Tech Tips
Pilot Profile
Raffle Items
Banquet Awards
Prez Sez
by Al Campana
One of the nice things about being an officer of this Club is the good feeling you get when a planned event becomes a truly great event.
So it was with our Annual Banquet. About 74 members and their guests had a really pleasant evening filled with conversation, good food, and witty remarks by our Awards MC Warren Barrick. Warren was in top form that evening, especially when he tried to explain the meaning of the "Dead Stick" Award. Interspersed with these humorous awards were the "Good Guy" Awards. These trophies were awarded to Alex Primas, Mike Estock, Karl Kuehmuss, Bud Klopp, Bill Strobel, and Bob Engman. The Technical Achievement Award went to Joe Weizer and Warren Barrick won the prestigious Doug Davidson Award. After all the Awards had been presented and before the banquet broke up, Warren was presented with an "altimeter" clock mounted on an inscribed plaque. This token of appreciation was for his 2 years of exemplary leadership as President of the Club.
These awards represent our way of recognizing members who have tried to make a contribution to our Club. They do this by contributing their time, ideas, leadership skills, modeling efforts, and just plain tenacity. Many other members have also involved themselves in Club activities such as our annual auction, flight training, providing refreshments, etc. As you can see, it takes a lot of people working together and volunteering their time to make a successful club. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to single out and recognize everyone who has contributed in some way to our Club. But I'm sure their time will come.
Before I forget, I would like to thank our host at Camelot, Tony Valerio for providing us with pleasant surroundings, attentive servers and really good food. Thanks Tony, for a very memorable evening.
One last note - All of the plaques and trophies that were awarded were obtained by Ed Snead. Thanks again Ed for a job well done.
Editor's Cockpit
Time to put on my "Editor's" hat. I have received 4 articles written by members for publication in this issue. That's great news! Remember, this is your Newsletter. If you have a modeling tip, safety observation, or related aviation news that you feel other members should know about, send it to me. I can't promise we will publish everything submitted but if it concerns airplanes we'll do our best.
TIP - To all '97 members - Don't forget to renew your membership for 1998. The last day for for renewing without a $10 penalty is the night of our meeting, March 10th.
Pilot Profile:
Ed Snead
At age 7 Ed was given a Sopwith Camel model airplane. Later, after it was broken in an accident, another kit was purchased and built. He then built several models which he sold to other kids. Through his youth, Ed continued to build models. He entered the US Navy and was discharged in 1946. With his mustering-out pay he bought an Ohlsson 23 and a U-control kit. In 1948 he joined a group of fliers that flew at 32nd and Diamond St. in Phila. One of the fliers he flew with was Charlie Swope, a long-time member of VFSS.
After graduating college, he worked at the Naval Aircraft Factory and the Johnsville Naval Development Center, where he designed cockpit instruments for various aircraft.
His first R/C plane was a Rudder-Bug with an escapement and gas-tube receiver with a Sigma relay. After several attempts to get the radio to function, Ed gave up and returned to U-control planes. In 1957 he married and sold all 22 engines he had including McCoy, Hornet, Dooling, Forster, Ohlsson, Madewell, Vivell, for a grand total of $100. (Bet he wishes he had them now).
By 1982 the bug bit him again. He purchased a Sig Kadet Mk II and joined the Club. Ed dropped out of the Club in 1986 because his job required extensive travel but re-joined in 1989 and he has been active ever since.
Ed was recognized for his work in the Club when he received the Doug Davidson Award in 1993. He has served as Field Marshal since 1994 and initiated the noise abatement program to help meet the requirements of the park. Ed has also been involved with our Club Auction for several years and has provided many Club members with personalized caps.
Training Update
By Jim Campana
Spring, warmer weather and longer daylight hours will be here shortly, so it's time to get ready for the upcoming flying season. I would like all students who have NOT been assigned an instructor to please contact me. I am not changing any current assignments unless requested. You can e-mail me at - jmcampana@erols.com.
I am also trying to set up the May meeting as a possible Ground School and Meet the Instructors meeting. More on that later
New Members
Steven Reisboro - Ardmore, PA.
Dan Remillard - Paoli, PA.
David Velasques - Phila. PA
Welcome aboard Gentlemen, and Good Luck!
Club Notes
March 10th - General Club Meeting at the Church
at 8:00 PM. Featured speaker will be Jeff Troy, Editor of the trade magazine "Hobby Merchandiser"
March 17th - Board of Governors Meeting at the Church at 7:00 PM. Please be prompt as we have a lot of business to discuss.
Swap Meets
Central Penn Aeromodelers Assoc. 18th Annual Radio Control Flea Market. March 14th at
Lebanon Fairgrounds, Lebanon, Pa.
Tri County Wingsnappers 4th Annual Swap Meet,
Hamburg Field House, Hamburg, Pa. Saturday, March 28, 1998.
Engine Sale
Ed Snead is having an "inventory reduction" sale of some of his engines. All of these engines have very low time on them and all are 4-Stroke
powerplants. If you are interested, please call him.
