MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 03-14-06 Meeting of the Tri-Area RC Flyers

The meeting was called to order at 7:04pm at the SKP Clubhouse. Attending were: Cooks (2), Fitch, Calkins, Anliker, Greene, Austin, Crumley, Marken, Tolpin, Dantzler, Ryder, Olson, Smith, Reinach.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The Treasurer's report showed a total balance of $5573.63. The breakdown was as follows: $934.69 in checking account, $570 in fuel inventory and $4068.94 in a CD. AMA dues & insurance were paid in the amount of $92. Nametags (4) came to $20.69. Bill gets reimbursed $184.30 for fencing, fence posts and stamps. All approved.

Old Business

1. Old sign (Wylie) to be varnished by Hanke.
2. No safety report.

New Business

1. Bob Reinach brought a donation of an OS engine book and Airtronics case.
2. At the flying field: Anliker & Crumley put in the new fence and Anliker refurbished the windsock. (Thanks!)

The Crash-of-the-Month Trophy once again went to Jim Cook. It was suggested he take his wife out to dinner each time he crashes (yeah!). The meeting was adjourned. For Show & Tell we had our first brief indoor flight thanks to Jim Tolpin's twin motor mini-plane. Gary Austin's beautiful & very large motorized (Axi brushless motor) sailplane was on display, Jim Crumley brought his aerobatic-to-be G-202, and Roy Greene had a series of floats with instructions on how to build them as well as fly the planes you attach them to. We tried to find times for maiden flights of the G202 & the sailplane - you'll just have to get lucky going to the field!

AROUND THE CLUB

>You must be having a terrible winter. I got this from Cindy Cook: "It’s still freezing cold here, but Jim is flying an electric helicopter in the bedroom now... "

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>A few days ago, after a normal flight, I landed Hawg Wild II. I taxied the plane to the pits, shut off the engine, and reached down to turn the switch off. No switch! Both screws and the switch plate were missing and the switch had fallen inside. I guess we really do need to go over our airplanes very carefully, but in 25 years of active R/C flying this has never happened to me.

JUST PLANE FUN

An Oklahoma modeling friend, John Morris, sent me this picture of our Duncan, OK Balsa Bugs MAC from about 1952. Can you pick out ye olde editor????

That studly young fellow standing in front of the window is the real me, but now I am trapped inside this fat old body.

MEET THE MEMBERS

I solicited 2 members this month, but received no replies. I thought this would be a fun part of the newsletter, but it has been a major headache for me. Soooo, MEET THE MEMBERS is concluded. Sorry it did not work out.

EDITORIAL—Flight Line Safety

I know that you do not enjoy all the little notes and speeches about safety, but I am going to approach the subject a little differently this time, so please stay with me.

How is your hearing? Do you have trouble hearing your engine when someone else is flying or running theirs? Are you able to hear all the flight line signals like "landing" or "on the runway?"

How is your vision? Are you able to maintain airplane orientation while you are flying? Do you have trouble judging distances? Do you land on the runway as often as you used to?

How are your reflexes? Are you losing planes because of faulty or late reactions to situations? Have you recently stalled on landing (I’m having trouble with that one)? Did you get the Crash of the Month award because you pulled out of a dive 1 foot below the grass?

The fact is that we are all getting older, and as aging affects set in, our flying capabilities are diminished. There are no exceptions except for those that are looking at the grass from the wrong side! If you are having any of the problems described above, be sure to discuss them with your health professional during your next checkup, and if the problem is acute don’t wait, make the appointment right away.

Suppose you have exhausted the improvements the medical folks can make and you are still having trouble? Some folks learn to compensate for their new physical reality such as the person that looses an eye, but relies on the apparent size of the airplane in lieu of the depth perception provided by 2 eyes. Others are able to continue with a buddy to serve as a lookout, or through some other means.

The joy and freedom of flight is not really lessened all that much if one must move from hot dogging to more sedate airplanes in order to be able to continue to fly. Some folks regress all the way back to trainers and old timers, but they are still able to enjoy flying. However, if we live long enough, there will come a day when we most turn the field over to younger, more capable pilots.

What is the bottom line here? It is that ultimately we are individually responsible for evaluating our physical capabilities and thus determining what, if anything, we are able to safely fly. Don’t be in a rush to hang it up without exhausting all the possibilities noted above along with others that you may think of. Running out of flyable airplanes is a pretty clear signal that a change is needed. You will likely start getting frustrated and stop having as much fun if you continue to try to fly airplanes that are beyond your capability. Be honest with yourself and think through the whole thing.

Above all, remember that you have spent most of your flying field time chatting with your fellow flyers because it was so much fun. Don’t stop coming to the field just because you can no longer fly. The bull sessions will continue and will be just as enjoyable as ever.

FAR FLUNG FLYING

>Russ and I journeyed to the AMA (Arizona Modelers Association) Field to watch part of the Scale Masters Qualifier contest. There were 40 to 50 beautiful scale models entered, but the flying was not very impressive with a couple of exceptions. We saw no crashes the 2 hours we watched, but there were also no bounce free landings!

This very nice Ryan STA in army trainer colors (PT-17?) put in an adequate flight. The plane that impressed Russ and I was a Great Planes ARF Pitts Special that did a slow roll at about 20 feet that stretched the entire length of the very long runway, then on his next pass held a knife edge the same distance and altitude. That pilot was good! (but he still bounced on his landing)

It is based on pictures taken during an air show at Edwards AFB and contains some interesting information about the B-2. The download is not real long, so go for it!

FOR SALE OR TRADE

If you want to list an item, just send me the details including your name, phone number, and asking price or trade-for item. Low pixel count digital pictures are also acceptable.

MONTHLY MEETING—Tuesday April 11 at the SKP Clubhouse

I’ll even make this one! Stand by for the usual hi-jinks that surround the COM (Crash of the Month) award. Lou Creedon will thrill us with tales of the Hadley Page biplane airliner and his experiences with a model of same which I assume will also be present. The June 2005 Tale Spinner had a picture of this very nice rendition of a classic airplane. Remember, 7:00 pm Tuesday April 11 at the SKP Clubhouse!

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com