otto Heithecker 11/72?
Lady Bird MkII 505 59 Brian Shaw 7/73
Gypsy 510 64 Jack Headly 10/72
Javalaero 527 48 Ted Strader 5/73
Barracuda 536 97 Bob Steele 8/73
SwingWing(Volmer VJ-23 570 65 Vern Schroeder 10/74
Monarch 575 126 Chris Barns 11/74
Silent Squire 586 60 Bill Evans 1/75
Aquila 596 100 Lee Renaud 5/75
Standard Plank 605 100 Chuck Clemens/Dave Jones 7/75
Ridge Runner II 612 72 Dave Katagiri 9/75
Windhover 617 99 Michael Carroll 10.75
Paragon 626 118 Ed Slobod 1/76
Saracen 639 72 Bill Evans 4/76
Olympic II 643 100 Lee Renaud 6/76
Sundancer 648 98 Robert Dellacamera 7/76
N1-M 655 72 3/4 Gus Morfis 8/76
Happy Face 659 85 Erroll Williams 9/76
Zoegling Primary 668 72 Gerry Casey 12/76
Sinbad Supreme 672 94 Larry Sward 1/77
Cloud Bound 4 686 144 Don Druly 5/77
Caracara 692 126 Leonard Oakley 7/77
EZ II 695 72 Jack Headly 8/77
Cadet Ut-1 704 62 Lee Renaud 10/77
Borne Free 707 130 David Anderson 11/77
Wasp W-21 709 100 Scott Jenkins 12/77
Super Turkey 716 72 Joel Rieman 2/78
Viking 726 118 Tom Williams 5/78
Voyageur II 736 85 Terry A. Blake 8/78
WindFreak 743 100 Roger Sanders 11/78
Ridge Rat 747 49 3/4 Ed Slobod 12/78
Bird of Time 751 118 Dave Thornburg 1/790
Mirage 753 112 1/2 Blaine Rawdon 2/79
Puranas 775 53 Mark Gumprecht 9/79
RO-8 779 78 3/4 Dick Odle 10/79
Model Airplane News Plans Lists of Eligible Designs
50

Kestrel FSP09683 73 Dave Robelan
Thermus FSP05693 101 Joe Roslyn/Dick Sarpolus
Shoodl FSP06691 75 George Messetler
Eclipse FSP07692 156 Jim & Joe Matous
Nuage FSP11692 96 Jim Matous
Hamilcar FSP09722 44 Jack Headly
Phase One FSP06734 72 Chris Foss
Albatrossff FSP06744 116 Dave Dyer
Phooebe FSP10742 74 Dave Thornburg
Gulf Coaster FSP02751 108 Bert Streigler
Pierce Duckie FSP01763 120 Jerry Kranock
AR-12 FSP08762 114 Edward Kolassa
Nepelle FSP12762 72 Langdon Halls
WindShark FSP06774 96 Fred Koval/Alan kicks
The Avenger FSP11771 94 Jack Headly
Super Cirrus II FSP09781 149 Rick Reuland
Delta Lady FSP02792 56 Mike Trew
Free Spirit FSP06793 99 Lew Kincaid
Model Builder Eligible Plans
Nancy 11711 96 Jack Elam
White Trash 1723 84 & 120 Rick Walters
Yankee Gull 3721 100 &144 Lee Gray
California Coaster 6723 108 Mat Tennison
Coleen-12 9721 96 Randy Warner
Don Quixote 12721 85 Dave Thornburg
Spectral 1732 57 Andy McAfee
Briegleb HG-12 4731 100 Chris Christen
Draggin'Fly 6732 84 Duane Hyer
Quasoar II 12731 144 Niel Liptak
Glenn's "T" 4741 - Glenn Cunningham
R C Tyro Trainer 1751 -74 Hank Cohan
Top Sider 2751 - Ken Willard
Baby Albatross 9751 -122 Col. Bob Thacker
Merlin 5782 - Kevin Flynn
Afternoon Delight 10782 54 Randy Wrisely
Cliffhanger 2792 - Larry Renger
Petrel 4792 76 & 100 Jim Ealy
Percy 7792 68 Jack Headley
Pocket Soarer 11791 50 B. Lundstrom
Kits that are Eligible
ACE Questor 62" GRAUPNER
Ace High Grand Esprit 134" Cumulus 2800 110.25"
AFI Super Esprit 173" Cirrus 118.125"
ASW-15 100" CRAFTAIR HI-FLIGHT MODELS
ASW-17 132" Drifter 72' Mirage
Malibu 76" Drifter II HOBIE MODEL CO
Super Malibu Windrifter 99.8" Hobie Hawk 99"
Monterey 100 SD100 100" HOUSE OF BALSA
Super Monterey Viking MkI & II 118" Nomad 48"
Californian 115 Sailair 150" Nomad Two 61"
AIRTRONICS DODGSON Designs JP MODELS
Square Soar 72" Maestro MkIII 132" Dart 100"
51

Super Questor 80" Maestro Caliente 100" Dart II 134"
Aquila 99.9" Gull II 99" Javelin 98"
Aquila Grande 132" Todi 76" & 100" Javelin II 134"
Olympic II 99.9" Hijacker II 72" LANIER
Cadet 62" Hawk 75"
MODEL DYNAMICS BOB MARTIN MODELS BOB SMITH
Gryphon ? Cirrus 75L 120" Sundancer II 98"
100 100" MH MANUFACTURING Seabreeze 99.75"
140 140" Albatross 99.75" SUREFLIGHT
MARK'S MODELS Anser 72" Deadbeat 60"
Windfree 99.25" MIDWEST Eye Soar 72"
Wanderer 76" Hobie Hawk 99" PIERCE AERO CO.
Wanderer 99 99" Lil "T" 74" Arrow 76"
Windward 72" Silent Squire 58" 970 120"
SOARCRAFT/PACER SOUTHWESTERN Paragon 118"
Diament 116.5" Top Cat 72" STERLING MODELS
Centurion II 100" PERFORMANCE Schweizer 1-34 98.5"
Glasfugel 604 144" FLIGHT SYSTEMS C.A. ZIAC (JETCO)
Libelle 111.5" Rubber Duck 75" Thermic 50R C 47"
Magnum 12 148" Minuteman 99" Eastwind 76 75.75"
MODEL MERCHANT RALVIN Eastwind 100 99.875"
Eagle I 78" Nebula 122"
52
52nd (1998/99) Nationals Held at Toowoomba Qld. - no known results.
12 February 1999 - At the General Meeting, Colin Collyer displays a 1/4 scale "Woodstock" with
the thought that it will be taken on as a club project, (approx. 9 were built and flown).
March 1999 saw emphatic changes to Brigg's Field; installation of an all weather road and spoon
drains, removal of trees various and installation of logs/poles around Hut and Power field pits, also
installation of benches/tables.
4 - 7 March 1999 - New Zealand Soar Championships
F3B Results 1. Gerry Carter 2. Greg Voak 3. Chris Kieser N.Z.
(At the conclusion of this event, Joe Wurts demonstrated some Dynamic soaring. Using his F3B
model which was ballasted up to a weight of 4.0 Kgs., he flew repeated laps behind a 10 metre high
tree line. He initially launched from a winch, flew down behind the trees very close to the ground,
then pulled up sharply into the oncoming wind which was about 45 to 50 K.P.H., and then dived
back behind the trees. Joe was able to maintain the energy of the model and flew like this for
greater than 5 minutes.
27 - 28 March - VARMS places 3rd in VMAA Trophy held at P & DARCS.
July 1999 - VARMS institutes SOLO rating requirements for all users of Brigg's Field, to be
required for Glider, Power (I/C), Helicopter and Electric.
IT IS WITH DEEP REGRET........
On 14th April 1968, on a slope of Mt Bacchus also known as Bald Hill, north of Bacchus
Marsh, VARMS was born with the official creation of a committee with the purpose of
fostering R.C. slope soaring in Victoria.
The following article was extracted from the VMAA Newsletter of December 1998.
Although another attempt has been made to have a glider flying site known as Bald
Hill at Bacchus Marsh registered with the Moorabool Shire, it has been in vain. In fact not
only have the Shire Council refused to register the field as a glider flying site, but they have
placed a blanket ban on the use of this site for any purpose and in fact it is illegal to even enter

53
this area.
The Council is currently arranging signs for the area notifying the public that access is
not permitted. Don't travel all the way out to Bald Hill only to find that you can't have access
to the site.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not Mt. Hollowback at Bald Hills near Ballarat, but a local site at
Bacchus Marsh.

54
1999 - 2000
The Committee
President Des Bayliss Secretary Ian Slack
Treasurer Richard Weil Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director Peter Cossins Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
*Co-opted Members: Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
*Registrar Geoff Moore *Sites Liaison Max Haysom
A.G.M. July "99 - Special AWARD to Maurie Watts for "Exemplary & Diligent Service to
VARMS", and also "Life Membership".
Also in July Aspectivity (313), the following initiative to improve the safety of operations at Briggs
Field, and also generally throughout the Association.
In the interest of safety, the Committee has determined that it has become necessary to
introduce a solo rating for Gliding, Power I/C, Electric and Helicopter operations at Brigg's
field. A panel of Flight Assessors will be appointed to facilitate this process and the new 99/2000
club members card will include the pilot's current rating(s).
All members will be required to obtain a rating for glider and power respectively,
although in cases where a pilot's expertise is well known and demonstrated, no flight test will be
required. It is understood that is impossible to police activities 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
but the Committee will implementing this policy in a very pro-active way.
To obtain a solo rating it will be necessary to demonstrate a knowledge of safety
requirements, local club rules and the possession of a prescribed range of basic flying skills.
(These solo requirements are contained on a later page).
October 1999 -Aspectivity 316 contained a "revised" set of Rules for the operation of ALL types of
aircraft at Brigg's Field and are shown at the end of this 1999/2000 segment.
14 November 1999 - OPEN DAY held at Brigg's Field to demonstrate to the local community the
operation of VARMS & the use of a wide range of R/C aircraft; Gliders (all types from basic entry
2 metre models to international class competition types), Power aircraft (Internal combustion) from
basic "40" size sports models to large scale & aero-tow models, Helicopters, Electric from Electric
power-assist for gliders and Electric powered "power" including high speed pylon racing aircraft -
this event was very successful. A special feature of the day was Ray Cooper's power model with
"Live Eye in the Sky". Ray mounted two miniature TV cameras in his model, one for pilot's view
of the world and a second for a straight down view. The mobile TV transmitter and ground receive
system were supplied by Peter Cossins and the remainder of the video gear courtesy of John Bird,
Martin Hopper and Terry Cornall (Monash Uni.). The TV link frequency was 1.25 Ghz (1250
Mhz) and was used under the privilege of Peter C's Amateur Radio callsign VK3BFG.
December 1999- a tractor & slasher purchased to replace existing ride-on mower, also a second
container to house the new equipment.
8 - 9 April 2000 - VARMS finishes equal 1st with P & DARCS (Best six events = 29 points each)
in the VMAA Trophy, and is relegated to 2nd on a countback (All events 33.5 to 37 points).
April/May 2000 was the timing for the 53rd (1999/2000) Nationals held at Nowra, NSW.:
F3B 1. Scott Lennon 2. Gerry Carter 3. Alan Mayhew
F3J 1. Gerry Carter 2. Bjorn Rudgley 3. Carl Strautins
Thermal 1. Alan Mayhew 2. Gerry Carter 3. Scott Lennon
HLG 1. Carl Strautins 2. Brad Harris 3. Scott Lennon
June 2000 - VARMS members; Gerry Carter & Alan Mayhew with Carl Strautins (NSW) depart for
F3J World Championships in Korfu, Greece. Results; Carl Strautins 14th, Alan Mayhew 33rd,
Gerry Carter 60th, Team 12th of 27 teams.
June 2000 - A "One Model" contest mooted for later in the year. The model selected was the
Southern Sailplanes Thermal Ricochet using only items provided in the kit, no modern
strengthening materials were allowed but a polyhedral wing design was to be permitted.

55
G 1.
G 2.
G 3.
G 4.
G 5.
G 6.
G 7.
G 8.
G 9.
VICTORIAN ASSOCIATION OF RADIO MODEL SOARING Inc.
General Club Rules - Brigg's Field (15/8/99)
It is now a requirement of all users of Brigg's field, that they be certified to operate
"Solo" in all aspects of R/C Model Aircraft that they wish to use at this site. This Solo rating
is achieved either by Prior knowledge by the Committee, proof of same from another club,
or by being assessed in the appropriate area(s) by a Flight Assessor. All Visitors must also
meet this criteria or be constantly under the supervision of an appropriately certified club
member.
Only financial club members and guests may fly from the field. Visiting VMAA/MAAA
affiliated members may use the field providing they prove to a committee member that they
are financial members of the VMAA/MAAA, are certified to fly "Solo" (or be accompanied
by a club member certified Solo in the appropriate discipline), abide by the rules for visiting
club members, and sign the visitor's book.
The first Member to enter Brigg's Field is to leave the gate open, the last MEMBER &
KEYHOLDER to leave is to close & lock the gate after ensuring that all visitors have
departed.
The key to Brigg's Field (& other VARMS sites) is issued to all members on the express
condition that it is not lent or copied to provide non-members unauthorised entry into these
areas.
Only 29mhz, 36mhz or 40mhz AM or FM may be used at this field. (The use of even
numbered frequencies on 36mhz & the use of any 27mhz frequencies is NOT permitted).
All radio must have current (24 months or less from date of issue) MAAA certification of
bandwidth.
Frequency keys must comply with the MAAA certification sticker on the Transmitter. Only
the correct type of plastic frequency key is acceptable. The Pilot's name and frequency
number MUST be clearly indicated on the key.
The frequency control board and Key system must be used at all times, and only one
Keyboard is to be in operation for all activities.
Transmitters can only be turned on when the appropriate frequency key is in the correct
position in the keyboard.
G 10. Maximum time to hold a frequency channel is 20 minutes, and only ONE channel at a time.
G 11. Take-off (Launching) is to be clearly announced by the pilot.
G 12. All aircraft must be in a safe flying condition, any considered unsafe by a suitably qualified
member will be permitted to fly until its operational condition has been remedied.
G 13. Flying at low level (within 30 metres) over people, the car park, spectator areas, the power
field pits & incoming vehicles is STRICTLY prohibited.
G 14. Every member shall accept responsibility for flying safety and is obliged to request other
members and visitors to abide these rules when dangerous & unsafe practices are observed.
G. 15. Vehicles are not to be left on the Glider field or in close proximity of the Power field pits,
all vehicles are to be parked in the designated car park.
G 16. No aircraft is to take-off or be launched within a distance of at least 30 metres from the pits,
car park & spectator areas.
G 17. Because of possible interference to Computer Radios, the use of Mobile phones on the flight
line is PROHIBITED.
G 18. The consumption of alcohol at the field by persons participating in flying activities is
STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
G 19. No aircraft is to be flown over 300 feet altitude by Government Regulation.

56
VARMS - BRIGG'S FIELD
Powered Flight Operations
P 1. Power (I/C motors) models will be permitted to operate at Brigg's Field Monday -
Saturday inclusive.
P 2. Aero-tow tugs actively engaged in aero-towing can operate on Sundays, but operation is
not to commence until 12 noon in recognition of nearby church.
P 3. No I/C motor shall be started before 7.00 a.m. on weekdays, 9.00 a.m. Saturdays, and 12.00
noon Sundays (Aerotowing only). This is in line with the Government Noise Abatement
Act.
P 4. ALL aircraft using Internal Combustion motors (Glow, Diesel & Petrol) and Electric
powered aircraft (excluding electric power assisted Gliders) are to be operated from the
power field area only.
P 5. All aircraft motors (Internal combustion) are to be fitted with an effective muffler and the
maximum noise level is to be kept to a minimum (98 Decibels at 3 Metres).
P 6. Engines must not be run for extended periods in the pits.
P 7. Aircraft must not be taxied in the pit area.
P 8. Pilots are to stand in the designated area in front of the pits & beside the runway when flying
P 9.
power aircraft.
Power flight operations are restricted to the EAST & SOUTH of the runway intersection at
all times, except where a landing is required on the NW runway. In this case the downwind
leg is required to be as short as possible.
P 10. Power aircraft taking off on the NW runway must turn LEFT to the South as soon as
practicable to preclude over-flying the Glider field.
P 11. Under no circumstances are aircraft to intrude into airspace above the Golf Driving Range.
P 12.
When the NE/SW runways are operational, no person is to be standing EAST of the line of
the runways.
P 13. When the NW/SE runways are operational, no person is to be standing SOUTH of the
line of the runways.
P 14. Powered aircraft must give way to gliders, (Unless tugs are in use for launching). Gliders
should keep clear of the power field when it is in operation.
P 15. Landing and take-off is to be clearly announced by the pilot.
P 16. Helicopters must be operated from the Heli training area behind the Hut or the main
runways & fly circuits with other aircraft, they are not to take off or land in the pits area.

Glider Solo Rating.
(a) Situational Awareness:- The trainee pilot will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:-
(i) Frequency control and local related local procedures.
(ii) Pre-flight checks.
(iii) Launching protocols.
(iv) Landing protocols.
(v) MAAA/VMAA- and local safety rules.
(vi) Flight path requirements/restrictions.
(vii) Model weight and balance requirements.
57
(b)
Flight:- The trainee pilot must be able to safely and consistently:-
(i) Launch a glider on a bungee or a winch.
(ii) Land a glider after a downwind, base and final approach.
(iii) Control the flight of the glider in all orientations (no inverted flight requirement)
without infringing any no-fly zones or safety rules.
Power Solo Rating (Including Electric)
(a) Situational Awareness:- The trainee pilot will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:-
(i) Frequency control and local related local procedures.
(ii) Pre-flight checks.
(iii) Safe starting procedures and model handling.
(iv) Pit protocols.
(v) Take off protocols.
(vi) Landing protocols.
(vii MAAA/VMAA and local safety rules.
(viii) Flight path requirements/restrictions.
(ix) Model weight and balance requirements.
(b) Flight - Fixed Wing:- The trainee pilot must be able to safely and consistently:-
(i) Execute a take off manoeuvre standing behind the edge of the flying field (including a
taxi to take off if the model is suitable).
(ii) Execute a downwind, base and final circuit for landing.
(iii) Execute a landing.
(iv) Control the flight of the model in all orientations (no inverted flight requirement)
without infringing any no-fly zones or safety rules.
(v) Execute a procedure turn manoeuvre.
(c) Flight - Helicopter:- The trainee pilot must be able to safely and consistently:-
(i) Execute a take off to hover mode at 30 - 50 feet AGL.
(ii) Rotate the helicopter 90 degrees to the left and return.
(iii) Rotate the helicopter 90 degrees to the right and return.
(iv) Execute a circular flight pattern around the pilot returning to the start position, hover
and land.

58
2000 - 01
The Committee
President Des Bayliss/Max Haysom Secretary Ian Slack
Treasurer Richard Weil Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director Mark Withers Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
*Co-opted Members: Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
*Registrar Geoff Moore Sites Liaison Max Haysom
July 2000 - A.G.M. saw Peter Cossins awarded Life Membership of VARMS
Max Haysom awarded "Clubman of the Year".
... and James Robertson took his usual place on Committee for the 15th consecutive year since his
initial co-opting as co-ordinator of the "VARMS Expo" in 1986.
July 2000 - VARMS members/Australian team (Gerry Carter, Alan Mayhew and Carl Strautins,
with Rod Watkins as Team Manager ) compete in the F3J World Championships at Corfu in Greece
(see contests for results).
August 2000 - Max Haysom assumes the mantle of President for the remainder of the term as a
replacement for Des Bayliss who left the Melbourne area and moved to Cobden in October. ... and
Ian Slack takes over the vacated position of Training Officer to continue the Glider training sessions
on a fortnightly basis.
August 2000 Aspectivity 325 reflected the following article on a very discussable topic:
Ian Pullar placed a list of questions on the SFRC (Slow Flight Radio Control) email chat group
regarding "T vs V vs Conventional Tails". The following response (reproduced with permission)
was supplied by Don Stackhouse of DJ Aerotech, makers of a number of fine models including the
Monarch H.L. Glider.
The question - "Would be interested in hearing of dis/advantages of T, V & Conventional tails.
Have heard various theories but am confident there is a wealth of experience in SFRC group to
confirm or kill some of these.
The response(s):-
Regarding your questions/comments:
(a) Experience with outdoor craft indicates Convention to be more stable though V's keep
themselves safer when landing in grass ??
If the tail is properly designed, there should be no significant difference in the handling and
control authority of an equivalent V, T or Conventional tail. There are several different design
criteria involved that do conflict with each other a little bit, leading to some very subtle differences
in typical applications, but if there's a significant difference, that's a strong indication that
somebody didn't design the tails to be truly equivalent (more on that in a moment).
V-tails on models do seem to have the best track record in avoiding damage during typical
landing mishaps. That's one of the chief reasons I use them so often in my designs. Conventional
tails tend to drag the tips of the stabilizer through the grass (or carpet for indoor models), and T-
tails tend to impose high bending moments on the tail boom because of the high-mounted mass of
the stabilizer on top of the fin.
(b) Rule of thumb I heard was to measure the width and height of conventional tail, then make a V
tail that high and that wide ??
This is one explanation of the "Projected Area Method". That particular "rule of thumb" is
probably the single biggest culprit behind the myth of V-tails having poor stability. This widely
known (I've even seen it in college-level aero engineering textbooks written by folks who should
have known better), but DEAD WRONG method results in a V-tail that is WAY TOO SMALL.
All other things being equal, the closest thing to a rule of thumb that works well in most
applications is to make the equivalent T, V or conventional tail have the same TOTAL area. That's
right, add the area of the fin + rudder and the stab + elevator together, divide by two, and the
result is the area for each of the two panels of your V-tail.
The dihedral angle for the V-tail is a bit more complicated. This angle is what decides how

59
much of the tail's effects are devoted to pitch, and how much to yaw. In general, a low aspect ratio
wing will need a flatter tail angle (Just as a low aspect ratio wing needs less fin in a conventional
tail), and a high aspect ratio wing will need a steeper tail dihedral.
There are a several different approaches to calculating the required tail dihedral, one based
on constant control authority and the other on constant stability, with small differences between the
angles they predict. I find the constant control authority method is a bit simpler, and also seems to
give more reliable results in my experience (and this just happens to be an area where I do have a
LOT of experience). Just divide the area of the equivalent conventional tail's fin + rudder by the
area of its stab + elevator, then find the arctangent of the result. That angle will be the dihedral of
each side of the V-tail, measured from the horizontal.
If you want the included angle between the V-tail panels, just multiply the dihedral angle by
two, then subtract the result from 180 degrees.
(c) A T-tail requires less area as it is NORMALLY out of the slipstream of the wing ??
Commonly believed, but rarely true, as least for models. In the vast majority of model
applications, the stab of a T-tail has to be the same size as the equivalent conventional tail to have
the same stability and control authority. In a few cases where it is different, it is usually a very
minor difference, and not always in favour of the T-tail.
(d) However - a T might be less forgiving in the stall as it is then in the LEE of (i.e. hidden from)
the airstream as a result of its position in relation to the wing at that angle of attack. This is
often true, for both models and full-scale aircraft. There are a number of fatal accidents on record
of T-tailed aircraft in flight tests that refused to recover from a deep-stall, and carried their crews
into an early grave. However, any type of tail can have funny characteristics resulting from quirks
of the overall aircraft design. All can be vulnerable to blanking by the wing. fuselage, or other
parts of the airframe. Short-coupled and low-aspect ration designs seem to be especially sensitive
to this. If your design has unusual proportions, be prepared to deal with some surprises during
development testing.
(e) Is the relevance of the tail (T, V, Conventional) more, less or irrelevant to the plane having
ailerons ??
No, an airplane can be weird, ungainly and/or cantankerous regardless of what type of tail
it used, whether or not it has ailerons and/or flaps, or what sort of wing planform and arrangement
it uses. That's one of the things that makes airplane design so "interesting: (although on occasion
some other, less printable adjectives might come to mind!). Just remember, every time you change
even the smallest detail anywhere in the design, it's likely to have "ripple effects' throughout the rest
of the design.
August 2000 - Australia and VARMS represented at the 2000 Electric World Championships in San
Diego (U.S.A.) by Bill Hamilton, Manni Riederich and David Hobby - won by Urs Leodolder from
Martin Weberschoeck. Bill and Manni placed 2nd & 3rd in Fun Scale at a prior event, the Electric
Festival flying electric ducted-fan A4 Skyhawks.
October 2000 Aspectivity 327 contained the following item which is an excellent way to include a
NON-radio controlled glider:
The Flyaway Chuckie.....
Ever noticed how flyaway models are choosy where they land and are usually smarter than
their owners? After a number of uneventful flights of about 45 - 50 seconds, a large, high
performance free flight chuck glider built by Geoff Pentland cleared off from Brigg's Field on
Saturday 12th August. It had been very still and seemed a low-risk day. Shortly after being hurled
aloft, the tight circling chuckie hit a weak thermal, and in no time had cleared the two big gum trees
north-west of the clubhouse.
Two surprised VARMS observers called out to its pursuers to chase it north-east. Slowly
drifting away at a considerable height now and still climbing, mild consternation then set in with
Geoff and Jenny (spouse) having to take the car. Traffic now becomes a safety factor. Almost 5
minutes to find a break to exit onto High Street Road! Know the feeling? Meanwhile, one cheeky

60
model, obviously watching all this with glee, continues circling overhead, exactly where their
pursuers can't see it. Who's having all the fun now? By now it up about 300 feet.
Down H. S. R. to the lights and Cathies Lane. Turn left to go north. We'll get ahead and
wait for it" says Geoff, from experience. More traffic! Out of line of sight for a while, then Geoff
jumps out again to observe carefully. "A good flight, this one", he thinks, checking his reliable
wrist stopwatch to be sure it's still recording the time. The model comes briefly into sight again at
the 20 minute mark, then still with pursuers ahead of it, disappears once more due to obstructions
caused by houses and trees. It appears once again and is visibly estimated at about 400 feet, still
climbing serenely, but abruptly vanishes into a nasty looking grey cloud. Great shock and
disappointment! 15 years old and it had been a superb glider. Hundreds of flights and best model,
usually saved for safe, non-thermal conditions: hence its' long life! Another one 'gone to God", as
Tony Cincotta would have said.
"Ah", you'll think. "There must be more. The words aren't finished yet". Of course, you're
right. After nearly 2 weeks - and on the very day a certain gentleman in Wantirna South was about
to insert better part of the lost model into his council dustbin - the Pentlands received a phone call
from a friendly stranger, the aforesaid gentleman’s' next-door neighbour. She had found in her
garden a wing with a telephone number on it, a relic from the wreck. In the nick of time the greater
part of the model (by now considerably exposed to the elements) was retrieved from next-door and,
with some generous help, arrangements were made to collect the sorry looking chuckie, which had
now paid dearly for having a mind of its own.
With the owner now at the crash site, and having made friends with the finders, a little
detective work on the pieces indicated the all-wooden glider had been flying along steadily at its
normal glide angle, but had collided solidly with the brickwork of a double-story house. This had
caused the fuselage, tail and half a wing to thump onto a much lower Colorbond roof as the other
half of the wing fluttered next door. It seems almost everyone in the neighbourhood heard the
bang! Judging by the height of the model as it vanished into the cloud and its final resting place, it
had probably flown about 45 minutes from only a throw - and without radio.
The post mortem? Fortunately no harm had been done to anyone and Geoff reports the
model is highly repairable. Hopefully no loss to the VARMS image either. Both families knew of
aeromodellers operating at Brigg's Field and except for the occasional 1:1 dropping in, seemed to
think of them as being relatively harmless, well behaved citizens. Finally, guess who the helpful
lady was! No less than Neil McLeod's (club member & past Editor) cousin, would you believe!
Oddly enough too, Neil had been the first non-spectator to be told of the model's disappearance.
(do I hear the theme to The Twilight Zone playing in the back of my head... ...Ed). And, as for the
choice of house to drop into, there's nothing like keeping things in the flying community, is there?
October 2000 - State Slope Championships continues (not held 1999) as an Aerobatics only
competition.
November 19th 2000 - VARMS again hosts an Open Day under the same format as the previous
year, i.e. not being a top shelf display, but rather all types of flying activities involving ONLY club
members displaying their models and associated talents.

61
Chris Williams (Noted English Scale Glider Guru/personality) visits Bordertown and VARMS in
Melbourne, the following is a record of both.
Bordertown - 3-6 November 2000 Scale Regatta ..... "The Big One"
You will no doubt have seen advertising for this event during the past months. Bordertown
for the last four to five years has been the venue for those Scale Glider Guiders who like to
congregate, compete in a no stress competition, chat, swap stories, socialize and generally have a
fabulous time.
The event is the brain child of the Scale Soaring Association of Australia, who back in the
late eighties/early nineties decided to co-ordinate Scale Glider pilots who were fragmented all over
Australia. This organisation with its committee of management based in Adelaide has 82 members
in five different countries, truly an international body.
Bordertown 2000 had its beginnings in November 1999 when the association decided to
make 2000 a memorable occasion and to give it a truly international flavour, Chris Williams well
known Scale Glider Guider and Scale columnist with Quiet Flight International was approached by
Don Moreland, Secretary of S.S.A.A. to see if he would be interested in coming to Bordertown to
see how we do things down under. I will not bore you with the details, however, after a lot of work,
phone calls, emails to and from the United Kingdom, approaches were made to the M.A.A.A. which
resulted in successful sponsorships for Chris's tour. The tour would have Chris speaking in Western
Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, more about the Victorian tour later.
For my part this is the third trip to Bordertown, my two previous trips have been enjoyable,
a low key 2 to 3 day affair which had accumulated in around 60 scale models being present. So it
was with great excitement that Frank Smith and myself headed west on Friday morning the 3rd of
November, arriving at Bordertown around 4.30 in the afternoon, some 500kms after leaving home.
This year we transported our models in a full size glider trailer, but also cut down the likelihood of
travel damage on the car roof top box and the constant chafing of models in my sedan. We had nine
models packed in the trailer for our trip and came back with ten. (More about the tenth model later).
On our arrival many modellers who had arrived earlier had taken advantage of the good soaring
conditions and flying continued until sunset.
Saturday and Sunday were the main days of the Regatta, with Static judging and proving
flights conducted on Saturday and the Soaring part of the competition conducted on the Sunday.
The Soaring part of the competition required entrants to accumulate 30 minutes of flight time, this
may not seem too hard, however as most of you will know extended flights are dependent of a
number of factors, the most important being the presence of thermals. Just to give you an example,
I was privileged to time keep for Andrew Crowe, who had entered his 1/4 scale scratch built K13
model, His flight times were 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 17 minutes and to record the minimum of 30
minutes he had to undertake a fourth flight to register 20 seconds to complete the Soaring task.
Saturday night was spent at the Bordertown Town Hall, a very nice 3 course meal was
provided and Chris Williams gave a very informative talk on Scale gliding, smattered with some
jokes and his wiry wit. At the conclusion of his talk Chris was asked to draw the raffle, the prize
being a brand new ASW 24 1/4 scale model fully fitted out with retract unit and guided by a brand
new JR 3810 radio, donated by Model Flight of Adelaide. Chris Williams flew the model on
Saturday just to show the raffle entrants, that they would, in fact, be getting a flyer. Well when the
winning ticket was drawn, none other than the person sitting next to me won the fabulous prize.
You should have seen the smile on Frank Smith's face when his name was called, congratulations
Frank, a deserving winner. There was also another prize on offer when you bought your raffle
ticket, the prize was a magnificent arm chair designed and made by a member of the S.S.A.A. This
prize was won by Reg Millson of Sydney.
The good thing about Bordertown is that general scale flying does not stop because of the
competition aspect, both going on in conjunction all day. On Sunday evening at the field, prizes
were being presented to their respective winners. The gliders were broken into 2 classes, Class 1 -
all gliders where the full size prototype was flown before 1957 (this period mainly covers wooden
type gliders), and Class 2 covers all full size prototypes post 1957, this covers types right up to the

62
current time and being mainly fibreglass construction.
CLASS 1 CLASS 2
1. Colin Collyer Golden Eagle 1. Murray Wills Fauvette
2. Murray Wills Jasolka =2. Robert Goldman Foka 4
3. Robert Goldman Spallinger =2. John Copeland Fox
3. John Copeland ASH 26E
There was also a prize given to the highest placed person with a kit model, this went to Greg
Voak from Perth with a DG 500.
After the prize presentation many people departed, as they had to work on the Monday,
however, for many of us we had a very pleasant meal at a local historical homestead. For myself I
had Kangaroo steak and Emu sausages and it was an experience. It was only later pointed out to me
that I had been eating both animals that appear on our Australian coat of arms!! With the
competition having finished on Sunday afternoon, Monday was a free day with many people flying
their treasures under far less prying eyes.
Now for some statistics on the Regatta:
- Over 1500 tows, possibly closer to 2000, Chris Carpenter did over 270.
- 12 tow planes, smallest using G62 engines.
- 46 litres of fuel used.
- 103 gliders on the flight line with at least another 20 assembled in the hangars or in trailers.
- 110 at the dinner on Saturday night.
- 60 registered pilots plus "ring ins" on the day.
- Over an hour of Radio Air Time.
- 2 weeks of TV commercials = 150 airings.
- Every state represented.
- Brief visit for longest journey, Geoff Fox from Canberra for dinner and Sunday morning
.....3200kms.
- Most fun. Ian Moreland and Alexis Scott, after prozac and vallium.
- Don Berry with the only pilot induced crash.
- One other crash with flight pack failure.
- Two props broken by John Gottschalk.
- Three new members on the Weekend.
- Biggest give away prize at any flying meeting, $3,000 of prizes.
- Most models by any one registered pilot. Colin Collyer with a hangar full.
- Loudest laugh, David Nash after a 40 minute flight with Condor.
- Biggest mistake, Bordertown and Kieth Gliding Club running out of bread for hamburgers.
- Oddest look, Chris Williams when asked if he wanted an Emu sausage at the BBQ.
- Most often quoted saying, "Australia for the World Scale Sailplane Championships".
- Most diplomatic person, Colin Collyer when explaining 40 Mhz.
- Most emotional, Ian Moreland when getting a bottle of wine at a frequency debrief.
- Best scale sailplane pilot - EVERY ONE of the 60 who registered.
And on a final note again many thanks must go to the Scale Soaring Association of Australia
for organising a truly remarkable Regatta, the event sponsors and the judges who gave their time
over two days (they 'flew in" a Grob 109 motor glider to the event)
Geoff Hearn (signing off from the Scale Glider event of the Millennium).
Note: After returning to Melbourne with Geoff and Frank, Chris Williams provided a Lecture &
Discussion night the night before the usual VARMS meeting, then attended the brief General
Meeting/Auction the following night and followed that with a "Get together flying session" at
Brigg's field the next day.
December 2000 - Martin Weberschock (German and world class exponent of F3B glider & F5B
electric) also visits Melbourne for lectures and flying demonstrations.
Purchase of a Slasher to complement the new tractor and mower arrangement.

63
27 - 28 January 2001 - Camperdown Fly-In - Camperdown
Peoples and their Models:
Glen Salisbury F4U Corsair/Macchi MB-326/Spitfire/Skeeter HLG/Canberra/PC-9
Max McCulloch F-86 Sabre/Airbus/Spitfire/60" Pylon Racer
Mark Withers P-51D/KA-1/Sabre
Mark Doyle Combat Wing/ASW???
Colin Karn Combat Wing
David Downs Mungo flying Wing/U-2(Foam)
David Rowlings Macchi(foam)
Kevin ????? (All Sabre
David ????? from F-18
Kent ???? Canberra) Fox
Colin Collyer Schweizer 1-26
Greg Voak Tragi/Zagi Combat Wing(Dynamic Soaring on Mt. Leura)
Ross Bathie Ventus
Colin Smith Ricochet
Tom Wickers Decathalon 1:1 scale
A demonstration of Dynamic Soaring (DS) was provided by Greg Voak off Mt Leura using a Zagi
Combat Wing, very impressive. DS is the not so subtle and sometimes hair-raising art of slope
soaring from the leeward side of a hill or ridge.
April 2001 - 54th (2000/01) Nationals held at Busselton W.A. - Nil report yet.
10 May 2001 - At the General Meeting Colin Collyer initiated yet another "club" project to be taken
on by those members desiring to each scratch-build their own scale model in a group, - the subject
is to be a Schweizer 1-26.
At this juncture an article is repeated that first appeared in Aspectivity 295 of November 1997,
and is worth a re-run, again because of Colin Collyer and the Schweizer 1-26.
This article, written by Dave Thornburg (of Old Buzzard Soaring Book fame), appeared in R/C
Model Builder in February 1980 and I thought it deserved another run and may be of interest to
some of you. My thanks to Colin Collyer for sending it to me. (Editor - Alan Connelly)
It might look tough, but scratch building a "scale" model is really no great trick, says our
author. Here are four scale designs to help you out of the polyhedral rut.
Whatever happened to scale sailplanes? Back in the late '60's and early 70's, when R/C
soaring was just beginning to blossom here in the U.S., scale and near scale models dominated the
flying fields. Sport fliers and serious competitors alike spent their weekends with the Graupner
"Cirrus", the Astro Flight "ASW-17", Soarcraft's Kestrel 19" and the Fliteglas "Phoebus". Even
Mark Smith's "Windward" and "Windfree" designed especially for competition, had the torpedo
fuselages and long lean wings of the typical full-scale sailplane.
Then along came a couple of "new" ideas, both of them borrowed from free flight. The first
was lighter wing loadings. The Europeans, who dictated early designs, were flying mostly slope
and windy-weather thermal. Our conditions were milder and our terrain flatter, so American
designs began to evolve towards lightness. Balsa, spruce and plywood replaced heavier and more
expensive glass and plastic fuselages. Wide-chord wings replaced narrow ones, often on the same
fuselage. Light airplanes not only stayed up longer than heavy ones, they hit the ground a lot softer
at the end of each flight. Under many conditions, the wooden fuselages even proved stronger than
fiberglass. For Americans, lightness was here to stay.
The second new idea was polyhedral. Kit designers such as Lee Renaud (Olympic 99), Ed
Slobod (Pierce Arrow), and Tom Williams (Windrifter) changed the whole face of soaring by
adding free flight dihedral to their wingtips. What is this? Everyone asked. Real sailplanes don't
got these funny-looking wings; why put them on models? But the new designs TURNED when you
hit rudder control ... turned instantly, and held a tight circle at a high bank angle without "sliding
down a wing" the way V-dihedral ships often did. Polyhedral ships could ride smaller, tighter
thermals; they could be turned and banked closer to the ground without fear of snagging a wingtip.

64
In short, they took less skill and forethought to fly, and made a lot of us mediocre pilots look pretty
good. Soon they began to win all of the contests, and realistic sailplane models faded into the
background.
Which is too bad, because a lot of satisfaction of modelling comes not from the flying itself
but from the daydreaming that takes place at the design table and the building board. Some of the
most satisfying soaring flights I've ever had were flights of fancy, dreaming of how 'this one' is
going to look up there in its first thermal, or floating across base leg and turning final. And nothing,
repeat nothing, flies as realistically in the imagination as a scale model.
Please don't think I'm arguing for a return to "realism" in soaring. Nobody loves a
polyhedral floater like I do ... I even fly 'em on the slope! Light polyhedral sailplanes make no
pretence of imitating the flight of full-scale ships; they imitate instead the hawks and vultures and
falcons who ride "the rolling level underneath him steady air" that Hopkins describes in his poem
"The Windhover".
All the same, I never drive past a glider port without picking up just a bit of a charge from
all those big birds sitting patiently beside the runway, one wingtip on the ground, as if they were
thinking of pole vaulting themselves into the sky. And when all those little charges build up, as
they do every two or three years, I find myself dragging out my ragged collection of factory threeviews
and line drawings and poring over them, dreaming. That means it's time to build another
scale ship, just for a change of pace.
Maybe I should explain what I mean by "scale". I have neither the talent nor the patience to
build scale the way Colonel Bob Thacker builds scale. Or Doc Hall. Or Gordon Pearson. These
people take a full-size sailplane and reproduce it in miniature, bolt by bolt, rivet by rivet, hour by
gruelling hour. When one of these flying museums goes up the line, everyone holds their breath,
including the pilot. That's too much tension for me ... a constant, nagging low-grade fear every
second you're in the air. Just like flying a borrowed model on 27 Mhz.
On the other hand, there's no thrill left in dragging out the old Cirrus. Sure, it looks a lot
like the real thing up there in the sky; two crossed toothpicks at 1500 feet. But that dime store
plastic fuselage! And that canopy full of servos and pushrods, where a pilot (or at least an empty
seat and a joystick) oughta be!
"Scale" to me, means something between these two extremes. Maybe the term "Semi-scale"
or "Sunday scale," would be better. It has to be realistic-looking, both in the air and on the ground.
But it can't have so many hours in it that I'm afraid to take it flying every weekend. And it shouldn't
copy the real thing so lavishly that it flies like a plaster saint. It has to have a few design
compromises that will make it a worthwhile performer.
Take the Schweizer 1-26, for example. It's still America's most popular sailplane ... you'll
find one to model at almost every gliderport in the country. Pictures, three-views, instrument
layouts are all easy to come by. In the past, I've modelled the '26 in 60, 90 and 100 inch spans.
Right now I have one on the boards with a full ten feet of wing. But the 1-26 has some problems.
On the 120inch version, the fuselage scales out to around 62 inches overall, and that's fine. But the
maximum fuselage height, just behind the wing leading edge, comes out at more than 10 inches, not
including wheel and skid! If you build the 1-26 to exact scale, it's going to look awfully fat around
the middle. And it's going to be a drogue dog in the sky. What I do is slim it down about two
inches in vertical height and one inch in max width while I'm drawing up the plans. Not only will
the resulting model fly better, it will actually look more realistic than a true-scale model.
Perspective plays funny tricks on the human eye when objects are scaled up and down in size ... ask
any sculptor.
A second problem on the 1-26 is its airfoil. Nobody in their right mind would hang an
airfoil like that on a model; it looks like a badly deflated balloon, a piece of restroom graffiti, a
second-hand bubblegum cigar. How it produces lift, even in full scale, if one of the sweet mysteries
of life my granny used to sing about. I've always suspected that the 1-26 is what makes the ship a
perfect one-design competition sailplane; pilots tell me that nothing the factory or the individual
owner can do seems to change the plane's performance much, so a 1-26 contest becomes truly a

65
contest of piloting skills.
What the 1-26 needs for good performance in the model is a clean moderate-lift airfoil
pirated from an Aquila Grande (Bravo) or a Bird of Time (Bravo again). Or, if you have the
ordinates, an Eppler 174, 176 or 178, unless you're a heavy handed builder and plan on a 12 to 16
ounce wing loading. Then you'll want a high lift/high drag section to slow her down a bit. Don't go
to undercamber ... the situation isn't that desperate ... Just grab a good old Clark Y.
Another one of my favourites among the Schweizer series is the 1-29 (in factory language, it
means "single place, design number 29.") The 1-29 came about in the mid-fifties, when Schweizer
first began experimenting with laminar-flow airfoils. They stuck a constant-chord wing with a
15.75 aspect ratio onto a stock 1-23G fuselage and tailfeathers, and it sure does make the plane
easier to model than the stock 1-23 ... no more wings that taper down to nothing! If you ever
encounter a real 1-23, you'll be struck by how tiny the fuselage is in cross-section, especially when
sitting alongside the 1-26. This is another bonus to the modeller who's interested in performance.
Once I Built a 90-inch 1-29 and, bored with its flat bottom performance, put together a set of
wings with a laminar airfoil to fit the ship. After all, the real one has laminar wings, no? I don't
remember what airfoil I used ... one of the Wortmanns recommended for modelling ... but I
distinctly remember the results! It was the only airplane I ever owned that would fly with its nose
down! To make it fly well at all I had to was increase the wing loading from a stock eight to over
twelve. Then it would stroke across the sky (this was at the slope) at nifty speeds. But manoeuvres
of any kind were out, because the instant the airspeed fell slightly below Fast, the whole airplane
fell out of the sky! Stalls were absolutely without warning, and recovery depended on having
LOTS of altitude. Mr Wortmann and his 16% wing sections haven't had much of my business
since.
Incidentally, the 1-29 was a "one-off" design, and as far as I know the Schweizer factory at
Elmira still owns her. Please don't pester them for pictures, as their PR department isn't set up to
promote a twenty-year-old design. The 1974 Sailplane Directory put out by Soaring magazine and
the SSA has a picture of the 1-29, as well as all the other Schweizers. (Ever wondered what a
Bowlus Bumblebee or a Slingsby Kirby Gull look like? This directory has them all, including a
wealth of homebuilds. No three views, however). The very best info available on Schweizer
sailplanes, including three views of everything from the Schweizer 1-1 (1929) to the 2-32 is Air
Progress for Oct./Nov. 1964. It's going to take a good library, or a very good friend, to locate the
book, but it's worth it. Twenty-five pages of photos, drawings, company history. The lovely old
TF-2 military training glider from WW-II. The Schweizer 1-6, world's first all-metal sailplane,
build in 1937. The 1-6 looks for all the world like a Baby Bowlus in a suit of armour; waiting for
her turn at the winch, just in front of an old Franklin Utility. I flew a 72-inch 1-6 off the slopes in
New Mexico for years ... the wing is still hanging in a rack over my head as I write this. Talk about
ugly!
Now a word about drawing number three. There's a shape only a Thornburg could love! It's
the old "Wolf" sailplane, designed by that German Chap who invented the idea of circling in lift,
Wolf Hirth. About 52 Wolfs were build, but don't look for one at your local gliderport; the only one
in the U.S. was back in ol ' Virginny when the 1974 Soaring directory came out. The Wolf has one
of those lovely bird-like undercambered airfoils from the '30's and '40's. Don't use it! If you must
build undercamber for authenticity; try the Eppler 387, or a nice clean NAAC 4409.
The final drawing is my only concession to fiberglass, a Glasfugel "Club Libelle."
No see-through surfaces on the bird! To duplicate, you need a lot of block balsa and white
Monokote. The full-scale airfoil is a laminar, of course, and again I'd recommend something
thinner and more nearly flat-bottomed, such as the Eppler 176.
Would I recommend your trying to build from the drawings shown here? You bet!
(Drawings actually not included in the History, but they are in Aspectivity 296, or try other
sources). I've build dozens of models from just such thumbnail sketches. What you want is a plane
that captures the essence of a particular full-scale machine, not a museum piece. All you need to
scale up the drawings is a straightedge, a ruler marked to at least sixteenths of an inch, and a very

66
sharp pencil. A pair of dividers is a help, but not absolutely necessary.
Suppose you decide on an 80-inch Schweizer 1-26. First you measure the wingspan of the
drawing, which should come out around four inches by the time the R/C Model Builder layout
people, photographers, and printers are through with it. Four inches divided into 80 will give you a
multiplication factor for all dimensions; in this case, 20. Draw a sharp, thin datum line on the side
view of the 1-26 drawing. This datum line can be anywhere on the fuselage, or even above or
below it. The purpose of the datum is to have a single straight line from which to project all
measurements. I like to make my datum line coincide with one of the major lines of the fuselage,
such as the turtledeck-fuselage joint line in the drawing. But for clarity, I've shown a sample datum
line down below the fuselage.
Second step is to project all major intersections of fuselage lines down onto the datum line
... the tip of the nose, the front of the canopy, the wing leading edge, wheel etc. This done, you just
transfer your datum line, blown up to twenty times its length, onto your drawing paper, and mark all
the intersection points accordingly. Now all the longitudinal measurements of your fuselage are
defined. Next comes the vertical measurements.
Measure carefully (here's where a pair of dividers comes in handy) the exact distance up
from the datum line to each of the intersection points on the drawing, and by multiplying each by
20, transfer it to your big plan. For example, the wing leading edge may be 6-1/4 inches above the
datum line on the big plan. Mark it so, then find the distance from the leading edge on up to the top
of the canopy and mark it also. When you're through projecting all these points, you should have
enough points on your big plan to play "connect the dots," and come out with the outline of a 1-26.
Don't forget to slim it down a bit before drawing it in solid. (If you have more patience at freehand
drawing ability, then you may want to scale the drawings up using graph paper, instead. I'm only
describing how I do it, which is much quicker, but admittedly less accurate.)
Great, you say, I can see how to draw the outlines of a scale model on a sheet of paper, but
that's a far cry from designing a plane that can be built. How do I go about that?
Simple. You steal building ideas from every plane you ever built, every kit you've ever
looked at, every plan that's been published in the magazines. For example, consider the structure of
the (very) semi-scale Schweizer that I built back in New Mexico, years ago. Nothing tricky here;
sheet balsa sides. a few blocks glued to top and bottom, carve away everything that doesn't look like
a sailplane, hollow out everything that's left with your dremel tool. Wings were 1/16 sheet, top and
bottom. Empennage was all sheet balsa. The beauty of planes this size (100 inches) and smaller is
that you can usually find a Sig canopy that will fit, by merely snipping both ends away, and they
look reasonably to scale.
For ships like the Wolf, which were mostly stringer-and-fabric, you can build a solid box of
sheet balsa, like an Olympic II fuselage. to carry the stress of wing mounts, stab, towhook etc., and
glue "half-moon" formers around the outside of it, add a few stringers and some white Coverite and
presto ... you've got a really authentic-looking old timer. With very little. Sound easy? It is!
Leave all that super-detailed scale stuff to guys like Colonel Bob, who have the patience for it.
Build yourself a Sunday Sailplane and go fly.
**********

