MAAA Wingspan

36 37 WING SPAN NOVEMBER NOVEMBER WING SPAN MAAALogo. A bit of past and present detail of SWARMS Flying Club. A Radio Control model aero club, South West Associated Radio Modeller Society (SWARMS) is located in the South West of Western Australia just south of Bunbury near the town of Capel. The field has been in operation for more than 30 years and the average membership is around 32 members per year with an average age around 54, so you can see that we are maintaining the trend of pilots enjoying the sport in their mature years of life. In 2012, MAAA purchased the field to ensure that we had a flying venue in the South West of Western Australia. It is situated on route from Perth to the Margaret River a famous wine region that is frequented by a large number of people from Perth during the holiday periods and weekends so it is convenient for model enthusiast from Perth to drop in for a fly while in the area. The field has under gone a huge transformation over the past six years. The Pit facilities had aged, the runway surfaces had deteriorated and there was a real need to update the toilet facilities so in 2014 an action plan was derived with a time line set to address these issues. Being a relatively small club, any improvement was normally met by budget constraints. The plan that was put together had to focus on dealing with the worst first and we endeavoured to obtain some funds via grant applications to AWA and the Lottery West Community Grants. We met the criteria to receive and Lottery West Grant which was due mainly to the fact that we needed to construct a disabled toilet. AWA also made a contribution, so we were able obtain quotes for material, organize a budget and to commence the upgrade of the facilities which was planned to take place over the next five months, the majority of the manual labour work was carried out voluntary by members. The field is used constantly by the members and visitors throughout the year with two major events held at the field on an annual basis. It is the venue for the first round of the state IMAC completion conducted early in the year and SWARMS conduct an annual fun fly event during the long weekend in September. Both of these events are well supported by visiting pilots from around WA based clubs The toilet facilities were the first on the agenda with the portable unit being removed to make way for modern facilities. The pits were the next to undergo a complete makeover with the old facilities being removed to make way for a newly constructed pavilion creating a much safer environment for members and visitors to assemble their planes and congregate. The taxiways were the next project to be completed as the original matting had deteriorated causing a hazard to walk on and run model planes over. A concrete surface was constructed from the pits to the main runway. The annual Fun fly creates a good friendly environment for club members and visitors with three days of fun and fellowship with pilots sharing experiences about the sport around the Barbie after a day’s flying. The IMAC competition is also well attended each year. The focus has now turned to the upgrade of the main runways changing the surface frommatting to concrete, funds have been raised to complete the East / West runway with AWA making a considerable contribution to the overall cost of the project. It is planned to have this completed early in December which will prevent further issues with the matting blowing up during strong winds. The club is looking at recruitment drive in the new year when the major works are complete and we hope that as a result the membership numbers will increase. swarms flying club A BIT OF PAST AND PRESENT DETAIL OF SWARMS FLYING CLUB. SWARMS Club IMAC Comp Day Sunday morning session Pit facilities makeover Fun Fly Day Toilet facilities update Runway mat upgrade in progress Taxiway concrete surface Aerial view