July 2014
Queensland Sporting Hovercraft Club
A branch of the AUSTRALIAN HOVERCRAFT FEDERATION Inc (Vic)

Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The Queensland branch of The Australian Hovercraft Federation held a planning meeting on Tuesday, 15th July 2014, in the lunch room of Lifts Forklifts Australia, 165 Queens Road, Kingston, Queensland courtesy of Dale Baxter and his employer.
This meeting was attended by:-
President:- Peter Venn
Vice President:- Angus Kerr
Treasurer:- Phillip Audsley
Secretary:- Steven Odgaard

Other members attending were Dale Baxter, Brandon Bull, Les Taylor, Michael Stephenson, Dieter Renisch and Steve Stephens.
Visitors for the evening were Kerri Audsley, Susan Stephenson and Tim Barker.
Tim has a Sevtech Explorer powered by an EA81 on MacLeay Island.
Apologies from Arthur Stead and Ben Woodhead.

Cruise report - Muriel St, Redland Bay - Sunday 6th July 2014.

The last club cruise was held on Sunday 6th July 2014, launching from 96 Muriel Street, Redland Bay courtesy of Peter and Elaine Venn. We did not reach our objected destination on this cruise as we had interstate guests, campers and too many craft to attempt a long all day cruise.
The proposed trip was curtailed for safety and courtesy reasons, and activities were split into a 10:00am and a 2:00pm cruise.
Those attending the cruise with craft were:-

Peter Venn Turbo TP6 powered by a Subaru 1800 EA81 and 18hp Honda.
Expo Turbo 240 powered by a Yamaha PE485
Hoverjet
Angus Kerr Viper Cruiser powered by a Subaru 1800 EA81.
Ben Woodhead Black Turbo Vortex powered by a Suzuki Swift engine.
Cle Sheck Turbo Suerwedge 235 powered by a 2 cylinder 4 stroke Honda GX620.
Arthur Stead Revtech Renegade.
John Mendham Revtech Renegade with fuel injected 31hp Kohler engine.
Michael Stephenson Turbo Wedge 240 “Baffle”.
Dieter Renisch UHT13 “Geko”.
Steven Odgaard Billy Baker 2 powered by a 44hp Chaparral - static display.
Richard Annett 3.9m Easy Rider runabout powered by a 25hp Evinrude. (safety boat)

The morning cruise was to Pt Talburpin, Garden Island gutter, Karragarra Island, west coast of Russell Island, under the power lines to Rocky Point and Logan River to Redbill Passage. Cle and Aven Sheck were first down the long ramp at low tide in a red plywood Turbo Superwedge 235, but Angus and Ann Kerr lead the way in their Viper 4 Cruiser, Peter Venn took Lee Doyle, Narelle Woodhead and sons Gowan & Callum in the TP6, Ben Woodhead followed in his Turbo Vortex with a pole mounted camera, Arthur Stead had his Revtech Renegade 20hp, John Mendham and Joy Sligar had a Revtech Renegade 31hp and Sam Waugh & Lorraine Brighton borrowed the Expo 88 Turbo Wedge 240.

Sam and Lorraine unfortunately broke down in the Expo Turbo and Peter Venn forgot to ask the safety boat skipper to follow him down the Logan River. Peter towed the stricten craft up the Logan with the TP6. Angus Kerr took Len Livingstone for a fast trip north to Weinam Ck while they were waiting for Peter to tow in the Expo craft.
Cle was looking very brown on his return. He wasn’t sporting a bronze suntan; no, he had mistakingly stepped out of his craft on a riverbank and sank thigh deep into chocolate custard. We all make this mistake, once. Peter Venn took the Baffle for a test run on Lagoon Passage for Michael Stephenson.

In between cruises, Michael Stephenson displayed his white fibreglass Turbo Wedge 240 Baffle powered by a 65hp liquid cooled Rotax 582 to on-lookers Steve Stephens and the safety boat men Richard Annett and Len Livingstone.
Judy Stead gave us a guided tour of the new Fiat Trakkaway 700 campervan. The ladies Susan Stephenson, Jean Smith, Rita Chaffey, Judy Stead, Kay Doyle and Elaine Venn enjoyed the cool morning sunshine by the white sandy patch.
Dieter Renisch took his UHT13 Geko for an experimental run. Dieter then worked on his throttle mechanism to study why he could not achieve full power.

