MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The meeting was held at the SKP clubhouse and in attendance were: Benjamin, Anliker Ryder, G. Smith, Dantzler, Takata, Greene, Fitch, Calkins, Nodell, Cook, Hanke, Granger, Marken and Gilanders. Dale Olson attended as a guest.

The Treasurer’s report indicated $5199.32 in the bank with $302 in fuel inventory for a total of $5507.32.

The first order of business was to welcome Dale Olson into the club as a new member. Lonnie Phillips health situation was discussed and members were urged to send cards, etc. Pete Hanke reported on the status of the potential sale of the flying field.

The auction of Wylie’s model materials was discussed. As soon as a date is set, other clubs in the area will be notified. Chuck D. and Pete G. agreed to help Dick B. inventory the stuff.

Pete Hanke circulated a sign-up sheet for members to indicate the month when they will be responsible for seeing that the field is mowed.

Pete Granger offered the Granger/Petersen how-to-fly book for use by new club members.

The Fun Fly will be held Aug. 6 or 18; to be determined at the next meeting. A work party will be held after the next meeting (probably 2^nd Sat. in May) for clean-up, table work, etc.

Jim Crumley received the Crash Trophy and made history by having the first crash wherein a shovel was necessary to recover the engine.

The Granger and Takata households provided cookies and the meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Bill Anliker, Sec./Treas.

AROUND THE CLUB

We lost Lonnie Phillips on April 18. He had been seriously ill for over a year. He will be sorely missed as a flying buddy and a person who was always ready to do more than his share. Dick Benjamin is helping Gloria, Lonnie’s widow, with the arrangements. Do remember these folks in your thoughts and prayers.

>At our last meeting we started a field maintenance sign-up sheet. The idea is for members to volunteer to take on mowing and other maintenance tasks for a month. Many of our more demanding months already have 2 people signed up, but the more the merrier. Also, if you chose to sign up for more than 1 month that’s OK as well. I understand that the sign-up sheet will be made available at each meeting. Some of our folks might be accused of gamesmanship: I see that Hanke signed up for April which is half gone and our intrepid web master signed up for January, a month of sloooow growth and little flying even if the road is navigable.

>

One of the few serious moments during our April 12 meeting. After the meeting some SKPs commented to me that we always seemed to have such a good time—and by golly they are right! To me, that is what this hobby is all about. That is Dick Benjamin’s new RV-4 on the table. He really did a nice job, but refused to allow it as a door prize!

>Tuesday the 19^th appeared to have flying possibilities, but the closer I got to the field the stronger the breeze was. There were 2 pickups at the field as I turned in, no people or planes visible, and the windsock was nearly horizontal. When I parked John Fitch and Bill Anliker crawled out of Bill’s truck and quickly stuffed their hands in their pockets. We stood around chatting (read whining about the wind) until Ken Oakes showed up. More whining ensued, along with a few tall tales before we broke up. Bummer! However, the runway was freshly mowed and looked great.

>April 22 turned out to be a near perfect flying day, but Dick Benjamin and I were committed to continuing the inventory and sorting of Wylie’s stuff. We stopped just before lunch and decided to meet at the field. Dick got in his first flights since he injured his knee last September—and he made good landings every time. Not bad for an old duffer! My Astrohog behaved itself and it was a pleasure to fly a solid, steady airplane after all the months driving aerial hot rods around the sky.

> There was a pretty good crowd at the field April 23. While there I met Joe Crecca, who is on our waiting list. He is a very nice fellow and I enjoyed talking with him. I got his e-mail address, so he should be receiving the newsletter. Roy Greene was doing some work on "his" mower and told us it definitely needs a new starter—the permanent magnet was broken several places and some of the motor windings were fried.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>Dick Benjamin is storing his wing attach rubber bands in a pint size dairy product container with a snap on lid. He is using talcum powder to absorb the oil off the bands and this arrangement gives plenty of room to shake the contents around ensuring an effective job.

AERONAUTICAL JOKE

Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!

MEET THE MEMBERS—John Fitch

When I was 6 years old a neighbor lady asked me what I was going to be
when I grew up. I said I was going to be a mechanic just like my daddy.
Her daughter said no, you're going to be a mechanical engineer. And so I am.                                                      
                                                                            
I worked 35 years at BOEING on many interesting designs,
including hydraulics, high-pressure gas, cryogenics, mechanisms and
structures. At one time I even designed, had built, and tested a system for
cooling liquid hydrogen from -423F to -430F. 

