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

     Telephone: 02 9872 6469    Fax: 02 9871 0408

Vice President:     Paul Winter 25 Jasmine Drive Mill Park VIC 3082

                             Telephone: 03 9436 0717

Secretary:            Kevin Dodd, 16 Illidge Rd Victoria Point QLD 4165

     Telephone: 07 3207 9067   Fax: 07 3207 8175

Treasurer:            Garry Anderson, PO Box 471 Devonport TAS 7310

Competition Rules Secretary:  Fred Adler, 18 Ivory St Noranda WA 6062

MAAA Internet:  www.maaa.asn.au

Introducing the MAAA Vice President Paul Winter

Having been elected as the Vice President of the MAAA at the Federal Conference held in Hobart over the weekend of May 24-25, the purpose of these few paragraphs is to introduce myself and tell you a little about myself.

I have three loves in my life, the Salvos, my Family and anything that is Aviation.

I recently retired after 42 years as a Minister of Religion with the Salvation Army; I have been married 41 years, have three children and two grandsons.

I have been flying model aircraft for fifty-one years. I started flying Control Line and progressed to Radio Control; with the main interest for the past fifteen years scratch building and flying large scale models. I had always wanted to be a pilot but had this problem with heights, and as this dream never eventuated, I have been able to find satisfaction by being able to build and pilot the planes of my dreams with two feet planted firmly on the ground.

I believe in competition, for by it the building and flying standards increase, but I’m afraid I have not been able to enter as many competitions as I would like as they are mostly held on Sundays.

I believe that if more youth of today took up the hobby of aeromodelling, there would not be the problems that are associated with them today, as it teaches discipline and responsibility. There is nothing like the thrill of seeing a young person go from complete novice and then to unplug the buddy lead and have them fly rings around the old instructor within a few flights of being cut loose.

I count it a great privilege to be able to serve you, the modellers of Australia on the MAAA Executive.  

Manual of Procedures

The Manual of Procedures is a “live” document and is continually being updated. Please check the MAAA web site from time to time to ensure that you are aware of the latest editions of the documents.

MAAA Fees for 2008/09

The MAAA Council set the MAAA fess for 2008/09 at: Seniors & Pensioners $60.00 and Juniors $30.00. These figures show the Senior and Pensioner fee reduced by $10 from last year’s fees. This was due to a reduction in insurance costs. Members can claim part of the credit for the reduction, as a result of our good safety record. State Association and Club fees are in addition to those set by MAAA.

The MAAA Council maintained the Commercial Instructor fee at $50.00. For those interested in becoming a Commercial Instructor, MOP023 will provide all the details.

The Public Liability excess payable by the member on all claims was also left unchanged at $250.

62^nd Nationals

The 2009 Nationals are being hosted by the NSW Associations and will be run as a ‘split’ event. Control Line and Free Flight are to be held at Albury NSW from

28 December 2009 to 3 January 2009. There will be no registration day. Registration and late entries will be processed prior to each event at the event site by the Contest Director. Full details can be found on the MAAA web site www.maaa.asn.au

Radio Control will be held over the Easter period from 12 April to 24 April 2009 at the MAS NSW State flying field at Cootamundra.

2.4GHz Equipment

The 2.4 GHz band is used throughout the world.  However, the specifications for the equipment vary from country to country.  Because of this, it is impossible to be certain just by looking at a product that it meets the Australian regulations, which in many cases are more stringent than that applying in other countries, including the USA.  The MAAA requires that all equipment used under its procedures complies with Commonwealth legislation as administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).  The best way of assuring this, is that the equipment has a C Tick compliance mark applied by either the manufacturer or the importer, otherwise it is the user’s liability.  If a radio has a C Tick, the manufacturer or importer is taking the responsibility that the equipment complies with the Australian regulations and they are legally required to hold documentation to prove it.  This has to be available for audit by the ACMA.  If the equipment does not have a C Tick, then it is the individual responsibility of the user to have documentation to satisfy the requirements.  If the circumstances arose to test whether the documentation held by the individual is adequate, this would ultimately be tested by a Court of Law.   The MAAA cannot operate as a legal practice and so unfortunately cannot give individual legal advice on whether any particular situation complies with the Australian Federal Laws. 

Team Trials

All MAAA affiliate members are eligible to represent Australia at World, Continental and Trans Tasman Championships. Trials for places in the teams are organised by MAAA Technical Subcommittees or National Special Interest Groups (NSIGs) which are required to publish details of team trial arrangements as widely as possible, well in advance of the trials, so that all interested members have the opportunity to take part. Your State Association Secretary has contact details for your Subcommittee representatives and NSIGs. The MAAA web site has links to NSIGs and also details of up-coming events and team trials, on the “Championships and Other Competitions” page.

Team Trial Notification

Organisers of Team Trials for World, CAOCC Championships and Trans Tasman events are reminded of their responsibility to advise the MAAA Secretary of the dates of intended team trials a minimum of six months in advance. MOP024 clearly states the procedure. This is to give all members adequate notice.

F3C Helicopter Team Trials

 The team trial for the 2009 F3C World Championships will be held in conjunction with the Victoria State champs to be held on the 29-30th November 08. This will be at the MRCHA field.

F3D Pylon Team Trials for the World Championships Germany 2009

Notification of team trials as follows:

·    26/27 April 2008 at Cohuna Victoria (Concluded)

·    7/8 June 2008 AMPRA Champs in Maryborough Qld (Concluded)

·    Aug/Sept 2008 - either Qld State Champs or Vic State Champs

Incident and Investigation Forms

Both these forms need to be submitted as soon as possible following a significant incident even if it is considered that there may not be an Insurance Claim.  If the incident is of a serious nature or third party property has been damaged, even before the reports are sent, please advise the MAAA Secretary either by phone or email with the basic details.  Ensure that the two forms are completed and forwarded to the MAAA Secretary who will forward copies to your State Secretary.

An Incident Investigation form containing details of the steps taken by the club to prevent further incidents of the same nature, not only allows the MAAA Executive to ‘close out’ the incident, but hopefully enables all modellers to gain knowledge and generates the more general application of increased safety awareness at all levels.  In a recent incident a model went into ‘fail safe’ most probably due to the glow driver being left attached.  The operator of the model now recognises that, had a fail safe parameter been set, which could have be easily done as the model was operating on 2.4GHz, this could possibly have saved damage to a vehicle and the model.  If your radio has a failsafe capability it is very important that you know what it is set to. 

There are different views on what is best for the control surfaces and none are perfect for every situation.  If your club has a rule then you should follow that or just decide what you think is best.  The most important thing is that the fail safe position for the throttle is not full power.  This can happen if you do not set it up yourself particularly if you have used servo reversing.  When the fail safe operates the engine should either go to idle or stop.

The MAAA supports the ‘Model Expo 08’ which is a showcase of everything that encompasses plastic modelling. This is an annual event held this year at the Sandown Entertainment Centre, Sandown Racecourse, Princes Highway, Springvale Melbourne. (Map 80 ref C10) on 28 – 29 June. Model Expo 08 covers all categories including aircraft, military AFVs, civil vehicles and figures. Please contact Ian Vale (03) 9873 4256 for more information.  

World Championship and Trans Tasman Events Calendar