An AMA Gold Leader Club
June, 2002
No. 421
From the President,
Warren Barrick
Last month I wrote while the local area sweltered in
92-degree heat. Last
night's club meeting was held in the park under very
unusual circumstances
and it turned out to be great fun.
As you well know, we have been witnesses to some of
the wildest weather this
area has produced in years, and yesterday was Mother
Nature's crowning
achievement. A huge mass of Canadian cool air commingled
with some moist
Atlantic air, and with the help of an approaching cold
front and a warm air
mass from the south, gave us a doozy of a storm that
came endlessly for two
days in unrelenting waves. Our meeting in the park
looked relatively safe
until 6:30 P.M., just as we were about to start, when
the skies darkened and
a storm rolled in like an express train from the west.
My opening remark
was for everyone to get into his or her cars and we
would try to ride it
out. Luckily, it was a quick-hitter and was gone in
less than 15 minutes,
and we proceeded with a very unusual meeting.
Unusual in that the evening's entertainment, which was
to be a
turbine-powered flight by Gene Greatti and his "Hot-Cat,"
could not be
attempted. Gene did start up the turbine and gave many
of us the
opportunity to get a feel for the operation of the throttle
and its 2 or 3
second lag as it is moved from idle to full thrust.
It was a novel
experience. We are most appreciative of Gene and his
willingness to share
his expertise. He is really a true club asset.
Show-N-Tell was unusual in that members were asked to
first visit Dan
Natales' pick up truck where his framed up Ziroli B-25
Mitchell was
protected from the elements. Dan has chosen to build
the wing in three
sections, and the outboard sections are already glassed
and await finishing.
The inboard section and the fuse are being loaded with
retracts and radio
equipment and there are many hours to go. Dan has proven
his workmanship on
many previous occasions and is a past winner of the
club's Technical
Achievement Award. This twin-engined bird is his biggest
challenge and we
are all anxiously awaiting its completion. Great job,
Dan.
The next stop on our Show-N-Tell odyssey was to yours
truly's van where I
had on display my rebuilt Morrisey Bravo which I hope
to have flying in the
next few days. I acquired the Bravo from Paul Hicks,
one of our senior
members who at the time had grown tired of the hobby,
especially lugging
this giant to the field. I purchased a Saito 270 for
it and rebuilt some
areas in need of repair and recovered it with 21st Century
fabric. I was
able to get one of the last replacement canopies that
SIG had on hand and
the necessary decals to bring it back to flying condition.
I am hopeful
that Mr. Hicks, who is better known as Bubba, will be
on hand when I get it
into the air.
That's about it for this edition, and I hope you've
marked your calendar for
the Memorial Fun-Fly on July 6th. Pay close attention
to the field rules
and regulations and be sure to "keep it in the
box."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUND BYTE
by Pat Taggart, Vice President
Noise produced by our model aircraft engines continues
to be a concern as we
share the park with other users. We are indeed fortunate
to have such a
fine flying field convenient to so many of our neighborhoods
and under the
general supervision of the National Park Service. Without
a doubt, the
Signal Seekers fly at one of the most desirable - if
not the most
desirable - sites in the Northeast.
The price we pay - and it's really a small one - is
that we have to keep our
sound levels down. A lot of the folks who use the park
are there for
natural beauty, peace and quiet. And even a well-muffled
four-cycle engine
could offend someone who comes expecting only to hear
the wind and sound of
passing cars.
Club regulations call for our engine noise levels not
to exceed 95 db.
Please make sure that you have had your planes sound-checked
and the label
attesting to such placed on your models. If you think
someone else has a
noisy plane, politely inquire as to whether it has been
sound checked and if
not, refer that person to someone with a sound meter.
Nathan Marks, chief
field marshal, has one, as does Joe Weizer and, at the
moment, Pat Taggart.
Sometimes all that is needed to quiet a noisy engine is a propeller change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GET THE ROPE UP!
by Pat Taggart, Vice President
With (mostly) beautiful weather suddenly upon us,
Saturdays bring a large
crowd to the field - and not just modelers, but scores
of curiosity seekers,
hikers and other park users who come to admire our skill,
proficiency and
artistry in the manipulation of model aircraft (!).
Most visitors seem to sense where to go and not to go,
but often people,
children and pets wander right up to the planes and
beyond. They are much
less likely to do this when we put up the rope behind
the pit area. The
rope is stored in one of the barrels and really should
go up first thing on
a Saturday morning. Please, if you are first or among
the first at the
field on Saturday, put up the rope and have a more pleasant
day. If people
wander beyond it, politely advise them why it is there.
I usually just add a
line like, "Everything on this side of it is either
hot, sharp or
expensive - with the exception of Little Round Man."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I HATE ARFs
By Warren Barrick
I was always told as a young man that "hate"
was a strong word. It was far
better to say," I dislike [something or other]
intensely." That, I was told
was an acceptable form of expression. I hate ARFs in
all forms. I don't
care if they are 45% Extras or lowly electric park flyers;
they are an
abomination and a detriment to model aviation. They
come in all kinds of
configurations readily covered in Monokote or Ultracote
in cookie cutter
fashion, and they are all presented to us by mega-modeling
corporations who
take their inferior balsa and infernal lite-ply to some
third world sweat
shop lined with jig-building apparatus and then return
the finished product
to us to "assemble" within a prescribed amount
of hours. Their marketing
experts tell us to be "up and flying in a few hours."
