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VOLUME #14 ISSUE 6 AUGUST , 2002
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
ANNUAL FLOAT FLY AT LAKE SPRINGFIELD
There were many flyers (at least 25), twelve from St. Louis alone, who participated in the 15th annual AMA sanctioned float fly. We had planes flying over the water, trees, and elsewhere. The Saturday morning contest was won by Steve Rubel with a spectacular flight time. After the contest, there was a raffle in which many were winners. Food was prepared by Al Shepard and Charles Newton. The boat was manned by Jeff Schmidt, Charles Newton, Dan Curtis and others. Doc Wessels was joined by Doug Bennett and Nancy Schanda, spouse of new member Ron Schanda in "controlling the guests". There were a few mishaps including a spectacular tree landing. The grandson of the flier, name will be preserved until needed, climbed the said tree and retrieved the plane. Both were unhurt. There were several other mishaps, but as can be seen from the photos below there were many very beautiful and unhurt planes at the end of the flying on Sunday. Larger photos of these thumbnails can be seen by clicking on the photo.
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IN THIS ISSUE
Minutes of August Meeting: Springfield RC Club , August 1, 2002, Kevin Murdock, Secretary
Following a meeting of the Board of Directors, the regular meeting was called to order at 7PM by President Charles Newton. Recognition of guest David Paris.
Minutes of the July meeting were reviewed by the secretary. Motion to approve seconded and passed. Treasurers report given by Carl Baron. Motion to approve seconded and passed. 94 paid members, 1 honorary. OD Fine is reported to be home from knee replacement surgery and recovering.
Old Business
Mike Howard has spread bug killer in the pit area of the field, discussed need to roll ruts out of parking area and fill some of the holes. Will get estimate for next meeting. Discussion on the preparations for the remaining events of the year. Aug 3 practice Float Fly- should be set to go. Charles will furnish boat. 10AM start. Aug 16 Float Fly – Need to round up PA system, schedule porta-potties. Ray, Mark, Al, Ralph will be assisting or cooking. Need volunteers to help set up for Float Fly and clear weeds Friday evening Aug 15th around 6PM.
Sept 2 Family Fun Fly – Russ, Mike, and Doug are in charge.
Oct. 12th and 13th Heli Fly – Dan needs more helpers and cooks. Should be a good event with some night flying, exhibition flying, and plenty of open flying.
Motion for the club to purchase a helicopter kit for raffle at the Heli Fly. Seconded and passed.
Motion for the club to spend no more than $375 for purchase of the helicopter raffle prize. Seconded and passed.
Motion by Doug Bennett for the club to purchase Ron Hyde's Taylorcraft ARF for $225 to use in the Christmas Banquet raffle. Seconded and passed.
Ray Niles discussed the Camp Jeep event. He and other pilots ran about 1300 visitors to the Camp Jeep event through an RC intro flight.
Doug Bennett will chair the Christmas Banquet committee. Mike Howard and Russ Rhodes will assist.
Dan discussed the need for an inexpensive laptop computer for use in Pattern scoring and other record keeping. Tabled for future discussion and Dan will get some prices. Dan also discussed the Novice Pattern event and needs some help with the Pattern contest September 14th and 15th. Cooks, scribes, etc are needed.
Charles discussed an issue regarding complaints from members and our neighbors.
The Christmas Banquet committee was given the responsibility of installing new officers for the club at the banquet.
Russ Rhodes will volunteer to be the new newsletter editor.
Russ showed his video clips from Camp Jeep for the monthly club program.
Raffle followed. Prizes given away include a Four-Star 40 kit, fuel, rubber bands, epoxy, and magazines. Many thanks as always to David Sleeth of Sleeth Hobbies, and Dan Curtis for helping us with the raffle prizes. Ralph Todd also does a great job running it.
Motion to adjourn. Adjourn at 8:30PM.
Pattern News and Views: The Omahawks RC club in Omaha, Nebraska held their annual pattern contest the 10th and 11th of August. The 26 contestants came from several states including Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri. The weather was on the warm side but great skies and light winds made for some excellent competition. Six rounds were flown over the two days. One point of interest was the Sportsman class. There were 6 entries, which is one of the best Sportsman turnouts that I have seen since the Springfield contest last September. There are two really nice sights to see in this hobby and sport, one is seeing young people on a club flight line learning to fly their trainer with a competent instructor and 2, seeing a healthy turnout in a beginning class at a pattern contest. After the flights were flown, the rounds completed and the scores tabulated the awards ceremony was held and the Omaha Championships were finished for another season. Springfield was represented in the Masters class only, with the following results:
1st Dan Curtis, MO, 2nd Tom Gilkey, MN, 3rd Claude Weimer, NE
On July 20th, the Springfield RC club held its first “Introduction to Aerobatics” event. This was a combined pattern and IMAC competition for first time competitors or those that had never placed in a competitive aerobatics event. There were eight entrants in the pattern section and 4 in the IMAC section. This turnout is one for Springfield to be very proud. Many larger clubs have held this type of introduction with entrants of only 1 or 2 persons.
