MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 5-8-07 meeting of the Tri-Area Flyers

Attending were Jim and Cindy Cook,  Austin, Smith, Kampmann, Anliker, Olson, Calkins, Moffett, Dantzler, Granger, Marken, Bruce, Henley, Davis, Maupin, Carter, Greene, Oaks, Berson, and guest interested in membership, Tom Egan.

Treasurer’s report: $2469.81 bank, $150 fuel,  $4209.23 CD, $6829.04 total

Old business: President Kampmann said a new treasurer will be needed when current treasurer Bill Anliker retires after 9 years service. John Fitch (not present) was suggested as a capable treasurer with experience.

Fun Fly and potluck event was set for June 9th starting at 9:00 am. Members authorized $200 prize money for events yet to be determined.

New business: Calkins had the new frequency checker but had not tried it.

Bill Anliker was presented with a trophy for the "Tractor Crash of the Year". Apparently the tractor veered into his flight path.

Grant Smith received the Crash of the Month trophy after a suspected aileron reverse takeoff with a new Venture 60 by Bruce Tharpe.

Meeting Adjourned.

AROUND THE CLUB

>From Randy Calkins: I took the frequency checker home Tuesday night,
put batteries in, and 22 or 23 lit up with
the occasional 21 or 24 also. I drove around some
and found that they do not always light.
I would conclude that something is putting out
a signal that floats around these numbers and
it is probably not safe to fly these channels.
The checker is in the medicine cabinet if someone
else would like to test it in other locations etc.
I only have channel 50 and it picks that one up ok.

NEW MEMBERS

I hope to obtain a brief bio and a picture of our new members to enhance their introduction to the membership. This is voluntary on the part of the newbys, but it should be beneficial for all.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>From the Prez:  Aeroviroment UAVs

http://www.avinc.com/uas_products_category.php

>Air Force Test

This will drive you nuts, but have fun anyway!

The object of the game is to move the red block around
without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls.
If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. It's been
said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are
expected to go for at least 2 minutes. Give it a try but be careful...it is addictive!!

Click on: http://tinyurl.com/56t9u

JUST PLANE FUN

I feel it is my duty to bring a curious model airplane disease to your attention, as I have never seen it mentioned in any modeling publication.  As you are aware, most of our flying takes place in a rural setting.  I have discovered that occasionally our planes become infected with the dreaded affliction I call Tractorphobia.  The first symptom of the infection seems to be a reluctance of a model to conform to the pilot's commands.  It could be manifested by an errant swerve during the takeoff run or a quick little uncommanded wing dip.  We have all experienced these symptoms and usually the models get over it on their own.

However, if the disease progresses further, the model may become aggressive and actively seek out any farm machinery to attack without provocation.  If no farm machinery is available the model may actually seek out a farm field and attempt to do it harm by diving at full tilt into the dirt, causing a large divot in an otherwise pristine field.  Under these circumstances some pilots will holler "I ain't got it!" while others will claim system problems or pilot error.

We had such an occurrence in our club recently when a long-term pilot's plane actually struck our landlord's ancient tractor.  This pilot was not aware of tractorphobia, and confessed to pilot error.  It pleased me a lot to be able to remove the terrible burden of guilt my old friend was carrying.

Gary Austin presenting the prestigious TRACTOR award to a deserving Bill Anliker.

A better view of the TRACTOR trophy. That is the club’s new frequency checker next to it.

I sent the pictures and a similar write-up to Gordon Banks, publisher of R/C Report. Here is Gordon’s take on the problem:

Model airplanes have servos, servos have magnets, and magnets are attracted to old tractors. Seems simple to me! But maybe I'm more practiced than most at coming up with excuses for crashes.

Wait. Did I say that out loud?

Gordon

FUN FLY NEWS—June 23 at 9:00am

At the May meeting the membership requested the exact same events we had at the ’05 and ‘06 competition. The original date set at the meeting was June 9, but I had a conflict, so the date was changed to the 23rd. Sure hope this works for everyone.

Certain types of planes have distinct advantages in some events. One could even envision a different airplane for each event! Soooo, folks will be expected to fly the entire contest with the same airplane unless said craft becomes a leading candidate for the dreaded Crash of the Month award.

Pilot takes off, does a loop, and lands.  His score is the time in seconds for the flight.  Low score wins.

Each pilot has 30 seconds to take off, climb as high as possible, and KILL his engine (or motor). The longest flight time to a runway landing wins. Timer will count down the last 10 seconds of powered flight aloud for the pilot. Engines not shut down in time and off-the-runway landings disqualify the flight. Two attempts will be allowed. After landing the pilot will roll dice to learn the divisor for his raw time; highest time after dividing wins.

Do as many recognizable loops as possible in a 15 second period. The loops must be normal inside loops with a more or less vertical orientation. This event will require both a counter and a timer. 

Be sure to include your family in this fun day—they have a lot of fun, too! This is a BRING YOUR OWN PICNIC affair. However, do bring something to share (I am partial to pies in case you are wondering). If you need to BBQ something, it is your responsibility to drag out the club cooker, fuel it, and light it. Clean up and tuck away will also be your job.

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—June 12, 7:00 at the SKP Clubhouse

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com