Bawbaw Radiomodellers Association Gippsland. Blue Rock Lake, Willow Grove, Victoria

BRAG RC Model Plane Club

BRAG Fun & Float Fly Event

Blog 2023-12-26 (updated 05.01.2024)

This is another story of sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see what the weather was going to do. Initially the predictions were good, and then over time took a turn for the worse. The great thing is that the weather at Blue Rock lake can be completely different and for the better.

Punters started arriving Friday morning to set up camp. There was some flying done on the Friday. With the weather being unpredictable.

Saturday turned out to be a great day for flying. There was a couple of showers here and there, the wind was on and off, but overall a very good day. Again the the hamburgers were a big hit, and a big thanks to Scott for organising the catering and the duties of head chef.

Photos Courtesy of Dave Lewis and Tony Wilson and other attendees.

Saturday night was very enjoyable evening, sitting round and enjoying the activities of a a few who decided to go night flying.

Sunday started out wet. Very disappointing but it did clear. The BBQ was very busy pumping out egg and bacon sangas, and a few smoothies were enjoyed. Unfortunately there was some wind about and peaked around 15kph.

More pilots arrived in the morning. The total number of registered pilots reached 31. Not bad for our second event ever as a relatively new club.

There was still plenty of flying off the strip, and there was a few good windows for float flying.

The MAAA was kind enough to support the event with a financial contribution of $500. Our application under the Club Activity Program was proceed promptly and the funds arrived in a timely manner. This money softened some of the conversations within the committee, especially in relation to anxiety around guessing the catering requirements, and general preparation and cleaning of the facilities and site in general. So again thank you to the MAAA.

Talking about catering, the hamburgers were good, and they were selling better than the sausages, maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise.

Promoting the club is always going to have a positive outcome, and again we saw an increase in membership. This time we had five new membership applications. One was a new registration, and the other four applications are members of other clubs. The club's membership is steadily growing and reflects the great location and atmosphere at the club.

A big thank you goes out to the Main Sponsors.

Albury RC and Hobbies, for the discount on the raffle plane and some freebies towards the pilots draw.

Australian Forrest and Garden, Warragul, for the donation of the chainsaw.

Christmas Pines Mountain Retreat, Icy Creek, for the accommodation.

Other supports of the event include:

IGA Trafalgar, Thank you to the team at IGA for assisting with some of the supplies.

TMH Hardware Moe, Thanks to James and the team for donating some of the items for the Pilots Draw.

It was announced on the weekend that the club has a new sponsor,

The Community Bank Trafalgar & District, Bendigo Bank.

The sponsorship agreement is for two years, and the bank has kindly contributed towards the acquisition of a portable disabled toilet. Delivery of this new amenity will take place in late January 2024.

The purchase of the Toilet is co funded by The community Bank, The Baw Baw Shire Council, and the BRAG club.

The Community Bank Trafalgar & District has contributed about 1.85 million to the local community since its inception 20 years ago.

Yes you read that right, 1.85 Million.......

The club is grateful for the banks support and look forward to working together.

Last but not least and arguably the main event, was the Pilot Choice Awards.

Best Airplane: This was awarded to Dave Lewis. The plane is a vey nice looking Carf Edge 2.6m ws with a DLE 120 up front. Dave's plane adorns a custom paint job in the Redbull theme. Dave painted this himself and may do yours if you ask nicely.

Best Seaplane: This was awarded to Tony Wilson. Tony flew the Anderson Kingfisher. This is a 20 Year old plane possibly built by Tim Nolan and is newly powered by a RCGF 20 twin. The plane weighed in at about 9kg, and had its maiden flight on the Saturday and was certified on the day after a couple of adjustments. Well done Tony.

The raffle was drawn on the Sunday.

Winners of the raffle were:

1st Prize: The plane went to Jamie who purchased his ticket online after scanning the QR code at of all places Warragul Forrest and Garden

2nd Prize: The chainsaw went to David Chippindall who purchase a ticket off Tony who was selling them in Bairnsdale.

3rd Prize: The accommodation package was one by C. Bizon. Adrian purchased the first half of the book, and Carl the second half.

Thanks to all who supported the club by buying tickets.

Here are some general links for more information about the club and its activities.

Videos of the day

https://www.bawbawrc.com.au/i/video

Our Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1278021809225556

Our Merchandise page:

https://www.bawbawrc.com.au/c/merchandise

Our main sponsors of this event

https://www.alburyrcmodels.com.au/

Future Events:

https://www.bawbawrc.com.au/i/events