Its happenin' boys and gals! The freshest Heli Fun-fly in the ACT is going to rock out with a... sock out! 2 full days of ground stompin', heli chompin' fun!
Poster / General Details:
In order to express your interest in coming please
complete the webform on the club website. This will be our means of determining how much food and drink to supply at the BBQ across the weekend as well as the fiesability of nightflying on Saturday.
Accomodation
For those of you (probably most of you) coming from interstate and needing a suggested place to stay. I've got 10 rooms reserved at:
Sundown Bestwestern in Narrabundah
URL:
http://sundown.bestwestern.com.au/
PH: 02 6239 0333
Rate: $103 per night for 2 people in a room, $15 per extra guest per night (so 4 ppl in a room would be $133). A $50 deposit is required around the time of booking
In order to achieve the discount rate - you will need to quote
Reservation number 132549 under the "Namadgi Sports Flyers Club". I'm expecting there will be more than 10 free rooms available on that weekend so the whole lot of you will probably be able to stay there.
Getting to the field:
This is the location in Google Maps that you ultimately need to reach. In terms of turns its dead easy once you're on the Monaro Highway (its 1 turn off to the right).
If you're staying at the Hotel, you basically just get onto the Highway and head South for about 20minutes.
As you're heading down South you'll see the shade structure and the field before you need to turn off. If you hit an Ampol service station at Williamsdale you've gone too far. You are turning off right when you get to this letter box:
And the field is about 100m down from there.
Here is the proposed Layout for the fun fly:
What to bring:
- Your helis
- A Hat
- Sunscreen
- Portable Tables
- Deckchair or foldout
- Toolbox
- Your charging gear (we will have generators at the field available for charging your fat lipos)
- A shade tent if available (groups of 4-6 are typically able to share the share 1)
- $10 for Pilot registration if you're intending on flying at the field (goes towards costs of facilities
- Extra money for foods, drinks and heli goods!
Other stuff:
I'll be updating this thread with any details that may change in the coming weeks. The Funfly itself is solid and all sorted - I'm just running around now trying to organise as many bells and whistles as possible - in any case, flying all weekend is guarenteed.
Don't hesitate to ask questions here via posting in the thread or sending me a PM/email if need be. Hope to see you all there! Cheers
MASSIVE UPDATE 16/01/2009!
Accommodation
I just got off the phone with the hotel resort, there's still room left but they're running out. So I've not yet made alternative arrangements for any other place... keep booking there guys, its gonna be WEST SIDE MASSIF (Ali-G Styles).
NightFlying
On Saturday night starting roughly from about 9:30-10:30pm we'll have some nightfly at a semi-abandoned oval near the hotel (about 10 mins stroll away). Those of you with helis littered with night gear are encouraged to bring them.
At the very least Hung will have his 450 and so will I. There's enough interest in the webforms so far to justify going on an adventure.
This is where I'm planning for us to go
We'll more than likely be gathering at the hotel pool/garden area first from about 8pm (I assume the masses will be eating take away around the pool) and then begin walking over in a massive sheep like fashion at around 9:30-9:45pm when everyones there).
Participating in the nightflying will be at your own risk. Whilst my opinion and judgement of the proposed area is rather safe - its not an actual airfield per se so the same risks with flying at your local oval will apply. I highly recommend if you haven't flown in the dark before, that you get a little bit of practise in before going up on Saturday night
Funfly Rules for the Event
I've shamelessly used the MRCHC rules for the Gathering as a starting point (seriously, they're damn well written) and butchered/added a bit as needed for the purposes of this event:
1. No member shall fly or operate their helicopter equipment, which has not been tested and checked prior to first flight, is obviously faulty or is obviously in need of repair.
2. No member shall fly or operate equipment to the danger of others or in a manner as to present the likelihood of harm or injury to person's or person's property.
3. The Frequency Keyboard shall be used at all times where possible. NO person shall fly or operate any equipment unless the appropriate frequency key is in position on the keyboard.
4. No person shall remove a Frequency Key from the Frequency board apart from their own.
5. Frequency Keys must be clearly labeled with Pilots name and the Frequency.
6. Any member or visitor found to have caused loss or damage to any other member's Helicopter, property or equipment through unauthorized operation of their own equipment or by dangerous or irresponsible behaviour shall be liable for such damage or loss.
7. When not in use, all transmitters must have their aerial retracted, and the Frequency Key attached to the transmitter (aerial or stick).
8. No pilot shall take off or land in the pit area, fly over the pit area or the Car Parking area. Flying is permitted in authorised flight areas only (refer to field layout diagram).
10. No member is permitted to fly unless they can be identified as possessing current MAAA membership.
11. Visitors flying at the field must be sponsored by a current member of the club. Club members are responsible for their visitors.
12. A directive from a club Safety Officer or a Committee member shall be complied with immediately. Any dispute settled later by the committee.
13. Hovering in the hovering area shall not exceed 5 metres in altitude. Pilot must not hover the helicopter between the Pilot and the Pits.
14. The hovering area is for hovering, the model must not exceed walking pace.
15. Mobile Phones are not allowed on at the flight line at any time, Mobile Phones are allowed in the pits and in cars.
16. Gasoline and turbine powered models may only be allowed to fly with the permission of the President or Vice President.
17. Each pilot is required to have one (and only one) spotter present with them when there are multiple aircraft in the sky. Spectators must stand behind the flight line away from the pilot and spotter. This is to ensure safety of and minimal distraction to the pilot.
These rules will also be made available on the Namadgi Club website.
Costs
Due to circumstances beyond my control, the costs associated with providing facilities to the field all weekend have risen somewhat. I'm very reluctant to change my initial pilot registration fee from $10 but my arm as been twisted with a bit of compromise.
The cost of flying at the Funfly event will now be
$10 per day. If you choose to fly both days then the total cost is $20 ($10 for Sat, $10 for Sun). This fee applies on a per pilot basis.
Friday afternoon warmup and test flying is at the cost of being heckled by Jeremy and myself for some help setting up (assuming we're massively under the pump and in a big rush). Woo!
Facilities
We've arranged and booked for 2 port-o-loos (ladies rejoice) across the weekend as well as a mobile Coke van which will be the distribution point for cool beverages for sale.
A BBQ will be run on the Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 11am and 3pm (may change slightly). Sausages, onions, bread butter and sauce are the main ingredients on the table at the moment (keeping it simple) -
vegetarians are highly encouraged to start protesting in favour of a Bubble & Sqeak option by PM or posting in this thread. Steak sandwiches are also a high probability if enough people chime in about them.
