The Fly Paper

If you online checkout the Fantastic aerial photo that Gene Norman took with a throw away camera tied to a servo on his Mini Challenger. I'll put a black and white one in here for the rest.

Nite Flight - THIS WEEK after our Thus Aug 27th meeting. COME and Chase some Mosquitoes. Bring your bug spray and have some fun. Flying will asanp[as soon as night permits]

PRESIDENT’S CORNER- The summer is fast coming to a close, and that means that it will not be 95 degrees every day and hunting season is just around the corner (yes Randy, I have more than one hobby). [Like shooting things?] It seems every time I go to the field, I am fortunate in meeting a new or soon to be new member of our club. This is even more encouraging in that many are father and sons.

Well, I better go, got a wing to fiberglass! I’m closing the gap Mike!

What a GREAT afternoon for flying! Club members were out in full force making the best of this mid-summer day flying flight after flight right up to our 7:30 meeting time. Vice-president Randy Hawkins called the meeting to order as Pres. Tommy Vinci was out of town. 26 folks autographed the sign-in sheet though there may have been a few more in attendance.

Randy opened with a report on a cool website that he has recently found. http://terraserver.microsoft.com/ is the address for the world’s largest database that includes satellite photographs of much of the earth’s surface. Many of the images are approximately 5 years old, but can be zoomed in on close enough to pick out your own house, complete with the old school bus parked in your back yard. He also gave a good run down on some of the fun we’ve had lately with our most recent Combat Event as well as the Electric Fly.

Roy Collins distributed a copy of July’s financial report. Receipts included $280 for new membership dues and $115 for funfly income. Expenses included $85.50 to Bulldog Johnny, $77 for postage, and $267 for prizes at our last Kid’s contest. That leaves $4242 for the checking account balance and $5090 in the long- term accounts.

Secretary Dave Zeigler reminded us that the upcoming August 27^th meeting will include the Mini Maxer (rubber powered free flight) mass launch immediately after the meeting and then the Night Flite as the stars begin to shine. So remember to get your kitchen pass extended a little later than normal for this meeting! [THIS will be a HOOOOOOT!!!!]

Ernie Schlumberger mentioned that the nasty and thorny blackberry bushes were really growing healthy along with the rest of the tall grass and weeds in the field. [you should see his legs] Chasing a downed plane or a freeflight at the upcoming Kid’s Contest on Sept 19^th could become a miserable experience. He proposed that we contracted Charles Perkins (if he’s willing) to bush hog the field again. Dave Zeigler stating that it would also help keep the general condition of the field in better shape for future mowings seconded it. There was one vote no but the rest in attendance voted yes to carry the motion. After the meeting, new member Bill Gowen bared his lower legs to show some painful red bumps reminding us that there are also plenty of chiggers out there at this time of year. [I keep telling them to use the runway]

More discussion about our proposed shelter ensued. It was generally agreed that we needed to come to some kind of a consensus about which type of material and size that we really wanted to go with. After a bit of discussion, building a wooden frame with 4x4 posts and sized approximately 10’ x 50’ then roofed with 12’ corrugated tin was what we came up with. Ernie Schlumburger was officially deemed project coordinator.

Casey Drummond has just graduated from McIntosh High School and built a nice little trainer. It looks like this guy is going to be another natural pilot, he’s learning fast! Jim Lapp has just moved into the area from Syracuse, NY. is no newcomer to R/C. He’s been flying for 6-7 years. Bill Gowen was heavily into U-control and freeflight back in the ‘50s but quit in about 1960. He’s back! And now he has a talented son, John (14). John just won the State Championship in the middle school division for Propeller Propulsion in the Science Olympiad competition at Georgia Tech, and now is on the trail of becoming an ace R/C pilot! And speaking of father/son teams, Joe Stephens and his son Brett (7) are about to become a common sight at our gatherings. Joe began flying in the early 90’s, but got side tracked with daddy duties. He’s now ready to dust off the cobwebs and get back to some of the other finer things in life. What GREAT new additions to our club!

Plenty of stories abounded this month! Pee Wee Maddox took off his admittedly, under powered Quarter Scale plane even with Tom Huckaby saying, "Are you sure you don’t want me to do that?" Knowing that it could be a hand full. But Pee Wee’s pride prevailed and knew that HE had to do it. [SEE last issue of the FLY PAPER-Joe Nall] Well sure enough, while trying to nurse out some altitude after takeoff and taking a couple of right hand turns to avoid the late, airplane eating dead tree (by the way, free seasoned firewood for someone with a chain saw), it just fell out of the sky. Our Combat Event gets credit for another pair of shattered remains. Ernie’s Miss Martha was tagged in flight, tearing up the wing and bringing the fuselage straight into the ground at about mach 5. Dave Zeigler’s Wild Thing was skewered by Tommy Vinci’s Sig Wonder (remind that guy that you cut the ribbon with the prop and NOT slice through the center of the plane, ha, ha). But Steve Dukes got Tommy back with the only clean cut of the day.