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2001 - 02
The Committee
President/Sites Liaison Max Haysom Secretary Sam Panettieri
Treasurer Richard Weil Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director Mark Withers Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
*Co-opted Member: *Registrar Ian Slack
Des Bayliss awarded Life Membership at the July A.G.M.
October 2001 - VARMS prohibits the operation of Gas Turbine powered models at Brigg's Field.
November 17 & 18 saw a VMAA instructor's course held at P &DARCS and was attended by the
VARMS Training Officer Ian Slack - he subsequently attained his Gold Wings and Instructors
rating for Gliders.
December 2001 - The Brigg's field Hut has had lighting installed to complement the use of a
recently purchased generator for those Twi-Fly meetings.
55th (2001/02) Nationals held at Albury/Wodonga :
Thermal 1. Alan Mayhew 2. Greg Voak 3. Max Kroger
F3J 1. Jack Murphy 2. Daniel Haskell 3. G Whitfield
F3B 1. Greg Voak 2. Bjorn Rudgley 3. Alan Mayhew
HLG 1. Richard Frawley 2. Gerry Carter 3. Ray Pike
January 12.2002. Scale Aero Tow day at Brigg's field saw many of the latest 'club project'
(Schweitzer 1-26's) in action. Owners of same were Danny Malcman, Ron Fox with Col Collyer's
help (first aero-tow flight), Barry De Kuyper, Landon Flere, David Downs and Colin with his own.
Also flying was Dave Weller with a Woodstock, Andrew Clyne/DG 600, Theo Arvantakis/ASW 28
and Garry McDougall/K8. Aero-tower was John Gottschalk with his Piper Super Cub sporting a
new colour scheme.
CAMPERDOWN 2002 . (Editor - Colin Smith)
... it's a bloody long way away when you've got to sit at 80 kliks down that rotten Geelooooong
road, but these are the things we have to endure to enjoy the best slopes in Victoria (unless you
know some better ones ?) Anyway, I dawdled my way down on the Friday so that I could get set up
in peace and then enjoy the Saturday's flying all the more. Saturday and what a day !!! In the
morning the wind was from wherever it needs to be for it to be on at "Coverdales", and although the
wind was fairly light and slightly off the slope there were a lot of scale planes in the sky. Ian Slack
had recently managed to complete his Gold Wings/Instructors course and although he started with a
Ricochet a slight problem with its tail feathers resulted with him finishing the tasks with his well
flown Woodstock. Congratulations to Ian, he is the first to get his Gold Wings for Gliding. After
lunch the wind swung straight on the slope and brought with it most of Victoria. I counted 18
models in the air at one time, before I ran out of fingers and toes, and there were 28 cars parked on
the paddock. It was a good job the owner and his son spent most of the afternoon with us because
the sky was full of scale planes and some riff-raff, but they were all having a ball. Far too
numerous to name them all, but Max McCullough's Airbus was assaulted in the air by Des Bayliss's
machine and both survived. (Oh yes you did Des ... there is video proof !!...Ed) and then Max
decided to abort a landing with the Airbus and flew, very slowly, right over the crowd, obviously to
pick up some passengers, but he forgot some and had to do it again !. He was severely growled at
by all and sundry, but they appreciated it was an accident. "From the left" was the most popular cry
and most planes were over the fence and 30 metres away from the flight line, however there are
always a few who want to be heroes and some even flew fast passes between the fence and the
crowd, not good fella's ... more like sheer stupidity ... because you wouldn't have a leg to stand on
insurance-wise in the case of an accident. Col Collyer debuted a 5 metre Discus and Ian Slack and
Colin Smith put on an impromptu synchronised display with their Woodstocks, consisting of two

68
loops followed by a roll to left and right followed by the applause from the crowd. Great Stuff.
Sunday, and the wind was almost but not quite right for The Doctor's, but as he could not be
contacted, it was a no-fly zone. Early after lunch we got a phone call from Martin Lui and mates
who had tracked down the owners of Mt Elephant and got us permission to fly. 4 to a car and some
bouncy models and we were soon crawling our way up a steep path to the flying site. WOW, what
a view, and the wind was full on the slope, blowing 15 - 20 knots. The landing area is very rough
with rocks of all sizes, but that didn't stop Theo lobbing off his Fox which excelled in the
conditions. Soon there were 6 to 8 planes airborne from foam wings to Max's little Spitfire. He
took his eyes off it for just a moment and couldn't find it again !!!!! In hindsight we all put our
models into a violent manoeuvre when this happens, don't we? Well, Max tried to find it by
keeping it straight and level and eventually had to give up and call for help. Kevin Robertson and
Steve Malcman scrambled to the bottom of the hill and scoured the area and Ian Slack went for a
walk round the side of the hill but all to no avail ... It was lost, and it was Max's favourite !!! It just
goes to prove how quickly 'events' can overtake the most proficient flyers, so if you happen to visit
Mt Elephant keep your eyes open for a little lost Spitfire 'cos its still up there ... somewhere. A
contribution towards the upkeep is required but we are always welcome at the Mount, but we soon
left as another phone call let us know the Doctor had been contacted and it was on. Perhaps it
should be renamed Carnage Corner from now on because the wind was only just on the slope and a
bit fickle to say the least. Steve Malcman landed his Fox right at the bottom of the slope, and
Andrew Clyne impaled his DG up a fir tree, Col Collyer had to bring his Swift in quicksmart and
suffered a slightly broken tailplane while Kevin Robertson had a severe case of dumb thumbs and
decked his Woodstock. Denis Hipperson's Kestrel suffered some sort of problem and bit the dust,
literally, and there were a couple more mishaps I think before the wind did a quick 180 and The
Point was where all the action was. From warm and sunny to cool and blustery in about 5 minutes,
but the lift was ballistic and the sky was soon full of all sorts of models, again I could only count 12
at any one time, all wanting to fly before the rain hit. With the air so crowded, and the planes
confined to a relative small area of lift it was a case of waiting for it to happen, and happen it did.
Theo's Fox, which he was flying all over the sky and at ballistic speed had an encounter of the
terminal kind with Max's all foam Sabre, both finding terra firma in an undignified manner. The
rain ended flying for that session and people drifted back to Melbourne leaving a few of us to enjoy
a cuppa while the campsite emptied. Late afternoon saw the sun come out at about the same time as
we hit the Point for some more action... and what action... Denis had his V-tailed 'thing' buzzing and
what a joy to fly it was. Colin Smith put his Schweizer 1-26 through its paces, proving that a nearly
8lb lump can enjoy a bit of a brisk blow and was soon joined by Col Collyer flying a similar
machine. No synchronised aerobatics this time as cold thumbs dictated a landing for Smithy who
found out all about the tip stalling characteristics of the 1-26 ... they bite badly when slowed down
too much but only another fin bent, so easily fixed. Max McCullough got his PSS
Aircobra/Kingcobra (they look the same to me) airborne and had a great fly and Des Bayliss did the
same with his DGwhatever (again they look lovely but I can't tell the marque). A Great Afternoons
Flying and the evening was spent solving the problems of the world whilst emptying Martin
Hopper's abundantly filled cake tin.
16/17 February 2002 - Mystery Scale Weekend (Apollo Bay)
Gary McDougall KA 8 1/4 Bruce Howard Kestrel 17 1/5
Ian Slack Woodstock 1/4 Bill Hamilton Discus 1/3.5
Colin Smith Woodstock 1/4 Brett Solonov Discus 1/3.5
John Lee Schweitzer 1-26 1/5 Andrew Clyne DG 600 1/6
Peter Jordan Schweitzer 1-26 1/5 Colin Collyer Foka 5 1/3.5
Barry De Kuyper Woodstock 1/4 Theo Arvantakis ASW 28 1/5
David Down Schweitzer 1-26 1/5 ????? ASW 20 1/4
????? KA 8 1/4 ????? Woodstock 1/4

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Aspectivity 344, May '02 reflects the current membership totalling 255 with members being rated
as "Solo" in the following categories:
Glider 97 Glider/Power 28 Power only 16
Glider/Power/Elec. 10 Glider/Elec. 7 Glider/Power/Heli. 4
Glider/Heli. 1 Power/Heli. 1 Power/Elec. 2
Glider/Power/Elec./Heli 1 Electric 1 No Classification 87
June Aspectivity 345 advises on the demise of the "One Model" competition after 2 seasons. It is to
be replaced with a "VARMS Trophy" event to be run throughout the year for Rudder/Elevator only
models up to 2 1/2 metre (100 inch). Part-time 'Sports" C.D. Peter Cossins is to control the event.
Also in this mag., was a report on the occasional Slope Training days being organised by current
OIC of Training, Ian Slack.
VARMS finished the Fiscal year of 2001/02 with the knowledge that the upgrading of High Street
Road would have an emphatic impact on the entry to this site, and that the probable implementation
of the Scoresby Freeway along the East side of this flying site could result in extremely severe
repercussions for the use of Radio Controlled aircraft in this area.
The following extracts from an earlier Aspectivity are extremely worthy of inclusion:
Competitions will be for Spot landing and Limbo. If there is sufficient lift there will be a
freestyle aerobatic event to be judged by grace and smoothness of flight.
and also ...
During this time our flying meetings have progressed from memorable affairs characterised
by spectacular flying problems and intricate electro-mechanical devices in control equipment
(remember galloping ghost, tissue covering, reeds etc.) These days our sophisticated plastic aircraft
with their fit-and-forget digital radios groove through aerobatics and pylon races almost to
perfection (well other people’s do any way). However, with this perfection, are our meetings any
more interesting)
Both of these items originate from the same magazine, Aspectivity No. 25 of June 1972 – it
seems some things have changed, and some things haven’t!!

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2002 - 03
President/Sites Liaison Max Haysom Secretary Sam Panettieri
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director Mark Withers Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
*Co-opted Member Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
Registrar
Ian Slack*
July Aspectivity 346 reports final membership figures 2001-02 as at 265, an all time record.
At the July AGM 2002, Geoff Moore was awarded Life Membership.
This magazine also contained the results of the 'new' VARMS Trophy with an overall total of 29
contestants segregated into two grades :-
'A' Grade 1. David Pratley 2. Gerry Carter 3. Ian Slack (11 contestants)
'B' Grade 1. Simon Messer 2. Noel Young 3. Gary McDougal (18 contestants)
July 1st 2002 saw the introduction of a rule to standardise winches used in competition, being, that
the L + W + D of the battery must NOT exceed 635mm in total, the battery being of the
conventional lead acid type.
August 2002 Aspectivity (347) reveals Colin Collyer commencing yet another scale 'club project' to
follow the Woodstock and Schweitzer. Nineteen members have signed on to create their very own
1:5 scale MÜ-13 E (Bergfalke I) which should have a 3 metre wingspan.
Sept. 2002 - VARMS to consider permitting use of 27Mhz frequencies at Brigg's field. This is to
cater for the increased sale and use of "Park Flyers". (Better to have them flown in a controlled
environment than in local parks). The keyboard would need to be upgraded to accommodate this
activity.
September G.M. also included a Special General Meeting to change the Statement of Rules to
include a Membership Registrar as an Officer of the Association, prior to this time this person was
co-opted to Committee.
Aspectivity 349, Oct. 2002, report of the activity at the "Scale Aerotow & Fabric Model Rally" held
at Brigg's field. (Report by Colin Collyer).
I must say I was pleasantly pleased with the way the first Fabric Day turned out. I'm new at
this organising thing, but with a little help, WE got the job done. Firstly the field..... it looked
great..... Martin (Hopper) and his mowers had it at its usual state, mown. clean and green and he had
then pulled some strings with Mark Withers and magically white painted lines appeared simulating
a full size runway. The centre-line was particularly hard to 'hit'. Then to top things off, the weather
co-operated.
From early on models started to appear, gliders that I hadn't seen for yonks. Andrew
Crowe's K-13 and Doug Anderson's T46, both lovely big models. (I was parked next to Andrew
when he got the K-13 out of his car... it was covered in quite thick dust ...Ed). Lots of Woodstock's
and 1-26's which meant that tugmeister John Gottschalk was kept very busy. More fabric aircraft,
like 4 Piper Cubs, both big and small. A modern Aerobat and yes it did qualify because the tail is
fabric covered same as the metalled winged, fabric tailed, 1-26's. Angelo Favaloro brought his big
Tiger Moth plus his Fairchild but the star of the show was the Kinner with its 5 cylinder radial
engine. Apparently it hasn't flown for some time and was a bit 'gummed up', and took a
considerable time before it was fired up. Being able to borrow 5 glow-drivers at a glider field is
pretty impressive. The sound was superb... a real show-stopper.
Unfortunately I have mislaid the piece of paper I meticulously wrote all the models and their
owners on, so must apologise for that. I can only say that there were lots and lots of models both
with and with-out engines, flying or static, it all made for a very enjoyable day, and I thank them all
for turning up and that was what really made it such a great success.
Also in the October Aspectivity was the publication of some equalising with the 'Power' fraternity,
in that, procedures were at last recognised so that Glider Guiders could now achieve Bronze and
Gold Wings standards:

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Bronze Wings for GLIDERS (2 May 2005)
The current requirements are as follows:
The Pre-Flight requirements are;
♦ Dexterity: The pilot must be able to locate all the transmitter controls quickly without
fumbling.
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
Theory;
The pilot must be able to name all major components of aircraft and define functions
including effect of controls and have a thorough knowledge of safety rules and
regulations.
Airframe & Pre-Flight Check;
Check centre of gravity location and signs of structural or covering problems that
could effect flight e.g. Controls neutral and control throws correct, presence of warps
which could effect trim, state of battery and range check.
The Flight requirements are;
Demonstrate twice with reverse direction of landing pattern:
Launch.
Straight flight from low release for 30 seconds into wind.
180 degree turn overhead to perform a figure eight.
Rectangular approach pattern and a good landing within FAI landing circle (15 metre
circle).
Gold Wings for GLIDERS (2 May 2005)
The current requirements for Gold Wings are as follows;
♦ Within one flying session (at each venue), comprising of up to 4 flights, demonstrate
that the pilot has the competent basic skills to perform the following manoeuvres;
♦ Task One- Thermal
♦ Pre-Flight as above (for Bronze).
♦ Launch
♦ 5 Seconds inverted flight
♦ 2 consecutive loops
♦ 2 tied 360-degree turns in each direction immediately following each other.
♦ Rectangular approach pattern with a good landing within 3 metres of a spot.
♦ Task Two- Slope
♦ Pre-Flight as above.
♦ Launch.
♦ 10 seconds inverted flight.
♦ 2 consecutive inside loops.
♦ 1 outside loop.
♦ Flight time must exceed 10 minutes.
♦ Model must have a good landing within 30 metres of launching point.
The 56th (2002/03) Nationals were, as for the previous (55th),again held at Albury/Wodonga
because the allocated site, RAAF Amberley, was unable to be used because of security
requirements. Victoria came to the fore and volunteered yet again much to the delight of many
modellers across Australia who thought that it 'would not happen'.
Thermal 1. Marcus Stent 2. Alan Mayhew 3. David Hobby
F3B 1. Greg Voak 2. Gerry Carter 3. Ross Ginder
HLG 1. Marcus Stent 2. Max Newcombe 3. Evan Outtrim
7 Cell 1. Brett Solanov 2. Col Collyer 3. David Hobby

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March 2003 sees the VMAA issuing Policy statements on the following subjects;
1. Frequency Synthesised Equipment. Radio equipment using this process can now select from
within itself, any frequency from the entire range and is permitted to be used.
2. 27 Mhz Equipment. The use of 27 Mhz has been reinstated but only on 5 channels NOT used by
C.B. Also, models using these frequencies must not weigh more than 500G, or have a power source
greater than 9 Volts. The use of 27 is OPTIONAL for each club.
3. Frequency Directive - 10kHz separation. It is now legal to operate equipment on a separation of
10kHz, however, extremely stringent testing criteria must be adhered to, including specific
placement of pilots on the flight line. This directive is OPTIONAL for each club, however, if clubs
choose to follow this path, a new Metric Silvertone keyboard must be used. Frequency keys used
with this new board will not fit into the older style boards.
April 2003 Aspectivity - front cover features a photograph taken at Camperdown over the Labour
Day weekend, of 9 of the Schweizer 1-26's that were build as part of a club/scale project, another
Colin Collyer enterprise.
May 23 2003 - an incident occurred at Brigg's Field that was reported to the Australian Transport
Safety Commission..
This incident involved a model being flown by a VARMS member and a Bell Jet Ranger
helicopter carrying out survey work along the line of the proposed Scoresby Freeway (Eastern
border of the Brigg's Field flying site).
. The helicopter pilot reported that, while flying at 1,000 feet, a red coloured model approached to
within 200-300 metres of the helicopter, at the same altitude.
It is known who was involved and there are several members and independent witnesses
who state that the helicopter was at a much lower altitude, and at a safe distance from the model at
the time of the incident. A response to VMAA/MAAA for ATSC has been made.
Irrespective of the outcome of this incident/report, the club must take this matter very
seriously, this being the first reportable incident in 20 odd years of flying in these environs.
Notwithstanding that a response has not been received by the club after making its report,
the following procedures are to come into effect immediately:
NO aerotowing is to take place without an appropriate observer for Tug and Glider pilots,
No power model operations above 400 feet,
All competition type gliders are not to be launched to full height unless an observer is present
for each pilot actually flying, in case of a competition a Timer qualifies as an observer.
This incident was subsequently "closed out" by the VMAA.
Aspectivity 356 of June 2003 reports the attendance of the VMAA "Executive" at the General
Meeting in response to a VARMS' letter expressing concern with the current insurance situation
and that they were investigating obtaining their own insurance.
Also in the magazine and article demonstrating the strength of the scale environment with the
following report.
Anzac Weekend 15-27 April 2003 - Scale Rally - Swan Hill
Those who Went and What they flew:-
Brian Spencer Airspeed Tern Greg Potter ASW 27
Colin Collyer ASK 18, ASK 14 elect., Martin Simons PWS 101,Weihe,
ASK 8, Swift, Zefir
Condor
Chris Carpenter Wilga Tug Gary Whithead ?
Danny Malcman Schweitzer 1.26, Discus Tony Grieger Eindeker Tug
David Whitten Kestrel Trevor Barnes Kirby Kite
Murray Wills Jantar, Swift Theo Arvantakis DG 300, Ugly Tug
Kyle Walker DG 600 Terry Clayton L33
David Down Kestrel, DG 600, Schweitzer Mark Hunt Fox, Cub Tug
Andy Smith ASK 15 elect., Kestrel, Neville Leo 1:1 Scale motor
L Spatz Tug
para glider
John Gottschalk Corbin Baby Ace Tug Vernon Gibson DC660 & Tug

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Knut Neuman Discus Denis Hipperson Woodstock
Harold Elliot Site(?) seeing only Bruce Howard LS elect.
Barry DeKuyper Tandem Falk elect., Kestrel Rob Goldman Salto
Tim Morland Schweitzer 1.26, Foka 5 Brett Soloman Discus
Ron Fox Schweitzer 1.26, ASW 27 Hayden Letcher Nimbus
Note: at this scale gathering a new group called the Scale Soaring Association arose out of the ashes
of a similar group that was now dysfunctional. The new group has a very strong nucleus of
VARMS members, with a good mix of staunch long-time supporters as well as quite a few new
comers to this aspect of R/C.
The MAAA Newsletter No. 3/ June 2003 contained the following:
Internal Navigation Systems
At the 2003 M.A.A.A. Council Conference the council defined a Radio Controlled Model
Aircraft. This definition effectively rules out the use of internal navigation systems in model
aircraft. The definition as approved by the M.A.A.A. Council is listed below.
For the purpose of the M.A.A.A. operations, a radio controlled model aircraft is defined as;
"A non-man-carrying remote controlled device capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere
not exceeding the weight limitations established in the M.A.A.A. Manual of Procedures. The
operators of such devices shall maintain control without the assistance of onboard autopilots or
navigation systems that would allow for autonomous flight. The operators of Radio Control devices
shall maintain visual contact with the device during the entire flight operation."
A model aircraft flown in contravention of this policy would not be covered by the
M.A.A.A. insurance policies.

2003 - 04
The Committee
President/Sites Liaison Max Haysom Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor Colin Smith
Contest Director David Pratley Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
Registrar Ian Slack Ordinary Member Jim Robertson
Public Officer
Richard Weil
The 2002-03 VARMS Trophy results:
A Grade 1. Ian Slack 2. Gerry Carter 3. David Pratley
B Grade 1. Grant Pearson 2. Leon Carlos 3. Colin Smith
Overall Winner GRANT PEARSON
RCGA Thermal League results for 02/03 (best 6 competitions)
1. Gerry Carter 2. Rod Watkins 3. Russell Thompson
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A new scale group has been formed out of the ashes of previous situations - Scale Soaring Australia
(S. S. A.).
August 8th General Meeting was the scene for a static Scale Competition organised by David
Downs with the following results: Judge - Colin Collyer
Best Scale Glide by a Rookie(first timer) Leon Carlos Bergfalke
Best Scale Glider Doug Anderson Slingsby T 46
Best Cockpit Doug Anderson Spacewalker 1:3
Best VARMS SIG Leon Carlos Bergfalke
Best Internal Combustion Scale Doug Anderson Spacewalker 1:3
Best Electric Scale(Indoor or Outdoor) David Hipperson Morane Saulier EP35
Best Power Slope Soarer (PSS) Max McCullough Aircobra
Best In Show, Member's choice Doug Anderson Spacewalker 1:3
Best In Show, Judge's choice Doug Anderson Slingsby T 46
Special merit awards Barry De Kuyper Tandem Falke
and Angelo Favaloro Stinson 108
Other entrants:- Tim Morland, John Gottschalk, Theo Arvantakis, Geoff Moore, David
Hipperson, Tim Lennon, Bernie Sizer, Steven Miller, Rob Goldman, Ivan Smith, Colin Smith, Bill
Wheeler, Frank Smith.
14th September 2003 saw the first F3F Slope (Pylon) competition for a very long time, held at Mt.
Hollowback with 15 entrants.
Results: 1. Gregg Voak 2. Richard Frawley 3.Tom Dupuche
28 September 2003 - successful occurrence of the State Slope Aerobatics Championships,
1. Ian Cole 2. Des Bayliss 3. Colin Smith
Of the 8 contestants 6 flew Ricochets.
HORSHAM - November 1, 2, 3, 4.
Colin Collyer
The major scale glider event for Scale Soaring Australia has been held and
what a beauty it turned out to be. I took Harold Elliot's advice and went via Marong
and whilst not exactly a short cut, it did provide a scenic drive through some parts
of Victoria I had not seen before. As it was cold, wet and windy I knew I was not
missing any flying. Arriving about 2 p.m. it was apparent that others had the same
idea as maybe half a dozen others were setting up. Horsham, being a new venue, I
did not know what to expect having been spoilt with the Bordertown airfield. Well,
down to the end of a short dirt road, on the right was a model flying field about
VARMS size and on the left the "Wimmera Field Days" camping facility with over 400
sites but with 4 power outlets should be adequate! The amenities block had

75
everything we needed with male and female toilets and a porta shower. Basic, but
far more importantly there was plenty of hangarage for our models. This consisted
of one big three sided shed and a smaller lockup shed., Horsham township was
about 10 minutes away with lots of motels and takeaways and most importantly, a
well stocked model shop right at the top of the main street ... ... perfect for our
needs.
Saturday started with one rain shower in the morning and a bit of wind
greeted the early birds (about 8 a.m.) The wind flew across the field and while
takeoff was o.k. landings has a row of trees to negotiate with nobody attacked. We
had about 50 gliders and a few motor gliders but importantly there were at least 5
tugs, some of which could tow small 3 metre gliders vertical! Of these models I
think 12 or 13 entered the scale comp (scale glider comps are still not overcrowded.
The comp slowed down the general flying as comp models had tug priority but with
the rate the tuggers were operating you would never have known. The club had a
normal frequency board which worked perfectly and also provided excellent
barbeque facilities for brekky and lunch. We had 3 flyers from New South Wales and
50 / 50 from South Australia and Victoria. As for models, the whole spectrum was
covered, big, small, medium, museum standard to plain (no markings or pilot), T
tails, V tails and No tails. Some of the larger models were 3 x 1/3 Fox's and a Swift,
2 x 1/4 scale Swifts plus the little Schweizers (about 5) for the aerobatic flyers, and a
couple of Woodstocks which don't know they are not supposed to be aerobatic!!!1
(Mr. Ed and Slacko again doing their aerobic routine). (The documenter suggests
that whilst the Editor can do aerobatics of sorts, aerobics is NOT within his sphere of
capability). A 1/3 Nimbus plus a DG 600 and a Nimbus 4 in 1/4 scale for the high
performance end.
On Sunday the wind was even lighter and by Monday it had stopped, but
people were still flying even as late as Wednesday. As my notes have gone AWOL
here are some of the club building group models which attended.
1/4 Scale Bergfalke's Collyer, Reaby and Favaloro
1/4 Scale Woodstock's Collyer, Slack, Smith, Hipperson/Keep
1/5 Scale Schwiezer 1-26 Collyer, Slack, Malcman, Hopper, Morland,
Down.
On Sunday Mark Doyle has his ASK 13 thermalling against a fluffy cloud a fair
way down wind and I overhead a couple of fullsize pilots remark that "a fullsize has
come to join the fun". Now that's what scale is all about, having people think they
are seeing full size machines when in fact it's a model!
Full marks to the Horsham Club, they provided us with really first class
facilities and did it all with the absolute minimum of fuss ... ... We thank them.
This was the first scale thingy that I had attended and while a bloody long
way to get there, it was well worth it. Admittedly we stayed at a caravan site and
had to drive the 10 minutes or so to get to the flying field, but the event was very
well run and worth it just to see those 'clipped rotor choppers' going up vertically
with a 10 footer behind them, fantastic. Average tow turnaround time was about 3-
4 minutes from 10 till 4 with an hours break for lunch and fuel.... with 3 of them
going flat out all day you can do the maths for how many launches they did over the
three days. (between 650 and 750 launches!!!!) The good thing was that you landed,
joined the queue, had a chat and were up again very quickly. Definitely a meet to be
repeated ...... Oh, and the wife enjoyed the long weekend away as well ... ... ... ... Mr.
Ed.

