Hear Ye!

March, 2005
No. 454

FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Bob Sudermann

The Annual VFSS Banquet was another grand success. I would like to thank
all those involved with the banquet and a special thanks to Carl Sutton for
leading the effort.

For those that could not make it, Steve Kolet received the Doug Davidson
Award and Rob Caso the Technical Achievement Award. We also presented
special plaques to Russ O'Brien for his tenure as the 2004 President and
Carl Sutton for his many years as Club Treasurer. We also presented
Certificates for some additional achievements, including:

Joe Pasquini - "Who Let The Rookies Loose" - Most students soloed in 2004.

Warren Barrick - "RTF's-R-OK" - Warren purchased his first Ready-to-Fly.

Joe Weizer - "Attention to Detail" - Joe lost his wing due to lack of wing
bolts.

Sean Merle - "What's the Red Light Mean Anyway" - Did not notice the low
battery indicator on the transmitter.

Joe McCann - "The Edge of the Envelope Ain't Pretty" - Exceeded the
capability of a U-Can-Do.

A special thanks goes out to Bob Hunt. As you know Bob is the editor of
Model Aviation and was our guest speaker at the banquet. Bob brought with
him a specific message and many other tidbits. My wife seemed to think he
was sending the message directly at me, as I have been known (past life) to
comment negatively on ARF's. Bob realized recently, while pursuing one of
his other interests, high-speed motorcycles, that he had been looking down
on those who build their own cycles, as he prefers the high-tech,
high-speed, purchased versions. However, within his modeling activities Bob
is an avid builder and used to consider ARF's as a negative impact on the
hobby/sport.

Bob talked about three types of enthusiasts. 1) The avid builder - This one
always builds his own aircraft either from kits, plans or scratch. 2) the
Transient Modeler - This one changes interest on a regular basis and will
never commit to one thing long term. 3) The ARF modeler - This one may not
remain interested forever but has the potential with the right experience to
turn into a builder and long-term modeler.

Bob's message, as I see it, encourages us to embrace all newcomers
regardless of their interest and make the experience the best possible.

On to other business: We received the new permit from the National Park,
which goes through December 2008. The officers will continue to meet with
park officials on a regular basis and the Twenty-Year Plan is due out
shortly. As always, we must stay alert and abide by the guidelines set
forth by the AMA and our Field Management Guide. This will ensure that our
relationship with the park will stay positive.

Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the field.

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

SPECIAL NOTICE

A special vote will take place during the March 8th General Membership
Meeting.

The Board has reviewed and approved changes to the Bylaws of the Valley
Forge Signal Seekers and will present these changes for membership approval.

An overview of these changes are included in this newsletter so that members
can read them prior to the meeting at which time they will formally be
presented with a vote by attending members.

Please plan to attend.

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

VFSS BYLAWS CHANGES

The following are the proposed By-Laws changes approved by the BOG. We will
review these changes at the March General Meeting.

Section I: Membership

(C) First time members.
(1) A first time member shall be defined as: A person currently meeting the
requirements set forth in (A) and (B) of this Section and who was not a
member in good standing during the previous calendar month, or any part
thereof, or a person currently meeting the requirements set forth in (A) and
(B) (1) - (4) of this Section and who has failed to renew his membership
under (D) of this Section.
(2) Sponsor requirement: First time members shall be required to comply with
the provisions set forth in (B) of this Section and shall be required to
obtain the signature of a member in good standing and to submit such
signature to the office of Treasurer upon which he shall be considered a
member in good standing.

(G) Other provisions
(1) The Club Officers shall be exempt from (B)(5) of this Section for the
duration of their term. Charter Club members shall be exempt from (B)(5) of
this Section.

Section II - Board of Governors

(A) General
(1) Number of BOG members. The BOG shall consist, in any given Club year, of
not less than twelve (12), nor more than twenty two (22) Club members in
good standing.
(2) Term of BOG members. Each BOG member shall serve for a term of not more
than two (2) consecutive two (2) year terms within five (5) consecutive Club
years. A term shall commence the first day of the Club year immediately
beginning after such election and the term shall end the last day of the
second (2nd) Club year of such term.

