An AMA Gold Leader Club
June, 2006
No. 469
FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Bob Sudermann
Just a few notes this month as things are going well
as we get fully into
the new season.
I would like to thank Bob Brown, AMA District III Vice
President, for
spending his time with us last week. The discussion
hit on a number of
topics including the definition of a 'Park Flyer'.
This generated quite a
few good questions.
The membership passed changes to the By-Laws and Field
Management Guide for
the definition and duties of the Safety Chairman and
Sound Committee
Chairman. The Board will be looking to fill both positions
and establish
the committees shortly.
I think everyone has been enjoying the raffle over the
last few months and
we appreciate Perry's efforts. Remember, as we move
the meeting to the Park
starting in June we will discontinue the raffle until
the fall.
Safety Topic:
Everyone needs to remember to use the new 'Zigzag' walkway
from the pit area
to the runway. This is there to provide a barrier between
the runway and
the pit for aircraft returning back to the pilot's position.
Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the Field.
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SECRETARY'S NOTES
by Steve Kolet
Well, it has been a busy month or so for your club.
The field has been
rolled, the porta-potty is in place, and many hibernating
members have been
seen at the field again! The first fun fly date is
June 10th and much
planning has been done. If you would like to help out
in any way - and it
takes a lot of work to make it a success - contact Vince
Judd at the number
in the BOG roster.
And speaking of the BOG, it is time to start thinking
about helping your
club by doing a term on the BOG. I start seeking BOG
nominations in June!
The updated Bylaws and FMG are available on the club
website for you to
download and read. If you have Internet access, please
use this method as
it saves your club a lot of $$$!!! If you do not have
Internet access,
please call me using the phone number in the newsletter,
and I will mail you
a copy.
For those interested, I am planning to test fly the
Weeks Solution built by
Harold Harrison on Saturday morning, June 3rd. In the
barrel with the pin
board are sets of PVC legs which attach to the cross
pieces stored in the
roof of the bulletin board. Please assemble the barriers
and place them in
the old straight access lanes to the runway prior to
flying each day. They
will help us all remember to not walk on these areas
as the grass grows
tall. I recently had a wingtip clip the tall grass
as I was entering the
runway for takeoff, and the grass pulled the plane in
and killed the
engine - barriers work!
See you at the field!
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VFSS BOG MEETING
Notes taken by Vince Judd
& transcribed by Steve Kolet, Secretary
May 2, 2006
Members present: 15 plus president
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Bob Sudermann
Old Business
1. Vince Judd volunteered to be the coordinator for
the June Fun Fly.
Detailed planning and initial food, setup and teardown
assignments were
made.
2. The May club meeting will be at the church. District
AMA VP Bob Brown
will speak after club presentation and vote on the proposed
bylaws changes.
3. The June club meeting will be on the 13th at the
field and start at 6:30
PM.
4. The July meeting will be at the VFNHP Visitor Center.
The speaker will
be VFNHP Superintendent Mike Caldwell. The club will
be taken on a tour of
the vault and see artifacts not on public display, and
the visitor store
will be open. Significant others are invited.
5. The website demo for the club needs to be coordinated.
New Business
1. A long and detailed discussion of the field zig-zag
barrier was held. A
set of PVC stands will be made to help members change
their habit pattern to
follow the new route to the runway and remind the mowing
crew to allow the
grass to grow in the old straight line access lanes.
2. The Ranger Station is not manned on weekends and
holidays at present;
thus day-passes cannot be issued. Please greet anyone
who is flying that
you do not recognize and ask if they are a club member.
If they are not a
member, please check to be sure they have an AMA membership
and brief them
on the flight box, etc. Help them out, and perhaps
they will join us.
All business was concluded and the meeting adjourned at 8 PM.
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FROM THE AMA INSIDER
ON THE SAFE SIDE
Safety: As Simple as ABC
by Don Lowe
Hi! I've been in this hobby a long time (forever), and
I guess I've seen
about everything happen in model flying that's possible.
However, I wonder
if there is some method of operation that might help
preclude crashes and
unsafe operations.
I've written about safety many times in past columns
for RCM and, of course,
I chaired AMA's Safety Committee for many years. One
thing I've learned is
that you can have all the safety rules that you want,
but if fliers don't
conscientiously observe these rules, then what good
are the rules?
Fortunately most fliers exercise common sense in their
flight operations,
and their airplanes survive to fly another day.
Some say that man is a creature of habit. If you can,
in some magical way,
coach that creature to use common sense and to follow
a set of safety
guidelines, then you have accomplished something.
Models come in all shapes and sizes. Some have such
low-energy content in
their flight operations that they are not much of a
threat. By and large,
the typical model airplane flown by the average modeler
is of a size,
weight, speed, and complication that logical care in
flight operations is
mandatory otherwise serious damage can occur to people
or property and none
of us wants that to happen.
