Cruise report - Fisherman Island - Sunday, 2nd May 2004.

Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The cruise at Twin Bridges near Fernvale was cancelled.
Cruise report from Fisherman Island 2nd May 2004.
2 working hovercraft in attendance:
Des Goss in the Turbo 225 powered by a Robin EC44PM and
Angus Kerr in a Turbo 240 powered by a Yamaha 50hp.
Steven Odgaard was there with the Bill Baker 2 too, but had lift engine trouble still.
Angus Kerr, Lucas Kerr, Dave Brooks, and Des Goss went on a cruise to Wynnum and Manly while Peter Frankland and Steven Odgaard stayed back and tried to adjust the points gap on the BBV’s Robin lift engine.
Both Peter and Steven had a go in Des’ Turbo on the mudflats later in the afternoon when the two craft returned from the trip in Moreton Bay.

Peter Frankland took these photos on his digital camera.   click here for photos

Our last planning meeting was on Monday 17th May 2004.
It wasn't very well attended but with the help of Des Goss who was at home sick with flu, a quick phone call from the SAAA room and a site was selected for our next cruise.
At first Jacobs Well was nominated, but then this was changed to Weinum Creek at Redland Bay.

It was good to see Geoff Langford again at the meeting. Geoff and Sue will soon be moving to sunny Spain.

Some of the topics covered at the meeting:-
Tuning Briggs and Stratton engines.
Twin cylinder McCulloch engines in hovercraft.
Edge Go-Kart systems in Western Australia who advertise Briggs and Stratton engines for Go-Karts.
Comet transmissions and devices adapted for Briggs and Stratton engines.
An electric powered hovercraft for kids to ride on.

Some history topics were covered:-
In 1987 Geoff Langford met Bob Wendt in California and experienced his 7 metre long Universal which had a Suzuki lift engine and a Nissan thrust engine and of course the famous hand carved 2 bladed propellor. Geoff first became involved with Air Cushion Vehicles in a school project in England in 1965 and later became involved with racing at Brown's Hatch at the racing circuit in Kent. Jacky Epstein asked Geoff if he would like to start a hovercraft school and he used a Skimmer 4 with 2 cylinder Hearth engine as a basic model.
The school was endorsed by the national authority and the CAA approved workshop operated out of Jack Brabham's old race car workshop.

Next club cruise:-
Next cruise will be at Weinum Creek at Redland Bay.
10:00am on Sunday 6th June 2004.
Meet at the northern end of the carpark for a launch from the beach.

AGM - Queensland branch:-
Well its that time of year again when Phil and I have the pleasure of stepping down from our positions on the committee.
An annual general meeting needs to be held and a date will be set at the next monthly meeting.
AGM will be either July or August:- To be discussed at the meeting.
Please consider taking part in running your club.
We need a president, a vice president, a secretary and a treasurer.
Even if you can only fill one of these positions for just one term (12months).
It would be wonderful to have some new ideas at the helm.

The Queensland branch is in good order. We have incorporation protection through the AHF Inc and this is up to date thanks to the efforts of Colin Dainty of Victoria; we have public liability insurance with thanks to Advantage Jonstan Insurance brokers who have served the hovercraft fraternity in Australia for many years and the Queensland branch has a healthy bank account due to a nice donation from Riverfestival last year and a membership of 12.
Imagine if we could all go hovering over the mudflats together at one time.
We would be the dirty dozen.

Next Queensland branch meeting:-
7:30pm - Monday, 21st June 2004.
SAAA hall at Archerfield Aerodrome.
Beatty Road Qld 4108.

Regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary