MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 6-12-07 Tri-Area Flyers

Attending were Cindy Cook, Jim Cook, Anliker, Bangle, Calkins, Benjamin, Fitch, Bruce, Marken, Greene, Carter, Henley, Austin, Kampmann, Berson, Cochran, Egan and guests Mike Moore and Brian and Rebecca Morningstar.

Treasurer report: $6744.67 total ($200 spent for fun fly).

Safety report: none

Old business: Austin bought Tower Hobbies gift certificates: $150 of $20 certificates and one $50 certificate.

Benjamin said the club hat purchase is delayed till November.

New Business: Cindy said the field operation sign is faded.

Berson said the frequency monitor often indicated channel 21-25 interference but no problem was noted while he flew on channel 25.

Members talked with John Fitch about the treasurer position.

Members talked about the LT-40 stored in the shed and if it could be fitted with a radio to use as a club trainer or sold as surplus.

Kampmann suggested a swap meet for October meeting.

Austin reminded members of the club Fun Fly June 23rd  (Bring your own food and potluck, club will provide grill and paper plates).

Crash of the Month: David Henley took the prize with a Cub that attacked the barrier fence at full throttle.

Meeting Adjourned.

Program: Benjamin described the detail and quality of his scale Cessna 182 ARF. Just $134 from the Nitro Company. 

Submitted by Bill Berson

THE PREZ SEZ

At last evening's meeting, it was decided to hold a Swap Meet at the October meeting.

The membership also decided to sell the Hangar Queens (donated by a member) to new pilots.  The donor was in attendance and agreed with the membership's decision.  Pres. Bob is donating a Tower Hobbies Rx that he removed from another plane.  It will be for the Sig LT-40. It was on Channel 40 but did not come w/ a crystal.  The new owner will have to come up with a crystal, transmitter and fuel, battery, etc.

The Board decided to try 15-minute meetings prior to the monthly club meeting.  This came at the suggestion of Bill Berson. This will be in lieu of the 30-minute meetings we were doing previously.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>From Jim Cook: Henery Hardware in PT has balsa and basswood—not a huge selection, but it might save having to mail order for a few pieces.

SPECIAL FUN FLY ’07 EDITION

Saturday, June 23 was mostly cloudy with occasional light breezes across the runway. With the temperature close to 60 degrees, it was a near perfect flying day. We followed our usual format by having a pilot’s meeting before each event. Special thanks to Gary Austin for getting the prizes (what, no glow fuel?), Stan Davis for timing most of the events, and Grant Smith for doing a lot of judging and dealing with the club BBQ.

The field was a hot bed of activity as 14 (a new record) pilots came together and began to ready their equipment for our annual trial. Everyone helped out, which made the contest almost run itself. Every pilot did his best to win every event, but some planes (it couldn’t be the pilot skill) seemed to have an advantage over the rest of the field.

Randy Calkins won LOOP AND LAND by 2.13 seconds over 5 ½ year old Able Tolpin (better watch out for this little guy in the future). Both received gift certificates for Tower Hobbies.

As expected, Gary Austin was top gun in the CLIMB AND GLIDE event even though he drew a 9 which reduced his 4 minute + time to just under 32 points.

In the MOST LOOPS EVENT, Calkins and Olsen had a shootout that ended in a tie—6 loops in 15 seconds! Both warriors took home Tower Hobby certificates. John Fitch lost orientation and put his P-51 in on the far side of the ditch. Randy served well above the call of duty by retrieving John’s plane. He was muddy and wet up to his knees, but the plane appeared to be undamaged.

Roy Greene, the second pilot to attempt the SPOT LANDING blew us all away by stopping just 2 ½ feet from the center of the spot! Grant Smith was a distant 12 feet for second place. Keith Allred’s 4-40 was the only casualty of the day. It appeared he tried to stretch his glide too far and stalled out. I had intended to make the Crash Avoidance Certificate a pilot’s choice award, but I forgot about it, so I am unilaterally awarding the "Get Out Of Jail Free" paper to Keith.

Gary Austin brought a TON of donut varieties that carried us through to lunch.

The competition was completed at almost exactly 12:00, and everyone started cooking dogs and burgers, and heating buns. We had several salad and chip dishes to share along with condiments and fortune cookies (too late to do me any good). The food really hit the spot after all that strenuous jousting.

All the winners listed above drew blank envelopes containing the certificates, but one contained a $50 voucher, while all the rest were for $20. Randy Calkins, our only double winner, scored big time by getting the high dollar paper.

We had a period of open flying that stretched from the end of competition to after the awards were presented. I think we were all tired as just about everyone was gone by the time I was loaded and ready to go. It was a great day of flying and fellowship—the kind of stuff that keeps us together. If you have not come to one of these extravaganzas, you are missing out on the most fun you can have with an airplane!

SPARKS

The flip side of this was best expressed by Grant Smith, but echoed by many other fuel burning pilots. The concern is how to "adjust" the fun fly rules so the gas burners have a "fair" chance of winning!!!!!! As in the last couple of years, the electric guys have dominated the winners circle. This year only the spot landing was dominated by the greasers, although Dale Olsen did manage a tie on most loops. There is an old saying: If you can’t beat them, join them that seems appropriate here. Stan Davis (the fly low, fast, and turn left guy) finally bought an electric and had so much fun with it he has already bought another one! I’ll bet he enters an electric in the next fun fly…

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 (JPEG) pictures are also acceptable.

MONTHLY MEETING—July 10, 7:00 at the SKP Clubhouse

Officers take note: There will be a board meeting at 6:45. Please be on time.

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com