Gday On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 9:23 AM, Roger <arelem@bigpond.com> wrote:
I flew RC aircraft since 1974 way back before even reed RC was the norm and was a founding member of VARMS but have been away from models for some years. Sweet. I think VARMS became VMAA http://www.vmaa.com.au
I am very aware of CASA having been involved with 1/4 scale gliders and large scale tow planes when they first started in Victoria but not to the extent of the rules regarding helicopters. Not just Helis, but ALL model aircraft fall under CASAs portfolio these days. Several reason for it....but mainly because model aircraft have become very cheap , very large and powerful. Quite honestly they are serious kill bots in the wrong hands. eg: We have pylon racers that regularly clock 350km/hr plus. We have Turbine Jets (running highly volatile avgas) that weigh upwards of 15KG capable of flying as high as 4000ft.
Drones capable of free (as in robot like control) flight are the main concern de jour. Privacy (as in flying over your neighbours yard and taking HD video) and safety (as in letting your newly programmed GPS driven quad make its merry own way over a busy free way) seem to be the main concerns. Both of those situations happen regularly in the US and have started to happen here as well. There are several discussions in front of CASA at the moment and they are due to make a ruling.
From what we can gather, CASA will soon rule that a quad copter that is capable of "independent" flight that is out of line of sight / or / further than 500m from the pilot will require that the pilot have an unrestricted light aircraft license.!
These machines will soon be deployed by police, fire brigades, ambulances (why I have no idea) ....navy, army and heavens knows who else... I believe budget may already have been set aside for VIC police....but don't quote me on that.
I thought about the tri, quad or hexacopters but am not keen on that many sets of unprotected blades.
They are actually quite benign. The unit I posted has a gyro and rudimentary guidance system. Much easier to fly than a heli :-) The blades are relatively soft and RPM low. The type of motor they use will generally just stop if you stick your finger in it.
I built hovercraft a few years ago and was part of the then Marine Board recommendation regarding ducts and protection systems for flailing blades so am acutely aware of the damage blades can do.
I have been training manager at our club for the last year and we had at least 3 people (some don,t report) suffer horrific finger/hand injuries that required micro surgery and weeks in hospital. That was just on the fixed wing models...
I would be happy to join a club again but as I live about 150km from Dandenong and 180k from Melbourne could not get to meets which would be about a 6 hour round trip.
The VMAA site above has a great club locator here: http://www.vmaa.com.au/find-a-club.html.html Hopefully you will find one close.
There is a club in Sale about 110km away but they have not replied to my emails, neither did the Melbourne Model Helicopter club so I'm thinking they either do not like new people or simply are unresponsive to requests for help and information.
Generally,l think its more that they don't know how to use email....:-) Getting new people in is on every clubs to do list these days....would encourage you to keep trying :-) Checkout the club finder link above..
Which club are you involved with?
LDMFA (Lilydale - Eastern Melbourne burbs) http://www.ldmfa.com Rgds BW