Issue 4436, May 2017

Transcription

1 Issue 4436, May 2017 Next club meeting: May 23rd, 2017, 7:00 pm, Buffalo West Restaurant, 7101 Camp Bowie Blvd Presidents Corner: by James Meadows Wow, what a day at the Warbird event yesterday. The Weather was beautiful, some very impressive aircraft, great food, and good conversation. Thanks to Ed Kettler for being the CD on this event. Over the last few weeks, I have been contacted by several members who are opposed to the plans to put a control line circle at the field, as a compliment to the helipad area. Call it miscommunication or misunderstanding, but regardless I own the communication process, and in an attempt to insure all members understand the request, we will be reviewing this again at the meeting. If you want a control line site, or you don t, now is the time to say so. If you cannot attend the meeting, please send me or one of the other officers a quick , telling us your thoughts on this subject. We want to hear from you! Additional items that will be discussed Bylaw updates/changes, some proposed projects on the field improvement listing. To include the control line area, additional ramp area for larger aircraft and turbines. As you can see! It s going to be an interesting meeting, Hope to see you there Vice Presidents Corner: by Gary Cummings Hello TBIRDs, we are still seeking members who would enjoy (or be willing) to give a Tech Talk at one of our meetings. Are you good at things such as setting up a new radio, building or fixing a plane or engine or setting up a flight controller? Would you like to speak on a topic of which you have special talents or knowledge? Talk with me, or send me an please. You can also let me know of topics that you would like to learn more about; we might have, or know of, an expert on that topic. April Meeting Minutes: by Bill Lake Thunder Birds Meeting Minutes: by Gary Cummings (for Bill Lake) James Meadows (President) opened the meeting at 7PM Monday, April 24 th, James presented a slide to recap the club events and activities for the past month. He discussed the possibility of a control line flying facility along side of the helicopter helipad. This was not passed. We now have a presence on FaceBook. Kenneth Harman went the extra mile and set the club up with an account. He felt it could be benifical to the Tbirds in drawing interest to the club and perhaps lead to new members. Thank you Kenneth. Page 1

2 Show and Tell: Mel Wells (our safety officer) did a fine job of presenting an electric EFX racer plane. It had a 44 inch wing span and all servos, receiver and a Spektrum Dxe six channel radio. Ready to fly. He then offered that the plane was being donated to the club for use as a raffle prize. Thank You, Mel. Gary Cummings (our VP), (who NEVER wins anything), later won the keys to this neat plane in the raffle. John Bruce presented his Beautiful balsa built Pawnee, a 40 size nitro airplane still in the buff, personally built by him. Very good looking plane needing completion. Thank You John. Presentation by Tbird member David Hudson: Dave gave us an interesting talk about a Large Turbine powered F8 Crusader he has built (actually 2 times for 2 different airplanes). All the parts were CNC cut, and the carbon fiber fuselage required over 30 specially formed molds to facilate construction and laying up of the fiber fuse. The first F8 weighed in at 52 #, while the latter was completed at 47 #, due to his experence and learning from first model. He showed us 2 videos in flight which revealed how well it flew and performed. The complete leading edge of the wing lifted up and down in flight to control wing incidence for takeoff/landing. A very pretty jet that flies fine, but requires more runway than what we have at Tbird field. Thanks for your fine talk Dave. David Hudson Gary Cummings Kenneth Harman Matt Desalme Peter Lucas Ian Waring Woody Lake Mel Wells Bernie Olson Carl Rivers Dave Weimer Treasurers Report: by Chris Berardi See Attachment A Attendees :33 Ken Knotts James Meadows Chris Berardi, John Bruce Sarge Bell Gerry Stanford Tracy Kobs Roger Spencer Steve Kunkle Gary James Tommy Perry Bruce King Ed Furche Mike Schroeder Grant Schroeder Don Ventura Willam Luyinda Garry Rife Ed Kettler Tom Blakeney Rob Lowe Jeff Miller Senior Pattern SPA Spring Contest 22 April 2017: by Ken Knotts Page 2 Coats, hats and hands in pockets on this windy day

3 The 2017 SPA contest season is underway and it blew in with vengeance. Sixteen pilots braved the weather and wind to compete in all classes on a cool day with winds out of the north with sustained winds of 24 mph and gust to 31! We had two new pilots to SPA, Matt Desalme and Keith Maddox with Matt taking first place in Novice and Keith taking second. Brian Way rounded out Novice taking third. Sportsman class had three contestants sign-up but Tommy Scarmardo was the only one who decided to fly in those conditions and took first place. As always, Advanced is our largest class with six pilots competing. Flying in the morning under heavy cloud cover, two pilots lost perspective and crashed going full speed. In the end, Bernie Olson won all three rounds for first, Chris Berardi took second and Bobby Zikes was a close third. Pat Ensign again proved he is hard to beat and flew very well taking first place again. His flying Tommy Scarmardo seemed to say what wind? and flew smooth and straight. Bob Redmon flew his Bernie Olson beautiful new Curare to second and Wayne Galligan took third. The Expert class flew four rounds while everyone else said three rounds were plenty. Ken Knotts was the only competitor in Senior Expert because of the rule change that raised the age from 60 to 65. Overall the flying was good and we utilized the grass runway to make landing somewhat easier in the gusting wind. It is good to have new pilots competing and both flew really well for being in their very first competition. Page 3

