Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The 161^st meeting of The Queensland Branch of the Australian Hovercraft Federation was held at Archerfield Aerodrome in the SAAA Hall at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 16^th July 2002.
This meeting was attended by Des Goss, Phillip Audsley, Angus Kerr, Peter Venn, Arthur Stead, Terry Arnott and Steven Odgaard.

Cruise report - The Boat Passage, Fisherman Island - Sunday 30^th June 2002.

Report from the last cruise by Des Goss and Angus Kerr.
On Sunday 30^th June, Des Goss and Angus Kerr went for a brief run at Fisherman Island. Des and Angus launched at 9:45 am and during their warm up runs they both encountered mechanical problems. Des broke down on the beach just a few hundred metres to the right of the boat ramp with a mixture problem, which led to a lean burn in one cylinder. This caused a piston to melt on one side. Angus had a vibration in the engine at low cruise speed, but at high speed the vibration disappeared.
When Phillip arrived at 10:00 am with his yellow Turbo Wedge 225, he couldn't see either of them and assumed that they had left without him, so he turned around and drove to Wynnum where he thought he might catch the hovercraft on their trip. Unfortunately for Des and Angus, they where only about 100 metres away from the boat ramp on a small sandy beach and Phillip had not seen them from his car.
Des and Angus eventually retrieved their hovercraft and went home early. By the time I returned Angus's mobile phone call, he was almost home. Sorry guys, I will try to plan for this type of mishap better in the future.
The weather was perfect with just a slight westerly off shore breeze, blue sky and bright warm sunshine and cool air temperatures. The barbecue at Wynnum was enjoyed by John, Stephanie and Preston Coll, Phillip and Kerri, Geoff Langford, Steven Odgaard and Sheree Durham.

World Hovercraft Championship 2002 - preparations:-
Peter Venn, Arthur Stead and Angus Kerr went to Woollongong on the weekend of 13/14 July and packed their racing hovercraft into a sea container. This was freighted to Sydney were it will be loaded onto a ship bound for New York and the final destination is Terre Haute in Indiana, USA.
Peter Venn brought his video camera / projector along and showed us how they disassembled and packed the hovercraft very carefully into the sea container.
Mike Nell offered to pay some sponsorship towards Angus Kerr's attempt at the World Championships to be held at Terre Haute in September 2002.

There were eight hovercraft loaded into the container.

Angus Kerr	- RevTech Rocket	Queensland
Owen Ellis	- F25 Renegade	Victoria
Owen Ellis	- F2 Flame : front drive	Victoria
Owen Ellis	- F2 Flame : rear drive	Victoria
Clint Buckwell	- F2 RevTech Rocket	Victoria
Clyde Carstairs	- F2 RevTech Rocket	Western Australia
Sam Waugh	- F2 RevTech Rocket	New South Wales
Rob Waugh	- F2 RevTech Rocket	New South Wales

Peter and Arthur had a test drive of the Renegade on Lake Illawarra at the back of Owen's NSW house.

Other Business:-
Terry Arnott wishes to build or buy a fiberglass hull. He is using the old Scarab 2 hovercraft as a guide.
Phillip Audsley described a suitable aero diesel engine which develops 135 hp and weighs 184 kilograms.
Des Goss will have his Robin EC44 engine bored out by Serco and he will be buying his Robin parts from Diesel Parts and Services. Agquip at Rocklea no longer have the dealership for Fuji Heavy Industries.
Ian Haddow of Victoria has advised that the Federation insurance policy has been payed, but nevertheless, the cover is not for hovercraft events. It is a public liability plan and provides cover at our general meetings. Hovercraft owners can cover themselves against hovercraft accident through Advantage Jonstan Insurance Brokers at reasonable rates.

Next club cruise:-
The next club cruise will be on Sunday, 4th August 2002, and will be a practice and time recording for a public display to be held at Riverfestival at the end of August.
Steven explained the course and timetable for the demonstration at River Festival on Saturday 31st August 2002. Commanders participating are requested to supply a short biography so that Winsome Anderson can give an accurate commentary on the radio while the hovercraft are running on the river during the festival.
Meet at the boat ramp in Riverside Drive, South Brisbane at the Paul's Milk Factory end at 11:00am for a general cruise and / or at 1:00pm for a run through of the event to be held between the Goodwill Games bridge and the Victoria Bridge.
We need to find out how long it will take to travel the distances:-
ie ramp to Captain Cook Bridge; Captain Cook Bridge to Riverside lookout.
How long to display 4 craft individually, and then to reassemble at the Goodwill Games bridge for the start of a straight line cruise between the Goodwill Games bridge and Victoria bridge.
It all needs to be accomplished without a hitch in a 30 minute time slot. We can then decide if extra manoeuvres like a nose peel between a Hoverjet and a Turbo 240 can be fitted in.
Angus asked how high will the tide be, when we need to assemble on the mudflat under the Captain Cook bridge on Saturday 31st August 2002 at 3:30 pm.
Here are the Brisbane Tide Times and heights for both the practice and the event.

Practice for River Festival
Sunday, 4th August 2002
5:10 am - 1.53 metres
11:33 am - 0.52 metres
6:21 pm - 2.05 metres
Monday, 5th August 2002
12:05 am - 0.73 metres

River Festival Brisbane South Bank
Saturday, 31st August 2002
1:55 am - 1.53 metres
8:29 am - 0.60 metres
3:15 pm - 1.80 metres
9:37 pm - 0.89 metres

Please note that these heights are for the Pile Light at the mouth of the River.
The times are about 35 minutes later for the Brisbane Port Office in the city.

Next Queensland branch meeting:-
7:30 pm - Tuesday 20th August 2002.
SAAA hall at Archerfield Aerodrome.
Beatty Road Qld 4108.

Notice is hereby given that this meeting will be an AGM.
Nominations are required to form and elect a committee.
At least seven are required to form a quorum.

Regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary