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

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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