The Aluminum Overcast By Eric Williams

Transcription

1 June, 2003 Volume VI, No. 4 The Aluminum Overcast By Eric Williams It s Sunday morning, and as I roll over in bed to look out the window I realize that I can t see the trees in the backyard, not a good sign. Nevertheless I prepared for what I hoped would be the ride of a lifetime. On arriving at the Lincoln airport IT was sitting on the tarmac in front of the Silverhawk Aviation hanger. The plane in question is the Aluminum Overcast, a vintage B-17G bomber. This particular aircraft was delivered in 1945, too late to see any action in the war but it has had many duties since, eventually being purchased by an individual for restoration and finding a final home with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The aircraft is painted in the colors of the 398 th Bomb Group, commemorating B- 17G # piloted by Lt. Hal Weekley. It was shot down over Le Manior, France on August 13, Weekley is an EAA member and believed to be the only currently active pilot in a B-17 who flew them in combat. The men and women of the 398 th Bomb Group Memorial Association raised the funds to repaint and restore the Aluminum Overcast. I can easily state that they have done a wonderful job. From both the exterior and interior the restoration is very good. You can tell a great deal of care and love went into this project. For more information, visit The fog caused only a 45-minute delay and the first group went through the passenger pre-flight and prepared to depart. As the 1,200 hp Wright Cyclone engines turned over, the typical cloud of smoke came Clanking Armor, Page 1 out of the exhaust and the engines roared to life. Very impressive for someone who is more accustomed to an OS.40! The first group then taxied and roared off into the sky blue, what a sight! A very long 45 minutes later they returned safely and then it was my turn. After an instruction on how the military seat belts worked we were told that once a positive rate of climb was obtained we would be able to move about the entire plane with the exception of the tail-gunners position. Take off was loud but actually very smooth, rotation and lift off seemed smoother than the typical 727! Once in the air, movement was deliberate to avoid the head-bangers that seemed to be everywhere. The view from the bombardier s position was especially breathtaking. It lends a new appreciation to what those combat crews went through, especially when you consider they had people shooting at them! The flight ended all too soon. Touch down was a little bumpier than lift off, but really not bad at all. As I de-planed Tom Wild was there to see me grinning from ear to ear! I think it took a good hour for that grin to finally disappear. It was truly a flight to remember! (For more on this B-17, see also Another View by Tom Wild, on Page 5 ~editor~) If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. ~Stephen Wright~

2 May Minutes 2003 President Neal Rohrke called the March Lincoln Sky Knights meeting to order at 7:30. Bob Schwab gave the Treasurer s report, and a motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the report. A motion was made to accept the March minutes as printed in the Clanking Armor, and passed. Rich Boelts presented the VP/CD report. Most event dates for this year have been set. Please see the calendar for event dates. If you would like to CD an event, see Rich. Old Business: The Lincoln Skyknight clubhouse roof has been repaired. Roof bill, which was covered by insurance, was $1,467. The parking lot has been expanded thanks to some hard work by Bill Davis. The rock bill has not been received yet. Grass Runway Report: There was no report as committee chair John Willman was not present during the meeting. New Business: There was no new business. New members: Rich and Spencer Kunze, welcome to the club! Model of the month: Dick Britton and Rob Lyman both brought airplanes. See the article on this page. The meeting was adjourned at 7:46. LSK Secretary, Bernie Smith New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move. ~David Letterman~ Clanking Armor, Page 2 Model of the Month, May, 2003 Dick Britton brought his Aero Star 40 with Super Tiger.40 to help make the point that ALL models brought to the meeting for model of the month are winners and voting for model of the month is not necessary. This particular aircraft is a duplicate of the type he first learned to fly under the tutelage of his instructor, Ron Vogel. And in this corner, weighing in at 19 pounds is Rob Lyman s freshly built Stinger. With a gas burning engine of 4.2 cubic inches (that s 70 cc for the metric minded, or more than 85 Cox.049s for the simple minded) supplies a 2.25:1 power to weight ratio. Other modifications included oversized ailerons, passenger side airbag, anti-lock braking system and the cutting edge NASA stealth cowling. I notice there are no wheel pants. Rob, didn t anyone tell you it s not polite to take a lady out in public without pants?? her Don t Miss the June Fun Fly! Friday & Saturday, June Flying will start both days at 9:00 am. On Saturday evening there will be a potluck meal, bring side dishes and desserts, the entrée will be supplied!

