Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club

Rangiora, New Zealand

Welcome to July’s Newsletter. As I write this I can see out side and it is a cold damp miserable June day. Today is supposed to be the flyin at Waikari. Maybe tomorrow!!.

I can’t even go and work up the paddock at the airstrip, as it is too wet for that as well. Never mind, the fire looks good and the RAANZ mag came today.

Talking of the airstrip. 

The grader has done its thing. It is not an international airport but I think it will be ok for what we want it for. The grader had finished about five o’clock and I ran the leveller over the strip a few times ready for a roller. I wanted to run the falcon down it to see what it was like but it was too wet and sticky. “I will do that in the morning while it is still frosty,” I thought. There was a good frost in the morning so I took the “coon’ down and ran up and down the strip a couple of times slowly just to make sure the stones that were sticking up cleared the bottom. Not too bad I thought, now lets see how fast we can get this sucker up too. I lined up on 07 and fed in the jandle. I managed to get up to 100kph before I ran out of braking distance. I tried it a couple of times both ways just to check (and because it was fun). I thought to myself, I won’t tell any one that you could land there because I wanted to be the first. After all the effort that I had put in there must be some reward for all the effort I had put in. I had done an approach in KTP before and touched the wheels down, but I wanted to land there. Enough dreaming, I better feed some stock.

I went home and got the ute and was driving down the road when I saw this flash of blue and white skoot past at low level in front of me. It was Tony Dennham in the Jodel.

He wouldn’t land there, would he? Nah, not a chance. Or would he!!? What do I do? Do I drive into the middle of the strip so he can’t land? Do I get the shotgun and blow him out of the sky? Or do I concede defeat and watch him do the first landing on the new strip?

Well the Jodel is such a nice plane and Tony is (was) a nice bloke and there would be so much paperwork and trouble if I blew him out of the sky, I just had to stand and watch. He made a couple of approaches to check it out. Then he did an approach and touched the wheels down for about ten metres and took off again. Ah good he is not going to land. Oh no, he is turning around and coming back. Well sure enough he made an approach and landed on runway 25.

I told him that I wasn’t very happy but he just laughed. The verdict is that it is going to be a

great place to have our Easter flyin in March 2008.

It is hard to believe that it is an airstrip now. You could not even drive a four wheel drive ute down there before. I think more than one or two people thought that Mike Small and I were mad when we suggested that it would make a good venue for a flyin. There is still heaps more to do but we know that we are well on the way to having a suitable flying events field.

What’s happening out there?

Ross Marfell has been seen riding around the airfield on a unicycle. The question has to be asked. Will you be getting into trikes next Ross?

Jeff Banister has got his Shadow back together and its looking very smart in its new livery.

Dave McPherson has got the Karatoo tuned up and it is running a lot better.

Richard Mason, if the rumours are true, is putting a Rotax 582 on his trike.

Mike Small has a bright, shiny, brand new Rotax 912s hidden away in a secret location, ready to be transplanted in the Karatoo when the time is right.

Dave Mitchell is, with the help of Stuart Bufton, getting the electrical side of his aeroplane sorted. That is when he is not instructing pupils.

James Cassels has completed his first solo in JOL. Congratulations

Paul Woodley is giving JOL her annual check.

Welcome to new members

We have two new members to welcome this month.

Philip Kennedy and Tony Lyons. Welcome

Club Instructors Roster

July

7^th Dave Mitchell

14^th Peter Small

21^st Tony Denham

28^th Brent Thompson

August

4^th Mike Small

11^th Dave Mitchell

18^th Peter Small

23^rd Tony Denham

Events coming up

July 18th

There will be a night course for those wanting to sit their exams for their licence. Although this is tailored to suit new students, it is a good chance for anyone wanting to have a refresher course, to come along and sit in on the night. You never know, you might learn something that will help you with your flying.

July 22^nd

We will try once again to have the flyaway to Darfield. This is not a long flight, so it is suitable for all our aircraft. We can then overfly the new Woodside strip at Oxford, and then stop on the way back to Rangiora for an ice-cream at the icecream shop at Bennetts.

Briefing will be in the clubrooms at 10.30am for an 11.00am departure.

This Month's Quotable Quotes:

Forget all that stuff about thrust & drag, lift & gravity, an airplane flies because of money, and lots of it.

It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.

The only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.

You gotta laugh

A young and stupid pilot wanted to sound cool on the aviation frequencies. So, this one time he was approaching a field during the nighttime.
Instead of making any official requests to the tower, he said, "Guess who?"
The controller switched the field lights off and replied,
"Guess where!"

Tell Me Why

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Did you know?

A day without sunshine is like night.

For the fun of flying

I owned a “Bantam B10” microlight aircraft. Why anybody would want to name his or her creation after an undersized chicken heaven knows! The B10 was one of the first micro lights, built in New Zealand by Max Clear, who now produces many two place Bantams called “B22’s”.

