MAAA Wingspan

20 WING SPAN AUGUST an aeromodelling club for everyone! “It’s just a case of being consistent, by providing a facility that members want and that caters for all. We provide a friendly and comfortable club that meets the needs of both the older, experienced aeromodeller who may come out with his plastic flyer, or someone who just wants a cup of tea, or the jet jockey with three jets. You try and cater for all those people,” says Brian Spilsbury. “We have ready-to-fly (RTF), people that come out with rockets, pylons, we have a few jets and a couple of young whiz kids who fly helicopters – we really do cater to a large variety of aircraft.” Refreshing words from the secretary of Maryborough Aeromodellers club (MAC), who certainly endorses the ‘all are welcome’ policy that results in terrific club spirit. This also includes drone flyers, which, contrary to popular belief, are not just piloted by the young either. “Drones are certainly the future and in fact, a lot of our senior members have got drones too, so there’s a place for them certainly,” continues Brian. Events are naturally an important function at the club too, like the QMARA pylon-racing, which was held during the Australia Day-long weekend. “We have QMARA, which is pylon racing and we have them four to five times a year. The Queensland Championships are coming up very soon. The advantage that we have is that we’re not restricted by noise or space, so these little screaming things, that travel really quickly, can be flown to their hearts content during daylight hours- providing the wind is right,” said Brian. At MAC there’s always aeromodelling events for members to look forward to, which also helps to maintain a great club spirit. “We have good support from council who are happy to see us there and we have the FAI F3D World Championships for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft in August 2019, so the council have been supporting us with that as well,” continues Brian. WE SPEAK TO THE SECRETARY OF MARYBOROUGH AEROMODELLERS CLUB ON THE FRASER COAST, TO FIND OUT WHY THEIR CLUB SPIRIT IS SO SUCCESSFUL