Author Archives: TEMAC

Events in 2014 were varied and many. They were by-and-large successful and on average showed a slight profit at the end of the year. I was fortunate to be lucky enough to have almost all occur on the day planned, thank you weather gods.

I was most fortunate to have help from a large group of volunteers and voluntolds. This is what makes the club such a joy to work with. We never seem to run out of people who will step forward to help much of the time without being asked. Just see a job that needs doing and go ahead and do it.

1. Dome Fly
   • Our dome fly was well attended and we covered expenses. A great time was enjoyed by all and we had many new flyers who vowed to return. We plan another this year and we are looking to expand to three events in 2016. Check out the Forum under TEMAC Events.
2. Scratch Building
   • Our scratch building efforts continue to grow and this year we decided to build two models. We continued the class for the biplane “Skywriter”. This is turning out to be a more advanced build than was originally expected.
   • Many members asked for a more beginner’s type of model. I picked a glider “RedEagle” designed by a Dutch man, Ton van Munsteren. We began build classes in the fall.
   • Robert Pike designed a Piker Class racer and agreed to cut foam wings and run a build class for race pilots. This too was begun in the fall.
   • While it may sound very ambitious to have three models as subjects of build classes I’m fortunate in being assisted by Frank van Beurden, Michael Rogozinsky and Robert Pike as expert advisors and build coaches.
3. Float Flying Frenchman’s Bay
   • With Robert as our “Pied Piper” and retriever float flying at Frenchman’s Bay grew in attendance and frequency. Many new models are being built such as Colin’s Solent and Michael’s Albatross. Checkout their build blogs on the TEMAC forum.
   • For next year we are working on a schedule that would be more cooperative with family requirements and other conflicts. Like holding a float fly in conjunction with an event at Rogo Field so members can do both on the same day.
4. Piker Class Team Racing
   • We had another very successful season of Piker Class Team Pylon Racing. While the number of participants dropped from 2013 the racing was much closer and very exciting. Some new designs were flown with good results. Lots of experimentation going on.
   • Robert has given classes in building his “Morphine” design and a number of new participants are scheduled to race in 2015. This will be our best year yet. The models are bettering 100mph on the straights.
   • I did try to introduce an “all-star” day and provide an opportunity for teams with fewer points to catch up. It was in the form of a triathlon of skills but unfortunately I overestimated the pilot skills and the maneuverability of these models. The result was a dismal failure but a valuable lesson. I will work on this for 2015.
5. EF-1
   • EF-1 is gathering strength as we now have some 5 or 6 eligible models regularly flying.
   • This group went to Georgetown and flew the regulation three pylon course.
   • They had a great time and were hosted and welcomed by Ken Fluney and his buddies.
   • I have pencilled in two events for 2015 in Georgetown.
6. Combined Jets with Warbirds Day
   • Not so well attended as in previous years. Weather may have been a factor as well as combining the two events. It was still a lot of fun for all who came. We are looking at ways to spice up this event, possibly going back to separate events.
7. Tavares Pond Float Fly
   • Again we were welcomed by the Tavares family to use their private pond. Many showed up and enjoyed wonderful conditions and hospitality.
   • Robert was able to repay our debt by participating in a charity event hosted by the family. A select group of flyers did a demonstration that was very well received by the audience.
   • We plan on three more events in 2015 if conditions allow.
8. Kingston Electric Fun Fly
   • There was a good TEMAC representation at the Fun Fly. They cleaned up on awards. Martin Irvine, the organiser is a long-time friend and visited our Fun Fly in August.
   • It’s a great weekend and you should plan on it for 2015.
9. Scratch Builder’s Fun Fly
   • This was disappointing and not too well supported. Probably too optimistic on my part. I think that it was before its time.
   • With the amount of scratch building happening it’s time will come.
10. Annual Fun Fly
    • The Annual Fun fly was a well-attended affair that provided lots of entertainment and socialising. This continues to be one of our best events and the pattern seems to work well. There are no plans to change it for the future.
11. President’s BBQ
    • This was a new event on our calendar and is a celebration of the end of student training. It is a way for the club to thank the students and instructors for all their time and efforts.
    • We plan on keeping this as an annual event. The parents and guardians of students are also included.
12. Skills Challenge
    • Easily the most anticipated club event of the year. We added new skills such as a helicopter SAR event. Also new this year was a bombing event and a trickier Limbo Pole event.
    • The response was terrific with everyone enjoying themselves whether participants or spectator. My volunteer judges performed magnificently despite bribes, taunts and other derisive comments.
    • I have already got some diabolical plans for next year.
    • We will be adding Glider specific challenges now that we are all building gliders.
13. Pilot’s Meetings
    • Pilot’s meetings continue to be well attended. The themes generate a lot of discussion and I’m always open to suggestions for topics you want to cover.
    • If any of you know of such a facility closer to town let me know. I’m always looking for ways to improve our experience.
14. MAAC Annual Zone Meeting (AZM)
    • This year the club hosted the AZM at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum and Community Centre. Normally this event has a turnout of 25 to 30 members. We had 67. I had planned on food for 40 but fortunately Graham, Gerald and Timi worked their own miracle of the “Loaves and Fishes” and we managed.
    • We started with a swap meet. We had a working lunch with a slide presentation by Bill and Andre on the whole process for getting a Geotex runway.
    • We then had a meeting which we hustled along as best we could and ended up with a BBQ at Rogo Field for any guest who wanted to try the runway. Many showed up and flew and many more came for the hot dogs.
    • Congratulations to Michael Rogozinsky who became the new Deputy Zone Director.
15. TEMAC Tickler
    • The Tickler continues to be our main form of communication with the membership. As of today we have published 128 pages of pictures comments and information about upcoming events.
    • We comment and report on all events within days and sometime hours and it is an important link for our members who are fortunate enough to enjoy warmer climes during the winter.
    • I’m very grateful for all who send photographs. For any ordinary event I may have the choice of up to 200 shots and for our Fun Fly I had 742 photographs. Thank you all for helping make the Tickler so immediate and such a good vehicle for conveying the objectives and ethics of the club.
    • The Tickler would be nothing without the help of Ben Feist and our wonderful website.

