RAMAC RC NEWS Newsletter of the Redding Area Miniature Aircraft Club

Transcription

1 RAMAC RC NEWS Newsletter of the Redding Area Miniature Aircraft Club APRIL, 2012 Issue No. 4 Plentiful sunshine helps to bring out both contestants and friends to the Spring Fun Fly More than 40 people attended RAMAC s annual Spring Fun Fly April 21st at Warren Field enjoying some of the best flying conditions of the year. Nearly half of those attending brought planes to compete in contests some of which were new to the event this year. Highlights of the fun fly also included a scrumptious BBQ lunch and the RAMAC member Michael Pound picks up an award for his flying skills at the annual Spring Fun Fly on April 21st. RAMAC s volunteer chefs serve up hamburgers, hot dogs and other delicacies for those attending the April fun fly. raffle of an electric scale version of the classic Laser 200 airplane made famous a decades ago. Most of the pilots completed in the contests using electric-powered aircraft, however, there were a few nitro-burning planes to be seen too. More fun fly photos on page 7 Subject INSIDE YOUR NEWSLETTER Page Spring Fun Fly, Index 1 Monthly Meeting Minutes for April, As the Prop Turns 3 McCloud Fun Fly Flyer 4 Meet Your Member, Monthly Meeting Minutes (continued) 5 RAMAC Pilot Briefings (News Briefs), Club Fuel 4 Sale 6 More Spring Fun Fly Photos, Classifieds, Other Ads 7 Schedule, Officers, Membership Information, May Meeting Reminder 8

2 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 2 MINUTES OF THE April 10th, 2012 MEETING MEETING CONVENED at 7 p.m. at the Quonset Hut by President, Otis Bershers. There were 14 members, 1 new member and 3 guests present. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING: Minutes approved as appeared in March newsletter. Thanks Phil Harvey, for taking notes while Carol helped with the Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner. TREASURER, JERRY NYSTROM: Jerry gave the treasurer s report. We have $ in CD, $ in the bank account for a total of $ SAFETY REPORT: After some discussion and sharing of mishaps, the members present decided Bob Jackson is to be the new recipient of the Broken Prop Award. Bob wasn t present to share his story but maybe we will get details later. Norm kept the award and will give it to Bob. Dennis Pratt mentioned his T-28 was still high in a tree at the north end of the field. Norm related a time when he retrieved an airplane in a tree. Norm said be very careful when climbing trees!! (The club has phone numbers of some climbers that could get your airplane down ~ safely ~ for a small fee.) FIELD MARSHAL S REPORT: Mike Pound was unable to attend. Danny Wait, president of ARPF gave Otis the phone number to a business that would work with us and give the club a good price on roofing material ~ Otis called them and they gave a quote of approx. $50 for the materials we need. A motion was made, seconded and approved to purchase the roofing sheets, 2x4 s and screws needed to extend the shade cover over the frequency board. Members also gave their approval for Bruce to purchase 2 gallons of paint to cover the new addition and put a fresh coat of paint on the benches. SUNSHINE LADY S REPORT: Shirley Martin reported to the members on Ed Heinzel, who is doing much, much better (he was at the meeting)!! Norm is better, too (he s at the meeting)!! She was unable to contact the Guthrie s to see how Ron is doing ~ Ed Heinzel reported Jim Dunn is still having difficulties ~ he now has pneumonia and had lost kidney function but the doctors were hoping it would heal itself over time ~ but now Jim has been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer but they said it might be localized and easier to treat. Please remember our under the weather members in your prayers. OLD BUSINESS: Jerry reported the fun fly with Anderson River Park Flyers was rained out (both the original and the rain day). Danny told him their club would discuss a date later in the year (possibly the 2 nd weekend in May). Otis had the new banners displayed on the back tables for all to see ~ members agreed they looked very good and the heavier material should last a long time. Mike Brown was unable to attend to discuss our upcoming Spring Fun Fly but Otis told us he needed more members to help with the games. Mike is keeping the games a secret and says they will be a lot of fun for all skill levels!! Carol showed the members the T shirt design Mike Brown created ~ everyone liked it and said they would like to have it done on white T s for the fun fly. Otis asked if the members thought they would be interested in a swap meet this summer ~ those present thought it would be fun ~ we could have a BBQ ~ no charge, just put out the donation can ~ good time to sell, trade or exchange your stuff and get someone else s stuff!! A date will be set at a later meeting. Break to get up and stretch : April Birthday members were recognized with a beautiful cake from Audrey Schutte. Thank You, Audrey. SHOW & TELL: Dave Kirkman told the members about how Bryon Tahti custom made the cowl for his J-3 Cub. Bryon makes a form from foam then covers it with fiberglass and finishes it by painting and detailing to match the fuse. (I saw it later at the field and it was beautiful!! Nicer than the original.) NEW BUSINESS : Carol asked the members present if they would be interested in an Adopt- A-Highway project where the members would get together 4-5 times a year and pickup the litter along a one mile section of Lake Blvd. The one mile would be from the intersection of Pine Grove & Lake Blvd. to the intersection of Shasta Dam Blvd. & Lake Blvd. Shasta Lake City (Continued on page 5)

