 Holdfast
Model Aero Club
Adelaide, South Australia
Holdfast Model Aero Club was formed in 1956 by a
group of enthusiasts who had previously been meeting together
informally. Initial fees were $2.25 for Seniors and a Mr Potter (who may
have been one of the originals, or certainly a relative) offered to hold
club meetings in his garage. In its early days, the club consisted
mainly of junior flyers with an average age of less than 20 years. Chuck
gliders and control-line flying were the principle activities of the
club.
At the start, the club actually manufactured fuel
from its basic ingredients and also stocked other consumable items to
sell on to members at beneficial rates. They no longer make their own
fuel, but discounted purchases are still available to members.
It was in the early sixties that R/C started to
appear at the club, and this has now overtaken the previously
predominant control-line flying, although HMAC still has control-line
and free-flight modellers amongst its members. The club has used quite a
number of flying sites over the years, most of which were eventually
lost due to the noise problem. They now have a site some 20km south-west
of Adelaide provided by the State authorities and which they have
occupied for a considerable number of years.
HMAC currently has around 130 members and continues
to foster new flyers. It has a very professional team of instructors to
teach radio control. Training sessions are offered every Sunday , during
which time no other models are allowed to fly, in order to minimise
distractions for the trainees - a brilliant idea, that. Other than that,
the field is available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week.
There is a Club Meeting twice a month in the new club room at the
field.
 This
is the neat and extensive menu displayed on the home-page of HMAC's
website, which very much speaks for itself. From the Holdfast News page,
I see that congratulations are in order to JENNY RUDLOFF on gaining her
Bronze Wings - the second lady to have done so in the history of the
club; if you read this, Jenny, how about telling us a bit about yourself
and your aero-modelling interest and become our first lady personal
profile?
If you are new to the hobby/sport, then you will certainly also
find the Technical Articles and New to Modelling? pages of interest -
for example, there's a good "Step by Step Guide to Trimming your
Model" on Technical Articles.
As ever, I found my way to the pictures on Piccies Archive and
have chosen just a couple to close with. On the left, BRIAN HAMPTON'S
Interceptor control-line stunter, constructed entirely from 1/16"
balsa with a Stalker PRO61 RE mounted r/c style to a ply bulkhead
fixed to the fuselage. This is our first-ever control line model on ModelFlight
- I never knew they could be so big
On the right is a KENNY BURDON'S Bucker
Jungmeister built from a Pilot 20 Scale kit and fitted with an OS26 FS.
http://www.holdfastmac.com.au
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