Sign In Sign-Up

Welcome!

Close

Would you like to make this site your homepage? It's fast and easy...

Yes, Please make this my home page!

No Thanks

  Don't show this to me again.

Close

VOLUME #15     ISSUE  2                                                       FEBRUARY, 2003

Webpage for the Springfield RC Club is at this link:

Next Meeting: March 6,  2003

Midtown Carnegie Branch, 397 E. Central, Community Room, Lower Level (not Upper Level this time) (the Old Main Library) Springfield, Missouri, 7:00 P. M.

Contents

Upcoming Events

Minutes of the Last Meeting

Membership Information

AMA Newsletter Articles

Classifieds

Club Contacts

Club Supporter (Sleeth Hobbies)

Upcoming Event

PHANTOM FLYERS R/C CLUB

(AKA BOEING EMPLOYEE'S R/C CLUB)

AND THE

SPIRITS OF ST. LOUIS R/C FLYING CLUB, INC.
SWAP MEET
SATURDAY - MARCH 15, 2003
Boeing Bldg. 33 Cafeteria
ADMISSION: $5.00 - CHILDREN UNDER 12 FREE

A more detailed discussion and a map to this well visited (over 300 attendees last year) event is at this link:

http://spiritsofstl.com/SwapMeetAd_2003MapColor1.doc or http://phantomflyersrc.com/swap.htm

For further information contact Phil Moore at pminmo@msn.com

Springfield RC Events for 2003

April 26th  ------ Field maintenance day, with fun fly afterwards.

May 24th ------ An old fashioned fun fly.  A committee will consider just which activities would be enjoyed by the most members.  It will be limited to members and their families.  Doug Bennett, Sparky Wessels, and Jeff Schmidt volunteered to serve on this committee. 

June 21st and 22nd -------  AMA sanctioned IMAC contest.

July 19th --------Novice pattern contest.  Similar to last year.  Contestants cannot have placed in an AMA sanctioned contest. 

August 16th & 17th --------- Float Fly will probably be at Lake Springfield.  There was discussion about checking into the possibility of using Fellow's Lake.  It was mentioned that previous attempts however, had been unsuccessful.

September 6th & 7th -----------  AMA Sanctioned Pattern contest.  Doug Bennett, Mike Howard, Jeff Schmidt,  and Dan Curtis, volunteered to serve on this committee.

October 11th & 12th --------- Heli-Fly Contest.  Dan Curtis, John Clevenger, Don Livermore, and Doug Bennett will make up the committee for preparation

Recent Events

Ralph Todd, Ron Hyde, and others took advantage of the snow covered field and flew off skies.  I can just see them soaring around in the clouds now, as I recently watched Dorothy and Toto soaring into the clouds with my grandson. 

Russ Rhodes with Betty in attendance and much help from the group including Ron Hyde, OD, Jerry Kutz, and Bert Turner launched the Club's Taylorcraft.  Low and behold, just as one contributor to the RC Universe Forum  said, the Saito 150 is a fuel guzzler.  Just as I was making a low pass for the Academy Awards next year, (http://www.rcuniverse.com/ ) we heard a gurgling and, sure enough, the propeller quit.  I was able to make a quick turn and land the baby deadstick.  But, the bottom line was that it took off with no trim needed and flew rock steady with servos recommended by Dan Curtis.  It really needs a pilot though.  It looks awfully empty in the cockpit.

Minutes of February Meeting: 

Membership Information Dues 2003

Effective January 1, 2003, all dues are payable on a calendar year basis for those who were members in 2002.  As was the case in 2002, the dues for the year are $75.00 for adults and $50 for juniors (students under 18).  The dues apply no matter when you decide to pay your 2003 dues. 

As was the case last year, NEW members will pay a pro-rated amount based on what month they join the club for the first time.

NOTE:  You must show proof that you have paid your AMA dues for 2003 in order to receive your 2003 Blacksheep member card.  Either mail your dues with a copy of your AMA card or bring the card to the January meeting to show to the Treasurer.

You may mail your check payable to SPRINGFIELD R/C CLUB and a copy of your AMA card to:

                     Kevin Murdock, Treasurer, 3448 E. Stanhope Terrace, Springfield,  MO  65809

National Newsletter

Aileron Efficiency

When you look around at our models (excluding Scale), you will notice that practically all aircraft have strip ailerons, that is, full length from the tip to the center of the wing, with one central servo activating both ailerons via wire torque rods.
Being a person who appreciates improving efficiency in our hobby, I decided to experiment with my Tucano trainer wing. With a span of around 1.7 meters, my strip ailerons did exhibit a measurable amount of flex from the center of the wing to the tip. I cut the aileron length by nearly one half, but kept the same width. I fixed the center portion of the ailerons to the trailing edge, and used filler where necessary to flair in before re-covering.

Of course, an additional servo must be used in this setup, and being a foam wing, I was able to lay the servos on their sides in a recess cut in the foam. A balsa platform was fitted between two wing ribs to enable each servo to be adhered into position using silicone after neutralizing the servo arms. Two short pushrods were used to connect each servo to it’s respective aileron horn. Don’t forget to face both servos either outward or inward, otherwise you will finish up with a great set of flaps!

A conventional four-channel radio will require both servos to be connected through a Y connector. If your wing is foam, a neat recess groove can be formed for the leads by gently running the tip of a soldering iron along the foam, and under each riblet. If you have a multi-channel computer radio, you may connect each lead separately to the receiver. This will give you the added advantage of differential and/or flaperon positions, and exponential if required. (Refer to your RC manual for the correct setup procedure).
When completed, the difference in weight was negligible. Being only half-length ailerons, I initially set them up to give more throw than before. Now for the real test. Let’s see how it performs in the air.

Immediately after lift off, it was obvious that I had far too much aileron throw. I quickly switched my rates down to 50% and still too much! It was interesting to note that following further adjustments on the ground, the final aileron throw was far less than that of the original strip aileron wing to obtain similar results.

The aircraft felt good. The elevator and rudder felt more responsive, particularly when banking. This would be due to the “clean” air over the tail area, which also produced minimal height loss on tight turns. Knife-edge performance was also noticeably improved.
I guess to summarize, I would have to say that the main impressions noted would be the general improvement in stability, and accuracy of all controls.

A great flying aircraft made even better. Try it, you will like it!

Ray Dixon
from Tingalpa Model Aero Club
http://www.tmac.asn.au/

Slow Taxi

Here is a cheap way to get a slow taxi with a bit more throttle and a way of having some braking action upon touchdown.

Wrap a pipe cleaner around the nose gear axle on both sides of the wheel and compress the cleaner with wheel collars on each side. The amount of braking is controlled by the amount of pressure from the wheel collars. If you can’t find pipe cleaners, try yam or unwaxed dental floss. This doesn’t last as long as the pipe cleaner, but still works.

from Flight Line
Gary Norton, editor
Portland OR