Hear Ye!

November, 2003
No. 438

FROM THE PREZ
by Bob Sudermann

The days are getting shorter, colder, and more depressing. That is if you
only think of the few number of good flying days left. I have decided to
concentrate on the extra number of building days coming up. To this end, I
have cleaned up the shop, added additional shelving, dusted off my long term
project (100" AT - 6 Texan) and purchased an Aero Works Edge 540T (84" - 29%
Scale). These two projects should make the imminent winter weather
tolerable. I hope everyone else is also getting ready for that next
project.

For November, Ron Strobel has agreed to allow us to show his award-winning
film, Mount Everest - Up Close and Personal. Ron will be in attendance for
comments and questions. We all know Ron as an avid modeler/flyer and video
photographer from his past videos of the VFSS fun flies. What I did not know
is that Ron is also an avid amateur mountain climber. I have previewed the
video enjoyed it immensely.

Officially, the instructor program will end with daylight savings time on
the 25th of October. Students and instructors are more than welcome to take
advantage of good days, as schedules permit, but we will wait until spring
to assign any new students to instructors.

As some of you may have noticed, on October 19th, KYW-CBS aired some VFSS
footage, which was filmed by Beverly Williams earlier in the month. Beverly
hosts a new program, Eye on Philadelphia, which is shown on Sunday mornings
at 8:30 AM. If we have time in November, we will try to replay the video
for those who missed it.

See you at the field

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BOY SCOUT FLIGHT DEMO
by Russ O'Brien

A VFSS demo for the Boy Scout Camporee, held at Warwick Park, near
Phoenixville, on the weekend of October 17-19, was announced at the October
club meeting by Bob Sudermann. He had been contacted by a Scout official
who had seen some flying at Valley Forge. Bob asked for volunteers and
seven showed up. We were surprised when we found the best flying field area
filled with parked vehicles. Tall grass and tight landing area kept most
planes from flying, so they became static exhibits. However, five planes
and a helicopter gave the Scouts a show. Every difficult crosswind landing
was loudly applauded. The kids cheered when we rigged up a launch ramp out
of three plywood sheets and some skids. This was after the planes got
bogged down in tall grass on two previous attempts. Bob Sudermann and Joe
Weizer explained some aviation facts to the crowd over the bullhorn system.
Pilots were Joe Saporito, Joe Pasquini, and a young man, whose name I don't
know, who flew an electric powered plane, expertly hand launched by Joe
Yalove. Other planes were brought to the event by Irv Smith, Joe Yalove,
Joe Weizer, Bob Sudermann and Miles Bowman.

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STUDENT UPDATE

This past month George Fieldman passed all the requirements for his solo.
Instructor Gerry Keenan assisted George, who started last year.
Congratulations, George!

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THAT CORNER DOWN THERE!
by Michael Myers

I know there has been some discussion concerning radio interference in the
far northeast corner of the field. There is a transformer on a telephone
pole out there and many of us get "hit" in that area. Phil Staas was even
kind enough to do some electronic testing of the radio waves in the area
(see "Potential Radio Interference at the VFSS Field, Valley Forge Park" in
the August 2003 Hear Ye!), but I do not believe he reached definitive
conclusions.

Personally, I had attributed the strange behavior in that corner to wind
turbulence coming up from the hill. I thought planes got lost there because
they are too slow on final, and banking that last turn without enough
airspeed, combined with the wind currents, led to many unrecoverable stalls.

Last week my Zlin Akrobat met that fate in that same area of the field and I
have some new excuses - er - reasons why it may have happened.

First, I cannot accept radio interference coming from outside since the
transmitter I used is the same one I use for two other airplanes. Only the
Zlin would give me trouble. I noticed that every time I would go over that
area, the plane would get a momentary "hit" but then immediately recover. I
was convinced it was the wind and that airplane was more sensitive because
of the nature of the thin tapered wing designed for aerobatics.

Then I did a landing approach. I swung around a little wider to stretch out
the crosswind leg. Suddenly, I lost all radio contact. I was still up high
enough so I thought maybe the airspeed was too low, so I throttled up again.
No response. It simply spun in on its own.

What I believe happened was related to the distance. That corner is the
furthest from the pilot in the entire box. We stay pretty close on the west
side of the field due to the superintendent's house, but we can go out much
farther on the east side, as long as we don't cross the road.

This particular plane has a lot of metal in it, quite likely rubbing. Those
old Sig kits required a lot of soldering for scale appearance. I believe
the combination of some of this electronic chatter combined with the greater
distance away caused the loss of radio contact.

I was given a warning that I did not recognize - I was getting hits down
there. If that ever happens to you, bring your plane in close and land it
immediately. Do a range check. I think the best way to do a range check
takes two people. Tie down the plane and turn everything on, including the
engine. Then collapse your antenna and walk about 100 to 200 feet away. Do
not flip your rudder to see if it works - that's no way to do a range check.
Leave the sticks alone and have a helper watch the control surfaces to see
if they make any momentary blips. Then throttle up and be sure the servos
stay perfectly still. Any movement in a control surface should ground that
plane until the interference is found.

That's my take on the Valley Forge Bermuda Triangle. The combination of
radio noise from inside the plane and greater distance away now trumps my
previous theory of low speed combined with wind turbulence. The transformer
on top the pole down there could also be a source of radio noise, so even if
you do a successful range check, keep your downwind leg a bit closer in and
be on the lookout for that warning hit.

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
by Steve Kolet, Secretary

October 14, 2003
Members present: 14 + Treasurer
Meeting was opened at 8:45 PM by President Bob Sudermann.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:

Item 1: The Gravely was examined by a buyer who found additional rusting,
etc., and offered only $100. A motion was made to accept any offer for the
Gravely. Motion was seconded and passed.

Item 2: A quick briefing on the updated requirements and duties of the
Spotter/Safety Observer was given to BOG members present.

All business was concluded, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.

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

VFSS BOG NOMINEES

The following individuals, in alphabetical order, have been nominated for a
two-year term on the VFSS BOG, starting January 2004.

Ferenc (Frank) Bakay
Dennis Di Bonaventura
Bob Dolan
Mike Estock
Tom Greet
Mel Jones
Vince Judd
Jim Meyers
Russ O'Brien
Joe Pasquini
Walt Pierzchala

The election will be held at the November club meeting. Ten individuals
will be elected to serve on the BOG and we will have one alternate. If you
will miss the meeting and wish to vote, the club bylaws describe how to make
an absentee ballot. Send it to the President, Vice President, or Club
Treasurer to be counted.

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IMPORTANT REQUEST

Due to a problem that I encountered, I have lost 187 VFSS e-mail addresses,
and I would appreciate a quick E-mail from members who would like to appear
in the VFSS E-Mail Listing.

Please use the following format in the text of the message: Last Name,
First Name (followed by 5 spaces) then Your E-Mail address. This information
will not be disclosed to any outside party and will only be used within
VFSS. Thank you.

Rom Boutin
subvet@erols.com

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CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, November 4th -
BOG meeting at the Church, 7:00 PM.

Tuesday, November 11th -
General Membership meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM. Special presentation by
Ron Strobel.

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

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