MAAA Wingspan

28 29 WING SPAN MAY MAY WING SPAN MAAALogo. Renew your membership with the MAAA The MAAA is now calling on all members to renew their membership and continue to enjoy fun-flying and camaraderie at your local Club over the next 12 months. If you’re looking forward to continuing to fly with your mates and accomplish evenmore exciting builds and flights, MAAA is the best organisation for you tomake this possible. The MAAA has focused on providing their members with the best possible flying experience for over 75 years. Their proud heritage comes from the knowledge held and passed down by generations of members, developing a community that embraces the largest range of model flying disciplines that include, radio control, aerobatics, jets, helicopters, gliders, control line and FPV flying, to name a few. The MAAA relies on your flying experience and skill to help innovate, as well as lead and protect the future of the sport, withmore than 10,000members enjoying access to the largest number of events and competitions in Australia. The MAAA is the only industry body that works with CASA and the government to protect the sport and provides the best training programs and Wings proficiency scheme to get you up to speed and in the air faster. Safety is our number one priority, so we have developed, and continue to grow on our robust operating systems and procedures including incident investigations and reporting. We are proud to offer our member Clubs with the opportunity to apply for the Annual Club Assistance Scheme, that provides financial assistance to Clubs for the improvement of their facilities, along with the investment of model aircraft flying sites across Australia. Members also have access to themost comprehensive insurance for aeromodellers in the country, with no excess. Speak to one of your Club representatives for more information. For nearly 50 years aeromodelling enthusiast, Barry Murphy has continued his love of pylon racing, creating opportunities for himself and others who love the sport. Barry first became interested in pylon racing in 1972 and spent about 14 years at the Tamworth Area Radio Model Aircraft Club, where he met fellow aeromodellers Ray Harvey, Tony Tjanivaris and Shisei Oya. He has been building and designing models ever since, but one of his biggest contributions happened when he moved back to Victoria in 1986. Barry created the Munro Field Club in Victoria, which became a Model Aeronautical Association of Australia’s (MAAA) pylon racing venue. While the Club is only small with about 10 members, it is host to four race meets a year including the Australian Pylon Racing Championships. “I thought it was a necessity for us to have a pylon racing field, not just for myself buy pylon racing in general,” Barry said. “The Munro Field is in a very isolated location which means we don’t annoy anyone with the noise, and we have plenty of room to fly with our mates and everyone who loves the sport.” The field was a paddock leased from a local farmer and the strip is 180 by 50 metres long, with the Club including a Club house for members and visitors and camping facilities for those making a trip and wanting to stay the night. Barry admits it took a lot of effort and money to transform the paddock into a pylon flying field, with irrigation and levelling, and it can now host up to 40 pilots at a time during the national championships. “We have been proud to host the national Pylon Racing Championships three times now over the last seven years,” Barry said. Barry has competed in many national and international competitions taking him to places such as Austria, France, America and South Africa, and is still competing at the age of 68. “As well as my love of motor racing and planes, which led me to pylon racing, another love I have is travel. I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to do that, but pylon racing has taken me around the world, where I’ve met so many friends with the same passion for the sport.” Along with competing, Barry has introduced many young aeromodellers to the sport which included his own son who is now an engineer for Qantas and recent junior world champion, Daniel Arapakis. He encourages all MAAA Clubs to embrace and support young up and coming aeromodellers to keep the sport going for many generations to come. MAAA Member Continues Creating Opportunities for Pylon Racing