UPDATE. President s Message. Next Club Meeting. Visit us at: Club Officers

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1 UPDATE Volume 49, Issue 05 AMA CHARTER CLUB 797 May 2017 The SANTA BARBARA RADIO CONTROL MODELERS INC. is incorporated in the State of California as Chapter 797 of the ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS (AMA). The purpose of this club is to promote the hobby of model aviation in a safe and enjoyable manner. Regular meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at the Santa Barbara Airport Visitor s Center, 45 Hartley Place (off of Hollister at David Love Place). Everyone is welcome at our meetings. Please phone or any officer for further information. Next Club Meeting 6:30 pm Thursday, May 4, 2017 Santa Barbara Airport Visitors Center 45 Hartley Place, Goleta, CA Help make the monthly meetings as interesting as possible. Contact Glenn Dorfman at gadlaw1@aol.com if you can contribute with a "show and tell", a good story, a guest speaker, building tips or disasters, etc. It will be appreciated. Visit us at: Club Officers President Phone Glenn Dorfmann gadlaw1@aol.com Vice-President Ron Roth rkr3@cox.net Secretary Tom Wolf tomdebwolf@cox.net Treasurer Lloyd Gibbs LRGibbs@msn.com Field Safety Officer Dale Byers tennisrun.runtennis@verizon.net Newsletter Editor Tom Wolf tomdebwolf@cox.net Instruction Coordinator TBD Website Herb Rubinstein herb.rubinstein@gmail.com President s Message Another month has gone by and regrettably nothing positive has happened with our ongoing search for a new field. The advertisement that we placed in the Santa Ynez Valley News generated one call from a gentleman in Los Olivos who remembers from a few years ago driving home one of his Boy Scouts to an area north of 154 up Armour Ranch Rd. somewhere and seeing what appeared to be a large paved and abandoned airstrip. I worked with him and google to try and identify this place without success. However, this call did give me an idea to go beyond the newspaper ad. Tom Wolf and I are planning what we have called a "ground search" to drive up and into that prime area north of 154, west of San Lucas Ranch and in general area up Armour Ranch Rd, Happy Canyon Rd, etc. We will take copies of the newspaper ad, place them in envelopes and drop them in selected mailboxes in the area. It's a longshot for sure but at least we will know that people residing in the most likely and desirable area for a new flying field will know about our situation. Have I asked this before? Keep your powder dry and fingers crossed. I will report on anything of an encouraging nature. In this issue you will see some pictures from the Comets "fun fly" at Lake Casitas recently. Our very own Peter Nickel, Fred Wudl and myself attended. No flying contests as we used to have at the ranch but some very good merchandize was sold at the open air auction followed by the usual BBQ. I found the event painfully nostalgic but was able to hold back tears fortunately. Page 1

