MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the 02-14-06 Meeting of the Tri-Area RC Flyers

The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm at the SKP clubhouse. In attendance were: Cooks (2), Fitch, Calkins, Benjamin, Anliker, Greene, Crumley, Olson, Marken, Kampmann and Maupin. Bob Kampmann's wife, Jean was a guest.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The Treasurer's report showed a total balance of $5801.51. The breakdown was as follows: $1231.51 in checking account, $570 in fuel inventory (38 gal), and $4000 in a CD. Bill said the field rent & Christmas gratuity were paid; we will file AMA insurance and dues in the amount of about $80. The snow fence and t-posts at the field need replacement. A motion was made and seconded for these items, all approved.

Old business

1. Name tags to be made for Austin, Calkins, Maupin. Discussed a fine for not wearing one.
2. 44 members renewed, the roster will be updated and emailed.

New business

1. Work party will be correlated with the purchase of the fencing.
2. Guest applications - discussed changing procedures. A decision was made to have applicant leave room & then the membership votes. Motion made & seconded, approved by all. Another motion was made that the applicant attend 2 meetings before the vote at the 3rd meeting, It was seconded and all approved.
3. Bylaws - discussion of potential issues with members and the flying field. A recommendation was made to add a new rule: "Any member or guest's conduct that puts the club's interest at risk shall be reviewed by the board and dealt with according to the bylaws." A motion was made, seconded and all approved.

Jim Cook reluctantly accepted the invisible Crash-of-the-Month Trophy. The meeting was adjourned and the program was "Show & Tell" with the help of Randy Calkins, Bob Kampmann, & Roy Greene. On display were a gaggle of electric planes and Randy's gas-converted Funtana.

AROUND THE CLUB

>Sorry, no one thought to send me any news. How is Chuck Dantzler’s Astro Hog coming? What other winter building projects are going on? Who has been sick? Who inherited a gazillion dollars? Any action at the field? I’m waiting.

>I brought my distribution list and address book up to date based on the latest roster (Thanks Cindy). If you hear of a member that is not receiving the newsletter, please let me know and I will try to fix the problem.

>Some people had trouble opening the newsletter as an attachment, and I have been sending them a copy in the body of the e-mail—like I did for everyone this time. Sending all the newsletters out the same way saves me time and trouble, but if the new format does not work for someone, contact me and I’ll try to work something out.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>I was finally able to go flying after a 6 week "vacation". My planes had spent the entire time in the back of the car with the rear windows open. The Texas dust that had settled on them was amazing. Rather than going ahead with flying, I first wiped off the worst of the dust. Otherwise, with the oily exhaust combining with the dust, I would have had a major mess. Just something else to think about as you activate your fleet after winter storage.

>Last year we had a problem with birds pulling the pipe insulation foam off the restraining arms of our work/start stands. If the problem reoccurs we should change to carpet or indoor/outdoor carpet. I have seen these used at other flying sites, but no one else uses pipe insulating foam.

>Take a look at your transmitter and notice how skuzzy it looks. A few minutes with a paper towel and some alcohol will clean it up like new.

JUST PLANE FUN—A New Port-a-potty

Bill Anliker and I exchanged a couple of e-mails that resulted in his proposing a change to our port-a-potty arrangements. It turns out that there is a new type of portable throne room made entirely with one-way glass. Bill proposed that we install one of these on the flight line. This arrangement would allow a pilot with urgent needs to continue flying while handling his/her problem.

It seems to this lowly editor that we could embellish the facility to provide greater comfort during our cold, damp winters. A solar panel and a few 12 volt batteries could provide power to a small electric heater, thus providing a level of flying comfort previously unattainable without traveling to southern climes. The same power source could be used on warm days to run a fan, thus insuring that no pilot gets overheated. I would have suggested an air conditioner, but that would probably be over kill given our cool climate. I suppose the facilities could also be used for their original purpose when not occupied by a pilot flying in total comfort.

If the club should adopt this plan, we would have to develop some special rules of etiquette. It really would be a bit unseemly for an experienced instructor to take his unsuspecting student into the facility. In fact, we probably have some narrow minded members that would frown on any two of us using the facility at the same time! Perhaps spousal visitation rights could be arranged without too much commotion, however.

