Monroe County R/C Club Newsletter July 2003

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July 2003 Edition

June Meeting Notes…

The June meeting of the Monroe County R/C Club was called to order at 7:07 pm, under the protection of the roof of the club shelter, as a light rain was falling.

Four new members were voted into the club at the meeting. Please welcome Jim Scott of Bloomington, Chuck Smith of Ellettsville, Gary Alspaugh & Joann Pitman of Martinsville. Two other new members were voted in by a majority at the club field on 6/22. They were Charles Fleming Sr. of Bedford & Charles Fleming Jr. of Bloomington.

Matt Fornefeld went over some plans for this year’s air show. There may be some more kid’s events this year. Please submit your aircraft inventory to Matt so he can start planning the show. His e-mail address is eyes@kiva.net.

The club’s constitution was changed to reflect the AMA’s membership document. Seniors are now defined as 65 years old & over and seniors in high school are defined as students. The newly defined seniors will get a dues reduction, just like the AMA. Please don’t refer to these people as old airplane guys that don’t have to work anymore!

Orders for MCRCC logo apparel will be taken at the July meeting! Winters & Associates was the winning bidder. You can order hats, shirts, & jackets sporting the MCRCC logo. Samples will be available for your inspection.

Robert G. (Bobby) Shireman donated another first aid kit to the club. Let’s hope this one stays in the cabinet for a while.

It was decided that there will be a mailing next March to all members with unpaid dues. Any members unpaid after May will be struck from the records.

The business / corporate sponsorship program has been a big asset to our club. More help is needed to continue this program. If you would like to serve on the sponsorship committee, please contact Mark Sexton at 812-825-4343 or e-mail him at cudaman321@aol,com. If you don’t volunteer, you may be drafted!

The meeting was closed at 8:04 pm so some members could get in a twilight flight.

Interesting Bits…

It was a sad evening at Nebo Memorial Field on June 12. I started things off by breaking my $50.00 flying glasses, while trying to clean them. A little later Charlie Thompson lost his Astro Hog in a 120 foot tulip poplar tree. The next non-flying event was when Randy Byers let a gust of wind take his Lazy Tiger Cub off his table & to the ground. A broken wing tip was the result. Not too long after that, Charlie parked his kit-bashed Beaver in the same tree that the Astro Hog was resting in. The worst part was that the second crash failed to knock the first one out of the tree. A bird in the hand is worth two stuck in a big tree! At about the same time, Mark Sexton lost the vertical stabilizer of his Cadet Senior, while in flight, which caused the rest of the airplane to choose it’s own course. It was found a couple of hours later about a mile from the field by a dedicated search crew, led by the human bloodhound, Jimmy Vanvleet. Guess who had to buy the drinks at dinner. Damon Ferguson broke the pusher prop on his new electric job. Those young corn stalks aren’t so tender…

The following Sunday at Wylie field wasn’t much better than Thursday night at Nebo. Tom Hart got into an altercation with a 10X6 propeller. The prop won. He spent the next seven hours at the Bloomington Hospital emergency room.

Tim Mellott was having such a good time flying his TwinStar that he lost track of time. Actually he had just extended his timer for two more minutes of flight. The first problem was that the fuel supply didn’t agree with his timer setting. The second problem was taking a “crash” course on flying a twin with one engine out. The airplane ended up about seventy-five feet high in a tree behind Peterson’s barn. At last report, the aircraft had been rescued by a tree climber friend of Tim’s, who is also interested in model aviation (hint, hint).

We flew at Nebo again on the longest Thursday of the year (6/19). In order to maximize daylight, we decided to eat at the field. You just don’t realize how much trouble it is to get pizza delivered to a graveyard until you try it. Tiny’s Pizza found us with no problem but Pizza Hut Delivery never made it. How hard could it be to find a flying field with so many landmarks close by & all those vehicles parked in the field?

Fun Fly

Look for a full report on the annual club fun fly next month. Since the CD & judge won all the money, they have to write the report!

For Sale:

Nick Carder has a wing kit for a Great Planes trainer. Contact Nick at 812-876-1688.

Bob Watson has a YS-120 with an aluminum spinner & a smoke muffler. Like new. Contact Bob at wtsnbb@cs.com or call him at 812-824-2521.

Thanks!!!

Put out a call for pictures & you get pictures!

Thanks to our photographers this month. Randy Byers, Bill Black, Joann Pitman, & Tina Rogers. Good work!!!

The first picture is an old one, sent by Randy, to cool you off. It’s his Seamaster on snow, from last Winter.

The next three pictures are from Pam’s Place Airport & were submitted by Bill Black. Looks like Jane Black is having too much fun in that balloon.

The next two photos are from Tina Rogers & show the aftermath of Charlie’s “close encounter of the third kind” (contact) with a tree at Nebo Memorial Field. That tail sticking out of the ground fits right in with the grave marker theme.

The last two pictures this month came from Joann Pitman & are also from Nebo. The first one is of some fat guys doing what they are best at. I believe the old saying goes “if you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean”.

The second shows Tom Hartman getting ready for a buddy box flight. This was before he had soloed & way before he tangled with that 10 X 6 propeller at Wylie field.