Hear Ye!

November, 2001
No. 414

From the President,
Warren Barrick

Fall is upon us! Mother Nature is doing "her thing" throughout the area and
Valley Forge National Historical Park is a real jewel. Don't miss it! Pack
up an airplane and get out there before it is too late.

Unfortunately, all this beauty heralds the end of our summer flying season.
Hardy souls will still "hang in there" through the colder weather, but good
flying days are going to be hard to come by in the near future. Time to
start building that prize for next year.

I believe that the past summer has been one of our best ever. We had no
serious incidents and everyone apparently had an enjoyable flying season.
My hat is off to all the members who policed themselves well and kept
violations to a minimum. Thank you.

I also want to thank Pat Taggart who handled the bulk of the mowing chores
and kept the field in terrific shape.
Come to our first attempt at a flea market on Saturday, November 17th at the
church. Only members can be vendors and space will cost $5.00. Please
bring your own card table, as tables are limited. Set-up time is 12:30 P.M.
and sales will start at 1:00 P.M. The sale will end at 4:00 P.M.

Bob Schaaf, one of our WWII veterans, will speak at the November 13th
membership meeting. Plan to attend. See you there.

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

TUSKEGEE AIRMAN VISITS VFSS
by Pat Taggart

At our October 9th meeting, VFSS hosted Eugene Richardson of the legendary
Tuskegee Airmen, the fighter squadron composed exclusively of African
American fighter pilots during World War II.

As has been documented by historians and a recent HBO movie, the Tuskegee
Airmen are distinguished by their accomplishments in war at a time when
their presence was not only anomalous, but unpopular.

"There have been times when things weren't so great," Richardson said at the
beginning of his presentation. He noted that blacks were involved in every
major American military effort, from Valley Forge through the Civil War
(200,000 fighting for the North; 6,000 for the South) to Vietnam and beyond.

Despite their willingness and ability to fight, blacks who wanted to be
airmen or officers, were discouraged. The first black fighter pilot, Eugene
Bullard, grew up in Georgia, but sailed to France after being refused a
place in his home country's fighting force. The Tuskegee Airmen's eventual
commander, Benjamin Davis, was shunned all four years during his education
at West Point, never hearing a word spoken directly to him by a white cadet.
Gene Richardson, who is now 76, said he became interested in aviation at the
age of 6, when he went to an air show in Ohio. He recalled experiences with
the Airmen's chief instructor Alfred Anderson, who literally - and
unbelievably - taught himself to fly.

Richardson noted encouraging words and actions by Harry Truman, then a U.S.
Senator, and Eleanor Roosevelt, for the inclusion of African Americans in
the U.S. military. In the late 1930s, Roosevelt signed an order allowing six
black colleges to participate in pilot training programs. One of these was
the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington.
The Tuskegee Airmen, 26 in all, were graduated between 1942 and 1945. They
flew P-40s and P-51s, primarily as bomber escorts.

Over time, the Airmen accumulated a record of 111 enemy planes shot down,
with a loss of the Airmen "to all causes," said Richardson, of 66. "That's
a two-to-one kill ratio for our guys, over Hitler's super-duper Aryans."

Gene Richardson got his wings in March of 1945, and noted that Hitler's
forces were vanquished shortly thereafter. His son is a captain for
American Airlines.

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

BOY SCOUTS VISIT VFSS
By Dennis DiBonaventura

The Diamond Rock District Fall Camporee of the Chester County Council of the
Boy Scouts of America had a weekend campout at Valley Forge National
Historic Park. Gerry Cavanaugh, a Life Member of the A.M.A. and a longtime
member (since 1970) of V.F.S.S., had contacted Warren Barrick, and myself to
see if we could have a visit from the Scouts during their stay at the park.
Gerry has been active in scouting since his son, who reached the level of
Eagle Scout, was in the organization. His son left scouting for college,
but Gerry remained active and became a troop committee chairman. In this
capacity he wanted us to introduce some of the scouts to the principles of
flight and have them try their hands at flying trainers on buddy boxes.

During this camporee, 15 patrols of scouts would hike over the 9 miles of
trails that are within the park. The plan was that during the hike each
patrol would stop at our field to try their hands at RC flying. Saturday
turned out to be a beautiful day, and the boys arrived right on time, one
group after the other. The instruction crew of Mel Jones, Carl Sutton, Joe
Wieser and myself were led by Joe Pasquini in a full day of lessons and
flying. Approximately 70 boys and leaders were on the buddy boxes
throughout the day. I think many were impressed with the level of skill
required to fly one of our planes. One young man was heard to say. "NO WAY
Can you fly one of theses without help and not crash." I am sure many merit
badges were garnered on this day.

Once again our club and its members have given unselfishly of themselves to
our neighbors and the visitors of Valley Forge National Historical Park.
And as an A.M.A. Gold Leader Club, VFSS has followed the fine principles
that make us a leader in our chosen hobby.

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

INTRA-CLUB FLEA MARKET
By Ed Snead

With the decline in attendance, the increasing cost of rental fees and a
little thievery thrown in, our annual Auction is no longer. After last year
's Auction, a survey was conducted on the Internet to determine whether an
Auction or Flea Market was the way to go. Well, hands down, a Flea Market
was the 10 to 1 choice.

