Prez Sez
By Walt Pierzchala
The September club meeting will be held at the Church
at 8 PM on the 14th. Since we are again meeting at
the Church, the Club Raffle begins. Our Raffle Chairman
informs me that he has purchased many items for the
Raffle. I'm expecting a big turnout for this meeting.
A new group of B.O.G. members is to be elected at the
November General Meeting. We are still in need of
5 additional candidates for the B.O.G. Representatives
of the sailplane and helicopter groups are needed to
represent their group as B.O.G. members. Please consider
running for this important governing body.
From the Editor
Last month's meeting at the field proved to be very
informative and entertaining. Our speaker was the
Superintendent of the Valley Forge National Historical
Park, Arthur Stewart.
Superintendent Stewart talked about this historical
area and answered many of our questions. His talk
was very enlightening and he proved to be very articulate
and knowledgeable concerning the Park and the surrounding
area.
Thank you, Superintendent Stewart, for taking the time
to address our Club.
New Membership Directories have been printed and are available at the field and at our general meeting. These Directories are very useful and now include members email address as well as home address and phone number.
The club policy concerning noise has been rewritten and brought up to date. This proposed Policy is printed elsewhere in this Newsletter. The original guidelines were old and represented our first attempt at limiting engine noise. Any comments concerning this Policy should be directed to any Club Officer or B.O.G. member.
Contributions to the Jim Holder Memorial Fund have topped $700 and are still coming in. Certainly a nice tribute to the memory of a really great gentleman. The use of this Fund is being decided by the B.O.G.
Monday, August 23 was a really beautiful day, cloudless sky, light breeze, warm but not hot. Suddenly the unmistakable sound of a Merlin engine came over the trees. Sure enough a P-51 Mustang appeared. Going east he made a 180 deg. turn and headed west right over our field at less than 1000 feet. As he passed over he waggled his wing and then was gone! The checkerboard design on the nose was easily seen and according to Dave West who also witnessed the fly-over, it was "Big Beautiful Doll" out of Kennett Square. Very exciting moment that was over too quick!!
Club Dates
Sunday, September 12.......Pottstown Aircraft Owners
and Pilots
45th Annual
Fly-In Breakfast
at the
Pottstown-Limerick
Air-
port, Ridge
Pike, Limerick.
Static display
of R/C models
by VFSS Club.
This event
starts 7 AM
and lasts till
Noon.
Please bring
your scale
model for
display!!
Tuesday, September 14...Club Meeting at the Church
at 8 PM. Our Speaker
will be
"Mr. Electric",
Bob Kopski,
Contributing Editor,
Model
Aviation Magazine.
Saturday, October 16.......Cloud Kings R/C Swap
Shop, Assumption
B.V.M.
School Gym,
West Grove,
Pa. Starts
9:00 AM.
More info,
call Dick Plyler
(610) 869-0822
or
Email: rplyler@aol.com
Gem of the Day
The Unwrtten Law of Everyman:
If it jams - force it. If it breaks - it needed replacing
anyway!
Training Update
By Jim Campana
John Ballam completed his checkout flight on June 26.
I picked up John as a student last year after beginning
his training in the Fall of '97 with Joe Pennock.
He logged a total of 33 flights on his Eagle 2 aircraft.
That airplane is on its second wing, the first being
demolished when another airplane landed on top of his
while John was correctly taxiing on the runway. We'll
see John more often as soon as he gets his driver's
license.
Tom Mirabile began training with Joe Pasquini on July
13 of this year. Tom and Joe made it out to the field
together at least twice a week and Tom was soloed by
Rom Boutin on August 14. Rom and Gus Baldassano filled
in for a session while Joe was away. Good job, guys!!
Chris Convey was another student with natural flying
ability. Before joining our Club, he used to race
R/C cars. Chris started flying with me in June, and
due to scheduling conflicts, we only trained for 6
sessions. In those sessions, I never had to take control
away from him because he never got into any trouble
that he couldn't get out of himself. When Joe Weizer
soloed him on August 28, he thought he was an experienced
R/C pilot. Well done everyone.
Lastly, I would like to thank Gus Baldassano for taking
Jim Holder's students. That was a huge help to me.
Thanks Gus!
Raffle Prizes!
