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This page was created to store outdated news items that are still worth noting. As news on our main page becomes stale, it will be transferred to this page.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The election of officers for 2010 was held at the club meeting January 13. The new executive are:

Congratulations to John, David and Bill and on behalf of the club, a thank you to outgoing treasurer, George Jarvis, for all his work in 2009.

CHRISTMAS DINNER AND AWARDS

On December 9, our annual Christmas Dinner and Awards took place at the Woodstock. Despite a few technology failures that prevented the slide show and video from being played, a very enjoyable evening was capped off by off all things, a trivia contest. Surprisingly, it had nothing to do with airplanes :-) When the scores were tallied, a three way tie resulted so winners were drawn from a hat and received beautiful hand made glass ornaments donated by Lorraine Jarvis.

Two awards were given out. The first was the TOLR award (Take Off to Landing Ratio) which went to Jack Graham. Jack had several take offs that didn't result in a landing but well aware of the award, he tried to hide the evidence by crashinig (er...landing) the planes deep in the woods...never to be seen again. However, there are spies everywhere and the word got out.

The Member of the Year award was presented this year to Mel Crewe. As you all know, Mel has been an active member for several years and has taken on the informal role of chief photographer, a role he enjoys and fills quite well. This past year, he added chief cook to his list of responsibilities, taking care of all aspects of our funfly barbeques from acquiring the food and drinks to cooking the burgers and hotdogs (whenever Chris didn't have his trusty Coleman at hand). Never stuck for a story (he has thousands - just ask Stephen), Mel always manages to find a joke or tale to tell any time there's a crowd (that means more than 2). Congratulations Mel.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the workshop
Not a creature was stirring or sanding, the work had all stopped.
The airplanes were hung from the ceiling with care,
In hopes that new ARFs soon would hang there.

The SJRCF Modelers nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of IMAC gold danced in their heads.
And practicing Lomcevaks & torque rolls in a cap(232),
Settled our brains with an outside snap(or two).

When out on the airfield there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see if it was servo chatter.
Away to the window I flew like a Fieseler Storch,
Tripped and fell down, the stairs to the porch.

Dazed and confused I looked out at the snow,
The lustre from landing lights illuminated below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature aircraft, it looked like a Lancair.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
a little like John, maybe George, of course it’s St Nick!
More rapid than turbines his coursers they came,
And he hooted & holl’rd calling them names!

"Now Clevis! now Castor! now Pushrod and Carbon!
On, Crash! On, Spinner! on Propeller and Aileron!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Dash-8, DASH-8 Avoid it you all!"

As scale Spitfires and Hurricanes fly,
So nimble and graceful when they mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
A load full of R/C goodies, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The brakes looking up, good thing they’re rustproof.
As I shook my head in complete and total skepticism,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a Speckrum DX7.

He was dressed in a flight suit, from his head to his toe,
They were covered in logos for servos and nitro.
A bundle of R/C gear flung on his back,
Cool stuff like at Aune’s, I wanted his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His fingers glued together drawn up like a bow,
A little CA debonder will help them let go.

The end of an x-acto knife held tight in his teeth,
One little sneeze and it would stab something beneath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, an R/C pilot or elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, he was shaped like myself!
A wink of his eye and a Twist 3D in his hand,
He could really fly well and knew how to land.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Filling stockings with servos and parts, how berserk!
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He jumped to his plane and shouted “ALL CLEAR”,
Then starting the engine he took to the air.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, I’m Flying JR tonight!"

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

Carl

NEW FLYING CLUB

The St. John's R/C Flyers would like to welcome and congratulate the newest club in the province, the Triple Bay R/C Flyers. Flying off the Clarenville airstrip, the club is based in and around the Swift Current area. The announcement was officially made by Ed Welsh on August 31. Ed worked quite hard over the spring and summer to get the club up and running as an official MAAC affiliated club. Ed's announcement follows.

We are also going to make plans for Official "Fun Flys" in 2007, and possibly may try to arrange one for Sometime in September if the weather is suitable.

GANDER FESTIVAL OF FLIGHT

The biggest fun-fly in the province was a smashing success (literally). Hosted by the Gander Screaming Eagles flying club the first weekend in August, it's the highlight of the summer for most R/C pilots. There was a great turnout with over 50 registered pilots and 2 to 3 times that number of R/C aircraft. This year, there will be a once in a lifetime treat for any WWII aircraft enthusiasts. A fully restored B-17 was on display and open for viewing. If you missed it....it's gone.

Also this year, Canadian TOC pilots Ivan Kristensen and Bob Hudson attended bringing their 40% Carden Extra and Edge 540 respectively. The guys put on quite show despite the frequent rain showers that really closed things down the better part of Saturday.

A big thanks to Mark, Ken and all the guys in the Screaming Eagles club for another fabulous event. See you next year!

Hard to believe but this year the club celebrates 30 years. How quickly we grow up. It just seems like yesterday we were flying AM radios and reeds. Some of us even know what they are :-) The advances in technology over the past 30 years have allowed for some incredible advances in model building and have allowed us to fly with precision and accuracy (assuming the thumbs can keep up) that flyers of 30 years ago could only dream of.

To acknowledge this milestone, we have just received a shipment of hats with a modified club crest commemorating our 30 years. If you're interested in buying a hat, contact Ray.

After a couple of postponements, the 2003 Scale aerobatics Day finally went ahead. And what a day it was. The weather man cooperated with us today in a big way. Most of the 6 competitors went to Bell Island on the 9:20 AM boat with one straggler who showed up around noon . The early birds put in a few flights early in the morning to test out the fog, which proved to be quite low and thick at 11:00 but began to lift off around noon and was completely burned off when the pilots briefing started at 2:00 PM .

