During the year 2009-2010 the club has continued its now 50 year old tradition of providing a venue for both flying and socialising for control line aeromodellers from near and far. Membership remains stable with a few new faces appearing and some others taking a sabbatical from flying though we know they will be back.

At last year's AGM the President reported on the status of the review of the use of the St Ives showground initiated by the Kuringai Council, then in its preliminary stages. Concern was expressed as to the possible fate of our flying field.

Club representatives (John Nolan, Ric Bonomo and myself) have participated in a number of discussions with Councillors and Council planning staff over the last 12 months. The excellent turn out of both members and other flyers during the Council inspection visit to the field left them very favourably impressed and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated on the day. These activities, together with the excellent presentation booklet prepared by John Nolan, means that we are now confident that the Council and its planners are well aware of our needs.

The draft plan for the area is summarised on the diagram you see on the club house wall. The only significant change from this draft is that the Mini Wheels Club is to remain in its present location.

The plan put forward to Council mentioned the KMFC as follows:
4. The existing Ku-ring-gai Model Flying Club arena will be shared with an area for temporary stage or screen events such as concerts and/or outdoor cinema. The Ku-ring-gai Model Flying Club need level grass landing strips in good condition to operate safely, so regular communication as well as co-ordinated scheduling and restrictions for hiring will be negotiated between hirers, Council and Ku-ring-gai Model Flying Club. The maintenance of the area after events will directly link back to hiring costs and bonds to ensure good grass cover.

5. The existing Ku-ring-gai Model Flying Club building will be supplemented with additional storage space and consideration for toilets, in character with its existing fabric, should funds permit.

Thus it appears that our site is safe for the foreseeable future with the only concession being that the field may be used infrequently for light entertainment such as outdoor movies or band concerts. KMFC will have first priority on ground use scheduling and any other events will need to demonstrate that they will not damage the venue with this being policed by Council officers. This is I think an excellent result and a tribute to all those in the club who had an input into the discussions and activities.

KMFC staged it usual series of events over the year. It is interesting to note that more than half of the CLAS scheduled events for the year are run by KMFC. The Burford Day was again well attended and enjoyed by everyone. Last year's record for the number of planes in the air at one time was not broken though we came close. Next time perhaps. Gordon Burford may no longer be with us but his influence and engines will live on.

Racing and combat have been going from strength to strength this year and we now have a group of very competent racers who are winning or placing in lots of events.  At the recent state titles John Goodwin won Combined Speed, John and Wal Bollinger were 2nd in Diesel Goodyear and 3rd in Vintage A (Div 2) team racing.

Stunt has been a little less active but we have been heartened by the return of the Batty family to the circle. Mark won the NSW F2B expert title and James came 3rd so they certainly kept the KMFC flag flying. Club stunt has also been popular with John Goodwin winning the trophy for the most successful club stunter of 2009.

The decision was made to replace the KMFC newsletter with a revamped website with among other things a discussion forum. As webmaster Jeff Reeves has completely revised the website and done a great job of it. Although the old newsletter may be missed the website is faster, more informative and importantly requires less resource to maintain. I urge members to contribute to the forum and keep the interaction going. Already we have some informative and interesting posts for you to look at.

As usual many members have contributed to the overall running of the club and the events it sponsors. My sincere thanks to you all. A special thanks goes to the members of the committee, John Nolan continues his outstanding work as Secretary and Treasurer, Joan McIntyre for her support and judging expertise, Ric Bonomo for his representations to the Council and Jeff Reeves for revamping our website.

Grant Wyllie
July 2010