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September 2003 Edition
August Meeting Notes…
The August meeting of the Monroe County R/C Club was lightly attended by only fifteen people as it began at 7:03 pm (EST). Many members must have been worn out by the air show. We had one visitor who was interested in joining the club, after seeing the air show. John Barnes of Bloomington was voted in by a vast majority after admitting that he had twenty-five bucks (1/2 year dues).
The annual air show which took place on 8/10 was the first topic of discussion. Everybody who participated was thanked for their efforts. Some parked cars, some sold raffle tickets, some manned the refreshment area, some supplied equipment, some kept the show on schedule, & some put on the show itself. The list goes on & on. It takes a lot of people & a lot of cooperation to put on the air show. Everyone did a fine job & the show came off very well. Attendance may have been down a little due to the thunder showers that were in the area but we managed to keep the Wylie Road area dry all day.
The next topic of discussion was our charity donations. We are expanding to include Jill’s House of Bloomington on the list & the proceeds from this year’s air show will go to that charity.
The recent changes to our club constitution came up next. The changes were looked over by members present & approved. You may request a copy from our secretary/treasurer. Brent Hoover.
Mark talked with the people at Winters & Associates, who are going to do our club apparel. The details have been finalized & orders for hats, shirts, and jackets will be taken until 9/10/2003. Contact Mark Sexton at 812-825-4343 or e-mail him at cudaman321@aol.com.
The meeting was closed at 7:55 pm (EST), & it was getting pretty dark. Members signed up to order their club apparel by flashlight...
Interesting Bits…
When you add nose weight to a model aircraft, be sure to secure it better that you think it needs to be. If you loose a two pound chunk of steel from the nose while in the air, the airplane quickly becomes uncontrollable.
There’s a rule about helicopters. When you think that everything is working pretty well, something is about to break.
There’s also a rule about airplanes. When you think the plane is ready for it’s maiden flight, the test pilot will always find something else wrong with it.
Have you noticed that the mosquitoes all come out to feed at about the same time the wind dies down in the evening, right at the time you were waiting for to fly?
It only rains on important dates & holidays now. Mark your calendar.
Delbert Davis is compiling a database of radio frequencies in the club. If you haven’t given him your channel numbers yet, e-mail him at deldavis@insightbb.com. If you are planning a radio purchase, you may want to check with him about which channels are hot & which are not...
Air Show Report
By Matt Fornefeld
The 2003 air show was a great success. The weather was threatening at the beginning of the day, but the wind settled down and the rain held off. The crowd was good but the weather probably kept attendance down. The flying was superb, some of the highlights:
Art Shelton and friends from Shelbyville brought several WWI birds, along with Bob Shireman and Brian Elliott and Charlie Thompson we had no less than 6 scale early fliers. (Talk of planning a warbird fly-in was heard)
Dennis Freasel and Tim Sparks flew their corsairs in the WWII section along with a gaggle of P-51's.
Helicopters were present with the usual 3-d by Dave Townsend, Carrie Muncy brought an Airwolf that was convincing.
Candy drops and a glider contest rounded out the activities.
I'm not sure how much money the club netted, but the crowd was entertained and will talk about our club. Thanks to Marty, Jeanne and others who staffed the concession stand and of course, Kudo's to Bruce Hoffmann, the "voice" of the air show. Until next year--MMF
A Note From the President
(Club Picnic Report)
By club president Mark Sexton
I would like to thank everyone who attended the annual Monroe County R/C Club picnic on August 24, 2003. I would also like to thank some special volunteers that helped out at the picnic. Jane Black & Tina Rogers, who organized the food table & also sold raffle tickets. Bill Black, who brought his grill. Randy Byers, who brought his grill & his cooking services. Mike Anderson, who helped cook. Dave Poland, who brought the hamburger, hot dogs, & buns. I also observed David doing a little cooking at the grill.
I personally didn’t do much this year, except socialize with folks at the picnic & it was great! Thanks again to all the volunteers who made this a great picnic!
Mark
Silly Pilot Tricks
By Steve Bryant
I may have an idea for a new event. We’d have to call it something like, “Lawn-clipping Cartwheels” or “Landing Gymnastics”.
With a full hour of ‘spare’ time on a Friday afternoon, I decided to get a little flight time with my electric glider. I’m happy that there were no witnesses, but I feel I should report this myself, just to be fair & to provide a little R/C humor.
Winds light, skies clear, & I had the entire field to myself. Perfect! Frequency clip in hand, Ni-Cads charged, preflight inspection revealed no problems. Again, perfect!
Check overall structure & wing attachment, control surfaces, radio function, all OK.
Power-up everything in proper sequence, started the motor, made a last check of control surfaces & let her go!
Up, left, right, up, stall, down, up, right, left, DOWN! (frantic pilot trying everything he could think of to keep it in the air)
Spot clipping grass & cart-wheeling to a complete stop, less that 100’ away (altitude never exceeding 25 feet).
Repeat steps 1-4 eight or ten times…
Why repeat so many times, good question!
The problem seems to be a bent motor shaft or propeller adapter. The only ‘landing’ damage seems to be a couple of pieces of cracked balsa on the stabilizer.
I’ll be adding a new checkpoint to my preflight inspections.
I’m glad you didn’t have to see this but hope you enjoyed the story…
Steve Bryant
Other Bits…
I would like to thank the Monroe County RC Club and Nebo Memorial Flyers Association for the planters and the many kind expressions of friendship during the recent loss of my mother.
- Delbert DavisFor sale, complete Hobbico Avistar 40 trainer,with OS 40 FP engine, gold sticker channel 50(FM) Futaba 4-channel radio, add fuel and fly for.$225.00. (Tim Mellott-812-829-8821)
Dennis Taylor has a Legend 60 Heli for sale. Contact him at dtaylor69@insightbb.com.
Thanks!!!Thanks to all the newsletter contributors this month. Matt Fornefeld, Mark Sexton, Steve Bryant, Delbert Davis, Tim Mellott, Dennis Taylor, Randy Byers, & Dave Townsend. I’m going to print all the pictures & bring them to the meeting. I’ll just put one in this newsletter to keep the file size down.
You have to be a dedicated aircraft nut or really hungry to use a prop as a spoon…
Thanks to all our business & corporate sponsors!
