An AMA Gold Leader Club
December, 2003
No. 439
FROM THE PREZ
by Bob Sudermann
I would like to thank Ron Strobel for allowing all of
us the opportunity to
view his film 'Mount Everest' which documents his experiences
in Katmandu
and trip to Mt. Everest. The membership in attendance
was enthusiastic and
provided Ron with quite a few questions. This is just
another example that
RC modelers have other interests and passions and that
the VFSS membership
is interested in learning about them. Thanks again,
Ron.
The 2004 Board of Governors (BOG) elections did not
go quite as planned.
There are 11 nominees and not all of them were able
to make the meeting.
Per the club by-laws, nominees need to be at the meeting
when the elections
will be held or provide a written description of why
they want to be on the
board. To resolve the current issue, we will hold a
special election at the
December meeting to provide an opportunity for the club
membership to fill
out the remaining openings for next year's BOG. The
December BOG meeting
will be held on Tuesday, December 16th, at which time
the 2004 club officers
will be elected by the new board.
The planning for the annual banquet, which will be held
on Tuesday, February
10th, has begun, and we would like to invite all members
who attend to bring
their current project for static display. I think having
a few airplanes at
a banquet for a model aircraft club would be fun, and
it gives us a chance
to see what new ships will be taking off in the spring.
Joe Weizer is organizing the bus trip the WRAM show
in February. As you
remember, we had to cancel last year's trip because
we could not sell enough
tickets to cover the cost of the bus. For those that
haven't attended
before, the WRAM show is a radio-control manufacturers'
trade show held in
White Plains, New York. You can see all the newest
items available that
cover all aspects of this hobby. Almost everything
is for sale or can at
least be ordered. For the price of the ticket (current
estimate, depending
on the cost of the bus, is $40.00) you get transportation,
food for the trip
up, entrance to the show and more food for the trip
back. Please see Joe at
the December meeting to sign up. Don't miss it; it's
a great trip.
A final note on safety: Remember it is every club member's
responsibility
to ensure we are all adhering to the safety rules as
stipulated in the Field
Management Guide. If you see someone doing something
unsafe, please gently
remind them of the rules and what they are doing wrong.
Most of our rules
fall under a 'common sense' approach to safety. As an
example, do not taxi
an airplane from the runway back to the pits. Common
sense would tell us
that an aircraft with the engine running and facing
fellow modelers and
spectators is not a good idea.
Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the field.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A SENTIMENTAL (BUT ENLIGHTENING) JOURNEY
by Nathan Marks
During a recent vacation in Arizona with my family,
my son was scanning a
travelers' guidebook and discovered an attraction in
the town of Mesa that
he knew would be of interest to his dad. He had come
across the Arizona
wing of the Commemorative Air Force, a dedicated group
of veterans and
airplane enthusiasts who painstakingly restore (to flying
condition) and
house rare, vintage aircraft.
So that evening, I scanned my roadmap and plotted the
course to the Falcon
Field Airport via the "Loop," Route 101, which
has a speed limit of 75 miles
per hour. The next day, however, my wife and son elected
to remain
poolside, so I set off, undaunted, for the museum.
When I arrived at the flying museum, the parking lot
was practically empty.
This turned out to be fortunate for me because there
were no crowds and I
was able to speak at length to a couple of World War
II vets who flew during
the war, and I was able to go on board the Sentimental
Journey, a fully
restored and airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress. But I'll
get back to "her"
later.
Inside a huge hangar-like structure, the Arizona Wing
maintains a B-25
Mitchell bomber, SNJ, C-45, L-16 Grasshopper and O2-A
Super Skymaster. On
static display are a F4 Phantom, Mig 15, Mig 17 and
a Grumman Guardian.
They are currently restoring a B-25 Mitchell bomber
which flew bombing
missions out of Corsica against the Axis. One old timer
quipped good-
naturedly to me that the rate of progress of its restoration
was such that
he probably wouldn't be around to see it fly.
In addition to these wonderful airplanes, the museum
has an extensive
collection of war and war-era artifacts and memorabilia
and maintains a
machine shop(visible to quests) on the premises that
reconditions and
fabricates the parts for restoration. According to
their brochure, their
machine shop "makes it possible for the complete
restoration of these (the
aircraft mentioned above) and future aircraft acquired
by the Wing . the
restoration process can consume thousands of hours.
A major disassembly and
examination is begun ... defective parts are reconditioned
or replaced and
the airframe is carefully stripped of paint and thoroughly
cleaned ...
control surfaces recovered .. .re-skinning of the fuselage
and wings (often
needed) ... rewiring ... engine(s) overhauled,"
etc.
The highlight of the museum for me was going aboard
the "Sentimental
Journey." It originally came off the Douglas built
Boeing assembly line in
late 1944 and served in the Pacific. After the war
it served as an air-sea
rescue craft, and later, as a borate bomber combating
forest fires. It was
donated to the Arizona Wing in 1978, disassembled, and
"painstakingly
restored to original World War II configuration."
My immediate reaction, once on board, was how little
room there was for the
crew. Moving forward and aft required bending down
and almost balancing
myself, and the craft wasn't even in motion! The plane
was packed with
equipment, bombs (bomb bay doors were open), and 50-millimeter
machine guns
protruding from numerous turrets. I was able to stand
in the machine gun
turret on top of the fuselage, above the pilot's compartment...very
cool and
at the same time, unnerving when imagining what it must
have felt like to be
in that confined space with enemy fighters trying to
blow you out of this
world!
This is an aircraft museum that you must experience
first-hand if you travel
to the Phoenix area. Or, you may be fortunate enough
to see the
"Sentimental Journey" at an air show. I understand
that you can actually
take a flight on this bomber at these venues for a nominal
price.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VFSS BOG MEETING
by Steve Kolet, Secretary
November 4, 2003
Members present: 16, including the president and treasurer
(non- voting)
Meeting was opened at 7:05 PM by President Bob Sudermann.
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
Item 1: Joe Weizer wants to set up and manage the WRAM
trip. He will need
to put a $200 deposit down to reserve the bus. If the
trip is cancelled due
to insufficient interest and he is unable to cancel
the bus quickly enough,
he may be unable to get the deposit back. He asked
the BOG to sponsor the
deposit in that event. Alex Primas made a motion that
VFSS cover the
deposit for the WRAMS trip if the trip were cancelled
and the deposit not
returned. Charlie Swope seconded. Motion passed 9
to 3, with 2 abstaining.
Item 2: The treasurer and president will conduct the
BOG election at the
November club meeting in the absence of the secretary.
Item 3: The December BOG meeting will be held to elect
2004 officers. The
January BOG meeting will be held to cover the 2004 budget.
Item 4: The club banquet will be held in February.
Dates and places are
being discussed. Volunteers for organizing the banquet
will be sought at
the Dec club meeting.
Item 5: Budget: Income this year is down approximately
$1400 and
attributed to decline in membership. VFSS budgeted
spending of
approximately $11,000. The club has spent approximately
$8600, and has
taken in about $9300.
Item 6: Walt Pierzchala wants to get the JD tractor
maintenance completed
over the winter. The maintenance will cost approximately
$250.
Item 7: The porta-potty will be removed soon. VFSS
will need to
investigate other companies over the winter for next
season. It sounds like
a good project for a new BOG member.
Item 8: The VFSS Student Pilot card will be updated
to include the year for
issue in 2004.
Item 9: VFSS renewal forms will be in the Dec newsletter
and also on the
website.
Item 10: There was a lengthy discussion of the FMG,
safety, use of
spotters, attitudes of club members to suggestions for
safety, etc. An
updated Field Management Guide is in work and hopefully
will be ready for
presentation to the BOG in December and to the membership
as a part of the
2004 renewal. A motion was made by Steve Kolet to rescind
the mandatory
spotter. Second by Ed Moore. Motion passed 9 to 4,
with 1 abstaining. A
notice will be put on the club bulletin board ASAP.
Item 11: The winter coffee program will be started
with the December
meeting and run by Al Campana. The program took in
about $100 last winter.
A motion was made to front the fund $40 for supplies.
Second by Joe Yalove.
Motion passed unanimously.
Item 12: Nathan Marks will get the other Field Marshals
together to try to
formalize the position and duties for inclusion in the
bylaws.
Item 13: Motion to adjourn the meeting by Nathan Marks.
Second by Tom
Burns. Passed unanimously.
All business was concluded, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLUB CALENDAR
Tuesday, December 9th -
General Membership meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM.
Round 2 of the BOG
Elections. Please be prepared to commit to the WRAM
trip so that we can
finalize the bus and preparations.
Tuesday, December 16th -
BOG meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM. Note: The primary
purpose of this
meeting is the election of next year's officers. Carl
Sutton and Steve
Kolet have agreed to stay on as Treasurer and Secretary.
All BOG members
should plan to attend, including the newly elected members
for 2004.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feedback or comments to:
Marilyn Ayres , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
Read another Hear Ye! | Back to Valley Forge Signal Seeker's Page | Back to Radio Control Airplanes