4 Warbirds Over Lake Benbrook: by Woody The 21 st gathering of Warbirds over Lake Benbrook couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Blue skies, with light northerly winds, and mild temps. Over 140 airplanes and 54 registered pilots not to mention countless spectators. Special visitors included two members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), John Stiles (Swan Song) and LtCol (USAF Ret) Tom Tora Tora Hill (Uncle Bob). John and Tom attended our Warbird with their vintage 1940s Jeep vehicles: Swan Song and Uncle Bob. These vehicles coupled with the 1940s Big Band music put the pilots and spectators In The Mood as Glenn Miller would say. This was a special treat for all persons. District VIII VP Lawrence Harville attended with his usual whit and humor to entertain the pilots. Always great to see Lawrence and his latest aircraft. As always our kitchen staff served up some tasty burgers and fix'ns. Well done to our Mess Hall crew, Tab, Jeanie, and others. Outstanding performance by all event volunteers led to a flawless event. Special thanks to spouses Robin Blakeney and Mercy Kettler for running registration and the raffle, and Jeannie Alphin for concession. Raffle items included an E-Flite Corsair, piper Cub, fuel, and miscellaneous RC items. Aircraft varied from a B-17, B-25, A-26, single engine fighters of all types and eras, to a helicopter. Yes a helicopter gun ship. Have to mention the screaming siren on Gerry Stanford s Stuka Dive Bomber. Attrition was light considering the number of sorties for the day and no safety mishaps which always makes for a great day of flying. I received a lot of very positive comments about the event and the field, and this reflects very highly on the event team and the Fort Worth Thunderbirds. It made me very proud! said CD Ed Kettler Enjoy the following photos of the day. These were by no means all aircraft. Page 4

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7 Safety The Texas spring season is here and the hot summer is about to begin. With approximately 14 to 15 hours of daylight each day, a model enthusiast can spend countless hours outside flying his or her aircraft to their hearts content. Please use sunscreen products generously, wear protective head gear, and drink plenty of water. We would like to keep you around for many seasons to come. Also remember to use insect repellent during the early morning and evening hours to help prevent those annoying mosquito bites. There are also other pesky crawly critters that like to visit our field this time of year, including venomous snakes and spiders. Be on the look-out for any wildlife should the need arise for you to walk around the tall grass, the tree line, or any other structure on our flying site. That's all until the next time. Happy flying. Mel Wells Safety Officer Member s Gary Alphin s bent wing warbird Werewolf... There Wolf Terry s 60 sized Kaos Warbird CD Ed Kettler - Speakuth Warbird CD Ed Kettler - Singuth Bowman Rings: by Frank Bowman Dear Bowman's Rings Customers, I sold my business to Bjorn Baal in January I trained him myself on how to make the rings just like I did. He is doing a great job, and making excellent rings, and already sending his rings all over the world. We thank you for all your years of trusting my rings, to fit and make your engine run even better than when you got them from the factory. Bjorn is hoping you will continue to use him as your piston ring replacement guy also. Frank had about 35 years of experience that he had to cram into poor Mr. Baal's head, Frank still is advising Mr. Baal, when he has a question regarding piston rings. Frank sold Mr. Baal the same 1951 Logan Lathe that he made his rings on for many years and this is what he trained Mr. Baal on. Thank you again, for all your piston ring orders in the past, Take care and God Bless, Frank Bowman Page 7

