The. newsletter of the flagstaff flyers r/c airplane club June 2012

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1 The newsletter of the flagstaff flyers r/c airplane club June 2012 Field Update Thanks to all of you who came out for the June 30 field cleanup. The field and grounds look absolutely marvelous!. When we have a work detail out at the field I am always surprised at how strong a turnout we get. Thanks again! And now we have some rain to pack everything down! Beat the Heat Well, another Beat the Heat has come and gone, and we were fortunate to have had a very successful event! We had participants from many parts of Arizona, and a family from Australia saw fit to include us in their travels, joining our other campers for Saturday night. Things started off a little rocky because of the Stage 2 fire restrictions in place, which would have dis-allowed generators and gas engines from 9:00AM to 8:00PM. That would have really put a kink in things. Fortunately, however, the Forest Service worked with us to address their concerns and we put in place a plan that resulted in us being given the green light. Part of the pilot meeting each morning included a discussion on fire prevention and how we would react if there was a fire in the grass. We had asked people coming up to bring water, and there were 5 gallon containers all over the place to deal with fire possibilities. A funny part of the discussions with the Forest Service resulted when it was explained that those crazy cattle that fertilize our field for us twice a year had just departed a week ago and eaten all the grasses down to the ground. And of all things, them eating that grass down significantly reduced the fire danger and was a big part in getting the restrictions lifted for our event! People starting coming in Thursday around 3:30PM to get their prime camping spots, and even the Gilbert Flyers had sent ahead a scout to stake out their annual land claim. Those guys are like homesteaders. People continued coming in Friday, and into Saturday, pretty much filling our camping areas. This year we had 32 registered pilots and maybe people in attendance, plus another people stopping out to watch us fly. If you re interested in pictures and chatter about the event, there is a website, a chat group, that springs up every year in anticipation of Beat the Heat that you might enjoy looking through. At last check there were 21 pages of chatter! showthread.php?t= &page=19 Saturday is usually the most interesting of the 3 day event, and this year was no exception. First, we now have a new holder of the outstanding youth s trophy, Ryan Wheless. Ryan is pushing 9 years old and is a very good pilot, even now being on the other end of the training system as the trainer on a buddy box system. It is interesting to note that the FIRST name on that trophy is another Ryan, Ryan Billingsley, from Ryan was last year s president. We then had Michael Triebe, both Jr and Sr, as well as James and Cat Wagoner launch 4 electrics with steamers and dogfight to the end. It was a lot of fun watching them duke it out, and don t count out 18 year old Cathryn. She s certainly as tough as those boys and as good a pilot. There are plenty of pictures on the website mentioned above that you might enjoy looking through. We then had a demonstration by Chuck Hebestreit of one of his 200 MPH pylon racer almost a blur in the sky. And the thing turns like it s on a rail. I don t know how he keeps track of it. And lastly, Victor Checkcinco did an amazing helicopter demonstration for the crowd, doing things with that helicopter that were hard to keep up with! I also heard a lot of happy talk about the auctions and raffles. We are always very fortunate to be given a number of super raffle and auction prizes for the event, something that helps us raise revenue to keep the club rolling along. This year was no exception. While we did get our full measure of rain on Saturday during the events, I think everyone enjoyed standing under the canopies laughing and joking our way through the auctions and raffles while it poured. Perhaps the WWI leather cap and goggles worn by the guy running the raffles sort of set a silly mood, and it sure spread. We did a lot of laughing. Sunday was clean up day and we had plenty of folks come out specifically to get a last flight in, eat one of Durwood s especially good hamburgers (what does he put in them?) and stick around to take down camp and put stuff away. Our only loss this year was one of the canopies that just had seen too much use over the years. We extend our thanks to the Gilbert Flyers who are like a brother club to us, helping set things up and take things down, standing guard duty when there are no Flagstaff Flyers around, spreading the word down in the valley, and helping make Beat the Heat a well supported and successful event. There are lots of other people who deserve thanks for this year s event, as well. You know who you are and the club thanks you for your help in putting together another great event. Fellows who we rarely see because of family or work obligations came out to say hi and help, maybe getting in a flight or two. It s always nice to see that our spirit as a club is still alive and well. It s especially satisfying to see how much our members enjoy spending time together. As clubs go, this one does pretty darn well.