WOW, this is some Raffle!!! Look at all these items:
Great Planes C.G. Machine
Slot Machine Hinge Slotter w/extra Blade
Builder Cutting Mat, 18 X 24
Contour Multi-sander
Robart Incidence Meter
Xacto Knife and Tool Chest
21st Century Sealing Iron
21st Century Trim Sealing Iron
TopFlite Monokote Smartstripe Cutting Tool w/roller
TopFlite Monokote Woodpecker
Hobbico Expanded Scale Voltmeter
Hobbico Z-Bend Pliers
Lighted Utility Screwdriver and..........................
Five Gift Certificates from Omni Models
Brake Fluid...?
By Jim Myers
Last year, when I got my Skybolt flying, I finished its ABS cowl by spraying it with Top Flite LustreKote to match the red Monokote covering on the plane. I followed that with a spray coat of clear gloss urethane to make it shiny.
In May of this year, my biplane took a header in one
lousy landing, and messed up the ABS cowl, among other
things. After making structural repairs on the plane,
I thought the cowl just needed a little sanding, some
minor repair, and repainting. All went well until
I sprayed it with the same LustreKote. To my chagrin,
large areas began to blister, and they dried that way.
I tried sanding the bad areas, but I got tired of the
work. I suspected the areas that blistered still had
some of the original clear gloss urethane on them.
The cowl is mostly smooth, but there are some areas
of complex curvature, which I knew would be hard to
sand completely. I did not want to use a power sander
for fear of sanding right through the ABS plastic.
The best idea I had was to call the hobby shop that sold me the LustreKote. The guy who answered knew immediately what to do. He said, "Go to Pep Boys and buy 2 quarts of brake fluid. Pour it into a container and soak the cowl until all the paint is removed. Then, rinse it off with water, dry it, and repaint the whole cowl. The brake fluid will not melt the ABS, as ordinary paint remover would." Then I remembered the warning I heard years ago: never drip brake fluid on your car. It will ruin the finish. And how!
I did as he said to do. The liquid level was not high
enough to to cover the entire cowl, so I had to turn
it over several times. Each soaking took several hours
to completely remove the paint. It did not damage
the ABS plastic, nor the fiberglass and Bondo (auto
body filler) I had used in the original construction.
After rinsing the cowl and drying it, I again sprayed
several color coats on it. It turned out well, no
blisters at all. I did NOT use the clear urethane
this time.
So, if you want to refinish cowls, wheel pants, or other
ABS parts, first soak the part in brake fluid to remove
the old finish. When you're done, dump the used brake
fluid gunk in the proper container at your nearby garage.
General Notice:
Proposed Change to Paragraph 4, Noise Control, of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers Field Management Guide, dated January, 1994.
NOISE CONTROL:
4. a. All fuel powered aircraft flying at the Valley
Forge
Signal Seekers' field must be sound checked and
approved before operation.
b. The sound check will be done by a Field Marshall
with a decibel meter held 9 feet from the aircraft
in all 4 directions; the noise level not to exceed
97
decibels average with the engine at full power.
c. If the aircraft passes, an official sticker will
be
marked and affixed to the aircraft and the plane
may fly from the field.
d. If the aircraft fails it will be grounded and
may
not fly from the field until it is modified and
passes a subsequent sound test.
e. Any Club Member or Day Pass Visitor who is
approached by a Field Marshall requesting a
sound check must cooperate and submit the air-
craft for testing or re-testing as deemed necessary.
f. If a Club Member or Day Pass Visitor refuses to
cooperate with a Field Marshall in running a sound
check the aircraft will be grounded immediately
and a report filed with the Board of Governors
(BOG) at its next regular meeting for any further
disciplinary action.
g. Subsequent or extreme violations will result in
the
pilot's flight privileges being indefinitely
sus-
pended until the next regular BOG meeting, at
which time restoration will be considered and
voted upon by a BOG quorum.
(Dated 7-27-99)
New Members
Mehdi Emad...............................King of Prussia
Douglas Langiewicz....................Philadelphia
Garland Mason...........................Philadelphia
Tom Mirabile..............................Phoenixville
John Myers................................Malvern
Samir Tamri...............................Philadelphia
Andrew Tebben.........................Harleysville
Lowel Walker............................Bryn Mawr
Jim Wiley...................................Wayne89
High Speed Flutter
By Jim Campana
While flying my big Extra 260 on Tuesday evening, I encountered a high-speed flutter that nearly destroyed this aircraft. For those who have never seen this model, it is a 28% scale kit developed by Ohio R/C and finished in Patty Wagstaff's colors. This 20 lb. aircraft is powered by a Moki 2.1 swinging a 20x10 wood propeller. I usually fly at 1/2 to 2/3 throttle and only use full throttle for vertical maneuvers.
