Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The Queensland branch held a planning meeting at the Sporting Aircraft Association of Australia
hall at Archerfield Aerodrome on Monday, 17th July 2006. Well........... not quite in the hall -
unfortunately Steven forgot to bring the keys to the hall this month, so the meeting was actually
held in the Sporting Aircraft Association of Australia car park - out in the cold - with the billy being
boiled on a gas burner for after meeting refreshments. This was poorly attended with only Phillip
Audsley, Des Goss and Steven Odgaard being present. Arthur Stead was in Bundaberg and gave
his apologies, and Angus Kerr was moving house and also gave his apologies.
Cruise report - Brisbane River at South Brisbane - Sunday 9th July 2006.
The July cruise was held on the Brisbane River at South Brisbane on Sunday, 9th July with 4
hovercraft in attendance.
Lucas Kerr had his RevTech Rocket and was chauffeured by Angus.
Lucas only employs the most highly experienced and Angus comes with very select credentials.
The fact that Angus is Dad was only a minor consideration.
The other poor folk:- Phillip Audsley, Des Goss and Steven Odgaard had to skipper their own.
Tony Hogben has been spending up on his investment and had plenty of photos of his silver twin
engined ACV, which is nearing completion. Tony built a scale model before embarking on his own
design of a man carrying craft. A wise policy indeed.
Mark Calder was accompanied by two colleagues and was pleased to see the club in action after
showing up at the dismal cruise attempt in June, (abandoned due to poor weather).
Sven Sorenson drove hundreds of metres down from his apartment in Montague Road to be at
the cruise and was rewarded for his efforts with a dozen donuts in the RevTech, courtesy of
Lucas’ chauffeur of course.
The cruise took us upstream of the railway bridge to Dutton Park, and then we had a billy tea
break by the tree-lined riverbank down by Riverside Drive.
Demonstration report - Musgrave Park at South Brisbane - Sunday 12th March 2006.
Kyle Kerr joined us at 1:45 pm and we all departed and travelled in convoy to Musgrave Park at
South Brisbane at 2:00 pm. At 3:20 pm about 90 high school teachers ventured across the road
from a Science and Technology conference at the Greek Club premises and assembled around the
3 craft. The Revtech Rocket was removed from its trailer and gave a demonstration on the park.
Angus found the flat broad section of the arena to be very dusty due to the level 3 water
restrictions, but found the steep grassy slope near the eastern end of the park to be much more
lush. His powerful yet lightweight craft seemed to defy gravity as it traversed laterally along the
steep slope with the occasional summersault come donut.
On one rapid down hill slide, a mere squeeze of the accelerator arrested his pace and the
resulting wind thrust filled the air with broad tree leaves like confetti at a wedding.
At the same time, the two-stroke V-max Yamaha hitting its power band emitted a pitched exhaust
tune that echoed off the surrounding line of high-rise buildings, like music to a Willowbank muster.
Phillip and Steven started their engines in the Turbo Wedge 225 and Bill Baker 2 and we gave a
talk to the audience, which had split up into three smaller groups each huddling close to the 3
craft.
One of the high school science projects was then carried across to the park and assembled on a
smooth concrete driveway. A small craft measuring approx 1.2 metres long by 1 metre wide
featuring a smooth bag skirt with only 8 plenum jets, a simple chair clipped to the deck straddling
a Ryobi leaf blower nozzled with 100mm plastic ducting directing a low pressure draft of air into
the mainframe. It first demonstrated its lifting and skimming capacity with a light teenager, but
when put to the test, was just as successful with a full grown adult weighing close to 90kg.
A fun and inexpensive project for high school students that gives a good understanding of ACV
principles. E.g. Very low pressure but high volume is required to lift a payload and stability and
efficiency is achieved with the correct placement, diameter and number of plenum jets close to the
ground contact line of the skirt. The plenum jets act as pneumatic barriers to the escaping cushion
air and this adds to the lifting efficiency of the platform.
We all departed by 4:30 pm.
Sadly, Edi Brandli has resigned from the club.
Thanks Edi for your support and enthusiasm over the last 3 years. Even though you never
succeeded in constructing or buying a craft, your attendance at meetings and cruises was
appreciated.
Next club cruise:-
The next club cruise will be at Waterford boat ramp on the Logan River on Sunday 6th August
2006. Meet at the boat ramp for a 9:00 am launch.
This is a low salt watercourse and consideration was given to the difficult task of cleaning the
craft with buckets of water, a requirement of level 3 water restrictions now imposed on South
East Queensland.
Late News - Cruise with Owen Ellis on Waterloo Bay:-
Date: Thursday 27th July 2006.
From: Steven Odgaard
To: Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiasts
Subject: Owen Ellis Thorneside 11am Sunday
Hi all,
Owen Ellis of RevTech will be in town this Sunday 30th July 2006.
He plans to be at Queens Esplanade with a Renegade.
Angus Kerr has asked me to arrange a club cruise to coincide with Owen's short visit to Brisbane.
Queens Esplanade boat ramp at Thorneside Qld.
Meet at 11:00 am for a launch into Waterloo Bay.
regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary
Cruise report - Waterloo Bay at Thorneside - Sunday 30th July 2006.
There were 5 hovercraft at the cruise on Sunday 30th July 2006.
Peter Ledwoch & Ann Dickinson - Simple Cyclone (UK design)
Des Goss and his Turbo Wedge 225
Angus Kerr had his Turbo Wedge 240, but when this failed to produce enough lift, he took it
home and returned with his much thirstier RevTech Rocket
Owen Ellis with a Revtech Renegade in tow behind the VW
Steven Odgaard had the tail ender Maroon Billy Baker Vehicle 2
Peter Ledwoch, Ann Dickinson and Arthur Stead arrived at the boat ramp in Queens Esplanade
right on time and Des Goss was just up the road at Angus’ place. Steven Odgaard, Owen Ellis,
Cliff and Di Ellis all arrived around midday.
Peter Ledwoch
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5 craft on the flats
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Elvis came to the cruise
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Owen, Di, Angus, Lucas, Des, Peter and Ann went for a trip across Waterloo Bay to Wellington
Point and King Island. Cliff Ellis, wearing a fox tail hat, drove his highly polished Dodge Convertible
around to Wellington Point to meet the fleet, attracting even more attention than the hovercraft.
The craft then headed back in an anti-clockwise circuit via Lota.
After changing a carburetor on the Robin lift engine I attempted to skim over the mangrove
shoots but the Billy Baker was still suffering from lack of lift air so I came back in and called it
quits for the day. The other 4 craft headed out for a 2nd trip, and all went well for a cruise up Tingalpa
Creek to the Capalaba soccer fields.
Arthur took a couple of photos, and served up a great cup of thermos tea while the machines
were out and about.
David Venn at Birkdale heard the fleet from a great distance, and jumped in his car to seek out the
source of all the hovercraft noise. He suspected the boat ramp in Queens Esplanade, and
soon found us assembled on the mangrove flats at Thorneside.
Des's Turbo 225
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Angus's RevTech Rocket
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Owen's RevTech Renegade
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After packing up around 4:00 pm, we agreed to meet again next Sunday at 9:00 am - 6th August
at Waterford bridge on the Logan River, as originally planned at the SAAA meeting.
Next Queensland branch meeting:-
7:30 pm - Monday, 21st August 2006.
SAAA hall at Archerfield Aerodrome.
Beatty Road Qld 4108.
Regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary