The Tale Spinner
Newsletter of the Tri-Area Flyers

 http://members.home.net/russpetersen/

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

January 1, 2002, Volume 3 Issue 1

Club Officers:

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                       rjp@kjpetersen.com

 

 

Meeting Minutes:          (Next Meeting: , January 8, 2002, Excapees RV Park) 

                                    12/11/01 Meeting of the TriArea RC Flyers

A brief business meeting was held and the rest of the evening was devoted to a potluck dinner and Christmas party.  In attendance were the Wylies, Anlikers, G. Smiths, Grangers, Creedons, Calkins, Benjamins, Fitches, Ryders, Downs, Polings, Pyles, Thomases, Greene and Stuck.

The Treasurers report showed total assets of $2318.06; consisting of $1872.06 in the bank and fuel inventory worth $446.  The fuel consists of 20 gal. of 10%, 5 of 15% and 9 of 4 stroke.

Grant Smith gave the nominating committee’s report and recommended that the same slate of officers serve for another year.  The following officers were reelected:  President – Wylie, Vice President – Granger, Sec./ Treas. – Anliker, Safety Officer – Fitch and Newsletter Editor – Petersen.  There was a discussion of the need create more positions in order to involve more members.  A by-laws change will be considered which will permit an expansion of the Executive Committee.

Bruce Pyles was the worthy recipient of the Crash-of-the-Month Trophy with Fitch and Merrill tied for second place honors.

Dick Benjamin won the raffle for the electric airplane outfit donated by Bruce Pyles; the raffle brought in $154.

An excellent potluck dinner and a gift exchange followed the business meeting.

Submitted by Bill Anliker, Sec./ Treas. 

December, 2001 Potluck, by Pete Granger

Some hard working elves had transformed the Escapee's clubhouse with Christmas decorations and a fire in the fireplace.  The tables were covered with snowy white tablecloths and holiday decorations and were arranged so that 8 people could eat at each table in spacious comfort.  The buffet table was long and loaded with good stuff to eat.  The start line included seafood chowder, ham, and turkey.  A little further along were the numerous side dishes, salads, breads, and deserts.  Appetizer dishes (as if we needed a boost) were scattered about in strategic traffic areas. 

I did my best, but got to sample only about half the dishes on 2 trips through.  Everything was delicious--the ladies really outdid themselves!  The drawing for a RTF electric airplane was held after dinner.  Marg Granger was asked to pick a ticket out of the hat, but she did not do a very good job as she picked someone else's ticket.

Everyone had a good time and for sure nobody left hungry.  There was a lot of talk among the ladies about doing this sort of thing more often.  Maybe a BBQ at the field?

A number of ladies asked Marg for her chowder recipe and she agreed to make it available in the newsletter.  Look for it in the February newsletter.

Pete Granger

The Seamaster ARF by Grant Smith:

Seamaster Amphibian

If you are planning to join us at our monthly floatfly at Crocker Lake next summer, I have found the perfect ARF for you (Ed: I am planning to start the monthly float fly sessions about the third week in May and continue them through September 2002). The Seamaster is a classic seaplane that has been around for twenty years. The Seamaster 40 ARF is manufactured by Thunder Tiger and distributed by ACE. I purchased mine from Tower and with their discount coupon it cost $184.

SPECIFICATIONS

Wingspan:  59 ˝ inches

Wing area:  725 sq. inches

Weight:      approx 7 lbs. With OS 46FX

Wing loading: 21 oz/sq.ft.

CONSTRUCTION

The fuselage is plywood and extremely rugged. The wing comes assembled and the hardware package is complete including wheels which can be installed in a few minutes and convert the seaplane to a land plane. I did upgrade to 3-inch wheels because of our grass field. The covering is Ultracote and looks great. I found it very easy to assemble and completed the job in about 10 hours.

The engine is mounted in a pod above the wing and the fuel tank is mounted behind the engine almost exactly on the C.G., which should allow the plane to maintain balance whether the tank is full or empty.

The most difficult part of assembly was installation of the tail feathers. Using 90 degree triangles you can keep everything square until the epoxy dries. Being a newbie to this sport and known for my occasional hard landings, I decided to reinforce the vertical fin where it attaches to the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer by using hardwood dowels. Also, be sure to follow the instructions for sealing the joint between the wing and fuselage with silicone sealant. Water somehow seems to find its way through the smallest openings and crevices.

Let me offer one word of caution on installing the elevator pushrod. The kit uses nylon flexible control rods and the elevator pushrod was slightly binding due to the tight bend. As a result, the servo drained the battery by the end of my first flight. I lost control on the landing and the plane went down in the cornfield. Much to my surprise the only damage was a bent landing gear and the engine, sitting atop the plane, was still running.

FLYING PERFORMANCE

I have flown the plane three times at the field. The OS46FX is a perfect match for this rather heavy plane Ed: 21 oz/ft2 is in the light end of the typical sport airplane, so the large wing seems to compensate well, for the extra weight in this case). I don’t believe a 40 would provide enough power for takeoffs from water. Only the slightest amount of up elevator was needed to get the plane in the air. The thick symmetrical wing gives the plane a great deal of stability and yet will allow some basic aerobatics, which is all I am capable of anyway. The plane flies very smoothly and is much more responsive than my Trainer with those bulky add on floats. Landings do require more throttle than I am accustomed to with my trainer type planes. On my second flight I throttled to idle on landing and hit really hard bending the nose gear. No problem, we pulled off the wheels, pointed the Seamaster into the wind, and within 40 feet it was airborne. This time I landed with more speed and touchdown was smooth.

I can hardly wait for our next float fly at Crocker Lake and watching the water streaming off the fuselage. Get yourself a Seamaster and join us next summer. You’ll love it!!

 

 

 

 

The Field Log by Grant Smith (should be by all of us)

Hi Russ,

I went up to the field and unfortunately there isn't much in the field log.

For all of December there were only 3 entries:

12/6 Tom Lee FMA Razor

12/9 Pete Granger Stick 10

12/17 Chuck Dantzler LT25

 House of Balsa Stick-10 Part II by Pete Granger

Remember the kit review I did for the last newsletter on the House of Balsa Stick .10--the plane I built complete, ready to fly in 7 easy, short days?  I did the first flight on it today (temp at the field when I left home 34 degrees with light breeze out of the South).

ITS A KEEPER!!!!!

Our grass is a bit rough for such a small, light model and it nosed over when I tried to taxi out to the runway.  The next attempt was made from the center of the runway with full up elevator and going to full throttle as fast as prudent.  It went straight down the runway for perhaps 30 feet before gently lifting off and climbing out wings level.

I went to half throttle pretty quick as it was departing pretty fast into the sun and gave it 1 click of down elevator trim because it was climbing a little too fast.  Loops track well, even when they are big.  The roll axis was a little slow to suit me, but was satisfactory--I did 1 roll and 1 sloppy Cuban Eight.  The plane is capable of very slow flight without stalling and at one point I was flying it with full up elevator without a problem.

Landing is a pure joy as the plane slows down a lot and does not tend to float.  It is very controllable all the way in and touched down as light as a feather--at which point it nosed over in our shaggy grass.

My impression is that this little Stick flies much like a 40 sized model, but perhaps with better (more forgiving) flight characteristics.  It is certainly an ideal travel model for me and will go South with me this year.  Since this performs so well, I will have to build their amphibian for next Spring's float flying.

Oh, after you finish building one of these Stick .10s, don't look at the size of it and decide to put a .15 in it.  It just plain is not needed.