I would like to conclude by thanking the Board for its continued support both moral and physical. I would like to thank the membership for their ongoing support of all our events even if they sometimes cut into their flying time. Lastly to anyone who has volunteered in any capacity at any time, thank you. It shows your appreciation for our efforts and makes all the hard just so much fun. Check out our calendar on the website, it has all events noted.

Jack Higgins

Events coordinator, TEMAC

November 23, 2014.

Fun                                            Safety                                            Courtesy

TEMAC remains in good financial condition as a result of continued prudent management of our finances by the Board, ensuring that we spend on the important things, but stay within our fiscal means. We have invested carefully in solid infrastructure improvements (e.g. driveway and parking lot upgrades) and field maintenance (seeding; grass cutting) to ensure a good facility which meets the needs of our growing club, with adequate funds remaining to cover our operating expenses and of course, food, prizes and awards for our fun fly events. In the spring Bill Quantock and crew successfully installed a Geotex stretched fabric runway which has been a great success, and we took possession of our very own Loo. We are pleased to see that the fee structure implemented last year has been successful and the Board has determined that no increase in membership dues is required for 2015. Full membership renewals remain at $80. The complete fee structure is available on the TEMAC website.

The revenue stream created by membership growth over the past few years has remained stable, with modest turnover in membership in 2014. TEMAC’s membership now stands at 130, including 2 life members, 20 junior members and 4 non-flying members, making TEMAC the largest club in the SE Zone of MAAC. Growth in the club has put significant additional demands on our field resources (parking, assembly tables, and airspace availability), but so far have not had to limit how many members we can accommodate at TEMAC.

Looking to 2015, we are submitting an application for a Trillium grant and will be again requested funding from the SE Zone of MAAC to allow us to make further improvements to our field, including the parking area and driveway at ROGO field. Given our positive cash situation over the year, we look forward to maintaining our facilities in good condition with modest improvements, and we are pleased to offer our members unlimited use of the Loo at no extra charge.

