Past Events

1st. Indoor Free-Flight Meeting 2004 - 2005

The first indoor free-flight meeting of the indoor season was held on Thursday 30th. September at Wickham Community Centre. WCA decided to organise a trial run of three events after the demise of the South Hants Indoor Fliers meetings at Crofton after suggestions by Ken and Bev Brown that there would be sufficient support to make a regular indoor free-flight event viable.

The club was pleasantly surprised to have a total of approximately 40 fliers and spectators at our first event. Those attending appeared to enjoy the event, as the indoor meetings always provide a good social atmosphere, as well as a suitable hall in which to fly the models! The models flown on the evening ranged from lightweight mylar covered duration models to scale peanut clas models which were admired by those not used to the type of model flown at this type of event.

Waltham Chase Aeromodellers would like to thank all those who attended the meeting, and look forward to seeing them and other indoor fliers at the next event.

Modelworld 2004

This is a one day event held annually (this year on Sunday 5th. September) and organised overall as a charity fund raising event by the Itchen Valley Rotary Club. The event includes models of all types and sizes and includes both static and dynamic displays of all the model types including model aircraft. Historically the flight line has been operated by Hampshire Model Flying Club but unfortunately they had to withdraw from the 2004 event at a late stage. Waltham Chase Aeromodellers were then asked to step in on behalf of the Southern Area BMFA.

Eight Southern Area clubs and 25 club members rallied round to give impressive displays of helicopter and fixed wing RC model flying plus control line flying. The day was extremely hot with practically no wind and to the degree that the computer screens on some transmitters went blank as the temperature increased. Every one on the flight line fried gently!

The display was continuous between 1000hrs and 1700hrs and the flyers managed a practically seamless rota of flying with alternate slots of fixed wing and helicopters plus the occasional control line display of aerobatics. Fudge bombing was also added to the display after a Puppeteer had been modified to be able to carry the payload.

The Rotary Club were most appreciative of all the attending clubs' efforts and requested a repeat in 2005.

On behalf of the Southern Area BMFA we would also like to give thanks to all those attending, including flyers and those that organised and helped generally.

Hobbies Extravaganza 2004

This event is sponsored by the BMFA as part of a two day activities weekend organised by the park rangers on behalf of Hampshire County Council. The idea is to show a wide selection of various sports and hobbies and the associated clubs in and around the Southampton area including model aircraft, boats, cars and railways plus many other totally different disciplines such as archery, kites, war gaming etc.

The event was supported by 14 clubs in the Southern Area and 45 club members ranging from Christchurch in the west via Reading in the north to Chichester in the east. Waltham Chase and Petersfield clubs provided the overall organisation for the event, but many thanks must go to all other Southern Area clubs and their members who flew and helped throughout two very hectic days.

After the wettest August in recorded history the 21st. and 22nd. were bright and sunny days with an acceptable degree of wind. The event was well attended by the public with approximately 2500 visitors on Saturday and on Sunday.

Reading Club brought along their buddy box trainer and after a slow start they were in constant demand "for a fly" by novices of all ages. Chichester Club attended en masse with both control line and RC models and gave numerous spirited displays of both disciplines. Southampton Club and Helipad Club put on extensive static displays and Helipad demonstrated the flying capabilities of their wide selection of large scale helicopters. Ken Gale ably flew his twin rotor "Twin Star" helicopter on numerous occasions and commented "that response is positive but is by fax rather than radio control".

Roger Bedford showed his building skills by building BMFA Darts & Frogs with the younger visitors and also took charge of the BMFA stand and simulator. Steve Warren and Tony Butterworth plus Jim Hall (Safety Officer) represented Waltham Chase on the flight line and PADMAC were represented by Alan Turner and Owen Templeton who both gave leisurely and realistic displays of their biplanes.

BMFA Southern Area Glider Competition 2004

The BMFA Southern Area Open Glider and Electric Glider Fly-In and Competition was held at Tangier Farm on Sunday 18th. July, 2004. The event was due to start at 1000hrs but was delayed by heavy rain which got everything good and wet. The actual flying got started soon after 1100hrs under eight to nine tenths cloud and a light to moderate but warm breeze. Twenty fliers attended and a good crowd of helpers and time keepers assisted.

The event started with a round of electric sailplanes flying to a ten minute slot and no recharging of batteries between rounds. It became immediately apparent that high tech was not the order of the day.

