SEAT (Sailplanes and Electric Aeromodellers of Tasmania Inc.) is a group of modellers based in Tasmania, Australia. Our members build & fly mostly gliders (F3B, F3F, F3J, scale) electrics and nostalgic & modern free flight. Members are dedicated to fostering interest in this fabulous sport/hobby; they boast skills ranging from leading-edge aerospace CNC technology and composite material construction to stick-and-tissue indoor rubber powered aeroplanes.
What's New?
Impending events:
- F3F Sept. 11th Devonport 7AD. 11am start, entry open to all with current MAAA membership.
Run to SEAT F3F rules (based on BMFA/FAI .pdf 22KB).
Fly-through will be employed to maximise the no. of rounds flown.
A fly-through is when a Pilot completes one round but doesn't land. Instead, enters landing circuit at typical launch speed, waits for CD's signal then enters course for another round.
- Tas. Open Thermal Champs. Nov 20, 21st
- Stanley Slopefest
Nov. 27th/28th
Tas. Open Thermal Champs
Will again be held at Valleyfield, the site of the WW2 airfield and once host to Skyrace the Australian National Air Racing Championships.
Task will again be winch launches on 150m lines, fly 10mins and use 200mm landing tapes as per F3J.
For further info. contact Stephen Boag (President)
Stanley Slopefest 2010
Will be bigger and better this year. In light of its increasing popularity the event will have strict frequency controls (scanner and keyboard will be in operation) and requires pilots to have a current MAAA membership and thus insurance coverage.
Jerilderie 2010 June 11th to 14th
SEAT members again made the pilgramge to Jerilderie NSW to compete in Australia's Premier Thermal Gliding event.
We had the biggest gazebo, the best glider rack and the lowest number of line breaks. Where we finished is immaterial ;0)
For more info on Jerilderie 2010, go to the LSF Australia website.
Nexor Pro
The latest version of our in-house, home-grown, leading-edge thermal competition model
is nearing completion. Expect the Nexor Pro to be ready to go soon. It incoporates a lot of current technology in both its aerodynamic design and production design.
MAAA Insurance Cover
SEAT member's compulsory MAAA membership provides coverage for a wide range of scenarios. Here's a brief summary (.pdf 265KB)
For more info on what the MAAA offers members check out their website.
Tasmanian State Thermal Champs
| SEAT Thermal Nov. '09 Valleyfield Tas. | |||
| pos. | name | pts. | glider |
| 1 | John Skinner | 9991.40 | Nyx |
| 2 | Mike Taylor | 9797.05 | P Perfect |
| 3 | Blow, Darrel | 9356.28 | Aspire |
| 4 | Whitfield, Garry | 9213.75 | Zenith/PP |
| 5 | Potter, Greg | 9154.45 | P Perfect |
| 6 | Boag, Stephen | 9154.03 | Pike Supe. |
| 7 | Adams, Chris | 9143.41 | Ex Pro |
| 8 | Nye, Bruce | 8972.35 | Nexor |
| 9 | Lindner, Florian | 8437.36 | Fusion |
Final results (.pdf, 11KB)
Results by round (.pdf 31KB)
Report Round Two, 2009 SEAT F3F Series 11th Oct.
Not much to report; the wind blew in NorthEast all day rendering the usual course unflyable. However, all pilots (including furthest travelled, Mike Taylor from Hobart) had a wonderful 4hrs of slermalling on the NE face in very pleasant Tasmanian spring weather.
Highlight was the Taslotto's maiden flights off both winch and slope. Bruce's verdict is a resounding thumbs-up.
Grab the F3F scoring tool of choice: Thudmeister's (.xls 100KB)
More info? email Chris Adams
Build your own winch parachute.
An illustrated and commented tutorial on how you can make your own from Ripstop sail material and plumber's line.
