President:             Mike Close, PO Box 146, West Pennant Hills NSW 2125

     Telephone: 02 9872 6469    Fax: 02 9871 0408

Vice President:     Theo Merrifield, 25 Jecks St,   Rockingham WA  6168 

     Telephone – 08 9528 3124

Secretary:            Ivan Chiselett, 1 Watson Ave,  Mont Albert Nth Vic 3129

     Telephone 03 9897 1220  Fax (03) 9897 1445

     e-mail; secretary@maaa.asn.au 

Treasurer             Gary Anderson, PO Box 471 Devonport Tas. 7310

Technical Sec.     Fred Adler 18 Ivory St.    Noranda WA. 6062

                             e-mail; maaatechsec@touch88.com.au>

MAAA Internet:  http://www.maaa.asn.au

Manual of Procedures

The M.A.A.A. Manual of Procedures is on the M.A.A.A. web site. It is continually updated so please check the date of issue of any document you use to make sure you have the latest version.

Please note that recently two new documents were added to the MoP, these being; Alcohol, Drugs & Illness Policy and the Disciplining of Affiliate Members Procedure. In addition several documents were updated/amended, these being;

Please check that you have the latest version of documents in the MoP.

World Championships Teams

As a result of team trials conducted, at the time of writing, the following members have accepted places in Australian Teams to compete at the 2005 World Championships. These being;

F1 (Free Flight)  La Cruz Argentina - 21 May to 28 May 2005

F1A Phil Mitchell (NSW), Vin Morgan (Vic), Martin Williams

F1B Terry Bond (NSW), Richard Blackam (SA) & Leigh Morgan (Vic);

F1C Roy Sumersby (NSW), Bill East (NSW) & Jon Fletcher (NSW)

F3A (Aerobatics)  18th to 28th August at Saint Yan, France

Gaven Broadbent (Qld), Bill Bloodworth (Vic) & Alfred Pye (NSW)

F3D (Pylon Racing) France – Team Manager David Axon

Ranjit Phelan (Pilot) (NSW)         Kark Harrod (Caller) (Qld)

Barry Murphy (Pilot) (Vic)           Beau Murphy (Caller) (Vic)

Frank Harrod (Pilot) (Qld)            Kark Harrod (Caller) (Qld)

Attending as defending World Champions;

Chris Callow (Pilot) Qld) Kevin Callow (Caller) (Qld)

F3B (Gliding) – Lappeenranta Finland 31 July  to 6 August 6  2005

Mat Wood (SA), Greg Voak (Vic)  & Michael James (Qld)

F3C (Helicopter)  Zamora Spain– Team Manager David Crum (Vic)

Garry Watson (NSW), Mick Warren (NSW) & Andrew Donaldson (Vic)

We all offer our congratulations to all those members who have reached the pinnacle of their discipline and gained selection in the Australian teams. We wish you all good luck and have a good time at the championships.

For those of you that want to keep track of the world champs the following web sites may help;

F1 -                F3A - www.world-championships-f3a.com

F3B -  www.f3b.fi                                F3C - http://wc2005-f3c.helcom.es/

F3D - http://france-f3dwc.site.voila.fr/index.html

2006 World Championship Team Selection

I know that these seem a long way in the future, however if you are considering trying for team selection please get in contact with the relevant Special Interest Group. If you are unsure of the contact details please contact the M.A.A.A. Secretary.

All Affiliate members of the M.A.A.A. are eligible to try for team selection. You do not have to be a member of the Special Interest Group although naturally it is to everyone’s benefit if you are a member. Team trials for the 2006 teams will be held during 2005 so if you are interested in trying for a place find out where and when they are to be held now. Do not leave it and find out you are too late.

Details of team trials as I receive them from the organizers. However, due to the lead times of this Newsletter, I recommend that you be proactive and get the dates from the Special Interest Groups.  However I do have the details of one already.

F3J Glider Team Trials for the 2006 World Championships.

The F3J team trials for the 2006 World Championships will be held this year in conjunction with the annual gliding tournament at Jerildere on the 11th, 12th & 13th June (the Queen's Birthday long weekend) 2005.

