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We’ve made some changes to the menu system, now you can find a topic, click it and it will open the info for which you’re looking. Hopefully, this will make it a lot easier to read. After you’ve finished one topic and you want to return here, just click the "close tab" button (X) on the tab at the top of your page.

You can still read the whole Magazine the old way, see at the bottom of the page.

Contents.

Scootaville.

There is now one big change to the event - it will now be a fund raiser for Legacy.

Covid seems to have settled down and as most States are opening up, by Christmas those with the double jab should be able to come and go as they please. Let's hope so anyway.

We're firming up our plans for 2022 and are now leaving on the 16th April, Easter Saturday. We initially thought we could get away on the 30th April but that would conflict with show dates in Kingaroy and Longreach so we're had to bring it on a fortnight earlier. We didn't want to move too far from the end of April as that is the best time weather wise. Any earlier and it would be too hot, any later and it will be too cold. As we're staying in Council show-grounds we have to fit in with the local shows. It's been a bit of a juggling act.

We also found ADF security precautions made it near impossible to leave from RAAF Amberley, which put us in a bit of a spot for a while but thankfully the Ipswich City Council very generously came to our rescue and offered us the Corporate Centre (below) in which to stay for two nights, to assemble, get to know each other, the scooters, the route, how, when and why we plan to do things and from where to leave on the Saturday morning.

We plan now to all meet here on the Thursday the 14th April, before we actually leave on Easter Saturday,  this will be when you'll make friends with your transport for the next two weeks, get to know your fellow travellers and get to like (or hate) your sleeping facilities. We will set up in the large area below. We'll dine that night (at cost) at the nearby CSI Club then enjoy breakfast next morning and every morning thereafter for 2 weeks as provided by our resident cook. Thursday afternoon, Motorcycling Qld will hold classes for all riders, showing how to care for and ride the scooters so we get to Townsville in one piece.

We'll make application to the RAAF to see if we can get the hot air balloon tethered on the oval next to the Corporate Centre (below). As the event will now be a fund raiser for Legacy, Council is going to promote it and we hope to have quite a number of Ipswichians come and meet us. We'll make an event of the Friday and hopefully the RAAF can give young kids a ride in the balloon.

If you're thinking of joining us, there are only a few slots left. We're limited to the number we can take due to the size of some of the pavilions in which we'll overnight so it's a good idea to get your name in now. The max we can take is 40 riders. The cost to ride is $850 per person but we don't need that until sometime in January. Even if you're not sure of your plans but think you'd like to be part of this fun event, get your name in, you won't be committed until January and you can always pull out. And - it's open to both men and women, at the moment we have 13 women riding which is great but we can always fit a few more in.

You find info on the event here (www.radschool.org.au/scootaville) and there is also a link to where you can sign on.

Incorporation.

Our incorporation has finally come through, we're now known as the "Radschool Association Inc" - we couldn't continue using the RAAF initials in our name, even though we had done so for 21 years. That caused a few problems, our Charity classification under the old name had to be cancelled and we had to apply again under the incorporated name, we haven't got that yet. Also, bank accounts had to be cancelled and new ones opened, that is being done now too.

Access to the RAAF's library of course photos.

For some years now, actually since 2014, we've been asking Air Force for access to the course photos held by the RAAF at the Museum at Point Cook. We been promised access many times but always at the last minute we've been knocked back. There's been quite a number of excuses trotted out, privacy was one that was argued for a long time, funny, that doesn't seem to apply to the RAAF's own Image Link pages,  before that there wasn't sufficient available staff staff to help then the available staff were too busy.

We might remind Air Force that to date there have been more than a quarter of a million people look at our Course Photos pages, it is something that is definitely wanted.

A little while back we made another official application for access to the photos and once again we were knocked back, (you can see that letter HERE),  this time due to the fact the material is too fragile for me to handle. I have reminded Air Force that they did train me as a Radtech Air and that I have worked on some very minute and very delicate equipment and that I didn't think using a photo copier was beyond my capabilities. They did also say that studies were underway to determine the best way to determine a method of digitising the 6.5million photos held by Air Force. They haven't started yet - they are still trying to determine how they are going to do it.

Don't hold your breath. 

Costco Offer.

Costco was founded in an old hangar in San Diego in the USA in 1976. It started life as the "Price Club"  and offered items to small businesses at a reduced price. It soon found by including non-business customers, its clientele increased greatly which meant it could buy more and buying more meant buying for less which meant it could sell for less which made it more attractive to buyers who bought more which meant buying more etc etc.

Its operating philosophy has been simple. Keep costs down and pass the savings on to its members. Since becoming Costco in 1997, the company has grown worldwide with total sales in recent fiscal years exceeding $64 billion.

Its warehouses carry about 4,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) compared to the 30,000 found at most supermarkets. By carefully choosing products based on quality, price, brand and features, the company can offer the best value to members.

Costco opened its first Australian store in Melbourne in 2009 and now has 12 stores through all states of Australia, except for Tasmania and the NT.

Costco is very conscious of the hardship and dedication of the Australian service men and women and recently put a deal together for the benefit of members of the Radschool Association.

Go HERE for the deal.

RAM thought for the day.

Yes, I could start my day without coffee

but I like being able to remember things like how to speak words and put on my pants.

Buying a new car?

If you’re contemplating buying a new car, we could save you thousands. The Radschool Association has done a deal with Australia’s biggest car brokers whereby you can purchase a car (your choice of make, colour, specs etc) at fleet discount prices.

One of our blokes made use of this facility recently and bought a Toyota Rav4 and saved thousands. You can too!

To see further details, go to the Radschool Assoc home page (HERE) then click on “New Car Purchase”.

Discounts.

Current financial members can now receive a 12% discount on the base rate of the day when hiring a car from Thrifty. If you’re thinking of hiring a car or an SUV or a people mover, this could save you heaps. If you’re a member, send us an email HERE and we’ll send you the promo code.

Membership.

We hope to sign off on paid membership by the 30 June 2021 so you can now join for free, Free membership is available.  If you wish you can still make a donation when joining, though it is voluntary.

To join, fill in the form below.

BSB: 124-021       Account number: 1048 7401      Title:  RAAF Radschool Association.

Bank:  Bank of Queensland.

and include your name in the "Remarks" window on the deposit.

AND!!  If you work for or know of a firm that would be kind and generous enough to sponsor the Radschool Association, please get in touch.

Errors

Our aim is to have this site error free – but that’s probably impossible. But with your help I reckon we can get pretty close. If you see any errors, be they punctuation, spelling, links that don’t work, facts wrong etc, (no matter how small) please let us know so we can fix them.

Thankfully, Ken Morris, who lives over in the West, proof reads our print before it goes public and points out our many errors, not a lot escapes him I can tell you!   

Thanks Ken.

You can download the full magazine in PDF format HERE.

It is a very large file, contains 262 pages and will take a while to download.

The margins have been set so you can print on both sides of the page.

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