3 Weight Lifting Takes To The Air By A.J. Seaholm (Editors Note: Due to space limitations in the Clanking Armor we had to heavily edit A.J s interesting article on the competition. Should anyone like to read his full play-by-play, feel free to the editors, and we ll provide the complete, un-edited original text) SAE, the Society of Automotive Engineers, sponsors an aero design weight-lifting contest for college students. One of these students competing this year was Brian Seaholm, a member of the Kansas State University team which placed 3 rd out of 44 teams at the national competition in Dayton Ohio this spring. Those of you in the combat circle, or who read the coverage in the Clanking Armor know Brian as the younger brother to A.J. and son of Earl Seaholm, both very active on a national level in RC Combat. Brian has attended if not competed at many of our LSK combat events. For a detailed description of this design contest, and rules, check out the SAE web site Scoring in this cargo contest was not based solely on the amount of weight lifted, but also how accurately the team is able to predict their aircraft s performance in advance of actual flight testing. This is prepared in advance of he competition and is called the Design Report. At the competition, the planes are examined by the judging panel to make sure they are within the specified rules, and also, importantly, if they are adequately and safely constructed. The team then answers a 10-minute oral examination by the panel, and receives a score for that. The Design Report and Oral Presentation scores are combined in the Design Clanking Armor, Page 3 Score. The Design Score determines the order of flight, with the highest score flying in the desirable last position. On Saturday at the competition, K-State lifted 12.0 pounds on their first attempt, passed on the second round due to bad winds, and lifted 16.7 pounds on their final attempt of the day, to put them in a solid 3 rd place (out of 40 teams), behind the University of Kansas, and Cedarville University of Ohio. On Sunday, there was some jockeying for position among the top teams, and it was determined to go to a fly-off, since the top 4 teams were so close. When the dust settled, the top 3 were the University of Kansas, the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, and Kansas State University. While KSU was somewhat dismayed at losing to their perennial enemy KU, they were still proud of their accomplishment. 3 rd out of 44 teams from around the world is certainly nothing to cry about! Congratulations to Brian, keep up the good work! This big brother was very proud. Air Show!! On June 14 th and 15 th, there will be an air show celebrating the 100 th year of aviation at the historic Fairmont Air Base, one of 11 former Army Air Corps WW II airfields in Nebraska. Among the aircraft scheduled to be on display and flying are an AC-47, Pietenpol Air Camper, BT-13a, B-17, PBY Catalina, B-25, F2G Super Corsair, a P-51, a Lockheed Constellation, and others too numerous to mention. For more information, and a complete schedule, go to

4 Midwest Slope Challenge May 15-18, 2003, by Loren Blinde Doesn t seem possible, but the biggest slope soaring event in our part of the world has been going on for 10 years so far. What started as a dozen guys getting together to race sailplanes has turned into a four-day, 60 entry national- media covered event. And yours truly, along with the members of the Lincoln Area Soaring Society, are the inmates in charge of the asylum. Slope soaring is absolutely the most weather dependent kind of flying you will find in the RC hobby. Not only does the wind have to blow, it has to blow the right direction or things don t happen. Imagine a power club with 8 different oneway runways, each for a different wind direction, scattered over a 20-mile area. Now imagine running a contest and the dilemma of choosing the right runway and the logistics of moving that many people when conditions change. That s what an inland slope contest is like. The guys on the coasts have it too easy When things are right, there is nothing more fun you can do with a transmitter in your hands without getting arrested. Speed and aerobatics, right in your face, with flight time limited only by your batteries or bladder. When things aren t right, you use your Clanking Armor, Page 4 imagination and invent some other kind of fun. Movies, beer, non-slope planes, whatever That s what this year s contest was like. We had one of those rare perfect days Sunday, the rest were either wet or nonwindy. I won t bore you with all the details of the event, you can read that at the contest web site: home.alltel.net/mwsc. But you should know that several of our fellow Sky Knights were in attendance. Wilson Hardy got in some quality fun-flying time. He broke his Ninja (the proverbial Ugly-Stik of slope soaring) so I loaned him a couple unbreakable foamies and he had a grin on his face the rest of the weekend. Neal and Helen Rohrke were there Saturday to watch the worst slope race in recorded history. Tom Wild was recognized as one of the select few who have actually attended all 10-year s worth of events. And Steve Dworsky placed second in Combat with an immaculately built, finely tuned plane (which he borrowed from me). (There s SOMETHING about that last sentence that makes my finger twitch ~Editor~) One new thing we did this year was put on an air show for the city of Lucas, Kansas. That s the little town of 400 we call our headquarters. (Continued on Page 7)

5 Another View By TW While inspecting an oily wheel well on the EAA B-17, I was approached by EAA member and lifetime modeler Tom Winters. While visiting with Tom we discovered many modelers we knew in common. He then introduced me to a fellow EAA member and B-17 pilot Bill Sheahan. Bill described his experience on his last bomber mission flying his B-17 the Sac Hound. Bill explained the origin of this name: Any time a crewmember was missing, he could always be found sacked out in the bunkhouse. At age 22, on March 2 nd of 1944, German fighters cut Bill s eighth combat mission short over Belgium. After sustaining hits at 17,000 feet and with the cockpit filled with smoke and flames, Bill made his way to the bomb bay with his parachute under his arm. A hasty check of remaining fellow crewmembers found all dead so Bill prepared to make his jump. With time running out he made the decision that a parachute with only one shoulder harness properly fastened was better than none at all. Bill described his descent through the clouds as feeling like he was hanging motionless while still hearing the sound of fighter aircraft in the area. A dead tree helped break Bill s fall leaving him a few feet off the ground crashing after Clanking Armor, Page 5 Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, Why is the bride dressed in white?" Because white is the color of happiness and today is the happiest day of her life," her mother tried to explain, keeping it simple. The child thought about this for a moment, then said, "So, why's the groom wearing black?" through the limbs. Not knowing exactly where he was, Bill was relieved when a 14-year-old Belgian boy finally approached him. After escaping capture with the help of the Belgian underground, Bill s pilot career was cut short due to Allie d policy: Any pilots or crews with knowledge of the undergrounds operations would not be allowed back into combat, to protect the anonymity of the underground. Bill made life-long friends that day in Belgium with whom he still corresponds after almost 50 years later! WW II B-17 pilot Bill Sheahan fills us in on the details of the Fort RON MILLER General Contractor: Maintenance Repair Remodeling Will do room additions, windows Replacements, basement & kitchen, Remodeling, deck building. Cell Phone )

