On Thursday evening they started to arrive . Modellers from all over NZ and Australia were lobbing into this South Waikato town for this premier event , the 2013 ANZAC jet meeting . Tokoroa only has about 4 or 5 hotels , and every room had been booked out weeks in advance . As we all congregate around a couple of rooms , tell lies and and solve the problems of the world over a few beers , it is also the opportunity to cast an eye over the new machines guys are turning up with . I guess we are seeing the same with most disciplines now , but there is certainly a growing trend towards the ARF type models . The quality of these kits is quite outstanding now and they are getting people into the air quickly .
FRIDAY This is typically our setup and flight testing day . An area we were very particular about was ensuring all models complied with the large model inspection process . Our club inspector , Dave Hodges was kept out of trouble for most of the day helping out with these inspections and certifications . All of the Australian visitors had their aircraft inspected under the Model Aircraft Association of Australia ( MAAA ) inspection process , which requires every turbine powered model to be inspected regardless of weight , to a program similar to the requirements for large models . In addition to this , we carried out a basic inspection of every aircraft , regardless of weight or size to our NZJMA standard . Apart from the odd locknut or screw needing tightening , the standard was very good .
The facilities at Tokoroa are nothing short of being first class . Our pit area is located within a horseshoe shaped taxiway , which is where we setup our marquees . This works ideally for us giving a dedicated path in and another one out of the pits to the sealed runway and also allows plenty of vantage point viewing for the visiting public . The current drought however was very evident , as there was no shortage of dust around the place where we normally enjoy green grass . This of course also raises our level of alertness due to the risk of starting a grass fire . Something we rarely need to worry about .
It wasn ’ t long however before the kero was burning and the skies were getting cut up . Although there was a slight crosswind , it did remain quite steady all day at around 5 to 10 knots . One of the first into the air was Jason Starkey from Sydney with his Jetcat P160 powered BVM Kingcat . Jason also brought this aircraft here last year and won the pilot ’ s choice award with it after burning over 80 litres of fuel for the weekend . These larger turbines have fantastic power / weight ratios , but they do drink the fuel at rate of around a litre in 2 minutes with the throttle in the go fast position . Also from Sydney was ex Kiwi , Roger Perrett with his new BVM Super Bandit powered by a Merlin 140 . Roger is very particular about his models and flies them well . Two new aircraft test flights were Peter Agnew ’ s Aermacchi MB346 and my own MAS Vigilante Sport Jet . Both went very well apart from some minor trimming issues . Peter ’ s aircraft is an ARF kit from C & C models Italy and mine was built the old fashioned way from a basic fibreglass fuse and foam cores ( and a few hundred hours ).
SATURDAY A short delay getting started today due to a nice thick early morning South Waikato fog . But , as usual , the sun burnt it off pretty quickly and returned a splendid day again with slight crosswinds , which didn ’ t seem to present too many
Top : Peter Browns Skymaster Phantom on touchdown with drag chute deployed . Above : Jared Mulholland ’ s A10 Warthog about to land Below : Rene Redmond ’ s Strikemaster with Tony Withey ’ s MB339 Macchi