Last month we held the club Fly Victoria event visiting various destinations around Victoria. There were four aircraft and eight people involved.

It was not a very auspicious start with the first of the severe winter fronts arriving over southern Australia on our planned departure day of April 14^th.

First stop was going to be at RAAF Base Pt. Cook near Melbourne to visit the RAAF museum, one of the best aviation museums in the country but it was not to be.

It rained cats and dogs all day with winds gusting up to 50 knots.

Plan B was invoked the next morning when the wind and rain had subsided sufficiently to consider committing aviation. This involved tracking from Adelaide direct to Benalla and all meet there for a lunchtime BBQ hosted by the Benalla aviation museum. During WW2 Benalla was a large military flying training school with over 100 Tiger Moths based there.

The museum is housed in an original wartime Bellman hangar and focuses on military training aircraft and the Air Training Cadets. Three of their aircraft are maintained in airworthy condition and it is possible to book an adventure flight.

We also browsed around the various glider hangars operated by the Gliding Club of Victoria.

That night four of us sampled the joys of sleeping in the ex military barracks, basic but a steal at just $30 per night!

Seen on the wall of the military barracks at Benalla

The next day was a short hop northwards to Yarrawonga then on to Swan Hill. Although the wind had completely subsided by now we were left with fog, which eventually lifted to low cloud. This enabled a departure about an hour late.

At Yarrawonga we were treated to morning tea at Hangar 19, owned by Peter and Anne McLean. They operate a flying school concentrating on weight shift aircraft training and a very comprehensive aviation shop selling everything from aviation oil to GPS systems.

We departed for Swan Hill with steadily improving weather as we headed west. After arrival we organised a minibus to drive us to the Lake Boga military museum. Lake Boga was a secret seaplane maintenance base during WW2. The museum contains a fully restored Catalina flying boat as well as lots of other military paraphernalia.

In the evening we enjoyed an Italian meal followed by a trip to the Swan Hill Pioneer Village to take in the new laser light show. Very impressive.

The last day was beautiful weatherwise, and some of us took the opportunity to drop into Nhill on the way home. Another WW2 training base, now houses a museum showcasing an Avro Anson restoration. There is also a Tiger Moth and just last week a Wirraway arrived to add to the public display.

It is great to see local volunteers everywhere collect what had become farmers “junk” postwar and restore it to its former glory to be preserved for generations to come.

Chris Dearden and Barbara Jansen took lots of photographs during the trip and they are posted along with a report on the club website.

Last week, on Anzac day I had the privilege of flying in a three ship Tiger Moth formation over Adelaide city. It is not often one gets a view over the city at 1000’ from a vintage aircraft.

Next weeks guest speaker is a member we do not see a lot of these days but is still active in the aviation community. Harold Walton, a flight test engineer and flying instructor has put together a talk about his days as a flight test engineer during the introduction of the F111 into RAAF service. To my knowledge he is the only civilian to have completed the RAAF F111 conversion course. It should be very interesting.

Blue Skies,

Steve

I have just returned from a short trip to West Baden, USA where I was involved in the World Championships for free flight indoor duration model aircraft.

A unique experience on two counts. Firstly, the venue was the atrium of a gorgeous 100 year old hotel consisting of a dome, 60 meters in diameter and 30 meters high, around which the hotel rooms we stayed in were built. Secondly, the models being flown are absolute works of art. To achieve the absolute highest duration they are extremely light at just 1.4 grams powered by a wound up rubber motor weighing just 0.4 gram. Yet they are fitted with variable pitch propellers, are reinforced with boron and titanium .001 inch thick and fly for close to 30 minutes!

Watching the mylar covered models, up to 20 simultaneously, float around the atrium in a slow motion ballet was mesmerising. See recent news items here and here for some photos and video.

