The Tale Spinner
Newsletter of the Tri-Area Flyers

 http://webpages.charter.net/russpetersen/

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

February 1, 2002, Volume 3 Issue 2

Office                           Name                       Telephone Number              Email

President                       Arvin Wylie                360.379.0701

Vice President               Pete Granger              360.379.3185

Secretary/Treasurer       Bill Anliker                 360.385.0558

Safety Officer                John Fitch                  360.379.9242

News Editor                  Russ Petersen            360.598.5980               

Meeting Minutes:          (Next Meeting: February 12, 2002, Excapees RV Park)

Minutes of the 1/8/02 Meeting of the TriArea RC Flyers

 President Wylie called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM at the SKP clubhouse.  In attendance were Wylie, Anliker, Fitch, Calkins, Thomas, G. Smith, Takata, Davis, Downs, Lee, Greene and Pyles.

The minutes were read and the Treasurer’s report showed assets of $2547.06, comprised of $2113.56 in the bank and $ 433.50 in fuel inventory.  During the past month the Sec/Treas sent Roger Short a Christmas card, thanking him for providing our field, and enclosed a $50 gift certificate to the Ajax Restaurant along with a check of $200 for next years field rent.

The members were provided with proposed by-laws changes, which were discussed and passed.  The revised by-laws were forwarded to the Newsletter Editor for inclusion in the Documents section of the website.  The primary change in the by-laws provided for the addition of three Directors to the Executive Committee.  It was agreed that the Board should appoint Directors to terms of one, two and three years terms, respectively.

A general discussion of the possible need for additional insurance took place. and Wylie told of his phone conversation with the AMA.  Stan Davis indicated that other clubs he was associated with did not have insurance other than that provided by the AMA and the county facility where the field was located.  It was suggested that the Board try to develop more information on the subject.

Stan Davis suggested we consider having some kind of open house at the flying field this summer.  Grant Smith agreed to look into putting together a replacement for our frequency board that would be located on the outside of the shed and would entail slots to hold the pilot’s AMA card to indicate the frequency he was on.

Bruce Pyles reluctantly turned the Crash-of-the-Month Trophy over to Chuck Dantzler and the meeting was adjourned.

Bill Anliker, Sec/Treas.

Far Flung Flyer, by Pete Granger

2002 EDITION, Part I

Yes, once again this year you get to read my demented ramblings about my …er…wanderings.

PHOENIX

We are staying in a fancy (read expensive) RV resort in Mesa, AZ.  Russ has his rig parked a couple of blocks away in the same park—Valle De Oro (VDO for short).  They have their own RC club in the park, the VDO Flyers, I think.  They also have a large, well-equipped model workshop complete from drill press to compressed air and storage for airplanes.   I spoke briefly to the club president and he expressed concern about space as so many of the guys were starting building projects.

Thursday, January 3—Russ stopped by about 2:00 in the afternoon and he directed me out to Superstition Field, which is about 7 miles from the park.  The VDO bunch and The East Valley Aviators share the field.  The runway is about 300 X 100 feet of smooth dirt and fine gravel.  There are 5 pilot stations and a large pit area all covered with some sort of matting.  Back of that was an 80 X 20 foot covered area with work tables, chairs, transmitter impound, and frequency control board.

The flying was busy with 2 planes in the air all the time and frequently 4!  They really need all those pilot stations.  Most of the flying was competently done, the only exception being 1 rookie getting some instruction.  There were 2 quarter scale cubs doing all kinds of stuff cubs don’t do including hover-batics.  Russ had his new plane out and it flies very well, but was suffering from engine problems.  Russ’s son Ken joined us with an OS 70 powered ARF acrobatic type that put in a number of flights before disaster struck.  Ken said afterwards that he just waited too long before deciding to pull out of a spin.  I had my new Stick 10 up for 3 flights.  It handled the gravel just fine on all ground maneuvers and is a good acrobatic type as well.  Snaps, spins, rolls, outside loops, inverted flight and the sweetest landings you ever saw.  I did manage to tip stall it on a landing approach and almost lost it, though.  There was a Senior Telemaster there that was doing surprising things like a true spin that was a thing of beauty.  And then there was this guy, Don, doing inverted flat spins down to about 60 feet right over the runway.  He was flying a Morris Hobbies Su Du Khoi powered by an OS 46FX.