What is happening to us, the modeling public? We are
being bullied into
believing that we are craftsmen for "assembling"
something which was, in
fact, built by some person in a faraway place and who
probably doesn't make
enough in wages to afford the product of his/her own
labor. We wring our
hands and lament the loss of young fliers and cry woe
unto us all because we
are graying and our beloved hobby is disintegrating
before our eyes. We are
contributing to its demise by our sheepish behavior
and support of this
great scheme of assembling, not building, our models.
Where are the kids? I'll tell you: they are forlorn
and discouraged that
they have at one time or another assembled with their
Dad an ARF in record
time that they hoped would enable them to enjoy model
aviation. After the
first bump or nose wheel mishap, they are discouraged
and feel as though
that 3 to 4 hundred-dollar purchase was a waste of time
and effort, and they
throw it into the corner of the garage and look for
other horizons, probably
"girls or gas." Had they been afforded the
opportunity to build a kit, to
spend some quality time working from plans with instruction
booklets and
with real parental help, we would know "where the
kids are" - probably at
the field with something they built and not an assembled
throwaway toy.
We all spent most of last winter lamenting the enormous
anticipated
onslaught of park-fliers. As yet our fears have not
been realized. I
believe this to be true because the marketing experts
at our mega-modeling
corporations placed great emphasis on pushing these
products for Christmas
time. They probably sold them by the thousands. What
kid/parent do you
know who doesn't want to try every Christmas gift and
purchase as soon as
the wrapping is removed? I'll bet that most of them
were broken or at worst
destroyed before New Year's Day. Again, try to talk
model aviation to that
kid who splattered his ARF parkflier against the bedroom
wall.
Now there are many of us who have succumbed to this
mania, and indeed
members of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers have gone
to the WRAM show and
Toledo and joined the throngs who are purchasing ARFs.
Think. Is there any
greater thrill in model aviation than seeing the aircraft
you built from
plans with your own hands rotate successfully into the
air on its first
flight? Is there really any economy in assembling an
ARF when the magnitude
of self-achievement is so great when we build models?
I think not!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOW ABOUT YOUR OWN AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE?
by Ken Ball
Among the military's "Developments to Watch"
is a Marine Corps tactical
drone aircraft system-carried and operated by one man.
Non-military
possibilities are intriguing: the system could survey
remote pipelines or
powerlines; monitor waterways and view flow patterns
or spills; track forest
fires; and/or reconnoiter large tracts for crop or animal
status, human
activities, or for security purposes.
Code named Dragon Eye, the system was developed jointly
by the Naval
Research Laboratory and the Marine Corps Warfighting
Laboratory. Begun in
March 2000, Dragon Eye is officially described as a
system offering small
units reconnaissance and threat detection capabilities.
Major features are a
small battery-powered drone airplane operated by a single
person equipped
with a wearable ground control station (GCS).
The airplane is a 2 kg hand launched small drone capable
of flying for 60
minutes at speeds up to 65 km/hr. It is powered by a
pair of wing-mounted
24-watt electric motors. Operating radius is 10 km using
a very robust
communication link. At present, there are three interchangeable
camera
payloads - for daylight, low light and infrared. The
drone itself fits into
a 38 cm x 38 cm x 18 cm backpack. The computer, telemetry
and GCS power
supply are configured into a vest.
The operator sees the telemetered images as well as
a flight path diagram in
his virtual reality goggles. A preset flight plan stored
onboard guides the
plane to a return location should the communication
link fail. The operator
also has a "significant frames" button for
recording images for later
viewing.
It is expected that the Dragon Eye's low altitude overviews
of surrounding
terrain will provide small unit commanders with unprecedented,
direct
situation awareness; essentially in real time. Such
a system could provide
some very useful information gathering services for
utilities or industry as
well.
Key to the rapid development was a decree that the system
was to be
fabricated from off-the-shelf hardware and established
devices. Units have
already been tested in simulated combat conditions and
have been publicly
demonstrated. Several possible camera upgrades via recent
developments are
being considered. Two contractors proyided engineering
support:
AeroVironment out of Monrovia, CA, and BAI located in
Easton, MD. At
present, these contractors are assembling 40 Dragon
Eye systems for further
military evaluations.
Major John Cane is the Project Officer at the Marine
Corps Warfighting Lab
at Quantico. Project cost goals--with increased quantities-are
to get drone
unit costs down to the $20,000 range, and the GCS package
down to the
$30,000 ballpark. Major Cane can be contacted at 703-784-6413;
or by e-mail:
cane@mcwl.quantico.usmc.mil.
>From Pollution Equipment News.
Submitted by Alex Primas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLUB CALENDAR
Tuesday, June 4th -
BOG Meeting in the park at 6:30 P.M. Refreshments.
Tuesday, June 11th -
General Membership Meeting in the park. No backup at
the church. Fun with
Bob Dolan. Bring trainers and fun fly aircraft.
Sunday, June 16th -
VFSS Helicopter pilots and their aircraft will be at
the Helicopter Museum
in West Chester. Fixed wingers are also requested to
display their aircraft.
Contact Mel Jones or Tris Colket for additional information.
Saturday, July 6th -
Memorial Fun-Fly in the park 9:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M.
Rain date July 7th.
Food and fun for club members and guests.
Tuesday, July 9th -
General Membership Meeting in the park. No backup at
the church. More fun
with Bob Dolan. Bring leftover trainers and leftover
fun fly aircraft.
Feedback or comments to:
Marilyn Ayres , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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