July, 2000 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

BILL JONES

Our monthly Club meetings have moved to the Veteran's Memorial Building (North Room) across from the Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, adjacent to Highway 12. The first meeting will be on JULY 18, 2000. Our regular meetings will now be held every third Tuesday of each month thereafter. The Fun Fly scheduled for July 8th has been rescheduled to Saturday, July 22nd. Pacific Online (our website sponsor) has donated 20 tickets to a Sonoma County Crushers baseball game to our Club. The game is against the Zion Pioneerzz on August 19th at 5:05 p.m. The tickets will be given away at the next Club meeting. Hope to see everyone at the Fun Fly on the 22nd!

ANNUAL LEARN TO FLY DAY

BY DINO HOUSE

The Annual Learn to Fly Day was a huge success! We had over 75 new flyers take the sticks. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, it's a fun-filled day reserved for non-members and new flyers. Club members dust off their old trainers, bring them up to the field and hook up the "buddy cords". Anyone who shows up can become an R/C pilot for the day as well as enjoy a great BBQ picnic.

The weather gods were smiling upon us this sunny Saturday, June 3rd, and our appreciation was evident by the smell of burnt nitro in the air. Guest pilots tested the skies not only with member's planes, but many brought their own. It was a good chance to check their planes and equipment for air-worthiness. Our old friends Doug Boucher, Chuck Green and Gary Child manned the BBQ, it was a sell out success--there wasn't even a bag of chips left.

The only near-fatal casualties were a Wingo that was downed due to radio failure and Larry Miller's "War Weary" Kadet had it's own brush with disaster. Larry had been flying so much his transmitter battery failed without much warning. The plane was headed for Lake County when the battery ran out, a fatal crash for any other plane, but not "War Weary." This plane, totally on its own, kills its own engine and starts a gentle, 180 degree turn back to the runway. No, he was not using a PCM receiver. The plane touched down in a tree just short of the runway. Larry climbed the tree, unbolted the wing and passed the plane down. No structural damage! This plane just refuses to die! In 1998 "War Weary" survived three or four hits with the Limbo string and a midair.

Mike Cingari and some of his friends got their hands on Rich Lange's "Thunder Tiger Raptor" Helicopter, still in the box. Three hours later, that box of parts was a functional helicopter, and the radio was even programmed. .Rich spent his time working with our guests, he didn't even have to tighten a bolt! I would like to especially thank all of Mike's friends who helped out-Andy Van Vooren, Anthony Jager, Greg Massey and Kent Wieri all flew in to attend Mike's wedding. They all took turns helping other guests. Kent Wieri, a New Hampshire resident, helped just as many people as any club member did. At the end of the day he thanked us for letting him help. No Kent, Thank you!

As always, this event could not have happened without the efforts of a few special people. They are the "usual suspects" who do most of whatever gets done around this club! They know who they are, and so do the rest of us! I would however, like to thank some of them by name. Bill, Kim, Rob, Larry, and Jeff... thank you so much for all that you have done! Thanks to all who participated, you made the day a success and the club will benefit from it.

MINUTES OF THE JUNE MEETING

LARRY MILLER

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 p.m. There were 20 members and guest in attendance. Our newest member, Richard Starkey was introduced to the group.

The first order of business was a report on the Learn-To-Fly Day by the President, Bill Jones. This year's event was even more successful than last year's. Fifty two people officially signed up for a turn on the buddy boxes, but closer to seventy people actually got a turn at the controls. I went through a full gallon of fuel in my trainer. We discussed a few minor problems such as radio impound procedures. The only reported incident was when my Kadet's battery wore down and the plane landed in a tree. The food concession was a big hit again and the food totally sold out by the end of the day. Our chefs for the event were Doug Boucher, Richard Lange and Chuck Green. The event was a great success and lots of fun.

We received a report that the rescue boat at the float flying site had disappeared. Soon after we learned of this, Dino House was able to arrange for a replacement. He delivered it to Larry Frank who refurbished it and it is now chained and locked securely at the site.

Dale Chiaroni, Treasurer, gave us the financial report which was followed by the Secretary's report.