On the way home I had a stopover in Dallas, Texas were I was able to visit the Cavanaugh Flight Museum at Addison Airport. There were about 40 aircraft spread over 5 hangars many of which are still airworthy. These include a P51 Mustang, P40 Kittyhawk, F4U Corsair, A1 Skyraider, B25 Mitchell, F86 Sabre and a C7 Caribou which is one of the types I flew in my Air Force Service.

For the April club meeting the committee was unable to find a guest speaker in time so I plan to show a documentary of the Caribou in RAAF service and then answer any questions from the floor.

If you have any ideas for speakers or know someone who has an interesting story to share then the committee would like to hear from you.

Currently there are RAAUS Personal Development days going on at Gawler and then Aldinga on Saturday. I plan to go to the Aldinga event. I can recommend these as the presenters will bring you up to date with current industry topics as well as refresher training, all free of charge. If interested, you may still be able to register for the Aldinga event through the RAAUS website.

Good news from CASA regarding Class 2 medicals. From April 4^th it will be possible for DAMEs to issue on the spot Medical Certificates, subject to certain conditions. For the type of flying most of us do this will certainly cut through a lot of the red tape and reduce costs.

I hear from Ted King that the Lightning Bug project has made it’s move to Murray Bridge so the first flight is certainly moving closer.

There is a Workshop Visit to see John Heather’s Zenith Cruzer on Sunday 6 May, see calendar here.

Don’t forget to order your meals for the club meeting online. After several years in the job Steve Biele has stepped aside from organising meals so please do not contact him. The new meals officer is Bob Scrymgour.

Blue Skies,

Steve

Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground, and miss.

            -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy

Some good flying days were available in the last month and I was able to accumulate the remaining hours to complete the 40 hour test program on my Onex which went very well. I have now gathered all the paperwork together, which took nearly as long as the test flying, and await unrestricted flying approval.

Our guest speaker for March is Captain Darryl Hill, Adelaide based Cathay Pacific pilot and warbird enthusiast who bases his private aircraft at Murray Bridge. He owns an immaculately restored Avro Cadet and also a genuine Vietnam veteran Army Aviation Regiment Cessna 180.

He is very meticulous in his research to make sure everything in the restoration is done correctly and as he speaks about the Avro restoration I’m sure this will become apparent.

The Club Flyaway to various parts of Victoria in mid April was outlined to members at last months meeting. Unfortunately the clipboard I sent around to register interest did not get to everyone and it only had 4 names on it. If you are interested in joining this event I need to hear from you by email or at next weeks meeting. As the event is only 5 weeks away you will need to get on with organising your accommodation. If you do want to book the basic gliding club rooms at Benalla (cost $25 each) then please let me know. I will update you with the latest information at the club meeting.

Future events being planned by your council for this year include a visit to the Parafield Tower, Richard Young’s scratch built Sonex workshop visit and possibly a movie night in addition to the annual Christmas dinner and BBQ.

If you have other ideas for events you would like to see included on the calendar, or know someone who would be an interesting speaker for our monthly meetings then I would like to hear from you.

Please remember to book online if you want to order a meal for the monthly meeting. If you are still having difficulty with this then please email Steve Biele or Chris Dearden.

Be reminded that annual membership fees are now due if you have not already paid your $70.

You can do a EFT to the Club bank Account (details online), or pay Greg Tabe or Tim Svenson directly at the next club meeting. You need to be financial to vote on any issues at the Club AGM. And remember members can book a meal at the members rate of $20 each instead of the $25 non member rate.

On that note I would like you to consider nominating for the Club Council. We are always looking for new people with fresh ideas to help plan and run the club events. If you feel you are that person then please let me or one of the council know before the AGM.

Blue skies,

Steve

To most people the sky is the limit. To those who love aviation the sky is home.    Anon

The Future?
There’s an old joke amongst pilots that says the ideal flight crew is a computer, a pilot and a dog.
The computer’s job is to fly the aeroplane,
The pilot is there to feed the dog,
And the dog’s job is to bite the pilot if he tries to touch the computer!