Friday, January 4—Russ came by at 9:30 and I followed him about 15 miles to Bomber Field.  This was the site of a WWII bomber training base and is still marked as US Government property, but all that is left are parts of the old asphalt runways.  There are no “improvements” on this field except a few paint markings.  They were using a portable frequency control station, which seemed to work OK, although Russ was a bit nervous, as they did not control the ham bands he flies on.

Again everyone flew pretty well and there were no crashes while I was there.  Don showed up with his Su Du Khoi, Russ was having a good time with his electric Tiger Moth, and I broke out Hog Wild for some fun flights (pavement is a lot less forgiving on landings than grass!).  Most of the other planes were 60 size or larger, but we 3 did most of the flying.  Just as I was about to leave the Aerotrend IMAC guys showed up hauling their planes in a dedicated trailer.  Unfortunately I had to leave so did not get to see them fly.

Monday, January 8—Russ came by about 9:30 and I followed him out to Superstition Field again (we both like this field the best).  We did not fly over the weekend, as the fields get pretty crowded with the working folk.  Once again it was clear, sunny, hardly a breeze, and the temp at the field when we got there was 60 degrees.

There was a beautiful Gee Bee racer being readied for its first flight.  It was scale down to a plastic radial engine about the size of a small plate.  All the markings were outlined with 1/16^th black tape, which really dressed the plane up.  It flew well, but the nervous pilot landed in Anliker country on the far edge of the runway and knocked the wheel pants and landing gear fairings loose.

The Senior Telemaster was back out doing wondrous maneuvers in such a slow, graceful manner we couldn’t help but watch.  I talked to the pilot later and he said if you could have only 1 plane, it should be a Telemaster!!!!

There was a 60 size Tiger Moth Great Planes ARF that looked very good.  Also a Sig Something Extra ARF (I think) that was a real screamer.  It was much too fast for acrobatics.  There was also a bunch of trainer and sport airplanes and the field was very active again.

Russ had his Tiger Moth out—it always draws a lot of questions because of being electric.  I brought Hog Wild out to play, again.

Tuesday, January 8—we got away just after 9:00 both Russ and I flew like crazy all morning.  There were lots of interesting planes as always, including a very nice Contender and a couple of nice biplanes.

We thought you might be interested in the frequency control board in use at Superstition field. It is composed of cables strung between 2 posts.  A 6 inch piece of ¾” PVC pipe is used for each frequency.  Each piece is threaded onto a cable through a hole in the end.  There are small spacer pipes between each frequency pipe to make them more readable.  If a frequency is in use the pilot clips the frequency pipe to a cable running above, making it immediately obvious which frequencies are in use and impossible for the pilot to take the “Pin” with him at the end of the day.  They use their membership cards, which have been laminated, and a spring clip installed, so they also are able to tell who has the frequency.  Their transmitter impound is adjacent to the frequency station and they do use it.

2002 EDITION, Part II

TUCSON

Wednesday January 16—It was a cool and cloudy morning, but it was also my only chance to fly while here.  It was cool enough that I had to put on a flannel shirt.  My map study had shown a shorter way to the field and I went for it.  Because I missed a turn the drive was 40 miles instead of 27.

When I got to the field there was only one other person there and he was breaking in an engine on a trainer tethered to a stooge.  Fortunately he ran out of fuel before I was set up.  Dennis was a nice young man who quickly told me he was new in the hobby, had destroyed 1 trainer, had an instructor and “6 or 7” flights. He proceeded to fire his airplane up and taxi out, then he taxied the full length of the runway 3 times before putting on the power and taking off—he had my complete attention by now.  Sure enough, he was hardly off the ground before the wild didos began and I was pretty sure a crash was eminent.  I began walking toward him as the airplane managed to gain some altitude and got farther and farther away.  Finally, when it was barely visible he hollered for help and I took the transmitter.  Imagine my surprise when I found I could not bring it under control!!!!  I throttled back (he was still going full bore) and put in some down elevator trim.  That helped so much that I went to full down elevator trim and was able to fly it.  Then came the looong flight back to the field—good thing the brush isn’t tall or we would have lost sight of it.  I finished trimming it out, landed, and gave it back to him.  I don’t wish folks trouble, but after that I was happy to see he was grounded because he couldn’t start his engine—he didn’t even know that glow plugs actually glowed or that they could fail until I coached him a bit.

I knocked off 3 quick flights on the Stick 10 and was cleaning up when the field phone rang.  They have the phone hooked to a really loud bell that happened to be just over my head—sure increased my heart rate!  It was just another flyer looking for his transmitter, which he had left at the field the day before.  By the time he was taken care of Dennis’s instructor showed up and I headed for the short cut again.  This time I nailed the turn and cut the distance to 21 miles.