The first round of the true sailplanes was then flown in 3 ten minute slots using hand tow, electric winches or bungees depending on the pilot's preference. Again high tech machines did not show their true potential and nearly all pilots missed the spot landing bonus of 50 points. Missing the spot landing bonus rapidly became the norm for both the true gliders & the electric sailplanes. Unusually for the WCA site the wind was predominantly from the West and over a line of hedgerow trees approximately 220 metres upwind of the landing spots. The trees caused a roll over effect in the wind which for those without local knowledge resulted in their aircraft being pushed gently into the rough about 30 metres downwind of the spots.

Thermals did not abound and very few pilots flew the slot out. The tree line mentioned above eventually became a make shift slope with pilots flying up and down the tree line at no altitude trying to add a few more seconds to their flying score but then only to miss the 50 points landing bonus points. On several occasions the trees did their normal act of reaching up and coming within millimetres of collecting at least two models when the wind suddenly died away or momentarily changed direction. The trees in question are un-climbable without ladders (from one who has climbed most of them during the last 30 years!).

Eventually three rounds of both of the disciplines were flown. At the end of the three rounds clear leaders had been identified in each class and there was no requirement for a fly-off. Twenty fliers took part representing five clubs in the S.Area and it was heartening to see that some very inexperienced pilots had a go with a little assistance from others, when more experienced pilots with hi-tech machines stayed at home. The weather improved during the day and all attending advised that they had enjoyed themselves, especially as the event does not have the pressure of an out & out competition.

Thanks go particularly to the following WCA members who turned up to help & time keep - Jim Hall, Kevin Howard, Kevin & Lizzie McGhee, George Dillaway, Terry Pennial, Alan Wallington & Ken Brown. (Apologies are offered to anybody missed form the list).

The results are as follows and Southern Area trophies were presented to the first three places in each discipline.

It is planned to hold the event again in 2005.

WCA Club Barbecue 2004

The barbie crew on duty.

Unlike the previous two years, the weather on barbecue day (Sunday 4th. July) was, to say the least, somewhat inclement. Although the day was reasonably warm, there was intermittent drizzle throughout. Despite this, the barbecue crew continued cooking the food well into the afternoon. Numbers were down over those expected, but the barbecue was enjoyed by all those attending. Flying on the day was restricted to the morning, and once again the "Rhino" single model competition had to be postponed. Only Kevin Howard brought his "Rhino" along, and flying this model was not possible until later in the afternoon when the wind abated.

The committee would like to thank all those who assisted in making the barbecue a success.

5th. Indoor R/C Meeting 2003 - 2004

The Scorpio "Hawker Hurricane" flown by Mike Roach.

The final indoor R/C meeting of the current season took place on Saturday 20th. March. Support for this event was even better than for the February event, which has been very reassuring. This time last year the club was undecided as to whether to run any more events after the poor turnout for the March 2003 event. During this year we have seen support for our events increase steadily, to the point where not all meetings are incurring a loss.

This event was the first of this season which did not have a competition, so fliers were given free rein for the whole of the three hours. Mike Roach had brought a Scorpio "Hawker Hurricane" along, as he was preparing a review of the kit for his column in AMI. Although the model is in some respects a fair representation of a "Hurricane", from some angles the wing almost appears to have come from a "Stuka", such is the effect of the increased dihedral. The model was just about capable of flight in the hall, although it struggled at times. This is probably a model which is more at home as a park-flyer, which would probably then permit modification to the wing to reduce the dihedral to a more reasonable angle.

4th. Indoor R/C Meeting 2003 - 2004

WCA Chairman Jim Hall presents the prizes to winners Rod Badcock (left), Barry Cole (centre) and Nigel Potter (right)

The fourth indoor R/C meeting of the current season was held on February 21st. This was an extremely well supported meeting, and for the first time this season we managed to just about break even on the cost of hiring the hall. Despite missing some of our regular fliers, there were two new fliers from Oxford, two from Slough and one from the USA via Bognor Regis! Dave Harding, who lives and works in the States, was on a family visit to the UK and had brought over some indoor bits and pieces. Starting on the morning of the event he built (albeit not quite completed) a balsa pylon racer, which, after some adjustment, was flown by Nigel Potter in the Open class heat of the pylon race competition. Dave is also the newsletter editor for his club, Propstoppers, and has written his version of the meeting in the latest newsletter (get the newsletter from the club website at http://www.propstoppers.org/pdf_files/mar04.pdf).

