MODEL AERONAUTICAL

MODEL AERONAUTICAL

ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Newsletter

NO. 6/2005

Manual of Procedures

Over the past year several procedures have been added to the Manual of Procedures (MoP). Many existing procedures have also been amended due to M.A.A.A. Council decisions and input from members and Associations.

Life Member

At the 2005 M.A.A.A. Council meeting Tony Frizell was elected an M.A.A.A. Life Member. This is the highest award that the Council can bestow on a member. Tony’s award was for services to the M.A.A.A. by the way of development and continued maintenance and enhancement of the M.A.A.A. Computer Membership System. Tony was MASA’s Treasurer and Registrar for many years.

All State Registrars use Tony’s system and without it their workload would be much higher. Tony developed the system that can be used at all level of the MAAA, Federal, State and Club. The M.A.A.A. Registrar and all State Associations use the system as do many clubs.

Hall of Fame

Ray Cooper and Ray Pike were both elected into the M.A.A.A. Hall of Fame at the 2005 Council Conference for setting world records. Ray Cooper set a world record for F5-S (Aeroplane, electric motor - rechargeable sources of current) Distance to goal & return record of 54.3Kms.

Ray Pike set a world F5C (Helicopter, electric motor) Distance in a Straight Line record of 4.90Kms.

M.A.A.A Executive Elections Results

All M.A.A.A. Executive positions are elected for three year terms. At the 2005 Council Conference elections were held for the positions of M.A.A.A. Treasurer and Vice President. There was only one nomination for each position. Those being from the sitting members. Garry Anderson was re-elected as Treasurer and Theo Merrifield was re-elected as Vice President

Nominations for M.A.A.A. President & Competition Rules Secretary

The M.A.A.A. President and Competition Rules Secretary three year terms conclude at the Annual Conference in May 2006 and an election for the positions will be held at the Conference.

The position of M.A.A.A. President is very prestigious and requires a considerable commitment in terms of time and energy. He/she is responsible for the day to day running of the M.A.A.A. and implementing the policies and direction of the M.A.A.A. Council. The President chairs all meetings of the M.A.A.A. Council and Executive. The Executive generally meet monthly via a telephone link. These meetings usually last about 2 hours.

The President closely liases with other members of the Executive and in particular, the Federal Secretary. The Federal Secretary, an employee of the M.A.A.A., reports to the President. It would be reasonable to expect that the President would have to devote about 1.5 hours per day to M.A.A.A. duties. It is considered essential that persons wishing to nominate for the position be very computer literate as all business between the President and Executive is via computers and the Internet.

Currently, no honorarium is paid but expenses are reimbursed. The President is expected to attend National Championships and World and Continental Championships that held in Australia.

Duties of the Competition Rules Secretary include, examination and ratification or rejection of Australian record claims, providing advice in respect to technical aspects of the F.A.I. Sporting Code and the maintenance of M.A.A.A Official Competition Rules and Instructions. Currently, no honorarium is paid but expenses are reimbursed.

Nominations are called for from Affiliate Members of the M.A.A.A. for the positions of M.A.A.A. President and Competition Rules Secretary. Both positions are for three-year terms

Nominations for the each of the positions shall be in writing signed by two Affiliate Members of the Association accompanied by the written consent of the candidate (which may be endorsed on the nomination) and shall be delivered to the Federal Secretary at the above address by March 3^rd 2006.

In the event that an accident or incident occurs at a Club or Association facility or event, it is a requirement of the M.A.A.A. Manual of Procedures that they submit a report to the M.A.A.A. Executive detailing the actions they intend to take to prevent the reoccurrence of an accident. If the Executive agrees with the proposed action then the matter is considered “Closed Out” and that is the end of the matter.

The M.A.A.A. is very focused on improving safety and sees the requirements of the Accident/Incident Procedure as very important. Reducing accidents will lead to lower insurance costs and a reduction in the potential for our members to be injured.

