MAAA Wingspan

03 MAAALogo. FEBRUARY WING SPAN MAAA EXECUTIVE president’s report ON THE coVER I’d like to start by wishing a happy and prosperous new year to all members. The year 2020 starts a new decade for all of us, and I trust all ambitions and goals are achieved. This year will also see a new era of aeromodelling. We have witnessed aeromodelling activities change quickly over the past decade, but I predict in the next decade changes will move much quicker. The introduction of multirotor aircraft, commonly referred to as drones, has exponentially accelerated the pace of change. Early in the last decade, we saw primitive multirotors which were quite difficult to fly and only flown by adventurous modellers. In the past 10 years, multirotor technology has progressed to ones which virtually fly themselves, available for purchase everywhere, with a bit of practice anyone can fly them. Sophisticated multirotor technology has also seen the introduction of concepts such as food delivery, uber type pilotless air taxis and parcel deliveries to name a few. All concepts have gained a life during the past ten years and are continuing to expand. Ten years ago, prolonged electric flight was only a figment of our imagination. All powered aircraft were powered by internal combustion motors. A twenty-minute flight with an electric aircraft powered by a 22.2-volt battery was only a thing we could dream of. Look where we are now, 22.2-volt batteries are frequently used and more than 60 percent of model aircraft are electric-powered. Some once said if you flew electric you would get warts. There must be a lot of modellers with warts. Changes in technology have brought changes to when, where, how, and what we can fly. Unfortunately for aeromodellers worldwide, authorities now place all remotely piloted aircraft in the same category. Governments have become more involved and have introduced legislation that now requires all remotely piloted aircraft pilots to register their model and obtain a licence to fly. President: Neil Tank PRESIDENT’S REPORT New year, new era of aeromodelling feature story: The 1st West Wyalong National Championships to take place in July 2020 young aeromodeller Young gun, Balint Banko will become the first Australian youngster to fly high at the FAI F4 Scale Championships 15 travel story Adelaide FPV Racing competing against the Army, Navy and Air Force at the recent Edinburgh Airshow. 16 THE WORLD’S ELITE COMPETED AT ASIAN PACIFIC RADIO CONTROL AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS MEMBER STORY: JOHN CORBY 06 18 Safety MATTERS: A timely reminder of the accident and incident process. TRACS celebrates 50 years Townsville Radio Aeronautical Control Society will be 50 in 2020 TRAC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS 12 03 05 06 12 club story Warwick Aeromodellers take advantage of the MAAA Club Assistance Funding Grants 20 The MAAA are always keen to hear about your successes or story ideas for Wingspan. Please send your ideas to us at editor@maaa.asn.au . President: Mr Neil Tank president@maaa.asn.au Vice President: Bruce Hoffmann vicepresident@maaa.asn.au Secretary: Mr Tyson Dodd secretary@maaa.asn.au Treasurer: Mr Gary Pope treasurer@maaa.asn.au Enquiries about Wingspan, including advertising, feedback and story ideas can be emailed to editor@maaa.asn.au Remember, if your club is inviting members of the public to an event, feel free to advertise it on the MAAA website! Go to: http://www.maaa.asn.au/events to add your event. MANAGEMENT MATTERS: 2020 Club Assistance Scheme officially open 28 WING SPAN FEBRUARY

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