Hear Ye!

March, 2004
No. 442

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

The annual Awards Banquet was held on February 10th at the Camelot under
mild weather conditions for traveling. This year we tried to feature more
of what goes on at the flying field so that the ladies gain a better
understanding of our hobby.

Ron Strobel's video showed a composite of flying field activities over the
past several years.

The volunteer work of numerous members was recognized. It was a two-page
list of the people who donate a variety of skills to keep the club running.
Thanks again to all who pitched in and continue to do so.

The job that the instructors do was outlined to give an overview of some of
the facets involved in successfully flying a model airplane. The currently
active instructors and backups were recognized for their work. Some models
were on display to give a close-up idea of their size.

The Doug Davidson Award was won by Mike Estock in recognition of his
all-around helpfulness to the club.

The Technical Achievement Award was won jointly by Mel Jones and Tris Colket
for their daring plunge into the frontier of turbine powered helicopters.
(Have you ever seen an engine that idles at 33,000 RPM?)

Two Months Past the Shortest Day

This is the time of the year when radio control modeling activities
accelerate in workshops, hobby shops, flea markets, swap meets and at big
events like the WRAM Show, Lebanon, Hamburg, and Toledo. The sporadic nice
days at this time of year attract flyers to the flying field, proving that
there are many people raring to go as soon as good weather shows up. They
are also experiencing the stronger lift from the cold air, which tries to
warm itself up by extracting warmth from our fingers.

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
By Steve Kolet, Secretary

February 3, 2004

Members present: 13 voting, Vice President and Treasurer, Jim Cavanaugh.
Meeting was opened at 7:05 PM by President Russ O'Brien.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:

Item 1: Bob Sudermann announced that he had scheduled a VFSS officers'
meeting with Park Officials for 9 AM on February 20th.

Item 2: The updated VFSS Field Management Guide was reviewed. The changed
areas were covered in detail. A motion to accept the updated FMG was made
by Bob Sudermann and seconded by Carl Sutton. The vote was unanimous to
accept.

Item 3: Bob Sudermann reviewed the status of committee development to keep
VFSS aware of and involved in the Park planning process. The committee was
proposed to include Bob Sudermann, Larry Skaggs, Mike Estock, Jerry
Cavanaugh, and Jim Myers. Carl Sutton volunteered to provide some
information received from the AMA and to help out whenever called upon.
Rick Bruce was noted to have expressed interest in helping out. Steve Kolet
made a motion to accept the committee as proposed. Mel Jones seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously. Several members of the committee
will attend the meeting on February 20th. The committee hopes to brief the
park officials on VFSS support and activities in the park over the years.
We also hope to brief on the status of upgraded porta-potty (also used by
hikers, bikers, riders, runners, etc) and the updated FMG.

Item 4: Russ O'Brien will let Marilyn know that he and Bob wish to review
the newsletter prior to publication.

Item 5: Steve Kolet expressed interest in sending out the new FMG via email
as a cost saving measure. A large number of members have email and would
take the document this way. Paper copies would be supplied to members with
no email and to all new members. The procedure should be ready to use in
early March.

All business was concluded. Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.

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

MORE HINTS AND TIPS
FROM THE AMA NATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Cooling your engine

If your engine is running hotter than you would like, how can you cool it
down? Most people make the mistake of thinking more is better when it comes
to the air inlet at the front of the cowl. This is a common error and while
it seems logical, the reverse is actually true. To properly cool your
engine, you need more outlet, not more inlet. You want at least
2:1-preferably 3:1-air out to air in ratio. Otherwise, it makes a dam and
the air cannot come into the cowl because it has nowhere to go out of the
cowl. If your engine is not cooling properly, try blocking off the other air
inlet or opening the belly of the cowl further.

Stud threads

You know those threaded metal studs you get with your Ny-Rods? If you use a
small electrical wire nut screwed into one end of the stud, you'll find it
much easier to screw the other end into the inner pushrod of the Ny-Rod. It
saves the stud threads too.

from the newsletter of the
Duluth/Superior R/C Club
Joan Johnson, editor
Knife River MN
......................................

Proper method to exit receiver antennas

Never exit the receiver antenna wire to the exterior of the fuselage by
running it via the wing saddle, or anywhere near the wing-fuselage joint.
The vibration and relative movement between the two during flight will
eventually sever the antenna wire.

The proper method is to punch an exit hole in the fuselage, near the
receiver location and away from exhaust residue. Obtain heavy sleeving
material (the size that will allow the antenna to slide through) from any
electronic store. CyA a 3-inch piece of this sleeving in the antenna hole so
a half inch or so is inside the fuselage. Pass the antenna wire through the
sleeving and attach to the rear of the fuselage. Before you pass the wire
through the fuselage, put a strain relief on the wire inside the fuselage to
prevent it from being pulled out of the receiver.

The best and cheapest strain reliefs are either a button or a broken off
portion of a servo output arm. Simply weave the wire through the holes in
the button or servo arm about three times and it's finished. Make sure you
position the strain relief on the antenna wire such that there is some slack
antenna inside the fuselage when you are finished.

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

Spreading filler

A cheap tool for spreading model filler is a used credit card. I have
several and have even cut strips off one just to get a narrow spreader for
trickier areas. Credit cards work just as well as the spreaders you buy from
the auto parts store. You get two or three in the mail each month, so use
them.

Three-blade propellers

Three-blade propellers are useful when you have a scale airplane that's
modeled after an aircraft that uses them. However, since the engine has more
mass to turn, the maximum rpm is lower. The general rule is to use a
three-blade propeller one inch smaller in diameter than the two-blade you
would typically use. This will allow the same maximum rpm. You also may
increase the pitch by one inch, but experiment and see what works best with
your engine and airplane. Your model also will have a different sound with a
three-blade propeller.

from Barf Rag
Beresford Area Radio Flyers
David Larsen &
Dennis Johnson, editors
Alcester SD
.........................................

Need a bench?

Need an extra workbench, yet don't have the space for a permanent one? How
about an ironing board? It has a padded top (if you choose), is adjustable
for height, and you can even sit down while covering or doing close-up work.
Best of all, you can fold it up and put it away.

from The Tail Spinner
via the newsletter of the
Duluth/Superior R/C Club
Joan Johnson, editor
Knife River MN

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, March 9th -
General Membership Meeting at the church, 8:00 PM. Park issues report,
Field Management Guide status, Technical Achievement Awards to winners who
did not attend the Banquet, Show N Tell, plus the traditional raffle.

Saturday, March 13th -
Lebanon Flea Market

Saturday, March 27th -
Hamburg Flea Market

(Full information on the last two events is in Model Aviation.)

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

POST SCRIPT

Twice within the past year, members called me to say that they found someone
else's mail inside their copies of Hear Ye! I can only assume that the
items were inadvertently mixed in during post office processing. It's easy
to see how a stray piece of mail could slip into the folds of one of the 200
newsletters they must sort each month. If you find mail that does not
belong to you, please just drop it into the nearest mailbox. Thanks.

Marilyn Ayres

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

Read another Hear Ye! | Back to Valley Forge Signal Seeker's Page | Back to Radio Control Airplanes