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November 11th, 2003 saw the following claim lodged with the FAI for World Record by a member
of VARMS, as follows:
Class F (Model Aircraft)/Claim number: 7982
Sub-class: F5-S (Aeroplane, electric motor with rechargeable sources of current)
Category:
F5 - Radio Controlled flight
Type of record: No 173 - Gain in altitude
Course/location: Boralma (Australia)
Performance: 2,573 metres
Pilot:
Raymond Cooper (Australia)
Date: 09.11.2003
Until this claim is ratified, the current record is:
2.200metres, set 19.11.2000 - Wolfgang Schaeper, Germany.
The record was ratified early in 2004 and for his efforts, Ray was elected into the MAAA Hall of
fame at the 2004 Annual Council Conference, and was presented with certificates for both at the
May meeting by Darryl Gunst, VMAA President.
November 23rd, 2003 will see the opening of the new State flying field at Darraweit Guim. (Up the
Hume and out through Wallan) Northern Flying Group is the caretaker resident club.
Opening Of State Field – Darraweit Guim
Peter Cossins
The State Flying Field was officially opened on Sunday 23rd of November 2003. As part of
this opening ceremony it was planned to cameo as many aspects of model aircraft as possible. This
included demonstration flights by Control Line, Pattern, Scale, Fun Fly, Helicopter, Electric, Old
Timer, Pylon and of course, Glider.
I was approached by the VMAA to get together a demonstration of Scale Aerotow, Electric
and also High performance Thermal Glider. John Gottschalk agreed to be the Tug Pilot whilst Theo
Arvantakis was to provide examples of Scale glider, Ray Cooper had the dual task of flying his
record breaking electric 'Big Bird' (together with live downlinked video and telemetry) and later his
Electric Scale Fournier.
The Cameo flight ran to plan until it was time for John to tow Theo's Glider. VARMS
member and expert heli flyer Lindsay Henderson was in the middle of his flight with the keyboard
inoperative and frequency control being handled by the VMAA C.D. There had been some
unforeseen clashes and some re-organisation of the flight schedule had occurred. The C.D. asked
John to start up and John concurred. Guess what ... ... ... John and Lindsay were on the same
frequency and Lindsay's Helicopter went in head first. After a short while, allowing Lindsay time
to pick up the pieces, John was again requested to start up. Engine running now only to find that he
has lost rudder control ... ... ... no flight was to occur at this time. The demonstration flights had lost
their impetus by this time and the official opening ceremony was imminent.
John retired to fix the minor rudder problem and the VMAA Officers, to their credit, took
full responsibility and financial accountability for the Helicopter's demise.
Whilst initially and understandably 'p' off, Lindsay took it all very well and come over to
John to let him know that he was aware of the situation and who was responsible. John was not
feeling too good as we all know he has had a bit of bad luck lately, one way or another. Lindsay
and John fly regularly together at Brigg's field and will continue to do so in the future.
I guess the lesson here is that under pressure, all of us can make mistakes. The safety factor
of using a keyboard was missing in that part of the event, I am sure that it will not occur again.
After the official opening and a short display by a 3/4 scale Mustang, a Ryan and a
Chipmunk from Tyabb, the field was open to general flying. It was decided by our group that we
would still showcase gliding as best we could under the circumstances.
Gerry Carter had not yet flown and I was in the pits when Gerry made his first launch. This
resulted in quite a few gasps and exclamations, (jeez, etc., etc.). I suspect that many of our power

77
model friends has never seen the like!!!!
John and Theo successfully undertook two aerotow flights that also created quite a bit of
interest. Again, I suspect it may have been the first time some modellers had seen this aspect of
flying.
The State Field is certainly a great venue with plenty of space available all around. The
Northern Flying Group have done a fine job in getting the area up to a very high standard. Whilst it
is a long way from the population centre of Melbourne, it will be available as a flying field for
Victorian Modellers in the future which is a good thing.
An issue for us is to encourage the VMAA to get an increased height clearance which is
currently insufficient for Thermal glider. Also, perhaps funding could be made available for
another site more towards this side of town?
NOTE:
The RCGA held the State Thermal Championships at the State Field in
May 2008 as a two day event, and also intends to continue doing this in the future.
February 2004 saw the passing of Leo O’Reilly after a long illness. Leo was the founder of Model
Flight (South Australia) and was very involved in many aspects of modelling over many years both
at State and Federal level. Leo was also an associate member (245) of VARMS many years ago.
CAMPERDOWN – March ’04 (Labour Day weekend) Colin
Collyer
Another good Camperdown was enjoyed by many. Scale gliderer’s have very few competitions but
we do have several good scale events. For Victorians, Camperdown is the only slope event and
therefore attracts a different clan and this year was no exception with many arriving long before the
long weekend, but I hear the wind was not booked so very little flying took place until Saturday
arvo. I arrived Friday well after dark and it has just started to rain, and by morning there was quite
a blow and still a few showers about. No flying so I went looking for a little local aerodrome..... did
not find it but I did see some lovely local properties, one in particular suggested that there was a few
bob knocking about. On entering the property over the cattle grid the drive was dead straight and

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about a mile up to the house that was set at the end of it, complete with circular garden that I drove
around to get to the front door. Alas, no one was at home, but if gave an idea of how rich the area
was in better times...... Still could not find the aerodrome.
As for the models and flying, there were lots, some I had not seen before, particularly a
couple of ASW 27 and ASW 28’s, possibly R2C kits, one by Chairman Mao (Martin Lui) did not
fly due to radio set up problems. Also there was a Pilatus B4 and a Multiplex LS3 from the
Doncaster mob. As usual they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Mark Withers had a couple of
whoppers, a “Big” Swift and 5 metre Nimbus, couple those with Mark Doyle’s 1/3 scale Salto and
there wasn’t much room left in the pits. They both has ASK 6’s in different scales and all got a
good airing without being upset by the Riff-Raff. Mark W tossed his ASK off just as the wind went
walkabout and ended up scratching by the waters edge, using the shadow to judge height... he was
that low.... amazingly he got it back and deserved the round of applause! Ian Slack had a go at the
same trick with his 1-26... its first flight and he got it back as well with thanks to Knut Neuman who
talked him through it. It certainly improves your thumbs when you’ve got a wet background. Even
one of the P & DARCS brigade managed to land on the road by the lake without putting it in the
wet stuff. The gods were smiling that weekend. Brian Spencer must have upset them ‘cos he nested
his Pelikan in a tree top overnight during torrential wind and rain, but it was thrown out during the
night and returned to his van at 7.00 the next morning by John Lee (7.00 am Urgh !!!... Ed ) Other
notables... Barry DeKuyper’s Woodstock flying when only the floaters were staying up... Ross
Bathie’s Japanese Primary Trainer looking just like a Jap primary trainer would look and sound,
those scale bracing wires emitting quite a hum... Max McCullough’s Lear jet PSS zooming around
and looking very scalelike (Max’s time in the air was limited due to him developing GOUT in his
right elbow. He got a lot of stick through it, especially as it was his right elbow, but it can be very
painful... Oh, and he lost forgot where he put his kettle lead... Ed). As for me, I flew my Bergfalke,
the 3440 Zefir restoration, the ¼ scale Plank which thermals remarkably well and my trusty
Schweizer 1-26 for a few aerobatics. The Pakenham group had a great tine, complete with the
chaos that comes with only flying gliders once a year.... AND... the sight of Darryl Gunst (VMAA
Pres.) flying a glider and loving it. Peter Harris, Chief Flying Instructor, struggling with a rudder
elevator model and Darryl Gunst both having a ball once they realised there was no motive power
up front. The go faster stick is DOWN elevator fellas. The latest craze seems to be semi-scale
Lunaks and 1-26’s flashing about close... some sort of scale Riff-Raff I suppose?.
April 3 & 4 saw the running of the VMAA Trophy , VARMS 5 th .
Club was represented by:
Points
David Pratley Musical Landings 1
John Whittaker Old Timer Duration 1
Colin Collyer Fun Scale 1
Steve Malcman ARF Aerobatics 3
Ray Cooper 7 Cell Electric 6
Gerry Carter Thermal Glider 6
Peter Cossins &
Steve Miller Most Unusual Model 3
Total points 20 Winner DAC with 32.5 points
….. and extracted from Aspectivity 367 of June ’04 – advice from CASA that Brigg’s
Field is registered under a permanent NOTAM with height clearance to 1,000 feet
(with an observer),
and also …
Scale Aerotow—Wagga
Colin Collyer and David Down
Lockart is a small town 65km from Wagga Wagga in NSW. The town is about two thirds

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the size of Camperdown and generally is flat, very flat. The local glider club is really several large
sheds with a kitchen and an East – West runway. The NSW’s scale flyers Wayne Hadkins and Tim
Nolan organised the event in conjunction with the Lockhart Glider Club with the aim of running
simultaneous operations. The club flew several full size gliders towed up by a winch while we aero
towed. This all happened on the same piece of runway and the whole thing was something to see
with real gliders on the winch. The local news crews came to get it on the TV and the newspapers
had a photographer out and about. Lockhart is quite a drive but I felt it was worth the trip just to
see the co-operation between the two groups. I hear the Germans do this type of thing frequently.
In the light wind prevailing we all took off to the West but the full size were landing from the West
and often parking the glider back in the queue at the end of the roll out. Touch down was about
halfway down the strip! Great airmanship. As you can imagine it is dry, the best part is you know
there are thermals as you can see Willy Willies spinning all around you which means thermals are
everywhere. Around midday on both days the thermals were fantastic. Lift here, there and
everywhere and not much sink. I think the sink may have been left down at High Street Rd. for the
weekend. Did I mention it was dry? I hope the rain does come because it’s very dusty, in fact I’m
still looking at the dust now as it’s in the car and then on me wherever I go after leaving the car.
The crop next to the strip was burnt a few weeks ago so I have a fair bit of the blackened wheat
stubble in the car and trailer as well.
There were a lot of models not seen by us Victorians before and the really spectacular ones
came from Bill Bland from Sydney. Big Salto, Big Fox and really big ASW28 complete with
winglets and half scale measuring a whopping 7.5 metres span. (full size is 15 metres). You would
need a kidney belt just to lift the fuselage! On the ground it looks a bit bulky amongst the other
models but in flight was completely convincing. Sadly, on the fourth flight it had a midair with a
third scale ASH26 completely wrecking both models and they were the only two models in the
air!!! Needless to say a deathly silence came over the place a bit like when John G’s Elfe went
down years ago….. not much flying was done afterwards. Meanwhile the full size were having a
great time with passenger flights and at dusk one of the Blaniks did a sunset flight complete with
beatup, coming down the strip at about 1 metre…. Through the sunset and then up into a steep
banked turn, touching down back through the sunset and then proceeding to taxi back down the
strip to the hangar….. Impressive. The ability of the Blaniks was amazing, not all that fast but they
just went on and on and on and on and on with their wings level.
Saturday nights dinner was at the Serviceman’s club with good beer, good food and warmth.
The night was topped off with a Quiz, the modellers and the fullsize pilots presenting 16 questions
to be answered by the opposition. The modellers won by 1 point and there were some great
questions—How many World champs has Ingo Renner won? – What was Fred Noinvilles Tiger
Moth called? – Who was the second man on the moon? -- All good fun aided by the usual glider
fuel!! A small price to pay for what was a great weekend of flying, flying, more flying and a lot of
socializing mixed in with good friends. We had a great time at this event and like all things new it
took a bit of getting used to the local surroundings and field procedures. Each glider pilot required
an observer during simultaneous operations so we all had a chance to buddy up with old and new
friends. From a VARMS point of view Tony Greiger flew his new glider and didn’t tow, while
Kyle Walker flew his converted ARF Stick and had his first of many tows under the guidance of
Theo Arvantakis and Steve Keep. David Hobby bought a glider from Colin Collyer and promptly
won the pilots choice award for the best model. That’s one way to win. Mark Withers, Mark Doyle
and Greg Voak hooked lots of thermal with great models and Bill and Rose Hamilton dropped in
for a visit on the way home from an east coast holiday. With folks from NSW and SA we had a
ball.
Now that we have a better understanding of how to interact on the field I feel this will be a
good even to go to as we see a lot of NSW and SA blokes and their fantastic models. We are
getting spoilt with Scale glider meetings, and the following will whet our appetites…
October – Lameroo; November – Horsham and Bendigo, March – Camperdown, April – Swan Hill,
May – Wagga. (Now that we have a State Flying field why can’t we arrange an interstate event out

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there? Surely that is what it is for? … …Ed). From May until the end of September is prime
building time so get to it and join in the fun. No real competitions, and everybody has to start
somewhere so, beginners, get your name down on the Schweizer group and get ready for some pure
unadulterated enjoyment.
I am told by a trusted source that Mr Collyer also lost a model in a most spectacular way
…. Evidently he was stuck on tow when the tug pilot pushed the tug’s nose down and rocketed
earthwards … complete with Col’s plane (K18) still firmly attached. After the first wing snapped it
was out with the bin bags big time and everybody helped to pick up the pieces. By all accounts one
of the first casualties was a big Swift that lost radio on take-off and was totalled. Comments from
the gallery about Bill Bland’s lately lamented big ASW28, was that the rudder post came up to
David Down’s knee and David ain’t exactly short of a few inches and the rudder itself resembled
half a surf board. David’s 6 metre Lentus looked positively tiny alongside these monsters.
The ‘Up-grade’ to High Street Road is now complete making it a dual carriageway with two lanes
in each direction. General clearing work is being undertaken in the general area also as preparation
for the Scoresby By-pass (Mitcham-Frankston freeway).
5-7 June 2004 – 27 th LSF Tournament at Jerilderie:
1. Matt Wood, 2. Michael James, 3. Carl Strautins.

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2004 – 05
The Committee
President/Sites Liaison Max Haysom Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor Colin Smith/David Jones
Contest Director *David Pratley* Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
Registrar/Sports C.D. Ian Slack Ordinary Member David Weller
David Pratley remained on as a ‘token’ C.D., when in fact the responsibility for the major
competitions was shared between the RCGA competitors, and the VARMS Trophy was catered
for by Ian Slack and Peter Cossins
At the A. G. M., Max Haysom was awarded Life Membership for his constant and ongoing
work for VARMS.
Another tireless worker for VARMS, Jim Robertson, did not seek re-election to Committee
having already completed 18 continuous years serving the Club in this area.
VARMS Trophy 2003-04 : I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who
participated in the 2003-04 VARMS Trophy. As those of you who attended last months meeting
would know, prizes have been distributed, but here is a full list of who won what! The prizes were
awarded to those members who attended the competitions consistently and not necessarily for
performance. Prizes and pilots were both drawn from a separate hat to ensure absolute fairness by
the Committee members.
Finally I would also like to thank all of the generous sponsors who made the prize pool available to
participants of this event. Peter Cossins Contest Director.
Tim Lennon Prelude kit of choice Southern Sailplanes
Leon Carlos Hitec Autopilot Models & Hobbies 4U
Roger Stevenson Isis Thermal Glider kit(2 Ch.) Saturn Hobbies
Ian Pearson ARF Thermal glider Model Engines
Bruce Clapperton JR Rx, 700 Model Flight
Maurice Lloyd ARF Thermal glider Model Engines
Colin Smith Epoxy & Rubber bands Hawthorn Hobbies
Fee structure for Financial year 2004 – 05
Annual Subscription (All Members) VMAA Affiliation (Flying Members only)
$ $
Senior 90.00 Each Senior 140.00
Pensioner/Student 55.00 Each Pensioner 133.00
Junior 25.00 Each Junior 113.00
Family 90.00
Social(Newsletter) 40.00
VARMS completed the 2003-04 year with a total of 256 members.
4 th July saw Ray Cooper celebrating yet another successful World record attempt. He established a
new Goal & Return Distance of 54.3 km to overtake an existing record of 6.21km and another
attempt of 20.02 km pending recognition.
Details: The Record:
Category: F5 : Radio Controlled Flight
Sub-class: F5S (Aeroplane, electric motor with rechargeable sources of current).
No.: 171 : Distance to goal and Return – 54.3 Km.
Date of flight: 4 July 2004

Pilot: Ray Cooper
Course/Place: Tungamah (Victoria)
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The Model:
“Little Bird”
Airframe: Standard construction from Balsa, Ply and covered with iron-on-film.
Span 1.8 metres
Total Surface Area: 45 Dm. Sq.
Weight: 1696 grams.
Motor: Hacker B40 21L, geared 5.2:1
Prop: Aeronaut 15” X 13” with 2.5 deg. twist in centre piece
Motor Battery: eTech 1200 Li Poly cells, 6 series 4 parallel
Radio Control System: JR 3810 TX, R700 Rx, 3 x JR331 servos, 1 x NiMh 650Ah Rx Battery
Controls: Rudder, Elevator, spoilers and ESC for motor
Cruising Airspeed: 55 Kph approx.
A World Championship for Australia & VARMS
August 2 – 8, saw the World F3J Championships held in Alberta, Canada;
Results were 1. David Hobby VARMS/Aust.
16. Carl Strautins Sydney
31. Gerry Carter VARMS/Aust.
Team result 3 rd Australia
Team Manager was Bjorn Rudgley, with Helpers Theo Arvanitakis (VARMS) and Ziggy Kusiak.
This is the FIRST time an Australian has won a World Championship Glider event and the
best ever result for an Australian Team. (See full report elsewhere.)
August 13 – General Meeting and David Down’s Scale Night, and what happened.
Tim Lennon Dewoitine D520 PSS
Rob Goldman ASW 2YE Electric Best Electric by Judges
Gary McDougall Minimoa Glider
Steve Lunney Mustang PSS
Tim Lennon Focke Wulf TA-152H PSS Best PSS by Rookie
Andrew Allen Schweizer 1-26C Glider Best by Members
Ivan Smith Boultan & Paul DEFIANT PSS
Angelo Favaloro Tiger Moth Power Best Power model
Max McCullough Handley Page Victor PSS Best PSS by Judges
Frank O’Neill Woodstock Glider Best from Special Int. Group
Roger Stevenson DG 800 Glider
Ivan Smith Focke Wulf TA-152H PSS
Steven Malcman Fox Glider Best ARF
Daniel Malcman Schweizer 1-26 Glider
Lew Rodman Auster J1 Power
Steve Miller Sopwith Camel Power
Antony Howard A10 Warthog PSS/Electric
Colin Collyer ASK 14 Electric
Steven Malcman Bea Hawk PSS
Colin Collyer Bergfalke 1936 Glider Best by Judges
Ross Bathie Schweizer 1-26D Glider
Colin Smith Lo100 Glider (EPP) Best cockpit
Judges:
Geoff Hearn and Doug Anderson.

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September 2004 – The minutes of the VMAA Executive for this month reflect that a “new”
Silvertone 36 Mhz Keyboard was presented initialy to VARMS, and then to the Corangamite Model
Aircraft Club for use at the Camperdown slope soaring sites. The keyboard was mounted on a
frame that also contained allocations for the 29 and 40 Mhz frequencies. It is hoped that this new
keyboard will assist in preventing any frequency mis-management and also displays a sticker
exhorting modellers not to fly when under the influence of alcohol.!!
The Radio Control Glider Association (RCGA) has been the mainstay for open glider competitions
in Victoria since its inception in December 1994. At its AGM in September 2004, the following
statistics relating to contest participation were provided.
Year Total No.
Competitors
Competitions
flown
No. who
attended
all Comps
No. who
attended
6 Comps
Highest
attendance
Lowest
Attendance
2004 25 10 5 13 17 12
2003 26 9 4 14 21 10
2002 29 9 3 11 17 11
2001 31 10 1 8 19 10
October 2004 saw an announcement from the State Government that the contracts for the building
of the “Scoresby Freeway” had been signed. This action confirms serious problems for VARMS
and its occupancy of Brigg’s Field.
The Minutes of the VMAA October Executive meeting reflected the following item:-
SLOPE SOARING at Charman Road. (Cnr. Charman/Beach Rds., Beaumauris-Mentone area.)
Under MAAA rules and guidelines this site has been deemed not safe for Model flying. Kingston
and Bayside city Councils have been informed that this site is not safe for model flying.

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(This is a decision that VARMS came to in the mid 80’s and advised all members of its decision,
also removing the map of its location from the “Starter’s Kit” provided to new members.)
AspectivitEE in Colour
November 2004 saw the birth of AspectivitEE with the production of Aspectivity No 372 under the
guidance of the new Editor David “Numb Thumbs” Jones. AspectivitEE provides for delivery of
the club magazine by electronic means/email for those who preferred this method to ‘snail mail’.
The posted version remained in Black and White printing whilst the electronic version was
produced in full Colour and also contained additional photographs in colour, all of which would
have made the original magazine too large and expensive. With many members electing to receive
the electronic version, overall costs for the production of the magazine have fallen significantly.
A sample of the first colour front cover follows:

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November 2004, Aspectivity No 372 also reflected the following article.
The death of “The Tree” at Camperdown
You may or may not be pleased to learn that the nemesis of RC gliding at The Point in
Camperdown, known as “The Tree”, has met its demise. The 80-year old tree was felled on the
weekend by the council, as The Tree was deemed unsafe. This was largely due to the damage
inflicted upon it by two men attempting to retrieve their glider from the clutches of The Tree’s
upper limbs.
It appears that the men decided that the only way to get their $125 glider back was to
attempt to cut down the tree with a woefully inadequate chainsaw, leaving The Tree with gaping
cuts around its base. Be warned that R/C gliders may not receive the warm welcome they are used
to, the next time they visit Camperdown. In the meantime, hopefully the persons involved will tear
their house down to get the footy off the roof.
(It should be noted that the glider ‘exited’ the tree the following morning, entirely of its own
accord and was promptly impounded by a Shire official. It should also be noted that the glider
was a ‘Prelude Plus”, and that the “alleged offenders” received their initial flight training from
a member of VARMS).
Some 12 months after this incident, the more senior of the “alleged offenders” was duly
prosecuted and fined nearly $4000 for his efforts!!!
December 2004 and Aspectivity 373 announces that the magazine is now available as an
“Electronic Edition”, emailed to all those who are happy to receive it that way in lieu of the ‘snail
mail’ paper edition. It will usually contain extra pages of photographs.
April 9 – 10 VMAA Trophy
=1 st Doncaster (DAC) 27.5 6 th Peninsular(PARCS) 18.0
=1 st Northern (NFG 27.5 7 th VMAA 12.0
3 rd VARMS 23.0 8 th Geelong (GMAA) 8.0
4 th Nepean (NMAA) 20.0 9 th LaTrobe Valley (LVMAC) 0.0
5 th Pakenham (P&DARCS) 18.5
May 2005 – Aspectivity 377
JERILDERIE – Scale - 2005
by Gary Mac (Dougall)
(This article is NOT related to the LSF Tournament at Jerilderie, but could be the fore-runner to
more such SCALE gatherings in the future.)
On arriving at Jerilderie and proceeding to the racecourse I found a big inner circle of the
racecourse totally clear of any obstacles. You could land anywhere you liked. I checked in and
paid the entry fee of $20 which gave us 4 days of flying and a wide brim hat with the words
JERILDERIE 2000 printed on the front. I think it was good value.
It was a little bit windy at the start but it died down a bit so we were able to start flying.
This was good because people had come from Surfer’s Paradise, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Unfortunately for me on my 2 nd flight I got into a spot of bother with the tow release and snapped a
wing off the KA8 and, as you know, they don’t fly too well with one wing. Down it came to
mother earth and into a 100 bits. The wing that came off landed in a paddock about one and a half
kilometres away. It was found by the farmer who kindly returned it to the flying field next day. So,
back to the trailer and select another one!
Bill Bland had come down from Sydney with his van chock a block full of large scale
gliders and a tow plane with a 3 metre wingspan and 120cc twin cylinder motor on the front end.
Just the size needed as there were some big gliders there to be towed up.
There were 2 off Ventus 2C (I think this is the correct name), one belonging to David Hobby

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and the other one which had an electric motor mounted behind the pilot belonging to a flyer from
Sydney. Both had 6.8 metre wing spans and looked very impressive in the air and when coming in
to land. Unfortunately for David, on Sunday he got mixed up when making an adjustment to his
transmitter. He looked back up and followed the wrong plane as his model was going down
elsewhere. It was a complete write-off.
Greg Potter made the journey over from S.A. to fly his yellow Lunak and was having a good
time catching plenty of thermals. Steve Keep was flying a Lunak as well . Ziggy Kusiak came all
the way down from the Gold Coast to join in the fun. Normally Ziggy flies F3B competition but
wants to get into more fun flying. He certainly had fun over the weekend with his ¼ scale 4m wing
span Pirat and got onto some good thermals. On Sunday Bill Bland gave him a lend of his
Piccalario variometer. He had a grin from ear to ear and was like a kid with a new toy! I don’t
know if Bill was able to get it back off him or not because he was sure having fun flying with it.
Mark Doyle had his beautiful looking Reiher 3 – 1/3 scale – 5.4 metre wing span with gull
wings. This plane looked beautiful in the air. He also had his big ½ scale 5.2 metre Salto 101.
Also from Victoria we had Theo with his 1/5 scale Minimoa and his big Nimbus which had a tangle
with a tuft of grass on take-off and performed a cartwheel, snapping a wing. Also, we mustn’t
forget our ever reliable tug pilot Tony Greiger who likes to relieve the pressure of flying his tow
plane with a bit of thermal flying with his 1/5 scale DG 500, 3.6m wingspan.
At the initial pilots briefing Greg Voak had explained that we were going to fly with each
pilot having a spotter or caller standing beside them to make sure that there were no planes flying
on collision courses with each other. This was also to make sure that the field was clear when
coming in to land. I think this worked quite well and I think it should become standard practise as it
makes for pretty good safe flying, and, after all, that is what we all want.
On Sunday there was an Aerobatic competition for anyone who wanted to try their luck. In
1 st place, Greg Voak, 2 nd place Colin Collyer – 136 points, 3 rd place, Steve Keep with 124 points
from the 5 pilots who entered, and the winner of the PILOTS CHOICE OF THE MOST POPULAR
MODEL, Mark Doyle/Reiher, Bill Bland’s Duo Discus, David Hobby/Ventus, Ziggy Kusiak/Pirat,
Gregg Potter/Lunak.
I think everyone had a good time and certainly had plenty of airtime with plenty of good
thermals. The weather was perfect and there was plenty of all different types of accommodation
available. The local LIONS Club have their ”Chuck Wagon” there for breakfast and lunch on Sat.
and Sun. so we didn’t go hungry.
It was decided that this would become an annual event and would be held over the
Easter break to give the interstate visitors time to travel.
The pilots and their models:
Bill Bland Hots Tug, Duo Discus, Fox, Salto
Tony Greiger Tug (?), DG 500
Walter Radovich 1/3 scale Ventus (with foldaway Electric powered motor)
Mark Doyle 1/3 scale Reiher, ½ scale Salto
David Hobby 1/3 scale Ventus
Steve Keep Lunak
Ziggy Kusiak Pirat
Gregg Potter Lunak
Theo Arvanitakis 1/5 scale Minimoa, Nimbus
Greg Voak and others for a total of 14 pilots with a total of 30 models.
..... also in the May magazine was the following article related to the impending problem of
the East Link Tollway .....
Re-siting of the VARMS Power Strip.
Assumptions.
VARMS wishes to continue to provide facilities for sports power flying and aero towing.
NO flying can be permitted over the new ‘East Link’ road at any time.

