The Tale Spinner
Newsletter of the Tri-Area Flyers

 http://triarearc.org

(AMA Charter Number 4063, Radio Controlled Model Aircraft Club)

September 2003, Volume 4, Issue 9

Club Officers:

Position

 Name Phone Number Term Expires
President Arvin Wylie 360.379.0701 December 31, 2003
Vice President Pete Granger 360.379.3185 December 31, 2003
Secretary/Treasurer Bill Anliker 360.385.0558 December 31, 2003
Safety Officer Ken Oaks 360.437.9699 December 31, 2003
Web/Newsletter Editor Bruce Pyles 360.437.8109 December 31, 2003
Director, Position 1 Grant Smith 360.437.2162 December 31, 2004
Director, Position 2 Dick Benjamin 360.379.9851 December 31, 2003
Director, Position 3 Randy Calkins 360.437.0706 December 31, 2005

Meeting Minutes:          (Next Meeting: October 14, 2003, Excapees RV Park)

 

Minutes of the 8/12/03 Meeting of the TriArea RC Flyers

A brief meeting was held at 6:00 prior to the Show-and-Tell session at the SKP clubhouse. Attending were Wylie, Anliker, Calkins, Moffett, Allen, Granger, Benjamin, Oaks, Fitch, Henley, Phillips and Takata. Prospective members attending were: Gary Austin, Astolfo Rueda and Jim Cook.

 

Thanks were given to those who helped paint the field structures and the mower repair was discussed.

Harry Takata had indicated that he would be going on non-flying status for about a year and it was decided that we could bring in a new member in his place; however, his name would remain at the top of the waiting list so he can get back into flying status when he is able.

There was a discussion of the Fun Fly arrangements and Randy said he would try to get the sanican pumped prior to the event.

Pete Hanke was the worthy recipient of the Crash-of-the-Month Trophy for his attempt to fly his Pete-N-Poke at a high rate of speed without control surfaces.

The meeting was adjourned and the visitors were shown the members projects.

Submitted by Bill Anliker, Sec./Treas.

 

CLUB FUN FLY

Submitted by: Bruce Pyles (Contest Director)

The Annual (2nd) Fun Fly event was held on Saturday, August 16th at the field.  The planets all aligned and the weather and general conditions were PERFECT!  Just like last year a lot of effort was put into the day assuring that all who attended would have an enjoyable and exciting day. 

Right from the beginning it was easy to tell that this day would be FUN.  There were around 25 spectators who all brought chairs and settled in to witness the festivities.  There were eight (8) contestants this year, six from the club and two visitors that joined in.  The visitors, Terry Lore and Jim Cook, brought electric planes to compete with, that really raised the bar in a couple of events.

One enjoyable aspect to this years events was the fluid nature of the rules.  Depending on the event, it helped keep the field competing on a level playing field, from the perspective of the Contest Director anyway.  Notice in the picture my accurate score keeping; and watchful eye of Pete Granger.

The first event of the day was the "Loop & Land".  Last year to have what was considered to be a "good time" you had to take off, loop, and land within 25 to 30 seconds.  Clearly during the off season there was a lot of practicing going on; we had average times by the glow engine flyers of around 17 seconds!!!  However it was difficult to compete with the electric visitors.   The best "time" of the day was 6.5 seconds turned in by Jim Cook and his electric.  The best "glow" time of the day was turned in by yours truly; 9.1 seconds.  (There was some question as to the rules here, however after listening to the WHINING for a few seconds, the CD did the right thing and declared the contest over and declared the winner; himself naturally.) Who said you had to land on the runway to win? Any questions? 

The "Limbo" was the second event of the day.  Here we tried a new "plastic" tape that in theory was supposed to be strong in the wind because it had to spanning the entire width of the runway, yet weak enough to break when hit.  Well, so much for theory.  It would be fair to say that this event ate contestants planes for lunch.  We lost 25% of the fleet.  (Another conspiracy of the Contest Directors of course)  Notice however in the end the winner of this event was the one who provided the tape.  (Very suspicious)  Our President, Wylie, walked away with the awards, and his airplane in tact.

The President showing his winning form.

The CD trying to get "low & slow"

Lonnie "oh so close, but NO CIGAR"

Ouch!! That hurt.....

.....really bad!!!

But not as bad as this.

Not even the "electrics" were safe.

One by one the competition was removed.

