Hear Ye!

January, 2004
No. 440

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2004 OFFICERS:

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THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

My first acquaintance with model airplanes at Valley Forge National Park was
in the late 60's when I visited with my son on several occasions. I had
built and flown control line models with up to 0.35 size engines in the late
40's and early 50's. Radio control was a giant step forward, and the flyers
didn't get dizzy doing it. The high cost of R/C equipment erased the
thought of having one of my own. We kept returning with hopes that some day
we would see the red biplane fly. It was always there but always had one
problem or another that prevented it from getting up in the sky.

After a lapse of about twenty-five years, it was an honor to become a member
of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers. Another decade sees my son flying
DC-10's to Amsterdam, Bombay and Honolulu, and me as the new President of
the club we used to watch from the sidelines.

Now it is time to become concerned with all the things that other Presidents
have dealt with, such as field maintenance, staying within the AMA and
National Park rules, staying solvent, training new members to fly, planning
meeting agendas, getting the newsletter out, conducting fun fly events and
the Awards Banquet, and not losing the keys to the church. Fortunately,
there are many members who volunteer to handle all of these areas.

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FROM THE PREZ
by Bob Sudermann

Well, after two tries we completed the election of the 2004 Board of
Governors and at a special BOG meeting elected next year's officers. Carl
Sutton will remain as Treasurer, along with Steve Kolet as Secretary. Russ
O'Brien was elected President, and I agreed to stay on as Vice President to
assist Russ. I know everyone will help Russ make this an enjoyable and good
year.

A couple of business issues: The WRAM Show bus trip is coming February
21st. Please sign up with Joe Weizer (the cost is $35.00 and includes the
bus, food and show admission). Also, The Annual VFSS Banquet will be held
on February 10th. Sign up with Carl Sutton by the end of January.

We had a couple of items for the December meeting show-and-tell. Russ O'
Brien shared a torch, which operates on bottled MAPP gas connected with a
flexible hose, and has a small nozzle that is better suited for some of our
smaller needs. Tom Burns brought in his nearly completed (wind screen is
still missing) Cloud Dancer. If you need help with foam cores or want some
tips on how to get a great covering job, see Tom. He did a great job on
finishing that Cloud Dancer. We are all taken by some of the impressive
aircraft we come across in this hobby. Most of these impressive craft are
products of very experienced modelers. Andrew Berg, one of our younger
members, blew me away the other night, not with a perfectly finished model
or an expensive ARF but with some very special modifications he has done to
a Park Flyer. Andrew has mounted an OS LA10 on the nose, reworked the tail
and added the required radio equipment. The execution may not be perfect
and not necessarily pretty, but I'll bet it flies pretty well. Thanks,
guys, for the show-and-tell.

PARK ALERT:

On Friday, December 12th, Carl Sutton, Steve Kolet, Alex Primas and I met
with the National Park for our annual meeting. In attendance for the Park
were Superintendent Arthur Stewart, Deputy Superintendent Barbara Pollarine
and Program Assistant Dave Borzick. As we have discussed before, there are
no major items between the Park and the Signal Seekers. Just as long as we
'Stay in the Box', 'Don't Fly Over the Superintendent's House' and continue
to 'Fly Safe' we can keep it this way.

Barbara Pollarine brought us up to speed on the efforts the Park is going
through with their Master Plan, the master plans for the next 20 years for
the Park's growth. Areas of concentration include Overall Concept,
Interpretive Experiences, Cultural Resource Management, Research &
Education, Recreational Experience, Traffic & Circulation, and Natural
Resource Management. A draft plan will be issued for public review and
comment sometime next summer. After the review and comment stage, the plan
will be updated and then proceed through the approval cycle. Once approved,
funding will be required to implement the plan. As this is a long-term
plan, not all items will happen at once.

The VFSS activity fits within the Recreational Experience segment of the
plan. To make sure our input is included as this process goes forward, we
will be providing a mailing list for all BOG members to the Park so that
they can be included with any applicable notifications. In January we will
ask the general membership for permission to include all members on the Park
's mailing list. We also need to make sure as many VFSS members as possible
attend any future public meeting to be held on the Master Plan.

Because of the stage of the Master Plan, Superintendent Stewart has decided
to issue the VFSS a One-Year Permit. After the Master Plan is completed and
approved, the status of our permit can be changed, hopefully back to a
five-year term.
Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the field.

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VFSS AWARD NOMINEES

Achievement awards for 2003 will be awarded at the annual banquet on
February 10th.

Nominees for Doug Davidson Memorial Award for outstanding service and
devotion to the hobby and to the club are Mike Estock and Steve Kolet.

Nominees for the Technical Achievement Award are as follows:

Mel Jones and Tris Colket - dual nomination for turbine-powered helicopter,
built by Mel and flown by Tris.

Phil Staas - for attempting to set up a system to locate and analyze
infrequent radio interference at the field.