Results F3F Comp. Sun. 13th Sept. 2009
Florian Linder flew steady, smooth and fast to be top dog for the inaugral SEAT F3F Series (1 of 3 events).
| SEAT F3F Results: Sept. '09 Devonport Tas. | |||
| pos. | name | pts. | glider |
| 1 | Florian Lindner | 4860.92 | Fusion |
| 2 | Mike Taylor | 4850.71 | Ceres |
| 3 | Steve Boag | 4815.08 | Cobra |
| 4 | John Skinner | 4592.83 | Nyx |
| 5 | Chris Adams | 4411.83 | Ellipse 4 |
| 6 | Bruce Nye | 4005.89 | Glitz |
Grab the scoring sheet (.xls 13KB)
Run to SEAT F3F rules (based on BMFA/FAI .pdf 22KB)
Contacts (email)
Club President:
Steven BoagClub Secretary:
Mary BainbridgeClub Treasurer:
Bruce NyeClub Vice Pres./ Webmaster: Chris Adams
Projects Underway: Nexor Pro
After consultation with fellow pilots and rigorous competition-level flight testing, several new refinements to the Nexor design are planned.
Centre-panel dihedral
It was thought that the hands-off/ nod-off-for-40-winks-stability-while thermalling was lacking so the molds have now been modified to incorporate 3.5 deg. dihedral in the centre panel. All it took was a big circular saw, lots of shimming/ measurement, a new full-length cradle top & bottom and courage.
New Fuselage
With a view to making production easier, radio-install easier, ballast insertion/removal easier, reducing AUW by moving servos further towards the nose the Nexor Pro sports a pod/boom design. The mandrel for the boom has been designed and produced ready for the 1st lay-ups.
Mandrel for joiner box
The joiner boxes will also get the mandrel treatment rather than the semi-effective current method of using the molded joiners as plugs. If a mandrel is used, the boxes can remain straight when they go into the lay-up rather than the awkward method of trying to align 2 separate boxes.
More details in the coming weeks.
Stanley 2009
Report: Chris Adams Photos: on Flickr Chris Adams/ Max Wiggins
Stanley Slopefest is an annual slope-soaring weekend event held in late Nov./early Dec. at Stanley; a small but beautifully formed fishing/farming village on the remote North-West of Tas.
For those that arrived on the Friday night the weather was bordering on apocalyptical; very angry skies that grew into a full-blown storm. Those that stayed in a Stanley Cosy Cabin reported their huts all swayed like jellies during the night.
After a thorough drenching Stanley served-up perfect West/ Nth-Westerlies. What followed was a wonderful all-day slope soaring opportunity.
Peaking at around 20-30 pilots, the sky was filled with foamies/ moldies and the occasional 1/4 scale K13 and 4.5m Multiplex Alpina. The SEAT frequency board proved a godsend and there were surprising few clashes.
Only 2 crashes during the course of the event to report; Chris and Steve may have to get the glue-in.
Pilots came from Sth. Aus (Greg), Melbourne (Marcus), Hobart, Wynyard, Latrobe and Launceston to fly off the magnificent slopes around Stanley.
After flying, our group swooped on the Stanley Hotel Bistro for enough good food to facilitate the customary passing-out-after-flying-all-day-ritual.
Sunday was miserable in contrast. Poor weather from 9am with no wind then 2-5kts and mild thermals saw most head off around midday. With only the very lightest foamies, winch launching F3J/B ships and Steve Ralph's ballistic electric wing for entertainment.
Join us next year for some great flying, great views and great Stanley hospitality.
Hi-Res pics (with captions) of the event are here on Flickr. Got pics from the event you'd like to share? Send them in to the webmaster.
Projects Underway: The Machine
The Machine is a fully-moulded 3D modelled and CNC cut 3m glider.
Stephen's Machine is number 5 in an on-going build series. Each build sees small improvements made to the lay-up, hinging & production process. Weights vary according to lay-up; the lightest yet was Bruce's carbon D-box with an AUW of 1.9Kg
Steve flew his at Jerilderie 2009 as a 3rd back-up model. Further experiments with CG & model set-up including ballast loads will push the design envelope.
For further info see Projects.
Projects Underway: The Nexor
Another fully-moulded 3.4 metre competition glider. This time using cheap MDF as the plug material, with the costs going towards a high-quality but easy to fabricate mould. Bruce's prototype was named "Nexor" as a tribute to it's gliding ability (it stays up so long it makes your neck sore).
The Nexor was maidened at the Milang F3J International in March 2009 and performed on a par with commercial models 4x the price!
The next iteration of the design incorporates dihedral to enhance roll-stability further.
For further info see Projects.
Projects Underway: Taslotto
Continuing the theme of using MDF as the plug material, the "Taslotto" F3B ship is based on HN-483 sections and built in one-piece. The Taslotto uses the same v-tail fuselage as the Nexor.
For further info see Projects.