MEET THE MEMBERS—Dick Benjamin

I was born in Santa Anna, California. I went to High school at Garden Grove CA. While there I worked at a feed mill after school and on Saturdays then rode my bike 8 miles to the Fullerton Air Park where I learned to fly in a J3 Cub. I was only 15 at the time and had built and flown rubber powered and U-control models. I believe I always had an interest in aircraft. My first hour in the J3 was stalls, spins and recovery as written in my log book. If I was not hooked on flying before, I certainly was after that flight. I quit school and joined the Navy after my second year of high school. My Dad and I did not always see eye to eye. I made the fateful remark.(for 2 cents I’d join the Navy ! ! ) and three hours later I was on my way to San Diego for Boot camp. When I was discharged my folks had moved to northern California where I met and married Darlene, the love of my life. We had three girls, Sue, Ten and Kim. Dar and I have 4 granddaughters, I grandson, 2 great granddaughters, and 1 great grandson. We owned 4 full scale aircraft (one at a time), the last being a Cessna 182 Skylane. Flying

your own aircraft became a very expensive sport, and I eventually gave it up.

I spent most of my working life as a salesman and was a licensed insurance agent for 30 years. I was introduced to RC flying by our departed past President, Arvin Wylie, and have enjoyed flying models and the close association with our great members since.

As a foot note I lost Darlene Oct.6, 2003 after 53 years of marriage. Though I miss her, I have 53 years of wonderful memories.

EDITORIAL

Are you as excited about the new 2.4 GHZ radio systems as I am? These units totally eliminate interference and frequency conflicts for good. As I understand it, the matching receivers are current limited so that they cannot handle more than park flyer size servo loads. Look for that to change—and soon! There is talk about the radio manufacturers developing modules to plug into existing transmitters so they will have this capability. That may be pie in the sky, but I’ll bet there will be a retrofit program where you send your transmitter in to be converted.

Unfortunately once you convert to the new system your old receivers will be just so much garbage. The new system uses a dual receiver arrangement and I doubt that converting existing receivers will be practical. On the plus side, the new receivers use a pair of "cat whisker" antennas that are very short. This should eliminate the need for unsightly lengths of wire draped about our airplanes.

I view the introduction of this new system to be as important to the hobby as the move from the old citizens band frequencies to our present tightly controlled 72MHZ system, or the move from tube and relay technology to our present ultra reliable solid state equipment.

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 pictures are also acceptable.

>I am still interested in obtaining a good .52 to .56 size 4 stroke engine. Randy had a 4 stroke engine, but it was too big for the airplane. Pete Granger

FAR FLUNG FLYING

>A Wisconsin friend, Ron Jans, sent me the following:

Pete,

I always wondered how often this happens.

Ron

Police and ambulance vehicles rushed to the scene of a reported plane crash in the Vancouver, British Columbia suburb of Surrey last Sunday but were relieved to find that it was only someone's dreams that had been shattered. According to the Vancouver Sun, a woman and her young son called 911 after they saw the 1.5-meter radio-controlled model of a Cessna go down in a field next to one of Surrey's busiest streets. The field is often used by RC enthusiasts. From there, the case of mistaken identity took on a life of its own. Media outlets monitoring the police and ambulance radio channels began broadcasting bulletins about the "crash." And the authorities responded in force. "We sent all our cars down there thinking there was a small ultra light or a small plane that had crashed but after going there we determined it was a model Cessna," said Cpl. Steven Han of the Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (Either that, or Vancouver is populated by giants.)

MONTHLY MEETING—Tuesday March 14 at the SKP Clubhouse

Come hear all the lies as our intrepid crashers try to embellish their accomplishments without sacrificing personal modesty. Yes, there will be a program. El Presidente himself is going to tell us all we need to know to get our feet wet—or is that landing gear? Roy Greene, a very experienced float flyer, will give the program. Do come and learn what you need to do to join in the fun at the Crocker Lake float flies—actually, sitting on the shore and watching is almost as much fun!

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com