Hear Ye!

The Official Newsletter of the :
Valley Forge Signal Seekers
Radio Controlled Model Airplane Club

An AMA Gold Leader Club

February, 2006
No. 465

FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Bob Sudermann

Well, I hope everyone is working away on that new project. Even though we
have had some good weather and some of those people who no longer pay into
the Social Security System have been out flying, this is a good time to
fight the winter blues by hiding in the shop. The new season will be here
before you know it.

I want to thank Joe Krush for another great presentation. Joe is one of our
founding members and has been modeling for a very long time. Currently he
is concentrating on indoor and producing some amazing aircraft. When it
comes to weight, I worry about ounces and pounds and Joe worries about
milligrams. Joe has an infinite number of stories and we need to get him to
come out more often so we can continue to hear them. Thanks, Joe.

We also had another good turnout for the show and tell. Bill Sunick brought
a Spitfire (which he claims is a modified ugly stick). It was modified, and
he used it as a test bed for a new airbrush. For a test it turned out
great.

I continue to give Alex Primas a hard time about his ARF's. Alex is a
wonderful builder (when he has the time - that's why he also has a few ARF'
s) and I love to see his work. He is currently working on a Pica kit of the
Waco Biplane. The fuselage is built with an internal crutch on which the
formers and stringers are attached to form the rounded shape. There is a
lot of work on that type of construction and it is coming along quite well.

Carl Sutton decided he needed to practice building before starting his next
project, so he put together an Elder 40. Apparently this is a simpler
project than the one he intends to do next. Carl has taken advantage of the
mild weather and gotten his test flights in, and it flies as good as it
looks (he says it flies good - I think it looks good).

Perry Lawrence and Larry Scaggs are teaming up to attempt towing a sailplane
with a power plane. Perry got a hold of a Pilatus PC-6, an ARF from
Germany, and Larry is doing the assembly. This will be used to tow a
sailplane off the ground to a reasonable altitude and then release the
sailplane. We all know this is done in full scale all the time. I have
only seen this done once before, and Charlie Swope did not have much
success. Good luck guys.

I told my wife when I got home from the meeting that she could no longer
complain about the increasing size of my aircraft. Mel Jones has done us
all in with his new project. It's another turbine-powered helicopter and
will have an 8-foot rotor diameter, and it has to be nearly 8 to 9 feet
long! Boys and their toys!

The BOG is working hard to get some interesting subjects to present at our
meetings. In March Brad McManus will be our guest speaker. Mr. McManus was
a member of the Lost Squadron. The squadron was made up of a number of P38'
s and B-17's on their way to England during WW II and crash-landed in
Greenland. One P-38 (Glacier Girl) was recovered from 250+ feet of ice, has
been restored, and is flying again. Bob Brown, AMA District III
Vice-President, will join us in May. Please pass the word along to your
flying buddies and join us.

Remember, Let Carl Sutton know by the end of January if you will be
attending the Banquet on February 10. Also, Joe Weizer may still have a
couple of seats available for the WRAM Show bus trip. Better hurry.

Safety Topic

Take some time this winter and go over your aircraft. Look for cracks,
loose nuts and bolts, loose radio connections, loose wheels, etc. Make
sure to check those batteries. Cycle them and make sure they are in good
shape. Replace old batteries of questionable conditions. It's cheap
insurance.

Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the Field.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

January 3, 2005

Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Bob Sudermann.
Present: 13, President, Secretary

OLD BUSINESS:

Joe Krush has agreed to speak about indoor flying over the last year. Bob
will confirm/remind him prior to the January meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

Item 1: Larry Scaggs presented the 2006 budget based on current membership
rates and 215 members. The club income will be less than expenses and will
require using club reserves. Some discussion was held about increasing
members, increasing dues, reducing expenses, etc. These items will be
addressed in the near future. Motion to accept the budget was made by Miles
Bowman, seconded by Mel Jones, and passed unanimously.

Item 2: PNC bank has instituted a monthly activity charge. Treasurer Larry
Scaggs wants to change banks to avoid this unnecessary expense. Miles
Bowman made a motion to allow treasurer Scaggs to change accounts to a bank
with no service charge. Mel Jones seconded, and the motion passed
unanimously.

Item 3: John Powell has sent a letter to Bob Kopski requesting he be a club
meeting speaker in March or April. Bob Sudermann is attempting to get Bob
Frankel to speak about scale models. District VP Bob Brown has agreed to
speak at the May meeting.
Item 4: President Sudermann will schedule an annual meeting with the Park
Superintendent.

Item 5: Ed Snead has resigned from taking care of getting the engraving of
the Doug Davidson and Tech Achievement plaques. Joe Yalove has agreed to
take care of it this year. We will be seeking a member to do this job on a
yearly basis.

Item 6: The club needs to appoint a safety committee and a sound committee.
A BOG committee will be appointed to research and delineate job
descriptions.

Item 7: A motion was made by Miles Bowman to cover up to $225 of the WRAM
bus trip if there are problems; John Matt seconded. The motion passed 12-1.

Item 8: Motion to adjourn was made by Vince Judd, seconded by Luke Koziol,
and passed unanimously.

All business was concluded and the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 PM.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE FROM THE SECRETARY
by Steve Kolet

When I was in college, we used to call this time of year the "Dark Ages."
However, I now think it is a great time to build a new plane, repair an old
one, and dream of the coming flying season. There is good info in previous
club newsletters about checking models prior to a flight season. It would be
prudent to also review the Field Management Guide and Club Bylaws.
Remember, safety does not "just happen"; it is an active state of mind and
an operation which requires diligence and attention to detail. Make the
effort to be better than you were.

Your club officers and BOG are trying to get some interesting speakers for
the winter and spring meetings. We'll put the info in the newsletter in
advance so you can plan to attend. For example, Joe Krush came out in
January to give us some of his exploits in the indoor arena for the last
year. He is always interesting and good for some laughs, too! District VP
Bob Brown will be speaking at the May club meeting. We have asked Bob
Kopski, a very knowledgeable electric modeler, to come speak this spring.
Come on out, meet more of the club members, and enjoy a night socializing
with folks with a common interest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday February 7 -
BOG Meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM
(if required)

Friday February 10 -
Annual VFSS Banquet - 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Camelot Club, Bridgeport, PA.

Tuesday February 14 -
There is no meeting - Banquet replaces February Meeting.

Saturday February 25 -
WRAM Show. See Joe Weizer for sign-up

Tuesday March 14 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - Brad McManus, member of the Lost Squadron.

Tuesday April 11 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - to be determined.

Tuesday May 9 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - Bob Brown - AMA District III Vice-President.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REMINDERS

Awards Banquet -
Carl Sutton must receive your payment by January 31.

WRAM Show -
See Joe Weizer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOR SALE

The Original Candy Bomber is up for sale. KADET SENIOR in great condition
equipped with a SAITO - FA-50 and removable drop box and required servos.
Included is a 5-Chan. Futaba (Conquest) Trans. with dual Rates equipped
with new Battery. Fuel it up and enjoy great flights. Picture is available
via e-mail. $200.00
VFSS 15-yr Member Rom Boutin
610-692-1924
e-mail: subvet@erols.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOR SALE

52" span Ugly Stick with OS FS70S, 3 Fut S3004 on flight controls and Fut
S148 on throttle. Asking $250.
Steve
610-630-4580.


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