Attention BRCM members:
In an effort to deal with COVID-19, the City of Burlington has closed all recreational facilities and playing fields until June 30th, 2020. This means that we should not use the Bayview field flying site during that timeframe and that our monthly General Meetings in April and May are cancelled.
Mike Block
President, BRCM
Bronte park is closed even to the employees and so our flying field is also closed until further notice.
Tom and John
April Issue of Skywords now available.
Highlights of the February 27, 2020 meeting – Derived from the minutes
Present: 29 members and 1 guest.
The meeting was opened at 7:00 pm. Mike Block acted as Chair of the meeting and Vic Wells acted as Secretary.
Guest: Steve Wickers was welcomed to the meeting.
Minutes: Minutes of the meeting held on January 23, 2020 were approved as circulated on motion made and seconded.
Member News: Mike reported that Geoff Norman was in isolation in McMaster hospital with pneumonia. Visitors would not be admitted at this time.
Meeting presentation: Colin Tyrell led an excellent presentation on the restoration of a Harvard, currently under way. With several slides, he discussed the work done by the restoration team. Several questions were addressed. Visitors are always welcome to visit the restoration site near the Tillsonburg airport.
Membership: Trevor reported that paid-up membership stands at 123 which is slightly less than the number of members at this time last year. He forecasts membership to be 145 to 150 by the summer, which is also less than the yearly total for 2019.
Wings Programme: The Club needs a volunteer to manage the Wings programme. The programme is an important tool for recruiting new members. Interested members are asked to speak to Mike.
Field Improvement: On behalf of the Committee, Brian Harrington presented 5 options for improvement of the runway at Bayview that are under consideration. Options range from doing nothing (zero cost) to a modified repair (of the depression) and crack repair/sealing/painting at an estimated cost of $14,330. Estimated time frame for the work is 5 to 7 days, which may not be sequential as several contractors are involved. The Committee is working to develop more complete estimates. Several questions were addressed satisfactorily. Brian confirmed that the Committee will report back to the Club after the next meeting with the City of Burlington.
Bronte Field: Mike reported that the status of the Bronte field matter has not changed. Tom continues to communicate with Roy Rymer (ZD) and is waiting for a response. Mike is still hopeful that the issues concerning the field will be satisfactorily resolved. Several questions were address satisfactorily.
Next meeting: To be held March 26. Mike reminded all members that the May meeting will be held on May 21 and not the usual 4th Thursday of the month.
Frost Fly 2020
About 20 intrepid souls ventured out into the icy blasts to celebrate our annual fun fly. Truth be known, while it was certainly blasting, it wasn’t too icy. As a result most of the planes were left in the car, while we huddled in the hut knocking back hot chili, greasy donuts and endless cups of coffee and hot chocolate, courtesy of Ashley.
However for the few who ventured out from time to time, aerial entertainment was provided by Trevor Blum, bundled up in fur hat, for coat, fur mukluks and, for all I know, fur knickers. He flew a Bushmaster masterfully, making it do things that defied laws of aerodynamics. One stunt, which I witnessed, was true STOL. The thing was seen to take off after less than six inches of ground roll. (When Ashley saw this, he decided to disband the runway committee as superfluous!). The plane hovered, almost flew backwards in the wind, and gyrated all over the place. Not to be outdone, Don Larkin got his Bell chopper out to show what true hovering looked like. Additional entertainment was provided by Brian Harrington, with his F4 EDF and Ian Brown, with a Luftwaffe flying wing. Despite the weather, a very good time was had by all. Special thanks to Ashley, for providing the coffee, donuts and chili.
Foamy Repair:
Ted Pritlove has posted an article on how he repairs his foamy EDF jets.
See the Members page.
New membership form posted. Available here.
Please note fee increased by $20 as motioned and passed with majority vote by the membership at February 2019 General Meeting
Warbirds 2019 event at Bayview was a great success! The weather was fantastic! hot and dry. We had to deal with some heavy winds on Saturday gusting almost 50 km an hour! But the flying went on to the delight of all the spectators. Sunday was the perfect day for Flying! Trevor Brum flew his 1/3 scale Stearman and his Alpha jet. What a great show he put on! I must say that all of the pilots at our club we’re flying at their best, Peter Foto, Tim Bidwell, to mention a few. We also had a few pilots from other clubs, Mississauga, and the Niagara region. The prize for best in show went to Brian Harrington for his beautiful Lysander, and he did a wonderful job of flying it to scale. I also want to thank Barry and Bob for running our barbeque and planning all food, drinks and ice purchasing leading up to the weekend they did a great job.We should all thank the members and volunteers who helped plan and execute Warbirds over the bay! Months and weeks before the event, members were cleaning barbeques checking equipment and getting ready for this event. Tony Madage and I arrived at Bayview field Friday morning before the event to find this great group cutting the grass setting up PA systems and making sure everything was going to run smooth for the weekend. Tim Bidwell, Ian Brown, Scott McGregor, Peter Foto, Tony Madage, Ashley Armstrong, Barry Parkinson, Bob Fowler, Geoff Norm and many more! It was a job well done by all! I hope we can do this event again in 2020 and make it even better.
Warbird 2019 Photos
Moving Sale:
Norm Harris is moving and needs to downsize.
See the Members page buy and sell section for a list of items.
The May Issue of Skywords avaiable here
You have to see this:
Maidenfest May 4th
About a dozen fliers and another dozen BRCM members braved the miserable weather on May 7 – cold, damp, and grey – to participate in Maidenfest, an opportunity to display the fruits of a winter’s labour. The diversity was amazing. Ashley Armstrong brought out his astonishing Me323 transport, powered by 6 nitro engines. Assembly took longer that than the build time of an average ARF. It didn’t fly, but the fact he got all 6 engines going is a cause for celebration. Trevor Blum dazzled us with his turbo F-16 at high speed.
Air Cadets Model Airplane Course
Starting in January, BRCM members — Ashley Armstrong, Doug Edwards and Geoff Norman — began a model airplane course with the Dundas 737 Squadron air cadets. About 15 cadets joined the course. The goal is to get cadets more involved in model aviation. Ashley is teaching them about construction, using basic Sig rubber-powered balsa and tissue planes. Doug is coaching them on R/C simulators. Geoff does a bit of both. We have also purchased two indoor planes. (Super Cub) to fly in the Community Centre and two outdoor trainers (Sig Kadet). Once the weather improves, we will be getting some of the cadets out to Bayfield for dual instruction. The initiative is supported by a $5000 grant from the Dougher Foundation, administered by the Hamilton Community Foundation.