G'day all

Well thanks to all that replied. I am glad to see the varied range of activities. Back when I was working, modeling was a night time and weekend activity in between family matters, running Scouting activities and rebuilding my ancient Land Rovers.

Today a small group of us went out (including a visitor from out of town and two working people who had a day off). Sadly it was quite windy and worse, the wind was blowing strongly over our trees and causing quite severe turbulence. Matt, one of our large model fraternity, was testing a very large Extra and an almost as large Yak. Even they were being knocked around in the wind.

I took my modified Kadet Senior (ailerons, less dihedral and tail dragger conversions) and the Saito 72 quickly hauled it up passed the worst of the turbulence and my visitor and I flew it for about 10 minutes. Landing was no problem as the wind had dropped just as I decided to land.

Next came my Pocket Rocket - the S&B Komet - and it provided its usual adrenalin boost. Landing was a but bumpy but the Komet is tough and no damage.

Then we tried one of the normal Kadet Seniors. This was a mistake. With the wind from the north the take off was always going to be difficult and on the third try we made it. The flight was short and the engine did not seem to be very happy so I decided to land. All was going well until we were about three feet in the air and the wind tipped the model onto its wing tip and she cartwheeled. Damage was very minor and will soon be fixed. We also found the reason for the lack of engine performance. The engine was gradually trying to leave the plane by vibrating its mounting bolts out of the firewall. This pulled the throttle closed restricting performance and eventually causing a dead stick. The owner has not flown the plane for a few months and will be doing some preventative maintenance after his minor repairs.

So now I am at home doing secretarial things for the club. I signed up a new member this morning too. He is re-joining after several years away from the club.

Another full day and it is not over yet.