The date for the Fun Fly was announced in July. A Flyer outlining all the details of the event will be prepared and mailed to the members. The event will be worth attending. We will be awarding some great prizes for every category of fliers. We will be trying a new event format to eliminate delays and make the contests move more smoothly and less stressful for the participants.

Steve Cole has arranged for the YMCA Trailblazer Family Youth Group to come to the field on August 5^th to have an opportunity to learn to fly on buddy boxes and to watch some demonstrations. Any help from the members with training would be appreciated. If you can help, show up with your trainers. We expect approximately 20 guests.

Richard Lange volunteered to work with the Board to set up a new dues and point system for the Club which will be submitted to the members for their approval.

Bob Film and Larry Frank submitted information on potential new meeting sites for our regular Club meetings. It looks like the best bet is the Veteran's Memorial Building across from the Fairgrounds. Plenty of parking and maybe even some parking lot flying, so bring your Wingo to fly before the meeting.

For "Show & Tell", Rob Jensen brought in his latest creation for combat flying--a beautifully detailed 1/12th scale FW 190. It's a shame to fly such a nice looking aircraft in combat where most planes don't have a very long life expectancy.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

RED’S CORNER

ROB JENSEN

We've got the annual Fun Fly coming up on July 22"d There will be events for everyone including events for those pilots still on a buddy box. For those of you who want to try combat, one of the events will feature a trainer plane towing a 100-foot streamer for you to try to cut! I just spent over $400.00 at Hangar One on prizes, so there will be something for everyone! The entry fee will only be $5.00, so come out a give it a shot. The day will also include a Bar-B-Que, a noontime 1/12th scale combat demonstration, a Wingo mass fly and a candy drop for the kids as well.

How about bringing your latest project to the next meeting? We need some new "Show & Tell" items. I am currently scratch building a 60" Edge 540 that I will try to bring to the meeting. Is there anyone in the Club who is building a float plane? We now have the float pond and beautiful weather for flying.

That's all for now. Hope to see you all at the Fun Fly?

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR SALE: Sig Kadet senior with ailerons, 5 servos, new L.A. .46 engine, bench run only once. $200.00. Call Jim Johannesen (707) 546-2844.

FREE! FREE! FREE! .60 Size Trainer. Covered in Red. Just add your radio gear and engine. This plane was donated by Glenn Ballard. Thank you, Glenn. Call Gary Child (707)579-2325.

BETTER LANDINGS

BY RON SCOTT

The secret to a good landing is a good, long approach. A good approach is one where the airplane is slowed down, set up, and trimmed for a landing, in total control the whole time.

Know how to fly your airplane slowly. This takes practice. And find out the airplane's limits. Go out and fly around the field as slowly as you can, making sure you are at least two mistakes high, so that if it stalls you have enough altitude to recover. Next, practice flying just above the stall speed, without losing altitude. You will find that this is easier said than done, but you will learn how reliable your engine is at low speed.

Remember, the two best friends your airplane can have are altitude and speed. If you lose one or both, you're in big trouble. So, know your airplanes limits and your own.

I use the following sequence to make good landings almost every time:

1. On the downwind leg, reduce throttle to about 1/4, and re-trim for level flight, then turn onto the base leg.

2. On the base leg, reduce altitude.. The nose will drop a bit through the turn.

3. Turn on the final approach and intercept the glide slope.

4. Keep the wings level, and reduce engine speed to almost an idle, just enough to keep flying.

5. Aim for an imaginary window at the beginning-of the runway that is about 10-feet above the ground and centered to the field.

6. Use a small amount of elevator as the airplane gets closer to the ground. The plane will start to nose up the closer it gets to the ground. This is called "flare." Continue to add up elevator as required.

7. Use the rudder and ailerons only as necessary to keep the airplane on the glide path and straight with the field.

8. As the airplane glides in, arrest the descent by decreasing the engine speed to full idle. Try to time the "flare" so that the descent is arrested with the wheels about one to two inches above the runway. And that's it! You have landed! Now, taxi in and don't hit anything on the way back to the pits, and blow the whole thing.

9. If the landing doesn't feel right go around and try it again and again, until it's right.

From Local Area Fun Fliers, Fred Leichtfuss, editor