MODEL AEROPLANE NOTES and General Hobbicraft

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

MODEL AEROPLANE NOTES and General Hobbicraft

DOINGS ROUND NEW ZEALAND. Championships Will Soon Be Here. Well, after a few, week's*'spell, I am pleased to .Joe able to get settled down to a few more notes. Though the holidays arc generally just a bit quiet as far as the model flying world is concerned, it seems that they are only an interlude to give the members of the various clubs a breathing space to get their annual .meetings held and thus get the i?cw season started off properly. We have quite a bit of excitement ahead in the near future. First of all there is the starting of the season for the Auckland Club, The next few meetings will decide who will get the Kealcy Gup and I understand that Mr. E, Rose is well out in the lead for this. Still a .few meetings may make a difference and that cup has been .known to change hands on the last meeting of the season. Then there is the president's trophy also to be settled. These arc, of course, club matters, but as the Auckland Club has a membership of just on ninety the next few Saturdays out at Three Kings should produce some good living. Also in connection with these meotings I hear that there are some hush-hush ships being produced as possible contestants for this year's Wakefield and Moffett, contests. The makers of these 'planes have been in touch with gentlemen in U.S.A. who have agreed to receive the 'planes, take them to the contest and lly them there (as proxies) and in the meantime the builders are telling them all the little tricks etc., and giving instructions for ■ Hying.

• Gas models have been busily making a noise at odd week-ends recently and the trouble seems to be that they will insist on flying too far. even when used with timers. It is really extraordinary how far they will go in a short time, and the last time we were out I think I personally spent half the day in my car chasing these elusive birds. Our old friend X. A. Dobson ("Dobbie' > to-the boys) filled his tank up just once too often and, unfortunately completely lost the model this time. We think it is in a very thick clump of willows, so it looks as if Ave will have to wait until the leaves drop before it can be found. Anyway the engine will be oily and should stand the weather for quite a long time without damage. We hear that "Dobbie" and Ralph Court are both at work on some small models for the new 1/7 li.p. type of engine. A number of the younger members have been making some very good times with their gas jobs and the technical jargon heard at the meetings would astonish old; engineers. By the way, there has' beeii quite a controversy over -the matter of condensers in the electrical equipment and I would be pleased if one of our many lettered electrical friends would write a small treatise for publication on this matter. The point at issue is "Does the capacity of a condenser, affect the running of a motor vitally." One side says that maybe there is a theoretical correct condenser for a coil, but in actual experience there seems to be not much difference (in fact—they claim there is none) whether you use a .1 or a .2i» condenser. They say that anyhow there is always a lot of sparking at the points and so it doesn't make much difference. Well, we all know that the average small motor of the two-stroke type is anything but consistent and maybe there is a field for investigation along these lines.

The. next meeting of importance up this way is the Northern Districts championship meeting, to be held out at Pecks Field, Three Kings, on Saturday, February 11. This is open to all members of affiliated clubs in the Northern Districts Association's territory. So you clubs, both north and south of Auckland, are advised to get. those models brushed up and be ready to attack the two big cups "\vliich are available. There will be three events: Glider, hand-launched (weight-rule loz to 100 square inches wing area); spar model, liand-launched, and, of course, the Fuselage R.O.G. (weight-rule; 2oz to the 100 square inches). This will be interesting as we understand a number .of the old hands are entering and also we expect entries from Hamilton, Cambridge, Whangarei and elsewhere. If you have not received your schedule, drop me an addressed envelope and I will see you get one. Then, later on, at Easter, there will be the Easter championships. These are the big national events when the champion club, and the champions in all the various classes, indoor and outdoor, are decided. There is nothing oflicial yet, but I think it likely that they will be conducted along the same lines as on previous years, i.e., decentralised, each club in New Zealand flying on its own grounds. The New Zealand Model Aeroplane Association's annual general meeting is scheduled a month later than usual this year, and it will therefore be lir'd in March, at Auckland. The new rules and regulations have taken a tremendous amount of preparation, and must be ready to submit to clubs before the meeting. Well, there are also some other events in connection with the Centenary, but details of these are not yet released and we will talk about them later on. • AIRMAIL M.A.IY!., Grey Lynn—>'o, I have no more plans or the Tauranga 7-footer yacht, but I understand that blueprints, or this boat are still obtainable rrom the secretary or the Tauranga Yacht £lub. E.C., Kingslgnd—l have no plans or an. srt canoe, hut can let you have a copv or the lirt baby Kayak Jr you care to send a stamped seir-addressed envelope.