Any M.A.A.A. member interested in trying for a place in the Australian F3J team should attend this trial. For further information please contact your state gliding Special Interest Group or your State Secretary.

Team Trials and Membership

To be eligible to compete in team trials a person MUST be a current M.A.A.A. member. All Contest Directors MUST make sure that they see the person’s M.A.A.A. card prior to the trial. It is essential that the embarrassing situation is avoided where a non member is allowed to compete at the team trial, “wins” a “place” then loses it because they was not a member.

If you want to compete in team trials it is your responsibility to ensure that you are a current member and have your M.A.A.A. card ready for inspection. If a non member some how  “wins” a place, they will loose it if appealed against even if they join after the trial. You must be a member at the time of competing.

M.A.A.A. Badges and Decals for Sale

The M.A.A.A. Secretary has a selection of badges and decals for sale.

M.A.A.A.

Metal Badge 25 X 25mm            $3-00

Cloth patch 70mm diameter       $2-00

Decal Sheet 130 X 240mm (2 large & 2 small stickers)  $3-50

Replacement Gold Wings          $6-00

Cloth Gold Wings                      $2-50

Replacement Bronze Wings       $6-00

There is also a VERY limited stock of FAI cloth patch and decals. These are of the old FAI logo. The FAI has recently updated their logo.

FAI Cloth patch 80mm diameter   $3-00

FAI Decal 100mm diameter          $2-00

To obtain any of the above, please send a cheque or Money Order for the total amount of your order plus $1-00 for postage to the M.A.A.A. Secretary.

Note; Due to the very limited stock of the FAI badges, please e-mail the Secretary to reserve your selection of these.

Member Numbers

As we approach the end of the 2004/05 membership year the figures indicate our member numbers to be just holding. The numbers are still below our membership a couple of years ago and prior to the big increases in insurance costs. The primary strength of our Association and your club are member numbers. It enables the M.A.A.A. to get better prices for insurance, have more influence on Government Departments and policy. It enables the club to have a better cash flow and therefore able to improve the flying facilities.

Does your club and State Association have an active program to attract new members? If it does not then may be it should. I know of one club in Victoria that has a very active program that is bearing fruit. They place advertisements in the local press for people who are interested in paying to attending a full day model aviation workshop.

The workshops are held at their clubhouse and field where the attendees are given information and instruction on model building, equipment needed, simulator experience. The session culminates in hands-on flying instruction with an instructor and “buddy box”.

From what I have heard they receive lots of requests from the public to attend the seminars and they have a very good membership “capture” from the program. Why not get a program going in your club. We all benefit from more members.

Another possibility is to invite past members to the club for a bar-b-q and get together. Go through your old membership lists and identify those that dropped out of the club in the last few years and send them an invitation to a ”Back to the club” day. Possibly organise a few members to have trainers and “buddy boxes” available to give the past members a go at flying again. It may just stimulate the interest again and get them to join up again. It is worth a try.

See the M.A.A.A. Visitor Policy on the web site for information of insurance coverage of “non members”.

Lets all try to get our membership number up. It makes our clubs and associations better and it ensures our future. Make 2005 the year to increase membership.

Setting of Fees for 2005/06

The M.A.A.A. fees for the 2005/06 financial year will be set by the M.A.A.A. Council at their meeting to be held on May 28 and 29 2005. Your State Association will be advised immediately the fees are set. State Association will advise their clubs as soon as possible after this date. Club Secretaries should contact their State Secretary if they have not been advised of the fees by June 6^th in order to give them time to get the fee structure out to their members in time to collect the fees prior to the start of the membership year July 1^st 2005.

Personal Accident Insurance.

As noted in earlier Newsletters, the Personal Accident Policy, which is part of the M.A.A.A. Insurance suite, does not apply to members over the age of 80. The M.A.A.A. has successfully negotiated with our Insurance Broker and is able to offer a refund of the cost of the Personal Accident Policy to our members who are over 80 and therefore receive no benefit from this policy.

Any member who is 80 and over as at start of a membership year (July 1^st) of and would like to receive a refund of the Personal Accident Policy premium for that year, currently about $5-50, you will need to provide documentary evidence of your date of birth to the M.A.A.A. Secretary who will arrange for the refund.