(B) BOG Elections
(1) A minimum of six (6) and a maximum of eleven (11) Club members in good
standing may be elected to the BOG in any given Club year.
(2) Any member in good standing may nominate (hereinafter referred to as a
"nominating member") any other member(s) in good standing (hereinafter
referred to as a "nominated member(s)") for a BOG position. Such nominees
must not be a current BOG member serving a second term or other previous BOG
meeting the requirements of (A)(2) of this Section. At least six (6) Club
members in good standing MUST be nominated for BOG positions within any Club
year.
(3) BOG Nominations procedure:
(d) Extended nomination period: If fewer than six (6) BOG nominated members
are received by the Secretary by the close of the August general Club
meeting, the BOG nomination period will automatically be extended for an
additional period of not more than two (2) weeks following the date of the
August general Club meeting during such time additional nominations will be
taken. Such an extension shall be announced at the close of the August
general Club meeting.

(E) BOG Meetings
(1) BOG meetings shall normally be held on a Tuesday at such time and place
as determined by the President. The President shall notify the BOG in
advance of all BOG meetings.
(2) Mandatory BOG meetings. A mandatory BOG meeting shall be held in
December for the conduct of Officer Nominations and Elections.
(3) A BOG quorum shall be present at a BOG meeting for a valid meeting to
take place. A BOG quorum shall be defined as six (6) serving board members
excluding proxies and excluding the president.

(F) BOG Committees
(3) Mandatory committees. There shall be established in each Club year the
following mandatory committees:
(a) Safety Committee. The Safety Committee shall be responsible for
monitoring the Club's compliance with the safety regulations specified in
the Field Management Guide. The Safety Committee shall be responsible for
making recommendations to the BOG concerning additions, changes,
clarifications and amplifications of safety regulations contained in the
Field Management Guide. The Safety Committee shall investigate any safety
incident at the request of a Club Officer and report back to the same.
(b) Sound and Noise Abatement Committee (hereinafter referred to as the
"Sound Committee"). The Sound Committee shall be responsible for enforcing
and judging the Club's compliance with sound and noise regulations specified
in the Field Management Guide. The Sound Committee shall also be responsible
for making recommendations to the BOG concerning additions, changes,
clarifications and amplifications of sound and noise regulations contained
in the Field Management Guide.

(G) Dissolution of BOG
(3) Procedure for removal of BOG member.
(c) A combination of the above methods which, in total, comprise two -
thirds (2/3) of existing Club members in good standing as per the current
roster as maintained by the Treasurer shall cause the BOG member to be
removed. The Secretary shall duly record and tabulate the vote for
dissolution. Such tabulation shall be verified by the Treasurer.

Section III - Offices

(2) Terms of Office
(a) President: The President shall serve a term of one (1) Club year and
shall not serve more than four (4) consecutive Club years within five (5)
consecutive Club years. The term of President shall commence the first day
of the Club year beginning subsequent to Officer Elections and shall end the
last day of such Club year.

(B) Officer Nominations and Elections
(1) Nominations and elections shall take place during a mandatory meeting of
the BOG which shall be held in December.
(2) For purposes of (B) of this Section, the terms "BOG" and "BOG member(s)"
shall refer to and consist of those BOG members having at least one (1) Club
year of BOG service remaining measured from the first day of such Club year
beginning immediately after such Officer election.

APPENDIX
(1) VFSS Field Management Guide (most current version) and AMA Safety Code
(most current version)
(2) VFSS Schedule of Fees and Membership Levels (most current version)
(3) VFSS Membership Application (most current version)

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet

February 1, 2005
Members present: 16, plus President and Secretary; 4 excused
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Bob Sudermann.

OLD BUSINESS

Item 1: The club received the new special use permit from VFNHP which runs
January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2008.

Item 2: BOG reviewed the club expenditures for Jan 2005.

Item 3: The Secretary was informed of a grievous error in the January 2005
minutes. Warren Barrick did not buy an ARF. Warren really lowered himself
and bought an RTF electric plane for his FL trip. I apologize for the
error, Warren.