2 In the meantime, our monthly meetings still remain attended by at least a dozen and I think they are worthwhile and even entertaining. We continue to brainstorm the field search dilemma, talk airplanes and aviation, try to stay away from politics but generally have a good time getting together and shooting the you know what. I hope more of you will think of coming by. Glenn Dorfman, SBRCM President Club Meeting Minutes 4/06/2017 The meeting was called to order at 6:33 PM by President Glenn Dorfman. All club officers except for Lloyd Gibbs were present. A total of 11 members and 0 guests were present. Old Business: Flying Site Search: Glenn Dorfman discussed the current situation regarding our flying field search, and summarized the advertisement that is currently running in the Santa Ynez Valley newspaper. The advertisement is running twice a week for four weeks (8 total). There is one week remaining in the run. To date, there has been no response. Other initiatives: No response from the letter that was sent to the current chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indians. New Business: Ron Roth reported that the club s ice chest was stolen from his back porch. Ron made a motion that rather than buying a new ice chest, etc, that the club dispense with supplying refreshments at the meeting, especially since the turn-out is so small for most meetings. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Tom Carrol (non-member) dropped off a bunch of model stuff as a donation to the club. Items included two gliders, a partially completed.40-size Spitfire, several engines, etc. Those in attendance went through the stuff and took what they wanted. Santa Ynez Airport Day, Saturday, May 20: The club will again have a display at this event, in conjunction with Scott Loepkey s Cessna Bird Dog. Club members who are willing to display their aircraft (fixed wing or heli), please contact Tom Wolf. Tom suggested that this might be a good time to get exposure regarding our search for a flying site. Tom will make an appropriate poster, with approval by the Board of Directors prior to having the poster printed. Ken Chalfant gave a report on the rattle snake that he found (last Monday) coiled next to the logs in the parking lot at the Lake Casitas flying field. He cautioned those who fly there to be alert for snakes. This particular snake is now in snake heaven. Show and Tell: Walter Naumann brought in his micro Yak 54, which he has been flying at Elings Park. He said it is quite durable, and very fun to fly. The airplane is very light, with an amazingly small motor and lipo battery. Program: There was no program for this meeting. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:20 PM. Member Spotlight Hartley King Submitted by: Tom Wolf, SBRCM Secretary Hartley and his two airplanes, a very nice Spitfire and a Champ S+. My first contact with SBRCM was the September 2016 meeting. Tom Wolf gave a presentation on construction of the L19 model. I had no radio control modeling experience at that time. Around 1949 to 1952 (early teenager) I had a well developed hobby of building and flying U-Control models powered by ~.35 in 3 displacement glow fuel engines. I could do fairly complicated stunts. Flying was done on a vacant lot in Burbank at the corner of Page 2

3 Magnolia Blvd and Pass Ave. The noise must have disturbed a lot of people. I am a PhD mechanical engineer from UC Berkeley and a registered Calif Mechanical Prof Engr. I started out In Santa Barbara doing ICBM reentry physics computer simulations at General Motors Delco in 1965, then joined General Research (later AT&T Government Solutions). After AT&T dissolved our group in 2005, I worked directly for the US Army, Picatinny Arsenal NJ (until 2016) for a group that manages tank ammunition development. I retired in July My first RC airplane was a Hobbyzone RTF Champ S+, and I am now on my third copy of this. I fly at Elings Park South, usually with Walter Naumann. The first two planes flew away and were lost. I have crashed and repaired the planes a lot. I am still a little rough in RC, but I am learning. I plan to start doing stunt flying again, as soon as I get out of the beginner's mode. The photo shows me and the Champ S+, along with a model of the British Spitfire, which I built during the last three months. My wife bought the kit and gave it to me at Christmas Her intent was to have me build it with my grandson, who is nine years old. Nice plan! After 30 hours or work by me alone, it was finally finished. I admonished her not to do that again. A Very Slow Learning Curve By Jack Bailey Hartley I built my first balsa model, a Gentle Lady, in 1988 but didn t fly one until March of this year. It wasn t even the original which died in one of my many moves since college. This was a second Gentle Lady completed only recently. Why the delay? After building the Lady in my Isla Vista garage room I just didn t know what to do next. I threw and crashed it a few times at a local park and proceeded to give up RC until around It was then I discovered Dream Flight s Weasel and actually flew RC for the first time. The difference? The Weasel is INDESTRUCTABLE! Though I ve had a passion for RC flying for decades I ve never know how ease into it. Unfortunately, much like a newborn bird stepping out of the nest for the first time, the first step in RC flight is a big one. Sink or swim. Without assistance, I sunk. Now in my early 50s I m finally becoming a proficient flyer with a growing number of planes hanging from my garage ceiling (a garage I m not living in). This has been made possible do to a number of fantastic resources. 1. Ken at CA Hobbies - building RC planes is NOT intuitive and Ken has been a steady support as I learn the lingo and the skills. 2. Simulators even with the nearly unbreakable Weasel, it was immensely helpful to crash countless times in the virtual world before throwing my 100 s of dollars of foam and electronics off a cliff. 3. Observation- Now that I know some of the common flying sites I m meeting other flyers and learning by watching. I m guessing many of you had the fortune of flyer friends and mentors to lead the way- maybe even use a buddy box after you jumped out of the nest. I didn t and thus the incredibly slow raising learning curve. 4. A motor on my glider- seems like a no brainer now. 5. The Radian UMX- a painfully easy plane to fly and great confidence builder. 6. SBRCM I just discovered and joined very recently. Some of you have offered to assist me (and my sons) get off the ground. Here s a shout out to Fred and Jim. We ve yet to actually meet but your offers are appreciated nonetheless. I m confident we will see each other soon. That s my 2 cents for now. I can t help but assume there are other Jacks out there wandering aimlessly without a mentor. If so I hope they find their way in less time than I did- that certainly shouldn t be hard! Jack Bailey Page 3

