MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

          April 13^th, 2010

Bill Berson, President, opened the meeting at 7:04 pm.

The members present were:  Pendleton, Berson, Stephens, Greene, Johnson, Cindy and Jim Cook, Granger, Olson, Bruce, Berger, Anliker, Becker, Marken, Calkins, and Dantzler.

The Guests Present Were:  Bill Kepner and Colin Anable.

Minutes posted on the web site were approved as submitted.

Treasurers Report:  There were no deposits or withdrawals.  The Bank of America checking account has a balance $ 2,678.22 and the CD in The Quimper account is at $ 6,175.02.  The Board voted to add $ 500.00 to CD account as it is rolling over.

Safety Report:  Seth Stephens, our safety officer, had some insights on battery charging pre-planning.  See the safety report.  Bill Berson passed around some cards regarding Jefferson County Hazardous Waste which includes info for where and how to handle hazardous waste.

Old Business:  None.

New Business:  Alden Johnson soloed recently.  Airport Days will happen July 16^th, 17^th and 18^th.  And, in regards July 17^th, the club will be planning to have a space at the local Jefferson County International Airport.   Specific plans will be discussed at the next meeting.  Jeff Beres put up a dry erase board in the utility building at the flying field.  And, a fun fly is coming up in our near future.  It looks to be happening on Saturday June 12^th, more info next meeting.

General:  Jack Becker shared about getting involved with the kids at The Co-op on Sunday the 18^th of April.  He constructed a batch of the AMA Delta Darts.

Crash of the Month:  Bill Berson took the trophy home.  He said that he was going to take it home anyway since it appeared that no official crashes occurred.  An interesting thing though, there may be a connection between all those “whirly gigs” and losing his main gear on one of his landings.

Service Award: None.

Business meeting closed at 8:00 pm.

Program:  Jim Cook went BABOOM!, then after settling back “down to earth”, he gave the club members some very detailed info on some of his past full size aerobatic competition involvement .  He also had some movie footage, taken by a friend of his in the cockpit of Jim’s Cessna Aerobat.

Next Month Program:  Seth Stephens will be sharing his experience as an Aviation Crash Investigator.   

AROUND THE CLUB

LSunday April 18 was a really pretty day.  There was quite a turnout at the field, but it was windy.  Everyone complained about the turbulence.  Ye olde editor tested the air with his little YAK electric and felt lucky to get it down without being a candidate for Crash of the Month!

This covers just about all of the “flying” action.

LMonday the 19^th was a near perfect flying day that drew a pretty good crowd.  It was so warm we were all running around in T-shirts.  Jim Crumley had already made the maiden flight on his beautiful Cermark Sukhoi when I got to the field.  He told me that the only trim it needed was just a touch of aileron.  He soon put it up again with a smooth takeoff, then climbed north to about 200 feet, and entered a bank to return.  Then we heard those dreaded words “I AIN’T GOT IT!”  The plane turned straight down and impacted just beyond the gates.  Seth, Greg, and Jim went out to recover the remains.  When they came back Seth had the wing and landing gear, Greg had the rear part of the body, and Jim was carrying the Bag of Shame.  The engine, battery, and receiver were recovered from water.  During the post mortem the battery still showed in the green and the receiver still worked.  It looked like a switch problem to me.

I just happened to take this picture the day before.  Jim thought it was too windy for a maiden flight, so he waited until the next day.

JGreg Marken has a beautiful new 60 size cub on electric power.  He tricked it out well beyond what the kit came with.  I don’t know if he has flown it yet.  How about bringing it to the meeting for a little show and tell action, Greg?

JFrom Jack Becker:  Just wanted to let you know the Co-op Kids event went pretty well last Sunday.  I had 20 of the airplanes made, and they went quickly, but it was too windy to fly.  The materials for the other planes were rolled up and handed out as kits, and they went quickly also.  The Aero Museum had their picture boards up in the booth with coloring books on the table, which was popular with the very young kids.  Jim & Cindy Cook showed up to help, although since there was no flying there wasn’t much for them to do besides help me assemble the kits.  The two high school youths from the Museum were very helpful, and they might get at least one new recruit for their program.  The only thing I would do differently is to develop a sturdier airplane; the Delta Darts are rather fragile for many of those kids, and it would be nice if they could fly in a little wind.  I’ll work on that.  Ye olde editor:  Jack initiated and funded this project on his own and represented our club with permission.  Be sure to give Jack a big pat on the back when you see him.

JThanks to Lawrence Pendleton for this announcement:

JFrom my most prolific correspondent, Bob Kampmann:

ENOLA GAY TO FLY AGAIN

Ye olde editor:  I tried to copy Bob’s announcement, but was not able to do so.  I think the included web site will get you the info.

The famous airplane is scheduled to make a one-time tour of the country.

Itinerary:

• Andrews Air Force Base in DC
• Philadelphia, PA
• Richmond, VA
• Indianapolis, IN         
• Lawrence, KS.
• Ft. Leavenworth, KS
• Omaha, NE
• Odessa, TX
• Longmont, CO           
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Davis/Woodland/ Winters, CA          
• Astoria, OR    
• Yakima, WA

FMI: www.enolagaytour2010.aero

JFrom John Fitch comes the 787 wing stress test:

Thought you might like to see a photo of the 787 wing at 150% load.

Yes, the “U” shaped shiny thing in the background is the wing!

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 newbie, but it should be beneficial for all.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

SAFETY—By Seth Stevens

This month’s safety item was suggested by Cindy Cook. It seems simple enough but when you give it some thought it could mean the difference between a simple problem and an equally easy cleanup and perhaps a true calamity like losing your shop or house. We talk a lot about applying good safety practices to things like handling damaged lipo batteries, safely storing nitro fuel and keeping our fingers out of a less than friendly prop but when an accident actually occurs do you have a plan to react properly?  An example that Cindy mentioned fits this scenario perfectly. She and Jim had a good method for charging lipo batteries in a safe container but then they asked themselves what do we do if the battery actually does catch fire? How do we get it out of the house quickly? This took some further thought and developing a plan that should work. Just remember that having thought out a proper reaction to a safety problem in advance may someday save your bacon or at least your favorite model.

FIELD MAINTENANCE

Greg Marken is doing the honors for May.  He has his hands full because the grass is really growing fast.  Be sure to let him know you appreciate his efforts.

EDITORIAL

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—at 7:00 in the SKP Clubhouse

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com