Prez Says By Richard Gugeler

Transcription

1 Newsletter of the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club AMA Club Number 179 Volume 34, Number 11 September, 2006 Officers: Pres.: Richard Gugeler; VP: Randy Oswald; Secretary: Bill Sanderman; Treasurer: Frank Tuxworth Mailing Address: P.O. Box 25604, Colorado Springs, CO Web Site: Next Club Meeting: Tuesday, September 5, :00 PM at the ELIC (East Library Info Center) Pikes Peak Public Library (on Union) Prez Says By Richard Gugeler Someone once described radio control airplanes as a hole in the sky into which you pour money. (Although in my case, it seems to be a hole in the ground.) That said, I think we all like to get the biggest bang for our buck. Many people seem to think that mail-order is the way to go. I'm not so sure. We're fortunate to have three hobby shops in town, with a fourth on the way: Pikes Peak R/C Hobbies, Hobby Town, Stevens Aero and, scheduled to open sometime in September, a branch of Radio Control Hobbies. In particular, PPRC Hobbies and Hobby Town have been very generous in supporting club activities, such as the Warbirds Fly-in. Before automatically going mail-order, consider the following: If we don't support our local businesses, where are we going to get that prop, engine mount, wheel, spinner, servo, receiver, you-name-it, that we need to get back in the air by tomorrow morning? If you get a defective item via mail-order, your only recourse is to call the vendor, get a Return Merchandise Authorization number, pay to mail it back and wait, and wait, for the replacement. If you bought it locally, the chances are that the shop will simply replace the item immediately. What if you have technical, operation or installation questions about your mail-order item? That's right; call the company during its operating hours and try to get an intelligible answer. I guarantee that the mail-order company is not going to be at the field, helping you tweak your engine. It's not going to spend three hours working to extract a particularly recalcitrant bearing from your engine. If you need to duplicate some broken ribs, it's not going to say "The scroll saw's in the back." It certainly is not going to spend hours showing you how to build a foam-core wing and let you use its tools to cut the foam and apply the sheeting. (Note that buying something mail-order and trying to get free local help is, as the British would say, extremely poor form.) What if the item you need is not normally in stock? Why not ask the local shop to special order it? Chances are, you'll save on shipping and get it just as quickly. And, by the way, just how much money did you save? I know that the last several engines and kits I've purchased in town cost less, out-the-door, than the mail-order cost, even if shipping were free. And even if the local price is a couple bucks higher, isn't it worth it to ensure good local support? 'Nuff said on that topic. We all have customer service horror stories. I would like to mention my recent experiences with absolutely superb customer support from a manufacturer. Having converted two planes to toothpicks in quick succession, I wisely returned the receivers to Hitec RCD to be examined. I carefully noted that these were not warranty returns and were entirely caused by fumble-fingering the equipment into the ground. In both instances, the receivers were repaired (broken everything, including the cases) and returned, free of charge. Total turn-around time was only 8 to 10 days. Now, the Hitec web site states that a service fee would be charged. When I called Hitec and explained that they had forgotten to bill me, I was told "The repair's on us." You cannot improve on that kind of customer service. Monday? Tuesday? Please remember that we have some adjustments in our monthly meeting schedule. PPRCC Radio Flyer Newsletter 1 September, 2006

