Hear Ye!

The official newsletter of the :
Valley Forge Signal Seekers
Radio Controlled Model Airplane Club
March, 1997

March Meeting The Last Opportunity To Renew Club Membership Without Paying Late Fee

In This Issue:
* From The President
* VFSS Banquet At The Camelot
* You'll Get A Charge Out Of This
* From The Net
* Training Program Update

From the President
by Warren Barrick

The next time you are invited to come to a banquet/dinner/event sponsored by the V.F.S.S. you had better plan to attend. Those of you who failed to come to the February dinner meeting at Camelot in Bridgeport missed a mammoth affair.

Thanks to the BOG for helping plan a great evening, thanks to Tony Valerio, the manager of Camelot, for providing us with a sumptuous feast.

Congratulations to our award winners; Charley Swope, Joe Weizer, Al Campana, Joe Pasquini, Jack Butler and Sam Andreas.

Thanks also to the recipients of our barbs at the "roast" which followed the meal. I've received a few requests to compile some of the zingers I threw at the banquet. Sorry fellows, you had to be there to really appreciate them.

All in all a terrific evening!

Our March meeting will be at the church. Dave Malchione of Keystone R/C, a nationally known builder/flyer and Top Gun competitor is scheduled to give us a presentation. Joe Weizer and Walt Pierzchala are coordinating this meeting. As usual we will have "Show 'N Tell" and the Raffle.

BOG will meet on March 18th at 7:00 P.M.

April's meeting which is being coordinated by Russ O'Brien will feature another national figure; Dean Pappas. Dean is a pattern competitor, a columnist and has also participated in Top Gun. Russ tells me that Dean will speak about improving sound techniques.

Does anyone out there have access to or own a G.P.S.? AMA wants to compile a map of flying fields based upon the latitude and longitude which will be helpful to all of us. Technical Services says this "is voluntary this year but will be mandatory next." Give me a call if you can help out with this. Thanks.

Cycle your batteries, the Jet stream is moving and the days are slowly getting longer. Start thinking about all of the good things you are going to do to make this upcoming flying season an even safer more enjoyable one than last year!

V.F.S.S. Banquet At The Camelot
By Al Campana

What a nice evening! What a great dinner! And those fun awards for our flying buddies. Tuesday, Feb. 11, was the date of our Club's Awards Dinner. Approximately 80 of our members, many with their wives or girlfriends, enjoyed an evening of conversation on, jokes, tall stories, humorous and good fellow awards and a delicious dinner. And, best of all, it was FREE!. I'm still kicking myself because I missed last year's event.
Our President, Warren Barrick and VP, Alex Patson are to be congratulated for putting together this fine event at the Camelot in Bridgeport. Warren also handled the MC duties, announcing all the awards. What a nice way to cap a great flying season (or start another). Thanks Warren and Alex for a truly memorable evening.

You'll Get A Charge Out Of This

Toward the end of the last flying season one of the more experienced flyers in the club lost an airplane. Not very unusual, except for the circumstances surrounding the incident. It was obvious that right after take off there was some sort of problem in controlling the plane. Was it a hit or what? Next thing, splat. Hey (person's name) what happened? I don't know, I just lost it. Upon questioning the person I found out that he charged his batteries every day after flying--- on trickle. The person was, and may still be, under the impression that if you leave the batteries on trickle long enough they will charge. WRONG!!! They will only maintain the charge that is there. Granted there may be some recharge but certainly not enough to fully recharge your batteries, even after a very long time-like all winter. As a matter of fact I leave my batteries on trickle all the time, after they have been charged for a full 16 hours after use. It is now the beginning of February, and it is probably a good time to think about your batteries. But remember one thing about Ni-Cads- they just drop dead. They may test good now and be dead in an hour. Through years of experience I can say that you may get one flight out of a flight pack with a dead cell. But that should be the last flight until the cells are changed.

Also don't forget to balance your props. Make sure you have epoxy holding the wings together, and that there is fiber glass tape on the joint of the wings, if called for. We had an ARF lose its wings because the builder only used a dribble of carpenters glue. He didn't understand the process.

Remember, when in doubt, don't!

Art Rothstein
Safety Officer

From The Net
Courtesy of Michael Myers

From: Howard Pacoe <hpascoe@epix.net>
Date: Sat, 08 Feb 1997 00:01:27 -0800
To: mhmyers@netaxs.com
Subject: R/C Club URL

Hello; My name is Howard Pascoe and I am the newsletter editor for the Endless Mountains R/C Flying Club. I was talking to one of your old members (Murry Gransback) today and he mentioned your club. Also Joe Pasquini (who I believe is one of your members) was awarded a free years membership in our club when he visited our annual Fun Fly this last September. I got your URL from a search of R/C Clubs. I like your web page and invite you to dial in ours at:
www.bayside.net/user/dlm/emrc/
We are a small club of about 20 members so it is unusual for us to have a web page. Fortunately we do have one or two that are able to provide the expertise to get us on-line.Give our regards to all in your club and tell them if they ever come up our way to contact me and bring an airplane. I'll see that they get all the flying time in they want.

Howard Pascoe

Training Program Update
By Rom Boutin

In order to accommodate new club members, who desire flight instructions, it is recommended that the following be complied with by individuals currently in the program.

1-Students that were actively receiving instructions during 1996 and have renewed their membership for 1997 should contact their assigned Instructor to confirm their continued interest in training...

2-Students who were admitted into the training program during or prior to '96 but failed to take advantage of getting the Instructions during '96, and wish to participate in the program this year, should contact ROM BOUTIN by 15 April for assignment to an Instructor. Individuals who do not contact ROM will be dropped from the student listing.

3-All new members, who desire Instructions, should contact ROM BOUTIN in order to be assigned to an Instructor.

Rom Boutin can be reached by E-MAIL at rboutin@trend1.com

THE CLUB OFFICERS WISH YOU ALL A SAFE AND FUN FLYING '97 SEASON.

For Sale

Goldberg J-3 Cub Clipped wing, painted military scheme. $100
JR 4 channel AM radio ch.47 & 4 servos. $125
ASP FS 65 $100
OS FS 61 antique engine with exposed rocker arms, make offer starting at $100.

Plane & radio brand new, never flown. Engines less than 2 hours.

Daniel Unger
dunger@email.vill.edu


Feedback or comments to:
Sam Andreas, HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster


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