Hear Ye!

March, 2001
No. 406

From the President
Warren Barrick

March 13th is the last date for dues payment before a $10.00 late fee goes
into effect. Pay your dues!

Here is a link to a downloadable renewal form.

The banquet on 2/13 was great fun, a really enjoyable evening. It was nice
to meet so many wives and girlfriends. Some of them spoke to me by name even
though they hadn't seen me since the last banquet.

I guess VFSS with its unique banquet and fun flies is developing a sense of
"family." This is good and will be our emphasis at future events,
particularly Park and Family Appreciation Day, which will be held on
September 15th. Free food and drink as well as a chance to fly an R/C
aircraft will be offered to families and park personnel.

Ed Romanowski, one of our Good Guy recipients, is in a senior care facility.
He used to come to the field at least 5 times a week and he never failed to
offer his services and handiwork when the club was in need. He replenished
frequency pins faster than we could lose them, kept the wind indicator going
and rebuilt several models of them. He provided anyone who asked with
transmitter rests and never failed to my knowledge to walk the line every
day to greet everybody. He supplied Tastykakes for our WRAM trips. We miss
him.

Charlie Swope, Joe Weizer and Walt Pierzchala delivered his Good Guy award
to him on February 15th, and he was "most appreciative" and "surprised." He
thought we had forgotten him. Thanks guys!

Also gone but not forgotten was Ted Davey who showed up at the banquet. Ted
is a senior member of the club, a magazine writer [RCM] and at one time a
kit manufacturer. It was good to see Ted.

Keep your noses pressed to the WX channel. Spring is fast approaching and we
can kick off these winter shackles, get rid of cabin fever and enjoy once
again our great pastime.

Hang in there!!

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Builder's Corner
By Gerry Keenan

Covering a plane is like everything else; the more you do the better you
get. There are many ways to approach it. There are VHS tapes available,
the club has speakers who come in and demonstrate, there are seminars at
some events such as the WRAM show, and there is plenty of advice at the
field. All of these are helpful, but there is only one good way to do it
practice!

Take a piece of scrap, set your iron to the recommended heat, and try
covering it. Tack the four sides as you gently pull on the covering, and
then start from the middle and work your way out to the edges. Adjust the
heat if it shrinks too slowly or too fast. Don't rush. Do a little bit a
night and take your time. After some fooling around, you should be ready to
try your plane.

Think about Marilyn Monroe and how her dress was going the wrong way in the
wind. The dress peeled off, and so will your covering. The air is going to
flow from front to back, so all your seams should be pointing to the rear.
Therefore, start your job on the rear and work forward. Work the bottom
first, wrapping over the edges and cutting off about a 1/8 inch over the
top. Repeat the process for the top. When you get to the corners, just
shoot yourself in the foot because you're probably going to get wrinkles
till you get some practice. Do your best and don't get upset. Before you
know it you'll be at the field, and everyone will be telling you what a
great plane you built.

One last detail is to write your name, address, telephone number, and AMA
number on your plane, as some planes have been known to fly away.

Now that the plane is built, you will be ready to charge to the field, start
your engine, and start flying. Wrong. There are lots of unwritten rules at
the field (like bringing coffee and donuts), and you'd better get someone to
guide you through them. Those someones are called instructors. They usually
eat a lot of chili, have the wisdom of your father, the patience of your
mother, and most of all they are good lookingÖ.

Before you leave for the field, charge your batteries and recheck your plane
for balance, loose hardware, servo direction, and control surface throws.
Take your plane out to the back yard and range check it. If you don't know
how to do this, a trip to the field is the best way to find out. Don't
expect to fly the first time out. Most planes have faults that will prevent
flying the first time out. The first time out I would bring only a bottle
of fuel (yep, one more trip to the hobby shop). I wouldn't put together a
flight box until I talked to an instructor because of all the variations and
personal preferences.

Now go to the field. Upon arrival introduce yourself and ask someone if
there are any instructors. When you find the instructor, explain that this
is your first time out and ask for help. DO NOT BOTHER AN INSTRUCTOR WHEN
HE IS FLYING. Wait till he returns to the pits. The instructor will always
check your plane, so be patient. It's for your own good and everyone's
safety. Before you know it, you'll be in the air, and believe me, there is
nothing like seeing a plane on its maiden flight.

This article is in memory of Ernest McGauley and Frank Morris Jr.

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Banquet 2001

The VFSS banquet held at the Camelot in Bridgeport, PA, was a huge success.
Almost 100 members and guests gathered to enjoy a sumptuous buffet, wine and
beer, and to find out the recipients of the club's annual awards.

The Doug Davidson Award winner was Dennis DiBonaventura. Dan Natale took
away the award for Technical Achievement. Good Guy Awards went to Al
Haftel, Ed Snead, Ed Romanowski and Ron Strobel.