2 Specifically, due to holidays and library activities, not all our general membership meetings will be held the normal first Tuesday of the month. In particular, please note November's date [it s later in the month]. Meetings will be held: October 2, Monday November 20, Monday December 5, Tuesday The Warbird Corner By Keith Davis If you recall a few articles ago, I wrote about gliders in combat, and they were all transport aircraft. Well, I found an article that may be interesting or even unbelievable about an unusual combat glider. Here it is. By late 1943 the Germans were beginning to worry that they may be losing too many fighters to allied bombers. So the German aircraft company Blohm und Voss decided to build a glider fighter. The plan was to tow the glider fighter, the Bv40, a few thousand feet above the bomber formations. Upon cable release, the Bv40 would go into a steep dive reaching over 500mph. As it dove through the bomber formations, it would attack with its two 30mm cannons. But that s not all. Behind it, the Bv40 towed a long cable with a warhead on the end. As it passed through the formations, the pilot was to swing the cable and warhead into a second bomber. But still, that s not all. After completion of its first dive, and if the pilot still had plenty airspeed, he was to return to the formation and ram a third bomber. The nose of the fighter glider was reinforced with heavy duty plywood. The pilot was to slice through the bomber, then bail out! The prototype BV40 actually flew in May 1944 towed by a ME-110. But as the war went on, Blohm und Voss turned their resources to more practical projects such as jets and rockets. Good thing for the glider pilots! Did You Know? Chicago s O Hara Airport was named after 1LT Edward H. O Hara. During WWII, O Hara was the first U.S. pilot to shoot down five Japanese planes in a single mission, May 1942 while defending the USS Lexington. Ironically in 1943, he was shot down and killed by a TBF Avenger, mistaking him for a Japanese plane. Did You Know? FB-111 pilots had to manually adjust their variable swept wings while F-14 pilots had an on-board computer to do the work for them. Answers to last month s SKY quiz: Name Skymaster Skytrain Skyraider Skyknight Skyray Skytrooper Skywarrior Skyhawk Correct Answer A-1 Skyraider A-3 Skywarrior A-4 Skyhawk F-4D Skyray F10 Skyknight DC-4 Skymaster C-47 Skytrain DC-53 Skytrooper From The Meeting By Bill Sanderman From the August, 2006 Meeting Nineteen of the faithful attended the August meeting at the East Library on August 1st. The meeting was gaveled to order by President Richard Gugeler at 7:03 PM. Treasurer, Frank Tuxworth, reported that July 2006 income was $1, and expenses totaled $1, The club checking account contains $5, and the savings account has $29,382.59, for a total of $35, in club cash assets. Although the War Bird Fly-IN has about a $375 deficit, the club still has a number of tee-shirts for sale at Dan Brunson s shop, and some food items left over as well. Secretary, Bill Sanderman, announced that a summer youth camp group are planning to come to the field on Thursday and Friday, August 10th and 11th to observe our flight activities and to launch stringless wonder gliders. They will be lead by Dan Ferrantelli, who is a flight instructor at the Peterson AFB aero club and the lead instructor for the youth camp. President Gugeler lead a short discussion on the need for a public address system at the field during events such as the war-bird fly-in. Several suggestions were made and research will continue into the subject. Vice President, Randy Oswald, was attending a meeting about the upcoming EAA fly-in at Meadowlake Airport. There is some concern about flying R/C demonstrations because of proximity to the crowd areas. We will have a static display area for R/C models. PPRCC Radio Flyer Newsletter 2 September, 2006

3 Club member Austin Cleis gave an excellent presentation on the history of R/C flight and the development of magnetic actuators, including those used in present-day small electric-powered airplanes. He showed examples of a number of different actuators as well as a 12-gram indoor airplane with rudder, elevator and throttle control. President Gugeler closed the meeting at 8:04 PM. Trip Report JR Jet Fest Lubbock, TX By Mike Weidner Greg Moore and I traveled this past month to the JR Jet Fest in Lubbock, TX. This annual event is hosted by the Lubbock Miniature Aircraft Society whose flying site uses the non operational runways at the former Reese Air Force Base. The primary runway is only 150 x 10,500 feet. The comfort factor of that long runway was something Greg and I could not turn down. While we brought every knife in the drawer, each of us brought one previously unflown jet and that long runway would prove to be helpful during their first flights. I brought my trusty BVM composite classic Bandit originally built in 1999 (which I had just IRAN d) along with my previously flown Facet 1200 and the unflown Reaction 54, a Bruce Tharpedesigned kit which is becoming very popular. Greg brought his tried and true Alphacet and a brand new Cermark Models F-16 Viper. To get all these jets in the air, we transported several gallons of jet fuel along with all requisite support equipment. With the exception of Sunday, temperatures every day bordered on the (uhhh) slightly hot side low to mid 90s but with the prevailing wind (sustained at 12 to 15 mph) right down the runway centerline. I didn t have my density altitude (DA) chart with me but my guess is that the DA each day was well above the 6,800 MSL we fly at here at home. Wind gusts during the afternoon became an issue as we had to be alert and ready to keep the shade tents and every thing under them from blowing away when those bursts hit. Keeping hydrated during the day was a real challenge as we drank several bottles of water each day while on the flight line. And then there was the micro-fine dust that seemed to be magnetically attracted to everything, especially your eyes. As a result, it turned out that Visine was a must-have item to go along with all the water. Enough whining about the conditions. We came to fly jets and that s exactly what we did. There were 33 registered pilots to accompany over twice as many jets and there were some beauties which I ll discuss later. Greg flew countless sorties on his Alphacet and, after sorting out a couple of issues, his Viper flew exceptionally well with initial test flight support from John Redman. The longest RC model airplane runway in the world? As the event title suggests, JR (JR Radios from Horizon Hobbies) is the primary sponsor but there was additional sponsorship from Bob Violett Models (BVM), as well as support from other companies involved in the jet model segment of our hobby. All the proceeds from this event benefit the American Diabetes Association not a bad deal since I have three members in my immediate family with diabetes. Unlike the distance we typically travel to other jet rallies, the drive from Colorado Springs to Lubbock is a relatively short one approximately 525 miles one way and was easily accomplished in one day s drive. Greg and I drove down on Wednesday. We planned to spend Thursday through Saturday actively flying with some goof off time reserved for Sunday morning before returning home. Greg prepares his CO ANG F-16 for its first flight. Arguably, John Redman is the best RC jet test pilot in the world. His day job focuses on overseeing the development and customer support of E-flight models being imported by Horizon Hobbies. During his free time, he s a BVM factory representative and willing to lend a helping hand to anyone who asks. Greg and I used his expertise a lot. PPRCC Radio Flyer Newsletter 3 September, 2006