HP-21 ..............(30 min. air time) ...............$ 70
OS 40FS..........(31 min. air time) ...............$ 40
OS 48 Surpass (40 min. airtime) ...............$ 110
Saito 50 ...........(90 min. air time)...............$ 90
Saito 50 GK......( NIB) ...............................$ 150
Enya 46 ...........(46 min. air time)...............$ 90
Enya 53 ...........(30 min. air time)...............$ 130
OS 61FS..........(17 min. air time)................$160
Saito 65...........(21 min. air time)................$ 160
HP 49VT..........(10 min. air time)................$100
Daffynitions
BALSA - An extremely light substitute for gold.
ELEVATOR - Device to prevent level flight.
(Courtesy Dale Gunter, Beaverton, Oregon)
March Raffle
Jim Myers, Raffle Chairman, has the following items on hand for the Raffle at the March meeting:
One Futaba FM 4 Chan. Radio,
Two $ 25 Gift Certificates,
Four bottles of CA adhesive,
One package epoxy glue,
One wind meter,
Several gallons of fuel.
Looks like we'll have several satisfied winners!
Tickets are $ 1 each, or six for $ 5.
Engineering Show
By Alex Patson
If you visited the 2nd Annual Model Engineering Show held at the Leesport Farmers Market in Leesport, Pa., you had to be very impressed with how many craftsmen are building miniature working models of engines and associated equipment. At this Show there were model air-
plane engines, farm machines, race cars, boats and live steam engine trains which they ran outside on rails. A working model of a hay baling machine was shown which actually made small bales of hay wrapped in wire.
There were miniature scale airplane engines that were nothing short of spectacular. One gentleman from Pittsburgh had several engines, including a 5 cylinder, 1/4 scale radial engine. There was also a 1/5 scale Gnome Rotary engine of the type used in 1913 and a 1/8 scale Bentley BR-2 Rotary. The Bentley was run several times outside. Other engines shown included a 1/4 scale Cirrus Mk 1 four cylinder in-line airplane engine and a Challenger V-8 car engine in 1/4 scale. This engine was also run periodically during the Show.
The New England Society of Model Engineers had a magnificent display of engines, including another working model of the Bentley BR-2 Rotary.
Dick Yeagley of Smoketown, Pa., brought a 1/8 scale 12 cylinder Merlin Mk XX Rolls Royce
engine that he is still building. The engine is about 6" long and when the crankshaft was turned by hand you could see the rocker arms move and the bevel gears turn the cam shaft. Dick, who is 68 years old and flies a full-scale Cristian Eagle, estimates he will need 2 more years to finish his engine.
Tech Tip 1
By Bud Klopp
Deep cycle your nicads? Some do, some don't. I do, and I just proved to myself (again) why I do.
The morning "breakfast club" knows of my every day knock-around airplane that I fly many days between student flights. It is the Whiz 40 that some of my buddies have also flown. The use pattern for that airplane is maybe 2 or 3 flights of 5 to 8 minutes each. With range testing and engine starting, the radio on-time averages 20 to 30 minutes each time at the field. Then at home it gets a small shot of 10 hour rate charge and goes onto my pulsing trickle charger till the next time out. Note the short and repetitive duty pattern.
Now for the exciting(?) part. When I did my annual deep cycle test on the flight pack, I got a displayed capacity of 305 mahr. This is a 4 year old nominal 600 mahr pack. I recharged at the 10 hour rate (that is your factory charger) and deeped it again. This time it displayed 340 mahr. Next I "zapped" it at about a 400 ma rate (don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing). Deeped it again and displayed about 450 mahr. Again I zapped at about 300 ma rate and deeped again and got about 550 mahr. I will confidently use that pack now.
See the often mentioned "memory" effect and how the deep cycling erased it?
My battery management equipment is all home-made but I have capability for a lot of flexibility and I do cycle everything once a year. I have been doing so for more years than most of you have been in the hobby. I have never traced a crash of one of my airplanes to battery failure. I've crashed because of broken wires and control surface flutter, but I trace the cause to the loose nut on the end of the stick, not bad batteries.
Tech Tip 2
By Russ O'Brien
CLEANING SOLUTION - The April 1995 issue of Model Aviation had a recipe for a mix-it-yourself cleaning solution which is low cost and cleans off glow fuel residue from models better than many expensive cleaners. For the benefit of new-
comers and those who have lost their copy, here is the recipe:
10 Parts Water
2 Parts Alcohol (70% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol)
1 Part Ammonia
1/4 Part Liquid Dish Detergent
For safety, use a container with a child-proof cap and which cannot be mistaken for something to drink. Avoid soda bottles. Label the container for safety, as unlabeled containers are dangerous.
PROBLEMS INSTALLING A DUBRO SPINNER
When installing a plastic propeller and Dubro spinner, we sometimes find that the spinner will not fit after we tighten the prop. Check for "flash" (excess material) at the back of the hole in the propeller, where the propeller contacts the spinner backplate. This flash prevents the propeller from fitting closely against the serrations on the spinner backplate. This allows the backplate to slip and rotate while the prop nut is being tightened. The correction is to take the propeller off and use a countersink or small knife to carefully clear the flash from the back of the prop. The propeller and spinner backplate will then stay in place while the prop nut is tightened The payoff is that the spinner goes on with no misalignment problems.
Feedback or comments to:
Al Campana, HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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