The true winner this month (and a major SAFETY REMINDER here) was at Josh Thorner’s expense. Josh had just started his little sport plane at idle speed like he’s done thousands of times before. In the rather thick grass, the plane just obediently sits there. However this time he must have accidentally bumped the throttle on the transmitter and it lurched forward, carving several good lacerations on his bare inner thigh. OWWWEE! Another foot higher and it could have made some serious changes in his life! [Something about a statement from his wife] We have said it before and I am afraid that it will have to be said many times again, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR PARTNER HOLD your TAIL while starting and running up your engine. [NO, NO The plane's tail, not your's!]

As a newcomer to R/C flying it is gratifying to finally be able to appreciate the sense of excitement that has been previously expressed by the R/C member of the family. Now I understand why in the car at times I’ve been enthusiastically told to "Look up and watch that hawk gliding" or "Look at that cloud pattern it indicates good lift". [Remember the bugs]

I must admit now, that there is nothing more beautiful than seeing an electric glider in a slow circling pattern with a hawk, as the bird tries to check out the new visitor in it's air space. Also, it’s amazing to see the same style of plane but each one so different because each flyer has put his personal stamp on it with the color scheme or building style.

Since I’m still learning, I get to do a lot of sitting and watching (even though I’d rather be flying) and I’ve tried to be sure to appreciate everything good when at the field. There does seem to be a lot more to the hobby than just the actual flying. It can be nice just to go out there, sit back and watch for a while and take in all the sights and sounds. Sometimes it’s the little things, like watching some other flyer trying to do his best that can bring a lot of contentment, it just adds to the overall enjoyment of the hobby.

Many of you may have an electric powered sailplane that is direct drive, but would like to see the airplane climb out with a little more authority. I’m going to share my "secret weapon" with you. It’s relatively inexpensive to convert your direct drive to a gear driven high performance sailplane. Stumbling across this combination was costly and time consuming but well worth it. I experimented with several different motors, gearboxes and prop combinations. Finally, after practically melting down one of the motors, I hit pay dirt! This "ultimate" combination consists of the following: 1) Master Airscrew 3:1 Gearbox. 2) Graupner 11 x 7.5 folding prop. 3) Speed Gems Diamond 12-turn double wind motor.

This motor/prop will draw about 48 amps at full power! This will require a speed control like the Jetti 50 which sells for about $79.00. I highly recommend this speed control since it has a current limiter to prevent over current burn out. The cost of this combination is as follows: $18.95 for the gearbox, $25.50 for the prop, and $29.99 for the electric motor. The motor will have to be timed to run in reverse, which is not hard to do. I also recommend Sermos Connectors and 13-gauge hobby wire for the high current. Be careful to support the rear end of the armature when pressing the gear onto the motor.

I flew this setup for the first time at the Electric fun fly in early August. I could not believe my eyes as I watched the airplane accelerate up at about a 60-degree angle! The sailplane attained thermal altitude with only a 30-second motor run. The climb out was spectacular! The most impressive part of the climb out came at about 50 feet of altitude. The prop unloaded with the forward motion of the airplane and the motor actually sounded like it increased a couple thousand Rpm's. At that point it accelerated nearly straight up! [Mike and Earl commented LMR- 90seconds my A--]. Ain't this fun.

Randy- Learned an interesting thing. Don't let your Transmitter get wet. It was a perfect day until a tiny rain shower came right through the field during OUR E-DAY. I was spotting for Jim Duckworth a visitor from Macon. As the rain headed in everyone else got to cover up their stuff, I stuck it out with Jim who was trying to get his plane on the ground. Later on in the afternoon I went to fly My Sr. Electric Telemaster. Ground checks all normal, took off and as I turned out over the field, The whole plane shut down. The Airplane side was not the problem. Neither my Jr6 Tx nor new Hitec Prism7 were putting out even though the meters showed Good. I dried everything out and all is OK NOW. The Tele is ready to fly again, but it could have been costly in a lot of ways. Thankful I turned away from the pits. IF your Tx GETS WET Don't use it.