Dear fellow HKRCSS members,

I have honor here to report to you the development of HKRCSS for the year 2004. As my term is coming to an end, I am delighted and satisfied with the works we have done during my term of office in HKRCSS. Last year, our club has fulfilled its mission in promoting the sport of r/c soaring. Some of our local F3F pilots have an opportunity to race in Viking Race in Germany. The valuable experience gained in this prestigious international F3F contest has given us knowledge in organizing international F3F races and also propelled the standard of F3F skills locally. We have organized various kinds of contests and activities for its members and guests, for examples, the electric glider contest, the hand-launch glider contest, and so on. We’ve also discovered and developed many fantastic flying sites for holding our competitions, for examples, Pak Lap Wan, Lamma Island and High Junk Peak slope. Our membership grew steadily last year - you must have seen many new faces in the r/c soaring arena recently.  The r/c manufacturers and model shops recognized our efforts for promoting r/c soaring and have sponsored many prizes for HKRCSS-hosted competitions and activities. In this opportunity, I would like to express our sincere thank to our guest of honor from Radar Company Ltd.

    Last July, two r/c pilots were arrested for using illegal frequencies. HKRCSS has expressed concern on this regrettable event. Fortunately, OFTA did not proceed to prosecute the two arrested pilots. This event, however, has triggered OFTA to re-think about their policy on releasing more r/c channels, and since then they have released 12 new channels for r/c modelers making a total of 18 licensed channels for us to choose from.  HKRCSS has successfully organized a tsunamis relief donation sale a week after the devastating tsunamis stuck South Asia on 26, December 2004 killing many people and making many homeless. The donation sale has managed to generate a sum of HK$47,740 which was then donated to Hong Kong Red Cross to support their relief efforts there. We are sure proud of being one that could help. For the successful organization of many contests and social functions, I would like to thank our function chairs and committee members in contributing their time and efforts to make all these events enjoyable. Here, lets me summarize what we have achieved last year:

l     A soaring trip to Grass Island (Tap Mun) on Sunday, 1 February, 2003 was organized. About 10 r/c soarers and their guests joined the trip to this beautiful island.

l     A F3F competition was held in Ma On Shan east-facing slope on Sunday, 15 February 2004. A total of 22 pilots participated in the race.  A Hong Kong F3F record was created that day!

l     A bungee and handlaunch glider duration contest was organized on Sunday, 28 March 2004. The contest venue is Sham Chung. A total of 23 participants took part in the boat-ride trip to Sham Chung and 17 pilots joined the contest.

l     An open day was held in Clearwater Bay flying site on Sunday 16 May, 2004. The event attracted a large crowd of guests who are interested in becoming r/c glider pilots. HKRCSS was able to recruit some new members during and after the open day.

l     A F3F slope race was held in Fei Ngo Shan south-facing slope near Jat's Incline Peak on Sunday, 11 July 2004. This is the first time an F3F race was ever run in this slope. 13 pilots took part in the race.

l     A boat cruise and slope soaring trip to Pak Lap Wan, Sai Kung was organized on Sunday 29 August 2004. This event attracted a total of 27 participants of which 11 are members and 16 are guests including many children.

l     HKRCSS organized an electric glider duration and spot landing contest on Sunday, 12 September, 2004. The contest venue is an abundant quarry in Lamma Island. The flying site is on a big grassy field on the other side of Sok Ku Wan. There is no road access to the site.  A total of 41 person participated in this wonderful event.

l     The annual slope combat contest was held on Sunday, November 7, 2004 in Fei Ngo Shan east-facing slope. There were 16 pilots participating in the competition together with many spectators.

l     A handlaunch glider duration contest was held on Sunday, 21 November 2004. It was the first time such a HLG contest was held in Lamma Island. A total of over 35 enthusiastic pilots and their guests participated in this event.

l     A F3F competition was held in Ma On Shan east-facing slope on Sunday, 19 December 2004. The wind was marginal and only 2 rounds of races were run. Totally, 15 pilots participated in the race.

In summary, we are glad that more people are getting involved in the wonderful sport of r/c soaring and more existing pilots are interested in HKRCSS-hosted events. In this process HKRCSS has certainly paid an important role. This recognition, in return, will fuel the club to do better. I would like to thank the committee members for their tireless contribution to the club and, of course, your full supports and participations are the most important ingredient to make HKRCSS successful. In this opportunity, may I wish you a prosperous Lunar New Year with plenty of wind to soar and to land safely.

Chairman (Chester Tai)

15, January 2005