MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The meeting was called to order at the SKP Clubhouse at 7:00PM by President Granger. In attendance were: Granger, Anliker, Benjamin, McIntyre, Nodell, Fitch, Lemons, Gilanders, Crumley, Wylie and Allred, with guests of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cook.

The minutes of last month’s meeting were approved as read. The Treasurer’s report showed assets of $4053.68, comprised of $3619.68 in the bank account and $434 worth of fuel (31 gal.). An audit of the Treasurer’s books from the inception of the club until 11/1/04 was presented by John Fitch and accepted.

Keith Allred was presented with the prestigious Qualified Pilot Certificate.

Lawn Mower A motion to abandon plans to buy a new lawn mower was passed due to uncertainty about the future of the flying field in lieu of the fact that the property is being offered for sale. Roy Greene has offered to work on the red mower and Bill Anliker and Jim Crumley are repairing the Cub Cadet. Thanks were due to Pete Hanke who hauled his own mower from home and mowed during the month.

Field Search Several possibilities for alternate flying fields were discussed; however it seemed prudent to wait and see if the area is going to be sold before dealing on another site. It was felt that the present owner of our field is probably our best bet for another site in the event the present one is sold.

Name Tags Anyone who wants a nametag should contact President Granger with $5 in his hand. Tags won’t be ordered until after the first of the year.

Expenditure Authorization The Treasurer was authorized to make the year-end expenditures necessary for field rent, gift certificate for the property owner, gift for our nearest neighbor and AMA dues and insurance.

Christmas Party This will be held at 6:00PM on the 14^th of December and will be catered at the cost of $10.50/plate to be paid in advance to Dick B. There will be a white elephant gift exchange as in the past, with value not to exceed $10. Gifts should be marked for gender if appropriate. Benjamin graciously donated a new GMS 61 engine for a raffle prize.

Election of Officers After much contentious electioneering, the following slate of officers were voted in for 2005: President - Dick Benjamin, Vice President – Pete Hanke, Sec/Treas – Bill Anliker, Director – Jack Lemons and Safety Officer - Dave Henley.

Crash of the Month Trophy Randy Calkins received the trophy by fessing up to a minor mishap, probably to divert attention from a real crash, which he is keeping secret.

The meeting was adjourned and we all enjoyed Mrs. Granger’s cookies.

Submitted by: Bill Anliker, Sec/Treas.

AROUND THE CLUB

>Friday, November 5 I took Hog Wild out for a couple of quick flights. It was pretty chilly with a light breeze out of the south. The sun was not getting any heat at all to me. There was not even ½ a tank of fuel left in the can, so I had to activate a new gallon with hands and body getting colder by the second. Finally all was in readiness and I lit off the radio. ALL of the servos went crazy. I turned off the transmitter and tranquility returned; turned it on and backed away with all controls twitching. Collapsed the antenna and the action continued. Time to go home! Back home I turned on the transmitter and checked it on 4 airborne packs including Hog Wild. All worked normally with nary a servo glitch!

It is possible that we have something in the area of our field generating radio signals in the neighborhood of our operating frequencies, but that really seems remote—and I have never had the servos go crazy before. The temperature might have had an effect on either the transmitter or the receiver, but it really was not that cold, all of the equipment had just come from a warm car, and the foam wrapped receiver was buried in the airplane wing and thus pretty well insulated.

Sunday the 7^th I took the same airplane etc. to the field, checked everything out, and enjoyed 3 glitch-free flights in somewhat warmer weather. I flew Hog Wild another 5 times with no glitches. On the 6^th attempt the servos went crazy when I turned on….and I turned off.

Ideas anyone?

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>My dremel tool came with a thin, round saw blade that I use to cut fairly accurate hinge slots. I understand that dremel no longer makes the saw blade, but John at Mini Mania tells me that Henery Hardware carries a similar product made by someone else. I bought a new 1-¼ inch diameter .015 thick blade #81-11215 made by Gyros at Performance Hobbies in Burlington that fits Dremel arbors, but it cost $17.50 with tax. Mount the saw blade/arbor in a drill press and set the drilling platform so that the hinged surfaces are centered on the blade. Slide the surface in the full saw blade depth for each slot. All the cuts will be in a straight line and just where you want them. CAUTION—the exposed blade is sharp and very dangerous, so be careful!

>The last Model Aviation magazine (I think it is the December issue) had a bunch of pictures and words about 3-D sheet foam models in the Flying For Fun section. They talked about a supplier/manufacturer called Fancy Foam Models that offers a complete package less transmitter, glue, and charger. Their web site gives details of each airplane package, which range from a bare bones foam kit for $35 up to a complete airborne set including receiver, battery, servos, electric brushless motor, ESC, and LiPo battery for $349. These prices are for their Extra 300L. Check it out at www.fancyfoam.com.

