Hear Ye!

July, 2004
No. 446

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

The Fun Fly on June 12 started off with wet grass but turned into a
fine-weather day with light breezes. We saw a demo flight of John
Williamson's giant scale Mustang warbird. For the first time at a Fun Fly,
glider instructor Tom Greet demonstrated a huge, unpowered glider launch
with a "Hi-start" system utilizing a marine battery and electric motor on
the ground. After disconnecting from the launch string, the glider silently
climbed to an altitude where engine powered planes are rarely seen.
Starting problems prevented Mel Jones' turbine-powered helicopter from
putting on its show. The transmitter impound area was kept busy as many
pilots kept the sky full of planes. Two candy drops by Rom Boutin attracted
all the kids and awarded a small flying model to the lucky one who found the
only candy stick wrapped in gold foil. Joe Weizer's Rogalo-wing "Flying
Witch on a Broom" was a crowd favorite during two flights. Field Marshals,
equipped with Walkie Talkies, were stationed at the site entrance to warn
pilots if planes were getting close to Route 252.

Joe Pasquini obtained several sheets of written impressions from visitors
enjoying the Fun Fly.

Two barbecue grills, under the watchful care of Steve Kolet and Mike Estock,
kept sausages, hamburgers and hot dogs flowing with no delays. A few of us
saw the precision onion slicing skills of Frank Bakay, which none of us
could duplicate. The grill cleanup task at the end of the day was lessened
by following the advice of the Weber Grill Newsletter: Close the lid and run
on HIGH for 10 minutes or less. After cooldown, all that is left is ashes -
easy to clean up.

Handibond CA Glue Donation

Believe it or not, all of the 40 or so bottles of CA glue, donated by
Handibond of Honolulu, were taken by participating Fun Fly pilots. This is
the third year that Handibond has made a donation to our Fun Fly. Three
grades of glue, Thin, Medium and Thick, were available to choose from.
According to the bill of lading, the total value of glue donated is $140.
The nearest distributor of Handibond products is HobbyTown USA, at Routes 3
& 352 in Westtown, near West Chester, PA.

The Wankel Powerhouse

We all know that two-stroke engines produce a lot of power because there is
a power stroke every revolution and there is no cam and valve system to
operate. The four stroke engines we are familiar with have to go around for
two revolutions per cycle and get one power stroke in the process. They
also have the cam and valve system to operate.

Enter the Wankel. It is a four-stroke in that it has Intake, Compression,
Power, and Exhaust phases in its cycle. The difference is that it goes
through these phases during only one revolution of its rotor. It is
therefore a four-stroke that gets a power stroke every revolution, like a
two-stroke. Also, like a two-stroke, it has no cam and valve system with
stiff springs to squeeze.

Several web sites come up if you type Wankel in the PC address bar. Some
sites have an animated cutaway view showing what goes on inside a running
Wankel engine. It is tricky to follow because the chambers are not
cylinders. Look for the chamber volumes increasing and decreasing and it
will be clear - sort of.

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

VFSS EDUCATION PROGRAM

The club commends "Mr. Joe" (Yalove), "Mr. Walt" (Pierzchala) and "Mr. Joe"
(Weizer), who worked with students from the Moore School in Philadelphia.
Classroom activities included building wood models. The finale was a visit
to the park to try them out. Students and teachers also had buddy-box time
to learn to fly RC model planes.

Students sent thank-you letters to their VFSS instructors, some of which are
shown here, verbatim. Thanks again, guys!

~~~~~~~~~~

Moore School
Phila. PA 19111
Feb. 20, 2004

Dear Mr. Joe, Mr. Walt, Mr. Joe,

I wanted to thank you helping me make a really nice airplane. Thanks for
letting us fly our airplanes and letting us keep them. Thanks also for
letting us use a razor blade and trusting us to be careful. I wanted to
thank you for helping us so much and teaching us a cool way to make them.
Thanks a lot for doing all this stuff with us.

Sincerely,
Christopher Cassidy.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Joe, Mr Walt, Mr Joe

Thank you for helping us make airplanes. It was fun making airplanes with
you I hope you had a good time. I never knew how to make an airplane with
wood. Thankyou very much. I hope you have a good summer.

Sincerely,
Jacqueline Sam

~~~~~~~~~~

Dea Mr. Joe, Mr. Walt, and Mr. Joe,

Thank you for helping us make our planes. Did you know my teacher said
yous have respect. Ever time I go outside I'm going to take it with me, so I
can show it to my friend.

From:
Ashley Morales

~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Joe, Mr Walt and Mr. Joe.