The pylon racing competition went quite smoothly. Classes were arranged to give all models in each race a reasonable chance of winning. The only class where we were able to run two heats was the "Butterfly and similar" class. Unfortunately, the winning model in each heat was the "Butterfly" owned by Rod Badcock, whose friend had flown it in the second heat! This precluded holding a final and Rod was adjudged to be the winner, as he owned the model! Other classes were run for the IFO/mini-IFO (won by Nigel Potter), another was run for GWS type models (won by Barry Cole with his Tiger Moth) and the last was the open class mentioned above. Our congratulations go to all the class winners.

There were a couple of very interesting new models at this meeting.These were the Ikarus "Shock-Flyers", two of which were flown at the meeting. Dave Kirk, who flew the "Superstar" (the other one flown was the "Edge"), explained that the models can be bought with or without motors. Both the models present had been fitted with the Typhoon 6 size outrunner motor, propped to draw 7A on a two cellpack of Kokam 340 Lithium Polymer batteries. The models are basically depron and carbon fibre, and fly superbly with the outrunner motors fitted, although they really need a clear area due to their size and power compared to the more traditional indoor model. One problem is that they are not very forgiving in a heavy impact with the floor, as the nose tends to get damaged easily.

3rd. Indoor R/C Meeting 2003 - 2004

Entrants in the scale competition (from left) Tony Butterworth, Barry Cole, Mike Roach and Trevor Hewson.

The first indoor R/C meeting of 2004 was held on January 17th. This event also contained our premier competition, the indoor R/C scale competition, and the entrants for the competition included Ken Sheppard, the editor of "Model Flyer" magazine, and Mike Roach, who writes the indoor R/C column for "Aviation Modeller International" magazine. Both are dedicated scale enthusiasts, and both brought very impressive models to the meeting.

Ken Sheppard spent the early part of the evening resetting the trim on his Albatros CIII, as it had had a major prang on its previous outing, and he only just managed to get the model sorted in time for the competition. Mike Roach had similar problems with his Howard-Wright Monoplane, and flew his Sopwith Tabloid SS3 in the competition. The rules had been written to require all pilots to fly both left and right hand circuits, and both Ken Sheppard's Albatros and Mike Roach's Sopwith struggled to achieve this satisfactorily. By contrast, Trevor Hewson's SE5A and Tony Butterworth's much modified GWS DH Tiger Moth both flew superbly, overcoming the less detailed scale appearance to finish as winner and runner-up respectively. Barry Cole completed the list of competitors with a virtually straight out of the box GWS DH Tiger Moth,

WCA club Chairman Jim Hall and BMFA Southern Area Treasurer Andy Palmer carried out the judges' duties, examining each entrant's model against the documentation provided. Having agreed their marking criteria they marked the models independently, but on comparing scores at the end of the competition found remarkable similarity in the marks awarded across the board. Our thanks go to both judges for their efforts on the evening.

Jim Hall made the presentations to the competition winner and runner-up, and Ken Sheppard in third place received a certificate to mark a very impressive scale model.

The regular sport flying took place either side of the slot for the qualifying flights for the scale competition. Once again the usual models were present, with one or two new designs in evidence. The Protech "Butterfly" seems to have become the model of the moment, with several present at the meeting. One of the more revolutionary designs flown was Dave Kirk's very small foam model equipped with voice coil actuators. With the exception of the infra-red control systems developed by Aeronutz at Leicester this is about the smallest and lightest form of control for indoor R/C models. Perhaps the next indoor season will see the development of this equipment into an easily usable system.

Waltham Chase Aeromodellers would like to thank all those who attended the meeting, either as pilots or spectators, and look forward to meeting everyone again at the February meeting (see future events).

WCA Chairman Jim Hall presents the prizes to winner Trevor Hewson (left), runner-up Tony Butterworth (centre) and third place Ken Sheppard (right)

2nd. Indoor R/C Meeting 2003 - 2004

Our second indoor R/C event took place on Saturday 22nd. November 2003. Despite several regulars being absent from the proceedings we had an excellent turnout, and came perilously close to covering our costs. There were a couple of new fliers at the event, as well as a number who attend occasionally. The carrier deck event scheduled for this meeting took place, with 10 entrants, one of whom (Trevor Hewson) flew two models.