The club's first and maybe last "Wally" Awards went to Dennis DiBonaventura,
Joe Yalove, Nathan Marks, Ernie McGauley and Tony Szczur. These Wallies were
designated by presenter Warren Barrick as contributors to the club who were
on the "cusp of greatness, gonnabes" in the club's future.

-----------------------------

In Memoriam

It is with regret that we announce the death of Anthony DeCarlo. Anthony
was one of our charter members and at one time was president of VFSS. Our
sincere sympathy is extended to the members of his family.

-------------------------

Safety First!
(Repeated for Emphasis)

Number one in a series of rules or tips which we all must comply with at the
field at all times:

NO ONE may fly when alone. This means that anyone who wants to fly may only
do so when someone else is present. A "spotter" is self-explanatory and a
good practice.

A non-flier, spectator, tourist, etc., can "fill the bill" as long as there
is someone nearby so that you cannot be harmed or harm someone else. The
AMA demands this precaution and we must comply! (Rule adopted by B.O.G.
1/17/01.)

----------------------------

Instructors' Notice

Joe Pasquini would like all of last year's instructors to get in touch with
him at the field or to call him on the telephone. New instructors are
always welcome, depending mainly on one's experience as an R/C pilot. Any
questions about the instructional program can also be answered by Jim
Campana or Bud Klopp.

----------------------

Thank You

My family and I want to thank everyone for the e-mails, cards, and phone
calls during my recent mishap. Sunshines' fruit basket was wonderful. All
your well wishes helped speed my recovery. I hope to see you all at the
field soon.

Sincerely,
Ed Moore

----------------------

Cold Weather Affects Transmitter's Low Voltage Warning
By John Powell

Last November I was flying a scratch-built electric glider using my new
Multiplex "Cockpit MM" transmitter. It was a pleasant day with good lift,
but the temperature was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit. The Cockpit MM is a
7-channel computer radio with 9 aircraft memories and mixing suitable for
most planes. It is unusual in having only a 6-cell NiCd battery, instead of
the traditional 8 cells. The transmitter had proven itself in the summer
with good long battery run time and no control problems at all, and I had
transferred six airplane setups to it.

On this occasion in the cold weather, however, the transmitter ran out of
juice sooner than I expected, after about an hour of flying. Unfortunately,
my airplane was quite high when the transmitter started beeping its low
voltage warning. I wasn't too worried because normally you have plenty of
time to land the plane once the warning starts. Sadly, it turned out that I
had less than ONE MINUTE of transmitter run time left. The airplane was in
a spiral dive to lose height fast when the transmitter shut itself off! The
plane, of course, continued the spiral at a high rate of knots and
splattered thoroughly onto the landing strip. 100 points for the spot
landing!

When I got home I tested the transmitter's running time from first warning
until it shut itself off. At room temperature (65 degrees F.), I had about
25 minutes. When the transmitter had been left outside for 2 hours in
30-degree air, I had 55 SECONDS of flying time! Not enough time to get a
plane landed safely.
My point is that, especially with digital transmitters, it would be a good
idea to "stress test" the transmitter for cold weather behavior at home and
find out what it does BEFORE finding out at the field.

You need to let the transmitter batter run down to around 20% capacity and
then put the transmitter outdoors to let it cool down to about the same
temperature as you will find at the flying field. After 2 or 3 hours, while
still outdoors, extend the antenna* and turn on the power. Time how long it
takes from the transmitter's first warning beeps** to the time the
transmitter seems to die. Then take the transmitter indoors, let it warm
up, and test it again. You may not need to recharge the battery for the
"warm" testóits voltage will go up with temperature.

I hope you find that you have plenty of time regardless of the transmitter's
temperature, but you may be surprised!

Of course, this was not a "scientific" check, and some transmitters might
stop putting out an RF signal before the LED display shuts off, etc., but as
a quick REALITY CHECK, it could be quite informative.

Notes:
* I assume that at home you're not close to a flying site, so you can blast
away at full strength. Pulling out the antenna assures that you're using
batter power at the normal rate.
** Analog transmitters with a front-panel voltmeter are harder to test,
since they don't have warning beepers and the meters are usually not
calibrated in any meaningful way. However, I would expect that there would
be some RF output until the voltmeter suddenly drops to zero.

------------------------

Club Calendar

Membership dues will be increased by a $10.00 late fee after our March 13th
meeting!!

Tuesday, March 13th
General membership meeting at the church. Dave West will be our featured
presenter. Members are encouraged to bring their winter projects for
Show-N-Tell.

Tuesday, April 10th
Bruno Cavallo [AIAA] will speak to the club. He is an authority on pre-World
War II German aircraft.

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Meet the Editor

Marilyn Ayres, our new Hear Ye editor, is a retired Philadelphia school
teacher and administrator. She is a graduate of Temple University and a
former colleague of Warren and Carole Barrick at Overbrook High School. She
likes to travel, is an avid computer game player, and resides at Fox Hill
Farm in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Her e-mail address is mayres8@home.com.

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

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