Three rounds of pattern were flown and two rounds of IMAC (2 sequences per round). Judging duties were performed by well-qualified and experienced pattern judges, including Charlie and Vickie Rock from Smithville, MO. The event was judged and scored in the identical manner of a fully sanctioned pattern contest. This gave the fliers the full feel and experience of pattern competition. Good comments were received from the contestants and hopefully the enthusiasm will be sustained and we can get the event on next year’s agenda. Congratulations to all the entrants.
Pattern results:
1st Mike Howard, 2nd Jeff Schmidt, 3rd Larry Davidson
Rumor mill-----It appears that a couple of Blacksheep are contemplating jumping into the great world of pattern flying. Seems that one person has a new 2-meter plane that he is finishing and the other is shopping for a 2-meter plane. It won’t be long at this rate before Springfield becomes a real hotbed of pattern flying.
I have spoken to several competitors at the contests I have attended to date and many are planning on or trying to get to the Springfield contest this September. We should grow this year from our attendance last year and it will be mainly due to the competition and the hospitality. Every contestant that was here last year has had accolades for the Springfield contest, field and members. So be proud Blacksheep, you have certainly earned it.
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Till next time ……Dan Curtis……..Exiting the box.
National Newsletter: Do Model Airplanes Talk? by David Beach
We all become accustomed to listening to model aircraft.
Typically we focus on the most audible component, the engine. Is the engine
running well and fuel mix okay? We listen for the right sounds in reaction to
throttle up from idle. We listen to make sure the engine doesn’t sag in response
to the pinch test or holding the nose up. These are the obvious ways in which
our flying models “talk” to us and indicate their airworthiness.
But model aircraft can tell you a lot more about their condition if you pay
close attention. At the field the other day I overheard a pilot say “It sounds
like my fuel tank is foaming.” In that case the airplane was attempting to say
“You did not set your timer and I’m about to run out of fuel.” A minute or so
later the airplane ran out of fuel and a successful dead-stick landing was the
result. With a little more pilot awareness a powered landing would have been
possible.
Unusual noises are often a precursor to something that is about to go wrong.
Paying attention to what your airplane is telling you can mean the difference
between landing with a loose muffler and losing a muffler in the woods. It can
mean the difference between slowing down an airplane experiencing control
surface flutter and having control failure. Unusual model aircraft noises have a
variety of sources, but your first reaction to an unusual noise should probably
be slowdown, land, and inspect.
I have an airplane that gives feedback that is not audible, but it’s talking to
me nonetheless. With a fuel tank that’s well ahead of the center of gravity
(CG), once the fuel level starts to get low, this airplane gradually gets light
in the nose and starts to climb from what started out as level flight trim. I
don’t need to look at a timer or listen for changes in engine noise to know that
it’s about time to land.
Have you ever attempted to fly with your antenna down or a low receiver battery?
It’s not uncommon to get a short “glitch” and have temporary loss of control
before all is lost. If you recognize that your airplane is attempting to tell
you something, it can make all the difference.
Learning to pay attention to what your airplane is trying to tell you is not
always easy. Through personal experience I’ve learned a new signal to look for
that might have saved two different airplanes, and I’d like to share it with
you.
Any sudden change in flight trim means something is wrong!
Twice in the past year, I have retrimmed airplanes in flight and kept flying
when I might have had the opportunity to avoid an in flight failure. Just
because adding three clicks of down-trim makes the airplane fly straight and
level again doesn’t mean you should keep flying; it means land now if you can.
Is a control horn coming loose? Has a control rod bend become fatigued and
gotten soft? Has the engine mount shifted and changed the thrust line? Has the
battery moved in the fuselage and changed the CG? Has a wing bolt mount failed
and changed the trim? When an unusual change to flight characteristics occur, it
is our job as pilots to understand why and properly assess the impact of that
change. Get this done safely on the ground.
Staying in touch with what your aircraft is trying to tell can make a big
difference. It can make the hobby more rewarding, and can make you a safer
pilot. Do model airplanes talk? Only if you pay attention and listen very
closely.
from Eagles News
Souther New Hampshire Flying Eagles RC Club
David Beach, editor
Merrimack NH
The
Lighter Side: Airline Captain (on a PA explaining a delay:
“Sorry folks, but our landing has been delayed by a mechanical failure. The
automatic machine that beats up and loses your luggage is not functioning
properly and we’ll have to wait for repairs.”
Pilot: “Folks we have reached our cruising altitude now, so I am going to switch
the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay
inside the airplane until we land ... it’s a bit cold outside and if you walk on
the wings it affects the flight pattern.”
both from RC Gulls Tale-Spinner
Eastern Maine RC Gulls
Howard Smith, editor
Bangor ME
| President: Charles Newton, 883-3354 | Vice President: Doc Wessels, 859-3126 |
| Secretary: Kevin Murdock, 823-7865 | Treasurer: Carl Baron 883-2229 |
| Board of Directors: Dan Curtis, Lonnie Cort, Mike Howard, Ray Niles, Al Shepard, Doug Bennett | |
| News Letter Editor: Russ Rhodes, 3164 S. Glenhaven, Springfield, Missouri 65804, rgr592f@smsu.edu | |
| Web Site of Springfield RC Club: http://www.anglefire.com/mo2/blacksheeprc/index2.html | |
Next
Meeting: September 5, The Springfield Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave. ,
Springfield, Missouri, 7:00 P. M..
