MAAA Wingspan - Quarterly Magazine

20 WING SPAN MAY club event: THE GRAMPIANS MODEL FLYING CLUB AERO TOWWEEKEND Great weather and a terrific turn out ensured the Grampians Model Flying Club’s Aero Tow Weekend was a real eye-opener. Held at Victoria’s Ararat Airport, from 17-18 February, it was the first major event for the budding club and ultimately resulted in a classic example of aeromodelling camaraderie. “As we are a very new club, there were a few teething problems but we got though them,” says club president Phillip Daynes. “It all started with a late night call from Ross Bathie, who asked if the club would be interested in putting the event on. This was followed by some more calls to the Grampians Soaring Club, whom we share the Ararat Airport with. Before we knew it we had interest from all over south eastern Australia, so it was full steam ahead from there.” Philip goes on further to detail the weekend’s preparations and aeromodelling activities. “Saturday morning we were up early for the briefing of all RC and full-size pilots. After a few flights the wind changed, so it was time for a quick runway change. A meeting was held between the safety officers to have small but important changes to flying directions to benefit all,” he continues. “Some of the RC guys had flights in full-size gliders, while the full-size guys showed great interest in their smaller counterparts.” Despite the overall enthusiasm, Phillip admits the aeromodellers had to face some obstructions. Fortunately, there were some contingency plans in place. “Some of the problems we faced were with general aviation planes that use Ararat Airport, which meant we had to land our planes. This was frustrating, not only for us modellers but also for the soaring club as well. “Sunday’s flying came to a halt with the big tugs breaking down, so we resorted to Dave’s old faithful All images courtesy of Andrew Neil Downing