                               
I started model airplanes with balsa gliders, rubber band powered, and then a .49 Madewell gas and oil fueled ignition engine complete with spark plug, coil and condenser. The airplane was red.    I flew it one time. I made and flew several .049 free flights.  They were successful. When I got old I joined the TRI AREA RC FLYERS. You all know the rest of the story.

EDITORIAL

Last month I suggested that we should impose a 2-man rule at the field. Lew Creedon, our very own mad Englishman, did not like the idea very much. Here is his input:

I go to the field about twice a week Nov. thru Mar. If there were a two rule I would have flown three times in that period. If we had three times as many members (preferably non-itinerant) it might be less intrusive than the orange scar we have inflicted on the valley.  Mad Englishman.

Lew makes a very valid point. I know I have flown numerous times when there was no one else around. It was a risk I was willing to take, but I also always expected more folks to show up any time. If the weather is good enough for a pansy like me then I should have lots of company!

Perhaps the most prudent thing is for each of us to try to set up a few of the guys to meet for each flying or work session—just in case there is no one else at the field. I also think that the club should establish a policy strongly recommending 2 or more at the field for all activities.

What the heck is that crack about non-itinerant members all about????? Some of us just require more sun and warmer temperatures to fly in. I try very hard to only occasionally give a weather report for my surroundings during the winter although the temptation is enormous!

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)—Inverted Flying

Oh, you say, ye olde editor has run out of challenging stuff so now we are down to straight and level flight. Ah, my friends, nothing could be further from the truth. Consider that our planes are trimmed to fly straight and level when they are right side up. I have never flown a plane that was the same on its back. Many folks screw up their trim setting by putting in a little down elevator trim, while others just hold a little down elevator stick (that is my method, but I usually end up in a climb). The ailerons work the same as in regular flight, but the rudder has an opposite effect. The bottom line is that your airplane may wander about the sky like a drunken sailor instead of the precision machine you thought it was.

I try to practice inverted flying every flight including loops and rolls with inverted recovery. However, you will never see me making low, inverted passes down the runway as some hot dogs do. Sooner or later the earth always rises up and swats these planes out of the sky like errant insects.

Wings with a symmetrical airfoil top my list for suitable inverted flying configurations. Semi-symmetrical airfoils are OK as well. Flat bottom wings do not perform as well (or not at all) inverted and under cambered foils are worst of all, although I have flown my GWS Slo Stick inverted for short distances. Do make sure your plane is trimmed out for straight level flight.

There are several ways of entering inverted flight, but the 2 most common methods will suffice for our purposes. A half loop will get you inverted, but you will have to ease the elevator from up to slightly down. Half of a roll will also get you inverted, but here you are trying to level the wings and input down elevator at the same time. I guess the half loop method imposes fewer stick motion demands on the pilot, so that is what we will use in this little treatise.

I do most of my inverted flying about 3 mistakes high, and I sure hope you will as well. Pull into a nice medium size loop and as the plane approaches the top of the loop begin to ease off of the up elevator. If you can get to neutral elevator as the plane reaches the top of the loop and then continue to slowly input down elevator your fame as an acrobatic pilot is sure to spread! Use just enough down elevator to maintain level flight. Don’t try to stay inverted for long at this point, just get the feel of your machine straight and level, then roll out to upright flight. Why not do another half loop you ask? The tendency in an outside loop is to over control and possibly fall out of it. Completing the inside loop that you initiated the maneuver with is OK, but it does reduce your margin of error as you pull toward that unforgiving mother earth. The bottom line is I do not want you folks out hunting for my head!!!

SPECIAL EVENT—Wylie estate model sale

Be sure to save Saturday May 14 to attend the Wylie estate sale. I will send out an inventory to all club members that will also include minimum bids for some of the items. We will be using a silent auction format and the club will be selling dogs, pop, etc out on the patio at the SKP clubhouse. We plan to start about 11:00 am and put a wrap on it about 3:00pm. Profits from food sales go to the club, but all the sales money goes to Fran Wylie. Dick Benjamin, Chuck Dantzler, and I have put a lot of time and thought into this one and we hope that most, if not all the stuff will find good homes. By the way, I am sending flyers to all the local clubs in hopes of increasing the customer base.

MONTHLY MEETING—Tuesday May 10 in the SKP Clubhouse.

I have not heard what the program is, if any, but we always seem to have a good time no matter what.

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