August 20, 2015
Have you ever wanted to have a go at flying a model plane? Then the Kingaroy Aero Modellers Society has a special day planned for you later this year.
KAMS is celebrating the upgrade of its facilities with an open day at its flying field at Booie in October.
Club president John Box said the club was founded in 1983 and had been flying from its current site on the Booie-Crawford Road for more than 20 years.
Recently they were successful with a grant application from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.
The $12,000 grant has allowed the club to install new fencing and shade cloth, a poly water tank, two chemical toilets, and re-paint their shed.
John said the new facility had been dubbed the “KAMS Hilton”.
The open day coincides with other events organised across Australia by the Model Aeronautical Association of Australia to promote the sport of aeromodel flying as well as help raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
“Flying a model aircraft is a fast-growing family sport and the MAAA are encouraging people to get out, learn more about the sport and show their support for the Royal Flying Doctor Service,” MAAA president Neil Tank said.
“Model aircraft provide an adrenalin rush and let you experience the thrill of flight.”
During the Open Day, KAMs club members will demonstrate their aircraft in action, and there will be opportunities for visitors to gave a go.
The MAAA is the largest aeromodelling organisation in Australia. There are more than 300 MAAA clubs and 11,000 members across the country.
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Anyone who thinks that John Box, who retired from Ergon Energy last year, has taken up model aircraft as a post-work hobby would be wide of the mark.
In fact, John started flying control-line model planes when he was just 14. By the 1970s he had progressed to remote control aircraft.
At the moment he is flying four electric aircraft, has a small helicopter and quadcopter, and is busy working on constructing a glider.
But it isn’t always smooth flying.
As well as the odd crash and hard landing, John recently had a lithium battery polymer fire that could have been very serious.
“The LIPO fire is a chemical fire and does not need oxygen to burn,” he said.
“I was very lucky not to lose all my modelling gear and shed.”
The fire occurred while John was re-charging a 11.1 volt LIPO battery for a day of flying.
“I had slipped inside to get changed to go out and returned to find my shed full of smoke and soot,” he said.
Fortunately, he had placed the charging battering inside a “battery bunker” which is designed to be explosion-proof.
“The fire was out when I got to it but the battery bunker was too hot to handle. I dropped it into a bucket of water to cool it down.”
Since then he has installed a fire extinguisher and smoke detector in his shed!
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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulates the use of model aircraft in Australia:
- Aircraft must be flown within the line of sight of the operator
- They cannot be flown closer than 30m to vehicles, boats, buildings or people
- They cannot be flown over populated areas
- They can’t be flown within 5.5km of an airport
- It’s illegal to fly for money or economic reward without a CASA licence
- They can’t be flown higher than 120m from the ground
