Autumn Newsletter 2008

Dear Members,

As I come to produce the last newsletter of the year the weather is wet, windy and cold. "What else would you expect?" I hear you say, as it is generally agreed in both the model and light aviation world that 2008 has been dogged by high winds and heavy rainfall which seemed to often coincide with weekends with dire results for many of the major events nationwide.

However, there have been some reasonable, even good, flying days when our members have taken advantage of the conditions and we have had good turnouts to make the best of what Mother Nature provided.

The Rufforth event was well supported by our members who took advantage of a good selection of trade stands, although those who did fly had their efforts hampered by strong Westerly crosswinds resulting in the early termination of all flying on the Sunday afternoon.

The Castle Howard event in September was flyable on the Sunday in spite of soggy conditions. We were well represented by four entrants and it was reckoned " a good do".

We held the second of two ‘fun fly’ days on 12 October which once again clearly showed the advantage of electric over internal combustion for this type of event. It was hotly contested, the eventual winner being Brian Daykin with Leigh Dakin and Mike Sharp just a point or two behind. Regret to say your scribe ‘bent’ his model – as usual. Our thanks to Neil and Mark who did the scoring.

Work on repainting the club house both internally and externally is nearing completion, thanks largely to Wilf - aided and abetted by other club members who gave up their flying (and some ruined their clothing!) to get the job done.

A quick reminder that:

The annual ‘dinner’ is to be a lunch event this year – 12.30pm at Headlam Hall on Sunday 23 November (contact Helen Nicholls) and the AGM is to be held at the Grange in Hurworth, as previously on Thursday 4^th December at 20.00. Be there if you possibly can as this is an important event in our annual calendar where you can air your views and is the best time to pay your subs for the coming year

It is with great sadness that I must inform you of the passing of John McNairn. We don’t know many details except that it was something to do with his heart. The chairman has been in touch with his wife and passed our best wishes at her sad time. John was a regular attender and his presence will be missed.

Cheers for now – see you at the field.

Gordon

Safety is No Accident

Remember to be thorough with your preflight checks. I have seen too many people attempting to get airborne with the wrong model selected or control surfaces operating incorrectly. Luckily a lot of these occurrences result in a failed takeoff with not too much damage, but a total write-off usually results from getting fully airborne.

Also remember the potential for serious injury by an out of control model.

Electric models must be restrained whenever the battery is connected and the throttle should be locked shut with your left thumb (assuming you are on mode 2!).

A good habit to get into is to make sure your model is set up in the workshop and any rectification after flying is done whilst fresh in your mind.

Double check your control surface movements whilst in the pits – those extra seconds could save a lot of time, money (or insurance claim) later!

By Brian Daykin – Safety Officer