Once we had our “field burgers” washed down with some Coca-Cola, and after the usual spiels, the Basic sequence was up first. At the end of two rounds (four times through the sequence for each pilot) the 1^st place winner was James Woolridge with Matthew Newhook in second followed by Steve Boulos and bring up the rear was Gary Bradbury, who visited us from the west coast of the island.

Next up was the Intermediate sequence, also lasting two rounds, which resulted in another 1^st place finish for Fred Colbourne, followed by Carl Layden in second place and yours truly bringing up the rear.

Hot on the heels of the Intermediate sequence, the final scores were announced and the draw made for the model kit (Great Planes Ultra Sport 40+). As earlier outlined, every registered pilot had a chance to win the kit, but those who competed and won or placed in their class had far, far better chances. The winning ticket was drawn by a local spectator and belonged to the 1^st Place Basic winner, James Woolridge.

Following the prize draw, four brave souls put their planes and egos on the line and flew a freestyle sequence of 3 minutes each. Carl was awarded the bragging rights for this section of the day having entered and escaped from a knife edge spin. Around 10 minutes after the freestyle, the fog moved back in from the water and closed a perfect flying day on Bell Island .

The event was a rousing success according to the comments of those in attendance and the many locals who stopped by to take it in, most of whom stayed the whole afternoon to watch.

As contest director for this year’s event, I would like to thank those folks who supported this event from the beginning, especially Carl Layden, Fred Colbourne and Signal Hobbies, and everyone else who helped make today so much fun. I look forward to beating Carl back into third place (where he belongs) next year…

That’s all folks!

Jamie

Congratulations to Maynard Hill and his TAM crew on successfully crossing the Atlantic with a model radio controlled airplane. TAM 5 touched down in Ireland August 11 after crossing almost 1900 miles (over 3000 kilometres). Dave brown landed the plane within 35 feet of the designated landing site at approximately 1200 UTC, around 38 hours total flying time. (Note: All distances/times are approximate and will be updated as official numbers are made available).

On behalf of the St. John's R/C Flyers, congratulations on a job well done and another entry in the record books.

June 21: The club participated in Armed Forces Day along side Quidi Vidi Lake. We provided a static display of model aircraft from 1:00 - 5:00 and if the weather cooperated, would have put on a float flying demonstration. Unfortunately, the wind was much higher than expected so we were grounded. The Canadian Armed Forces had many attractions such as a tank, armoured personnel carrier, and many other items of interest. A large crowd passed through the displays during the afternoon and we may have gained a few new members in the process.

Mother nature cooperated and the open combat event finally got underway. Unfortunately, due to the delays, several contestants were unable to attend but those that did had a great day. Next year will be bigger and better. Click here for more info and pictures.

The display show at the Avalon Mall on Saturday, March 8 was a great success. It generated lots of interest in the hobby and many people who stopped by were quite surprised that anyone flew r/c around here. Still room for improvement for the next time but it was worth the effort. Thanks to all those that volunteered their planes and time.

The Model Aeronautics Association of Canada (MAAC) will be holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM) here in St. John's March 20-23. This is the first time the AGM has been held in Newfoundland & Labrador. The schedule of proceedings is as follows:

Thursday March 20: Executive meeting
Friday March 21: Board meeting
Friday March 21, evening: Meet & Greet social.
Saturday March 22: Second day of Board meeting.
Saturday March 22, evening: AGM banquet. $20/person. 6:30 for cocktails, dinner at 7, presentations, guest speaker and entertainment to follow.
Sunday March 23: AGM. Registration at 12:00, call to order at 2:00. All MAAC members are welcome to participate and vote on the issues.

If you are a MAAC member in good standing, this is your opportunity to see how the organization is run and have a voice in the decision making process.

As you may already know, we are going to be putting off an r/c aircraft workshop this coming weekend.

The workshop will be held at the Forestry Ecology Centre on Brookfield Road, February 22, starting with a 9:00 registration.

ST. John's RC Flyers Workshop Time Table
===================================================
DATE: Feb. 22nd, 2003

Registration
Time: 9:00-9:30

Theory of Flight
Instructor: Chris Knott
Time: 9:30-10:30
Content: Why aircraft fly. Basic principles of flight.

Model Building 2
Instructor: Carl Layden
Time: 9:30-10:30
Content: Basic design, foam core wings & fiberglass parts.

Coffee Break
Time: 10:30-11:00

Aircraft Setup
Instructor: Craig Trickett
Time: 11:00-12:00
Content: radio setup, control setup, choosing correct engine and prop.

Model Building 3
Instructor: Carl Layden
Time: 11:00-12:00
Content: finishing with fiberglass and painting with latex.

Lunch
Time: 11:00-12:00

Special Ops
Instructor: John Shortall
Time: 13:00-14:00
Content: Float and Ski Setup, flying considerations.

Aerobatics CANCELLED - Will be held after the next club meeting instead.
Instructor: Fred Colbourne
Content: Scale, precision & 3D aerobatics, set-up and how to fly.
=====================================================

News - January 2003

News 2002

Other News

Royal St. John's Regatta - August 1, 2001

The display at the Royal St John's Regatta was a huge success. With the help of several dedicated club members we were able to display over 20 Aircraft ranging from basic trainers to jets. The response from the public has been outstanding. Everywhere I go, I am getting comments about the ground and flying display. We have received emails from regular regatta visitors and they said that it was one of the best days they have spent at the lake.

Thanks to everyone who helped out and especially to the guys who had the nerve to fly their floatplanes in front of 20000 + spectators.

I'm looking forward to an even bigger and better display next year.

Craig