Storing Batteries
From the President
Pilot Profile- Bud Klopp
Field Safety
Editor's Cockpit
by Al Campana
Why is it that as you grow older, the months seem to fly by? Here it is February already, the holidays and football games are behind us and our banquet is coming up as is the WRAM show. Soon the weather will be changing, ushering in the sweet smell of Spring. As far as projects go, I haven't done a lick of building. Just putting this newsletter together keeps me busy. But I'm sure I could make time for building, I just seem to have gotten lazy.
Keeping tabs on the R/C links on the computer Web seems to indicate a growing trend. More and more hobby shops are calling it quits. Profit margins for the small shops are shrinking and kits are getting more expensive. And it's very easy to order via telephone or computer and usually your purchase is tax-free. Thank goodness we still have a couple of shops in our area. I still enjoy visiting a hobby shop, picking up needed supplies and checking out the new stuff.
The Tri-County Wingsnappers lost their field at Hamburg, Pa. but I'm told they leased another field. I enjoy going to their Giant Fun-Flys, seeing all the big boys strut their "stuff". It always amazes me to see expensive, highly detailed giant model aircraft being flown as casually as a high-wing trainer.
My point though is this, good flying fields are hard to come by, especially in this area.
We have to continue to be vigilant at our field, making sure that all of our aircraft meet our current noise standard. We can ill afford to lose such a beautiful and historic flying site.
On another note, there will be no general meeting in February. Instead we will enjoying our Annual Banquet at the Camelot. Last year's affair was a really super event. We had a very spacious room and delicious food. Warren Barrick MC'd the affair and handed out the Awards. All that at no cost to our membership.
Club members will be allowed to bring one guest to this gala affair. We must know how many people to prepare for by February 2nd.
Please plan to attend and if you do, give your name and whether you will be bringing a guest to Warren or one of the elected club officers before February 2nd. No reserv-
ations will be accepted after that date!
See you at the Banquet!!
Annual Awards Banquet - Feb. 10th at the Camelot, Bridgeport, Pa.
Be There for Good Food and a Great Time! (See "Club Notes" below)
Pilot Profile
The modeler in the spotlight this month is Donald "Bud" Klopp, a long time member of our R/C club. Bud remembers building his first airplane model at age 10, a 10 cent Comet rubber band kit. Four years later he built a Berkely Musketeer, a free-flight gas model. Over the years Bud has been involved in and built many models for free- flight, control-line and R/C.
Bud's experience as a member of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers has been very extensive. He joined the club in 1968 and over the years has held every elective office at least once. He served as President in 1979 and 1987 and was elected Treasurer on two occasions. He has also served as Secretary, V.P. and Newsletter Editor. In those early days of the club you had to be voted into the club by the membership. Bud remembers after having been accepted as a member he was given the job of "doughnut
chairman" for the meetings.
Bud has been a club flight instructor for about 15 years and enjoys teaching ground school basics to his students. He is also in his sixth year as an Associate V.P. for District 3 of the AMA.
In his career, Bud has held an FAA A&P License, graduated from Penn State as a Mechanical Engineer, and served 4 years in the USAF. While in the Air Force he worked on
P-51, F-82, F-94B, F-86D, and T-33 aircraft.
Bud's other hobbies include dirt track racing where he built and drove small racing cars, and
motorcycling with the family. In addition, he served as an Instructor in Sailing and Sea-
manship for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
PROP WASH
Jim Myers has graciously agreed to take over as Raffle Chairman. Joe Pasquini had run the program for 3 years and provided the club with a variety of model equipment and supplies as prizes. Under Joe's direction the Raffle has prospered and there were many satisfied winners at our meetings. Thanks again, Joe.
Thanks also go out to Jack Butler and especially his wife. Jack brings snacks and his wife's home baked cookies to the meetings. They must be good because there are never any left!
Several individuals have been contacted and asked to speak at our meetings. Tentatively, we may have speakers for the March and April meetings. If anyone knows someone in the field of modeling or aviation with an interesting subject please notify one of the club officers and we will get in touch with them. We're always on the lookout for interesting speakers.
For sale
Balsa USA Kit - Sting Ray 120
Retails for $110 - Now only $65
Interested?
Call Joe Pasquini
Tech Tip
By C.L. "Red" Scholefield
"Should I store my batteries charged or discharged?"