I can’t emphasize enough how extremely fortunate we continue to be having the very talented Ben Feist as our web designer and administrator. Ben has made our web site the vibrant communications and discussion vehicle that it is. This has allowed us to keep each other informed and share our collective experiences for the benefit of everyone. Thanks so much Ben.

Andy Hoffer

Secretary-Treasurer and Membership Director, TEMAC

I am really happy to step into the role so expertly managed by Bill Quantock up until late this season. Bill worked endlessly in bringing about major improvements to our field and ensuring it remained a safe and happy “backyard” for us all to enjoy. Thanks a million, Bill! You have done us proud!!

Field Maintenance and Improvements

Here’s what was done this year:

• Spring clean up
• Grass over seeding- 75 kgs both in spring and fall
• Geotex runway and taxiway installation
• Portable toilet provision
• Cut the southwest area grass to allow for multiuse including overflow parking
• Weekly grass cutting from May through October
• Fall clean up

Your enthusiastic recommendations for next year are much appreciated. While every idea was reviewed by our board, we must consider and prioritize each from a budgetary (best bang for the buck) and safety perspective. So unfortunately, some decision-making was necessary and not all ideas can be accommodated, for now:

Safety & Security

Being around LiPo’s and spinning propellers does demand a degree of respect. I am always impressed at the willingness of everyone to assist each other as a “safety-buddy” when focus may momentarily be interrupted. Review of potential safety issues and procedures is an ongoing process.

Training

The amazing team of volunteer instructors ran another highly popular program this year under the leadership of our CFI and interim CFI, Mike Hazelton & Frank van Beurden. Despite sometimes challenging weather, I do not think a single Wednesday evening was skipped during the entire season which took off on 22^nd May and landed with a President’s BBQ on 17^th September. The roster of instructors deserves our applause with an extra clap for Frank who was awarded special recognition at our annual fun fly.

Bill Quantock                           Greg Hazelton                         Nick Dang

Frank van Beurden                 Michael Rogozinsky                Ron Brott

Greg Cadez                             Mike Hazelton, CFI                   Simon Hinchcliffe

2015 Objectives

Here are some of the things we are planning to do:

Spring clean up                                                         Wind sock relocation

Field road sign relocation                                          Table repair and upgrade

Runway and grass maintenance                              The “Loo” maintenance

Parking lot fence repair/replacement                        Develop a register of students

Add gravel to parking lot and laneway                     Review of safety & training

Grass over seeding                                                  Fall clean up

Our gratitude goes to all volunteers for continuing to make our “backyard” so special.

Respectfully,

Graham McNicol

Vice-President, TEMAC

We have a truly great club. And your Board, Jack, Graham, Andy, Greg and Michael (our advisor) really do care for our club, and literally put “heart & soul” in to making it so much fun. They are a pleasure to collaborate with, and really make my role very simple. However, when it comes to writing my annual report, they make my task very difficult – because really they do all the hard work. Hence, their reports contain the real stories of progress, and the fun we’ve had this year.

So what can I say?

I’m going to talk about 2 opposing concepts that I think relate to TEMAC: I’m going to talk about how much has changed in 2014, and also how much has stayed the same. And bear with me, but I’m going to try and explain why I believe that the way TEMAC manages these 2 concepts is at the heart of much of our success.

So what’s changed? You only have to read Jack & Graham’s reports to see how much we’ve done this year. It’s hard to imagine some times, that in the summer of 2013 we only had a grass runway! Just take a little time to think about all the woes of nose-overs, tiny wheels going nowhere and all our hand-launch planes! Compare that to the fun we now have trying to line up on our runway, touchdown with the perfect flare, and taxi back to the admiration and applause (OK, maybe that’s too much) of your buddies! And I don’t think anyone has really, truly seen any negative impact.

All the “field helpers” need to take credit and thanks for our 2 field clean-up events. Remember when getting up the drive in 2012 was almost impossible, and parking on the field was a complete gamble in spring? This new “tradition” that lots of you contribute to makes it possible for us all to have fun sooner in the year, and longer in to the season – I appreciate that! Our loo! Don’t forget the loo! I for one now feel much happier inviting friends and family to join us at the field due to our new addition.

Don’t forget to thank Bill too – Bill, who was on the Board for most of the year, did a wonderful job with all the field improvements. I would like to personally thank Bill for all his leadership and support during that time.

Speaking of new traditions, what about the President’s BBQ (perhaps more aptly named the CFI’s BBQ). What better way to just mingle, socialise and get to know our new members and new flyers than having a BBQ at the end of the season? It’s great to be able to say thanks to our instructors (who all volunteer their time) and to reflect on the fun we’ve had during the training season.

How about our new events and activities? How does Jack do it, to come up with new ideas and ways for us all to have fun together whilst enjoying model aircraft? Racing triathlons (read: carnage), EF1 demonstration races, scratch build classes and Fun Fly, visits from the press (remember that?) indoor flying, float flying at “our own” private pond and even just new events at the skills challenge. And we mustn’t forget the new look MAAC zone meeting that we hosted. I think that sets the bar very high for future meetings and, again, let’s hope it’s started a new way of doing things.

It takes great imagination and vision to keep up the pace of these organised events that we all enjoy, so please take the time to say thanks to Jack.

So what’s the same? What didn’t change? Well, all the things that aren’t broken!

Those summer Fun Fly events with the BBQs – who doesn’t love a hot dog or 2? We had a fabulous Annual Fun Fly this year, and the Skills Challenge is still a firm favourite. Mike, Frank and our Instructors were able to build on the success of the Flight Training program that Mike implemented in 2013, and the club welcomes many new pilots this year as a result of the comprehensive, safe and fun training system. We’re well into our 3^rd season of the scratch build courses, allowing novices and experienced builders to both share in the job of creating their own models. Learning the tricks and knacks to build strong and (hopefully) great flying aircraft, and even race winning Piker class racers, is a phenomenal aspect of our club. Speaking of racing, it was a great pleasure to be part of the exciting and fun Piker Class Club series; the friendly competition and passion of participants is fantastic.

Our financial health is excellent, thanks to the excellent stewardship of Andy (and remember, no fee increase again for 2014!) and yet we’ve still been able to continue improving our field, and plan to do more in 2015.

Then there’s you. Every member of our club. Our community. I was talking with Les (my wife) about what I could say in this report and the recurring theme and single biggest thing that I love about TEMAC is our comradeship, our support of each other, the encouragement. And that doesn’t change.

Please pause and reflect on all the circumstances and ways in which the TEMAC community supports you. At the pilots meetings, over dinner and drinks, sharing a laugh and a joke, chatting about our next plane (Q: Do we always have a next plane lined up?); asking about the best glue to use, or how to bend torque rods. Reading the Tickler, perhaps when the weather is bad, or work is too busy; seeing all the happy laughing faces and antics at the field – it keeps us motivated. Bumping into each other at Pinnacle; finding out what we’re building or planning to use as an egg-drop at the skills challenge. Our on-line community, our superb website and forum: it keeps us all connected – through the winter nights, the lunch breaks, after a great day at the field – it’s literally “always there for you.” And of course the time at the field, whether it’s mock dog-fighting, helping maiden a new plane, sharing the walk of shame, or just admiring each other’s models – we have great fun together. We are TEMAC!

So, why talk about change and stability? Because I think that’s our winning formula. At TEMAC we keep the good, we build on firm foundations and strengthen the things that work. Yet we’re not afraid to try new things, to experiment, to accept change and stay fresh. It keeps our community and kinship strong, and allows us to have great times and great fun, sharing our love of model aviation. Please, continue to participate, to share and to get involved and we’ll all continue to see the rewards of our great club.

I wish you all, and your families, the very best health and every happiness as we leave 2014 and journey in to 2015.

Simon Hinchcliffe

President, TEMAC

The Board regrets to announce that Bill Quantock has resigned from the Board. Bill has been a tremendous asset to the Board and the club and has done much hard work improving Rogo Field. Our new runway is largely due to Bill’s persistent pursuit of the goal of installing such a runway. The new runway is a resounding success and we owe Bill a large debt of gratitude for shepherding this project to its conclusion.
The club has a large depth of talent and there are always volunteers who will step up and be counted when needed. One such is Graham McNichol who has accepted the challenge of filling Bill’s shoes. The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Graham McNichol as the new Vice President and Director of administration. I’m sure you will all join the Board wishing Graham well as he embarks on this new experience with TEMAC.

