MAAA Wingspan - Quarterly Magazine

15 Australian Model News, he has expanded his interest to encapsulate all forms of aeromodelling. He recently took part in control line aerobatic flying, reliving the late 1940s and early 1950s when control linemodels could be seen flying on any suitable public space. “I attend as many model meetings as possible inmy role as editor of Australian Model News and still find that I am fascinated by flight, whether it be amodel or a full-sized aircraft,” he says. John claims that the best scalemodel that he’s constructed was a 1:4 scalemodel of the Percival Gull IV, which he flew in competition in Canada and New Zealand. “However, my favourite is my 1:3.5 scalemodel of a Spacewalker, an American aircraft designed for construction by amateur builders that is still in existence after twenty years of flying. Other models have come and gone but the Spacewalker seems to go on forever,” he says. John believes manual dexterity and the ability to work with a wide range of materials is a necessary requirement of all forms of aircraft modelling. “For successful scalemodelling there is also the need to be able to select a suitable prototype aircraft and translate its form to a smaller model, while still maintaining the appearance and character of the original aircraft,” he continues. “This requires careful reproduction of the aircraft outline, surface finish and detail to produce what is, in effect, a miniature version of the prototype. All of this is to no avail if you can’t fly themodel through the requiredmanoeuvres, so you also need to be a competent flyer.” What an inspirational and encouraging story for our enthusiastic aeromodelling community. “ John believes manual dexterity and the ability to work with a wide range of materials is a necessary requirement of all forms of aircraft modelling.”