I had finished a maneuver and was to the right of me at about 150 ft. altitude. I then decided to execute a very large loop. I dropped the nose 30 degrees and accelerated to full power. As the aircraft passed directly in front of me at about 50 ft. high and now level for the start of the loop, the whole aircraft suddenly shook violently. In a split second, part of the left aileron had snapped off. Also, Patty herself decided to bail out, taking the whole canopy with her. What I was left with was an airplane that was pulling severly to the left and dropping its nose, with only 50 ft. of altitude and now flying at about 20 mph. Luckily, the engine was still responsive and with judicious use of rudder and elevator, I was able to land safely on the runway.
Inspection revealed the outer half of the left aileron was missing and the inboard half had pulled out and was hanging down. The right aileron had begun to pull out and its servo was inoperative, its gears stripped.
What caused this flutter? I posted this question to Ohio R/C but have heard back yet. I always build with a minimal gap between the fixed and flying surfaces. I used decent JR servos in the wing with short 4-40 linkages. What bothers me most are the Robart 1/4 scale pin hinges that pulled out. They pulled out "cleanly", with minimal epoxy attached. I will be more diligent in the future to put epoxy in the hole and directly on the hinge before installation.
I am also replacing the servos with JR's "Ultra
Precision" servos. These should give better holding
power while at neutral. Lastly, I will be ironing
a strip of covering between the wing and aileron to
prevent any air to flow between them.
Let's hope that these solutions fix the problem.
Field Safety
By Art Rothstein
On Wednesday, Aug. 4, there was an avoidable accident
at the field. One pilot was landing and another was
taking off. Both yelled their intentions. The problem
was the plane taking off was taking off from the right
and the plane landing was landing from the left. They
smacked (literally) in the middle of the field. By
the rules of the club, the standard take-off and approach
are from the right, unless the prevailing wind dictates
differently. Some-times the wind shifts during a flight,
if this happens during your flight yell "landing"
or "taking-off" from the "right"
or "left" as the case may be, especially
if you are landing in the opposite direction of your
take-off. Remember you are concentrating on your plane
and cannot look around. These signals are very important.
I was flying at the time of the accident and heard
the shouts and of course, the "womp", and
two planes were messed up.
Remember, people, stand behind the tall grass when flying
and shout your intentions. The landing plane has the
right-of-way. If someone is landing, clear the field.
If the field cannot be cleared in time, yell, so that
the landing plane has a chance to go around.
In reality, accidents happen and although no blame can
be assessed for this type of accident, I feel it could
have been avoided.
Just as a matter of interest, I was heading for King
of Prussia on Monday morning around 10:30 when I heard
a radial engine. It was coming from a B-17 and a C-47.
Neat sight!
BOG Review
Meeting at the Field, August 17, 1999
Meeting Opened 6:55 PM by President
16 Members Present
1. Discussion about placing safety signs at field
perimeter.
2. Discussion about improving tractor storage area
at
the barn.
3. Discussion about improving the road surface and
the entrance/exit at the field. All the above
subjects
require the full permission and assistance of the
Park
Authority. We hope to meet soon.
4. A motion was passed to accept the Noise Control
changes to the Field Management Guide (7/27/99).
This General Notice is posted at the field and
concerns all members. Take time to read it.
5. Questions concerning the handling of monies from
the Jim Holder Memorial Fund have led to the BOG
selecting three areas: funding of school aviation
pro-
grams through VFSS; purchase of additional training
equipment; construction of a storage facility at
the
field (with Park permission). We need club member
input. Talk to a BOG member.
6. Next Fun-Fly, September 25 - Rain Date, Sept. 26
This will be our 40th Anniversary Fun-Fly.
7. Club Auction, First Saturday in November (11/6/99).
8. The BOG would like additional nominees for next
year's BOG Membership. Nominees so far are:
Dan Natale, Gene Gifford, Charles Sutton, Bill
Sunick, Jim Chubb, and Miles Bowman.
If you have a nominee, talk to a BOG person.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Dee Messina, Secretary
Feedback or comments to:
Al Campana , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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