In the past several Clubs and Associations did not submit a report and did not reply to the numerous requests to supply the report. At the 2005 Council Conference the Executive was given powers to strongly encourage Clubs and Associations to provide “Close Out” submissions.

If a “Close Out” submission is not provided after three requests the Executive have the power to withdraw insurance cover from the Club. It should be noted that the individual members of the club will still be covered but the Club will not. Also the Executive of the Club will be without the coverage of the Directors and Officers policy.

This action has the potential to have serious repercussions for the Club as if they happened to be sued the policy will not respond and it could loose all of their assets. Naturally the M.A.A.A. does not want to see this happen but Council has been forced to provide these powers to ensure that accidents and incidents are responded to in accordance with our Manual of Procedures.

Mobile Phones at Flying Fields

Attention is drawn to the M.A.A.A. Policy on Mobile Phones, MOP045 - Mobile Phones at Model Flying Fields. The document is in the M.A.A.A. Manual of Procedures which is on the M.A.A.A. web site. It basically states that mobile phones should be kept well away from radio transmitters.

Some members have an opinion that this policy is an overkill as it appears that their transmitter is not affected by a mobile phone. It is interesting that a major radio manufacturer recommends that mobile phones should not be taken near radio transmitters as the signal from them exceeds the design specification of their equipment. To ensure that radio transmitters are not interfered with by mobile phones members should be aware of and comply with the M.A.A.A. Policy. If your radio has been close to a mobile phone that was switched on check very carefully that it functions correctly before take off. There are reliable reports of information in the memory being changed.

Recently the BMFA (the UK equivalent of the M.A.A.A.) recently posted a warning on their web site which noted that investigations of an expensive gas turbine powered helicopter revealed that the synthesised transmitted used to control the model was interfered with by a mobile phone. The transmitter’s manufacturer’s instructions were found to contain a warning that mobile phones were not to be used within the direct vicinity of the transmitter. Subsequent trials revealed that the incident was repeatable with that transmitter although the exact cause is not known at the time of writing.

Please follow the M.A.A.A. Policy MOP045 and keep mobile phones well away from transmitters.

Gold & M.A.A.A. Instructor Wings

The M.A.A.A. Council at their May meeting decided that effective immediately the initial issue of metal Gold Wings and M.A.A.A. Instructor Wings will be free of charge. This brings these wings into line with the issue of Bronze Wings. The cloth Gold Wings badge will remain at $2-50 + 50c postage. Replacement Bronze, Gold and Instructor Wings will remain at $6-00 each plus 50c postage. Free issue wings are only available through your State Association; replacement wings are available from the M.A.A.A. Secretary.

Computer Radios – Model Memory

I constantly hear of instance where members set their transmitters to the wrong model that usually results in a crash. Quite often the results are much more serious. A member recently decided to run his model in his garage. He set the throttle to low and started the model. The model started at full throttle and leapt towards him. In the insuring mayhem he was badly lacerated and had his thumb so severely damaged that it was later amputated. He had selected the wrong model in the transmitter menu. The model that he selected had throttle reversed to the model that he thought he had selected.

Why not make sure that when you set up a model the throttle is ALWAYS the same for each and every model. That way if you do select the wrong model at least the throttle will be correct and you have minimised the possibility of being injured by the engine. Also get into the habit of checking your control throw before each and every take off. With the many switches and setting on the modern transmitter it is very easy to bump a switch or select the wrong setting. Also ensure that any control switches that you do not actually use are either inhibited or set up to make no change

Members are reminded to think safety at all times and set a good example to our new members. If you see them doing something unsafe, at the appropriate time draw their attention to the problem and advise them of the safe way.

BPL Submission to ACA

The M.A.A.A. has made a submission to the Australian Communication Authority (ACA) on Broadband over Power Lines (BPL). There is a possibility that BPL may radiate frequencies that may cause interference to some of our frequencies. The M.A.A.A. Frequency Sub committee will monitor and make submissions on behalf of M.A.A.A. to ensure that our position is put to ACA and everything possible is done to try and ensure our frequencies are protected.