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Safety considerations.
Power and Glider flying at the same time (except when aero towing) do not mix.
CASA 101 should apply where ever possible.
Therefore no overflying of pits, car park, club house etc can be permitted.
Suggested Solutions.
To satisfy the above assumptions and considerations, the use of the existing power strips will have
to be discontinued. Therefore a new power strip will be required.
This strip must be placed somewhere on the existing glider paddock.
If a North/South strip is required then it should either be on the Eastern side near the current strip
and drainage channel.... OR....
on the Western boundary of the Glider field. Note: a strip on the Western boundary would require
major works regarding access, pits, keyboard etc. No East/West strip is proposed as there can be no
flying to the East beyond the extension of the pit road/drainage channel.
If either of the North/South solutions is implemented then arrangements would need to be made
regarding separating power and glider usage. As stated in our President’s column, it is likely that
the safest solution will be separate days for Power and Glider.
As VARMS is still a predominately glider club, then it seems logical to allocate 4 days to glider and
3 days to sports power. An alternative solution could be power in the morning and glider in the
afternoon. A day each at the weekend should remain.
MEMBER ACTION IS REQUIRED.

89
The following items were extracted from the Minutes of the General meeting – 10 June 2005-07-07
Radio Interference at Brigg’s Field.
Problem has escalated from a point some 5 weeks ago, when Ray Cooper reported total loss
of control of a test model. –Matter reported to VMAA and MAAA and situation being investigated
by small team including Professor Greg Egan & Ray Cooper from Monash University & President,
Max Haysom. – no meaningful answer at present but VMAA have allocated funds to permit further
testing – possibility that modified receivers maybe the answer. More detail on progress to be
announced at the next club General Meeting.
(The above problem appears to stem from the transmission output of a recently activated
“Community Radio” station located on Mt. Dandenong. The interference is causing sporadic
interference across the 36Mhz band and has caused all major competitions to be scheduled to
other flying sites).
The future of Brigg’s Field. (because of the implementation of the Eastlink Freeway)
Report by President, Max Haysom.
VARMS has become a Glider & Sports Power club.
We have 2 years to find & prepare a suitable unhindered site for Club use. Meanwhile we have to
make the hard decisions on what flying operations should be permitted at the field and what
restrictions need to be applied to ensure the safe operation all aircraft within the field boundaries.
ALL pilots must operate with a degree of discipline not exercised before to ensure that safety
issues are observed at all times.
Two major issues must be decided by the Club membership as a whole;
1) Do we want to retain I/C and electric type power models?
2) Do we want to place limits on type and size of model operations at the Field?
Definitions-
Glider – non power assist with launch by bungee or winch.
Power aircraft – I/C, power assist and electric models.
Members views summary.;
David Hipperson – Electric aircraft should be designated as power aircraft, but any separation of
power & glider operations will conflict with aerotow operations at field, separation conflicts.
Ross Peasley – power & electric flyers much more flexible – often there for short periods – glider
flyers more often there for several hours – no need to separate these operations – no conflict!
John Gottschalk – Size of models flown an important issue – safety issue a matter of common
sense. VARMS initially primarily a glider club – power a “pariah” – but now accepted as an
integral part of club operations – structural changes must be made for safety in aerotow operations.
John Bird – Public perception of club operations – safety issues paramount – perceived danger or
inconvenience to driving public – perception of models flown at or near public places seen as
inherently dangerous – airspace control over Brigg’s Field paramount. Public perception of our
overall operations a vital issue.
Colin Collyer – early history of Club as purely glider orientation. Power introduced initially on
basis of aerotow operations – later expanded to include sports flyers. Power flyers use field as
convenient base. Glider flyers have no other alternative but Brigg’s Field All other clubs actively
exclude glider operations.
Henry Wolmuth – little mid-week glider flying at Field – reluctance to exclude power flying, as
otherwise the field will be regarded by Parks as totally under-utilised. Alternative of Police
Paddocks – inherent dangers in use of this field as alternative flying site.
David Hipperson – Club cannot return to pure glider operations – progressively less influence on
Parks Vic. in use of field – in any event power flyers primarily involved in mowing operations at
Field.
Michael Lui – discussion of power/glider operations really a divisive issue. We need to focus on
club activities to ensure all flying activities at Brigg’s Field are compatible with Eastlink operation
– safety issued paramount – manage the problem rather that exclude classes of models.

90
Tim Lennon – should not focus on the philosophy of Club operations – vital issue how to manage
field compatibility with Eastlink operations until a better alternative flying site eventuates – new
requirements – how do we manage flying safely in restricted air space?
Ross Peasley – suggestion of day separation – Saturday glider and Sunday power (including
Electric flyers) proposed strip should be capable of use by both strips, sensible management – field
usage by glider flyers minimal during week.
Jim Norman – power flyers – new strip proposed, ideal for operations – what is the problem?
Where do we go now? The Committee will be contacting all
members.
July/August 2005 – The World F3B Championships were held at Lappeenranta, Finland.
The contest was for 7 Rounds, drop worst.
Results: 1. Andreas Bohlen SUI 7. Joe Wurts USA
2. Andreas Herrig GER 22 Gregg Voak AUS
3. Reinhard Liese GER 28. Michael James AUS
4. Martin Weberschock GER 36. Matt Wood AUS
Team results: 1. Germany 9. Australia from 20 teams

THE DEMISE OF THE “VARMS Membership Number”
At the completion of the 2004/05 fiscal year, the use and issue of the VARMS Membership
Number was discontinued, the last was 1432 and issued to Paul Jacobson.
91

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2005 – 6
The Committee
President Max Haysom Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor David R. Jones
Contest Director *“Ad Hoc” Ordinary Member David Pratley
Registrar Ian Slack Ordinary Member Martin Hopper
Ordinary Member David Weller
*C.D. for RCGA events will be shared among participating members. Ian Slack will again manage
the duties for the VARMS Trophy events.
The following is extracted from Aspectivity 379/July 205.
Muckin’ about with planes.
David Jones (Editor)
Since the start of the school year there has been a project going at University High School,
Parkville, involving a group of Year 9 students in the process of designing and building remote
control aircraft. The program was run by a teacher, Aldo Marotta and myself – I am IT Services
Coordinator at the school. The project came to fruition on Friday, June 24 th at Brigg’s field when
12 Uni High students and two teachers joined Ian slack, Colin Smith, Jim Baker and myself at High
Street Road to fly their creations and have some fun.
The project, as put to the kids, was to design, construct and fly a remote control aircraft
based loosely on the FoamFly “Blue Frog”, a slow flyer/park flyer electric pusher made from Fan
Fold Foam. Since Fan Fold foam is virtually impossible to find in Australia, we chose 6mm white
Deptron as the construction material. Propulsion was by a GWS IPS-A motor/gearbox driving a
GWS 9x6 prop. We used Hitec 6 channel receivers and Flash 5 transmitters, Poly-Quest 1100mAh
2S LiPo’s and a 10 amp speed controller. Roj’s Hobbies gave a good deal for the radio gear. The
students were given a large sheet of paper with a set of fixed positions marked on it. These were:
The shape, angle of attack and position of the wing,
The position and relative angle of tail feathers with rough sizes,
The position and angle of the motor mount,
Rough position of the nose and belly of the plane.
We mass produced the wing sections by ‘cooking” on a jig in an oven and gave the students
two wing panels each which they then made into a simple wing with flat centre panel and two
dihedral end panels. I showed the students a “Blue Frog’ and a “Park Shark” which are both based
on the “Blue Frog” design. The students then supplied their imaginations and came up with a first
draft plan which was either approved or sent back for a “reality check”. The resulting designs
included a veritable menagerie of animal based designs including a killer whale, dolphin, Friesian
cow and flying pig. There was also a racing car, a clown and some very interesting abstract
designs.
The students then cut the one to one scale drawings into plans and cut out the foam. Next
step was to turn a collection of bits of foam into a plane. Maiden flights were made on the school
oval, resulting in some very exciting flying! Some of the planes flew extremely well first up and
some required a lot of work to make flyable! The students, meanwhile, had been working on their
flying skills on school computers using the FMS freeware flight simulator and “flying” the “Blue
Frog”, “Park Shark” and Multiplex “EasyStar” virtual models. I loaned a fake transmitter which
can be plugged into the computer to give an authentic controller for their flight practice.
On Wednesday before the trip to HSR, Aldo and I took the students to Royal Park for some
real flying on the EasyStar on a buddy box system. The students all had a fly and most did
extremely well for first timers. This showed the great benefit of getting “stick time” on a simulator
as they had a good grasp of what stick does what and how to move it. They also knew what to
expect from the plane as they had all flown the EasyStar on the simulator. Several students also
flew their own planes briefly at Royal Park.
Two days later, on Friday, we set off from Uni High in glorious sunshine looking forward
to a great day’s flying. By the time we hit the freeway we were in heavy fog which continued right

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to Brigg’s field and hung around until we started packing up at 1:00pm! Ian and Colin took the
students flying on their own models with buddy boxes so they all got some good stick time on the
planes they had spent a whole semester creating. They managed to get all the planes to fly quite
well. Ian and I then took the students flying on the club gliders with Jim Baker doing a great job
running the winch for us. The kids had a ball flying their planes and watching some other planes
being flown by Colin, Ian and myself. Colin threw my EasyGlider around the sky while the
students watched in awe. Colin certainly seemed to be enjoying himself! He also had fun with the
Blue Frog and its clones. he seems to be thinking of a “Class Racing” setup with Frogs doing low
level obstacle courses – should be heaps of fun! Colin would probably want a “Loop-to-land”
component!.
Aldo and I have learnt a lot during this exercise and will be doing it with another class next
year and then probably two classes the year after – just in time for Loopy to get to Year 9!
A huge thanks to Ian, Colin and Jim and to the club for the use of the field and planes!
The same magazine also reported the final results for the annual VARMS Trophy contest:
1 st Bruce Clapperton, 2 nd Col Smith, 3 rd Maurice Lloyd.
encouragement awards to Frank O’Neill, Ian Pearson, Mel Wood and Paul Jackson.
A total of 23 members participated in the contest through the year.
July 2005 – The 58 th Nationals were held at Richmond, N.S.W. The proposed Glider events were:
Task A Thermal (Snr. & Jnr), F3J, F3B, R/C H.L.G. and 7 Cell Electric.
ALL GLIDER events were cancelled excepting 7 Cell Electric because of less than 6 entries in
each of the other events.
August 2005 –Stand Off Scale Competition (held at the General Meeting, August 12 th )
“Scalie of the Year” to John Gottschalk
Winners in Scale display categories:
Best Rookie Model Ross Bathie
Internal Combustion Geoff Moore – BF 109
Best Cockpit Leon Carlos – Grunau 4
Special Interest Ian Slack – Woodstock
Model in Progress Tim Morland – Schweizer 1-26B
Best Electric Model Angelo Favaloro – Corby Starlet
Best Scale Model Glen Salisbury – F111 PSS
ARF
Maurice Lloyd – Fletcher Crop Duster
Aspectivity 381 of Sept. ’05 contained the following item on the next Scale club project.
Scale Building Group
David Down
The Primary Glider. Ideal for beginners and the experienced scale flier alike.
Without doubt one of the turning points in manned flight. The primary gliders design was
replicated through many successive gliders and powered aircraft as it proved to easy to build and
has stable flight characteristics. (The glider pictured is not necessarily the one to be built.)
(A later decision was made NOT to continue with this project as the general operating parameters
were extremely narrow).

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Aspectivity 384/Dec.’05 reported the following scale happenings from Horsham for October
29/30/31. The following results of the scale competition:
Vintage Class
Modern Class
1. David Hobby KA8 1. David Hobby DG 600
2. Colin Collyer Bergerfaulke 2. Steve Malcman ASW 28
3. Barry De Kuyper Slingsby Gull 3. Colin Collyer Nova
ARF Class
David Hobby DG 600
Best Tug Pilot
Chris Carpenter
1 St Time Entrant
Darren Smith
Best Glider Overall
David Hobby
Also extracted from the President’s report in Aspectivity 384 was the following-
“It has been proposed to cease using the old power strip from Saturday December 10, with
power flying relocated to the new area from that day forward. New rules will apply from
them, essentially Power in the morning, Glider in afternoon. If you arrive to fly outside of
your timeslot and the field/s are not being used than it is OK to fly, until a member of the
other persuasion is ready to fly. Absolutely no flying power/glider simultaneously in the new
areas, even though you may have an “arrangement”. Glider (winch/bungee/electric) all day,
any Sunday. Aerotow on last Saturday of month, or as advised, Keyboard will remain in its
original place for the immediate future and must be used at all times. All users are reminded
that only “uneven” frequencies are to be used on 36 Mhz band.”
..... and yet another intriguing article from the same magazine that has more applications than
you may initially consider!
Risk Management.
There are three risks in flying model aircraft.
1 - Damage to plane and property; 2 - Bodily Injury; 3 – Loss of use of the field.
I work in the insurance industry with a team of people who handle claims where something
has gone wrong. There are thousands of claims and the range of causes is mind boggling.
There are common themes:
(a)
(b)
action not taken to minimise a known or foreseeable risk; and/or
the alignment of events and factors causing or contributing to the severity of the
incident.

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What’s a foreseeable risk? It’s regarded by the law as what the “reasonable person” could
foresee. Now though “reasonable people” have differing opinions and are constantly arguing, most
events that occur have also occurred in the past – and are thus, foreseeable. We need to think
ahead to minimise risk.
Examples of what may occur singly or in alignment and cause a serious incident:
My radio/brain/thumbs glitched. My servo jammed. Control horn came off. Up was down. Left
was right. The wind caught it. but the range check was ok last month. I was close to the pits.
Wrong model on radio. I/he was doing the wrong thing. I/He forgot to put a frequency key in the
board. I wasn’t over the field when it happened. She came out of the bushes with her dog and
walked right into the path of my plane. He didn’t call “on the field”. That child should not have
been there.
We could lose our field. Our view of the importance of our hobby may not always be
shared by others. It is important that we do not upset those who decide if we can keep the field.
They will make their decision based on whether they perceive us to be “good tenants”. or not. We
will be perceived as poor – or high risk tenants- if they receive reports of: noisy aircraft; dangerous
flying; flouting the rules; rudeness; a perception of us having a disregard for public safety;
accidents/incidents; and risk of involvement in litigation.
But what if no-one is around? You can never assume that “no-one is around”. On the
roads, it is totally unacceptable to; drive over .05; go the wrong way round the roundabout, or the
wrong way on the free-way on/off ramp – just because “no-one is around”. Same with flying. Too
risky. Your actions may coincidently align with another event, such as equipment or operator
failure, or someone arriving unexpectedly.
The same rules are to apply to everyone. Unfortunately it is only practicable to determine
one standard set of rules to cover all ranges of flier – from the novice to the experienced. This is
similar to when we drive along the road, we are all subject to the same sped limits and road rules,
despite the differences in our vehicles and driving skills. And, we cannot afford to set a bad
example that less experienced fliers may follow.
But we still want our club to be friendly – do be mature and friendly in the way you
approach any-one flying dangerously. We all “ glitch” occasionally or may not have recognised the
danger.
If you see others stray from safe flying practices, that does not reduce the obligations upon
you to comply. The obligations upon you remain. It’s like saying “But officer, I saw two people
speeding so it must be okay for me to drink-drive.” If you have continuing concerns or queries
about flying practices, see a Committee member.
Safe flying – different planes have different flying characteristics – and must be flown
accordingly. A light aircraft will be more easily blown downwind than an aircraft with greater
penetration. SOLUTION; - if field layout allows it, keep light aircraft upwind unless in the landing
phase, A heavier aircraft will have more penetration but will require a longer landing approach and
will land at a faster speed. They are different, but the requirement – to fly both safely – remains.
Flying ”crash-proof” planes only means the model itself may not be damaged. All other
risks remain the same, so these planes, and also 3D models, must still be flown in control and
safely.

We were recently asked what our passion was. I said that I was anxious about losing the
field – and passionate about retaining it. I ask you to share my passion – and make sure that we
retain our field so that we can continue to fly and fly safely.
To minimise the risk;
“Expect the unexpected – then work like crazy to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Ian Pullar
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November 26 th & 27 th , Bendigo Scale Weekend saw the following models well utilised:-
Schweitzer-1.25 scale, LO100, DG600 1.3.5 scale, 2 of Dg600 ¼ scale, 4 x Schweitzers,
Bergerfaulke, Foka 5, Ask14 (Self launching), Ash26 1/6 scale, Mosquito, 3 x Woodstocks,
Discus ¼ scale, Boomerang ¼ scale, Dg300, Ventus 2AX 1/3 scale, Nimbus 4D 1.3.5 scale, plus
the models that did not get taken out of cars or trailers.
The inaugural “Brian Laging Model Gliding Excellence Award” was presented to Colin Collyer by
John Gottschalk.
The Minutes of the General Meeting of 9/12/2005 reflected the following: –
Brigg’s Field –
New power area – to commence operations Sat. 10 th December 2005 – “old” runway now
MUST not be used.
Basic Rules.
Absolutely no flying East of road/shelter line- This applies right down to Southern
Boundary., and North to the imaginary East/West line through the tree to East of the bend in the
entrance road.
All power operations, i.e. circuit to be West of new North/South strip.
All glider operations including aerotow to be restricted to West & South of above boundary lines.
Times of use POWER – 8.00 to 12.00 noon – Glider 12.00 noon till dark.
Outside these times, if no member flying, alternative discipline permitted, until any other member is
read to fly appropriate discipline.
NO “ad hoc” sharing, and ABSOLUTELY NO FLYING POWER & GLIDER (apart from
aerotow) in the same airspace at same time.
Alternative flying field – good prospects of use of Competition & aerotow field near Lang Lang in
near future. Exec. Committee to report back in New Year.
Working Bee – to be held shortly – various tasks prioritised and volunteers list drawn up. – see
Max or Martin Hopper for inclusion on list.
Site Liaison – work started on road works reserve. The “new” access off High St. Road could start
soon – Cathies Lane to be blocked off before it reaches Tip/Recycling centre. Make sure that peg
markers are not knocked over as set in existing track. Watch out as well for heavy road equipment!
# # # # #
March 24-25-26, Scale Gliders at Jerilderie 2006
Some of those who attended and their models:-
Greg Voak Hots Tug (Small)
¼ scale Schweizer 1-26 3.5m
Bill Bland Hots Tug (BIG)
½ scale ASW 28 7.5m
David Hobby ¼ scale DG600 4.8m
ASK 8
Jim Houdalakis ¼ scale DG600 4.8m
Theo Arvanitakis ⅓ scale Ventus 2AX 4.4m
Chris Carpenter Wilga Tug

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¼ scale ASW 28 4.2m
¼ scale ASW 24 4.2m
Rod Watkins ⅓ scale Nimbus 7.0m
⅓ scale Discus 4.2m
Bill Hamilton ⅓ scale Salto 4.53m
Gary McDougall
Lunak
Henry Kobylanski ¼ scale ASW 28 4.4m
May 2006 and Ray Cooper adds a third World Record to his collection:
Sub-class : F5 Open (Aeroplane, electric motor S (rechargeable sources of current))
Category : F5: Radio Controlled Flight
No 174: Distance to goal and return : 142.8 km
Date of flight : 27/05/2006
Record holder: Raymond J. V. Cooper (Australia)
Course/place: Yarrawonga, VIC (Australia)
Ratified on 11/07/2006 – Database ID 13877.
All of Ray’s models are designed and built by himself – low tech traditional balsa, ply tissue
covered models.
From the June Aspectivity we have the following (oh, shock, horror) announcement-
Proposal for a new Competition Format.
(as proposed by Messrs. Gerry Carter and Alan Mayhew)
The new format is aimed at electric assisted glider pilots.
Below is a summary of the concept with some of the draft rules.
The Committee hopes to have a demonstration day soon…
ELECTRIC LAUNCHED THERMAL GLIDING RULES
Summary:
This is a club oriented competition that emphasizes thermal skills and judgement and includes a
small reward for landing precision. Two clocks are started when the model is launched. One clock
measures the motor run time and the other the flight time. The score consists of Flight Points, less
Adjusted Motor Run, plus Landing Bonus. To allow different models to compete on a more or less
equal basis, the Adjusted Motor Run is a calculated figure that takes into account the type of motor
being used. For Speed 400 motors the deduction is 30% of the motor run time. At the other end of
the scale, for brushless motors, the deduction is 100% of motor run time. For brushed ferrite motors
the factor is 50% and for brushed cobalt motors the factor is 80%. The target flight time is set by
the CD on the day in the range from 6 minutes to 10 minutes. A Landing Bonus of 25 landing
points applies to landings within 3 metres of the spot, and decreases by 5 points with each 3 metre
further distance. Only one motor run is allowed so the pilot must make a judgement about the
minimum height needed to achieve the target flight time.
Other Rules:
No limits on models, motors or batteries as long as the model complies with FAI requirements.
No fixed or retractable arresting device (i.e. bolt, saw tooth-like protuberance, etc) is allowed to
slow down the model aircraft on the ground during landing.
The competitor may use two model aircraft in the contest.
The competitor may combine the parts of the model aircraft during the contest, provided the
resulting model aircraft conforms to the rules and the parts have been checked before the start of

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the contest.
All ballast must be carried internally and fastened securely within the airframe.
The competitor (pilot) must operate the radio equipment.
Each competitor will be allowed either one or two helpers according to the conditions of the day.
The CD will make this decision. If conditions permit, one helper only is preferred so that the
competition will run more quickly.
The competitor is entitled to a new working time if:
a) His model in flight collides with another model in flight,
b) His attempt was hindered or aborted by an unexpected event, not within his control.
The flight in progress is annulled and recorded as a zero score if the model aircraft loses any part
during the launch or the flight, except when this occurs as the result of mod-air collision with
another model aircraft.
The flight is recorded as zero score if the propeller is seen spinning for any reason after motor
shutdown.
The model should be launched within 10 seconds of the CD’s order to start the group.
The ‘working time’ is the target flight time plus 20 seconds. The extra 20 seconds provides for
those who may overfly the target time (to a small extent) to complete the landing without rushing
and thereby gain their Landing Bonus.
If the model has not come to rest on the ground before the working time ends, then a Landing
Bonus will not be awarded.
Any model aircraft launched prior to the start of the working time must be landed as soon as
possible and relaunched within the working time. Failure to comply will result in cancellation of
the competitor’s score for that round.
There is no limit to the motor runtime.
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
The Final result for the VARMS Trophy 2005 – 2006
(As Max Haysom is ineligible for the trophy, John Needham is to be congratulated for a very
consistent effort.)
1. Max Haysom 6503 10. Ian Pearson 2141 19. Les Cleeland 1000
2. John Needham 5052 11. Gary McDougall 1863 20. Tim Lennon 946
3. Paul Jacobson 4992 12. Bruce Clapperton 1825 21. Michael Lui 937
4. Frank O’Neill 4736 13. Simon Raphael 1710 22. Gerry Carter 846
5. Leon Carlos 4398 14. Graeme Hollis 1436 23. Neil Spencer 868
6. Ian Slack 3562 15. Jim Baker 1429 24. Steve Lunney 754
7. Peter Cossins 3467 16. Martin Hopper 1424 25. Andrew Allen 763
8. Lou Rodman 2985 17. Roger Stevenson 1353 26. Daniel Malcman 719
9. David Weller 2206 18. Alan Mayhew 1000 27. Colin Smith 713
The following document was a mail-out to all members of VARMS as a prelude to the ensuing
General/Annual General Meeting to be held in July, and, in conjunction with a previous article
relating to Electric Launched Gliders, aroused a reaction or three!

