An AMA Gold Leader Club
May, 2006
No. 468
FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Bob Sudermann
I want to thank all those who brought out their projects
for the April
meeting. Everyone seems to be doing something different
and stretching
their modeling and/or flying skills. Keep them coming.
We are still in need of someone willing to step up and
assume overall
coordination of the upcoming Fun Fly. We are not asking
anyone to do all
the work, just coordinate and make sure everything is
covered. We will be
discussing the details at the May BOG meeting, so please
let me know if you
are interested.
Bob Brown, AMA Area Vice President for District II,
will be the guest
speaker in May. Please come join us and show Mr. Brown
what the Valley
Forge Signal Seekers are made of.
See - sometimes I can keep things short.
Safety Topic
The BOG will be presenting a change to the Bylaws and
Field Management Guide
in May. These changes involve descriptions of duties
for the Safety
Committee and Sound Committee.
Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the Field.
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VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Seve Kolet, Secretary
April 4, 2006
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Bob Sudermann.
Members present: 10 plus president and secretary
OLD BUSINESS
1. The September Fun Fly date will be the 16th with
the rain date of the
17th. The Wings Fly-In Breakfast, etc., is the 9th.
2. The Charter School flying dates are April 24-27,
May 1-5, 8-11, 15-19,
and 30-31. If there are preferences, let Joe W. know.
3. Two versions of the updated Field Management Guide
were briefed and
discussed. Alex Primas made a motion to adopt the concise
version, seconded
by Carl Sutton. The motion passed unanimously.
4. The changes to the VFSS Bylaws to describe the Safety
Coordinator
position and duties, describe the sound committee and
duties, and other
minor changes were reviewed. A motion to accept the
changes was made by
Phil Leinhauser, seconded by Carl Sutton and passed
unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
1. The US Scale team has sent us raffle tickets and
is also looking for
donations to send the team to the world meet. Tickets
will be offered at
the club meeting.
2. Bob Kopski has agreed to speak at the October 10th
club meeting. That
is also BOG election night. Bob Aberle is also being
sought as a speaker.
3. Carl will schedule field rolling in mid April and
call the usual
suspects to help drink the coffee and drive the roller.
4. There is a discrepancy between the number of newsletters
which we mail
and the number of members on our membership list. This
is a continuing,
expensive problem. Larry and Warren are going to rationalize
the mailing
list to stop sending newsletters to non-members. We
will also encourage
taking the newsletter via email, etc. The club application
will have a
block for electronic newsletter acceptance.
All business was concluded and the meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.
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HINTS & TIPS FROM THE AMA INSIDER
From the Middle Point RC Flyers, Murfreesboro TN
Windy Weather Flying
by Clay Ramskill
All too often, on an otherwise nice but windy day, folks
just don't fly.
Obviously, for a beginner, that's common sense-but for
someone who has some
experience, the wind can be a challenge that adds some
spice to flying.
While it's easy to see that experience level has a lot
to do with how much
wind is too much, it may not be quite as apparent that
the type of model
you're flying also can have a great effect on your ability
to handle winds.
Let's go through some airplane design features to see
which ones give us the
best flying characteristics to handle winds and the
resulting turbulence.
Size: In general, the larger the airplane, the better
it will handle winds
of all kinds; large models don't "flop around"
as much!
Dihedral: The more dihedral in a model's wings, the
more they are going to
be affected by crosswind gusts; it is hard to keep the
wings level,
therefore lineup to the runway is difficult in a crosswind
situation.
Wing Loading: The higher the wing loading, the less
an airplane will be
affected when hit with a gust.
Aspect Ratio: Lower aspect ratio (stubby) wings will
be less bothered by
gusts; there is less leverage for side forces to upset
the airplane, and
lower aspect ratio wings have a greater tolerance to
changes in angle of
attack caused by gusts.
Power: Having the power to overcome the force of wind
is necessary. The same
thing goes when you get into a sticky situation.
Lateral Control: Ailerons are beneficial in a crosswind
landing and takeoff
phases. The ability to dip a wing into a crosswind without
changing heading
is essential, as is the ability to rudder the airplane
parallel to the
runway heading while keeping wings level with aileron
while landing.
Landing Gear: Models with tricycle landing gear are
easier to land and take
off in a crosswind than tail draggers; in addition,
the wider the spread on
the main gear, the better.
Maneuverability: This one is a bit harder to quantify.
You want a model with
stability, yet you do need good maneuverability to cope
with gusts.
Therefore, you want a model that is stable, yet responsive.
Wing Mounting: Generally, a low-wing airplane will handle
crosswinds better.
This is because the center of gravity of the airplane
is nearer, in a
vertical sense, to the aerodynamic center of the wing.
Therefore, a side
gust does not roll the model as easily. Moreover, by
mounting the main
landing gear on that low-wing model, they can be spread
wider.
It's unfortunate that almost every item above is in
direct opposition to the
characteristics found in many popular trainers. The
main exception is the
requirement for tricycle landing gear. But even with
trainers, there are
differences. Compare a Seniorita with the Kadet Mk2.
While the Seniorita may
be a bit slower and a bit easier to fly, the Kadet,
with its ailerons,
higher wing loading, lower aspect ratio, and lower dihedral,
is a far better
airplane when flying in windy conditions. Going a step
further with the same
kit manufacturer, the Cougar (.40) / Cobra (.60 size)
kits embody all the
right characteristics for windy flying.
In closing, I offer Confucius' only known saying about
RC flying: "To learn
to fly in wind, one must fly in wind!"
* * *
from the Millis Model Aircraft Club Inc., Dedham MA
Need Vertical Storage?
by Ted Zaborski
If you have the need for vertical storage, then take
a look at this
cheap-and-easy vertical rack made from ?-inch PCV pipe,
PCV fittings (Ts,
90-degree elbows, and end caps if desired).
Elastic fabric or bungee cords for securing the aircraft
and foam rubber for
cushioning. It will store your fuselage and wing conveniently
while cutting
down on hangar rash. It will also keep the front engine
bearing lubricated.
* No measurements are included because size and shape
will vary.
* Glue is toxic and flammable. Use in a well-ventilated
area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLUB CALENDAR
Tuesday May 2 -
BOG Meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM.
Tuesday May 9 -
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM -
10:00 PM. Guest
Speaker - Bob Brown - AMA District III Vice-President.
Saturday June 10 -
VFSS Fun Fly (Rain date - Sunday, June 11). Starts
at 9:00 AM. (Setup
starts at 7:00 AM or earlier.)
Tuesday June 13 -
General Membership Meeting at the Field, 6:30 PM - Dusk.
Guest Speaker -
Vince Judd will discuss and show off one of his other
hobbies: Drag Racing
(Static Display Only.)
Tuesday July 11 -
General Membership Meeting will be held at the VFNP
Welcome Center. Guest
Speaker: Superintendent Mike Caldwell. We will get
a tour of the Vault
(artifacts not on public display), and the Visitor Store
will be open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WANTED
I am an RC modeler in Raleigh, NC, and I am searching
for a Davey Systems
"RC Special" kit. I came across your newsletter
and saw the Davey systems
sale back in 1997.
Steve Sager, Raleigh Aero-Masters
Cell 919-349-5048 steveo64@earthlink.net
* * *
FOR SALE
Carl Goldberg Extra 300 K-55 with SuperTiger G-90.
Just add radio and you
are ready to go. Plane has been flown many times never
crashed. It's in
perfect condition. Wingspan 69" - Length 61"
- aerobatic plane yet lands
like a trainer. $225.00
Call Ralph: 484-716-9458 or leave message.
* * *
FOR SALE
H9 Ultra Stick 120 with Saito 180, Dave Brown aluminum
spinner, TruTurn
adapter, and 7 servos. Install your radio and go fly!!
$475.
Steve 610-630-4580
* * *
FOR SALE
1:3 scale Laser, with Zenoah G-62 eng. for sale, $600.00.
Bob Morella allerom@juno.com 610 265-2046
* * *
FOR SALE
Ugly stick like new with Enya 45 - $200
Decathlon 40 new; new OS 46SF - $250
Super Kaos 60 - $200
Cessna 182 ARF new - $175
New Rhomair retracts 3-gear - $80
Power Panel new - $16
Sig Commander - $150
Call Travers Turner 610-363-8678
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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