The Tale Spinner
Newsletter of the Tri-Area Flyers

http://triarearc.org
(AMA Charter Number 4063, Radio Controlled Model Aircraft Club)

November 2007 Volume 7 Number 11

Club Officers:

Position

Name

Phone Number

Term Expires

President

Bob Kampmann

360.385.6795

December 31, 2007

Vice President

Gary Austin

360.385.4280

December 31, 2007

Secretary

Bill Berson

360.379.5608

December 31, 2007

Treasurer

Bill Anliker

360.385.0558

December 31, 2007

Safety Officer

Dick Benjamin

360.379.9851

December 31, 2007

Web Master

Roy Greene

360.830.4584

December 31, 2007

Director, Position 1

Jim Cook

360.379.0603

December 31, 2007

Director, Position 2

Greg Marken

360.779.7047

December 31, 2009

Director, Position 3

Randy Calkins

360.437.0706

December 31, 2008

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 10-9-07 Tri-Area Flyers

Attending were Berson, Berger, Benjamin, Anliker, Jim and Cindy Cook, Bruce, Pendleton, Granger, Fitch, Olson, Egan, Smith, Greene, Marken, Ryder, Bangle, Kampmann, Cochran.

Treasurer report: $2132.80 bank balance, $4209.23 CD, $6342.03 Total.

Old business: Dick Benjamin gave an interesting talk about his 100 day adventure in Talkeetna and Whittier, Alaska, including fishing for halibut and recovering wings on a full scale Piper and while also getting his float rating.

Safety Report: Kampmann reminded members about helicopter safety and the need to keep spectators behind the flight line.

New Business: Tim Bangle described the need for porta-potty repairs.

President Kampmann had several items as follows:

1) Banquet is 12- 11-07; payment of $15 to the treasurer is needed before Dec. 1 for members attending.

2) Nancy and Rachel from SKP and Roger Short and his wife are also invited to the banquet.

3) Club Day: After discussion of low field use, members voted to designate Saturdays (9:00am till ?) as "Club Day". Club day is loosely defined as a time for members to get together for shared flying and hanger flying. Also novice flyers can expect to receive assistance on club day and members may use the time to accomplish fieldwork as needed.

4) Talk of a new weather link.

5) Associate membership to be offered to the Shorts.

Treasurer Anliker read the bylaw updates and members approved the changes without opposition.

Crash of the month: Gary Austin (not present) received no votes for a lost and found glider. Greg Marken won unanimously with a Great Planes Venus 40 that spun-in.

Meeting adjourned.

Program: Swap meet.

Submitted by Bill Berson

"You know you are a horse person when you say "whoa" to the dog."

Anonymous

THE PREZ SEZ

Back before dirt was young, I had some contact with John Worth when he was AMA President, and found him to be "one of the good guys". I have the greatest respect for him and his opinion, so I'm going to vote for his candidate and I hope you will, too.

Apparently the AMA ballots are in the mail to AMA members. The choice to me for President is clear: Dave Mathewson.

For those of you who respect my opinion, please vote for Dave Mathewson. I know him very well and have worked with him on many AMA matters over the years. He's the man we need to breathe new life into AMA, which has gone stagnant in recent years.

As a former AMA President and Executive Director of AMA for 27 years, during its period of greatest growth and achievement, I am sure that Dave is the right person for the job.

John Worth, AMA 13

AROUND THE CLUB

>It appears that the Chimacum weather reporting station is a thing of the past. King 5 no longer shows it, and when I attempted to use a ZIP code change I came back to Blue Heron MS in PT. Prez Bob put me onto a new site that is much faster than the old one. Go to http://www.rssweather.com/rss.php?config=&forecast=zandh&place=chimacum&state=wa&zipcode=&country=us&county=53031&zone=WAZ510&alt=rss20a first, wander through various choices (that is a way for me to say I don’t know how I got there), then type in the Chimacum zip code (98325) in the space provided, click on "GO", fill in several blanks, and eventually the report should come up with a web site ID http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/local/98325. While I was doing this search I also came up with http://www.weatherreports.com/98325 that also provides Chimacum weather! I do not think the latter site updates the information as often as Bob’s site.

Prez Bob did not join us flying on the 22^nd because the weather site was indicating 21 mph wind when all we actually had was a light breeze! It never hurts to look out the window to check the weather. Bob ignored the computer and had a great day flying on the 23^rd.

>Chuck Dantzler finally finished his SIG Astrohog, and it is a beauty.

Chuck took out a lot of the dihedral in the wings, changed the landing gear to tail dragger, added a nifty instrument panel, and fabricated the windshield from 4 pieces of 1/16^th thick Plexiglas.

Notice the very nicely coweled engine, another of Chuck’s innovations. He says it is a very docile flyer, and it certainly appeared to be well behaved.

>Our first "Club Day," October 13, was a huge success. At one time I counted 10 cards on the frequency board. John Fitch counted 12 members about the same time. Parking actually got to be a problem! The weather was perfect, and I’m sure that helped a lot.

We had a quorum of officers present and voted to buy a brand new porta-potty rather than attempting to patch up the old one once again.

