Task Force 72

The Mission Report for FB – Perth 18th February 2018
The venue Jackadder Lake – the day started extremely overcast but got better and warmer– water conditions clear with very little wind.

Skippers in attendance with their charges were Glen – HMS Hermes, Andrew – HMS Manchester, Nige – HMAS Toowoomba, Rob – Peter the Great, Serge HMS Brilliant, also in attendance were Graeme, Bob who was slightly under the weather (Bug) and Bob H and his wife - welcome all.
There was also another attendee who was not invited and caused a fair bit of mayhem and he was from the firm of Murphy’s Law.
Started the day when Andrew got Manchester under way and she commenced circling, got her back to shore – her port rudder had turned 90 degrees, got that fixed and Manchester sailed without incident for the rest of the day. Peter the Great completed a couple of sail pasts – when she went hard astern for no apparent reason and then proceeded to rush stern first into the reed beds – Rob had no control at all, some damage was sustained but easily repairable.
We helped Rob switch her off and Rob’s recue tug Smit Finland towed Peter the Great back to the anchorage – diagnostic checks the anchorage revealed no answers. As I write this report, Rob has confirmed the Port ESC malfunctioned due to wiring – he may elaborate later on the forum. Rob has also got Peter the Great operational again this evening – well done
Next it was the turn of Toowoomba, with rudder jams. Nige managed to sort it out and Toowoomba completed the day.

With Hermes being the star of the day and with the escorts Manchester, Toowoomba and Brilliant managing to sail the day without further incident.

Unfortunately these events are a part of our hobby and when they occur you wonder if you model will get back to shore and in what condition - it gives one a very sick sensation.

On a positive note The Coordinator for WASMEX (WA Scale Model Exhibition) Mark visited us to confirm our attendance at the exhibition – 28th to 29th April -Task force 72 will be one of the bigger displays for the 2 days.
Till next time!


Enjoy the photos

Cheers

Serge

Just to add on Murphy's visit today the rescue tug had a drama at the scene of salvage operations. Smit Finland (The tug) sucked her own tow line into her props. This was due to an unplaned transmitter movement whilst reconnecting the tow line. This was solved in five minutes and the tow was under way.
Cheers Glen

A day of drama and fun all mixed in. Murphy did indeed make his prescence felt. This was offset however by the great company and banter, as always. Some wonderful models, with one of my favourites, HMS Manchester steaming around the lake with purpose. I always enjoy her rare appearances.
Nige

MikeJames wrote:Typical Russian Navy deployment, they don't go anywhere without a salvage tug,

Mike

Well we cannot go breaking tradition.... Actually PTG seems to be a reliable workhorse in the real world, the Russians put a lot of effort into her maintenance, it's the Kuznetsov that doesn't get the love and breaks down.

The model has also done a lot of running over the past 6 years, sailing two to three times per month, running for several hours per sail day, so it had to happen sooner or later I suppose. The trick is not to make it a habit...

Cheers

Robert