The AGM is over and with it we have a minor reshuffle of your committee. Mike Roach has agreed to become our secretary, which allows Trevor Hewson to concentrate on the production of the newsletter and web site. We also welcome Andy Tubb to the committee. Jim Ruffell and Mervyn Watson have decided to stand down and our thanks are due to them for their informed input and time over the last few years. I have to say that getting members to stand for the committee is akin to pulling teeth and we only managed to fill the vacant posts at the last minute. I don't really understand the reluctance to stand, as we only have four meetings a year, not too much to ask, and you cannot expect the same people to continue indefinitely. Having got that off my chest, I'll climb off my soapbox and comment on an excellent finale to the construction and finish competition.
Many new models have been built and presented over the year and you can see photographs of the bumper crop presented at the last meeting elsewhere in this magazine. This was a terrific effort by club members and perhaps the art of building is not quite dead. The competition was won deservedly by Ken Spokes, with his version of a Sopwith Pup built from the Flair kit. The Junior certificate was won by Christopher Morris with his i.c. powered Magnatilla. Thanks are due to John Campkin and Lionel Phillips for running and judging this competition again.
The indoor flying meetings have now resumed and we have managed to secure the venue on a Friday evening until the March meeting. We may have to find another venue if we intend to carry on with these usual two hour Friday sessions, as Oakmead School want to hire the hall every Friday and not just the one monthly meeting that we now book. If any of you know of a venue which might be suitable, (four badminton court size, with adequate headroom is the minimum requirement) please let a committee member know.
Trevor, Neil Longman, Neil Metcalfe, and I attended the BEFA Technical workshop at Leamington Spa recently. The event was well supported both by modellers and traders but the lectures were poor, being badly thought out and executed. This was a pity as previous meetings have been of great interest and benefit to those of us of electric flight persuasion. I don't like to criticise those people who give their time and effort freely to organise these events, but if you do, and take money for attendance, then you are obliged at least to do some homework beforehand and not leave it to the last minute before actually deciding what the lectures are going to be about. It was a shame to see people leaving the event early, as we did, and I wonder what effect this will have on next year's attendance by modellers and traders alike. Having said that, there were some real bargains to be had at some of the stands and it was interesting to note some of the price reductions from last year. This was especially true with brushless motors, which have seen a fifty percent reduction since last year with much more choice as new manufacturers come onto the market.
At the November club night Simon Peckham gave an excellent talk on the design and manufacture of his company's model gas turbines. He is now producing helicopter kits for these engines, and also demonstrated a new contra-rotating gearbox. The presentation was backed up with video footage of his twin turbine F18 and the new helicopter flying. There were eighteen members in attendance and a very good evening was had by all. Thanks are due to Simon, who we know is extremely busy, and took time out to talk to us.
As for myself, I finally managed to get my electric Sopwith Pup completed enough for the construction and finish competition, and a write up on this model appears elsewhere in this magazine. I have also been busy making a new cowling for my Great Lakes Biplane. If you read my previous report on this model you will recall the trouble we had flying it due to an incorrect c.g. position. This was not easy to calculate on a biplane with completely different top and bottom wing sizes and planforms. Since the last attempt, I have found an excellent free design program on the Internet, which will do the calculations for you without all the blood, sweat and tears. I highly recommend this site to you, which can be found at www.flyingsites.co.uk/ and click on the DOWNLOAD heading. There are quite a few interesting items here, and the one I used is the 'The Airplane Design Calculator'. That's all for now, good flying and see you all soon.