Greg Cadez and I filled the position in 2013 and worked to keep Rogo Field a safe, happy and fun Flying Field.

Field Maintenance
Spring Cleanup Day 2013, and weekly grass cutting continued.  A proper windsock was purchased and installed.

The ad hoc Field Improvement Committee (Simon Hinchcliffe, Greg Cadez, Ken Ross and Bill Quantock) began discussions about a Geotex Runway at Rogo Field early in the spring of 2013. The committee researched Geotex for use at Rogo Field, a report was presented to the Board of Directors and the Board visited Keswick Model Airplane Club to discuss, examine and actually try out Geotex first hand. TEMAC’s Board of Directors deserves to be congratulated for its open mindedness in making this effort. This process resulted in the Board approving $1500 towards the installation of Geotex material at Rogo Field in 2014, contingent on a final review of the Keswick runway after winter.

In the fall Greg handed the position to me. The board approved money for gravel for the driveway and parking lot. This was added on October 10, 2013 and improved the parking area especially in wet weather. We expect to add more gravel next season.

Safety and Security
We will be reviewing safety and security procedures for the 2014 season.

Training
Congratulations to Mike Hazelton CFI for running an outstanding wings program, cited as exemplary by other clubs. A report of the 2013 Wings program is included in the President’s Annual Report.

2014 Objectives

• Spring Cleanup Day including grass improvement (date TBA)
• grass cutting (schedule as per 2013)
• gravel  as needed
• Geotex Installation Day(date TBA)
• review of safety and security procedures

Respectfully,

Bill Quantock (Director of Administration)

For those of you that don’t know, in my day job I am a Continuous Improvement Manager, which means I deal with numbers, statistics and data. (Too bad you can’t talk about which members eat the most cookies!!) As I look back on 2013 for TEMAC, I can’t help but appreciate some of the statistics. Before I get to that, I also want to draw another parallel with my work; we have a goal, or mission of 100% engagement and zero losses, which we refer to as “100 & 0”. For TEMAC it was a milestone year, our 10th birthday, but also a year of firsts (which I will come to.) So the theme for my report this year is “TEMAC: 10 & 1.”

10 years as an electric club is an awesome achievement and we’re going from strength to strength. Our membership is in excess of 120 members which makes us the largest club in our zone, we’re financially healthy and we have an improving and developing field. So what about our firsts….

It’s the first full year that we’ve had many aspects of our club in place, but I’d like to start with our website. We had over 1 million page views and 4.6 million hits this year – how about that! We get an average of 13 post per day, and Ed McMann has spent 35 days of 2013 (so far) on the website – does he deserve another award or therapy? I think our website is a form of therapy. It allows us all to stay connected and support one another 365 days a year, 24hrs a day. The best bit – our busiest topic is “Anyone planning on flying tomorrow?” which means that none of us can wait to fly again, and we want to do it with friends and other members! Ben Feist – thank you so much for giving us this gem.

It’s also the first full year that Mike Hazelton has been our CFI, and the first year of our “Park Wings” program. What a wonderful job Mike & his Instructors have done and what a great year for training it’s been. We’ve had 20 students and successfully graduated 8 new MAAC pilots, and awarded 9 Park Wings. I managed to attend and help with numerous Wednesday student nights, and they were always safe, fun & educational – with an open mind, you can always learn something.

What an amazing contribution Jack Higgins continues to make to our club. He’s brought so many firsts to TEMAC this year – the first season of pilot meetings, the first ever scratch build class and the first year of TEMAC pylon racing! These activities have added so much breadth, given such dynamism and generated so much fun for our members. Seeing the Norsemen come to life, each with their own individual livery was delightful to witness, and credit to their builders. I’d like to recognize Frank Van Beurden for his enthusiasm for and commitment to the scratch build course. I’m sure the participants are especially grateful. And what can I say about the TEMAC Piker class pylon racing that’s not already been said? Exciting, collaborative and fast, fast, fast. Ed showed fabulous skill, but didn’t have it all his own way – was it 4 or 5 race winners this year? All I can say is “bring it on!” for 2014. I’d like to acknowledge and thank ICARE-RC for supporting our group buy and making the series possible (with the Nooner kits.)