 

The "Balloon Pop" was next; and just like last years event, the safest place to be was where the balloon was.  We had half a dozen balloons ready and really only need one!  The closest we came to popping the balloon was when Jim Cook bounced his slow flying electric tiger moth off of it.  There were just very few ways to rig this contest; so by default Jim one.  (What until next year.)

Finishing up the day was the "Drag Race".  Now this was fun!  Some contestants tried to compete with there wings on, however the best way to win was with to remove them and go for the gusto.  (You see, one rule here was that if your plane left the ground you were disqualified. How covenant.) In the end it came down to the two .61 powered planes of Lonnie Phillips and Bruce Pyles.  Both loud and fast when they reached the finish line it was Lonnie who won by a body length.  It appeared in the end that Bruce might have been trying eliminate the competition here by chasing the tail feathers of Lonnie plane with his propeller.  Say it ain't so! 

By now it was time for lunch.  What a feast!  All who were present were treated to a barbeque of salmon, chicken, hamburgers, sausage, and hot dogs.  Thanks to Wylie's son, Mark, the food was cooked to perfection!  And thanks also to all others who brought refreshments, salads, and deserts. 

Once again, a successful event put on by the Club.

FUN FLY 2003

submitted by: Pete Granger

This was our second annual fun fly and it was. The weather cooperated, there was lots of good food, and best of all we had FUN, FUN, FUN. The sad part is that so few of you joined us for this great time together. Even the wives seemed to be having a good time—at least they were laughing at our antics. Lonnie Phillips, Pete Granger, Dick Benjamin, Bruce Pyles, John Fitch, and Wylie were the only club members present. We also had 2 SKP guests, Terry Lore and Jim Cook—they competed quite effectively with their electrics.

Our CD (Bruce Pyles) set the tone of the day by making up rules as he went along and trying to disqualify all the competition. All the other folks went through the day whining about no written rules, but to no avail. We were all surprised that he actually recorded the scores!

The BALLOON POP event was a bust, just like last year. Terry Lore was the only pilot to actually hit a balloon, but his electric bounced off it, recovered, and went on to complete the flight.

LOOP AND LAND was the first event to be run, as the balloons were not available until later. Pete Granger gave everyone a time of 18.6 seconds to shoot at and they did! On his third attempt Bruce Pyles turned in an incredible 9.18 seconds by crash landing at near full speed, but all was for naught as Jim Cook scored 6.5 with his electric Zagi type flying wing to win the event.

The LIMBO was the plane breaker for the day, claiming 3! Wylie made some neat poles out of plastic pipe for this event, but they were pretty flexible. This, combined with a fairly durable plastic tape, proved the undoing of some pilots. Even Hog Wild was a victim as the rudder got caught on the ribbon and the airplane went into a carrier type arrest about 5 feet up. YUK!!!! Dick Benjamin and Terry Lorrie also bit the dust in this one with Dick winning the worst crash of the day trophy. Somehow Bruce managed to award this event to himself over everyone’s protests.

The final event was the DRAG RACE, which paired 2 pilots against each other to see who could get over the finish line first. John Fitch and Pete Granger tried it with wings on. John took off over the hill and Pete got airborne just before the pylon, so our greedy CD took advantage of the opportunity to disqualify both of us! Bruce Pyles and Lonnie Phillips both elected to try the event wingless—an act similar to being naked in public. Lonnie beat Bruce by a fuselage length, which is lucky for him as Bruce was literally on his tail at the finish. It’s a wonder Lonnie’s airplane did not sustain damage!

Then it was time to eat, rehydrate, and socialize with the ladies. For meat there was salmon, chicken, brats, dogs, and hamburgers. There were also a few salads, beans, chips and dips, and several deserts. There were also a wide variety of drinks on hand to quench the most discriminating pallet.

In summary, we had a blast. The only thing that would have made it more fun would have been if all of you had joined us.

 

Show & Tell 2003 Photos:

          As usual double click the photo to enlarge.

 

 

Jets Over Whidbey 2003

submitted by: Bruce Pyles

The weekend of August 23 & 24 was the dates of this years event.  As was the pattern of the summer the weather was perfect and the turn out of both pilots and spectators was tremendous.  Half a dozen of your club members turned out Saturday to enjoy the show, and what a show it was.  It seemed that this year there was less talking and a lot more flying.  At one point in the afternoon there were four jets in the air at once making for a spectacular display.  Below are a few photos I took which in no way do this event justice.  I would encourage all you to try and make this event next year.

Double click to photos to enlarge.