Hear Ye!

July, 2002
No. 422

From the President,
Warren Barrick

Come out and participate in our Memorial Fun-Fly on Saturday July 6th. The
BOG has organized an exciting fun-filled day with lots of food and beverages
for members and their guests. Past fun-flies have proven to be gastronomic
triumphs. We don't expect this one to be any less. We will have hoagies,
sausages, hot dogs and hamburgers. Come out, eat, fly, and enjoy the day in
which we honor those members of VFSS who have gone to "that great hangar in
the sky."

June's general meeting at the field was great fun, as that diabolical master
of deception Bob Dolan organized and emceed a touch-and-go contest for those
who were not faint of heart. I might also add that all the participants,
yours truly included, were too naïve to believe that Dolan would snooker us
again. He did! Our prizes were ornately wrapped in the most elaborate of
patriotic paper and included rolled proclamations declaring each winner a
recipient of moon rocks (hah!), sod from a Charnock crash, and rarified air
in a bag from one of my high altitude Cub flights. First place went to Carl
Sutton, second to Steve Trabosh, and third to Warren Barrick.

Many new members came forward, and we welcome all. In the interest of
economy no new directory will be printed for this year. Save your old one,
as the BOG authorized the printing only of an addendum with new members
listed. We have realized a significant saving in our printing costs by
having members download Hear Ye! from the club's web site. If anyone else
would like to help by downloading please notify Rudy Forst so that we can
remove your name from the mailing list. Keep in mind also that postal rates
are to rise soon and we will need all the economic moves we can make to keep
Hear Ye! afloat.
The BOG began to discuss again a dues increase, which may have to be made a
reality in the near future. An increase in membership as we experienced in
June is an offset to that idea for the time being, but keep it in mind. Any
increase will be minimal.

All planes must sport a sticker showing that they have been sound-checked.
We do not have major sound problems yet, but we want to be sure that we are
in compliance with our own rules and that we will continue to have a
user-friendly environment at the field. When a field marshal approaches
you, be cooperative and get your reading taken. Most infractions can be
covered by a change of propeller. Thanks in advance.

Dee Messina is going to be temporarily in charge of coordinating our future
events at Wings Field and the Pottstown-Limerick Airport pancake breakfast
and full scale fly-in. Please let Dee know if you plan to participate in
either or both events. Both involve static displays of scale aircraft.
Thanks, Dee.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the 5th, 6th and 7th of June, three
busloads of school children from the fifth grade at the Moore School in
Philadelphia came to the park for flight instruction and a chance on the
buddy-box. It was a wonderful experience for the kids, their teachers, and
the parents who chaperoned them. Joe Weizer and Walt Pierzchala organized
this event. Over 100 kids participated. Joe Pasquini, Carl Sutton, Sam
Fitzgerald, Dave Korenstein, Bob Schaaf and Warren Barrick helped out with
the flight instruction. It was really an example of VFSS at its best.
Thanks to all!

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INVERTER "CONVERTER"
by Chris Darabant

After being in the model airplane hobby for many years, I've found that
there are always new ideas and new suggestions that are traded back and
forth on and off the field that prove useful. In addition to gas-powered
aircraft, I decided to dabble in electric flight as well. One of the instant
trade-offs I noticed was the decrease in airtime due to the electric power
battery duration. Sure, you can always purchase additional batteries, or
charge your batteries directly from your car battery or cigarette lighter,
but there is another way!

Available at just about any store for between twenty dollars to over a
hundred is a device called an inverter. For those who are unfamiliar with
this device, the inverter is more or less a transformer that you can hook up
to a 12-volt battery, and it converts the charge to household current. I
decided to install one on the side of my field box and use it as a simple
way to recharge my engine nicads while I am on the ground at the field.
This unit is a 300-watt max and costs less than forty dollars new. This
price alone was less than a decent nicad 12-volt source charger would have
cost, and it can be used for multiple purposes. Aside from engine nicads,
you can simply plug in your receiver and transmitter recharger while you are
not flying. I contacted the maker to be assured that there would be no
radio interference, and I was assured that there would not be.

Anyway, just an idea that I thought might prove useful to those of you who
may have been looking for a new way to keep "topped off." See you at the
field.

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WHERE ARE THE KIDS?
by Gerry Cavanaugh

I would like to give a response to Warren Barrick's rhetorical question,
"Where are the kids?" ("I Hate ARF's," June 2002)
Several months ago the Valley Forge Signal Seekers put on a flying
demonstration for the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of Chester County. During
the demonstration the club members gave many of these young people the
opportunity to fly radio-controlled airplanes. For this I thank the Signal
Seekers for their community service.

