Jerilderie is a small town in southwestern New South Wales and has been the mecca of RC Gliding in Australia since a large RC Thermal Soaring event was held on the local racecourse in 1978.
The first scale glider event was held there over Easter 2005, and every year since, modellers have come with their gliders, tow planes, caravans and tents. The great facilities at the racecourse and mild weather conditions (mid to high 20°c during the day) make it an ideal camping venue. Flying of small electric models starts at sunrise, and the camaraderie, the BBQs, beers and tall stories continue into the night.
2025 was the 20th Anniversary event, and we saw 45 pilots from all over Australia, as well as Ueli Nyfennegger from Switzerland, attend over the Easter long weekend. Conditions were ideal on Friday, Saturday and until mid-afternoon Sunday when a few light showers appeared.
Models ranged from 2-metre vintage gliders to the large 8-metre H-Model Arcus of Jim Houdalakis and the Baudis ASW 22 of John Copeland. Flights of over one hour duration and at heights in excess of 800 metres were not uncommon. The event is quite low-key, but every year, pilots get to choose the Best Vintage and the Best Modern gliders present. This year, the very deserving winners were:
Best Vintage Glider
Brendan Marshall with his scratch-built Super Albatross
Best Modern Glider
Evan Bengtson with his scratch-built, full composite Nimbus 4
The hardest-working tow plane was the new Model Flight Bidule 170, powered by a DA150 engine and flown by Greg Leigh for over 9 hours of towing time across 2 days.
Model Flight was proud to support the 20th Anniversary hats that were provided to pilots and to assist in the funding, with the MAAA, of the Saturday evening meal held at the Racecourse clubhouse.