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VFSS BOG MEETING
by Steve Kolet, Secretary

December 9, 2003
Members present: 18
Meeting was opened at 9:30 PM by President Bob Sudermann.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:

ITEM 1: The members met to select officers for the coming year.
Discussion was held describing duties, etc., of president, etc. All members
offered input. A motion was made nominating Russ O'Brien for president and
Bob Sudermann for vice president. Motion was seconded. Motion passed
unanimously. Congratulations to Russ and Bob. Carl Sutton will stay on as
treasurer and Steve Kolet will stay on as secretary.

All business was concluded. Meeting was adjourned at 9:50 PM.

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CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, January 6th -
BOG Meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM. New Board, 2003 Budget, WRAM Show Bus
Trip, and Banquet are some of the topics.

Tuesday, January 13th -
General Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM. Deputy Superintendent Barbara
Pollarine will provide an overview of the Park's Master Plan.

Tuesday, February 10th -
Annual VFSS Banquet at the Camelot, 425 Mill St., in Bridgeport, PA.

Saturday, February 21st -
WRAM Show in White Plains, New York. Contact Joe Weizer.

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HELP WANTED

Someone to research a Porta-Potti provider for the coming flying season.
Contact Carl Sutton.

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HINTS AND TIPS FOR WINTER PROJECTS
FROM THE AMA NATIONAL NEWSLETTER

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SHAVE CAN CAPS
If you use canned shave cream, keep the caps from the used cans. The plastic
caps make great containers for mixing resins. Several ounces can be mixed
inside, enough to join wings or other fiberglass projects. Or, turn the cap
over and use the flat top to mix up just a bit of epoxy for a small job.
Usually, the excess can be popped off the cap when cured. I use a piece of
scrap balsa, cut to a point, to mix and apply resin, or a throw-away brush
for "glass" work. Leave the balsa or brush in the leftovers and use that as
a handle to pop the cured resin out of the cap. Each cap can be used several
times.

from The Barnstormer
Hemet Model Master
Chris Wdowiak, editor
San Jacinto CA

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HAVE A BISCUIT
Strengthen your wing's center joint by cutting a half-round slit with a
Dremel saw into the leading edge and then gluing in half-round biscuits cut
out of 1/32-inch (0.8 mm) birch plywood.

ROTARY FILM CUTTING
Those miniature, rotary fabric-cutting tools from the fabric or sewing store
are ideal for cutting covering film. Use a straightedge as a guide, or make
curved trim pieces freehand or with a French curve.

from Brainbuster Newsletter
Brainbuster Free Flight Club
Abram Van Dover, editor
Newport News VA

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STORAGE FOR SMALL ITEMS
If you can find a kitchen spice rack at the flea market, get one to put your
CyA and epoxy glue bottles in. The kind made for small bottles works very
well. Empty bottles can be used to store small hardware items.

BENDING BALSA
A spray bottle of water on your workbench comes in handy for bending balsa
sheets. If you spray a little water on the wood before you use filler, it
will stick much better and will go on smoother.

REPAIRING DINGS AND DENTS
Have you ever had a dent in a balsa leading edge? Try fixing it with water!
Get a small diabetic syringe and put water in it. Inject a little water into
the balsa around the dent in the leading edge. Heat the area with your
covering iron. When the water starts boiling, it will build pressure and
push the balsa out to its original shape.

STIR STICKS
Use popsicle sticks. The next time you are in the craft shop, pick up some
popsicle sticks. They come in boxes of 100, 500, and 1,000 and they're
cheap. You will use them for all kids of things, including servo rails,
reinforcing splices, skids, fuel tank stops, mixing epoxy, and any other
place you use screws.

from Airmailer
Benton County
Radio Control Club
Jim Trump, editor
Corvallis OR

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WING / TAIL ALIGNMENT
Get an old telescope antenna (the same type as found on transmitters). Use
it as an adjustable-length measuring rod to compare critical measurements on
airplanes during construction. This can help you compare the distance from
one wingtip to the stabilizer and to make sure this distance is equal on
both sides of the airplane. This ensures that the stabilizer is parallel to
the wing.

from The Fly Paper
South Bend Radio Control Club
Jack Allinger, editor; South Bend IN

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BLIND NUT SAFETY
Blind nuts have been known to fall out inside the structure. Recess, then
glue a 1/16-inch plywood plate over the top to capture the nut.

TINKERTOY BALANCING JIG
This jig for determining the balance point of a new model is made of
Tinkertoy parts. And if you have young children who have the toy, it won't
cost you a cent.

from Prop Spinner Chatter
Eugene Prop Spinners
Mel Marcum, editor
Eugene OR

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PILOT PROFILES
Why not put a profile of a family member as the pilot of your next airplane?
Take a photo, blow it up to scale size, cut it out,
and mount it on foam core. You can then glue it to the cockpit of your
airplane.

from RAMS Airmail
Rochester Aero Model Society
Leo Jaeger, editor
Rochester MN

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