MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Ye Olde Editor

AROUND THE CLUB

>Saturday April 26 was a super flying day and the troops really turned out. There was a lot of flying going on with a couple of planes up nearly all the time. One of the most exciting events was when Jim Cook brought his electric powered glider SMOKING in for a landing. On examination half the prop was missing and the other half plus the plastic spinner was kind of melted. Occasional smoke wafted from the motor and there was an odor like hot brakes as the post mortem took place. Finally Jim pulled the motor out of its foam cocoon and let it dangle by the wires. Of course Bob Kampmann had to touch the motor to see if it was really hot (it was). Jim said he wanted to replace the 6volt brushed motor with a brushless type, so he was using an 11-volt battery as an experiment—at least that was his story.

>Charter member Frank Merrill had a plane at the field Sunday May 4. He said this was his first time in 5 years. A balky engine kept him grounded.

>Also seen at the field on the 4^th was Don Schmaltz, our annual Canadian visitor. Welcome back Don! If you don’t know him, by all means get acquainted—He is a good guy.

>Bob Kampmann lost control of his plane and it went in about 2 fields north of us. He was unable to find the plane, but later Larry Pendelton found it. The next day (I think) Larry put his plane in—in the same area (!) with an assist from ye olde editor.

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 long time member Bill Smith: Don't know if you've seen this, but I think it's one of the most incredible exhibitions of RC flying I've ever witnessed.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/754244/red_devil_in_action/

JUST PLANE FUN

>Passengers on a small commuter plane were waiting for the flight to leave. They were getting a little impatient, but the airport staff had assured them that the pilots would be there soon, and the flight could take off immediately after that.

The door opened, and two men walked up the aisle dressed in pilot uniforms - both wearing dark glasses. One was using a seeing-eye dog, and the other was tapping his way up the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spread through the cabin as the men entered the cockpit.

The door closed and the engines started up. The passengers began to glance nervously around, searching for some sign that this was just a little practical joke. None was forthcoming.

The plane moved faster and faster down the runway, and the people at the windows realized that they were headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport. As it began to look as though the plane would never take off and that it would plow into the water, panicked screams began to fill the cabin.

At that moment, the plane lifted smoothly into the air. The passengers relaxed and laughed a little sheepishly, and soon they had all retreated into their magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane was in good hands.

Up in the cockpit, the co-pilot turned to the pilot and said, "You know Bob, one of these days, they're gonna scream too late, and we're all gonna die

SPARKS—Dumas Aeronica C-3

When I looked the plans over I noticed there were some 1/16" square sticks here and there. Hmmm, some 3/32" squares as well. Yikes!!!! I have not dealt with wood sizes that small since I was a little kid building rubber powered free flights with fingers that were a whole lot smaller than I have now. The outlines of the elevators and vertical stabilizer are 2 laminations of 1/16 x 1/8, and the wing tip bows are 2 laminations of 1/16 x 3/16! This is going to be one lightweight, fragile puppy. It also has a lot of tiny little wire fittings that need to be fabricated, including a 6-piece landing gear that must be bent up and soldered, and a 2-piece tailskid.

According to the designer, Pat Tritle, the fuselage shape is so complex that it must be assembled in a jig that is part of the kit in order to make it straight. The wings are long and narrow. The 2 outer panels plug into the center section that is part of the body. The instructions warn that the wing rigging (thread) is functional, i.e. don’t try to fly the thing without the support of the rigging or bad things will happen!

I have completed the wing structure and was disappointed in the fit of the laser cut pieces. It was so sloppy that I used medium CA on most joints.

The 8 x 6 GWS prop gets hung on a small, geared, brushed MPI motor that will be energized by a 700 MAH 2 cell Lipo. The designer claims that this wimpy combination has plenty of power to takeoff of grass—we’ll see. Since this is a park flyer, I have finally invested in the Futaba 2.4GHz radio. I found that I was very uncomfortable flying at "informal" areas during my travels, so the new radio will open things up a bit for me.

EDITORIAL—Guests

As you know, I travel a fair percentage of the year with my airplanes. It is usually pretty time consuming to contact local flyers, learn the field location, and get authorization to use the field. Access to many flying fields is through a locked gate, so arrangements must be made to meet a member at the field. I miss a lot of flying days just because I’m not in the area long enough to jump through all the hoops. If I have a planned itinerary it is easy to look up clubs along the way and get in contact.

We had a couple of guests at the field this weekend (May 17 & 18). The first was a young (about 12) boy with a little plastic electric twin. Chuck Dantzler helped him and tried to get the thing to fly. Although it got airborne a few times, the flights were only seconds long. Our second guest was a gentleman from England who was a pretty good 3-D pilot. I’m sorry to say that I got no names.

In both cases people came to me asking if it was OK for them to fly. Our British friend had AMA membership, so we registered him on the guest clipboard as we had already done for the boy a day earlier. The thing that bothers me is that our members are so hesitant to welcome visitors to our field. Perhaps our by-laws should be more positive and welcoming.

APPENDIX A ARTICLE 4 of the By-laws reads:

Guests must have a current AMA membership, use legal radio equipment, and be hosted and accompanied by a club member. Guests must be logged in by their hosts and are restricted to three (3) flying days per year. Other guest’s arrangements can be made with approval of two club officers.

As a rule SKP members have been treated as though they were club members, as is Don Schmaltz—but that is not what the by-laws say. The restrictive wording was developed when we started getting a lot visitors from the general area, usually people that were members of another area club, that preferred our field. We have not had that problem for several years now. Perhaps we should give some thought to a friendlyer guest policy.

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.

I will bring a few CDs of The RC Flight Manual to the next meeting. They are for sale at $10.00 each.

MONTHLY MEETING—June 10 at 7:00 in the SKP Clubhouse

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com