In this issue:
Prez Sez
By Bob Sudermann
VFSS. . . . . 1959 - 1999
That's right! Valley Forge Signal Seekers is forty years young. I have to say young because I recently hit the big "Four-Oh". And although my kids make me feel old, this hobby helps me keep a young attitude.
I have only been around this club for about 10 years and have seen many changes take place as we attempt to guide the club into the next millennium. I look forward to take part in and see what changes our hobby has in store for us. As the Board prepares for a summer full of flying activities, please help us come up with a unique way to celebrate this Anniversary. Talk to any Board Member and pass along your ideas.
Thanks to all who brought out their current projects at the January meeting: 1/4 scale Tiger Moth, multi-engine DC-3, gyrocopters. . . . That's only a small sample of what will appear in the Spring when we all bring out our new creations.
Remember the next meeting will be our Annual Banquet at the Camelot Club in Bridgeport. The Doug Davidson and Technical Achievment Awards will be presented along with a few "Special Awards" which cannot be divulged at this time. Ron Strobel has put together a video of our activities and we are planning a special presentation. I hope to see you all there!
As I write these notes I am preparing to leave for Puerto Rico on business. It would be nice to try to find a local flying site to visit while there.
Oh. I almost forgot - GO BRONCOS! ! ! ! !
Annual Awards Dinner
On Tuesday, February 9th, instead of our normal monthly
meeting, we will be at The Camelot enjoying a delicious
buffet dinner. This annual get-together at the Camelot
has always been a great evening. This year, in addition
to the awards, Ron Stroble will be showing a video
he had photographed last summer at the club field.
So come on out and see if you're one of the "actors"
in this film!
Dinner is scheduled for 7:00 PM. We'll start off with
a salad, then the buffet will include: sliced turkey,
beef in mushroom sauce, sweet potatoes, vegetable,
and pasta. Dessert will be ice cream and coffee or
tea.
The ladies may enjoy a complimentary glass of wine and
soda is free. Beer will be available at $1 a can.
If you have not done so already, you must have your
reservation in before February 3. The cost for this
fine evening is $5 per person. If you would like to
attend but have not purchased your reservation yet,
please call Walt Pierzchala at (610) 356-6507.
For those who have never been to Camelot it is located
at 425 Mill St., Bridgeport, and is about 2 blocks
from the intersection of Routes 202 North (Dekalb St)
and 23 (E. 4th St.). From this intersection, proceed
East on Rt. 23 (4th St.) to the first traffic light
which will be Mill St. Turn right on Mill St. and
you should see The Camelot ahead. There is a large
parking lot on your right, in front of Camelot. (See
accompanying map).
From the Editor
One of the difficulties of being editor of a club newsletter
is how to make it interesting to most of the members.
What is interesting to me may be of little or no interest
to someone else. So you try to find topics or articles
or stories that are diverse in the hope that the majority
of club members will enjoy the contents of the newsletter.
With this in mind I continuously search the Net, read
several aviation/model magazines and scan a few other
club newsletters for ideas.
However, articles submitted by our club members are
still preferred. If you have an idea, or something
to say, or a model-related story to tell, send it to
me.
Who knows, maybe we have another "Hemingway"
in our group!!
Event Calendar
February 9 (Tuesday).............Dinner at The Camelot
425 Mill St., Bridgeport,
PA.
Time: 7:00. Deadline
for
reservations, Feb.
3rd.
Enjoy good food, jawing
with
fellow club members
and watch a
video produced by Ron
Strobel.
Several trophies to
be awarded.
See map for location.
February 11 (Thursday)...........Winter R/C Auction,
Presented by the Bucks
County
Radio Control Club.
Location: Lenape Middle
School
313 W. State St.
Doylestown, PA.
Time: 7:30 PM
Admission Fee - $2.00
For more information
contact:
Bob Paris - (215) 348-7480
February 27 (Saturday)...............WRAM Show
White Plains, N.Y.
Annual bus
trip to largest R/C
show in the
East! Bus to leave
King of
Prussia at 8:30 AM SHARP!
See map for location
of bus
pick-up. If you haven't
made
your reservation yet,
call Joe
Weizer (610) 446-3982.
Cost is $30 and includes
ad-
mission to the Show.
March 13 (Saturday)......Central Penn Aeromodelers
Association. 19th
Annual Radio
Control Flea Market.
Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00
PM.