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Dear Member,
At our last club meeting a proposal was put forward to amend the hours of operation at Brigg’s
Field. It was agreed that this proposal should be put to the whole membership for decision. Please
consider the arguments below and forward your vote to the Committee by 11 July 2006.
Brigg’s Field hours.
It is proposed to amend the hours of operation at Brigg’s Field so that on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
the hours are reversed. This would mean that Glider operations would be from dawn to 12 noon.
Power operations would be from noon to evening. All other existing arrangements to remain
unchanged.
FOR
The club voted in 1996 to allow power models to use Brigg’s Field and we have had many members
join VARMS since that time to only fly power models. This meant that by June 2005, we had
grown to be the largest club in southern Australia.
Following the field layout changes implemented to provide a safety buffer to Eastlink and High
Street Rd., we have had a large drop in membership (nearly 20%), and it has been intimated that
more members will not be renewing this year. The reasons stated are that our current rules do not
provide equity in usage times even though the same fees are paid and that working “power”
members are unable to use the field after work except on Saturday morning. Some comments have
also been received from glider pilots saying that early morning flying, expecially during the warmer
months, would be preferable.
AGAINST
Since its inception VARMS has been a glider club. This reason for being has been reinforced by
VARMS’ committment to glider training and usage of the field for glider competitions and
aerotowing. Apart from slope soaring at Glenfern Road. There are no other close clubs/sites in
metropolitan Melbourne where VARMS glider pilots can go fly without specific arrangements
being made and therefore any restriction in available hours is a major penalty for glider pilots.
The Committee, VARMS, PO Box 4096, Knox City, 3152.
Proposal: To amend the hours of operation at Brigg’s Field so that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the
flying hours are reversed, This would mean that, on those days, Glider operations would be from
dawn to 12 noon. Power operations would be from noon to evening.
For Against
............................................ ....................................................
Name
Signature

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June Aspectivity 389 reflected the following item relating to the “History of VARMS” document:-
HISTORY OF VARMS
Our club historian, Mr Des Bayliss has produced a series of documents which detail the history of
VARMS, the history of the League of Silent Flight plus information concerning matters such as
Contests and World Record results. Also available is a copy of every cartoon produced in
Aspectivity or its predecessors. These documents are available to all club members on CD on
request. Please contact a committee member.
Final results of the RCGA Thermal League Competition for 2005-06 (Best 6 of 10 results).
Whilst the final competition was not flown until 23 July, the results are as follows:-
1. David Hobby 5997 2. Gerry Carter 5984 3. Jim Houdalakis 5963

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2006 – 7
The Committee
President Max Haysom Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor David R. Jones
Ordinary Member David Pratley Registrar Raoul Wynn
Ordinary Member Martin Hopper Contest Director *”Ad Hoc”
Ordinary Member Alan Mayhew
*C.D. for RCGA events will be shared among participating members. Ian Slack will again manage
the duties for the VARMS Trophy events.
July 2006 – Aspectivity 390 displayed a very definite reaction to the variation of the flying field
rules at Brigg’s field as well as the introduction of “Electric launched” Thermal activities. The
following responses are taken from the magazine as they appeared:-
Fellow Members, there is a proposal before the Club to swap the flying times for power and gliding
on two days of the week. This came about because some glider pilots and some power pilots have
approached the committee and asked to make this change because it better suited them.
This seems to have started another round of “Us versus Them” in the club. I think it it important
that we all remember a few simple points:
The flying hours roster was forced upon us (in December last year?) by EastLink
construction works and safety concerns.
No reduction in “Glider” hours is suggested.
We are all flyers, and many members fly all sorts of planes.
So can we all just go flying?
Fair winds and soft landings!
Numb Thumbs
(Editor – David Jones)
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor Aspectivity,
Dear David,
What’s happened to the focus of VARMS in recent times? I was of the understanding that the
founding of VARMS, was for the purpose of model soaring (gliding). It was never intended to
incorporate power flying at all.
There were already many clubs in existence for that purpose and the founders realised that gliders
were in a category of their own. Hence the need for a unique association such as VARMS.
Just to throw some light on the events that have changed since our inaugural days. Slope soaring
was initially the main drive in our hay days of this association. No doubt the need to fly gliders
even when it was calm, encouraged more thermal flying and the need for a flat open field. Brigg’s
Field was finally chosen for a home base of our R/c gliding members. For a number of years bungy
and winch launches were acceptable and seen as the only method for models to get airborne. The
hassles associated with these methods of towing gliders into the air are quite familiar to everyone.
When aero tows finally came along, efficient glider launching became a reality and is still most
desirable.
And here maybe …. Ends the story of VARMS …. Perhaps?
Is a growing membership so desirable that we should now share our field with power fliers? I for
one think NOT! I also fly and have a passion for power models and enjoy this activity on calm
days. But I believe that VARMS members who wish to fly their gliders or sailplanes should have
first right to do so at anytime, a.m. or p.m. and every day. Power model flyers, who are not
engaged in the process of launching a glider, should have no rights over any glider flyer at all,
whether there is only one or a dozen glider pilots present. VARMS is, as its name shows, an

102
association of radio model soaring. As a founding member of this Association I would strongly
advise our gliding members to stand their ground and refuse any attempts to undermine the aims
and needs of our club.
I would not have any objection to power fliers using Brigg’s Field for their personal enjoyment
when no gliders are present. But when they do, should respect the sole right of gliding members
and give way when they require the use of the field at any time.
The one issue that has discouraged me from flying at Brigg’s field over recent years is the annoying
knowledge of “that” time table allocated for power and glider flyers. As a member I should not
have to think whether or not it is my turn to fly at our home field. It’s a real turn off.
In conclusion, I would also draw the line at Electric flyers that are not strictly gliders but power
models disguised as such. No doubt this last point would need a revision of rules in order to clarify
“what an electric assisted glider launch” in fact specifies. Please keep Brigg’s Field for what it was
designed for – GLIDERS.
Dieter Prussner (VARMS Mem. No 1)
BRIGG’S FIELD – HOURS SURVEY
REJECTION OF ‘FOR’ CASE
Our Committee has gone to great lengths to make sure that all fully paid up financial members can
register their vote for or against the proposed change to the allocation of time to power flying and
glider flying at our field. They are to be commended for that. It is not an easy issue to resolve and
not everybody will be happy withy the final decision. What is very important is that a proper and
transparent process is followed.
The survey outlines the case FOR and AGAINST.
In particular. The case FOR relies on the argument that
“… our current rules do not provide equity in usage times even though the same fees are paid and
that working ‘power’ members are unable to use the field after work except on Saturday morning”
I totally reject the argument.
Firstly all members, when joining agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the Club as
determined from time to time. Accordingly all ‘power’ members have agreed to this and would
have known, or should have known the ‘hours’ situation before joining. If they did not know, that
is not a problem that the Club has to resolve.
Secondly, it is patently untrue that ‘power’ members cannot fly after work. They can. They can fly
a glider just as ‘glider’ members can fly a power model during ‘power’ time.
The simple fact of the matter is that the field is available to ALL members ALL OF THE TIME.
Having said that, I am in favour of the proposed change and will be voting accordingly. What I
don’t want to happen is for my vote to be seen to be endorsing the above argument.
On a somewhat related . . .
‘VARMS’ stands for Victorian Association of Radio Model SOARING.
I would like to see the SOARING put back into VARMS, but not simply by excluding power.
I propose that all new members who want to fly power at our field be required to first gain at least
their glider Solo qualification, and preferably their Bronze wings. Such a move would see VARMS
continue as a glider club and be true to its Constitution.
Gerry Carter.

103
Response from the Committee
Members should note that your committee strongly believes that VARMS continues to support
Radio-control Model Soaring. VARMS is still the only club providing formal Glider training and
providing Glider only facilities. We have a very active glider training program, ably managed by
experienced members. It is without a doubt our main source of new members. Sadly many of these
new members drift off to other clubs because we cannot retain their interest once past the initial
glider training phase, or we don’t offer a structured training program for i/c power. We are actively
involved in Glider competitions and provide aero-tow facilities for Scale glider flyers.
Members should be aware that power operations were approved by membership vote some 10 years
ago and that the current split hour arrangements were only implemented last December, following
considerable member consultation and with member approval. These changes were necessary as a
consequence of East-Link construction and associated safety concerns.
There is no proposal before the membership to cease or reduce glider operations. The only proposal
is to swap hours on 2 weekdays at the request of both power and glider pilots.
As always your committee will only implement changes affecting critical operational issues
following member approval.
A 2 nd World Championship for Australia & VARMS
August 2006 – David Hobby successfully defended his World F3J title at Martin, Slovak
Republic. David was 9 th of 12 in the qualifying 10 rounds and was placed 1 st after the 4
rounds of the Final. Carl Strautins (NSW) qualified 11 th and earned a final place of 10 th .
Other participating Team members were Matthew Partlett 48 th and Mike O’Reilly 49 th with
the Australian team finishing 13 th . Matt Wood was Team Manager with Theo Arvanitakis,
Thomas Cooke & Ziggy Kusiak as towers.
(Note: David Hobby chose not to be a member of the Australian team which is restricted to 3
members, as this enabled another flyer from Australia to compete. If David’s score was included as
part of the Australian team, they would have taken 6 th place.)
Club Member Demographics as at June 2006 from a total membership of 183.
Unknown Glider Power Power/Glider Sub total
VARMS (Full) 16 76 8 48 148
VARMS (Assoc.) 2 11 7 15 35
Overall Total 18 87 15 63 183
August Aspectivity contained the following schedule of flying times as Brigg’s Field as a
result of an overwhelming vote for them to be changed, 53 to 15.

104

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The following is taken from the August Aspectivity, President’s Report (Max Haysom) –
The Parks Victoria Future Directions Plan 2006, for Dandenong Valley Parklands has
been released in its final form. This plan is important to our future at Brigg’s Field and it
makes no reference to our presence in the DVP. Our site is classified as Special Use Zone B
(Multiple Use) and the following references are taken from the plan:
Many types of recreation activities may be appropriate for this zone into the future.
Acknowledge and maintain pre-existing land uses within the Parkland’s boundary, which are
not compatible with the general park management zones.
To recognise and provide areas within the Parklands where a range of compatible park
management, community and commercial uses may be permitted.
To provide opportunities for new commercial or community uses, which contribute to and
complement the Parklands’ recreational opportunities and settings.
What this is saying to us, is that, as the situation stands at present, we will always stand
a chance of losing, or, having to share part of our site with another activity. The only way we
can be assured is to have freehold land or a secure lease.
The following article has been extracted from the Silent Flight website by kind permission of the the
author and is a very useful guide to an activity that has been a very strong element within VARMS
and the wider modelling community for many years.
Aerotowing. A "How To Get Started" guide
By Colin Collyer. V.A.R.M.S
Scale sailplanes are one of the most graceful forms of model aircraft, and when they get to a quarter
scale or larger, they tend to appear less like a model, and more like the real thing.
The traditional way of launching from a flat field has been to use a powerful winch, petrol or
electric. You soon notice that heavy models wind in a lot of line, and launch heights are not great.
Real sailplanes used to be winch launched, but these days this has mostly been replaced by
aerotowing, being towed much higher by an aircraft with a "tin thermal " in the front. Why not
emulate this?
Early aero towing was done in VARMS in the 60's . I have seen early film by Brian Laging of Ray
Cooper and Ray Pike with a .60 powered stick and a large Foka 5. To say that it was a struggle with
only a .60 model would be an understatement ! I'm sure a big dose of horsepower would have made
a huge difference.
So. how do we get started?... Well, it's going to be a team effort, a tug, a glider, and 2 pilots.
As a general rule, the tug needs to be overpowered and about 1.5 times the weight of the glider. The
weight allows the tug to be the dominant partner, and the power is required for an adequate climb
angle (see later notes on tugs) A tow line is required, as is a release in both the glider and the tug
(See later notes )
The basic rules are as follows:
1. Use the release BEFORE or AS you get into trouble...
Do not wait for things to go pie shaped, as things go "awfully wrong awfully quick" and the
forces involved can be considerable, and will easily over ride servos
2. Concentrate on keeping the wings level, even for gentle turns

106
3. Try not to let the glider get to high above the tug. Most gliders will be flying faster than their
normal gliding speed, and so will want to climb.
Lets do it..
TUG
Make sure the towline is not under the tailplane. When both pilots are ready, increase the throttle,
but do not rush getting airborne.keep the climb rate slow until adequate flying speed is reached.
Maintaining flying speed is what determines climb angle
Climb out almost in to wind ( maybe 45 deg is ideal ) Adjust the climb angle to suit the glider ( eg:
steeper angle to slow down, but don't forget your own min flying speed, as speed decays quicker
than normal when towing ). If the model deviates from its chosen course, just bring the wings back
to level and continue on a new heading.
Due to visibility, a turn will become necessary. Full circles are a no no at this stage, as is down
wind, normally a zig zag course into wind is employed, but avoiding the sun You will need to
negotiate with your glider driver because he needs to make sure he is not cutting the corner. When
he is so, start a wide turn while maintaining height. Negotiate start and finish
After several zig zags, if you haven't already got cold feet it will be time to release. Again, negotiate
with your driver. Wait for VISUAL separation, then return for the next 'victim'
Points to watch for....
• Tug motor stops...
No time for niceties, DROP the line and fly to the best of a bad situation
• Slack line...
Although this situation can be saved, it is also potentially dangerous, breaking bits off
models on the jerk, or using the line as a cheese cutter on parts of the planes. Again, the
answer is DROP the line
GLIDER
Have someone support the wings level ( important: not hold, just support ) put in a little down trim.
The model will probably leap into the air, so be ready to hold it down. About 5mtrs above the tug is
about right, and still keeps you above the tugs slipstream... keep the wings level
Concentrate on keeping your wings level, and to not get too high above the tug ( important if the tug
is underpowered ) Do not worry about following the tug, as with the line connected to your nose,
you will tend to follow easily. If you find yourself too high, try a little spoiler rather than down
elevator, as you are less likely to overtake the tug. (Sailplanes are slippery critters, and speed up
readily on down elevator). If you even think the line is slack DROP the line
How is it going....Your tug driver has just informed you that he is to do a turn to the left, so you
need to make sure you are not about to cut the corner, and in fact you can be about 1 wingspan to
the right of the tug... and back to wings level... OK to the tug driver and round we go. The tug will
pull you around the corner.

107
If the turn was gentle its easy .... if not... DROP the line if it gets slack
If you are still hanging on, and the tug driver has had enough, he will tell you. DROP the line and
thank the driver for the tow. NOTE: He should NEVER HAVE TO ASK YOU TO GET OFF
TWICE !
Points to watch for.....
TIPS
• Getting ahead of the tug...
Will not work ! Generally caused by a combination of underpowered tug and out of position
glider. Lots off slack line and a real model wrecker
• Out of station..
No real problem if minor, just keep wings level and watch for slack line
• Tug turns too tight....
Follow him around or get off... it could get rough. This problem is not always the tuggies
fault, as often the line is against the tugs rudder, and so he has to fight to get a turn going...
and then the line lets go of the rudder !
By far the easiest way to learn aero towing is to go somewhere where its already being done. It
matters not which half of the team is the learner, if the other half knows the game, its only one set
of mistakes happening, and the experienced guy can , and knows when to bail out.
• If the tug driver says GET OFF, do it promptly, and don't ever expect to be told twice... and
expect to bring the line back
• Long lines are easier than short ones 50 ft is bloody short, and 150 ft is a bit long... 120 ft is
about ideal (see notes below )
• Most aborted tows are caused by the tug stalling... its driver not concentrating on airspeed
• The tug driver gets good at flying "an un-trimmed aircraft " as the line pulls on different
parts of his plane
• The towing heights used are between 500 and 1500 ft, the latter they would want to be big
models
• Always use weak links on the towline. 20lb fishing line is ok for most models. no reason
why people with heavier models can’t use a bit stronger weak-link, as they do in full size.
Weak links save models... ask me how I know !
• Don't forget..." Power gives way to sail" - that means that the glider has right of way on
landing. AND the tug is sometimes a glider too !
• The tug driver will either get very good at landings, or he will get very good at fixing
undercarriages. You may get to do 50 take offs and landings a day, so the u/c gets a fair
workout.
• The glider pilot sometimes finds himself weaving behind the tug... caused by trying to
follow the tug instead of just concentrating on keeping his wings level.
1.5mm piano wire (bend to suit any curve) Nyrod allows for the servo to be installed anywhere.
On the servo, use the innermost hole on the horn. Closed position is as shown with the servo arm in
a "locked" position to gain mechanical advantage.
Both designs need to be mounted to a solid former, as does the servo.

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Tug tow hook can be anywhere within the yellow circle. Not too far from the C of G and through
the thrust line.
Glider tow release
My Favourite , the "Peter Averill" Tow release.
Glue the nyrod into the hole, but do not allow it to protrude into the towline receptacle hole. The
actuating wire is a 1.5mm piano wire from the servo.
On the servo, use the innermost hole on the horn. Closed position is as shown with the servo arm in
a "locked" position to gain mechanical advantage.
Use a 3kg/cm or greater servo
When installing into fuselage, the area around the slot may need reinforcement with ply or glass.
Could also use "servo eyelet"
Glider tow hook can be anywhere within the yellow circle. This one is the Engine bearer type.
Towlines
Material - You can use any of the following:
F3B Winch Line, Thick Whipper snipper line, Brickies Twine or a thin rope.
Length:
21 to 45 metres is in the range, but optimal would be around 36 metres.
Note: the Glider end of the towline is often "floating" about 36 metres behind and below the tug. It
can be prone to catch on fences, power lines or trees. Make a special effort to keep it away from
people and property.
Summary
For the scale Glider pilot, aerotowing has some real advantages, the obvious one being high
launches , up where the thermals are bigger. Even on a non thermal day, flights of 20 min are the
norm. You get to take off and land on a runway, much nicer than dropping into the longer grass...
nice landings top off a nice flight
More importantly, its easier on the model than a winch, none of those figure 9's just after launch, no
huge bending loads on the wings, and no line "birds nests!"
For the Tugger, he will find a purpose for his flying, and his skills will improve by lots of flying
with the TX sticks in unusual spots, and take offs and landings will improve "out of site"
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
Scale Static Competition (August General Meeting)
Judge’s Choice – Tim Morland Schweizer 26B, ¼ scale
Member”s Choice – MartinLui Bergfaulke Mu 13e
“Scalie” of the Year – Russ Naughton

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... yet another article purloined from the SilentFlight website –
LANDINGS YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM.....
By Chris Williams
At the White Sheet aerotow event here in the UK recently, I was approached by one of the
chaps who wondered if he could suggest a topic to be covered in my regular scale column.
I listened politely, for any writer knows the value of outside stimulation, and I am no
exception. Why is it, he asked, that model glider pilots don’t generally seem to plan their
approaches in the manner of the full-size? This question was no doubt prompted by some
rather dodgy arrivals during the course of the day and a couple of outbreaks of IMFD
(Involuntary Modified-by-Fence Disease). This feller, and I apologise for not recording his
name as I was flying at the time, went on to detail what happens when the full-size decide
to descend to Terra Firma.
At a height that is predetermined by protocol and local conditions, the circuit commences
by applying forward trim and upping the speed by a small but significant amount of knots.
A square-ish pattern is flown which culminates a controlled landing directly into wind with
forward velocity reduced to a safe margin just above the stall. At the last moment the
descent is checked by pulling back on the stick and ‘rounding out’, with the mainwheel
gently and sweetly kissing the ground, the transition from flight to mere perambulation
being indiscernible to even the keenest observer. (As a knowledgeable chap at the Dorset
Gliding club was telling me recently, with the K13 it is entirely possible to pull up to such an
angle of attack at the point of landing, that the tailskid will touch before the mainwheel.
Apparently this is not cricket and causes much muttering and head-shaking back in the
clubroom). Why don’t we modellers fly to the same standard, that is the question.
We’ll start with the more obvious observations: even scale models, operate to an entirely
different regime. If the full-size pilot has been taught, for instance that once down to 500
feet he must commence a circuit and land, and if the placard on the glider he is flying
informs him that his approach speed must be in the region of 60 knots, why then this is
what he does. One thing, or rather two things help him to achieve this, and they are in no
particular order, the altimeter and airspeed indicator, Now I’d be the first in the queue for
the telemetry that would give me these instruments on my tranny, but until then, I like the
rest of you, will have to rely purely on visual judgement. This means that we have to judge
(guess) the minimum height from which we can set up a reasonable circuit, we have to
judge (guess) just how close the machine is to obstacles such as bushes, trees and
fences, and we have to just, (really guess or consult Mystic Smeg) where a model is going
to come to rest after it has touched down.
On the day of this event, it so happened that I had the last flight of the day with my
Minimoa. It was not particularly difficult to set up a landing as described and roll her gently
into the centre of the patch, and I reckon this was something that most of the flyers present
could easily have accomplished too had they the advantage of an empty sky and such a
modicum of peace and quiet. They say that the deck of an aircraft carrier during
operations is one of the busiest places on earth, I don’t plan to argue with that. Anyone
who has experienced a busy period at an aerotow event will know how to vote when it
comes to deciding the second busiest place on earth. If you haven’t had this experience,
let me describe it for you.
Having fought your way through all of the frequency and queuing battles, you have moved

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to the front of the queue and the flightline controller bellows,
‘NEXT’. ‘Flair, or Loop’ he enquires, referring to your preferred method of towing
attachment. ‘Er, Flair’ you might say. ‘Not on this tug’, he replies, try the next one
over’. With a sudden roar, the next one over takes off with a glider on tow, You hear a
shout: ‘Tug landing, you’re in the way, glider pilot, please move back”.
You move back as a tug burbles and swishes its’ way on to the patch, an elderly gent
earnestly asks you if you have seen Mabel.
‘Flair?’... the flight line controller beckons you forward. You grab the proffered ball and
attempt to stuff it in the hole in the front of your glider.
‘Glider landing!’ comes a shout followed by another, different voice: ‘Glider landing...’
Bump, swish, rumble, a sleek glass ship comes to rest in front of the tug. The pilot starts
to run forward to retrieve his precious creation, but is halted by a stentorian bellow:
‘GLIDER LANDING’, please keep to the bottom half of the patch’.
Faced with a rapidly diminishing area in which to land, the glider pilot tries to change
direction, but catches a wing tip in the long grass and ground loops. With a sudden roar
another tug heads skywards with its charge hanging on behind, and the two glider pilots
rush out to retrieve. After much fumbling, you still haven’t managed to connect your glider
to the line, and a tide of red slowly rises up your face, as the people in the queue behind
shuffle and stand impatiently. Finally, the job is done, and you stand next to the tug pilot
whilst someone else authoritively holds your wingtip clear of the ground. That someone
else turns out to be the elderly gent .... he looks under your starboard wing.
‘Mabel’, he quavers, ‘are you under there?’
‘OK?’ The godly figure of the tug pilot enquires, kindly, well mostly they’re kind. As you
nod nervously, he calls ‘all out’ and the tug and glider waltz merrily off down the patch. If
there’s a slight tailwind and your glider is heavy, if the temperature is high and the tug’s
engine is sucking comparatively less oxygen, then those first few seconds can be pretty
crowded. If your anhedralled gull-wing’s tips barely clear the ground to start with, then the
first task is to apply the necessary physic guesswork on the aileron stick to keep them
clear, the second is get the thing off the ground before the tug overrruns into the long
grass. Once airborne, things become easier and it’s usually a fairly simple ride up to
altitude.
Skipping lightly over the period of soaring, you’ve lost the lift and now the model is getting
larger and larger. Another glider is undergoing the same experience, and is stooging
about at the same altitude.
‘Tug landing’, shouts a voice, ‘is the patch clear?’ ‘Are you coming down now?’ asks
the other glider pilot, ‘cos I think I’m gonna have to...’
It becomes obvious that Mr. Gravity is asking both gliders for repayment of all outstanding
sums.
‘Me to’ you reply.
‘Tug landing’, says yet another voice, ‘is that tug clear?’
‘Dunno’ replies the flight line controller (bet you’d forgotten about him) ‘there’s a damn
great glider pilot in the way!’
A hand guides you gently out of the way, just as your final circling coincides with the other
guy’s and what looks like a potentially nasty mid-air passes off without incident. You
decide that enough is enough, and push the stick forward and the spoilers out in an