4 While I thought my Bandit would be ready to rock and roll in the vast Texas sky, I uncovered an issue with turbine-running range checks that necessitated parking the jet for safety reasons since the cause could not be isolated. Besides, I came to fly, not hammer on jets. The Bandit will live to fly another day. The Reaction 54 was successfully flown, also with help from John Redman. With its huge wing volume and area, the R-54 was a real chore to land with the prevailing wind it literally did not want to quit flying. Greg and I resorted to dialing in a serious Crow setup on the flaps and ailerons to make it act like a more heavily loaded airframe. The R-54 is fun to fly: it will do 40 ft. loops all day long at full throttle and is like a kite, flying virtually still when headed into the wind at partial throttle. I m gonna have a lot of fun flying this jet out at our field. The Saturday noon lineup. Peoples Choice Jet. My Reaction 54 during the Saturday noon lineup. The Saturday spectator crowd was huge. I think at least a third of the town of Lubbock showed up. This was the result of outstanding media coverage from both TV and radio during the week, with live TV spots featuring flying jets and interviews with the contest director (Les Morrow) and the Voice of JR, John Redman himself. I was truly amazed by the media coverage as it was upbeat and totally positive, especially the part about the positive influence the overall hobby has on kids. Not once was there mention of these planes crash a lot and they cost a lost of money. Try to find that kind of positive media coverage here. Saturday s spectator crowd was very enthusiastic with John Redman goading the crowd to exhort pilots to perform ever lower fly-bys. CD, Les Morrow received the loudest, most sustained crowd applause for a howling low level pass with his Rookie that did not vary in height more than an inch or two while 12 inches off the hard deck! Spectators chose this gorgeous black F-4 owned by Joey Tamez finished in the famous Playboy Bunny scheme used by the Navy s test and evaluation squadron VX-4, The Evaluators. The Great Pumpkin F-4 shown below, owned by Mike Jensen, came in a close second, followed by George Jones F-100 Hun shown below it. Notably, all three are BVM jets. The two F-4s flew numerous, crowd-pleasing 2-ship sorties with flight routines reminiscent of what the late Ivan Munninghoff and his son Paul performed with their ducted fan F-15s out at our field. The Great Pumpkin modeled after an F-4 from the Navy s Pt. Magu Missile Center. PPRCC Radio Flyer Newsletter 4 September, 2006

5 A museum quality F-100 the Hun. Finally, I had to include this picture below of the only flying, turbine-powered model of an RA5-C Vigilante on the planet. Those of us with any memory left will recall this model was born of Phil Nuckles effort while he owned Eagles Nest Hobbies here in the Springs. Greg Pulcini owns and flies this gorgeous model that looks absolutely stunning in the air. Phil Nuckles-designed Navy RA5-C Vigilante. We blew town on Sunday, having renewed old acquaintances and made new ones. Notwithstanding heat issues, I believe both of us plan to return next year for even more fun. PPRCC Radio Flyer Newsletter 5 September, 2006