Hear Ye!

October, 2004
No. 449

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

Meeting with Park Deputy Superintendent - October 17, 2004

VF Park 20-year plan has been forwarded to Washington for review by the
Department of Interior and then will be subject to a third party review.

VFSS Park use permit will be submitted for a three-year term.

The Park appreciates the efforts of the VFSS club in keeping the area neat
and in good condition.

Fun Fly - September 11, 2004

A large turnout of VFSS members and spectators, combined with ideal weather
conditions, resulted in a very successful and glitch-free Fun Fly event.
Many thanks to all those who pitched in and worked the various facets of an
event of this size. All trash was removed and cans/bottles were recycled.

Models on display at Limerick Airport Breakfast Fly-in

The club displayed about 10 models at the Fly-in. Several children and
former children stopped by to see the planes and have their questions
answered.

New AMA requirements

Club field geographic coordinates are required for a charter. AMA requested
this information in prior years, but response was not good; therefore, it is
now mandatory, not voluntary. VFSS has complied. The information will be a
service to travelers on vacation who wish to see some model flying at
another club. It is also an added safety factor when emergency first aid
responders are called to a flying field. A low-cost hiker's hand-held
global positioning system (GPS) would enable a person to find a field in a
strange area.

A special fire extinguisher is required for jets. More on this later.

All clubs (2400) must name a Safety Officer who will investigate every
accident and report the cause to AMA. This has already become controversial
due to the time requirements and the "one man judge and jury" aspect. A
letter writing campaign has been started by one club, urging AMA members to
state their opposition to this requirement to AMA headquarters.

Safety in the pits

To stop a runaway plane before it gets to the pit area, the straight line
path from all pilot stations to the pits has been changed (mowed) to a
zigzag path. This was voted on at the 9/7/04 BOG meeting.

Correction
Re: "The Greener Lawn" article, September 2004 Hear Ye!

In the Legend of acronyms:
Change acronym:
CAT = Clear air temperature to Clear air turbulence
Add acronyms:
ETA = Estimated time of arrival
G/A = General aviation
F/E = Flight engineer

Nuts and Bolts

Early automobiles were plagued by bolts and nuts loosening and falling off
during trips over rough roads. In 1928, the SAE (Society of Automotive
Engineers) formed a committee whose charter was to determine the ideal
number of threads per inch (TPI) for the common bolt sizes used in autos,
such that they would not fall off when subjected to automobile vibration.
These are the SAE series and have been in use ever since.

A thread can be described as an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder.
We all know that it is easier to slip on a steep slope than on a shallow
slope. The same holds true for the tendency of a coarse thread to loosen
before a fine thread. The SAE threads are fine and do not loosen under
vibration, but still strong enough to hold heavy loads without stripping.
However, you will not find a plain nut on an airplane; they employ self
locking features, locking tabs, cotter pins or safety wires to take no
chances on a bolt loosening in flight. Loctite is dependable, provided the
threads are degreased, an accelerator is used, and the material has not been
left uncapped and exposed to absorption of water vapor. Spacecraft Quality
Control requires that four bolt/nut sets be treated per Process Control
specifications and then torque tested to assure adequate holding power.

For more details, Machinery's Handbook, 22nd edition, devotes 192 pages to
threaded fasteners. Military Standards information on threaded fasteners
occupies four textbooks.

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

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

September 7, 2004
Members present: 15 BOG, Vice-President, Treasurer, Chief Field Marshal
Meeting opened at 6:30 PM at the field by President Russ O'Brien.

OLD BUSINESS

Item 1: Fun Fly final arrangements

a. Final food co-ordination by John Matt, Carl Sutton and Steve Kolet.

b. Walt Pierzchazla has ordered 50 hoagies.

c. Nathan Marks has a plan to use radios to man the Route 252 entry and
monitor over flights.

d. Ed Lauther from Alpha Squadron has been contacted and a noon show is
expected.

e. Joe Pasquini will display a club trainer for the public.

f. Al Marcucci will run transmitter impound.

The club PA is gone forever. A plan was developed by Joe Saporito and John
Matt to use an inverter from a 12 V battery to power a karaoke with
additional speakers.

NEW BUSINESS

Item 1: Safety

a. NO taxiing aircraft out of or into the pit area. The Field Management
Guide is very explicit - NO EXCEPTIONS. The BOG in particular and all club
members need to get involved in insuring we follow our own rules!!

b. Do not point the nose of the plane down the access after flying. Keep
the nose parallel to the runway or at a 45 degree angle pointed at the tall
grass, shut down the engine and then retrieve your plane.

c. A VFSS Incident Report is required for ALL out of the box crashes, etc.

d. Aerobatics is allowed over the runway if you are the ONLY plane in the
air. If another plane takes to the air, you must move north of the runway
and maintain sufficient altitude to avoid traffic conflicts with traffic
pattern aircraft.

e. When doing aerobatics, try to keep the maneuvers parallel to the runway.
If a problem were to develop, it is more likely that the plane would crash
away from personnel or vehicles.

f. Once again, it is important for all club members to follow and insure
others follow our Field Management Guide.

