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Roaring Runways
News Letter
Vol: 0424
Hi All
Welcome to this edition of Roaring Runways newsletter with the goings on of our Model Avitation Northland members.
In this addition you will see club commitee minutes for your info, contact info for members to complete. (Please do fill this out so our records are current)
Along with a couple of member article's and corospondance.
The commitee is looking in to create a mowing roster.
We also touched on training with the view of a mission direction for our instructors.
Club camera is changing and will be easier to use, watch this space as memembers will be informed when changes happen.
Also why not have an inpromptu Anzac Day Flyin, bring your warbird and have some fun.
"Please share with me any content that is news worthy."
In this issue I will be covering our club calander and upcoming events like the away event that a hand full of our members went to.
Editor/ President
As a birthday present to myself I attended the Warbirds over Wanaka over the Easter weekend with usual suspects Grant & Emma Plaisted.
Braced for the cold weather and the sight of snow-capped mountains surrounding us and armed with our gold class tickets we embarked on our easter weeked adventure.
The show has been absent for the last 6 years so pateThe show has been absent for the last 6 years so paternally it was going to a big one, and it did not disappoint us with ticket sales sold out.
There was the usual content of civilian NZ warbird planes that reside in NZ, they were joined by an international presence from Australia and America armed forces.
There was the usual content of civilian NZ warbird planes that reside in NZ, they were joined by an international presence from Australia and America armed forces.
Friday 29th being practice day was a preview of what we were install for over the next few days, with a multitude of aircraft taking off and filling the skies above us with entertainment.
The star of the show would be the DE Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, the Mosquito (known affectionally as the 'the Wooden Wonder' and/or 'the Mossie') was one of the most versatile combat aircraft of WWII. The aircraft was used as a light bomber, fighter-bomber, night fighter, maritime strike aircraft and for photo-reconnaissance. Early on the Mossie was the fastest aircraft on either side of the conflict. It also had the distinction of being able to carry as many bombs as the much bigger four-engined B-17 bomber used by the USAF. The aircraft coming to Wanaka was built by de Havilland Australia in Sydney in 1946 but almost immediately went into storage. It was purchased by the RNZAF and served with 75 Squadron until the 1950s before being declared surplus in 1955. In more recent times the late Glyn Powell started restoring the aircraft and that early work has now been completed by Warren Denholm and his team at Avspecs for the new American owners of this beautiful aircraft.Unknown too many there are only 5 active flying Mosquito in the world and 4 of them have been built in NZ, wow that’s just awesome for the NZ warbird wider community and making the late Sir Tim Wallis very proud indeed.
The Airshow was a dedication to the late Sir Tim Wallis who was a pioneer NZ aviation and a visionary for the Warbirds over Wanaka as we see it today.
One of my favourites was the Tigermoths with a large amount of them on display and flight action.
Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st was the show proper and to start the day was the very fast and loud showcasing the two F16's from the American forces, as the Wanaka airport was too small for the F16 it came down from Christchurch with an impressive fight time (what for it) 7 minutes !!
Screaming into view and passing the crowed stands just like buzzing the tower “Mav” just when you think it all over Nek Minute theywere back barrel rolling, loops and inverted flight passes.
The F-16 was first flown in 1974. Fifty years on the aircraft is still being produced with total numbers built now nearing 5,000. It was initially built by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Some years later General Dynamics sold their aircraft manufacturing division to Lockheed Martin which is still producing the aircraft 50 years after that first flight. Capable of reaching speeds of Mach 2 the F-16 is considered one of the most successful fighter jets ever built.