3 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 3 Mom taught me to fly! By RAMAC Member Chuck Moorman This report is really a thank you to my mother whose love and patience is the reason I learned to fly. My first flying model was a plastic control-line airplane with a Cox.049 engine, and my first flying field was the front yard of our home in Ohio. The model wouldn t take off from the grassy yard, so my mother would come out and hand launch it for me. I don t know how many times she came out, hand launched it for me, and then run back into the house to finish cooking dinner for our large family. After many tries, I finally learned how to keep it flying after her launch, but I can assure you that it was after many, many tries. When I learned how to fly the airplane, I learned that if I laid out enough cardboard, I could take the plane off from the runway, but still needed my mother s assistance to hold it until I got the handle in my hand. That lead to using a string and matchstick invention to hold the airplane after starting until I released it by pulling the string. Mother was thereby relieved from helping me so she could concentrate on dinner and I could fly after school. I progressed to larger control line airplanes my favorite a Ringmaster with a McCoy.029 engine and my best friend Jim and I moved our flying to a pasture further back on the place. That lasted until my late teen-age years when other activities took up my time. I starting flying R/C about 3 years ago and love it. I know that I don t need my Mom to hold the airplane for me now, or to hand launch it for me, but when I push the throttle up on the transmitter to take off, I have to thank her for helping me learn how to fly.

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5 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 5 Meet Your Member By Phil Harvey Rich Cary is a very new member; I first met him at the RAMAC St. Patrick s Day dinner. His wife Kelly won the raffle prize that night it looks like he will lead a charmed life. Rich tells me that he has already assembled the Ultimate biplane prize at Jim Finch s shop and now just needs to grow a little from piloting his Super Cub to enjoy it. He told me that he first got interested in model airplane flight at age 13 while watching some servicemen New RAMAC Member Rich Cary in Tucson fly U-control (the Cholla Choppers). However, after two years in that club he moved away and didn t get around to doing RC until February of this year. Something about an education, twin daughters, serving in the Army assembling nuclear weapons, consulting in the construction industry and building and driving drag boats got in the way. Rich is jumping in with both feet though; he has joined the Ash Creek and Anderson RC Clubs as well as RAMAC. His dream is to be able to fly 3D and I ll bet that won t be too long. Say hello to Rich when you see him at the field and learn the rest of the story. April 2012 Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 2) would put up a sign with the club s logo, at each end of the one mile section. Members present showed interest but had some questions. Carol will talk with the city rep. and get back to the members with more details. Discussion about the Shasta Damboree on May 5 in Shasta Lake. Volunteers are needed to decorate the Fire Truck on the Friday before and to decorate Norm s pickup and trailer the day of the parade. The volunteers plan to go to breakfast Sat. morning at the fire house (time to be determined later). Anyone interested in helping decorate and/ or ride on/in one of the vehicles should call Carol early, as there is limited seating. We plan to walk and hand out the FPG-9 s to the children again this year. Volunteers needed to cut them out and hand them out, also. Don t forget the Spring Fun Fly is April 21 st at our field. Should be a lot of fun. Mike Brown asked for helpers with the Education Program. He is doing it on Thursday s at our field from He has some buddy boxes but if you have one bring it so more of the students will have a chance to fly. The dates are the 19 th & 26 th of April. This will wrap up the program for the school year. Come out and watch the students learn to fly. QUESTIONS AND ANSWER SESSION: Chuck Moorman brought up a question about the new DSMX. There were some interesting facts brought out about them. Check with Jerry and/or Chuck for more detailed information. 50/50 RAFFLE: Bruce Taylor won $25.00 ~ ½ of $50 ~ the club is going to put $12.50 ~ ¼ toward an airplane to raffle off at a future meeting and ¼ to treasurer. ($ $12.50 = $ to date). Audrey Schutte won the thermal coffee mug donated by Tom Dodson from the Brass Reed. Thank You, Tom. ADJOURNED AT: 8:09 p.m. Minutes prepared by RAMAC Secretary Carol Bershers