111
attempt to get down first and out of the damned way. The speed builds up and you flatten
out just over the grass and hold it there as the patch approaches. A bit more spoiler, a bit
less, a flurry of small elevator adjustments and the skid finds the mown grass right at the
leading edge of the square...lovely. But, wait, the machine won’t stop, it’s slipping and
sliding along according to the laws of Conservation of Momentum (not to be confused with
the laws concerning the failure to abate a smoky chimney).
There’s nothing you can do, it’s all in the hands of Fate, and it’s with no small relief that
our machine rolls right into the pits, coming to rest amid half a dozen other gliders and
someone’s lunch box. Holding onto the tranny firmly to hide the fact that your hands are
shaking badly, you walk with all the insouciance of someone who meant that to happen all
along, whilst all around people shake their heads with disgust or appreciation.
Compare the foregoing to that last flight of the day... there’s something holding up its hand
to be noticed, Right, dead right in fact.... when you fly at a busy aerotow event, there are
sometimes quite a lot of things clamouring for your attention, and quite often it’s this factor
that leads to a degrading of a flier’s otherwise flawless competence in the landing phase.
So, part of the answer to the original question is that at an aerotow event, such as the one
described, it’s the unaccustomed pressure of events that causes many people, myself
included, to do things that they normally wouldn’t when bringing their machines back to
earth. But even under more normal circumstances, the question is still valid. Why do
pilots sometimes get into such a mess in the landing phase?
Let me tell what I am convinced is one reason: putting off ‘til tomorrow that which should
be done today. To many people the landing is a difficult hurdle, something to be put off as
long as they can, and then got over with as quickly as possible. No two landings are alike,
and indeed if there wasn’t something special about this procedure, people wouldn’t burst
into spontaneous applause when someone pulls off a good one.
So, a pilot gets a model up on the slope, for instance, soars to a great height, stooges
around for half an hour, then lands and reaches for his flask of coffee. He may repeat this
procedure five or six times during the course of the day and then wend his way home filled
with the glow of satisfaction that is the reward of a day well spent. So what, you may ask,
what’s wrong with that? Regard now that same flier when the lift has suddenly died and
the landing, which was previously a leisurely affair, now needs to be performed toot sweet.
As often as not, the result will be a manoeuvre that is significantly degraded from its
predecessors, sometimes leading to a confetti-strewn hillside and some surreptitious
dustpan-and-brush work. The conclusion is obvious; any pilot who flies the same pattern
day in, day out, is going to overwork his sweat glands when presented with unusual
circumstances such as may be found at a busy aerotow event. (Or the sudden
appearance of a low-flying aircraft, or a dense patch of mist flowing unexpectedly up the
hill, or the horn of a maddened bull appearing between his legs...)
To help make things clearer let’s define three types of landing, then you can decide into
which category yours will fit.
1. Controlled crash: This is usually accompanied by some nifty legwork as people
struggle to get out of the way. The approach is often totally unplanned, with the
pilot’s options diminishing throughout the procedure until the inevitable ensues.
2. Adequate Landing: Most fall into this category; it’s safe, it’s geographically correct
(in the same field as the take-off) and has all the style of a water buffalo passing
wind.

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3. Greaser: No description required here, as we all know what a greaser looks like,
right?
Well, you know what’s going to happen now, don’t you? Some git is going to tell you how
to fly... don’t you just hate it when that happens.
Getting a model from a particular point in the sky down to a particular point on the ground
is basically an exercise in energy management. At 100 feet you model has a given
amount of potential energy compared to its resting state on the ground. Looking at the
extremes of your many choices of action, you can dive vertically downwards converting all
that energy into velocity, or you can burble around on the stall trying to retain height by
energy conservation instead. Neither is a wise choice of action, instead, this is where the
circuit comes into play. The idea of flying a circuit is a simple one, as the pioneer aviators
at the turn of the century found out; this simple pattern gives you the time and the
opportunity to adjust your glide path (which is determined by balancing speed, height, drag
and direction), so that you arrive at threshold with just the right amount of remaining
energy to pull off your high quality landing. As I mentioned before, without flight
instrumentation we are going to have to rely on judgement to balance the factors involved,
and good judgement can only come with practice.
What happens with practice is that some hidden part of your subconscious becomes a
computer, it automatically correlates what the eyes see with the knowledge database that
you have build up from previous experience, This will vary from model to model and will
be refined with experience, the critical factor being the behaviour of that particular wing
section upon which your model is relying. The other critical factor is the efficiency or
otherwise of your glidepath control apparatus, the airbrakes/spoilers living in the wings.
So to recap, you control altitude and airspeed with the elevator, drag (and also airspeed)
with the spoilers.
Traditionally a circuit is square in shape; you fly overhead into wind passing to a point
somewhere in front of you where you will commence your first crosswind leg, either to the
right or left as the situation dictates. At the appropriate point you turn another ninety
degrees in the downwind phase, losing altitude as necessary, The point at which you
enter your final crosswind leg, known as base leg, is crucial, as it will determine the
amount of energy you have left when you enter the last into-wind leg, known somewhat
sinisterly as Finals. If you turn too soon you will come over the landing area too high and
with the distinct possibility that the brakes may not be man enough to kill off the excess
energy. If on the other hand you turn too late, you will find yourself short of the required
energy to reach the landing area and that’s usually when the lurking fence leaps up and
takes a bite out of your sailplane. The square approach is the simplest and best way to
give you the time you need to sort things out and bring your flight to a suitable and
satisfactory conclusion, but of course outside of competition, it doesn’t have to be a square
at all, a large circle will do the job just as well.
Why then, does the pilot of the full-size add down trim and speed up in the landing circuit,
surely this is not the thing to do? Actually, it’s a pretty nifty idea, because it gives you
options both sides of your rate of descent in this configuration. If the computer in your
brain beeps and says, ‘too low too low... you can’t get back from there’ you can opt to
leave the spoilers alone and rely on your extra airspeed to bring you home. If the
converse applies (Beep! Beep! Too high), you can pull out the spoilers until things start
looking better. But, I hear those of you still awake say, surely if you are short of the height

113
needed to reach the landing then it’s better to slow up and trim for minimum sink? It
depends on the strength of the wind of course, but most experienced pilots will, in this
situation, stuff the nose down and head for the home plate. There are three possible
explanations for this; firstly at higher airspeeds there is more positive control, which is
something you might need on a blustery day. Secondly, as you lost altitude you get to that
part of the wind gradient near the ground where the air is moving more slowly due to the
drag of the grass, bushes, coffee flasks and antelope etc. This means that you can cover
comparatively more ground compared to the higher altitude, even allowing for the extra
drag at high speed.
Finally, as you get within a few feet of the ground, the aircraft enters what is known as
ground effect where due to the winds’ proximity to the ground, it rides on a sort of cushion
of air, something which also increases the wing’s efficiency. If I was coy before in
describing exactly what constitutes a ‘greaser’ then now is the best time to elucidate. A
perfect landing, and I ought to point out that this is purely my definition, takes place when
the transition from flight to flat is entirely seamless, one minute the sailplane is floating
effortlessly within inches of the ground, the next the wheel is rumbling and you can actually
see the lift dying from under the wings as she slows and comes to rest. Hopefully, you will
be able to hold the wings level until the last moment, and prevent the usual tip-snag and
semi-ground loop that bedevils a landing on a less than perfect surface. No doubt the full
size practice is somewhat different, landing at unnecessarily high speeds may well cause
dissention in the workshop, but I believe that for models, the best landings come from the
benefit of a slightly higher airspeed. Then you can experience those final, satisfying
seconds before touchdown, skimming the surface of the ground and utilising the spoilers
to designate the exact point of contact.
There are no shortcuts to pulling off a good landing, not just now and again that is, but
with consistency, and it boils down to this: practice, practice and more practice. First you
have to get to know the efficiency of your airfoil, and this means deliberately setting the
glider up to land short, and then pulling back to see how far you can stretch it. With many
models, what will happen as the airspeed diminishes is that a wing will suddenly drop, so
get to know if yours falls into this category, Often pilots with such a model come to fear
the stall and do everything to avoid it, which in many ways seems entirely sensible. More
sensible is to stall the machine repeatedly at a safe height under different conditions, i.e.
from straight and level, from a turn etc. This will enable to pilot to know precisely the time
when it’s going to happen, and thus avoid its consequences nearer the ground. You often
see a model set up nicely on the approach suddenly drop a wing and sag to the ground in
the final moment of landing, with practice this is quite avoidable.
As we reach the end of this little homily, I would beseech you not to be put off by my
description of a typical aerotow event, you have to make allowances for artistic
interpretation. Although our aim is to emulate the full-size as much as possible, there are
inescapable differences between the two, and it would not be sensible to try to take the
comparison too far. When things go wrong for model pilots, nine times out of ten it is
because unforeseen circumstances have suddenly cropped up, and the pilot has not got
the experience to cope. This is why commercial pilots spend so much time with their bums
strapped to a simulator, and why our simulation must come from practice.
I must thank that gentleman at the aerotow event for his suggestion, and I sincerely hope
that by now he’s managed to find Mabel...

... and even more scale happenings ...
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Bordertown 06
By Gary Mac
I arrived at Bordertown for my first ever visit to the place that I had heard so much about in my
short modelling career. I can now see why it is a great place to hold a scale meeting there, with all
the facilities, the clubhouse, hangars to store the models overnight and plenty of room to camp if
you want to, and even bunks to sleep in.
On arrival at lunch time on Friday there was a fairly strong wind blowing and it did not look like we
would be flying that day. There were a few people there all ready and every one was taking the
time to rig up all their models in the hope that the wind might die down later in the afternoon and
we would get a fly in. This was not to be, so we sat around chin wagging and sipping an ale or two
till it was time for dinner put on by the Gliding club members.
Saturday dawned with a beautiful blue sky and a very gentle breeze blowing and we were in for a
good days flying. It wasn’t long before the tugs had us up into the air and there were plenty of
thermals to catch. The first casualty of the day was Wayne Gordon’s ASW 22 which suddenly went
off the air and luckily it was in a nice thermal circle and started coming back to the strip instead of
heading for the road and landed in the paddocks and sustained a lot of damage. Theo was the next
one with his Minimoa losing a wing off the launch and sadly hitting a tree on the way down. John
Copeland was coming to land inverted and ran out of room when he tried to flip it right side up and
hit the deck in a cloud of dust. There were good thermals all day and everyone was able to stay up
for 10 to 20 minutes and sometimes longer for some. At one stage we had 6 tugs on the field so we
managed to get launched pretty efficiently.
Gary Whitfield from Mildura rocked up with his brand new tug, a Modeltech Piper Cub 1/3 scale
with a 3350mm wingspan running a 62cc Zenoah up front and weighing in at 13.5 kg. Gary took
no time in working out how to use his new tug and was soon launching us up like he had been
flying the Cub for years. Paul Clift had the blue tug which is now the yellow tug which is on its 3 rd
re-build, and had an 80cc twin Zenoah up front and 2.450mm wingspan. Paul managed to keep
flying all day in spite of taking a few hits from the glitches he was copping one area of the field.
Greg Potter had his tug out which was a Bowers Flybaby 1/3 scale with a 2800mm wingspan and a
62cc Zenoah up front. Chris Carpenter has his Wilga tug there and had a bit of trouble with his new
tuned pipe but got it going. Col Collyer has his Cub out on the line and also Bob McEwin with his
Hots runni9ng a Zenoah 62. I would like to say a big thank you to all the tug pilots for all their
work over the weekend as it was a great effort on their behalf.
Saturday nigh the members from the Gliding club put on a full lamb on the spit along with roast
pork and roast beef and roast vegetables and also sweets, which all went down rather well. The
presentations were held after dinner and the winners were as follows:
Modern Class
Vintage Class
1 – Col Collyer – Fox 1 – Michael Lui – Bergafaulke
2 – Chris Carpenter – ASH 26 2 – Tim Morland – Schweitzer 1-26
3 – Henryk Kobylanski – ASW 27 3 – Col Collyer – Golden Eagle
SCALE SOARING ASSOCIATION MODEL ENGINE’s AWARD
Greg Potter – 1/3 scale Fly-Baby tug
After the presentations Martin Simons gave us a talk on all the latest news and about some of the
new models from his trip to the World Championships in Europe.

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Sunday dawned overcast and a strong wind blowing, too strong to throw some models up. Went
out to the field and stood around chin wagging till lunch which was again put on by the members of
the Gliding Club. After lunch the wind was still too strong to fly until we has a shower of rain and
the wind died down so we were able to get some flying in for the rest of the afternoon. Monday
was a bit windy but there were a few flights early.
Murray Wills finally got make his maiden flight of his GROB 109. Chris Carpenter was the test
pilot and Murray got to have a go at the controls. There was a bit of fine tuning needed before the
2 nd flight and that went a lot better than the first. Here are some of the details of Murray’s model. It
is scratch built of fibreglass and 30% scale with a 5m wingspan running a 45cc Zenoah and it has
Opto-coupler with twin battery packs for the main control servos.
I would like to say thanks to John Copeland, Col Collyer and Chris Carpenter and anyone else I
have missed who organized the weekend meeting as it went off really well and hopefully next year
the weather will be a bit kinder to us.
October 2006 – General meeting advised that Glider training at Brigg’s field will now be on the
1 st Sunday of the month.
At this time membership stands at a total of 160.
VARMS also has a new and very active website courtesy of Henryk Kobylanski and can be found
at - www.varms.org.au.

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It is with great sadness that we have to report that Tony Cincotta has ceased to operate
his well known Modelling retail business after well over 35 years. Tony became a member
of VARMS (31) and was originally Saturn Mfg. operating in Hampton in the late sixties.
Later he became very well known for his operations at several locations in Caulfield as
Hobby Hangar/Saturn Hobbies and was also a solid sponsor of the VMAA Trophy in its
early days as the Futaba Trophy. Tony was very well known for many styles of models
across the entire spectrum that he designed and kitted himself. With his departure goes a
very active and dedicated modeller, a great drop-in centre and shop where there was
always a great bargain and a lot of chit-chat.
F3J Thermal (with winch launch)
60 th Nationals - A Competition Report
By Gerry Carter & John Skinner
This event was run over two long days with 13 rounds flown in all. Run to the
FAI F3J rules, this event was tougher in a number of ways to the usual
Australian Open Thermal Rules. In particular, under the FAI F3J rules, there is
no such thing as a "perfect" score. The task is to achieve the longest flight
possible within a 10 minute window measured from the time the model leaves
the launch line to the time the model touches the ground.
There is also a precision landing bonus. The model must touch the ground
before the 10 minute window expires or there is a severe penalty.
The flight line was arranged with teams 15 metres apart so that all pilots could
launch at exactly the start of the working time. It was quite a sight to see up
to five high performance gliders, all with wing spans of over 3 metres,
launching simultaneously. When all pilots achieved their flight times, the
landings were also all happening at the same time.
Thermal conditions over the two days varied widely with some heats won with
times that were much less than the theoretical 10 minutes maximum. This
made the whole event very challenging in terms of testing the pilots
thermalling skills. The outstanding pilot was Carl Strautins who seemed to
have no trouble finding thermals and who's landings were deadly in both
timing and accuracy. At times there was massive lift, and at other times
massive sink.
Everybody was very appreciative of the effort put in by the VMAA, the TCMAC
and the facilities and catering provided for the pilots. Throughout the
competition the pilots also became quite familiar with the property owner Andy
and his wife and family and they showed a great deal of interest in our
activities. Andy is a bit of a character, a lovely man and was good fun to have
around.

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The final result was:- 1st Carl Strautins ICON/Maple Leaf
2nd Max Kroger PIKE SUPERIOR/Samba Model
3rd Daniel Haskell ESPADA RXL/Jaro Muller
F3B Glider Multi-Task
This event was run at the same field as the F3J Thermal over the following two
days and 6 rounds were flown.
The three tasks are:-
Task A (=Thermal) 10 minute flight and precision landing in 12 minutes
working time.
Task B (=Distance) The most times up and down a 150 metre course in 4
minutes wins. The 4 minutes is within a 7 minute working time.
Task C (=Speed) The quickest time for 4 laps up and down a 150 metre course
wins. The working time is 4 minutes.
We were fortunate, and extremely grateful for the help of a group of Air Cadets
who volunteered their time to help with the running of the distance task. This
task requires a person at each end of the course for each pilot so that, if 3
pilots are flying, you need 6 helpers. Without this help there is no way that the
event could have gone to 6 rounds. They did a great job.
We were also fortunate to have two pilots (who weren't able to continue to fly)
to man the pylons for the speed rounds. This enabled this part of the
competition to run much more quickly than would otherwise have been the
case.
Conditions were similar to those for F3J except that the wind direction for
launch was at best 90 degrees to the direction of launch and more often than
not, even more than this. However all pilots handled the situation well by
steering their gliders around to the side (and beyond) so that the release of
the glider from the line was into wind.
Highlights of the competition were a number of scores for the distance task of
30 laps (of 150 metres) achieved by Steve Keep and Max Kroger. That's 4.5Km
in 4 minutes with a lot of turns as well. Also, there was an outstanding speed
flight by John Skinner of 14.11 seconds. That's an average of 153 Km/Hr
assuming that the bare minimum of 600 metres was flown.
This is perhaps the fastest competition speed flight ever achieved by any pilot
in Australia.
Once again everybody was very appreciative of the effort put in by the VMAA,
the TCMAC and the facilities provided for the pilots and the property owner
Andy continued to be very interested in our activities.
In the end, consistently high performance over all tasks wins F3B events and
on this occasion that honour went to Steve Keep(Caracho 3000), with John
Skinner(Caracho 3000) second and Gerry Carter(Estrella) third.

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H.L.G. (Hand Launched Glider)
The entries for this event were very low but the standard of flying was very
high, particularly in the case of the winner.
Marcus Stent dominated the event with his thoroughly researched and
practised discus launch technique and his flying skills.
Unfortunately one pilot was taken out of the event by a willi willi that picked up
the model from the ground and broke it.
Another was taken out when Marcus launched it using his advanced technique
and folded the wing.
Three rounds were flown with the winner being Marcus Stent and second was
Theo Arvanitakis.
Extracted from Aspectivity 396, February 2007
In the current climate of modelling, with ARF’s and similar reigning supreme, the following
article is very typical of days gone by for its optimism and appropriate modeling “highs and
lows” of a bygone era.
Eddie the Eagle
Colin Smith
It all started way, way, way back in the previous century, or to be more precise, in the good
old days when a magazine about gliding was crammed full of glider and sailplane stuff and not
those “bloody-electric-aeroplanes” as they are nowadays............. 1993 to be exact and it was all
Silent Flight’s fault and in particular the Feb/Mar edition. I even remember where I bought the
magazine .. Ballarat .. and I was up there for a model boat demo during the Begonia festival.
Sacrilege do I hear you say ... model WHAT !!!!! Yep...... I was a boaty in those days, not yet
having got back into flight and quite happy fiddling with paddle wheels and fighting ducks at the
Surrey Dive in Box Hill. It’s a good, relaxing club nowadays and if any of you are interested give
them a looksee on Wednesday mornings and Sundays, they also have the quaintest/most old
fashioned frequency system I have ever seen. But I digress, that particular magazine also contained
an article on the Habicht and I was hooked ..... gotta find those glider guys again. When I say
again, I migrated in ‘83 and brought a lot of planes with me and had written to a bloke from
VARMS beforehand about flying in general .... so I was aware of the club, in fact the Historian
presented me with “that” letter on my last visit Camperdown. It’s funny how things can bite you
after many, many years.
The next part of the saga, if you are still awake, takes place in November 1993 when
VARMS held their last expo at the old Waverley High School on Waverley road before it was
pulled down and replaced by houses. Halcyon days and it was always a bloody good expo with
plenty of displays, both flying and static for the crowds to see and do. Again I was part of the
Surrey Park mob who has a static display (they also won best stand for a few years, as I recall), and
at the second stall I bought two things from David Hughes. A plan and wing set for his Viper slope
soarer and a plan for Eddy the Eagle that a deceased member had brought into the country, I was
later told it was Martin Briggs .... seem to have heard that name somewhere? In the meantime I was

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happy slope soaring at Glenfern road and in those days we could almost guarantee the afternoon
sea-breezes coming in about 3.30 and I was given a set of reflex-sectioned cores by Lindsay
Henderson for a Windfree I think. (It was when your road was still a cart track Lindsay... that long
ago!.)
The cores were put to one side... one day I’ll use them..... one day. Hmmm, I seem to have heard
that before somewhere??? Time advanced and more and more junk/models were accumulated in
the garidge. As happens, some models migrated to the house until “she who must be obeyed”
issued the ultimatum.... “no more lemon meringue pies until you have a clearout!” ....Yeah,
Yeah....one day...one day!
I’m not sure what actually made me dig out the Eddie plan and get those cores out at the
same time but I obviously did and thought. Hmmm...roughly the same chord... why not. The plan
calls for a central spar with hand sanded aerofoil shaped panels fore and aft of the spar and all of it
tapering from the root to tip plus there is a couple of dihedral breaks on each panel thrown in for
good measure.....sounds like a lotta work but the final result looks fantastic, Basically it sounded
like a sort of free hand sculpture all tied together at the bent spar. The bent spar looked weird and
complicated to build and being basically bone idle and lazy, I looked at it sideways and thought if a
swept flying wing (my BKB as featured a few months ago) has a constant thickness wing, why
shouldn’t Eddie? So, using cardboard patterns to replicate the planform, things started to gell and
before long I had a load of wedge shaped off-cuts from the foam cores. The spar was knocked up
from 6mm hard balsa with a 6mm pultruded rod (solid fibreglass) in its centre and at that point I
decided to cheat on the dihedral and utilise the properties and cross section of trailing edge stock. I
varied slightly from the plan but I worked on the Colin Collyer principal of “Iffff you don’t tell it –
it won’t know” principle... its always paid dividends in the past. So trailing edge stock glued onto
the edge of one panel and it forms the dihedral...brilliant Smith, brilliant. The fuselage as shown on
the plan was nightmare, mainly because there were no right angle joins or at the very least, some
form of datum line to work to, plus it was very fat, obviously a well fed eagle. Soon sorted all that
out and one thing learned on the slope is that its very hard to launch if you can’t hold it easily.
So with a completely redesigned fuz all clad with blue foam and rounded off, it was out with
the brown paper, diluted white glue and rubber gloves. With large flat surfaces the beast was soon
covered, even the fiddly little bits at the trailing edge soon neatly wrapped in soggy paper. The only
thing spared the BP treatment was the balsa head which had been hollowed to take the church roof
that I thought would be needed to balance correctly. I was right ...... there is a church somewhere
that now leaks! All parts fitted together and under Max McCullough’s guidance/threats/curses he
showed me how to use a spray can to best advantage and Eddie was now a dull red ochre colour .....
a feather scheme could be done ifffff and when and after it flew. Wing loading came out at 15oz
per sq ft, and with its reflexed wing section, I reckoned a 10 to 20 knotter will be needed for
success.....but take some photos first!
First fine day with a good breeze and Kilcunda here we come. Friday and a 10 to 20 knot
southerly promised but didn’t quite get there. What the hell ....give it a bung.... it was blowing
about 12 knots straight on the south slope so why not, double check all the waggly bits were going
in the right direction and the C of G felt about right and Ian slack launched Eddie. Straight
out....over the road... little bit of up and it rose a bit but was banking left.....right aileron to
counteract ....Bloody Hell it seemed to shudder right a bit then spun left and headed earthwards
quicker than a Pommy batsman returning to the pavilion.......Oops!