I helped Tim Bangle trim out Ed Stuck’s old Seniorita, and did the takeoff and landing so he could get a flight in. Although it had been 25 years since he had flown, he maintained orientation and control very well.

>Bill Berson has been having some interference type problems. Here is what he has to say: I tried to find the source of the continuous interference on channel 25 after my plane glitched (landed ok). I took the frequency checker and drove home to Port Townsend; the checker indicated interference all the way to my house! Then I changed crystals to channel 36 and went back to the field. As I drove near the field the checker indicated on about 5 different channels. I flew for a while on channel 36 and got glitched--landed ok again. I am not sure if there is strong interference from local cell phone/pager towers; pagers operate at 72mhz also.

A bunch of us flew on the 22^nd with no problems. Bill joined us at the field on the 23^rd, and had troubles even though he changed receivers! No one else had any radio issues—and there was a lot of flying going on! As he was leaving I suggested he might have a switch problem, as that was a piece of the system that had not been changed that could cause these symptoms. Have not heard back, yet.

>The moles are working overtime at the field. If memory serves me (most of the time it does not) Chuck Dantzler was able to eliminate them the last time. How about taking another run at them, Chuck?

>A month or so ago Gary Austin had his electrified Bird Of Time high and far away when he sneezed. The plane instantly disappeared and remained invisible until the October meeting when Pete Bruce brought in the sad remains.

Pete found it next to the storage shed. The thinking is that someone came across the crash site, and knowing where the field is, dropped it off. There really are good Samaritans out there!

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 Dave Carter: This is to let you know that my e-mail address has changed FROM carterds@cablespeed.com TO carterds@q.com.

>From Chuck Dantzler: I have a new email address: jeandantzler@gmail.com

>My son Joe in Denver sent me this one. It is a long download for those of us on dial up, but the airplane is really something. It is a 400 plus pound B-29 with nearly as much engine displacement as the early VW beetles! The video shows engine start up, checkout, and takeoff. The video didn’t end there, but my patience with the download did!

Click on: http://www.break.com/index/worlds-largest-model-air-plane.html

>Nate Moffett sent me this web site. It is the explanation for a lot of UFO sightings in the Orange County, CA area. This is a must read.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1886384.php

SOARING

We have a lot of glider guiders in the club, but I am not one of them, so they are underrepresented in the Tale Spinner. Why don’t you folks band together,

and ship me some gliding stuff? I know some of you attend competitions and fly-ins. How about announcements before the event and reports afterward? I like JPEG pictures also.

JUST PLANE FUN

My friend Ron Jans in far off Wisconsin tells me his son Jeff is at it again (you do remember the trials of the chicken squadron and Lieutenant Cluck don’t you?). This is Jeff’s latest:

So how important is the CG on an airplane? Read on…

After purchasing my new “used” E-flight mini Funtana at our club swap meet I was anxious to fly it. It came with servos, ESC, receiver, brushless motor, pretty much everything but the battery. A few weeks later, after I cleared off my workbench, I started working on it.

It needed a little TLC on the cheap control horns supplied with it, which I decided not to replace until I fly it, just in case I don’t like it. So I secured them the best I could to tighten up the control surfaces and made a few other minor adjustments. Other than that the plane was in pretty good shape. I did have to switch out the Hitec electron 6 receiver because it was for one of those low-grade “Futaba” brand radios. Now it has an electron 6 receiver for the high quality JR radio systems…yeah baby!

Well, all I need is a battery, but I’m still not sure if I want to keep the plane. What if I don’t like it or it doesn’t fly well. I would hate to invest in a good lipo just to find out the plane is less than superb in the air. Then it came to me…my dad has a lipo! And I’m not talking about the one lost out in the weeds from the structurally unsound Zagi that he made me fly earlier this year! Yeah…he probably has a couple of them he isn’t using. I could just bum one off of him and give it a test fly, and if I like it I’ll buy my own! Now that sounded like a good plan to me. Well, once I extracted the battery from his vice grip fingers I was on my way home to set the whole thing up.

Dang! The battery is too big to fit in the fuselage! Oh well, it was worth a shot, but at least now I can set up my controls on my JR radio, (which took very little time due to the user friendly interface), and make sure the motor works. I downloaded the instructions for the ESC off the internet, plugged in all the servos and the ESC to the receiver and prepared to plug the battery in. It says to have the throttle set at full on the radio and then plug the battery in……hmmmm…… this sounds bad, but I kept reading. Once the battery is plugged in the ESC will disable the throttle until you bring it back down to idle. After two seconds and three beeps the throttle is activated and you are ready to go.

I think they forgot the step that says point the airplane away from you just in case the thing decides to take a crap and the plane lunges at you like a piranha on a feeding frenzy! And how are you supposed to hold the airplane securely when both hands are busy plugging in the battery? I guess this is where faith comes in. So after pointing the plane to the item in my shop that I least care about, my son’s Futaba radio, I plugged in the battery. Wheeew! It worked. Now bring the throttle down to idle…..Beep, Beep, Beep. Ok….let’s give it a try. Vroom…hey, it worked! Vroooooom…man, feel that thrust. Vrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmm!!!

