IMAC @ Galatea November 2021

Dave Neilson ... his first weekend away with the boys

It had been a while since we were able to get to Galatea to fly IMAC, due to the current lock down climate. Unfortunately a few regular guys from Auckland missed this one. And we missed them too !! Don’t worry, there will be plenty more Galatea IMAC’s to come.

How about that weather report ?? Stinking Hot with bugger all wind. Typical G-Town weather.

Friday …. Tony Christiansen once again mowed the strip for us, and what a job he did. Superb. And not only that, but he came back and flew Basic the next day too.

Tony Chock Mower man

Saturday … we had some problems with the Notaumatic scoring system. After a reboot and a vaccine it was sorted. Actually this was handy, because it meant that while we were sorting it out, an impromptu judging and downgrades tutorial took place. We gotta do this stuff more often.  Good for the newbies, and a good refresher for the regulars too.

Basic was hotly contested between 3 guys, who over the weekend did 10 sequences. Dean Hill was there. He is mad keen on IMAC now, and regularly leans over the fence to ask Baldrick all sorts of newbie questions (they are neighbours in Tauranga). Dean has an “Amarda” of IMAC craft in the pipeline. I would say Squadron, but I think an Armada is slightly more. Dave Neilson from Morrinsville was there too, his first time flying IMAC. In the winter he secured an Extra 330 off Bogan, bolted an EME60cc in it, and proceeded to learn the Basics at Waharoa under the guidance of Baldrick and Bogan. Tony Christiansen had a whoops with his 50cc Yak a few months back, and jig sawed it back together in time. Basic was won by Dave, followed closely by Dean. Tony couldn’t make it for Sundays flying. He had a xmas party to attend. I showed him the “Is it Christmas Flow Chart”. Its quite simple, it goes “Is it November ? Yes/No. If you answer “Yes” … then its not Christmas.

Have you got a hook ?

Which brings me to a funny story !!! Tony was having some trouble with his motor.  Would go ok, but then after 5 mins of flying, loose power, go a bit sad. The carb was adjusted many times over the course of the day. On Saturday after the contest rounds were over, eventually Tony gave it the “Bogan, I need you to take this thing for a fly, wring it out, and make sure its going ok” request. Ok Tony, no worries. So wring it out I did !!! 10 mins of inside outside, up ways, down ways, side ways, tumbles and flips … all done at a safe height in case of engine failure, and not a problem. Full bore the whole time. I think its going fine Tony !!! might land now, we must be almost out of gas. Land, take the canopy off. Both rx batteries had been ejected from their original position. It seems the rubber band from the 1980’s that Tony had used to secure them, was only rated for positive G force. One battery had been completely torn out of the switch plug, leaving just some bare wires behind. It could be seen hiding down the tail end wedged into the rudder post !! The other battery was out of sight too, but still plugged in. So .. lessons here. 1 run a dual battery switch, and two RX batteries in your model. Tony was using a Power Box Sensor, they are my favorite !! 2. Run those cheap plastic safety clips on your battery connectors. It was a 10c clip and a dual battery switch that saved this model. Oh and 3, make sure your batteries are secured, especially if you request Bogan to give your model a full on work out. Lesson over.

Earlier in the day, Tony lost his muffler. Miles away it was. But luckily Lyndon saw it fall and had a line on it. Jarrod was feeling thirsty so went and found it. Not long after, Aunty G Finlay ejected his canopy during a negative snap, over in the same area. Again young Jarrod was sent to fetch. Finders fees ? Top shelf supplies replenished !!

Senior moments ? Baldrick had one on landing, decided flaring out was far too fashionable, and did some minor damage to the fuse on the big 260 around the U/C area. Out of action for the rest of the weekend, onto the backup model. Ewan also had a Senior moment when he missed the strip slightly, ended up in long grass, and put the big Slick on its back. New Canopy. New Prop. Back in action. Tony always asks me … how big shall I mow the runway Bogan ? My reply … you could mow it all the way to that mountain over there Tony, and these buggers will still miss it !!!

Lyndon in the gates

Good to see a few new models on the scene, stuff that guys have been working on over winter. Jarrod and Lyndon both with 120cc Extra NG’s. Baldrick also with a new 70CC Extra NG. Dave Neilson with 60cc Extra 330LX. And Gavin Madsen with 70cc Extra 330 (actually that model was finished the previous winter, but we won’t mention that !!!)

Saturday was the last of the 2021 Known Sequence. On Sunday we rolled into the new 2022 Known, and flew this all day. We might have been the first in the world ? So that was our substitute for the Unknown Rounds. And the conditions on Sunday were brutal !! Dead calm most of the day, Sun blasting down, Aunty measured over 30C temp. It sure was toasty.

In Sportsman Sean Galloway lead the charge. Flying a model his Grandad built and flew in the 1990’s, back in the early IMAC days. In that era, it had a Sachs Dolmar 4.2 running on methanol and  a tuned pipe !!! Now repowered by an 85cc Petrol, and super light, its a bit of a weapon. Under the guidance of his old man (Worms) Sean flies big maneuvers, big straight lines, and he left the rest of the Sportsman field for dust !! Don’t worry guys, he will soon be his Grandads problem, when he moves up a class soon. Lyndon was second in Sportsman flying his new rocket ship. Extra NG DA-120cc on pipes !!! Man that thing has some boogie. The closest battle in Sportsman was for 3rd place. On Saturday night Steve Sherbourne looked like he had it sealed up. And Gavin Madsen was devasted to be sitting in last spot. I’ve gone backwards he cried, as he sipped his cold Saturday night beers. It all changed on Sunday though. We had changed to the new 2022 Known Sequence. Baldrick burgled 3rd, Gavin pulled finger in the last round winning one of the sequences, and moved up to 4th. Which left Steve and Derek Whelan to pick up the remains. Roll on the Nationals !!!

Intermediate. Still low numbers here, but I expect that is about to change soon. Aunty and Ewan flying in this one, with Aunty well and truly in his comfort zone.

Unlimited. We had 3 fliers woohoo !!! Bogan, Jarrod and Worms. Things were close between Jarrod and Worms on Saturday. Then we got to Sunday and a change of sequence. Worms and Ewan having a few teething problems, and Worms was seen a few times doing rally circuits to get back into position. Bloody good to have 3 flying this though, John Knox we missed you !! That would have made it 4. Maybe at the Rumble ?

The Garden Bar at the Lodge

Saturday night at the Lodge, as awesome as ever. That Lodge is really working out to be the final piece in the puzzle for IMAC at Galatea. Great bar over looking the lake. Its called the “Taniwha Bar”. Superb food. And sound proof cabins so you can’t hear all the snoring !! Ok, maybe not that last bit. I got out of bed part way through the night to change some batteries that were charging, went out to the Van to check something, and the sound of 4 cabins side by side, all snoring away was hilarious. Like 13 Stihl Chainsaws buzzing away. Quite a pile of firewood the next morning !

Sunday arvo it was off home, totally toasted from two full on days in the sun. At the moment we are running 2 events at Galatea per year, but I think we will try and squeeze in a 3rd one. Pretty much zero fullsize traffic all weekend. Great flying site with a huge sky. Awesome weather. Its as central as we can get. The accom is all sorted now. So if IMAC is what you want to do, hitch the trailer and get there.

Tons of photos By Aunty, plus some pinched of Facebook posted by Dean Hill, and Bogan. Click the photos to get into the Gallery with captions.

Results too

 

About Frazer Briggs 23 Articles
NZRCAA Secretary and RC Aerobatics guy since way back !!