Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The Queensland branch held a planning meeting at the Sporting Aircraft Association of Australia
hall at Archerfield Aerodrome on Tuesday, 21st July 2009 which was attended by:-
Des Goss, Phillip Audsley, Peter Venn, Arthur Stead, Dale Baxter, Tony and Vivien Hogben, Jim and
Stirling Calder and Steven Odgaard.
Visitors attending for the evening were Zachary Hurst and Mike and Lanai Ledger.
The hall was in total disarray as renovations were being carried out and all furniture had been
removed, so the group made themselves comfortable sitting in a circle on the floor.
Cruise report - Logan River, Eagleby, Saturday 4th July 2009.
The last club cruise was held on Saturday 4th July 2009 on the Logan River at Eagleby.
Those attending the cruise were:-
Peter Venn - Turbo TP6.
Des Goss - Turbo Wedge 225
Arthur Stead - Revtech Renegade.
Steven Odgaard - Expo Turbo (courtesy of Peter Venn).
Dale Baxter and Macaulie Lewis - ASV Vortex.
Des Goss came by road with his Turbo Wedge 225 in tow arriving at Eagleby early, and was
confused as to why nobody else was turning up on time. Dale Baxter and work colleague Macaulie
Lewis arrived towing their ASV Vortex, just as Des was deciding whether to leave, or wait a little
longer to see if anyone else would show up.
Meanwhile Peter Venn, Steven Odgaard and Arthur Stead had launched from Peter's place in
Muriel Street, and were enjoying a pleasant cruise upstream from the mouth of the Logan River
towards Eagleby, arriving there around 9:30 am much to Des' relief.
Arthur's Renegade
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Peter's Turbo TP6
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Steve's Expo Turbo
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At about 10:00 am Des Goss took the Turbo Wedge 225 for a warm up run on the river, but
decided to put it back on the trailer due to the high winds. At 10:20 am the 4 remaining craft
launched from the silted ramp and headed upstream to the Waterford Arms Hotel, Des travelling
in the Turbo TP6 with Peter. We arrived at Waterford at about 11:00 am and parked the craft
neatly in the car parking lanes of the local parking lot.
There was a large family gathering at the prime sheltered picnic table so we ventured into the
hotel. The Bistro was closed, being between the breakfast and lunch sittings, so we had to
contend with a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits in the Poker Machine Lounge instead, which, as it
turned out was a pretty fair deal because it was all complimentary.
Dale Baxter
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Three craft
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Waterford
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There was a small crowd of curious on-lookers and a couple of young lads with expensive utes
and jetskis when we finally strolled back to the boat ramp carpark. One by one, the strange craft
in the parking lot started their engines, lifted slowly onto the air cushion and quietly slipped away
down the ramp and into the muddy waters of the Logan River.
All was going well on the return leg until Dale ran out of fuel near the Slacks Creek junction, but
after transferring tanks, something happened to his electrical system and the engine would not
restart. Arthur Stead scouted the reaches and found the Tanah Merah boat ramp close by, so
Peter Venn and Des Goss towed the stricken Vortex to the ramp with the aid of an outgoing tide,
then with a lot of muscle power, 6 strong blokes carried the craft up the ramp to a safe retrieval
point. Macaulie stayed at Tanah Merah while Dale got a lift back to Eagleby in the large Turbo TP6,
Arthur Stead in his Revtech Renegade and Steven Odgaard in the Expo Turbo followed close behind.
Dale and Macaulie
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Steven Odgaard
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The Renegade
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At Eagleby, a boat owner became a little impatient when a couple of hovercraft blocked the boat
ramp for a few minutes, and in his state of mind didn't bother to check the condition of the ramp
down by the waters edge. He would have needed a 10 metre extension to get his boat trailer
through the mud. Needless to say, he drove back up the ramp, unpacked the boat and tied it
down again, then drove off in search of another less silted ramp.
After saying farewell to Des Goss and good luck to Dale Baxter, Peter, Arthur and Steven headed
back downstream to the mouth of the Logan River, then north along the Redland Bay Channel to
Peters place for a well deserved cup of tea and toasted sandwich back at Elaine's kitchen.
Another magical cruise completed after covering around 70 kilometres for the day.
Under tow
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GPS track of the Club cruise 4/07/09
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Next Club Cruise - 50 Years Of Hovercraft History:-
The next club cruise will be on Saturday, 25th July 2009 on the Brisbane River at South Brisbane.
This cruise commemorates the first hovercraft crossing of the English Channel on 25th July 1959.
Meet at 9:00 am at the boat ramp in Riverside Drive, South Brisbane.
Contact for the event is Steven Odgaard on 0400 798 404.
Next Queensland branch meeting will be the AGM:
7:30 pm - Tuesday, 18th August 2009.
This meeting will be held in the Archerfield Aerodrome terminal building.
We have booked a small conference room near the passenger lounge.
The SAAA hall is no longer available for lease and I believe it will soon be demolished to beautify
the old aerodrome entrance.
Enter via the main entrance off Beatty Road.
Regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary
