Hear Ye!

December, 2004
No. 451

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

RCV ENGINE PROGRAM

The British firm that makes RCV engines has offered to donate one of the
engines to any AMA chartered club. This unusual engine design has the
propeller shaft coming out of the head, the piston rotates as well as slides
in the cylinder, the piston is driven by combustion in both directions,
there is no crankshaft of the usual design, and the frontal area is very
small. Clubs accepting one of these engines would share it with members and
report their results/experience to the manufacturer. I have indicated the
VFSS interest to the AMA.

ZODIAC XL

Longtime VFSS flight instructor and AMA Associate District VP Bud Klopp is
building a kit of aluminum parts for a two-seater, side by side, ZODIAC XL
home built airplane which complies with the recently approved Sport Flyer
rules. The kit manufacturer is located in Mexico, Missouri. The engine is
a JABIRU, six cylinder opposed, 120 HP air-cooled model from Australia. In
general, the plane is a low wing type with a bubble canopy and tricycle
gear. Assembly time is quoted as 500 hours. Since Bud is a licensed
Airframe & Powerplant mechanic, he will probably complete the job faster.
Piece parts like the wings and tail feathers will be built in the basement
and then the larger fuselage and final assembly operations will be done in
the garage. Occasional field trips will be made by interested persons to
see the progress of the plane being built. Maybe we can get Bud to give us
a big Show and Tell on the whole project.

NOVEMBER MEETING

Show and Tell

Rob Caso showed his scratch built Fiesler Storch scale model, made from
laser cut parts, which he made with his own computer equipment. The model
was painted with a camouflage pattern, one of the most difficult paint jobs
to apply.

Principal Speaker

Harry Charnock reviewed the types of electronic devices used in World War II
airplanes.

RADAR: Forward and downward looking, to identify terrain and river features
in darkness and bad weather.

RADAR: Downward looking, for true altitude above ground, a big improvement
over the barometer based altimeter which can give wrong information due to
barometric changes during long flights.

LORAN: Long Range Navigation to aid in finding home base on return trip.

Radar jamming equipment to detect enemy radar and interference with its
operation.

Vacuum Tube technology for signal processing and amplification required
frequent calibration against standards to be trustworthy.

IFF: Identification-Friend or Foe. Transponder system to identify
approaching U.S. aircraft to prevent U.S. gunners from firing on them.

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VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

November 2, 2004
Members present: 10 plus Vice President and Treasurer; no quorum.
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by Vice President Bob Sudermann.

OLD BUSINESS: NONE

NEW BUSINESS

Item 1: Club Awards Banquet planning. Carl Sutton will take care of
looking into cost of the Camelot on Tuesday vs. Friday vs. Saturday evening
and report back. If a Tuesday is selected, we will try to reserve the
second Tuesday in February. The menu will be the same as last year. Carl
and Mike Estock will coordinate bringing a sound system and CD's for dinner
and dance music. Joe Yalove will look into putting his photos from the
Wright Brothers anniversary at Kitty Hawk onto a CD for viewing at the
dinner. Bob Sudermann will be responsible for the digital projector. Walt
Pierzchala will contact Bob Hunt or Bob Kopski for speaker.

Item 2: We need to locate the Davidson award to insure that all names are
engraved. Warren Barrick is the most likely repository of the information.

Item 3: The bylaws committee briefed attending BOG members on the status of
the update.

All business was concluded and meeting ended at 8 PM.

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GLIDER WINCH & RETRIEVER CART
Built by Member George Ray
Article Submitted by John Powell

George Ray, with help from Tom Greet, has probably gone about as far as you
can go in the continuing challenge to provide RC glider launching facilities
at Valley Forge!

At our field, where we can't have on-site storage, it has always been
difficult to get all the equipment for winching and line retrieving out to
the field and set up on Sunday mornings. The gear is HEAVY and also needs
one or two big (freshly charged) deep-cycle batteries.

This always means that someone with a strong back, a large vehicle, and a
"good heart" volunteers to baby-sit the equipment, service it, and bring it
out to the field. The previous holder of this arduous position was Gary
Sorrell.

George and Tom have been collaborating this year to fill the "Gary gap,"
using their personal winches and retriever. Now George has assembled the
whole shebang onto a garden cart (normally used to haul firewood). Now this
one cart carries George and Tom's Davy winch, George's Davy retriever and
two massive batteries. Once it is on the field, we just pull the cart into
position, run out the 'turn-around' pulley and we're in business!

There is a downside, of course. Since I guess the cart weighs about 250
lbs, it takes two people and a set of ramps to get it in and out of George's
new pickup truck. (Yes, he bought a truck just in order to carry the winch
equipment.well, maybe.)
However, he tells me that the overall strain on his back is actually much
less than carrying all the parts separately, and it's certainly much more
efficient for setting up and breaking down. Don't worry - George can still
use the garden cart for firewood this winter because the winch gear can be
dismounted fairly quickly.

Here are a couple of pictures of the winch cart and George Ray. I
encourage people to come out with a glider and try out the new deluxe
facilities.

PS - the Club's Rahm winch is stored in the shed where the mower is kept.
Also, the Club reimbursed George for the purchase of a new deep-cycle
battery recently. There is a very long history of VFSS purchasing necessary
glider launch equipment and supplies - even more reason for members to take
advantage of the facilities.

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ANNAMARIE MALLOY
Submitted by Al Campana

(The following article appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on October 18,
2004. Joe Krush had known this woman since high school and said, "She was
an influential ally of our club.")

Annamarie Malandra Malloy, 86, formerly of Paoli, a community activist who
fought to preserve Valley Forge Park as hallowed ground, died October 10 of
lung cancer.

In 1972, Mrs Malloy was serving on the Democratic State Committee when she
was appointed chairwoman of the Valley Forge State Park Commission by
Governor Milton J. Shapp. As head of the 13-person commission, she lobbied
the state legislature for more funds for the former camp where General
George Washington and his Continental Army troops spent the winter of
1777-78. She argued that a state proposal to raise money by charging
admission to the park's historic buildings "is the same as putting a slot
machine at my mother's grave."

During her tenure, she fought the development of an 865-acre tract of land
adjacent to the park that became known as the "Battle for Chesterbrook."
The development became inevitable in 1976 when Congress voted to nationalize
Valley Forge State Park but voted not to authorize funds for the purchase of
Chesterbrook. Under pressure from Mrs. Malloy and other activists, planners
designed the living units in the development as clusters, and 300 acres
remained as open space. "There were encampments here. I wanted it
preserved," she said.

In 1977, Mrs Malloy oversaw the transfer of the park from the state to the
U.S. Department of Interior and the name change to Valley Forge National
Historical Park. Eight years later, she and her husband, William, moved to
a townhouse in Chesterbrook.

Her daughter said her mother loved cooking the cuisine of her parents'
native Abruzzi region of Italy. She was an accomplished gardener, artist,
craftsperson and seamstress and turned her home into a fantasy land at
Christmas, Case said.

(According to Joe Krush, one of our founding members, Mrs. Malloy was
instrumental in getting our club field to its present location.
Apparently neighbors were complaining of noise at the former location and
she suggested that we be given the use of the old archery range, which we
now use.

Thank you, Annemarie Malloy for your service, vision and tenacity. It is
because of your efforts that we continue to enjoy our corner of this
magnificent historical park.)

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CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, December 7
BOG Meeting: election of officers.

Friday, December 10
R/C Flea Market. Central Bucks West H.S., State Street, Doylestown, PA.
6:45 to 9 PM

Tuesday, December 14
General Membership Meeting at the church at 8 PM.

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FOR SALE

Kaos 60 and Venture 60 both with OS 61 engines. and an Airtronic
computer radio. Both planes never flown. Also many misc. parts. Best offer.
Call Howard 610 525-2266 or e-mail: how327@comcast.net

Feedback or comments to: Marilyn Ayres , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster

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