6 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 6 RAMAC Pilot Briefings News of activities and coming events RAMAC members consider roadside clean up commitment near Warren Field A proposal has been submitted to club members to consider an Adopt-A- Highway clean up project where the members would get together several times per year and pick up the litter along a one mile section of Lake Boulevard near the club s flying site. Members would be responsible for policing the stretch between the intersections of Pine Grove Avenue & Shasta Dam Blvd. The city of Shasta Lake would put up a sign with the club s logo at each end of the one mile section. Members present at the April meeting showed interest in the idea, but had some questions. Carol Bershers, the sponsor of the proposal, will talk with city representatives and get back to the members with more details at a future meeting. Jefferson Aero Modelers to sponsor McCloud Fun Fly The Jefferson Aero Modelers are sponsoring a fun fly August 24th 26th at Friday s RV Resort in McCloud, California. The event will feature several contests to test piloting skills. The resort offers both grass and paved runways and features hookups for RV s as well as areas for tent camping. For more details, see page 4 of this newsletter. Did you know that RAMAC sells 15% glow fuel for less than the local hobby stores!! We purchased this glow fuel at a discount and club members pay only $18.00 per gallon including taxes. Contact Bruce Taylor at and pick yours up today. Do you know someone who has been flying fullscale airplanes for a long time? Do they have some interesting stories that they would love to share with others? I d like to ask them a few questions about their flying experiences for a project I m working on. Please contact me at rcpilotdave@gmail.com or call (530) (evenings) if you have someone in mind.

7 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 7 Thank you to all those who helped make the Spring Fun Fly and the preceding clean up party a success! Here s a few more photos RAMAC Classifieds Wanted.60 size J3 Cub dummy engine or cowling with dummy engine attached. Contact Dave at rcpilotdave@gmail.com Or call (eve.) Photos by Dave Kirkman and Bob Jackson We ll publish your hobbyrelated items for sale or trade here if there s time and space available. Listings should be in MS Word and are due by the 10th of the month to be included in the current month s newsletter. Send information to: rcpilotdave@gmail.com

8 RAMAC RC News APRIL, 2012 Page 8 FLIGHT SCHEDULE AND EVENTS Open Flying Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Warren Field. Glow starts at 8:30 a.m. and electrics may start earlier. Otis posts the weather forecast by 6:30 a.m. on Mon. Wed. & Fri. Call to see if flying is a go. RAMAC Business meeting is normally held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Quonset Hut at Benton Airpark. Watch the newsletter for any changes to meeting time and place. NCR/CUF Business meeting on the first Thursday of every month at 7PM Round Table Pizza in the Mt. Shasta Mall Call a buddy and fly any time. Send comments, questions, photos or brief how-to articles to RAMAC RC NEWS Editor at rcpilotdave@gmail.com RAMAC CLUB OFFICERS AND APPOINTEES PRESIDENT: VICE PRESIDENT: SECRETARY: TREASURER: NEWSLETTER EDITOR: CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER: FIELD MARSHALL: OTIS BERSHERS BRUCE TAYLOR CAROL BERSHERS JERRY NYSTROM DAVE KIRKMAN NORM VAN DYKE MICHAEL POUND RAMAC Redding Area Miniature Aircraft Club P. O. Box 943 Shasta Lake City, CA RAMAC membership, including keyed access to Warren Field, is open to all miniature aircraft pilots and supporters of pilots. Those wishing to apply for membership should submit $60.00 (including annual dues of $40 and a lifetime membership processing fee of $20) to: RAMAC, P.O. Box 943, Shasta Lake City, CA RAMAC members also receive the club newsletter RAMAC RC News. The newsletter is distributed via . AMA membership is required in order to fly at Warren Field and at any club-sanctioned event. Pilots must follow AMA safety rules when flying or preparing aircraft for flight. Mark your calendar for the next RAMAC meeting Tuesday, May 8th at 7 p.m. in the Quonset Hut.