We continued our themed fun flies, and introduced a few new ones for the first time. Thank you to everyone who came out to support them and show-off some amazing and beautiful models. Some themes worked, and some didn’t; maybe it was the weather (which seemed unusually windy) keeping people away, the frequency of events or the theme itself? We’ll continue to strive to bring you the events you want in 2014, but bigger and better! I did enjoy all the BBQs and hot dogs we managed to have!

What else can you look forward to? We have our TEMAC indoor fun fly arranged for the holiday season, which we intend to be the first of many. Thank you to Michael Rogozinsky for arranging that. I hope you all know about our planned Geo-tex runway (pending a Spring review of the Keswick runway’s overwintering experience) which will allow everyone to enjoy the challenge of lining up and landing on a smaller, designated runway (if you wish) and taking off with smaller wheels (for all you jet fans and warbird enthusiasts.) We also hope to continue our field improvements, with improved parking, a toilet (hopefully) and more tables for the pits.

So as 2013 draws to a close, I want to thank each and every one of you for participating and supporting our club. The Board works hard to guide our club, and I am incredibly grateful for the efforts, commitment and support of every Board member and advisor. I’d especially like to thank Greg Cadez for his enthusiasm and stewardship of administration this year. In late summer, due to the demands of work & commitments outside of TEMAC, Greg handed the role of Vice President & Director of Administration to Bill Quantock.

TEMAC truly is a special club; and it’s special because of each and every one of our members. As I continue to be part of TEMAC, I realize more and more what a community it is, and how much we all give to one another. Whether it’s advice on a motor, emailing a photo of a model, the loan of a screwdriver, walking with a friend to search for a model in the beans, a laugh at a pilots meeting or true friendship at a time of crisis – we really are the club we are, because of each and every member. So again, at the end of the 10th great year, with so many firsts – thank you all.

Simon Hinchcliffe

TEMAC President

TEMAC remains in good financial condition as a result of continued prudent management of our finances by the Board, ensuring that we spend on the important things, but stay within our fiscal means.  We have invested carefully in solid infrastructure improvements (e.g. driveway upgrades) and field maintenance (rolling; seeding; grass cutting) to ensure a good facility which meets the needs of our growing club, with adequate funds remaining to cover our other operating expenses and of course, food, prizes and awards for our fun fly events.  In October the Board approved our first dues increase in 10 years, from $65 to $80 per year for full memberships, effective 2014, to allow for inflation, additional field improvements (e.g. possible geotex runway, gravel, storage bins) and increased operating costs (lease, web site, office expenses).  The complete new fee structure is available on the TEMAC website (http://temac.ca/?page_id=5).

The increased revenue stream created by unprecedented membership growth in 2012, has remained stable, with modest turnover in membership in 2013. TEMAC’s membership now stands at 126, including 2 life members, 14 junior members and 5 non-flying members, making TEMAC the largest club in the SE Zone of MAAC.  Growth in the club has put significant additional demands on our field resources (parking, assembly tables, and airspace availability), but so far have not had to limit how many members we can accommodate at TEMAC.

Looking to 2014, we are submitting an application for a Trillium grant and have again requested funding from the SE Zone of MAAC to allow us to make further improvements to our field, including the parking area and driveway at ROGO field.  Given our positive cash situation over the year, and the added revenue from the dues increase, we look forward to maintaining our facilities in good condition with modest improvements.

And I can’t emphasize enough how extremely fortunate we have been to have the talents of a consummate IT professional and web designer, Ben Feist, to make our web site the vibrant communications and discussion vehicle that it is.

Andy Hoffer

Secretary-Treasurer and Membership Director

TEMAC

What a year we have experienced. The weather was not very cooperative but we adapted, we improvised and we overcame like the marines. This was the second year of our Mini Fun Fly experiment and we had expanded the involvement to include more members and encourage greater participation in our events. Some worked, others didn’t. Next year we will try harder to meet the needs of the membership.