Lots of reasons were given for the change, but the best was that the items
being sold are the responsibility of the seller and not the Club. We
shelled out a $100 for an engine that was stolen while the Auction was being
conducted. Once Auction items were registered for sale, they became the
responsibility of the Club to monitor.

For those reasons, the BOG has voted that on the 17th of November the Club
will conduct a Flea Market.
All members who have items they wish to sell must bring their own card
tables and pay $5.00 to participate. Members may invite guests who wish to
buy only, but non-members will not be allowed to sell.

With cold weather approaching, it's building time in preparation for next
year. We all could use a kit, some engines, building equipment and all
kinds of goodies that you see on someone else's table that you didn't think
you needed until "there it was, right in front of you and NOW you've got to
have it."

How many of you have gone to a Flea Market just to see what was there but
not intending to buy anything? But as luck would have it, you end up
spending all your bucks on some great deals. Well, we are hoping this Flea
Market will make you want to come back for more next time.

So mark your calendar:

INTRA-CLUB FLEA MARKET
Saturday, November 17, 2001
Valley Forge Presbyterian Church Auditorium
(Site of our Monthly Club Meeting)
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

We need the Club Members to attend and bring a rich friend, or better yet,
bring a couple of them.
Remember, if you are going to sell, bring your own card table and lots of
goodies.

Don't forget, November 17th. We would like to see the parking lot filled.

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

OCTOBER VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Dee Messina, Secretary

October 2, 2001
1 new elective member
Meeting was opened by President Barrick at 6:55 PM.

OLD BUSINESS

1. The Intra-Club Flea Market will be held at the church. The date will be
Saturday, November 17, 2001. Our allotted times are 1:00 until 4:00 PM.
The vendor fee will be $5.00 per vendor. Bring your own setup tables.
Persons outside the club membership are welcome as buyers. Only club
members at this time can be vendors..

2. The cost to our club for church rental will be $50.00. There will not be
food vendors at this time. The setup committee, Mario Chiarolanza, Ed
Snead, and Dee Messina, will be on hand. Our treasurer, Carl Sutton, will
collect fees.

3. Tuskegee Airmen Eugene Richardson and John H. Jackson will be with us at
the October 9th club meeting.

4. The Chester Country Boy Scouts will be camped out in our area October 19,
20, and 21. We are planning to put them on buddy box flights on Saturday
the 20th at noon. Joe Pasquini will chair the event.

5. The Porta-Potti will be with us until November.

NEW BUSINESS

6. The club is very concerned about frequency control and monitoring at the
field. The park flyer influx could have possible interference situations in
our locale. We are discussing solutions. A scanner of some type may be an
answer. We are investigating. Russ O'Brien will get back to the Board on
it.

7. New officer elections are coming up in November.

Motion for adjournment. Meeting concluded at 8:40 PM.

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

NOVEMBER RAFFLE
By Joe Yalove

These are the prizes for the Club's November raffle.

1. Dremel hi-end moto tool including accessories, case and a flexible shaft.
Hang the tool from a hook, attach the flexible shaft, and it is really
versatile.

2. Rigid 6-gallon wet/dry vacuum from Home Depot. This unit comes with a
lifetime warranty against breakage. Just show the receipt and you get a new
one. This is true since the one I had broke and they replaced it on the
spot, no questions asked. I will give the winner the receipt.

3. Delta combination 1 inch/5 inch disc sander. You can't beat Delta for
power tools. Just mount to your bench and plug it in. Replacement abrasive
available from your nearest Home Depot.

4. Panasonic portable stereo AM/FM/CD/cassette system with battery /AC
option. The winter can get long and music can make it go faster. One thing
you might not be aware of is that most local libraries have books on tapes.
You can borrow these tapes and increase your wealth of literary knowledge
while making the pile of sawdust on the floor bigger.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, November 6th -
BOG Meeting at the church. Election of officers for 2002.

Tuesday, November 13th -
General membership meeting at the church at 8:00 P.M. Guest speaker will be
Bob Schaaf who will relate to us his experiences as an air crewman during
WWII. Show-n-tell and raffle as usual

Saturday, November 17th -
VFSS Flea Market at the church. Saturday afternoon 1:00 P.M. until 4:00
P.M. $ 5.00 table fee; setup begins at 12:30 P.M. Members only as dealers.

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

THE TWISTED PROP

Now that the flying season is all but over, it's time to turn the focus on
safety in a different direction.

Ever heard of preventative maintenance? Proper maintenance of aircraft,
engines, and batteries can minimize possible accidents and make flying safer
and more enjoyable.

Airplanes need to be checked thoroughly for weakened structures, loose
servos, sloppy controls, pushrods, etc.

Engines need to be preserved and engine mounts checked for solid mounting.
Props need to be checked for cracks, cuts, dings, etc., and don't forget
your batteries. To ensure they will operate properly in the Spring, don't
forget to cycle them and recharge them periodically throughout the Winter
months.

This is also a good time to check how you store your fuel, particularly
those of you who use gasoline.

I'm sure you can think of a lot of items that need attention, but thinking
about them does not solve potential problems. You need to take action and
inspect your equipment and store it properly.

from the CCRCC Newsletter, Champaign IL 61822
Ted T. Gonsiorowski, Editor

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