120
Jeez it looked good in the air... this bird has got to fly not matter how long it takes.....not too
much damage considering that it had actually turned 180 degrees and gone back onto the slope over
the fence and cart-wheeled halfway down the top paddock. Gary MacDougal found it in the very
long grass and I suppose I was lucky that missed “Hopper’s windmill” (You’ll have to ask him).
Perhaps it might have been a snap roll instigated by too much aileron and a nose heavy C of G, but
then perhaps not......I’ll never know. So lets get it all stuck back together, move the C of G back a
bit, reduce those aileron throws a bit and give it another try.
Next shot was again in a southerly but only 10 knots and this time I chucked it myself and
again it went out and up as ordered and again it banked left, but this time headed straight for the
road, fortunately it didn’t quite make it.... preferring the scruff grass and clumpy tussocks for its
somersault but with twist this time, so that it could wrench its head off and deposit that church roof
over the slope. BUMMA !!!!!
All the pieces were collected, even the church roof was found thanks to Martin Hopper, and
they were stuck back together, then more brown paper applied to cover the scars...maybe I’ll lighten
the tail, maybe I’ll used a cheater fin, maybe, maybe, maybe..........Will it fly? .... Will the resident
Camperdown eagle marmalise it? ..... Will there be any wind at Camperdown? .... Will it join
Brian’s plane lodged up in a tree?...
Who knows.....all will be revealed in the next thrilling edition of Aspectivity........
Scale at Jerilderie, Easter weekend (6-9 April) 2007 (the second time)

Roll call of everyone there...
Gregg Voak ASW 15, HOTS (Tug)
David Hobby ASK 8, DG600, Piper Cub (Tug)
Theo Arvanitakis Ventus 2AX Pilatus B4
Ross Bathie Schweitzer 1-26, Lentus
Henryk Kobylanski ASW 28, Stick (Tug)
Neil Spencer Slingsby Gull Pegasus
Danny Malcman ASW 28 DG 500
Gary Mcdougall DG 600 Lunak Minimoa (now deceased)
Wayne Jones
Twin Astir
Anthony Peate Lunak ASW 22
Jim Houdalakis DG 600
Bill Bland Duo Disc ASW 28 Salto Bird Dog (Tug)
Barry Kenyon Ask 13
Hayden Daley Nimbus 4D Discus 2B
Andy Smith KA 6 ASK 16 Lunak
Rod Watkins Minimoa Discus 2B
Barry Smith
Bird Dog (Tug)
Bill & Rose Hamilton Salto w. Jet Joe 1200 turbine
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May 2007 – At a Special General Meeting held prior to the monthly General meeting, the
following Special Resolutions were placed before the Membership for their consideration:
Clause 3 (1) (iii) Qualification of Membership
Replace existing with -
Associate Members – Those members, Senior, Pensioner, Junior and Full student, who have paid
the MAAA Insurance via another club.
Resolution lost
Clause 3 (10) Qualification of Life Membership
Replace existing with –
A full Member may be elected a Life Member by the Club at an Annual General Meeting, or by
Special Resolution in accordance with the Act, upon the recommendation of the Committee to
recognise outstanding contribution to the Association, as a whole over an extended period of years.
Life members shall have the same rights as Full Members.
Resolution carried
Clause 4 (2) Entrance Fee and Subscription
Replace existing with –
In no case will the Entrance Fee be less than $20 for Full Members, and $10 for Junior Members.
Resolution carried
Clause 33 (2) Winding Up
Replace existing with –
To the extent it is permissible within the Act if the Association is disbanded, the remaining funds,
equipment etc, shall be held in trust by a firm of Solicitors nominated by the Committee of that
time, for a period of two (2) years. If the Association does not re-form in that time, then the said
funds, equipment etc, are to be offered for sale, and after legal charges etc., the balance to be paid to
The Model Aeronatutical Association of Australia Inc. (MAAA Inc.) Resolution carried
June 2007 LSF Tournament at Jerilderie, results:
1. David Hobby 11994 2. Mike Rae 11945 3. Mike O’Reilly 11912

122
... and from the June Aspectivity we have some options at Brigg’s Field

123
THE 2007 VMAA TROPHY RESULTS.
1. DAC 32 ½ =5. VARMS 24
2. PARCS 31 6. P&DARCS 13 ½
3. NFG 25 7. NMAA 10 ½
4. L&DMFA 24 ½ 8. VMAA 8
=5. LVMAC 24
Individual results – David Pratley 1st in 7 Cell Glider, Mat Dulak 3 rd in Helicopter, Gerry Carter 1 st
in Thermal Glider, Theo Arvanitakis 1 st in Fun-Fly, and VARMS also had 6 th place in Fun Scale,
Club Racing and Musical Landings.
June 2007 saw a mixed blessing with the MAAA/VMAA fees, being a very large drop by the
MAAA and only a slight increase by the VMAA. An outstanding anomaly is the decision by the
VMAA to remove any discount for Pensioners to bring them in line with the MAAA who also no
longer recognises the contribution of such people and neither is prepared to ease their burden, just a
little!!
RCGA – Open Thermal League Competition - 2006-07 Overall Results:
Advanced 1. David Hobby 2. Jim Houdalakis 3. Theo Arvanitakis
Sportsman 1. Bernie Sizer
2007 – 8
The Committee
President Max Haysom Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer Ian Pearson Editor David R. Jones
Ordinary Member David Pratley Registrar Raoul Wynn
Ordinary Member Martin Hopper Contest Director *David Pratley
Ordinary Member Alan Mayhew Scale Group Rep. Colin Collyer
*C.D. for RCGA events will be shared among participating members.
The A. G. M. saw the incumbent Committee returned with the addition of Colin Collyer as Scale
Group Representative.
The following awards were also made at the A.G.M. :-
Outstanding Achievement Award
David Hobby World F3J Champion 2004 & 2006
Leadership & Encouragement Award
Colin Collyer Scale Group Leadership
Martin Hopper
Clubman of the Year Award
Significant club service over a number of areas
Ian Slack
Life Membership
Services to the Club, Training and encouragement to New members.
July 2007 – Australian team achieves 7 th place at the World F3B Championships in Switzerland
with John Skinner gaining 10 th place, Nick Chabrel 29 th and Tim Kullack 34 th .
September Aspectivity reflected the results of the David Downs Scale Show Night.
Scalie of the Year- Henryk Kobylanski.
Members Choice Model - Andrew Allen’s Platypus.
Judge’s Choice Model - Theo Arvanitakis’s FA 18.

... and of course the following scale instrument should easily find a place in every pilot’s flight
box!!:-
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The DLG
The following article is taken from Aspectivity 405 of November 2007, and included because it
reflects an emphatic change in a modelling trend, namely, a new way to get hand launched gliders
(H. L. G.’s) airborne. Whilst HLG’s have been around for a very long time, up until quite recently,
the launch method was a short quick run followed by a javelin style throw to achieve the required
result. Over recent times a new method called the Discus-launch has been brought into use and has

125
proved extremely effective from the flat-field and also on a slope with little or no breeze. The
discus-style launch method only requires that a gripping “peg” be fitted just inboard of one wingtip
and protruding above and below the wing. A quick “discus-throw” rotation of the body completes
the launch to heights well above the usual javelin style throw.
The Joy of Flying a Discus-launched Glider by Neil Pollock
Up to now discus or side-arm launched gliders appeared to be playthings for the expert
thermal duration and F3B fraternity. However on the basis of recent experience, I believe they have
much to offer the mere mortals of the soaring community like myself. Through a set of accidental
circumstances I found myself the proud owner of a kit for a hot European discus launched glider
made by Mibo Modeli in Slovenia. This appears on the basis of photographs to be the same DLG
that is now available from David Pratley.
The good news was that the fully molded pieces were of beautiful quality and finish. The
bad news was, that there was not a single word of instruction, not even a suggested CG location!
The biggest challenge was getting all the radio stuff into the carbon fibre eggshell, which formed
the fuselage pod. All the servos had to be accommodated in the fuselage since the wing was too
thin and fragile to contemplate putting servos in there. However I managed to get it all together and
a very nice model weighing 320 grams resulted (doing a quick change of units, this gave a wing
loading of 4.8 oz/ft ²). With total focus on weight saving, around 290 grams would have been
possible. But for general fun flying a bit of penetration takes precedence over absolutely minimum
sink rate.
The model turned out to be an absolute pleasure to fly in a variety of circumstances. Despite
being on the wrong side of 60, at least as far as athletic ability goes, I found it easy to get quite
satisfying launch heights. The discus launch is not too physically demanding and the height
achieved was way above what I could manage with a javelin launch that just about ripped my arm
off. For flat field thermal soaring, the only new challenge is finding small low-level thermal feeders
to get up into the more familiar large thermal structures.
My overall impression was that flying a DLG had a Zen like tranquility and peace. The
model flew slowly in complete silence and responded to every tiny air movement. It revealed small
areas of lift and sink that one would never have expected. In gusty conditions I had fun using quite
aggressive control throws to effectively “surf” the gusts. Close to the ground it drifted along in
ground effect for a seemingly endless period. It was nice to be able to walk into a piece of parkland
with just a model and a radio, throw it into the air with no extra equipment or noise, pick it up or
catch it at the end of the flight and throw it again. In a light breeze it was possible to walk to
windward flying he model so close that you could reach out and touch it. It was a novel experience
hearing the servos operate and seeing the control surfaces move and the model responding.
As familiarity grew I found that it was an excellent light-lift slope-soarer. It would stay up
in conditions that would normally only see 2 metre or larger “floaters” in the air, but with much
sharper manoeuverability. Discus launches were useful in getting up into slightly stronger lift in
marginal slope conditions. All the basic aerobatics were easily achieved and despite the low wing
loading, it had a fair turn of speed with a little bit of reflex camber when pointed towards the
ground. The model has really nice and forgiving handling characteristics and never tried to surprise
the pilot. If it was floated up smoothly into a stall, the nose dropped very gently and it recovered
with little loss of altitude. To my great surprise I found that the model was quite tough despite its
eggshell like structure. When experimenting with launch presets I managed to have it stall from a
vertical climb too close to the ground to recover. The model ended up sticking out of the ground,
which admittedly was on the soft side, like a fence post with absolutely no damage.

126
The Dance of the DLG!!

127
Aspectivity 405 of November 2007 contained the following, origins, author and subject being very
self-evident.
Subjects for Scale
Smiddy
“And now for something completely different” was it Monty Python uttering words a bit like those
of another zany crowd? Who knows, but it would seem that Bert Rutan may have had thoughts
similar when designing this months offering:-
The Rutan Solitaire
The Rutan name is synonymous with canards and weird and wonderful layouts. However his
canard layout for a sailplane was not the first, that honour goes to SZD with their Kaczkaw which
wins the ugly duckling award way back in 1949. The Solitaire is without doubt the most beautiful
but that is probably due the lack of constraints allowed by the use of modern high stress materials
and advanced fabrication techniques, or in layman terms, foam and epoxy .... sound familiar? The
following text is taken directly from a website but I have forgotten which one.
“The prototype was exhibited at, among other places, Oshkosh 1982. It had the usual fore-plane,
but a conventional tail boom and rudder. Uncharacteristically for one of his designs, it didn’t have
winglets. The retractable motor was stowed in the fuselage ahead of the cockpit. The fixed
undercarriage consisted of two equal sized wheels mounted in tandem under the fuselage. The
Solitaire was reputed to fly well, though it was not the aim. It was to be a simple-to-build
unstallable glider, with the advantage of having an engine. Unstallable? Well that was one of the
reasons for the tail-first layout in Rutan’s aircraft. The fore-plane design is such that it stalls before
the main plane. The nose will then dip, unstalling the fore-plane. In fact the Long Eze can be
flown with full aft stick, the nose bobbing up and down as the fore-plane stalls and unstalls while
the main-plane stays well within its critical angle. The other advantage of the tail first configuration
is that both surfaces provide lift, unlike the normal layout where the tailplane produces a down-load
and the main plane has to lift the aircraft’s weight plus this down load. The main wing has trailing
edge flaps which also operate as spoilers by the leading edge coming above the top surface of the
wing when deploying. The unusually effective ‘spoilflap’ trailing edge surfaces provide good
glidepath control. Oh, and the engine with electric starter for air starting, erects (erupts?) from and
retracts into a bay in the forward fuselage by means of electro-hydraulic power. So why aren’t
there any home built Solitaire’s flying around? It seems that no one wanted one. Whether that was
conservatism, or whether those building gliders wanted something with a higher performance, I
don’t know. Pity, as it would have been interesting to see a few of them flying around.
As far as the the technical stuff:- Span 12.7m, Aspect ratio 20.78, that’s about it!!! But it did win
the Sailplane Homebuilders Association Design contest in 1982 so somebody loved it.
Happy Building

128
..... a typical December Twi-fly and General Meeting at Brigg’s field
VARMS to CELEBRATE 40 TH ANNIVERSARY
4 February 1968 -Initial gathering on Mt. Hollowback of interested glider guiders and
several hundred very interested spectators.
14 April 1968 -Slope Soaring Rally at The Bald Hill (Mt. Bacchus Marsh) for model
aircraft without audible means of support. This meeting resulted in the
creation of the Victorian Association of Radio Model Soaring.
In the Aspectivity of June 2006, an article appeared signalling the introduction of “Electric Glider
competitions”, where props and electric power rather than winches and bungees launched the glider
into the wild blue yonder to engage in thermalling activities. After many introductory fun-fly
situations, the following reflects a slightly more serious aspect of the activity!! And there will be
more in the future.
Feb 10 th – Open Electric Glider Event – After 4 rounds of flying the results were:-
1. David Pratley 2 Max Kroger 3 Alan Mayhew
February ’08 – VARMS has a total of 175 members
February 2, ’08 – VARMS Trophy results:-
1. Bruce Clapperton 2. Paul Dumsday 3. Peter Cossins
March 2008 Aspectivity (408) reflected several variations with regard to flying at Brigg’s Field.
The first –
Bronze Wings Electric Glider Group
Raoul Wynn
Background
At the end of training, with a newly won Glider Bronze Wings, the pilot has an enormous variety of
pathways to follow – choices of model and launch type, flying disciplines, venues and so on.
Typically, they have experienced a winch/bungee launched 2 channel Prelude and perhaps a little
time with an electric power assisted glider. They have struggled to get enough stick time to do
anything more than focus on the Bronze Wings test requirements.
Consequently:
With the apron strings cut they can lose focus.
They often feel very alone and lose confidence.
Many of the popular ARF electric gliders are pigs to fly with the supplied power systems.
Their foray into electric gliders often ends in a collection of scrap plastic and balsa!
The complex requirements of electric power systems just make it worse.
There are reports of some new members not leaving the Sunday training sessions after they

129
have won their Bronze because they enjoy the support and companionship of it all.
We propose an alternative; a pathway that supports and encourages the progression from the
training school into the exciting world of electric gliders. It will be a new grouping to be called
“Bronze Wings Electric Glider Group”. This group will be formed around the existing bunch of
enthusiastic MPX Easy Glider flyers who meet at Brigg’s Field each Sunday between 7.00am and
10.00am. Rob Page is already leading this group and has offered to formalise and expand its’
activities.
The second –
Bronze Wings – Approved Policy
Raoul Wynn
It remains the minimum requirement that Bronze Wings must be held by all those VARMS
members flying solo at Brigg’s Field. This policy to take full effect on the 1st July 2008, whilst
those holding VARMS “solo” rating can fly solo at Brigg’s Field before then.
March 2008 – Easter saw many scale enthusiasts hearding north to Jerilderie for the 4 th time for
what has become a well established event since the initial venture in 2005. The following list is
only some of the pilots and models in attendance :-
Danny & Steve Malcman Piper Cub tug Brian Simpson & Rod O’Neill
Neil Spencer & Henryk Kobylanski Big Stik tug Bill Hamilton Salto (with turbo)
Bill Bland Bird Dig tug & Asw-28 (7.5m) Rod Wadkins Mini Moa
Jim Houdalakis Duo Discus Gary McDougal K-8 (1/3 scale)
..... and many others.
How High Is My Glider?
This simple gauge will be able to tell you (see page 2).
(Note – to see pictures, document needs to be viewed in “Print Layout”. (View, Print
Layout).
It is also designed to be printed on A4 sized paper (8.27"x11.69"). I am told that you may
have to change your settings if you use “Letter” size paper (8.5"x11") in your printer.
You can measure the height either directly above or at 45 degrees up (which is safer). You can
also use the “directly above” scale to work out how far away you plane is, regardless of angle..
It’s based on wingspan of Cularis being 2.6 metres, and the distance from your eye to the card
being approximately 600mm (ie 60cm or 2 feet). Additional cards have now been added for the
1.8m Easy Glider and 1.37m Easy Star and any 2m glider. For bigger gliders, simply photoenlarge
it appropriately, eg for a 3m glider, enlarge the 2m version by 150%.
Cut the card out, remove the shaded triangle in the middle and, if you wish, stick the gauge to
some card, wood or plastic.
I recommend you have a friend measure the height of your plane while you put it into position and
concentrate on the flying!! Attaching the guide to your transmitter and measuring your own plane
while flying may cause loss of orientation.
Flying the plane directly above you can be dangerous as it is easy to lose orientation, so I have
also included a scale on the right to use when your plane is viewed 45 degrees up.
DIRECTLY ABOVE YOU
Hold gauge at arm’s length and have plane’s wings in view so they seem to touch BOTH sides of
the V at the same time. The scale on the LEFT tells you height.
FLYING AT 45 DEGREES ABOVE THE HORIZON (safer)
Fly plane towards you until it is 45 degrees up from the horizon.
Hold gauge at arm’s length and have plane’s wings in view so they seem to touch BOTH sides of
the V at the same time. The scale on the RIGHT tells you height. The scale on the LEFT tells you
Distance Away from you.

130
Gauge
View of
plane
through
Gauge
45 degrees
Distance
from you
Height
of plane
above
ground
300 ----
-
----- 200
45 degrees
Directly above
or distance
away.
45
degrees
up
At 45 degrees up, plane is 200
feet high and almost 300 feet
away from you.
100---- ----- 70
150-------
Triangle must be 51mm wide when
printed
Cularis Wingspan - 2.6m
Cut out this
shaded
triangle
-----100
100-- ----- 70
150---
Triangle must be 35mm
wide when printed
Easy Glider Wingspan 1.8m
Cut out
shaded
triangle
----100
Height
in FEET
looking
directly
above or
measuring
distance
away.
200---
300-----
400 -----
500-------
Wingspan / 100
750 ---
1000 ----------
2000 -------------- 1500 ---- -
-----150
--- 200
---300
---------400
-----500
-------- 750
--1000
Height
in FEET
Looking
45 0 up
Fly
towards
you
Height
in FEET
looking
directly
above or
measuring
distance
away.
200---
300--
400 ---
500---
750 --
1000 ------
1500 -
2000 --------
Wingspan /
100
---150
--- 200
---300
---------400
-----500
--------750
--1000
FEET
Looking
45 0 up
Fly
towards
you
Mount / hold card 60cm (2 feet) from eye
version 1.1 Feb 9 2008
100---- ----- 70
150-----
Triangle must be
27mm wide
when printed
Easy Star Wingspan 1.37m
Cut out
shaded
triangle
45 0
up
----100
Mount / hold card 60cm (2 feet) from eye
version 1.1 Feb 10 2008
100--- ----- 70
150----
For 2m, triangle must be
39mm wide when printed
Plane with Wingspan 2m
Cut out
shaded
triangle
----100
200----
200----
Wingspan /
100
FEET
Looking
45 0 up

131
March ‘08
..... and out of the blue we get an email that proposed the following from Marcus Stent -
“I would like to announce the introduction of a DLG (Discus Launch Glider) Mini League to
be run over the next 4 Months.
The Events will be held on SATURDAYS at Briggs field from 1PM to 3PM on the following
dates.
March 22, April 19, May 17, June 21
Numbers and weather permitting we will run 2 heats per round and 20 Rounds for the day
(4 Blocks of 5 Rounds).
Between rounds we will hold DLG clinics on launching, trimming, setup and thermalling.
Entry is $5 and there will be prizes and trophies at the end of the League.
All are welcome and anyone new will be alocated an experienced person as a mentor and
timer for the day.
The Rules are very simple and involve a modification of the F6D (HLG) rules.
1. Each heat involves the pilots launching at the same time (one launch only) from a
designated area.
2. The task is a 3 minute max time.
3. Your score is a percentage of the maximum time achieved in the heat.
4. You must land back in the designated area.”

132
VARMS 40 th ANNIVERSARY
AN INVITATION
Dear Members, past and present, and Partners,
VARMS came into being as an Association on
the 14th April 1968 and now has been in
existence for 40 years.
The model at the right is Dieter Prussner’s
¼ Scale Zefir which was a part of the first
flying days organised.
To commemorate this 40th anniversary, the
committee of VARMS and members wishes to
extend an invitation for you to join with them
in the celebrations on Saturday 10th May
2008.
These celebrations will be in the form of a general get-together and a range of flying activities at the
VARMS home flying site, Brigg’s Field Wantirna South (see below for site details). A BBQ lunch
will be provided for all of those who attend .
VARMS also intends to issue to current members a special edition of ‘High Aspect’ which was the
original magazine of the club.
At this point in time a program of model flying will be generally along the lines of the following
timetable:
Start to 9.00 AM Park Flyers & similar models .
9.00 AM to 11.00 AM IC Power or similar Electric.
11.00 AM to 1 PM Aerowtowing.
12.00 PM to 2.00 PM Lunch
1 PM to close General winch launched models and HLG
To assist with catering, it would be appreciated if you could indicate your intention to join with us
in these celebrations by advising one of the organising committee, Peter Cossins (pcossins
@bigpond.com), Colin Collyer ( colinc@aerosonde.com.au) or Colin Smith
(colinkay@lizzy.com.au)
VARMS home site, Brigg’s Field is located at High Street Road, Wantirna Sth.,
Melways Map 72, C1.

133
General Directions:
Approaching from the east along High Street Rd. Wantirna South from Melbourne city, proceed
past Norton’s Lane to the traffic lights at George St. just prior to the new Mitcham-Frankston
Freeway Link. Execute a U-turn at these lights and return to the entrance to Brigg’s Field on the
left.
Approaching in a westerly direction from Stud Road, pass under the new Mitcham-Frankston
Freeway and turn left into Brigg’s field after the George Street lights.
Note 1: This program may be varied on the day to suit prevailing conditions.
Note 2: Any MAAA/VMAA affiliated visitor wishing to participate in the flying activities will be
required to provide proof of insurance by producing a current membership card of a
recognised club.
Flying Day @ Hollowback
Sunday May 11 (the day after)
A flying day at Mt Hollowback is being organised by Des Bayliss.
Just turn up and fly, maybe with some old friends, current members and re-live the
memories.
Peter Cossins, Colin Collyer, Colin Smith.
The following 5 pages are extracted directly from the June Aspectivity to
provide reports of the activities that occurred at Brigg’s Field for the 40 th
Anniversary, and also of the Fun-Fly that had been arranged for the following
day at Mt Hollowback, Ballarat.

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..... and in the following 2 pages we have an additional report of the VARMS 40 th Anniversary as
reported in the VMAA magazine by the Editor, Joe Finocchiaro, in which most of the reports and
photos were in colour.

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June 7 – 9 31 st LSF Tournament Jerilderie
1. Mike O’Reilly 9999 6. Steve Keep 9965
2. Alan Mayhew 9986 7. Tim Kullack 9965
3. Joe Wurts 9978 8. Gregg Voak 9949
4. Carl Strautins 9974 9. John Skinner 9949
5. Matthew Partlett 9968 10. Alan Lowe 9939
Aspectivity 412 of July 2008 reports the sighting of either small Kangaroos or Wallabies over the
western boundary!!!
RCGA 2007 – 2008 Thermal League results:
1. Alan Mayhew 2. Theo Arvanitakis 3 Jim Houdalakis
Best Sportsman class Brett Anthony

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2008 – 9
The Committee
President Colin Collyer Secretary Roger Stevenson
Treasurer/Registrar Ian Pearson Editor/Sites Manager Max Haysom
Ordinary Member Martin Hopper Contest Director Alan Mayhew
Heli Group Rep. Steven Malcman Sport Power Rep. Chris Kurdian
Bronze Wings – Approved Policy
It is now a minimum requirement that Bronze Wings must be held by all those VARMS members
flying solo at Brigg’s Field. This policy to take full effect on the 1 st July 2008.
World F3J Championship, Turkey, results:-
1. Benedikt Feigl GER Teams- 1. GER.
2. Jiri Duchan CZE 2. CZE.
3. Tobias Lammlein GER 3. NZL
9. David Hobby AUS 6. AUS.
23. Theo Arvanitakis AUS
27. Mike O’Reilly AUS
33. Gregg Voak AUS
August Meeting – Scale Night:
Best Scale Model Gary McDougall - 1/3 rd scale KA 8
Member’s Choice Theo Arvanitakis - ASW 28
“Scalie of the Year” Award Joint award - Danny & Steve Malcman

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The End