Hear Ye!

September, 2004
No. 448

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Russ O'Brien

Valley Forge National Historical Park 20-Year Plan

No information has been received. The planned issue date for the first
draft was August 2004, to be followed by a public meeting in September.

Fun Fly

The September 11th VFSS Fun Fly is in the planning stage. Chairman Mike
Estock and many volunteers are working together to make sure we have a safe
and enjoyable event for our members and the huge crowd of spectators these
events usually attract. September is breezy, so factor that into the choice
of airplane to fly. Warbirds, clipped-wing Cubs, tapered wings, Deltas, and
swept-back wings bore through turbulence. When winds are gusting, even an
expert has trouble controlling a lightweight, high-wing trainer with
constant chord straight wings.

Personal Notes

Long-time club member John Myers passed away in August. If you don't
remember seeing John at the field, acquaintances said John enjoyed flying
his models mostly on Saturdays.

"Waist Gunner Bob" Schaaf is recovering from gall bladder surgery.

Mundane Monotonous Mowing Maintenance (It's fun, though.)

The club mower is not equipped to collect grass clippings. Consequently,
troublesome clumps of grass sometimes remain after a mowing. The following
mowing pattern has resulted in a smooth runway with no clumps of grass to
obstruct tiny wheels:

1. Start by mowing a strip down the runway centerline.
2. U-turn left and mow the next strip adjacent to the first one.
3. U-turn left again and continue this counter-clockwise pattern, always
blowing the clippings away from the center, toward the field edges.

Simple as 1, 2, 3, with all left turns like racing at Indianapolis.
Clippings get cut twice, becoming finely mulched and disappear into the
growing grass. One observer noted that the field looked like a
millionaires' country club.

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STUDENT UPDATE
by Bob Sudermann

Over the last couple of months we have had four students successfully pass
our notoriously rigorous program to achieve solo status. We all remember
how hard it can be to get enough stick time, coordinate times with an
instructor, and keep the plane in good flying condition so as to not have
any mechanical problems to add to the weather conditions, which always
interfere with the one time during the week that both student and instructor
can get together.

In spite of all this, we have four students who have persevered. If you
see them out at the field give them well-deserved congratulations and
continue to encourage them. The new solo pilots are as follows:

Student - Instructor
Jim Bugg - Carl Sutton
Jim Connor - Bob Sudermann
Sean Merle - Joe Pasquini
Henry Rimmer - Joe Pasquini

We have a number of other students getting close and hope to add to this
list before the season ends.

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THE GREENER LAWN NEXT DOOR
Submitted by Gene Gifford

One fine hot summer afternoon I saw a Cessna 150 flying in the pattern at a
quiet country airfield. The instructor was getting quite bothered with the
student's inability to maintain altitude in the thermals and was getting
impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a
twin engine Cessna 5,000 feet above him and thought, "Another 1,000 hours of
this and I qualify for that twin-charter job! Aaahh.to be a real
pilot...going somewhere!"

The Cessna 402 was already late, and the boss told him this charter was for
one of the company's premier clients. He'd already set MCT and the
cylinders didn't like it in the heat of this summer day. He was at 6,000
feet, and the winds were now a 20-knot headwind. Today was the sixth day
straight, and he was pretty damn tired of fighting these engines. Maybe if
he got 10,000 feet out of them the wind might die off... geez those
cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail
at 33,000 feet in the serene blue sky. "Oh man," he thought. "My interview
is next month. I hope I just don't blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above
the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.aahhh."

The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330, and ATC advised
that lower levels were not available due to traffic. The captain, who was
only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums, had
slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible in-flight diversion and arrange
an ETA that would hopefully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The
company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was
going to take a pay cut. The F/O's would be particularly hard hit, as their
pay wasn't anything to speak of anyway. Finally, deciding on a speed
compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the captain looked up and
saw the Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O's shoulder as the 737 took
another bashing, he said, "Now that's what we should be on... huge pay ...
super fast... not too many routes... not too many legs... above the CAT...
yep! What a life...!"

FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT
was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down.
That rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said
moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he'd like
to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high
even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up
and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they
passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot
moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey, Captain," he called
as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle." The captain looked for a moment and
agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, while complicated, must be
the be-all and end-all in aviation. "Above the turbulence, no radiation
problems, no fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a
buck."

Discovery was into its 27th orbit, and perigee was 200 feet out from
nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually
useless and a walk might become necessary. The 200-foot predicted error
would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk
was to be required. Houston continually asked what the commander wanted to
do but the advice they proffered wasn't much help. The commander had
already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10
minutes to himself to take a break. Just then, a mission specialist, who
had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the
commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir; isn't this the kinda
flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The
commander peered through the telescope and cried, "Ooooohhhhh, yeah! Now
that's flying! Man, that's what it's all about! Geez, I'd give anything
just to be doing that down there!"

What the Discovery commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 in the pattern
at a quiet country airfield on a nice, bright, sunny afternoon.

Boy, I'll tell you... pilots are never happy unless they are drinking beer
and looking for a better job.

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

Legend

MCT = max cylinder temp
CAT = clear air temp.
ATC = air traffic control
RVR = runway visual range measured in yards
LRC = long range cruise
CAT ll = category 2 approach, which is zero zero (not all aircraft are
equipped for)
FL = flight level
TAT = true air temp
NOTAM = notice to airmen

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CLUB CALENDAR

Saturday, September 11
VFSS Fun Fly at the Valley Forge National Park flying field. Rain date,
Sunday, September 12. Starting time: 9 AM.

Saturday, September 11
Wings Field Air Show. Vintage aircraft theme. Telephone 215-646-1800 for
details.

Sunday, September 12
Pottstown/Limerick Airport 50th Annual Pancake Breakfast Fly-In. 8AM -
Noon. Get there early and see planes of many types landing at about 1
minute intervals. Warning: Wet Grass.
VFSS will have a display of our models at the Pottstown/Limerick Breakfast
Fly-In this year. Please contact any one of the BOG members if you will be
bringing a model to show.

Tuesday, September 14
General Membership Meeting, 6:30 PM at the field. Last outdoor meeting this
season. Open flying before and after.

Saturday, September 18
9 AM - 4PM. K. A. R. C. S. Kutztown Aerodrome Radio Control Squadron 4th
Annual Swap Meet. Setup 7 AM.
50 vending spaces available at $10 each. Admission $3. Food and drinks
available. Location: Indoors at Kutztown Fairgrounds at Main St. and White
Oak St., Kutztown, PA. Telephone: 610-944-8474; email: fly2yvr@msn.com.
Directions from KOP: PA Turnpike west to Morgantown Exit. I-176 north to
Rte. 422 west. 422 turns into 222 north at Reading. Follow 222 to first
Kutztown Exit (Main St.) Proceed past Kutztown State College on Main St.
and turn left at White Oak St. Kutztown Fairgrounds are on the left.

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Michael Myers, Webmaster

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