Lismore

Model Flying Club

Newsletter

1 December 2013

Well, the heading says it all really. Yes it’s that

time of the year again, when hopefully as many

of us as possible will make the effort to be at the

field for the Meeting at 9am on Sunday the 8th

December to be followed by the festive flying

competition and a BBQ.

At the Field

“So that’s what they get up to!” Not a

lot of flying going on.

Below is a picture of John Morgan with his Czec Genesis electro glider. He finally finished and flew it; at 2kg it's no lightweight. But is very graceful and yes does thermal! He was worried about the weight

but it landed like a feather. SShock amazement!

Festive Flying

Decorate and fly any model of your choice and

the winner, to be adjudged by my good self will

take home a mystery prize. Yipeeeeeeee

Yes I am that short. Finally I have

flown my Pulsar Pro 3.6metre model.

As Maidens go the first flight of my Pulsar was

right up there with them. Firstly the mere

thought of committing a model so fragile and

expensive to the ether had me so nervous; top

that with fact that my Son and Grandson decided

to turn up; I was a wreck. Anyway hey hoe & off

we go. After launch I was immediately aware that

the model needed more up trim which I held in

with the stick. Adjusting the elevator trim did not

seem to be doing anything so foolishly I decided

to look at the Tx to see what was going on.

WRONG! When I looked back up at the model it

was in a vertical dive & preparing to go home in a

polythene bag. Fortunately I managed to pull it

out at about 30 feet or so and get it down safely.

There is of course a moral to this story and that is

NEVER take your eyes off your model.

Appropriate adjustments were made and

subsequent test flights improved both my state of

mind and the models performance. Am I pleased

with it? Yes I am over the moon with it.

Col Parkes with his new foamie

Minimoa

Doolittle Raiders Re-visited

The item on the Doolittle raiders that I put in the

October Newsletter had a significant effect on

Terry Flatley and I copy his response to me here :-

The Doolittle Raiders article stuck a chord with me.

You may well know that there is a local connection to

that story. Five of those B25s were sent to Australia

late one afternoon (From Fiji?) to land at Amberley.

They lost their way and homed in to 2GF Grafton radio

instead of Brisbane radio. I forget the exact details.

Something like this. It was almost dusk when they

reached the Australian coastline. Two crashed at

South Grafton. One landed at Evans Head. One

crashed at McKees Hill (near Lismore) and one at

Naughton's Gap, near Casino. There was one

parachute short in one plane and attempting to hang

onto another guy's belt, one airman fell to his death.

A film was made by Scot film maker Walt Deas on the

whole lot of the Raiders. I was a researcher on the film

and helped with the filming in this area. It was quite a

few years ago and Walt has since passed away.

Ray Martlew with his ‘Butterfly’, built

from a Dynaflight kit. Spans 99 inches

& is powered by an O.S. FP25

Ron’s Recolections

Unmanned Auster

On one of the rare occasions that I was down on the

Tarmac as an apprentice I was in the office just

waiting for my next job. We were alerted by the radio

speaker in the office that an RAAF aircraft was coming

to the TAA tarmac and the aircraft should be

marshalled in by one of our Engineer’s.

A few Minutes later an RAAF Saber was marshalled

into our Tarmac, the pilot got out of the aircraft and

came over to the Office and asked to borrow a screw

driver. One of the permanent Tarmac Engineer’s gave

him one and he returned to his aircraft and started to

remove the panels above the Machine Guns in the

wing.

He then proceeded to cock the guns, this had not

been done by the RAAF armourers at Richmond Air

Base, and we all wondered why the Pilot was arming

the guns in the middle of the Tarmac with all of the

people wandering around and in the middle of the

aircraft on the Tarmac.

We soon found out that there was a Pilotless Aircraft

flying over Sydney.

The aircraft was an Auster which had just come out of

the hangar (at Bankstown Airport) after having been

overhauled.

Apparently the aircraft was being Flight Tested and

had just landed when the engine stopped. The pilot

got out of the aircraft and had hand started the

engine, by swinging the propeller. The pilot had

forgotten to apply the handbrake and had not closed

the throttle to the idle position.

When the engine fired it immediately went to full

power (when starting by hand the procedure is such

that your body is turned away from the arc of the

propeller) the aircraft immediately moved and he

tried to reenter the aircraft but was knocked down by

the wing strut, he then tried to grab hold of the

tailplane but was again knocked over.

The aircraft amazingly having just come out of

overhaul, was apparently rigged “Just Right”, It took

off by itself, and proceeded to circle the airport. It

circled the airport for some time and gradually moved

closer and closer to the city (Sydney).

By this time there was a fair amount of consternation

by the authorities, the RAAF was advised and it was

decided that the Auster would be “Shot Down “when

it was clear of any populated area.

The Saber took off again and attempted to shoot the

Auster down but was too fast and his ammunition

was not having much effect as the bullets were just

passing through the fabric on the Auster.

The RAAF then sent a Wirraway with a gunner in the

rear cockpit; they also had no success in shooting the

Auster down. Probably for the same reason the

Wirraway was not successful.

The Navy was then asked to try to Shoot the Auster

down, two Sea Fury’s were sent to Shoot the aircraft

down, which I was told was very successful as both of

the Fury pilots aimed at the engine, the Auster was

virtually blown to pieces, although one of the Sea

Fury’s Experienced some engine trouble and landed

back at Mascot and was parked back at the Tarmac

outside the TAA hangar.

The next day I was working in the hangar and a Navy

engine fitter arrived to fix the Sea Fury and I was told

to help him, I was only able to help him with getting

engine stand’s. .

After he had fixed the engine he ran up the engine to

full Power. The aircraft was chocked and tied down

with a very thick webbing strap around the rear

fuselage to prevent the tail from lifting and the

propeller hitting the ground. When the engineer

opened the throttle the tail lifted off the ground at

least four Inches despite the tie downs; very

impressive.

And so ended the saga of the Runaway

Auster

Ron See

Recognition

Well, last months (picture above) certainly got you going. Five correct answers; if in fact there is a correct

answer! As it would seem that it could be something of a spoof, though I didn’t know it when I first found

the picture in a normally very reliable book.

Kalanin K7 heavy bomber The most amazing airplane in History.....

Built in Russia during the 1930s, it flew 11 times before crashing and killing 15 people.

The designer, Konstantin Kalinin, wanted to build two more planes but the project was scrapped. Later, Stalin had

Kalinin executed. Evidently, it was not good to fail on an expensive project under Stalin.

It's got propellers on the back of the wings, too. You can count 12 engines facing front. The size would be equivalent

to the Empire State Building on its side, with cannons. And you think the 747 was big... not only a bunch of engines

but check out the cannons the thing was carrying.

In the 1930s the Russian army was obsessed by the idea of creating huge planes. At that time they proposed to

having as many propellers as possible to help carrying those huge flying fortresses into the air, jet propulsion has not

been invented yet.

Not many photos were saved from those times because of the high secrecy levels of such projects and because a lot

of time has already passed. Still, on the attached photos you can see one such plane - a heavy bomber K-7.

And so to this month’s teaser

Lismore Model Flying Club Newsletter is publicized by the

Lismore Model Flying Club (LMFC).

The club assumes no responsibility for any information

contained. Unless otherwise stated, maintenance and/or

modification procedures are not “Factory Approved” and

their use may void a warranty. Ideas and opinions are

those of the contributors and no authentication or

approval is implied by the editors, publishers or the LMFC.

Club Meeting & Christmas Party

Sunday 8th December

Decorate & Fly your Model

Best Dressed Wins

Grand Mystery Prize

Be There!