It really doesn't matter, they will self dis- charge in a few months stored at room temperature. If you are going to store them in the refrigerator (not freezer) the charge will remain for a lot longer so I would discharge them first to 4.4 volts and then put them away. Good cells will just set there in the discharged condition (the voltage can vary considerably but is usually above 1 volt in a single cell). In a battery with damaged "worn out" separator in the cells , the cells are apt to short if left in a discharged condition. This is actually good since it is the first indication of a cell that's going bad and it is best to
replace the pack. A battery left on trickle charge will seldom short out since it is the charged condition and any short that tries to develop will be zapped by the charge in the cell. Partial shorts (those having fairly high resistance) can be developing that can cause the cells to self-discharge at a higher rate than normal and possibly leave you short in the middle of a flight after you just measured the battery when it came off charge with your ESV and everything looked OK.
When removing your batteries from storage, before charging, check the voltage without a load on the battery. It should read well over 4.0 volts even if it has not been charged all winter. They should be essentially fully discharged, or flat as we say in the business. In this condition if the battery is going bad, a cell will probably have shorted and you will read zero volts on that cell. It may be a "soft" short, one that could be blown away merely by the simple action of slow charging. Don't do it! It is just lying there waiting to bite you.
Replace the pack. Cut out the good cells if you want and use them in something less critical than your model. If you have a battery cycler, run through a couple of charge/dis-
charge cycles just to make sure you are getting the capacity you are supposed to get.
Anything less than 80% of rated capacity is suspect. Once at the field, pre-flight battery checks are in order, particulary at the beginning of the season.
Club Notes
February 10th - (Tuesday) Annual Club Banquet at the Camelot, 425 Mill St. Bridgeport, Pa. Time - 7:00 PM
February 28th - WRAM Show. Cost $30
Bus leaves King of Prussia parking lot (in front of movie theater) at 8:30 AM.
NOTE - There are still a few seats available.
Contact Joe Weizer
March 10th - General Club Meeting at the Church. 8:00 PM. Please bring your project (finished or unfinished) for Show and Tell.
March 14th - Central Penn Aeromodelers Flea Market, Lebanon Fairgrounds.
Field Safety
By Art Rothstein
THE CUT - Most of the time when you read about a CUT you usually think your off the team. Not so when you are a member of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers. In fact the Cut at the flying field is good. It is the clear strip on the flight line that separates the field from the pilot.
The reason for this article is to help prevent a serious accident. On Sunday, January 4th, the weather was a balmy 66 deg. with a light breeze. The field, as would be expected, was crowed with flyers and spectators.
A model had just landed and was taxiing toward the flight line. Suddenly the engine went full-bore and sped toward the pilot. He quickly put down the transmitter, ran onto the field, and grabbed the wing of the airplane and stopped it before it reached the flight line. It appeared that the pilot was standing in front of the tall grass in front of the cut while flying his model.
The point of this article is that all pilots should stand in the cut behind the tall grass.
It is uncut for a reason and that is to stop a runaway airplane. I know it can because I tested it by running a large .61 size aircraft into the grass barrier and it stopped the plane and stalled the engine.
This article also brings to mind another thought while flying. It's a good idea to have a spotter standing by you. The spotter can do your calling for you ("taking off, landing, dead stick", etc.) while you concentrate on flying. It works.
I also suggested using this safety area to the chopper flyers who were at the field. They are in the same hazard zone with usually more spectators.
B.O.G. Review
By Dee Messina, Secretary
The Board of Governors met on Jan. 20,1998
Meeting called to order at 7:05 PM.
14 Board Members present.
OLD BUSINESS
1) Purchase of TV-VCR for club functions pending outcome of secure storage and non-club use questions.
2) Discussed tractor maintenance program.
3) Tabled investigation into new PA system.
Austin Gutman will check old system.
4) Request was made to account for club equipment. Walt Pierzchala to furnish list.
NEW BUSINESS
1) New budget for 1998 was approved. Two
catagories were added:
Miscellaneous Expense
Banquet Expense
In the past, the President's Expense Fund was used to cover the cost of the Banquet.
Since the new budget was more than last year's income, it was decided to check expenses vs budget at mid-year.
2) An Entertainment Committee was named to find special interest speakers for club meetings. The members are:
Russ O'Brien
Joe Weizer
Joe Yalove
3) Noise Measurement Program discussed.
Ed Snead to get volunteers to help measure engine noise at the field.
4) Proposed additional line to Membership Application: "Have you successfully soloed an R/C aircraft within the last year?"
Feedback or comments to:
Al Campana, HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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