In this issue:

Fun Fly 2006, The Chairman's Greeting, New Committee, Competitions, Duff Does it Again, Bronze Success, Field Issues, Forthcoming Events

Fun Fly Frolics

Well another Funfly has come and gone, and despite the slightly disappointing weather it went extremely well indeed. The weekend had its usual quota of activity, flying and FUN, and a sizeable quantity of burgers was demolished in the name of friendship. And in the name of Alan Kennedy come to think of it!

Saturday saw some early drizzle but this cleared away mid-morning to allow the dedicated flyers into the air. As if a bit of rain would have stopped them, especially since Alasdair Sutherland’s jet goes faster than the raindrops anyway! Over the afternoon a significant amount of airtime was had with, amazingly enough, precious few casualties. Even Mike Boulcott went home intact. All this of course was followed by the now traditional banquet in the evening with quaffing, carousing and at least 2 trips to Bridge of Weir for forgotten lemon chickens. The day was suitably rounded off by Spruce Bruce and his amazing pyrotechnic timber burning display and other bits and bobs.

Sunday started dull and windy but soon brightened into a decent enough day. Then Ken turned up. (No I dont mean it like THAT!) SOK was not far behind (surprise!) and a whole host of others also appeared on the breeze. What was nice about the day was that a wide range of ages was present, including at least three generations of Brendan’s family.

And with the aformentioned breeze being a major feature it was not long before the kite made its appearance. Now this thing has all the aerodynamic properties of a lilo and in the strong wind even Bruce with his “low centre of gravity” was struggling to keep control. Which of course wasn’t helped by an ice cube down his trousers courtesy of Donald. And so the day went on with the only fatality being the mid-air break up of Kenny’s biplane. Still, he and Elaine got a nice walk in the country while they picked
up the bits! So although this year, disappointingly, there was neither projectile vomitting nor slab-butting contests, all in all this was a great weekend and thanks are due to all who contributed to make the event a success. Here’s to next year’s even biger and better bash!

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The Chairman's Greeting

We're well into another flying season and I trust that you are enjoying building and flying lots of new models. I have been beavering with a couple of scratch builds and a wee shockie for fun. The field looks really fantastic, the new startup tables are being well used, and we're planning a patio extension in the very near future. While the weather was against us for the planned Clubman events, the annual Funfly has been held and went well. My thanks to all who helped set up and run this event, especially to Alan and Bruce.

On a more serious note, there are a number of members who have not renewed their memberships this year which is a bit worrying. If you don't want to rejoin then let me know why not as I wouldn't like to think that the work your fellow club members have been carrying out in any way displeases. Any renewals now should really be classed as new joins, but if you are in this position do please speak to Gavin. He won't give you a loan (well if you do you're better than us we can't squeeze a penny out of him) but he can make an arrangement under special circumstances to avoid the new join penalty. All joking apart, we have a constant stream of people expressing a desire to join our club and we want you to regain your place before anyone else.

So it's on with the flying while the weather and light are good. See you at the field - in full flying mode or just for a coffee on the not so good days.

Ken

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New Faces on the Committee

For a number of reasons the following changes to the committee have been made:

          Alan Kennedy has taken on the duties of Vice-chairman
          George Wallace has been co-opted as Secretary
          Bruce Camelford has been co-opted as Training Coordinator
          Frank Ward has been co-opted as Competition Director

We wish all of the above well in their new roles.

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Competitions

Frank has some ideas for developing this important part of club life so that more flyers can benefit from involvement in more focussed flying while still retaining the fun of our hobby. Over the piece we hope to resurrect the Clubman competition and maybe run some mid-week events. Watch this space.

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Duff Does it Again

Early in August a wagon train of caravans and tents from CVFMAC embarked on the now annual pilgrimage to the Woodvale Rally. Reasonable weather and spectacular flying made the weekend a success. And yet again CVFMAC had a notable success in the shape of Alistair Duff.

Two years ago Alistair won the Eddie Riding Trophy - an open competition for free-flight scale models. This year, Alistair came first in his class with his CO2 powered BE2c winning the Knight & Pridham Trophy. In the flying section of the contest, an awesome series of flights saw Alistair make up all but 9 points of a 100 deficit from the static judging. But unfortunately this meant that he was just just pipped for the overall Eddie Riding trophy.

While understandably disappointed not to have won outright, this is a splendid achievement for Alistair, and our congratulations go to him. We all know you deserved the big pot Alistair!!

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Bronze Success

Congratulations to Brendan McEnhill for achieveing his Bronze certificate in mid- August. One of a rare breed - a young member - Brendan has impressed us all with his ability and has been showing up the more "senior" members something rotten. Keep it up Brendan! And here's hoping our other "nipper" - Calum Hicks -can make it a double when he sits his Bronze in the near future. Good luck Calum, and well done again Brendan.

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Field Issues

Pits
The general pits area is divided into an assembly area, starting box and pilots' stance. For safety reasons engine starting and running, or taxiing of models is not permitted in the assembly area. This should be confined to the starting box, including the start-up tables, and should conducted in a safe manner taking into account the proximity of other flyers and their models. Speak to your safety officer or other committee members for clarification if required. Safety is generally a matter of common sense and is everyone's concern, but newcomers may need some guidance. Don't be afraid to ask, or offer guidance, as appropriate

Parking
When the funding was provided for the access road its purpose was to improve access to the strip, particularly for the disabled. To that end the stop-off point adjacent to the strip is for unloading purposes only, except for disabled drivers. When you have unloaded your vehicle, please position it in the car-park. That is the metalled area across the bridge from the hut, not on the grass areas adjacent to the hut. There is restricted parking space on the metalled surface at the hut, but this must be used in such a way that access to the strip or other use is not affected. If we all follow this guidance everyone will benefit from the improved access

Dogs
We've had an approach from the farmer, our landlord, regarding his concern about dogs on the site not under proper control. This has been an issue in the past and we had hoped that all members would respond so that we do not endanger our tenancy of the field which everyone is enjoying and which we have expended considerable resources of different kinds to improve. We intend to continue these improvements but these plans could be jeopardised by irresponsible actions perhaps by only one member. With that in mind, the committee has to make it clear that dogs on the site, that is from the entry gate at the roadside onwards throughout the flying field, must be kept on a lead at all times

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Bring and Buy Sale:
Friday October 13th in Elderslie Village Hall. Sale starts 7.30pm - book in your unwanted items for auctioning from 6.30pm. Sausage rolls, pies and light refreshments available.

2006 AGM:
Tuesday November 7th in the Lynnhurst Hotel, Park Road, Johnstone. 7 for 7.30pm

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