new lismore model flying club...
TRANSCRIPT
Lismore
Model Flying Club
Newsletter
1 December 2013
Well, the heading says it all really. Yes it’s that
time of the year again, when hopefully as many
of us as possible will make the effort to be at the
field for the Meeting at 9am on Sunday the 8th
December to be followed by the festive flying
competition and a BBQ.
At the Field
“So that’s what they get up to!” Not a
lot of flying going on.
Below is a picture of John Morgan with his Czec Genesis electro glider. He finally finished and flew it; at 2kg it's no lightweight. But is very graceful and yes does thermal! He was worried about the weight
but it landed like a feather. SShock amazement!
Festive Flying
Decorate and fly any model of your choice and
the winner, to be adjudged by my good self will
take home a mystery prize. Yipeeeeeeee
Yes I am that short. Finally I have
flown my Pulsar Pro 3.6metre model.
As Maidens go the first flight of my Pulsar was
right up there with them. Firstly the mere
thought of committing a model so fragile and
expensive to the ether had me so nervous; top
that with fact that my Son and Grandson decided
to turn up; I was a wreck. Anyway hey hoe & off
we go. After launch I was immediately aware that
the model needed more up trim which I held in
with the stick. Adjusting the elevator trim did not
seem to be doing anything so foolishly I decided
to look at the Tx to see what was going on.
WRONG! When I looked back up at the model it
was in a vertical dive & preparing to go home in a
polythene bag. Fortunately I managed to pull it
out at about 30 feet or so and get it down safely.
There is of course a moral to this story and that is
NEVER take your eyes off your model.
Appropriate adjustments were made and
subsequent test flights improved both my state of
mind and the models performance. Am I pleased
with it? Yes I am over the moon with it.
Col Parkes with his new foamie
Minimoa
Doolittle Raiders Re-visited
The item on the Doolittle raiders that I put in the
October Newsletter had a significant effect on
Terry Flatley and I copy his response to me here :-
The Doolittle Raiders article stuck a chord with me.
You may well know that there is a local connection to
that story. Five of those B25s were sent to Australia
late one afternoon (From Fiji?) to land at Amberley.
They lost their way and homed in to 2GF Grafton radio
instead of Brisbane radio. I forget the exact details.
Something like this. It was almost dusk when they
reached the Australian coastline. Two crashed at
South Grafton. One landed at Evans Head. One
crashed at McKees Hill (near Lismore) and one at
Naughton's Gap, near Casino. There was one
parachute short in one plane and attempting to hang
onto another guy's belt, one airman fell to his death.
A film was made by Scot film maker Walt Deas on the
whole lot of the Raiders. I was a researcher on the film
and helped with the filming in this area. It was quite a
few years ago and Walt has since passed away.
Ray Martlew with his ‘Butterfly’, built
from a Dynaflight kit. Spans 99 inches
& is powered by an O.S. FP25
Ron’s Recolections
Unmanned Auster
On one of the rare occasions that I was down on the
Tarmac as an apprentice I was in the office just
waiting for my next job. We were alerted by the radio
speaker in the office that an RAAF aircraft was coming
to the TAA tarmac and the aircraft should be
marshalled in by one of our Engineer’s.
A few Minutes later an RAAF Saber was marshalled
into our Tarmac, the pilot got out of the aircraft and
came over to the Office and asked to borrow a screw
driver. One of the permanent Tarmac Engineer’s gave
him one and he returned to his aircraft and started to
remove the panels above the Machine Guns in the
wing.
He then proceeded to cock the guns, this had not
been done by the RAAF armourers at Richmond Air
Base, and we all wondered why the Pilot was arming
the guns in the middle of the Tarmac with all of the
people wandering around and in the middle of the
aircraft on the Tarmac.
We soon found out that there was a Pilotless Aircraft
flying over Sydney.
The aircraft was an Auster which had just come out of
the hangar (at Bankstown Airport) after having been
overhauled.
Apparently the aircraft was being Flight Tested and
had just landed when the engine stopped. The pilot
got out of the aircraft and had hand started the
engine, by swinging the propeller. The pilot had
forgotten to apply the handbrake and had not closed
the throttle to the idle position.
When the engine fired it immediately went to full
power (when starting by hand the procedure is such
that your body is turned away from the arc of the
propeller) the aircraft immediately moved and he
tried to reenter the aircraft but was knocked down by
the wing strut, he then tried to grab hold of the
tailplane but was again knocked over.
The aircraft amazingly having just come out of
overhaul, was apparently rigged “Just Right”, It took
off by itself, and proceeded to circle the airport. It
circled the airport for some time and gradually moved
closer and closer to the city (Sydney).
By this time there was a fair amount of consternation
by the authorities, the RAAF was advised and it was
decided that the Auster would be “Shot Down “when
it was clear of any populated area.
The Saber took off again and attempted to shoot the
Auster down but was too fast and his ammunition
was not having much effect as the bullets were just
passing through the fabric on the Auster.
The RAAF then sent a Wirraway with a gunner in the
rear cockpit; they also had no success in shooting the
Auster down. Probably for the same reason the
Wirraway was not successful.
The Navy was then asked to try to Shoot the Auster
down, two Sea Fury’s were sent to Shoot the aircraft
down, which I was told was very successful as both of
the Fury pilots aimed at the engine, the Auster was
virtually blown to pieces, although one of the Sea
Fury’s Experienced some engine trouble and landed
back at Mascot and was parked back at the Tarmac
outside the TAA hangar.
The next day I was working in the hangar and a Navy
engine fitter arrived to fix the Sea Fury and I was told
to help him, I was only able to help him with getting
engine stand’s. .
After he had fixed the engine he ran up the engine to
full Power. The aircraft was chocked and tied down
with a very thick webbing strap around the rear
fuselage to prevent the tail from lifting and the
propeller hitting the ground. When the engineer
opened the throttle the tail lifted off the ground at
least four Inches despite the tie downs; very
impressive.
And so ended the saga of the Runaway
Auster
Ron See
Recognition
Well, last months (picture above) certainly got you going. Five correct answers; if in fact there is a correct
answer! As it would seem that it could be something of a spoof, though I didn’t know it when I first found
the picture in a normally very reliable book.
Kalanin K7 heavy bomber The most amazing airplane in History.....
Built in Russia during the 1930s, it flew 11 times before crashing and killing 15 people.
The designer, Konstantin Kalinin, wanted to build two more planes but the project was scrapped. Later, Stalin had
Kalinin executed. Evidently, it was not good to fail on an expensive project under Stalin.
It's got propellers on the back of the wings, too. You can count 12 engines facing front. The size would be equivalent
to the Empire State Building on its side, with cannons. And you think the 747 was big... not only a bunch of engines
but check out the cannons the thing was carrying.
In the 1930s the Russian army was obsessed by the idea of creating huge planes. At that time they proposed to
having as many propellers as possible to help carrying those huge flying fortresses into the air, jet propulsion has not
been invented yet.
Not many photos were saved from those times because of the high secrecy levels of such projects and because a lot
of time has already passed. Still, on the attached photos you can see one such plane - a heavy bomber K-7.
And so to this month’s teaser
Lismore Model Flying Club Newsletter is publicized by the
Lismore Model Flying Club (LMFC).
The club assumes no responsibility for any information
contained. Unless otherwise stated, maintenance and/or
modification procedures are not “Factory Approved” and
their use may void a warranty. Ideas and opinions are
those of the contributors and no authentication or
approval is implied by the editors, publishers or the LMFC.
Club Meeting & Christmas Party
Sunday 8th December
Decorate & Fly your Model
Best Dressed Wins
Grand Mystery Prize
Be There!