MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 2-13-07 Meeting of the Tri-Area RC Flyers.

Attending were: Cooks, Kampmann, Benjamin, Ryder, Greene, Calkins, 
Fitch, Olson, Berger, McIntyre, Marken, Austin, Anliker, Hanke, Oaks, 
Berson. Guests were Pete Bruce and Greg Hare.

The Treasurer distributed a report detailing the finance trend of the 
last four years. Fuel use is down to 20gal from 43gal in 2005.

Old business: none
Safety report: none
New business:   VP Gary Austin requested volunteers for field mowing 
this year. Please contact Austin to sign up.

Benjamin initiated a conversation about his desire to increase flying 
activity at the field. Hanke suggested that we sponsor another club 
to come for a fly-in, he will report on this idea in March.

Crash of the Month: Bob Kampmann took the prize with his Firebird 
Freedom park flyer.

Discussion: Hanke described his RCV (rotating cylinder valve) engine 
installation in a P-51.

Meeting adjourned.

Raffle:  Kampmann donated a Hobby Lobby Vicky Two for the club raffle 
and the winner was John Fitch.


Program:
Gary Austin brought his 99" Windfree electric motor glider and 
described the construction and recent flights. He said the motor will 
take the ship to altitude in just 5-7 seconds, followed by an 
unpowered flight of an hour in the thermals.

Jim Cook displayed his new E-Flite Tribute foam aerobatic park flyer.

Submitted by Bill Berson

THE PREZ SEZ

It has a nice looking wing, but there are minimal flight controls apparent.

AROUND THE CLUB

>Dick Benjamin sent me this web site:

Subject: Spitfire

http://www.hsfeatures.com/features04/spitfiremkidg_1.htm

It took the builder 11 years to finish his Spitfire, but he did a superb job. You owe it to yourself to check this one out.

>From Randy Calkins via President Bob:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:lHEQB9AeHx8J:www.deeteeenterprises.com/images/PDF.Flyers/Flyer%2520for%2520Expo.doc+Northwest+Model+Hobby+Expo&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

This web site gives all the skinny on the NW Expo, which will be held during March in Monroe. Dick Benjamin, do you think this would be a good place to sell the rest of Wylie’s engine collection?

>From Bob Kampmann: 2 beautiful flying days at the field!!  YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaY!

>Thanks to Dick Benjamin for this 2006 Reno air race web site:

 http://photografik.net/reno/ 

>Thanks to John Morris in Duncan, OK for this Edwards AFB air show B-2 web site:

>The e-mail address I have for Bill Smith (billkat@cablespeed.com) no longer works. Anybody have a good address for Bill?

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>I just came across some information that Russ Petersen sent me last March. This is a source for the old Bridi kits:

I checked and the web site is still up, the prices look reasonable, and most of the Bridi designs are represented. Joe Bridi is the designer of the Kaos series in various sizes among others.

>The January ’07 issue of MODEL AVIATION has a really good looking hinge alignment tool across the top of page 103. The tool is sold by Central Hobbies in the form shown in the left hand picture, but a clever modeler modified his as shown in the right hand picture. The bar that forms the narrow slot appears to have been silver soldered on, but without an actual unit in hand it is hard to be sure. Anyway, this one deserves a second look. The down side of this type of tool is that you cannot use it close to the outboard end of a surface, and it may bump into an obstruction inboard as well.

>A lot of people here are using Air Hog electric planes as park flyers. The planes feature 2 motors which are alternately slowed or speeded up to turn the plane. Pushing the stick forward speeds up the motors and causes the plane to climb, while pulling the stick back slows the motors and causes the plane to come down. Note that the climb/dive convention is the reverse of what we are used to!

FAR FLUNG FLYING

I am presently in Rockport, TX about 20 miles NE of Corpus Christi. A friend of mine, John Richards, flies a Wattage Lite Stik in the local baseball field, and I will join him with the baby YAK as soon as I can get it trimmed out. For now, I am flying at a nearby field that has a flat, smooth sand area for a runway. It is just a few hundred yards from the coast and is subject to flooding. The locals have erected a small shelter with 3 work/assembly tables, and a few old plastic chairs. A couple of 1 inch diameter plastic pipes have been driven into the sand as an airplane restraint.

It was breezy the day I was there and so I pulled out Hog Wild. Unfortunately the starter refused to turn over and the glo plug igniter seemed to be flat, so I switched to the electric Stick 10. It was really too windy for the little plane, so I only put in 2 short, bumpy flights, but the landings were pretty good considering the conditions.

LANDINGS—The Flare

Have you ever studied the way birds land? Since they are far more proficient as fliers than we can ever be, there is much to be gained from observing their actions. Sometimes they just flop down any old way—I have even seen them bounce (hop) back into the air just as we do on a less than perfect landing! More frequently they seem to take pride in doing a really good landing as they glide down to the ground slowly increasing their angle of incidence until they achieve full stall and zero ground speed just at touchdown.

Most of us will rarely, if ever, land as well as a bird that is intent on not damaging its legs, but it sure gives a heck of a goal to try for! Dick Benjamin was right on last month with his advice to "HOLD HER OFF." The idea is to ease in up elevator so the plane is skimming the ground in a nose high attitude as it slows and finally settles back down on Terra So Firma. A well executed landing always draws applause and compliments at the field.

The glider guiders have their own methods since they don’t usually bother with any sort of landing gear. I especially enjoy watching them catch their planes in lieu of actually touching the ground, a technique that probably calls for more expertise than any normal landing.

EDITORIAL—Adaptations

In our area we are blessed with relatively benign weather. Oh, the wind blows some, and it gets pretty chilly in the winter. However, things are a bit tougher in some other places.

Summers in Arizona are hot enough to melt the fillings in your teeth. People adapt to the conditions by flying in the early morning before things heat up. The folks in SMASH (Small Model Airplane Society of Harlingen), a South Texas club also fly in the early morning, but for a different reason—that is usually the only time the wind is not blowing. The modelers up North get bitter cold and snows. They divide the year into building and flying seasons. Some clubs take issue with this attitude and make a point of flying in conditions that would be considered rugged for even the most hardened outdoorsman. I have seen their improvised shelters, always equipped with a heater of some sort and often there is a pot of chili heating on a camp stove. Clubs in hot, desert areas provide their pilots with lots of reminders to drink plenty of water when out flying.

…and then there are the club traditions. A lot of clubs endorse New Years day flying sessions including the club in Soldotna, AK (!), and another in Milwaukee, WI. The Coos Bay group has an informal competition to see who is the first to fly in the New Year. This year 5 or 6 of their members went to their field and put in a flight only to find they had been aced out by their president who put in a dawn patrol.

These people are not really crazy, they just want to fly and do what they have to do for some air time. I know the guys in Alaska wore artic survival suits, and probably used transmitter covers equipped with hand warmers. The Coos Bay newsletter spoke only of quick single flights before returning to the warm car for the trip home. The bottom line is that our sport/hobby is a year-round activity. Why don’t we organize some sort of winter fun fly or fly-in? I’m sure we have enough folks that would like to get together for a flying session. We could even set up the shed as a shelter complete with a heater and hot coffee—just get the gas out of the shed first!

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.

This is a very detailed ARF, complete with all hardware.  Wheels, gas tank, aluminum engine mount already bolted to the firewall, etc.

I think it was sold by Global Hobbies (what is now known as Hobby People) 20 + years ago."

I'll bring it to the March meeting.

Cheers,

Bob

MONTHLY MEETING—March 13, 7:00 at the SKP Clubhouse

I have no information on the program, but I’ll bet we have one!

granger@olypen.com