MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The meeting was called to order by Vice President Hanke at 7:00PM at the SKP Clubhouse. In attendance were: Hanke, Anliker, Fitch, G. Smith, Takata, Henley, Davis, Dantzler, Greene and Cook. Dale Ohlson was a guest.

AROUND THE CLUB

I need some input from you people while I am out of the area or this bucket will just remain empty. I would love to hear from any of you just to keep up with how things are going, who is sick or recovering, your latest project, etc. I do miss you and our field gossip sessions.

>Wednesday February 23 I tore out to SMASH (Small Model Airplane Society of Harlingen) Field hoping to get a flight in before the wind cranked up. Well, by the time I introduced myself to the troops and got set up the wind was really blowing, but I was desperate to fly and did. The wind was a lot stronger above the field than it was on the runway and a Cuban eight really got stretched out. The ground wind continued to increase even during the short time I was up so the landing had to be now or never. I used much of their very long runway and the entire width landing, but I got it down with only a dead engine for damage. The locals tell me they can usually fly in good conditions only from 7:00 to 9:00 AM (!) and all of you know what a slug I am in the morning.

I still have about 10 days left here and hope to fly some more at this superb field. Next month I will put pictures of this Taj Mahal of flying fields in the newsletter—the pictures are ready to go already.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>In the November Tale Spinner I talked about patching minor covering tears and holes using clear packaging tape. This material works well, but it does not stretch to conform to curves. Russ introduced me to a clear, vinyl tape made by 3M/Scotch that is very flexible and does stretch. It is sold by the True Value stores and probably others. The label has "Scotch Plastic" and "Cat. 190" on it and the tape comes in several widths. Mine is ¾ inch wide and Russ has a roll that is 1 ½ inches wide.

AERONAUTICAL JOKE

O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, Eastbound."
United 239: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this... I've got the little Fokker in sight."

MEET THE MEMBERS—

EDITORIAL

I belong to 2 clubs in Mesa, one for the flying field and the other is for the completely outfitted model shop (for $5 per year). The shop is a "T" shaped room, which is really hard to capture in a picture...

This is one end of the top of the "T". Notice the vacuum hoses for dust removal.

The simulator station is at the other end of the top of the "T". We had a lot of fun checking out the latest software.

There is nearly always someone in the shop and there were quite a few projects underway including a Great Planes profile P-38. Many of the guys store their planes in the shop, and some even leave them there when they leave in the spring.

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)--Rolls

Last month we talked about knife edge flight as a prelude to rolls.

There are lots of different rolls—lets see, there are cinnamon, sweet,…..OOPS, I meant axial, slow, point, and barrel both right and left. Finally, we might differentiate between beginner and expert rolls. For example, a beginner doing an axial roll will typically put the aileron stick all the way over until the airplane completes one revolution more or less on its longitudinal axis, then return the stick to neutral. Most planes will recover in a somewhat nose down attitude. The expert will put his tail feathers to work to hold the airplane exactly horizontal and dead on the longitudinal axis. A good flyer like Russ Petersen can do a slow roll that stretches to the edges of vision while holding true on the axis and never losing an inch of altitude! Perhaps the best way to learn to do better rolls is to practice the 4 point roll. This allows the pilot to put in distinct tail feather commands that, when practiced until they are automatic, will enable the blending of the commands so a beautiful slow roll can be performed.

Initiate the maneuver at least 1 mistake high, near full throttle, horizontal, and parallel to the runway. For a roll to the right, input right aileron until the wings are vertical, then return to neutral and crank in left (top) rudder momentarily. The top rudder must be used the same way you do a knife edge, and that is why knife edges had to precede rolls. Now hit the right aileron again just until the airplane is wings level inverted and follow with some down elevator, then back to neutral. Again hit the right aileron until wings are vertical, back to neutral, and right (top) rudder. One more shot of right aileron brings the plane back to horizontal flight to complete the maneuver. It takes a lot of practice to get this one right, but once you climb the mountain you will have developed skills that will enable you to correctly perform a broad spectrum of flight best described as airmanship. If you have access to a simulator the learning process might be speeded up with some practice on it.

MONTHLY MEETING March 8 at 7:00 in the SKP Clubhouse

I’m sure Pete Hanke has some entertainment lined up that will knock your socks off, but unfortunately I cannot tell you what it is! Since the weather has been so clear, I imagine there has been a lot of flying, therefore a lot of crashes. You know who you are, but so do others. You demolition guys had better show up so you can tell the folks how much worse the other guy’s crash was!

MEMBER BUSINESS ADVERTISEMENTS

The Board has 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