November 4,5 and 6th 2016 saw 37 R/C pilots from all over Australia converge on the Cootamundra Sate Field which is just south of Coota itself. The field is situated in a river flat bounded by hills to the west, and a sight rise far in the east. The main road south is about 500m to the east. John Mainwaring and his team worked frantically to prepare the site as there had been heavy rain in the weeks leading up to the competition.

By the time the West Aussies arrived early the field was looking pristine. Two EAST-west runways were mowed into the ample grass. And with the warm weather arriving snakes were likely in the long grass. Needless to say our landings were on the strip and not in the grass.

The camping area filled progressively during the practice week, with the WA boys chewing through the fuel. The weather stayed nice till the end of the week, and started blowing quite briskly on the second day of competition. Enough to distort the Aerobatic box far off to the left on the Advance/Unlimited flight line. The wind dropped in the evening and made the freestyle event a pleasure to watch, beer in hand. Smoke on. Congratulations to the freestylers, this is a highlight of any competition. Tim McDonald flew brilliantly as did Aaron Garle. How hard is it to judge the artistic merit of a flight. Good to see the younger competitors show their skills in this event.

The ASAA dinner was held in the Coota Pub. The bus trip in as well as the dinner had us entertained by small drones flying about. The NSW vs the rest of Australia saw NSW win the "Boat Race". The return trip to the field was provided by friendly local volunteers. Our guide took us past Don Bradman's birthplace and we got to know some of the local history.

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