Another eye catcher was the Yakovlev 3 “Steadfast” In the early 2000s the decision was made to build brand new Yak-3s based on the original prototype, this time fitted with powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2000 radio engines. Built in Romania, they were snapped up by Warbird owners around the world. 'Steadfast' is one of these aircraft and was exported to the United States in the mid-2000s, embarking on an illustrious career at the famous Reno Air Races, before ending up in Australia. In 2019 'Steadfast' was brought into New Zealand and had been due to fly at the 2020 and 2022 Wanaka airshows before they were Covid cancelled. The antiapation for this magnificent aircraft's debut performance at New Zealand's premier airshow was outstanding.Grant and myself go the chance for a one on one with the Steadfast Yak 3 pilot and what a down to earth individual and was open to answering our questions and was genially interested in the build of Grant and Carls Yak.We also found out that this Yak was built in the orgiganl Russian factory and the russian builders all took much pride in building this increadiable recreation of this Yak 3.One of the funny things that made us all laugh was the he said he had trouble slowing the Yak down when in a dog fight display with the Corsair and having to avoid running up his date, tell the Corsair pilot to give it some throttle and hurry up.
Acrobatics from the Americans flying the L-39 Albatros and the NZ Airforce Black Falcons flying there T6-C Texan II. Both giving unique aerobatic displays with jaw dropping performances.
The acrobatics from the Americans flying the L-39 Albatros and the NZ Airforce Black Falcons flying there T6-C Texan II. Both giving unique aerobatic displays with jaw dropping performances.
I could go on and on as there was so many aircraft and things to do and see but overall the show was outstanding and was enjoyable and a weekend I will not forget.
Doug Shearer
See video below of Saturdays Highlights
2018
Anzac Day Impromptu Warbird Flyin 25th April
Add description here.2010
Club Day "28th April" Last Sunday of the month
Add description here.2018
Club Day "26th May" Last Sunday of the month
Add description here.2018
TMAC Model Auction Sunday 16th June
Add description here.2018
Club Day "30th June" Last Sunday of the month
Add description here.
I recently purchased a favorite RC model. The Fun Scale P-47 Thunderbolt is crafted from the ground up to be the perfect first balsa aircraft for foam pilots. It delivers a true completion replica model of one of the most popular WWII warbirds ever modeled. It has been my all time favorite since a young lad as it was noted for its firepower and its ability to resist battle damage and remain airworthy. I admire its appearance nicknamed the "Jug" owing to the shape if stood on its nose.
I purchased it in South Africa from my frequently visited RC store in Sandton, Johannesburg called Aerial Concepts. A friend who was immigrating to New Zealand at the time transported it in his container. My patience was put to the test waiting more than 6 months for it to arrive. A day trip was excitedly planned to Hamilton to take collection of my toy, once it arrived.
The then intricate assembly began with urgency so as to have it ready to fly at the Hawkes Bay – Awatoto Fly in. My good mate, precision builder and fellow enthusiast, Andreas Gabler, worked tirelessly at getting it ready and I eagerly awaited in anticipation, and was it worth it! She is a beauty! It has great play value and handles well and flew like a dream at Awatoto. I so enjoy RC plane flying as it is just as thrilling and adventurous as flying a real life plane yet far more inexpensive to live out my dream of a WWII pilot!
- Assembling the plane was straight forward.
- Hinges were already glued in, and only the Servo arms needed to be placed. Important here is to sand down the pant at the glue surfaces.
- Installing the landing gear was the main challenge. The kit comes with a mechanical landing gear requiring in total 7 servos for the main gear, the 4 doors and the tail wheel.
- Aligning all doors, the gear closing and the controls took the most of a day to set up.
- The plane has some excellent scale features, like a full cockpit, loads of ordnance and even an OK pilot bust.
- The decals were already put on, though they had a sticky tape around the edges, which is hard to remove and collects dust.
- We put a 55cc DLE engine in the nose, which gave the perfect CG, only 200 g lead for the nose was required to balance the plane out.
- As prop I chose a 4 blade Vario Prop from Ramoser in German. The very thin blades have less drag, and the paddle shape fits perfectly the era. Some lessons learned from the build:
- Take particular good look at the landing gear mounting points, reenforce them as we had both come loose at a hard landing
- The landing gear doors require a sequencer or if you have in your radio a sequencing there. This plane requires a 9 channel receiver for all the functions
- The manual give the necessary steps, but good knowledge of what adhesive to use at what point is important.
- Maybe had 4 days to build instead of 3 😉
Doug Shearer
Sven Williams
Andreas Gabler
I wounder what was the last thing that when through his mind
I can think of one thing