Since last year they have added some field improvements.  The portapotty had been replaced with a concrete block building that had rooms for both sexes, flush toilets, a water fountain, and a water cooler.

 Kit Review of Bruce Tharpe’s Flyin’ King by Bill Anliker                                                

The Flyin’ King is a big plane: 80.5 in. span, 1280 sq. in., 60 in. length, 9.5-10 lb.  Recommended engines are .60 - .75 2-stroke and .70 - .91 4-stroke.   As the designer says, this plane will probably never win a pattern contest or a beauty contest.  It is a versatile, realistic-flying plane that could be comparable to the SUV in the automotive world.

The quality of the kit is exceptional with excellent wood quality and precision cutting.  Hardware is complete except for wheels, motor mount and fuel tank..  It comes with tricycle gear but can be converted to a tail-dragger with a tail wheel available separately.  Instructions and plans are detailed and clear.  Construction is straight- forward and the only difficult part is getting a good job on the windows.

Mine is powered with a .91 Thunder Tiger 4-stroke, which runs fine after Bruce Scott tuned it.  I started with a 14x6 prop but found a 12x6 to be a lot better.  There are full sized flaps that are very effective and require a single servo.  Two servos are needed for the ailerons, making a total of six servos for the plane.  A transmitter with elevator-flaps mixing is desirable since the plane has a tendency to loop when the flaps are dropped.

The Flyin’ King is easy to fly with the stability of a trainer and very slow landing speed with the flaps.  I hope to use this plane for glider towing and photography, etc.  I’ve had it out on floats one time and it performed well, even without trying the flaps.  The floats were built from plans obtained from Jim Crumley in Sitka where they are used exclusively.

Sitka Floats: In Sitka we were told that they were visited by Ohlsson of Ohlsson and Rice who, after seeing their attempts at float flying, sat down and drew out the plans for these floats.  They have been using them ever since.

Construction is simple: the side plates are 3-ply with one 3-ply bulkhead at the step and the sides are connected with ¼ in balsa.  They can be covered with light fiberglass, Monokote-type, fabric or just paint.

I have templates for both .40 and .60+ sizes of airplanes for anyone interested in building them.

Notes on Clam Chowder

Hi:

Have not forgotten - just a little slow.  Dec. was hectic.  We are in Tucson - Pete is flying - weather is cloudy today with daytime temp. It is much cooler than the past few days.  However, night/early morning temp rose about 20 degrees.

CLAM /SEAFOOD CHOWDER

1  (10 oz.)  Fancy whole Baby Clams   (Bumble Bee)

1  (6 1/2 oz.)  Minced Clams     (Snow's)

1/2 c. minced/finely chopped onion

1/2 c. finely diced carrots

1/2 c. finely diced celery

             (I used a food processor for the above veggies)

1 c. diced/cubed peeled potatoes

1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. flour  (I use more -adding the extra slowly and in small amounts until I have a thick paste)

2 c. half & half

1/3 to 1/2 c. pre-cooked/fried and crumbled bacon

1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt

Ground black pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp. oregano

1 Tablespoon. red wine vinegar

      SEAFOOD    

1/4 to 1/3 lb. small or medium cooked shrimp

1/4 to 1/3 lb. uncooked salmon  (about 1 c. small pieces)

1/4 to 1/3 lb. uncooked firm white fish such as halibut/Alaska Cod  (about 1 c. - small pieces)

DIRECTIONS 

1.   Drain juice from clams and RESERVE.  Put onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes in large frying pan - add reserved clam juice to cover.  If more liquid is needed add water and/or white wine.  Cook over medium heat until tender.

2.   Meanwhile make the Roux - In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat, blend in flour until smooth & cook for 1 to 2 min.  Add cream and reserved clam juice - in small amounts until desired consistency is achieved - stirring constantly until thick & smooth.

3.   Add cooked vegetables with juices/liquid.  Add bacon and season to taste.

4.   Sauté uncooked seafood in a small amount of butter and a splash of sherry - just until tender.

5.   At this point you can refrigerate the sauce and seafood --separately - until ready to serve or overnight.

6.   To serve:  Reheat sauce and gently reheat seafood/clams.  Add seafood/clams to sauce just before serving.  Stir in vinegar.

7.    Makes  2 large dinner-size servings plus leftovers

NOTES:

1.  If sauce is too thick upon reheating add more half & half  - for less richness add milk

2.  For the group I made 4 times the above recipe

Enjoy - Marg Granger