Prior to that event, I had a discussion with Warren Barrick and Joe Weizer
about the purchase of Delta Darts that would be sold to these scouts at a
minimal cost of $1.00 each in an attempt to create a challenge and
competition amongst the different Cub Scout Dens and eventually the Packs.
These planes were to be built during scout meetings as a training session,
and then builders would be given the competitive skill required to trim and
fly against each other. Unfortunately the Delta Darts did not arrive in
time for the den leaders to purchase for their scouts, and I paid Joe the
money so he was not out-of-pocket for something that I ordered. I have
given many of these models away to Chester County youth both in and out of
the Scouting program.

A couple of the older boys were very interested in the ability to fly and
have gone so far as to purchase models and radios to learn to fly. Most are
located in other portions of Chester County, so the Signal Seekers will
never see them. One individual scout was from my troop, and I encouraged
him to follow his dream and learn to fly. He contacted an uncle who lives
in another state, who in turn sent him a completed model for his first
adventure. Excitement ran rampant in his household, and everyone arrived
the VFSS flying field. With a completed model and radio, he charged his
model and was prepared for his first flight as a pilot.

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

COST PERSPECTIVE
by Horrace Cain

There is considerable evidence, as surfaces here frequently, about Club and
AMA dues being such a "burden." I say that if you want to know where the
real rip-off is, just look at the prices of models, engines and supplies.

I just recently went down to Lowes and purchased a 2400 PSI power washer
with a 5HP Honda gasoline engine. Included are all types of nozzles and
attachments, all on a sturdy dolly with 2 big wheels. Price: 400 Yankee
dollars.

Now go look at the small gas engines in the model aviation lines, and check
the prices. All are in the $300-$1200 and more range. The prices of kits
are just as far out of line, considering the actual kit cost.

You guys are getting ripped off simply because you just have to have the
latest whiz-bang, and Great "Pains" knows just which chains to yank. If GP
lowered all their "distributed" prices, then the garage shop industries
would also come down. As long as these guys go for the gold, GP will ride
the wave with them.

So griping about Club and AMA dues is small potatoes. I relate it to
stomping on ants while the elephants run you over.

Let the drums roll on!!!

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

NEW MEMBERS
by Rudy Forst

Below is a list of 1st Quarter New Members:

Glen Aidukas, Norristown, PA
Bob Allen, Jr., Westminster, MD
George Anderson, Harleysville, PA
Daniel & Heather Colket, Phoenixville, PA
Charles Gardner, Pottstown, PA
Jonathan Harper, Gwynedd Valley, PA
Joe Jackson, Glen Mills, PA
Wesley Laney, Wayne, PA
Chris Mantzaris, Newtown Square, PA
Joe Mc Peak, Berwyn, PA
Nicolelle Petragnani, Toughkenamon, PA
Saverio Santangelo, Gilbertsville, PA
Douglas Scaggs, Villanova, PA
Bill Sweeney, Lafayette Hill, PA
Anton Vanas, Wayne, PA

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
by Dee Messina

June 14, 2002
13 members present
Meeting opened by President Barrick at 6:35 PM.

OLD BUSINESS

1. Our slight membership dip prompted a dues increase discussion. This
could be a possibility in the future.

2. The subject of emergency or 911 phone numbers was again tabled. On our
club field bulletin board we have posted an emergency phone number. This
will connect to the park office and they will execute in an emergency.

NEW BUSINESS

1. More field marshals will be recruited.

2. More control is needed over new fliers at the field. Some additions will
be made to the training program.

3. A new directory will not be published this season. An addendum with new
members' names and vitae will distributed later in the season.

4. There was some early discussion over a club flea market this fall.

5. The Memorial Fun Fly is on Saturday, July 6th. Chairman Mike Estock will
be aided by John Matt and Warren Barrick.

All business concluded, meeting adjourned at 7:15 PM.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Saturday, July 6th -
Memorial Fun-Fly in the park 9:00 AM. until 4:00 PM. Rain date July 7th.
Food and fun for club members and guests.

Tuesday, July 9th -
General Membership Meeting in the Park 6:30 PM. No backup at the church.
More fun with Bob Dolan. Bring anything that flies after our last
experience with Dolan.

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

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