2 Which Epoxy to Use When selecting epoxy for building an airplane, it seems most modelers select the faster setting epoxy over a 30- minute one. In high stress areas such as the wing joiner, it is important to use the slower setting epoxy for a stronger joint. Repairing Cracked Balsa Need to repair a cracked balsa fuselage or surface? Sometimes you just can't slop some CA into the cracked joint due to the sheet thickness or you can't pull the crack apart enough to get the CA to flow in there. For these types of repairs, simply take a needle and poke several holes alongside the length of the crack, making sure you cross the crack itself and enter the sheet on the other side of the crack.now the CA can seep into the cracked area and make a strong repair. Hold down that Hook & Loop We all have had times when the Hook & Loop material we put in the fuselage for our battery packs pulls apart while removing the battery. I have solved this problem gluing the Hook and Loop material down with some 6 minute epoxy. It doesn't matter if it is a balsa and ply or foam airplane, it works on both. Try it for yourself, it works. Protecting Hinges Petroleum jelly often has been used on pinned hinges to prevent epoxy glue from sticking to the hinge joint; however, it is difficult to get just the right amount on the hinge and to make sure the hinge is completely coated. A very cool way is to melt the petroleum jelly in a small dish such as a dessert dish (an oven-safe type, of course). Use only enough to melt to a depth of about 1 / 6 of an inch. Fold the hinge and dip the pinned end into the melted jelly. Remove and touch the hinge to a paper towel to remove excess. In a couple seconds, the petroleum jelly cools and has penetrated the hinge. You now have a completely coated hinge joint that epoxy will not stick to. From Gene Davis, Newsletter of the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Tricky Decals Have you ever wanted to place a graphic or numbers on your model but find cutting them out of MonoKote just too much effort? Try tracing paper available at craft or office supply stores. Here s how to do it with a computer and scanner: Scan your artwork and save it. Print it on thin tracing paper. Cut it out and stick it on your airplane by spraying the back of the tracing with adhesive. If you like to fly in the rain, you can waterproof the finished product by spraying it with clear spray paint before you place it on your airplane. Unlike a commercial decal with a totally clear background, the tracing paper will be barely visible, but it s not that noticeable. From the Lewes RC Club, Lews DE Convenient Clean Up Want a nice, neat, convenient way to clean up that airplane? Use baby wipes those soft wipe tissues that come under various brand names and are packaged in handy plastic boxes. The wipes must contain some kind of cleaning agent because they remove oil well and the lanolin acts like a polish. From the newsletter of the Western New York Sailplane and Electric Flyers Editors Note: If you want to print out decals on an inkjet printer you can get decal paper here: I've used these and they work very well. I've had wing decals on one of my planes since 2001 and they have yet to show any signs of coming off. dc Special 'Thanks' to Fred Tretta for ram-rodding Beat The Heat Fred did an outstanding job of putting it all together and making it happen. Well Done!!!!

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4 Pictured are (left) Ryan Billingsley and Ryan Wheless Ryan Billingsley was the very first recipient of the Flagstaff Flyers "Youth Award" which was given to him in 1990 at the age of 12. He still fly's with the club. Ryan Wheless is 10 years old and is the 2012 recipient of the award. It was presented to him at this year's Beat the Heat. Ryan will take care of the award for a year. This large Telemaster was set up with a bomb drop. The area was filled with water baloons. On his last drop the baloons did make it into the pit area. No one was hit nor were any planes. ADDRESS: 2417 N. 4th Street Flagstaff, AZ PHONE: (928) info@flagstaffhobbies.com HOURS: TUE. FRI. (11AM 7PM) SAT. (10AM 4PM) SUN. MON. (CLOSED)

5 For sale or trade: Sea Cruiser Seaplane - high wing seaplane with pylon mounted.61 power, wing floats and floating body, water fin rudder attached to the flying rudder. This plane is along the lines of, but doesn't really look like, a PBY. I'd be happy to send a picture and to discuss selling or trading this model with an interested buyer. Please contact Fred Tretta at ftretta@msn.com For Sale: My Bird of Time Glider. Built from a kit by myself, I made several changes to it to make it more useful. This one has a three piece wing with a center section and outer wing panels that join using metal and wood tongue braces. Very strong, yet easy to transport this 10' wingspan. The second change I made happened when I discovered how much nose weight you must add to a Bird of Time to get it to balance. I decided it made more sense to add an electric motor and 2200mah battery pack, so this particular Bird of Time can be hand-launched using the electric motor to get it to altitude. As with the Sea Cruiser, I don't really have a price in mind and would be happy to discuss selling or trading it. Contact Fred at ftretta@msn.com.