We had Warbirds, Jets Day, Speed Fest, Annual Fun Fly, Battle of Britain Day, and Skills Challenge. For next year I think we will limit it to four events, one a month.

Warbirds and Jet’s Day will, most likely, be combined with and additional emphasis on WW1. We will have more group or formation flying and possibly some simulated dog fights with appropriate aircraft.

The Annual Fun Fly will remain the way we currently run it but we want to raise the emphasis on the quality of the awards. With the amount of scratch building going on in the club we want to add some emphasis by way of recognition of this as a class in its own right. We would like to consider encouraging visitors to join us for this fun fly.

Speed Fest was a bust, so that one we won’t try again for some time. It’s my belief that it lacked sufficient appeal to enough members and the key is to make an event attractive to the greatest number of members. Niche classes won’t cut it.

The Skills Challenge has proven to be the most popular of all our events. Next year I will have new challenges in addition to some favourites. This year we had 32 pilots who flew 76 flights.

If you have never attended a fun fly, for whatever reason, you have missed a great experience. Even as a spectator you can have fun and get involved. Come out and I’ll get you doing stuff and have you involved in no time at all.

Piker Class TEMAC Team Racing was a wonderful experience. Great pilots, great racing and best of all great fun that is the story of 2013. This is not about elite members or extra skilled pilots. Most had never raced when we started but as time passed and they began to believe in themselves they showed amazing improvements in their times and pilot skills. Next year we will have more entrants and new planes, many own designs. We will spice things up with two relay races at the midpoint of the season and at the end. They will have more points available but they will only go to the team and not the individual pilot. We have lots of room if you’d like to give it a try.

Pilot’s Meetings were a resounding success. We are getting 25% – 30% membership turnout. Proving once again that a large part of this hobby is the social aspects.  The management of the 3 Monkeys is very pleased with our presence. We do not plan any changes as the format seems to work for everyone. Drop in some time and check us out if you have not been to a meeting yet.

Scratch Building was a new experiment this year. I think it was very successful mainly due to the skills of Frank van Beurden. It evolved very differently from our original plan but we adapted on the fly and ended up with a handful of maidens that was most satisfying. We are planning a new build and are working on a new design. We will be meeting in the party room of Colonel Mustards on Hwy 7 at Ninth Line.

Indoor Dome Fly. We are starting up our Indoor flying again. Same team and the same fun. Sunday December 29, mark it on your calendar and start fixing your indoor models. Check out the Forum for more information.

MAAC Meetings I have been representing the club with other members of the Board at various MAAC events. Thank you to all who took the time to respond with your Proxy when requested. You have no idea how proud I am to represent you when I have the largest representation of any club. Your votes count.

TEMAC Tickler continues to be our communication vehicle of choice. It is well received by all and I hope to continue to make it timely and humorous. Send me any stuff you would like to share with fellow members. I’m particularly interested in any historic material from the early days of the club. The Tickler is actually the product of a number of club members. Ben Feist who runs such a fabulous website and always puts up with my lack of computer skills and patiently walks me through the solutions. Andy Hoffer and Greg Hazelton and all the others who send me photographs

Thank You to all the volunteers who came out and helped with events. Especially Greg Cadez who went above and beyond storing our supplies. Thank you to all who took the time to thank me for what little I do for the club. It’s you who give me the strength and desire to continue to help the club move forward. Thank you to the Board for all your support and encouragement, it’s great to get your input and cooperative involvement in running events for this club.

Jack Higgins.

Greg Cadez is stepping back from his position of Director of Administration and Vice President. Work and other commitments make it difficult for Greg to devote the time necessary for these responsibilities.

Therefore the Board has appointed Bill Quantock to the position of Director of Administration and Vice President effective immediately. Bill has been active on the runway committee and involved with work parties improving and maintaining the field.
Greg will continue to assist the Board and will be helping out wherever needed, primarily with events. To that end he will have the title Assistant Events Coordinator.

We wish them both success in their new efforts on behalf of the club.