NEW BUSINESS

Item 1: The CONSTITUTION and BYLAWS update was reviewed, three wording
changes were made, a motion to accept the update was made by Miles Bowman,
seconded by Mike Estock and passed unanimously.

Item 2: Rob Caso presented his finding on liability insurance coverage for
club officers, BOG, etc. It appears that we have reasonable coverage from
the AMA which is secondary to homeowner's/umbrella for individuals. Miles
Bowman had some info about PA non-profit organization liability protection
which Rob will research further.

Item 3: Frank Bakay is in Phoenixville hospital. Walt Pierzchala will
start the sunshine activity from the club.

Item 4: Walt Pierzchala will look into porta-potty rental for the coming
season.

Item 5: The Membership Application will be updated to include a statement
about abiding by the AMA Safety Code and VFSS FMG.

All business was concluded and the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, March 1
Instructors Meeting - BOG Meeting
No BOG Meeting in March unless BOG Members are notified, but we will have a
meeting for all VFSS Instructors.

Tuesday, March 8
General Membership Meeting at the at the Church, 8:00 PM.
Presentation of Proposed Bylaws Changes.
Guest Speaker - Bud Klopp - Home Building His Own Aircraft

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

HINTS & TIPS
FROM THE AMA NATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Removing glue
To remove parts that were glued with epoxy, use a heat gun along with a
scraper, knife blade, or screwdriver to carefully pry them apart.

Landing gear
If your wire landing gear has lost its spring and seems to have gotten
weaker, place it on a cookie sheet and heat it in the oven at 450° for one
hour. Turn off the oven after an hour but do not remove the gear until it
cools. Don't try to speed up the process and remove it too soon! This
heating/cooling process re-tempers the wire and should put new life into it.
Don't be concerned about solder joints on the gear. Solder won't melt until
about 700°.

from Smoke Signals
Meroke Radio Control Club
Joe Di Prima, editor
Franklin Square NY

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

AERO HUMOR

Basic Flying Rules:
Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it.
The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground,
buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space.
It is much more difficult to fly there,

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

NOTES TO THE SIGNAL SEEKERS FROM THE INTERNET
Compiled by Michael Myers

E-mail from our website, copied verbatim - spelling errors and all:
*********************
A very nice club and site .Wish you the best .
From a french modelist .
See you!
*********************
here's my Tango, 2 years old, hanging with the other 16 giant R/C's in
living and dinning room. flew pretty good, left blade wanted to rotate
slower than right one, building too many new models to correct it.
Blackburn Kangaroo Bomber behind it. trying to download the complete bunch
in RCUniverse, antique. am not a computor jock, at 79.5 trying learn tho.
Dick
*********************
Thanks for the great website. My 12-year-old son got a ready-made RC trainer
last year. Dad (me) crashed it on its maiden flight. He'd like to learn to
fly the plane without having the same thing happen again. We stopped by your
flying field last week (cold and windy), and picked up the information
sheet. It usually helps to meet people who know what they're doing. You'll
probably find us hanging around soon.
*********************
Excellent, Excellent Website & Pictures. I was An Avid Modeler Before I Got
Into Sailing. Felt Good To Reminisce. Thank You For The Tour. Ron.
*********************
I FOUND YOU WITH GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE WHILE LOOKING FOR AIRPLANES.. SUPER JOB YOU HAVE ALL DONE. JIM NICHOLS TUCSON ARIZONA 74 yrs of age
*********************
I was searching for( RC airplanes) to find some information on why my
Brother and my planes keep crashing? they take off ok, then go out of
control after making the first turn, then they turn left or right then into
the grown. ??? two different airplanes do the same thing. I was wondering if
JR Radios have trouble with interfernce??? got any ideas ?

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

FOR SALE

Entire fleet of 15 airplanes and 7 controllers. Most are ready to fly.
Also, electric phone and charger.
For information, please call Mario Chiarolanza at 610-828-5031 for
appointment. The planes are stored with Dee Messina in Trooper.
Very reasonable price.

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