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It is with regret that I have to report the passing of Courtney Corner, Jack to most of the members of Portsmouth and District MAC. He was a long time modeller and held the position of Honorary President to our club for many years.
Jack had a full life, he spent time in Burma during WW2 in the Artillery, and his tales of things that went bang were very interesting. In civilian life he was a Civil Servant.
He was a true gentleman, and is greatly missed.

Mike Matthews
Secretary of Portsmouth and District MAC

It is with deep regret that we mourn the passing of one of the clubs founding members, Harry Browne. Harry passed away suddenly in hospital.
Harry was a modeller for many years, first at the Ulster Model Aircraft Club, then later became a member of Langford Model Aviation when the club was formed in 1995.
Harry was a very strong competitor in the club 20 Pylon racing class, very popular in UMAC in the late 70’s, early 80’s. He was the first person to experiment with i.c. ducted fan models in Northern Ireland, and flew these as his everyday model at a time when most modellers only flew them on special occassions. Later Harry was to be among the first modellers to fly turbine power models in Northern Ireland.
Harry was a very experienced builder and was always able to offer assistance and advice when another club mate had a problem.
Harry will be greatly missed by all of us within the club and our thoughts are with his family at this time.

Peter Carson
Secretary – Langford Model Aviation

Two weeks had passed and all of the fliers recharged and with renewed vigour met back at the Bushfields Sports Centre Peterborough for Round 2 of the 3 scheduled . Externally the weather was quite cold however as previous years this fails to make a notable difference inside. The heaters & vents are shut off shortly beforehand providing a stable environment for these light models.

Access was allowed some 30minutes before our 10am start which allowed all to fill one side of the hall with our tables, kit and the models perched from their stands. Practice flying was well in swing within 30 minutes with fervent activity from all of the fliers aiming to trim the last seconds from their models prior to the first round.    

It was Derek Richards who took the `bull by the horns’ with a brace of flights that were to push Bob Bailey to within one second over the two flights with Mark Benns putting in one good flight to rival the leaders.

Round two started promptly with Bailey & Benns launching on ever increasing torque levels to attain times around 10mins 45secs, Richards however was having none of it with a flight of 11minutes dead. John Shaw & Geoffrey Lefever were having their own private battle with John tipping the balance as Geoff battled with some model damage which was certainly affecting duration.

The Final round was set up to be a real humdinger, it was Bailey’s turn to fly early posting a superb 11min 6second flight inching himself ahead of Derek but only by 13seconds, Richards responded with a trademark high torque launch bouncing the ceiling just after the minute and settling to a respectable time but not enough to tip Bob who held out to win his second trials in succession.   Meanwhile Shaw, Lefever & Clive King struggled to better their early rounds working tirelessly to the last few minutes of the event.

Congratulations to Bob Bailey for retaining his title with a full house and to Derek Richards & Mark Benns for sealing their team positions for 2010. The Final round is to be held early in the New Year where the fourth place (reserve team member) will be hotly contested as will the 2nd & third position. Thanks again to all who attended and special thanks to Peter Ing for being Contest Director for the day.

Top 4 placing after Round One

R. Bailey                     100% (21.58- best 2 flights)

D.Richards                  99.01% (21.75 – best 2 flights)

M.Benns                      98.25% (21.35 – best 2 flights)

J.Shaw                        81.63% (17.56 – best 2 flights)

G.Lefever                    79.81% (17.32 – best 2 flights)

We record, with regret, the passing of Les Gwynn, a long-time member of Knutsford & District Model Flying Club.

A joiner by trade, Les becae a pilot during World War II, eventually flying Wellington bombers on ant-submarine patrols in the Mediterranean and around the Azores. Les returned to his trade after the War, making furniture and also to his model making activities. His sense of humour and model building skills will be sorely missed.

Our condolences go to his wife, family and grandchildren.

Jeff Meyers
Hon Sec. K.D.M.F.C