After spending the next 10 minutes picking up all the loose paper products off the floor of my shop I decided it was ready for the first test flight. But what about the battery? I don’t think Pops has a smaller one. After scanning my shop, like when you’re looking for something you know you probably don’t have but continue to look anyway because you hope you just might have it, I spied it. There on the peg board was a Li-Po battery that I had won at a club meeting last year. It was a little small for what I needed but after doing the amperage calculations it should work, as long as I don’t hammer on the throttle too much. At least I could see how it flies. So last night I put it on the charger and mounted it in the plane.

This morning I gathered the plane and radio (JR) and put it in the car. I figured I could stop at the field before I go to work and get a flight in, before the hurricane winds kicked up. When I got there I was all alone. I pulled the plane out of the car and paused. Maybe I should put some duel rates in the radio, just in case the plane is a little sensitive. The programming was done quickly and I was off to the bench. This time I had the security of the run up bench to hold the plane just in case the ESC decided to go postal on me. I plugged in the battery, set the throttle to idle…beep, beep, beep. I was ready to go!

OK, hand launch into the wind. The first three feet of flight went pretty good…then it all broke loose! In the words of Vince Lombardi, “What the Hell is going on out there!” Up, down, up down, this thing can’t make up its mind. Ok…quick, low rates….up, down, up, down. Man these little planes are sensitive. Ok Jeff, settle down, nice and easy, slow movements…Oh My Gosh…there goes a flight line violation. What is with this thing? At one point I even convinced myself that it needed a little up trim. Up trim my butt! I took my hand off the stick to give it a few clicks and it started swooping like a falcon on an injured rabbit. Ok, I had enough…time to land this thing. I cut the throttle and plopped it on the ground. A quick look at my pants and no wet spot, good, it went better than I thought.

Ok, evaluation time. After a few minutes of pondering it hit me! I never put any expo in the controls! Everyone knows you need expo on a 3D plane! So I took a minute and programmed in a little expo, 30% should be enough. The plane was still on the ground about 20 feet from me, and ironically, facing into the wind. Cool, I can just jam the throttle and jump this sucker right off the ground. Yeah…it jumped off the ground all right! Shortly after, and I mean really shortly after, I realized there must be another problem with the plane. My expo adjustment made absolutely no difference what so ever. After another lap of frantic unintentional 3D activity I got it back on the ground, except this time the plane ended up upside-down. And still no wet spot, I am one lucky dog!

At this point I had an epiphany. I don’t think I ever checked the CG! But how far off could it be; it’s just a little electric plane. I put it up on the table and picked it up by the wingtips. The tail never left the bench. So I kept moving my fingers back farther on the wingtips to see where this plane would balance. How about a quarter inch in front of where the ailerons attached?

Yes, CG does matter

FAR FLUNG FLYING

Last month I had a write-up on the club I visited while on Maui. I sent a courtesy copy to them and got the following in reply:

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the kind words about our club. Actually the runway is 30 x 600 feet, and if I had been there you would have seen someone have trouble hitting it. It looks 10 feet wide to me some days. I’m pleased you enjoyed your trip.

Aloha,

Eric Chase

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The annual Christmas Party will be December 11 at 6:00 p.m. The cost is $15 per person for a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings. Rachael is a heck of a good cook, so get ready for a really delicious meal!

Do plan on coming, and by all means bring your family and drink of choice. The Shorts have been invited and have accepted. This is a good opportunity to get acquainted with Roger and his wife.

I think Bill Anliker will be collecting money for this one at the next meeting or two. I have not gotten any word on whether we will have a gift exchange or not, but I hope we do—it is a hoot!

EDITORIAL—The end of an era

Bill Anliker attended the club’s organizational meeting and was elected Secretary-Treasurer at that time. He has served continuously and well in that post until a couple of years ago when he gave up the secretary’s job while continuing to serve as treasurer to the present. Our assets during these years have risen from absolutely nothing to over $6,000 in the bank, a substantial storage shed, a relatively new riding mower, other donated equipment, and an outfitted flying field complete with safety barriers, assembly stands, and numerous starting benches. In addition, Bill acquired fuel for sale at a profit to the club, and significant savings for the membership.

His service as secretary should also not be overlooked. He developed a format for the minutes that persists to this day, and maintained the minutes even from those earliest meetings.

Bill has served long and with only the best interests of the club at heart. The December Christmas dinner spells the end of Bill’s tenure. Be sure to give him a pat on the back and a big thank you!

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—November 13 at 7:00 in the SKP Clubhouse

Officers will meet at 6:00 to review officer job descriptions.

This is our annual election night, so be sure to turn out if only to defend yourself. Our nominating committee has done a great job. Their super slate of officers is:

Jim Cook - President
Bob Kampmann - Vice President
Larry Berger - Treasurer
Greg Marken - Secretary
Pete Bruce - Director
Grant Smith - Director
Dale Olson - Safety Officer

We will have the usual Crash of the Month hijinks, and who knows what else may appear to mesmerize and mystify us.

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com