I thank you for having the lesson with us, we liked the airplanes, they
flew perfectly. I also thank you guys for helping us and fixing the airplane
's when they were broke or if something was wrong with the airplanes's I
like how all three of you guys were helpful, kind and patient.

Sincerely
Herbert Price

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Joe, Mr. Walt, and Mr. Joe,

Thank you for your time and respect. I had fun doing this. It was fun
doing this with you's and yousing the tools. I really appreciate the
airplains. I hope that I have fun with it at home. See you when I come to
vally forge.

Sincerely,
James Newton

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

June 1, 2004
Members present: 6 voting and 2 non-voting
Meeting was opened at 6:30 PM by President Russ O'Brien.

OLD BUSINESS:

Item 1: Fun Fly final planning.

a. Russ O'Brien and Carl Sutton went over the food list obtained from John
and Elaine Matt.

b. Steve Kolet volunteered to head the burger, etc., cooking.

c. Warren Barrick will do the emcee position. Russ will obtain batteries
for the public address system.

d. Bob Sudermann has the club radios and will bring them and batteries for
monitoring overflight of Route 252. Steve Kolet also has two, which he will
bring.

e. Mel Jones and Tris Colket will do a demo with the jet heli at noon.
Billy Jameson will be called to see if he will do a flight demo at lunch.
Kolet will contact Tom Greet to see if a glider/electric flight demo can
also be performed.

NEW BUSINESS: NONE

All business was concluded. Meeting adjourned.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Friday, July 9 -
Meeting of club officers with VF Park Deputy Superintendent to review status
of the 20-year Park Plan.

Friday-Sunday, July 9-11 -
Warbirds Over Delaware. Lum's Pond State Park, Kirkwood, DE.

Tuesday, July 13 -
General Membership Meeting at the field. Time: 6:30 PM. BOG meeting
following the general meeting if necessary.

Friday-Sunday, August 6-8 -
Wings Over Piper R/C Fly-In. William T. Piper Memorial Airport, home of the
J-3 Cub, Lock Haven, PA. Modelers and Cub enthusiasts can gather and fly at
this historic site and visit the Piper museum. Aircraft type is not
limited. Last year 1500 people visited. See www.wingsoverpiper.com for
details.

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

HINTS AND TIPS FROM
THE AMA NATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Tubing

Often, using a brass tube sharpened on the end to cut holes (or grooves) in
balsa provides a much cleaner and more accurate hole than would a regular
drill bit. The sharpening procedure below works on any size of hobby tubing.

1) Sharpen the outside of the tube using a fiber reinforced cutoff wheel or
a metal file. Roll the tube between your fingers to sharpen the opening all
the way around. If using a cutoff wheel, be certain to use the reinforced
variety and always wear safety glasses.

2) Use a hobby knife with a No. 11 blade to sharpen the inside of the tube
by rolling it on a wood block.

3) When it's time to use the tubing to cut the holes, you can either turn
the tube by hand or use an electric drill. After the hole has been cut, the
material usually sticks inside the tube. The balsa "plug" can be removed
with a wire or the next size smaller tube.

from the newsletter of the
Odessa Propbusters R/C Club
Keith Conrad, editor
Odessa TX

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

Tiny touch ups

Got a little spot on your new airplane that requires a touch up and all you
have is an aerosol can of the proper color? Don't panic. Carefully spray a
little paint through a drinking straw into a small container. There will be
very little spray and you can control the amount used. Now, dip in your tiny
paint brush and go at it.

Clogged aerosol cans

The manufacturer recommends inverting the aerosol can and pressing the tip
until the paint stops flowing and only propellant comes out. Sometimes that
works and sometimes it doesn't, and it wastes a lot of paint. Here's another
method.

After spraying, pull the tip off the spray can and press it into the top of
a WD-40 spray can and give it a little squirt. The WD-40 cleans the paint
out of the tip and leaves it ready for the next job. Replace the tip on the
aerosol can carefully to avoid ejecting more paint into the tip. Before
using the paint in the future, give it a squirt first to clear the tip of
any WD-40.

from The Cam Journal
Central Arizona Modelers Inc.
Marvin Hinton, editor
Sedona AZ

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

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high unsurpassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

~~~~~~~~~

"High Flight," a sonnet well-known to many fliers, was composed by Pilot
Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal
Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was born in Shanghai, China, in 1922,
the son of missionary parents; his father was an American and his mother was
originally a British citizen.

He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in
September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was
sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.

In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and
sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941, his
Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years
of age, crashed to his death.

His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

Biography from http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/jgm.htm

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

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