Place: Lebanon Fairgrounds,
Cornwell Rd. and Rocherty
Rd.,
Lebanon, PA. Admission
$5.00
For more information
contact:
Dick Sickmon
102 Charles St.
Carlisle, PA 17013
Biplane Comparison
By Jim Myers
(Continued from last month)
The Skybolt's symetrical airfoils make it easier to
perform outside loops. It does inside-outside Figure
8's, in addition to Cuban 8's. I did not connect the
ailerons on the top wing for the first several flights;
I taped them at neutral. The Skybolt has two aileron
servos, both located in the lower wing. In the last
row of the table (shown last month) , "yaw-roll"
refers to the coupling between yaw (commanded by rudder)
and roll (commanded by ailerons). This is also called
"induced roll" due to sideslip. In any trainer
aircraft, and most 2-channel sailplanes, there is a
strong coupling between these two motions, due to the
rather pronounced wing dihedral. What this means is
that if the plane goes into a sideslip for any reason,
the dihedral will automatically correct its roll attitude,
tending to make the plane fly straight with wings level.
Also, by holding rudder deflection, the plane will
automatically bank in the direction of the turn. You
can get a feel for the amount of yaw-roll coupling
a plane has by flying it straight and level and moving
the rudder stick from side to side. The plane will
always yaw, but if it also banks from side to side,
you have yaw-roll coupling.
The Skybolt has less yaw-roll coupling than any other
plane I have flown. This makes it easier to fly on
knife edge! Just roll that plane 90 degrees, then
add opposite rudder, and a slight correction to the
ailerons. The yaw induces very little corrective rolling
moment, so it is easier for me to hold the knife edge
position. Now I can think of ways to use rudder-aileron
mixing (which my present radio does not have). I would
set the mixing so that rudder input gives just enough
opposite aileron to prevent rolling.
In conclusion, I like flying the Skybolt better than
the Aeromaster, mainly because of its superior ability
to perform outside loops and knife edge flight. Most
other maneuvers are done equally well by either plane.
Tech Tips
from the NET
What is the difference between the new Futaba S-3003 servos and the older S-148 servos?
"Red" Scholefield replies: The S-3003 relation
to the precision performance servos one associates
with the 3000 series is only in family name. With
the same general mechanical configuration as the popular
work-horse S-148 I was curious as to just what these
were. A call to the manufacturersolved the mystery.
The S-3003 is a completely new servo designed for
total automated assembly. The design target was to
meet the performance and weight specifications of the
S-148. They came close. Per spec., the S-3003 speed
is .23sec/60 degree versus .22 for the S-148. The
S-3003 is 0.25 oz. lighter and has 2.8 oz./in. more
torque than the 41.6 oz./in. of the S-148. The listing
in a popular 1996 mail order catalog calls the S-148
"Standard Precision" while the S-3003 is
designated "Standard". In this same catalog
the "Precision" is $1.00 more than the "Standard".
The manufacturer was non-committal when asked if the
S-148 would eventually be phased out. "It depends
on the market".
In the testing of these servos I could find no perceivable
difference between them. Only lots of field experience
will tell if these can equal the success of the S-148's.
There is one small difference and that is in the mounting
pads. The S-148 has "open" holes whereas
the S-3003 has closed holes. The spacing between the
holes is slightly different. The holes on the S-3003
are .072 in. closer together on the long dimension
and .008 in. farther apart on the narrow dimension.
This means they are not directly interchangeable in
systems set up for the S-148 and will not fit the Futaba
servo trays that came with your system that had the
S-148s shipped with it.
Ni-Cad Batteries - The primary deterioration in ni-cd batteries is oxidation of the nylon separator. The rate of oxidation is temperature dependent. Lower temperature retards the oxidation process and extends the life of the battery in storage. It makes absolutely no difference what state of charge the batteries are in when placed in storage.
B.O.G. Review
By Dee Messina, Secretary
The Board of Governors met January 19, 1999.
Meeting called to order by Bob Sudermann, President
at 7:05 PM. Seventeen members present.
OLD BUSINESS
1.) Banquet food selection discussed. Combination buffet
selected.
2.) Looking for a club member to be a Master of Ceremonies
at the Banquet. Any interested party, contact a Board
Member or Club Officer.
3.) A non-smoking environment has been requested
for the Banquet.
4.) The Board approved a professionally edited video
of 1998 VFSS members to be shown on a big screen TV
at the Banquet.
NEW BUSINESS
1.) The 1999 Budget has been approved and is in place.
2.) The first Fun-Fly is scheduled for June 12th. Mike
Estock will be the Event Director.
3.) An Entertainment Committee is now forming (see Walt
Pierzchala) for the purpose of finding people and suitable
topics to present at club meetings. If you know of
someone, contact Walt.
4.) A model engine machinery show will take place on
Jan. 31 at the Leesport Farmers Market. See Alex Patson
if you are interested.
Business concluded. Meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM.
Respectively submitted,
Dee Messina.
Feedback or comments to:
Al Campana , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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