09.10.2025
VMAA News VMAA President & Committee Update September/October 2025 Hello Members, I’ve just returned from the Golden Planes Model Aircraft Club, where a Memorial Fun Fly Day was held in honour of the great Murray Ellis. The event drew around 100 pilots, friends, and family members. It was a truly special day, filled with heartfelt stories and cherished memories. Congratulations to GPMAC for hosting a great event and for supplying a delicious lunch. I’m certain Muzz was looking on with a big smile. The event season is now underway, kicking off with Shepparton Mammoth at Valley Radio Flyers (VRF). Congratulations to the VRF team for their outstanding efforts in upgrading the strips in time for the event. By all accounts, the results were excellent. Club events are being held across the state on most weekends through to Easter next year. Please get out and visit a few different clubs and meet some of the great people in our sport. Now’s the perfect time for clubs to get their 2026 event dates published on our website to help avoid scheduling clashes. Events Menu – Add Event | VMAA VMAA AGM The VMAA AGM was held on September 11, 2025. Your committee members are: President Tony Wilson Vice President – SFI Les Marriner Secretary Anton Koller Treasurer Mark Peterson Registrar Ian Mackay Contest Administrator Bruce Smith Committee Member 1 – Area Approvals Mark Sills Committee Member 2 – Webmaster Phil Mohr Committee Member 3 – SHMI David Law Club AGM’s After club AGMs, please update the new committee member details in the MAAA database so we can email key information to members. Expression of Interest to become an MAAA Instructor Members who currently hold Gold Wings in any discipline and are interested in becoming an MAAA Instructor may contact the State Flying Instructor for further details. Applicants are required to have support from their club and be nominated as suitable candidates for this role. One course is scheduled before Christmas, with another planned for March or April next year. The exact locations will be determined based on the level of interest and the number of applicants. Clubs requiring instructors urgently can communicate their needs. To express interest, please email Les Marriner at sfi@vmaa.com.au. VMAA Subsidised E-Flite Apprentice Training Aircraft Three clubs have taken up the offer to run a try-fly event and purchase a VMAA subsidised training aircraft. This initiative has been made possible by the generosity of Modelflight. The VMAA is helping clubs grow with a Ready-To-Fly E-Flite Apprentice (Mode 1 or 2) for only $250 — available to clubs that run a Come Try Day! To qualify: Promote a Come Try Event Host the Event at Your Club Send a Short Report with Photos to the VMAA Online application available here: VMAA Trainer plane sponsorship | VMAA Need support running your try fly day, look for the try fly day grant under VMAA “Services” VMAA Try Fly Day Grant | VMAA Note for All Registrars / Secretaries – Recently, there have been several requests to reprint member cards. To access and reprint your card, log in or create an account in the MAAA Membership Register and follow the instructions found in the “Help” section. Downloading MAAA Card PDF As of V3.8.28, coinciding with the start of the (2022)/2023 financial year, members can download their MAAA card when logged in, or from the link sent to them by the MAAA Secretary/Registrar. When logged in as a member, your card can be downloaded from the Member Details or Club Member Details pages by clicking the button located on the left side of the page. The PDF will download to your Downloads folder, which you can click on to display. It does not display in the current page. Club registrars can also download your card if required, but it is intended to be the role of the member to do the download. To access the button, the checkbox Member details in the new page in membership listings needs to be checked to display member details in the page that contains the download button. Once downloaded, you can then store the card PDF on your phone, etc. or print if required. All MAAA members will receive an email with the download link to download their card as a PDF file. You do not need to have a login to download your card; all you need to do is enter your AUS No and the Captcha code, then click. The URL takes the form: https://htvp.com.au/MAAAmembership/DownloadCard.aspx?CardID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx where the CardID is a globally unique identifier used to locate your member details and generate the PDF. If you open the card PDF using Adobe Reader (or Acrobat) the Valid to date will show green if today’s date is less than or equal to the Valid to date and red if later. Other software will not necessarily display the colour because it may not support the JavaScript embedded in the PDF. Your card will show your current ratings. If you subsequently gain wings or another accreditation, those ratings will then show on your card the next time you download the PDF. (Requires the ratings to be entered into the system by the issuer of the accreditation or their representative.) For all Registrar enquiries, contact Ian Mackay – email – registrar@vmaa.com.au All clubs are advised that New Junior memberships are free for the 2025-26 Financial Year. (See my earlier emails on how to register new Juniors). Please do not remove the MAAA junior $15 charge when registering new junior members; it remains in the database so that the VMAA can pay it. If you are unsure about how to proceed, please don’t hesitate to contact the State Registrar for assistance. Any Database or member registration queries should be directed to Ian at registrar@vmaa.com.au. Phone – 0407861131. If any club needs help updating their information or requires any other assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. First-Time Junior Membership Discount Offer We have a 20% discount offer on the E-Flight Apprentice and Real Flight Simulator for first-time junior members to ease the cost of their first aircraft. More information here: Get off the PC and Get Into RC | VMAA Upcoming Events 11 October Echuca Moama MAC Come Try Day | VMAA 17 – 19 October Mount Wallace Festival of Flight | VMAA 18 -19 October VJAA- 25-year celebration- Wangaratta Airport 24 – 26 October 2025 ASA SCALE NATIONALS | VMAA 1 – 2 November Warbirds over Bairnsdale | VMAA 1 – 2 November Echuca Aerobatic “Smackdown” | VMAA 9 November P&DARCS Scratch & Kit Built Rally | VMAA 15 November “MossKosh” Annual Fun Fly | VMAA 22-23 November BRAG Fun & Float Fly 2025 | VMAA 24 – 25 Jan 2026 Bairnsdale Glide In 21 February 2026 Corangamite Annual Fun Fly | VMAA 7 – 8 March 2026 Bairnsdale Action Scale Rally 20 – 22 March 2026 Wang Jets 21 March 2026 Warrnambool FunFly Weekend | VMAA 17 April 2026 MONTY TYRRELL SCALE RALLY – 2026 | VMAA Until next time, Safe flying Tony Wilson VMAA President If you require additional information, please get in touch with the VMAA Secretary at Secretary@vmaa.com.au. The next VMAA Executive meeting will be held on Thursday, 09 October 2025, starting at 7:30 via Zoom Videoconferencing. Any business items to be tabled must be submitted in writing or by email to the VMAA Secretary 21 days before the meeting. If you have a story, article or a flyer your Club needs to advertised, please send it in and we will try and include it. |