When I started looking into microlights I thought they were all wire and string contraptions covered with bright coloured sail cloth with noisy engines travelling at low altitudes not much faster than a slow car. Phrases like Pedal car with wings, or beach umbrellas with a motor come to mind. I am sure the general public still thinks this. But for me, with a little education, I now find that this is not the case.

In the early 1980’s a colleague and I started looking at these cloth and string covered flying machines for the photographic work of our research plots. Remember the Scout made in Aussie? Well I managed a few feet off the ground but decided to leave this to others with less expectations of a long life.

A “scout” at Waitohi approx 1983

We went away and built a 4 metre RC model, which was very crude in the photograph department. Too much vibration blurred photos, and we needed lots of balsa repairs. Never mind, we got paid for it, Wonder where this relic is now? Anyway I digress. I am told that I am doing that more often these days! Is it age? Anyway, back to the wind in the loincloth and freedom of the air.

Some years later I purchased one of those early noisy smelly cloth covered overgrown chicken named flying machines called a Bantam B10. Some would say that the Bantam has the flying capability of its namesake, but they would be unkind. I loved it at the time and it got me flying again and that is what it is all about along with the camaraderie of fellow flyers.

Let’s start at the beginning. I’ve always had a love of flying right from my early childhood days when I was privileged to see the company Auster taking off from the strip right in front of the bungalow. You, the reader, will now have thought, “well he is an old bugger and a pom to

boot”! Right on both counts! My father grew tea in Assam northern India and I grew up on the plantation with the odd stint in boarding schools. But we won’t go there! Dad used the company Auster to get about the tea gardens that were situated on the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra River.

Growing up in India was a very different life for a young boy at the tail end of the British Raj period. Many servants and garden staff, a large bungalow with croquet and tennis courts, a swimming pool and a summerhouse all on about five acres of domestic garden, beautifully maintained so that the English shareholders could come and visit and be impressed. But I digress yet again! Back to flying.

At that age flying was just a painful experience of leaving home once again to go to boarding school. The trip to school in Christchurch took about a week with an overnight in Sydney. The planes included the BOAC Comet or Super Constellation then the TEAL Viscount for the Tasman leg. TEAL was not the name of a duck but Tasman Empire Airways Limited.

At the age of 13, I do remember being picked up at our local airport by our company pilot in the Auster. Joti, the company pilot, was great to me as a young boy, as he often let me take the stick whenever we were flying just 2 up. With each trip back to India I was able to get the use of the Auster for the odd flight to see the very few Y chromosomes scattered about Assam. Those were the days. I think of buzzing elephants at the game reserve to impress the Y’s and getting grounded, landing in monsoon conditions with Joti and ending up in a ditch.

The author in younger days. Wish I had this to play with now!

Coming to NZ to work on farms in the mid 60’s meant flying was over for me as it was university days, finding a wife, having kids, a ¼ acre section and being broke!

Many years later I was travelling around the west coast, when I heard a buzzing noise overhead Hokitika. I just had to investigate. I dribbled and drooled over the machine so much and so admired the improvements since the Scout days of 1980,s that the owner felt obliged to take me for a spin. Wow what a trip! Flying in an open-air machine over that kind of country and that was it, I was hooked again. Four trips to the coast (I did not know about CRAC in those days) and I had my license. Now I needed a machine. A Bantam B10 was for sale in RANGITATA so I met the Brodie’s and learnt to fly the chook.

One hundred hours, 3 engine outs and many great flights around the local area bought me to the here and now where I now find myself owning a Himax Minitwin, JEB, but that will have to keep for another day. To be continued

Chris Pennell AKA the mad scientist

Waikari Flyin

The Waikari Flyin was eventually held on the 17^th of June, with a good range of aircraft attending. Even Hugh’s mighty Mustang made an appearance, although it disappeared later in the day, but more on that later.

We had 2 Fisher Tiger’s, 2 two seat Bantams, a single seat Bantam, a Kolb, a Thruster, a Ragabond (Budgie), a HiMax Minitwin, Hughes mighty Mustang, a Karatoo and Stuarts 701 Zenair.

Sam and his cronies had once again set a list of challenging tasks to complete, such as the balloon bust. There was also bombing and landing competitions as well. There was a BBQ to finish off a fun day and was enjoyed by all.

Everyone came back with tales to tell of their adventures chasing mad men in the river, dropping knickers in a washing machine (don’t ask, you had to be there) and navigating their way around the course. Everyone was accounted for, but Hugh, who was in the mighty Mustang. He eventually turned up but by vehicle as the roaring 10 knot breeze was just too big a head wind for the mighty mustang. It was a good day.

Hugh and the mighty mustang

That’s it for this month. Safe flying.

Dave McPherson dbmcp@xtra.co.nz