>Jim Crumley put me onto this one. Go to www.horizonhobbies.com, click on Explore, click on How-Tos, and page through a bunch of articles that may catch your interest including several about 3D flying. I focused on "Three Steps to 3D" written by Don Szczur (must be Polish or something).

>

AERONAUTICAL JOKE

A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport.  After it
reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made
an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.  Welcome to Flight Number
293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles.  The weather
ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and
uneventful flight.  Now sit back and relax... OH, MY GOD!"

Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain
came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am so sorry if I scared you earlier.  While I was
talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled
a cup of hot coffee in my lap.  You should see the front
of my pants!"

A passenger in Coach yelled, "That's nothing.  You should
see the back of mine!"

MEET THE MEMBERS—Lou Creedon

I am old enough to have seen the airship "Hindenburg" make a crafty goodwill peacetime reconnaissance of Southampton docks, & to have seen an Avro 504k flying for a purpose other than showing off. I built my first model aircraft at the age of 8; it didn't fly being an own design (presaging more modern efforts). I got a scholarship to a posh school, & was reasonably well educated by Edwardian gentlemen & when I left I wanted to get into the R.A.F. as a pilot. Since I might possibly have objected to fighting to defend my rented slum they only offered me a mechanics apprenticeship. I decided I could get that without the undoubted inconvenience of having to salute. (I forgot to mention that I learned to put out incendiary bombs at the age of eleven & had to duck occasionally to avoid various Teutonic activities. I got an apprenticeship with Supermarine of Schneider Trophy & Spitfire reputation & went unwillingly to engineering school part-time. THIS IS IMPORTANT, I skinned Spitfire fuselages!  

By the time I was 23 I had a half dozen unfortunate draftsmen working under me & later moved into preliminary structural design so my aeroplane appetite was assuaged & I took care of other aspects by getting married. While at school I had built quite a few models & even did rubber-powered control line (you have to be quick). Due to the American habit of selling cheap fighters to Europe & a rather strange British Defense minister I found it impossible to remain in the airplane business & had a wild succession of other jobs. When I was in my sixth job I could look back & see all my previous jobs had vanished! Eventually I decided to join my fifty or so ex-Supermarine colleagues in the U.S. Two layoffs & about four jobs later I was in San Diego where my daughter met & married a young chap who wanted an R.C. plane for his birthday - as they say the rest is history, As the resident expert, completely out of date, I was roped in. Also in this period a friend & I built a fiberglass Dragonfly, a tandem wing biplane that would get 40 M.P.G. & 160 M.P.H. at the same time & never needed trimming. Then we sold it & I came here. I still do consulting for an unjustifiably high rate & if you want a cryogenic suspension done for a superconducting magnet let me know, you will get a very small discount. 

EDITORIAL

I want to thank our nominating committee for doing a heck of a good job for all of us. We had viable candidates for every open slot and even 2 running for the one director position that was open (see the minutes for the results). I also want to thank the candidates for agreeing to serve the club in a responsible position. I think that your service will reward you many times over with warm, fuzzy, feel goods. We have a fine bunch of people in our club and it really shows when we need to do something—like a field work party or a mower repair. I am proud to call myself a member and be able to contribute. You should be also.

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.

MANEUVER OF THE MONTH (MOM)—The Immelmann Turn

Lieutenant Von Immelmann who flew a Fokker Eindecker, an airplane that used wing warping instead of ailerons for roll control, developed this turn around maneuver during WWI. The Eindecker did not have much roll authority, which made this a very sporty maneuver indeed!

From straight, level, full throttle flight do a half loop. At the top of the loop neutralize elevator and put in full aileron (or rudder if you do not have ailerons). Allow the plane to roll upright, and neutralize controls. Note that you have done half a loop, a tad of inverted flight, and half of an axial roll all in one easy, safe movement. Next month we will do the split-s, which is really a reverse immelmann.

Be sure to bring your spouse or significant other. We will not bore them with RC videos, etc. this year. Member wannabes are also invited. This is the perfect time for you to get acquainted.

MEMBER BUSINESS ADVERTISEMENTS

The Board at the August 3 meeting approved allowing club members to place small ads in the newsletter at no charge. The ads will be included in the newsletter so long as the newsletter editor receives a monthly request for each one.

A professionally written manual to introduce all aspects of the RC hobby from getting started through intermediate aerobatics. Download order forms, order on line, or view the Table of Contents at www.thercflightmanual.com

Petersen & Granger, LLC

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com