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October 2001 Edition
September Meeting:
The September meeting was called to order, at our flying site on Wylie Road, by president Mark Sexton, at 7:06:15. Dennis Taylor was confirmed as a new member from Martinsville & Michael Hinz from Greenwood was also voted in. Make sure to welcome them when you see them at the field.
There was some discussion on the annual swap meet. It will be at the Monroe County Fairgrounds again for 2002. We never made a connection with the National Guard to get the Armory. That might be an option for 2003, if we can get enough firm commitments from vendors to make the cost of the larger building worth while. The date may be an important factor. The official date for the 2002 swap meet has not yet been confirmed, but will be announced as soon as possible.
There will be a club demonstration of R/C aircraft at the Monroe County Airport on Saturday, October 6. A large group of Boy Scouts will be camped there & are working on their aviation merit badges. We will have static displays and hope to do some flying as well. Around 200 people are expected to attend.
The Christmas dinner was also a topic at the meeting. The location will probably be Michael’s Uptown Café in Bloomington. More on that at the October meeting.
The October meeting will be held at the Cook Building. We have been meeting at the field all Summer, but the shorter days & cooler temperatures are catching up with us. The officers were in need of flash lights before the last meeting was over. For those new people who might not know where the Cook Building is, get off 37 on 3rd Street (highway 48) & go West. Turn South on Curry Pike (at the Speedway gas station), & watch for the Cook Building on the left (East) side of the street.
If you pass the Otis Elevator plant, you’ve gone too far. Otis is the first building South of the rail road tracks & Cook is the first building North of the tracks. Don’t dwell on this too much because we will be moving again in January, to the Eye Center building on 2nd Street, near the Hospital. More on that next month.
There was some discussion about weather channel 20 was safe or not. Several said they had been flying on 20 for years & some said it was prone to interference. We are looking into purchasing a frequency monitoring device for the club and we will check with the AMA for some advice also.
Some people are trying to get Monroe County to designate a public R/C flying site. They are looking toward our club for support. There will be a document prepared, hopefully before the next meeting, that interested members can sign, giving their support for such a venture.
The meeting was closed (in the dark) at 7:40 p.m.
Nebo Air Show On 10/13
The first (possibly annual) Nebo air show will be Saturday October 13 at 3:00 p.m. The featured attraction will be the Hoosier Hills Air Show Team. This event is part of the Martinsville Fall Foliage Festival. We are still recruiting local pilots & aircraft for static displays & flight demonstrations. Those participating should be at Nebo Memorial Field by 2:00.
Here is the press release that was submitted to the local newspaper.
Free Fall Foliage Festival Air Show on October 13
At 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 13, 2001, as a part of the Martinsville Fall Foliage Festival program, the Nebo Memorial Pilots Association (of radio control flyers), will host the Hoosier Hills Air Show Team from Bloomington, Indiana, for a free R/C air show. The program will be at the local R/C flying field which is behind Nebo Memorial Park, just off of Indiana 252 on Leonard road, in Martinsville. This will be the Air Show Team’s second appearance for the Festival. Their show at last year’s festival was well attended at McDaniel field, but due to development in that area, it was decided that it would be safer to hold the event at Nebo Memorial R/C Flying Field this year. Some of you may have seen the local group of R/C pilots flying at Nebo on Thursday evenings. The Air Show Team is hoping to work as many local R/C pilots into their show as possible. Due to insurance regulations, any pilots participating in the show must be current members of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
The Hoosier Hills Air Show Team has performed all over central Indiana as well as in the surrounding states. They have been known to fly some pretty strange flying machines. Depending on equipment & weather conditions, you might see a pumpkin, a stop sign, a dog house with a dog sitting on top, or even a witch on a broom stick. They have also been seen flying miniature versions of the space shuttle and a rocket
powered SR-71 Blackbird. They are always a big hit with the kids when the “candy bomber” goes up with a load of sweets. They do have some more conventional model aircraft as well, and there may be an R/C helicopter demonstration also.
If you would like more information on this free show or would like to bring your own R/C aircraft out for static display or participate in the show, please contact; Brian Elliott at 765-342-7236 (e-mail). You can also get more information about the Hoosier Hills Air Show Team by contacting; Bob Watson at 812-824-2521 (e-mail).
We would like to thank the fine folks at Nebo Memorial Park & Costin Funeral Chapel, for allowing us to host this free event at Nebo Memorial R/C Flying Field.
Interesting Bits...
Some fat guys had a brush with greatness while attending the IMAA event at Harrison, Ohio on September 22. Frank Noll Jr. & his group rolled into the event around 9:00 a.m. & decided to set up their pit area right next to ours. It was a really good show & a big day of gawking.
Mark’s Dragon Lady had a too close encounter with the corn. Seems that that high performance YS engine was making enough tank pressure to blow the stopper right out of the tank. It drenched the battery pack & down she went. Mark reports that she will fly again.
Jimmy had a control problem on his latest trainer plane. After making an abrupt right turn on take off, he recovered and brought the plane in for a nice landing. He wasn’t happy with the take off & decided to try it again. The same right turn thing happened again but it didn’t quite recover the second time. The important thing is that he didn’t go down in the beans. They had been picked the week before…
After working with Tim’s engine for quite some time, we realized that the transmitter was the problem. When it was too close to the receiver, it made the throttle servo bounce around. It sounded like the engine was getting lean & surging. After replacing the glow plug & putting a fuel line seal around the needle valve shaft, we just moved the transmitter away from the plane to fix the problem. When all was working properly, we took off. After about two laps around the field the engine quit. We decided it was a hunk of junk & called it a day. As Tim started to de-fuel the plane, he found that there wasn’t any fuel there to pump out. It was dry as a bone…
Marty’s float fly & cook out was quite the extravaganza again this year. Marty & his wife are the best hosts ever. If you missed it this year, make plans to attend next year. It’s the same day as the Fall IMAA event at Atterbury. Marty ‘s lake house is just down the road from there on Sweet Water Lake. Mark reminds everybody to check your CG after you switch from wheels to floats. He found out the hard way that an aft CG & a big wind can turn a stall into an unrecoverable spin.
Marty, & the crew on the recovery boat, were on the scene in seconds. As always, we had to remind Mr. Poland not to fly behind the trees. Thanks for hosting us Marty. Those ribs were the best!!!
I had no calls or inquiries on any of the items that I listed for sale last month. Guess I’ll just have to keep flying them till they fall apart or adopt the “buy high, sell low” motto...
We need some winter events on the event calendar. How about a snow fly sometime during the winter??? Get out the skis...
Event Calendar
October 6&7 Tournament of Champions Combat at Muncie
October 13 Nebo Memorial Air Show with the Hoosier Hills Air Show Team in Martinsville
November 23 Friday After Thanksgiving Flying at the club field (weather permitting)
December 12 Annual Club Christmas Dinner / Meeting Stay tuned for details...