4 New Projects: There was no input for this feature this month. If you have a new project that you would like to share with the membership, please send the editor a short write-up and one or more photos. Around and About: Fred Wudl enjoying a beautiful Saturday at the Lake Casitas flying field The flying site at Lake Casitas; a very scenic place to fly. Photo by Steve Gebler Fred s Extra on a low fly-by Photo by Steve Gebler The Extra on short final. Weekend flying at Lake Casitas must contend with hikers crossing the approach and departure ends of the runway. This was not as close as the camera lens makes it look. Page 4

5 TJ Moran s Viper screaming by at about 140 mph. TJ, Tom Wolf, and a couple of guys from the Ventura Comets occasionally have mock pylon races with their Vipers. TJ Moran is preparing his giant Quaker for a flight at the fun fly event. The editor s Cessna Bird Dog is a slow flyer, just like the full size version that Scott Loepkey owns. His son Greg was flying the Dog during this pass. Photo by Tom Wolf Another shot of the pit area at the fun fly. Looks like there was more hangar flying than actual airborne time! Fun Fly: 4/22/2017 Some of the participants at the Ventura Comets fun fly on 4/22. All fun fly photos by Glenn Dorfman. This event also included a swap meet and a hamburger / hot dog BBQ lunch. Lunch time! Page 5

6 SBRCM Calendar 05/04 Club Meeting 6:30 PM 05/20 Santa Ynez Airport Day 06/01 Club Meeting 6:30 PM 07/06 Club Meeting 6:30 PM 07/27-07/30 Central Coast Giant Scale Fly-In Tri Valley RC Modelers, Santa Maria 08/03 Club Meeting and BBQ 6:00 PM 09/07 Club Meeting 6:30 PM 9/16-9/17 Float Fly Castaic Lake Lower Lagoon Canyon Crosswinds ( 10/05 Annual Club Auction 6:30 PM 11/02 Club Meeting 6:30 PM 12/TBD Annual Christmas Party 6:00 PM Harry s Plaza Cafe Flying Field Schedule: Elings Park: Daily Sunrise Sunset Note: Elings Park requires a park pass ($70/yr) for usage of the model airstrip, in addition to SBRCM and AMA membership. The Elings Park site is restricted to small to medium electric aircraft only, and pilots must not overfly areas outside of the flying site. No ducted fans or other noisy aircraft (i.e. high rpm screamers) are permitted. _ Copyright 2017 C/O Tom Wolf SBRCM Newsletter Editor tomdebwolf@cox.net AMA CHARTER CLUB 797 The SANTA BARBARA RADIO CONTROL MODELERS INC is incorporated in the State of California as Chapter 797 of the ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS (AMA) If you have any suggestions for topics, would like to submit pictures or other information, please them to tomdebwolf@cox.net or mail to Tom Wolf 566 Windsor Ave Goleta, CA If you have any photos of what you re working on or flying, please forward them to me and I ll put them in the website s photo gallery. Page 6