Item 2: Limerick 50th Annual Fly-in Breakfast is Sunday, September 12,
8AM - noon. Members are encouraged to attend and display models if
possible. Wings Field is having their Vintage Airplanes theme event on
Saturday, September 11, the same day as our Fun Fly.

Item 3: A VFSS Bylaws update is due. The committee for initial review will
be Mel Jones, Bob Sudermann, and Steve Kolet. The results will be presented
to Russ and then the BOG, hopefully by December. It would be presented to
the membership for vote in January 2005, if possible. All BOG members
should have received an email or hard copy in the last couple months. If
you did not or lost it, please contact Carl Sutton or Steve Kolet for
another copy. We would like all BOG input as soon as possible.

Item 4: BOG elections are coming in October. We still need at least two
more members to volunteer. All nominees are to attend the September meeting
or send the secretary a statement to read at the meeting.

Item 5: Charlie Swope had surgery recently. Walt will send a fruit basket,
etc. Bob Shaaf is still in recovery from his surgery.

Item 6: A motion was made by Bob Sudermann to change the field-mowing
configuration to make an "L" shaped access to the runway and piloting
positions for the rest of this season. If it works out, we would make it
permanent. It was seconded by Clarence Evans. Motion was carried unopposed
with several abstentions.

All business was concluded. A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and
passed at 7:30 PM.

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

BOG ELECTION
by Steve Kolet

October is club election month. We have a slate of thirteen members who
have volunteered their time and expertise to serve the club in the coming
two years. They are

Warren Barrick
Andrew Berg
Miles Bowman
Al Campana
Rob Caso
John Matt
Sean Merle
John Powell
Alex Primas
Larry Scaggs
Bob Sudermann
Bill Sunick
Carl Sutton

Please come to the October meeting to vote and to show your support and
appreciation for these gentlemen. Thank you.

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

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, October 3
BOG Meeting 7:30 PM at the church.

Tuesday, October 12
General Membership Meeting: 8:00 PM at the church.

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

FOR SALE

SIG 1/4 scale Spacewalker. Set up for an O.S.1.20 fourstroke, deep red
monokote covering, a fine flyer. $300.
Warren Barrick

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

FOR SALE

1) Tower Hobbies .61 BB Engine with stock and pitts style mufflers. $85.00
2) SuperTigre G-90K with stock and pitts style mufflers. $100.00
3) Futuba Skysport Four, radio receiver and charger channel 23. $55.00
4) Sig Something Extra .40 size Purple and white flown one season 51.5"
wingspan $125.00

I am also interested in buying a Four stroke 1.20 engine for a reasonable
price and in good condition.

Call Ralph Latshaw

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

FOR SALE

P-63 King Cobra from a Sterling plan. 68" wing, SAITO 91 4/CY, W-4 channel
Futuba. Showing some wear for its 6 years. Excellent trainer like flying
qualities on three blade prop that lasts forever. Has nice semi-scale look.
Buy it and fly it today!

Looking to trade for new or like-new SAITO 1.20 or OS 1.20 ENGINE. OR
$350.00 CASH.

CALL: DEE MESSINA

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

FOR SALE

Big Stik 60 - Recently totally recovered after minor damage (100% monokote
with monokote trim). Excellent trainer - flies slow and steady; mildly
aerobatic. Will accept 2 stroke engines ranging from .60-.75 or 4 stroke
engines from .65-.91
Excellent condition-like new. $75.00

Hangar 9 Super Stick 60 - Great 2nd plane, could be used as a trainer if
throws set up mild. Very aerobatic-designed for dual aileron servos.
Oversize control surfaces. Will accept 2 stroke engines ranging from
.60-.75 or 4 stroke engines from .65-.80. Very good condition, less than 50
flights. All original; never crashed or damaged. You can see the specs for
this airplane on Horizon Hobby's web site under sport airplanes. $95.00

I can send photos via e-mail if desired.
e-mail: vinbc@comcast.net
Vince Judd

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

B.O.G. Term expires end of 2004

Tom Burns
John Carrigan, Raffle Chairman
Clarence Evans
Steve Kolet, Secretary
Harry Lawton
Al Marcucci
Ed Moore
Howard Peyton
Joe Saporito
Charles Swope
Joe Weizer
Joe Yalove

BOG Term expires end of 2005

Ference (Frank) Bakay
Dennis Di Bonaventura, Field Marshal
Mike Estock, Field Marshal
Tom Greet , Sailplane Instructor
Mel Jones, Helicopter Instructor
Vince Judd
Jim Myers
Russ O'Brien, President
Joe Pasquini
Walt Pierzchala

OTHER CLUB FUNCTIONS

Tris Colket, Field Marshal
Gerry Keenan, Field Marshal
Nathan Marks, Chief Field Marshal
Walt Pierzchala, Sunshine Chairman
Art Rothstein, Field Marshal
Larry Scaggs, Field Marshal
Ed Snead, Field Marshal
Bob Sudermann, Vice President
Carl Sutton, Treasurer
Marilyn Ayres, Editor, Hear Ye!
Michael Myers, Webmaster

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

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

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