The carrier deck event demonstrated the importance of landing correctly in this event. Only three pilots landed on the carrier deck, earning themselves 100 points each as the model stopped on the deck. All other pilots either missed the deck, or ran off the end or side of the deck, losing all landing points. With the high speed and low speed phases of the flight earning points based on speed differential, it is virtually impossible to make up the loss of all landing points. After an eventful 20 minutes or so, the winner was Nigel Potter (244 points), with runner-up Neil Longman on 205 points, and Trevor Hewson third with 197 points.

One interesting effect noticed during this competition was that some of the models had more problems with control during the high speed flight phase rather than the low speed phase. It would appear that on models where the intention is to fly at a slow speed (rather than one like the mini-IFO, which appears to spend it's life with the throttle stuck in the fully open position), once full power is applied some models exhibit somewhat alarming tendencies and show a marked reluctance to turn tightly round a pylon, for instance.

During the non-competition flying there were the usual large variety of models to be seen. When the club started holding indoor R/C meetings in 2002 a large proportion of the models present were mini-IFO's, or clones thereof. At this meeting there was what appears to be the successor to the mini-IFO, the "Butterfly". This is a mylar and carbon fibre model with a more conventional layout than the mini-IFO, and an interesting array of colour schemes. Other models present included the usual GWS Piper Cubs and Tiger Moths, although Tony Butterworth's Tiger belies it's origins with the details and finish that have been applied.

Mike Roach brought along a longer span version of the Howard-Wright Monoplane he introduced at last month's meeting. Unfortunately he was suffering from equipment problems, and was unable to fly this excellent model as often as he would have liked. It did appear to fly very impressively once the bugs had been sorted, and made stately progress around the hall.

This was our last indoor R/C event for 2003, as due to club commitments we are unable to hold a December event. We would like to thank all those who have attended our meetings this year, and look forward to seeing all indoor fliers and spectators in January (see future events).

WCA Chairman Jim Hall presents the prizes to winner Nigel Potter (left) and runner-up Neil Longman (right)

WCA Swapmeet 2003

The WCA swapmeet took place on Saturday 25th. October 2003 at Otterbourne Village Hall. Once again most of the tables were taken, leaving a couple unoccupied. As last year the support was extremely good, with over one hundred modellers searching for bargains. There were some excellent items for sale, including several immaculate scale rubber powered models, and a large range of engines, in particular the older engines from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Hazel and Sue provided the refreshments for the more thirsty of the attendees, and the club would like to thank both ladies for the work they put in.

Flitehook attended and had several tables on the stage, selling their extensive range of products. Although the swapmeet started at 10 o'clock, and was scheduled to run until 2 o'clock, by 1 o'clock virtually all the table holders had sold their wares and had left. The club would like to thank all those who attended this event and helped to make it another successful swapmeet.

1st. Indoor R/C Meeting 2003 - 2004

The first indoor R/C meeting of the new indoor season took place on Saturday 18th. October 2003. Most of our regular fliers were present, with one or two new attendees bringing the numbers up to a reasonable level. For the first time at our indoor R/C meetings we held a competition, with a bottle of wine and a certificate being awarded to the winner. The limbo competition appeared to be very popular with the entrants, who exhibited a surprisingly high degree of skill in flying consistently below the limbo tape.

Unfortunately this led to the competition taking up more time than we would have ideally wanted, as there were a large number of fliers for each height at which the tape was set, and it was only when the tape was lowered to a foot or so above the floor that we managed to reduce the number of pilots significantly.

To compound our difficulties, two pilots, Nigel Potter and Trevor Hewson, both succeeded in flying under the tape when it was set at the minimum height, thus necessitating a fly-off. After some more excellent flying, Nigel Potter ran out the eventual winner, although Trevor's efforts were impressive through achieving the runner's up slot flying his venerable SE5A!

BMFA Vice-Chairman and BMFA Southern Area Chairman Roger Bedford attended the event and very kindly presented the prizes to the winner and runner-up.

BMFA Vice-Chairman Roger Bedford presents the prizes to winner Nigel Potter (left) and runner-up Trevor Hewson (right)

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