Several weeks ago a friend of mine crashed a gorgeous
and expensive
Aerobatics (Pattern) model at a contest because of a
momentary lapse of
attention and adherence to important safety practices.
The model was a
typical F3A Pattern aircraft with a plug-in wing and
tail. In his haste to
fly, he forgot to physically secure the wing halves
into position and plug
in the aileron servos.
This inattention to flight procedure was followed by
a failure to exercise
the control system prior to flight to observe normal
operation. A takeoff
and the resultant crash occurred. Fortunately no one
was hit, but the
beautiful aircraft-and his ego-were severely damaged.
How do we improve our chances of safe flight? In mulling
over this on the
way home I thought about our flight training in the
Air Force. We used a
check system prior to flight that was simple and easy
to remember. Each
check list was particular to an individual aircraft
design; such check lists
are used by full-scale pilots today.
The code I used at that time was CIGFTPR, and I will
never forget it. It
followed the usual walk-around-inspecting the exterior
to see that
everything was in place and kicking the tires. Then
in the cockpit I went
through the list. It goes something like this:
C (controls): Operate the flight controls to observe
for motion and
direction
I (instruments): Check the instruments to be sure all are functional
G (gear): Landing gear lever down and locked
F (flaps): Flaps are set to proper position
T (trims): Control trims are set properly for takeoff
P (propeller): Propeller controls are set for startupand takeoff
R (run-up): Engine run-up to check proper operation
This system worked well and I'm sure the precheck saved
many an aborted
takeoff.
Okay, such a system works for full scale, but is there
a system that is easy
to use for model fliers that will be remembered and
may be used to prevent
disaster down the road? How about using ABC? It's simple
and easy to
remember. The check would go like this:
A (assembly): Check that everything is in its proper
place, controls are
still intact as installed and securely fastened, and
all assembly fasteners
are in place.
B (batteries): Must be fully charged-very critical to safe flying.
C (controls): Controls checked for deflection, without
evidence of servo
malfunction, and operate in the proper direction.
Have you ever taken off with the ailerons running backwards?
The average
flier will not survive this error, and many models have
been lost because of
reversed ailerons. Remember, make sure they are operating
and in the proper
direction. Just stare at the aileron; did the right
aileron deflect up when
I commanded right aileron?
Simply observing motion is not enough; you must check
direction. You
probably would be unable to execute a takeoff if any
other control is
backward, but the ailerons are another story! When I
taxi I am consciously
flipping the ailerons to make sure they are working
correctly. When I flew
full scale I always checked controls one last time before
initiating
takeoff.
Will you do your ABCs? I sure hope so since it hurts
to see a gorgeous
airplane in pieces and maybe someone hurt. Let this
little memory jogger
help save your beautiful aircraft. Yes, safety is common
sense, and for some
it is habitual. Be sure and practice safe flight.
Happy flying!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLUB CALENDAR
Tuesday June 6 -
Board of Governors Meeting - 6:30 at the Field.
Saturday June 10 -
VFSS Fun Fly (Rain date - Sunday, June 11). Starts
at 9:00 AM. (Setup
starts at 7:00 AM or earlier.)
Tuesday June 13 -
General Membership Meeting at the Field, 6:30 PM - Dusk.
Guest Speaker -
Vince Judd will discuss and show off one of his other
hobbies: Drag Racing
(Static Display Only.)
Tuesday July 11 -
General Membership Meeting will be held at the VFNP
Welcome Center, 6:30 PM.
Guest Speaker: Superintendent Mike Caldwell. We will
get a tour of the
Vault (artifacts not on public display), and the Visitor
Store will be open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOST
at the VFSS field, a nice set of precision German screwdrivers
in a case,
black handles with red tips.
Please call Ed Moore if you have found these. Thank you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR SALE - Engines
Saito .56 GK Four Stroke (2 years old, like new /also
Satio Alumn. mount
included)
OS 1.60 FX Two Stroke (Is new, One gal. of fuel thru
engine, OS stock pipe
included)
Make offer ! Contact Jim @ 610-935-1362 or J_NOEL@comcast.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR SALE
Great Planes RV-4, Wing 54", length 49", weight
8-9#. Covered in Solartex
with paint finish. Flaps installed. Red, green and white
landing lights are
installed in the wings and tail. $190. Call for info,
pictures available.
China Moon Funfly. Film-covered balsa with carbon tube
fuselage. Aileron,
elevator and rudder controls. Wing 31", length
30", weight 9 oz. Comes with
brushless 10A ESC, brushless Feigao geared 4.43:1 power
system and 11x 4.7
prop. $75. Just add radio and (3) servos. Call for info,
pictures available.
Rick 610-429-4686.
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