8 Please get in touch with him at: Bjorn's Piston ring list: Field Improvement Projects Status: by James Meadows A B C D E F G H Project # Proposed Project Summary of Project TYPE EXPENSE POC Status Member Rating (For/Again 1 HELIPAD 10x10 Concrete flush with ground, Could be Self help or contracted Self /Contract $1, Kieth 2 Line control Area Develop area for line control modelers Self /Contract $ Kieth 14 Face Book Page Social Media allow more looks at Club Self /Contract $0.00 Kenneth 7 Larger Tractor Need larger tractor with front loader and larger mower/brush cutter for site maintenace Self /Contract $20, APROVED 2016 Start Date? APROVED 2017 Start Date? APROVED 2017 completed 12 Starting Post Install starting posts for giant scale airplanes Self /Contract Jet Run up Area Jet Run up pad Contract NEW AED Safety Item Automated Electronic Defib Self $2, Discussed Real Toilet 4 East/West Runway could be a septic systems or other, provide wash area and toilets Contract $15- $20,0000 Allows for flying operations when strong winds are out of the east or west Contacting $ Unknown 5 Extend current runway More stopping distance for models Contacting $ Unknown 6 Runway overrun 8 Lights in Shelter 9 Enclose some of the covered shelter area Gravel or pebbles at end of runway to allow a softer rollout off the end of the runway Self /Contract $1, Provide lighting in covered pit areas. Could be solar or standard AC power or partially to allow protection from wind for cooks or special events Self /Contract Self /Contract $Unknown 10 Designate a load/unload area Reserve spaces close to shelter area for trailers or trucks to pull up and unload larger aircraft Self /Contract $Unknown Remove trees at approach end of runways. $15-11 Tree Removal Requires root removal and new plantings Contract $20, Shed Update Install air conditioning in shed Contract FAA Regulations: by Bill Kunz I've been getting a lot of inquiries about FAA regulations/requirements and what to do if one wishes to fly their drone in area parks (inside a notification zone). I've found a link, on the Arlington website of all places that explains it all. Just copy and paste into your browser or click on this URL to get the info. I've also attached the map showing the 5- mile radius areas where notification of the airport operator/tower is required. If you have any questions feel free to contact any AMA representative or AMA HQ at We're here to help! Bill Kunz, (817) AMA Leader Member 3070 Page 8

9 THUNDERBIRD 2016 CALENDAR DATE EVENT POINT OF CONTACT June 7 Old Farts Four Stroke Ken Knotts July 4 Club Picnic Club Officers August 5 Summer Float Fly Woody Lake?? Try RC Day Ed Kettler September SPA Gary Alphin September 30 Oct 1 Pylon Race Gary James, Sarge Bell October Alliance AirShow & Benbrook Heritage Fest October 21 Electric Fly-In Tom Blakeney November 5 November? December 9 Winter Float Fly Toys for Tots Club Christmas Party President: James Meadows Vice President: Gary Cummings jamslam1099@gmail.com gary.a.cummings@sbcglobal.net Secretary: Bill Lake wjl728@yahoo.com Treasurer: Chris Berardi mikadopilot@gmail.com Safety Officer: Mel Wells malekat@sbcglobal.net Pilot s Log: Woody Lake at6pilot@att.net Club Officers 2017 Pres: James Meadows VP: Gary Cummings Sec: Bill Lake Safety: Mel Wells Treas: Chris Berardi Page 9

10 SUPPORT OUR ADVERTIZERS Roy s Hobby Shop JT s Hobby Shop Norwood Dr. Hurst TX Camp Bowie Blvd. Fort Worth TX jtshobby@yahoo.com Attachment A Shirts and Hats Shirts and hats are ordered and we should have 50 shirts and 50 hats within 2 weeks. I ll visit the vendor later this week to approve the samples and we should have them the following week. If you didn t get your order in last month, you can send me your information and I ll bundle the orders together in a few weeks. That way there will be some savings on the costs of the shirts and hats that can pass on to you. See last month s newsletter for how to order or contact me directly. Bylaws In a separate from our club secretary, you will be receiving a copy of the updated Bylaws. These have undergone a thorough review to tidy up grammar, improve consistency of terminology, simplify writing style and to automate such things as paragraph styles. Mention was also made to Robert s Rules of Order which are now the official governance rules of the club. We have also added sections to cover social media and web site, and simplified the handling of the club finances during dissolution. Please give these a read through as we ll be voting on the passing of this update at our club meeting this month. On a side-note, take some time to become familiar with Robert s Rules of Order. I will be taking some time during the club meetings and in later newsletter articles to cover some of the parliamentary procedures we use at most meetings. To that end, I have purchased for each officer a complete set of RRO books and handy references; I m sure we ll all learn something that will help us conduct meetings in an orderly and agreeable fashion - not that they weren t before; perhaps now we ll understand the process that we use to govern that bit better. Membership Not much to say about the membership this month: We have 6 new or renewing members. For those first time members this month and earlier in the year, we will be generating new club badges and mailing them out in the next few weeks. Membership Type Count Individual 144 Family 15 Associate 2 Life 10 Service 0 TOTAL 171 That s it for this month; I hope to see you at the field. Page 10

11 Up Coming Events OLD FARTS FOUR STROKE FLY-IN Date: June 7th, 2017 Time: 0900 Location: New Thunderbird Field Registration Fee: None Bring your Lunch, Thunderbirds provide Drinks Contact: Ken Knotts Go To for map and directions to new field Page 11