Hear Ye!

The Official Newsletter of the :
Valley Forge Signal Seekers
Radio Controlled Model Airplane Club

An AMA Gold Leader Club

March, 2006
No. 466

FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Bob Sudermann

I want to thank everyone involved in the preparation of the 2006 VFSS Awards
Banquet. It went off with absolutely no problems and I think everyone had a
good time. A twenty-five dollar gift certificate and a candy bouquet were
given as door prizes, and Larry Scaggs' son Doug was our DJ. He did a great
job and even found a copy of "Proud Mary" by CCR mixed in with all the big
band stuff. I thought sneaking in "Proud Mary" would mess Carl up, but six
or seven couples got up and started dancing anyway.

Mike Myers was selected for the 2005 Technical Achievement Award (as soon as
we fix the spelling, he will be able to hang the plaque). John Powell
received the Doug Davidson Award. John also noted that all the VFSS members
are deserving of this award as we all try to help each other in and outside
the hobby.
The WRAM show trip is upon us (February 25) which means the flying season
cannot be too far behind. I hope to see some more winter projects at the
next meeting in March. They do not have to be 100% complete to bring out. I
should have my Extra out again in March.

Remember, Brad McManus of the Lost Squadron will be our guest speaker.

Safety Topic

The Valley Forge Signal Seekers strongly recommends the no one fly alone.
It is requested you have at least someone who can provide assistance if for
example you put a finger in the prop. There is a first aid kit in the
barrel if needed.

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

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FROM THE AMA NATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Using nylon bolts

From the Woodland Aero Modelers, Woodbridge IL
by Dino Vlahakis, editor

Here is a neat little tip for those nylon wing bolts. Usually they come with
round, slotted heads. They work, but your screwdriver has a good chance of
going through your wing after it slips during installation.

Take a 7/16-inch hex nut, and run it all the way under the round head on the
screw. Now you can sand the nylon bolt to match the hex pattern on the nut.
When the nut is removed, the nylon wing bolt will be transformed into a hex
bolt that can be easily tightened with your four-way glow plug wrench.

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

JOE WEIZER, THE FAMOUS INVENTOR
Compiled by Michael Myers

The following is a transcript of an email conversation:

Hi,

My name is Laura and my son Matthew saw your flying lawnmower on the Science
Channel on a show called "Discoveries This Week". Anyway, he is in 4th grade
and he picked you as the "famous inventor' to do his book report on.

I couldn't find any biographical info on you. Please, if you could help him,
he needs a short biography about your life and information on what obstacles
you had to overcome while developing and designing your invention. How many
attempts did you make before your invention was successful? (the flying
lawnmower). Did it work the way you planned?

Your reply would be greatly appreciated, as he already told all the kids in
his class about the flying lawnmower and showed them pictures. (They don't
believe him). He wants to be an inventor when he grows up too.

Thank you,
Laura in Los Angeles, CA
and Son Matthew, age 9.

* * *

Laura,
I am not the inventor of the Flying Lawnmower, nor are the men on the
"Discoveries This Week" video.

They "borrowed" the design from others and did some testing so they could
market it. My friend Joe [Weizer] is the inventor of the witch and the
doghouse shown. I'm not sure about the lawnmower inventor but the idea has
been around a long while and they are definitely not the originators of that
either.

Michael Myers

* * *

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Do you think your friend Joe would allow my
son to do his report on him as the inventor of the witch and the doghouse?
Please forward this to Joe and hopefully he'll agree.

Otherwise my son will have to change his report to the Wright Brothers.
(Please don't tell me they aren't really the first inventors of the
airplane...)

Laura

* * *

Actually I spoke to Joe last night and he is the original inventor of the
Flying Lawnmower also.

However he does not have email so it would be pretty difficult for he and
your son to communicate. I personally think the Wright brothers is an
excellent choice.
If your son is set on his original idea, I can ask Joe if he would accept a
phone call interview.

Michael

* * *

Thanks, we'll go with the Wright Brothers. But please let Joe know how much
my son admires his inventions and if he ever has access to email, we would
love to know how he gets his ideas and then makes them real. And also if he
has any advice since my son is a future inventor. (not for the report, but
just to know)
Thanks for you help,

Laura

* * *

I spoke to Joe this morning and he said he would be happy to receive a phone
call from your son. Not today (Sunday) but tomorrow would be best. We are
in PA (eastern time). His phone # is ...

Michael Myers

* * *

Hi Mike,

Matthew and I had a fantastic conversation with Joe today and I just wanted
to thank you for getting us together. He is such a nice man and my son is
just thrilled to have talked with him about his inventions. Matthew wants to
be an engineer too and Joe encouraged him to keep at it and to not give up.
It was great.
Thanks again, you made our day!

Laura

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Saturday February 26 -
WRAM Show Bus Trip - See Joe Weizer for signup.

Tuesday March 8 -
BOG Meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

Tuesday March 14 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - Brad McManus, member of the Lost Squadron.

Tuesday April 4 -
BOG Meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

Tuesday April 11 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - to be determined.

Tuesday May 9 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - Bob Brown - AMA District III Vice-President.

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

February 7, 2006
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Bob Sudermann.
Members present: 13, president and secretary

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Banquet is in good shape. 52 signed up at present. DJ is set for
music. AV system is set to show the Fun Fly DVD, HGTV piece on the
"Butterfly," and Tucson Aerobatic Shootout DVD. Candy basket and AMEX gift
certificate are ready for raffle prizes.

2. The proposed upgrade to the club website is available for viewing at
www2.vfss.org. All BOG members are requested to try it out, record
impressions, recommend any changes, etc., so we can vote on acceptance at
the next BOG meeting.

3. Brad McManus, a WWII P-38 pilot of the "Lost Squadron" which landed on
Greenland, will be the March club meeting speaker. April is open, and we
are attempting to obtain the Osprey project manager for that date. The
District VP, Bob Brown, is to speak in May. We are working on other
speakers for summer and fall dates

4. Safety and noise committee job descriptions will be researched and
developed by Miles Bowman, Vince Judd, Steve Kolet and Carl Sutton. They
hope to have it ready for BOG approval in April.

5. BOG discussed the financial state of the club in detail. The yearly
financial statements for the past 5 years were examined. VFSS is continuing
to decrease the club reserves each year. Tractor maintenance, fun fly
expenses, banquet expenses, printing and mailing costs, etc., have continued
to increase. Membership has decreased and stabilized at about 200
dues-paying members over the past few years. A comparison of our dues rate
to other clubs in the area was made as well as a discussion of cost saving
items we need to research. A dues increase is part of the solution and will
occur in 2007. The BOG will determine the amount of dues increase in the
coming months as we research some of the methods to cut expenses, etc.

NEW BUSINESS: None

All business was concluded and the meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.

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

LOST

VFSS Secretary's spiral bound notebook was lost at the last club meeting.
If you have it or saw it, please call Steve @ 610-630-4580.

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

FOR SALE

Sullivan Hi Tork starter with banana plugs installed-$20. New Tru Turn 3"
spinner for 3 blade prop-$25. Call Steve-610-630-4580.

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


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


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