At 2:00pm Peter Venn, Angus Kerr, Arthur Stead and John Mendham set off again and travelled north to Victoria Point, Coochiemudlo Island, Macleay Island, Lamb Island, Russell Island, Cobby Cobby Island then back up the Logan River to Lagoon Passage. At MacLeay Island Peter Venn shut down due to a kink in his fuel line and Angus Kerr blew out 6 skirt segments near the mouth of the Logan River. They clocked up 53 kilometres on this afternoon run.

Campervans and caravan on site for the weekend: 5
Arthur & Judy’s Fiat Trakkaway 700, Sam Waugh & Lorraine Brighton’s Toyota Hi Lux ute with a Wombat slide-on camper, John Mendham and Joy Sligar’s Fiat campervan, Lee & Kay Doyle’s Toyota Hiace campervan and Steve Stephen’s 9m Jayco caravan.


Weekend get-together
Campers
Campers

Total people for the day: 38 - 10 members and 28 family members and guests.
Peter and Elaine Venn, Angus and Ann Kerr, Arthur and Judy Stead, Ben, Narelle, Gowan & Callum Woodhead, Cle & Aven Sheck, Michael & Susan Stephenson, Dieter Renisch, grandson Fallon Renisch 11 & Jean Smith, Richard Annett & Len Livingstone, Steven Odgaard & Rita Chaffey, Sam Waugh & Lorraine Brighton, John Mendham & Joy Sligar, Lee & Kay Doyle (Elaine’s sister), Steve Stephens, Kyle Kerr & Doris Manahan, Lucinda, Layla & Harrison Baxter, Tony Stachel, Don Venn, Lionel Deering of Mackay and John & Margaret Deering of Albany WA.

Michael Stephenson brought his AeroChute along for display. He will be heading off to Menindee near Broken Hill in 2 weeks for a trip with Dieter Renisch and the ladies. Along the way they plan to visit Mt Jack woolshed built 1850s and explore the Paroo River Overflow and Peri Lake 41km around.
Steve Stephens plans to buy a hovercraft to use in his diving business. Southern Moreton Bay Islands Diving Service. Specialising in moorings.

New South Wales news:-
Charles Rogers of Dubbo has planned a cruise along the Macquarie River between Dubbo and Wellington NSW on 24th January 2015.

Victorian news:-
The next Australian National Rally will be held at Lake Narracan near Moe Victoria on the 11th and 12th April 2015. This is the weekend after Easter and last week of Victorian school holiday period.

News from West Australia:-

Hi Steven,
Sunday 29th June 2014 we Westies went for a quick run. Stuart Herring in the Viper 4 x 100hp and me in the lightweight Viper cruiser. I was going to take the shuttle but as always something went wrong with it. This time it was a flat battery. The Cruiser (65hp) had sat unloved for some months. She fired up and ran well for a while. Turns out all those months sitting caused a build-up of muck in the fuel tank. This caused the fuel bulb to suck in and no fuel. We blew it out a few times to get some short runs in, but it kept clogging. Stuart made a short video of the hover dance we did, (see U-tube) unprompted. Paul Kuljis, Mike Cambell came along for a spot of hover action. Just to see we lined the cruiser and the 4x up and had a short drag race. It was so close we couldn't call it. The cruiser is built so light it absolutely hums, and does spins on the spot all day if you don't get dizzy. A really fun machine. Pity about the fuel problems. Stuart headed off to Point Walter for a cruise by himself. He reported it was a little bumpy and uncomfortable but the 4x kept going. One more run and Stuart will join the club officially.
Jeremy Ludlow
WA

Next club cruise:-
The next club cruise will be held on Sunday 17th August 2014 at Muriel St, Redland Bay.
Meet at 9:00 am at 96 Muriel St, Redland Bay for a westerly wind cruise across the shallow end: Southern Moreton Bay. We plan to visit Tim Barker on MacLeay Island to see his Sevtech Explorer.

UBD Reference - Map 267 B9.
Contact for the event is Steven Odgaard on 0400 798 404.

Next Queensland branch meeting:
The next club meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th August 2014 at 7:30pm.
It will be held in the smoko room of Lifts Forklifts Australia, 165 Queens Road, Kingston, Queensland.
This venue is provided courtesy of Dale Baxter and his employer.

UBD Reference - Map 242 J12.

Anyone with an interest in air cushion vehicles is welcome to attend.
We discuss technical topics and plan cruises.

Regards
Steven Odgaard (retiring June 2018)
QSH secretary