Hear Ye!

October, 2003
No. 437

FROM THE PREZ
by Bob Sudermann

OK - I am getting tired of all this weather. So far this year we have had
to postpone the June Fun Fly, cancel the aerobatic clinic in May, and move
the Fall Fun Fly from the 13th of September to the 20th. The September 20th
date assumes Isabel is in and out by then. I admit, we have has some great
days (mostly during the week when those of us who still work support those
that don't).

One great day (up until 2:00 P.M.) was Saturday August 30th. Eric Henderson
(assisted by wife Michelle) and Rick Wagner arrived at the field bright and
early for the rescheduled Aerobatic Clinic. Eric and Rick are both
competition pilots and spent the day with us to provide some expertise,
guidance and insight in set up, trimming and flying aerobatics.

We started out with a short discussion on what aerobatics is all about, what
's required in an airplane, what are the basic maneuvers, what engines are
used, etc. Eric and Rick spent the rest of the morning one-on-one with each
pilot. The planes were checked out on the ground (if required) and we went
over deflection amounts, dual rate setup, radio setup, including exponential
amounts, etc. Then we went to the air. Eric or Rick went up with each
pilot and assisted in trimming the aircraft for best flight performance,
making suggestions on physical changes which could help the flight
performance if needed. Some of us let Eric and Rick take the controls so
they could get a feel for what our planes were doing and further refine
their suggestions.

At noon, both Eric and Rick flew their own aircraft and put on a great
aerobatic demonstration. After the demonstration, some of us tried to fly
the Basic Pattern. My first attempt looked horrible. Remember, the basic
pattern in nothing more than a loop, half-cuban eight, immleman, split S,
etc. - nothing very hard. But trying to put these in a string to have them
flow and all be perfect is the challenge. It also helps if the person
calling the maneuvers knows what they are and does not start laughing at the
pilot (Dennis!).

My only disappointment of the day is that I can no longer blame my Extra 300
for all my mistakes. Other than that, we all had a great time and learned a
lot. Thanks again to Eric and Rick.

So - see you at the field.

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VFSS BOG MEETING
by Steve Kolet, Secretary

September 2, 2003
Members present: 16
Meeting moved from VFSS Flying Field to VFBC due to rain. opened at 6:45 PM
by President Bob Sudermann.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:

Item 1: The club Fun Fly is set for Saturday, September 13th. Mike Estock
is asking for help with set-up, tear-down, etc., same as last Fun Fly.
Volunteers are asked to be at the field about 8 AM on the 13th. Steve
Kolet will get the "new" grill to the shed the week before the Fun Fly..

Item 2: Boy Scout Camporee will be held at Warwick Park, which is north of
Phoenixville on Rt. 23. The dates are October 17-19. The theme is the
anniversary of 100 years of flight. Tom Burns and Bob Sudermann will make a
site survey to determine the feasibility of providing flight demonstrations.

Item 3: We have no volunteer to co-ordinate VFSS participation at the
Limerick Breakfast Fly-In on Sepember 7th.

Item 4: Thursday, September 4, is the tentative date for Beverly Williams
and the Channel 3 TV crew to tape VFSS activity for the "Eye on
Philadelphia" TV show. It may get pushed to Monday, Sepember 8, due to bad
weather. Bob hopes to notify the BOG/club members via email and telephone
if it is moved from September 4th.

Item 5: The club secretary will be soliciting nominations for the BOG at
the next club meeting. We are late one month due to secretary error.

Item 6: The club auction/flea market will not be held this year.

Item 7: SAFETY.
The club has had at least 4 crashes/incidents over the past 6 weeks or so,
which nearly resulted in severe bodily injury. One resulted in damage to
vehicles parked on the road of approximately $2,000. The concern is keeping
the planes away from the cars, pit area, spectators, etc. How do we (VFSS)
do it?! Last month we recommended a voluntary Spotter/Safety Observer
program. It has not taken hold. Problems have continued and few
spotter/safety observers have been used. Steve Kolet has been gathering
information/suggestions from members about S/SO and writing it up.

Discussion:
Do we need an annual/biannual flight check, etc., program similar to the FAA
pilot license? (Clarence Evans) Probably not.
Do we need to develop a log/form/system for all field marshals, to complete
when a safety problem or pilot incident occurs to record incidents, events,
to identify "problem pilots"? (Nathan Marks)
The Field Management Guide has pretty good rules and an enforcement policy.
(Bob Sudermann)
VFSS seems to be lax or remiss in a reporting/tracking system to identify
"problem pilots." (Steve Kolet)

Motion was made to have all flying at VFSS field require a mandatory
Spotter/Safety Observer from this date forward. (Jack Carrigan)

Second (Ed Moore)

Discussion:
Requirements for who can be S/SO will need to be developed asap.
Duties of the S/SO will need be developed asap.
The club president will notify all members of the S/SO implementation via
letter asap which will include the above items.
The program will be outlined at the next few club meetings.

Vote Results:
For - 11
Against - 0
Abstain - 3
Non voting - President and Treasurer

Motion carried, S/SO program will be implemented asap..

All business was concluded. Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.

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

BOG NOMINATIONS & ELECTION

Nominations for the VFSS Board of governors are being taken until the
October club meeting. We are looking for a mix of new and experienced
members to serve and would like to have at least 15 nominees.

The BOG Election will take place at the November club meeting.

If you are interested in serving, please take a look at the duties of the
BOG in the club bylaws and then inform the club secretary by phone, email,
or in person.

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

LOW CLOUDS, HIGH SPIRITS
by Warren Barrick

Thanks to Handibond for its generous donation of glue to our Fun Fly. This
is the third occasion for Handibond as a Valley Forge Signal Seekers Fun Fly
sponsor.

Attendance was markedly down this year because of inclement weather on
September 13th and 14th and Hurricane Isabel's "fly through" on the 18th and
19th. Power outages throughout the area curtailed members' participation
and a transformer fire on Route 252 on the 20th kept many spectators and
members from entry into the park.

Nevertheless, those who could participate had a great flying day, a super
picnic, and each was given a packet from Handibond with a 1/2 oz. bottle of
CA.

We are particularly appreciative of Handibond's use of our group photo from
2001 as part of their brochure. Thanks.

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

IMPORTANT NOTICE & REQUEST

Due to a problem that I encountered while attempting to export my address
book to another location, I have lost 187 VFSS e-mail addresses.

With e-mail, I found it very easy to advise club members of reminders,
upcoming activities, and other information which would be of interest to
members. Accordingly 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

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

STUDENT UPDATE

This past month Andrew Burg passed our rigorous solo exam. Instructor Abe
Jones assisted Andrew, who started this past spring. Congratulations.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

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

Tuesday, October 14th -
General Membership meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM.

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

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