6 May Combat 2003 By Jeff Smith Ten pilots gathered to fly in the Lincoln Sky Knights Open B Combat on Saturday May 3 rd. It was a great day to fly combat, and the contest ran very smoothly. Don Howard of Oklahoma led the pack in points during the first half of the meet. We took a break for lunch after three rounds. Thanks to Paul Cooper for traveling back from Alaska to serve up some great tasting hamburgers! Combat maintained its intensity through the rest of the day. After six rounds of combat Don Howard kept a solid hold on first place with 2,322 points. Fifteen year-old B.J. Mayle Jr. from Kansas took second place Paul Cooper traveled the furthest (from Alaska). Seen here with Helen Rohrke and Charlotte Smith, as he Guest Roasts. Clanking Armor, Page 6 On your mark get set KILL!! with 1,872 B.J. Mayle, Jr. may have only points. Neil taken 2 nd, but his face says it all Byrd from Minnesota finished third with 1,368 points. As always, everyone had a fun time. Special thanks to I had the most fun of ANYBODY! CD Neil Rohrke, Paul Cooper, Tom Hefley (flight line boss), the judges, and everyone else who helped out. Unfortunately, the Sunday scale event was rained out and no one had floats for their combat planes. Just remember, combat is the most fun you can have with an R/C airplane. Build, fly, crash, rinse, and repeat.

7 Clanking Armor, Page 7 (Midwest Slope Challenge, continued from pg. 4) We commandeered the local airport Friday evening and put on a show for 200 people. Electrics, winch launches, bungee launches and for the big finish, 5 of us flew 2 rounds of powered combat, including me, Tom Wild, Mr. Clean and two good sports from New York, including Joe Chovan, the guy who sells the Predator. This was the biggest crowd pleaser by far; cheers, jeers and lots of cuts. Even some of the silent flight purists among us were heard muttering, dam [sic], that looks like fun! Giant Scale Fly In May Contest Director Rich Boelts would like to thank the participants in the Giant Scale fly in held on May 24 th and 25 th. Weather was a bit rough on Saturday and kept flying to a minimum, but Sunday dawned beautiful, and stayed that way. There was only one mishap in both days sadly, Pete Rosas pancaked his beautiful 40% Edge 540 in inverted from a hover, with significant damage. Happily, it was repairable, and we anticipate he will have it up and flying again soon. Thanks for coming, everyone who did! A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take pictures of a great forest fire. He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire. The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!" The tense man sitting in the pilot's seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying somewhat erratically. "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make several low-level passes." "Why?" asked the nervous pilot "Because I'm going to take pictures!" yelled the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures." After a long pause, the "pilot" replied, "You mean, you're not my instructor?" This Space For Rent! If you have something to say (but not a LOT), contact any member of the Clanking Armor editorial staff to rent shis space Rates and further information on Page 17.

8 Lincoln Sky Knights PO Box Lincoln, Nebraska LSK Officers President: Neal Rohrke VP/CD: Rich Boelts Treasurer: Bob Schwab Secretary: Bernie Smith Editors, Dave Brazee Tom Wild Webmaster, John Willman WHO TO CALL FOR HELP! Rich Kuenning Dave Reiber Shane Zikmund Joe Moritz Tom Hefley Ron Vogel Neal Rohrke Mike Yearly Dave Brazee UPCOMING EVENTS June Air show Fairmont NE June June Fun Fly July 4 LSK Meeting* July 4 Open house July 27 Senior Pattern Contest *This MAY be rescheduled or postponed! PLEASE REMEMBER!! IF YOU ARE THE LAST PERSON AT THE FIELD IN THE EVENING, PLEASE BE SURE THAT THE CLUBHOUSE AND THE GATE ARE LOCKED!!!! Inside this Issue! A month of Challenges! Aluminum Overcast Page 1 Club Minutes Page 2 Model of The Month Challenge Page 2 College Cargo Challenge Page 3 Midwest Slope Challenge Page 4 B-17, Another View Page 5 Spring Combat Challenge Page 6 Giant Scale, Humor Page 7