MAAA Wingspan

06 WING SPAN AUGUST When aeromodelling is in your blood it’s hard to put down the tools and stop working in your shed on your latest projects. Kingaroy Aero Modellers Society President, John Box, knows that first-hand and despite long breaks from his passion he has always been lured back to once again tinker and perfect his newest challenge. “I had a strong connection to planes through stories told to me by my father and uncle who both served in the RAAF,” John said. “It was probably because of that I started playing around at home with a basic chuck glider kit when I was a young primary school student in the Wide Bay area.” From those restricted and obstacle ridden test flights around his backyard he graduated to a local cricket oval with rubber powered Artmill kits. The perfectly manicured turf wicket was his launch strip and he was soon experimenting trying to send his planes higher into the hot Maryborough skies chasing uplifting thermals. “My venture into power flight was courtesy of an uncle who gave me an old 1.5cc Taipan diesel motor to play with,” John said. “I had fun experimenting with how to start the beast adjusting the needle valve and compression screw with a fuel mix made of ether, caster-oil and kerosene. I mounted it on a board in the shed and after hours flicking and cutting my fingers on the sharp yellow plastic propeller it eventually burst into life.” As his passion fired up he enrolled in control line aeromodelling at his high school, eventually becoming a local Maryborough Control Line Club member. This was affiliated with MAAQ/MAAA and he proudly remembers his initial membership number of 2032. His father was helping as he launched his maiden flight with a second-hand profile type aircraft powered by the trusty 1.5cc diesel Taipan on 50 feet lines. “The euphoria of seeing my model slice through the air quickly evaporated as it flew apart in a crash landing, I lost control because I got too dizzy,” John laughed. His interest continued with the local control line club where John constructed a variety of planes, the ultimate being a Hi-Lo stunter scratch built from plans and powered with an OS35 glow plug motor. The fuel tank was built by soldering brass shim and copper pipe. Marriage and full-time work soon meant little free time for his passion so he sold the planes and equipment and moved to Murgon. While in the area he visited Angel Field where the South Burnett Model Aero Modelling Club SBMAC held regular events. This was a designated full-size aircraft landing site, where they used the latest digital proportional radio equipment and flew a variety of aircraft. john box’s life long romance with flight