The Official Monthly Newsletter Remote Control Assoc of Central Florida

Transcription

1 March, 2019 The Official Monthly Newsletter Remote Control Assoc of Central Florida Florida Oak trees shedding their leaves Does Central Florida have 2 Fall seasons? Have you ever noticed that the oak trees here in Florida shed their leaves in the Fall when the temperatures cool down from the typical blistering Summer heat. This usually happens around Sept or October. Then, the trees realize that it s actually not cold outside here in Florida that time of year so they re-grow new sprouts. The trees almost fully populate with fresh green leaves. Then comes our short cold snaps, as a rule around Jan and Feb. The trees then go through another shedding of their leaves. This time it is real gang busters. The ground this time of year is totally covered in oak leaves. A few good rain storm come through and knock off the rest of the leaves. One week goes by and it s warm again and the oak trees get all excited thinking Summer is here and immediately sprout new leaves. Within about a week or so the entire tree is a canopy of fresh green leaves once again. So, we really do have two Fall seasons. Florida isn t only know for its hanging chads.

2 Bill Higdon President FAA requires markings Just in case you missed the notice from AMA, the FAA now requires your FAA registration number and your AMA number to be visible on the outside of your aircraft. Before it was acceptable to be inside your battery box etc. but now it must be visible without opening up anything. It's an IED thing. AMA encourages compliance with this rule but doesn't mandate it. Spruce up efforts underway Our facilities sprucing up efforts are moving along. Picnic tables had the final paint job completed. Rotten wood was replaced and painted on the food hanger. Clubhouse trim and door were finished off with a coat of paint. All workers were treated to some of Jim Lyon's world famous ribs. Trying to get as much done as we can before the grass starts growing with a vengeance and takes up most of our work party time. We want you to be proud of the RCACF facility Float fly fun Float fly had it's usual laughs and splashes with one maiden flight ending up in a tree. The flying was followed by a delightful brunch fixed by Jo Ward. Next was a 3d film about the construction and design of the Boeing 787 which was presented in Al's home theater. It made for a special day. Thanks Jo and Al. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein Fly on!!! Bill Higdon

3 Al Cooper Membership Chairman Proposed policy changes This article describes two changes to the RCACF Membership Policy Document. This article will be published in the Fly Paper for the March and April issues after which a vote will be taken at the April Membership meeting on acceptance of these policy changes. The first change involves RCACF Members who inadvertently forget or lose their Membership Badge and want to fly at Tangerine Field. The current wording, highlighted in yellow below, would require the Member to be signed in by another Member in order to fly. This has been discussed at the Board level and it is recommended that this portion of the policy be amended to allow a current active RCACF Member to sign himself/herself in the Guest Flyer Log without needing another Member to sign for them. 5.Guest Flyers Guest Flyers are non-rcacf Members who come to Tangerine Field to fly RC aircraft. Any current RCACF Member may sponsor a Guest Flyer or the Board may invite specific RC groups or clubs to fly at RCACF. The Guest Flyer program is primarily intended to attract new members but may also be used for RCACF Members with short term house guests who wish to try the facilities for a couple of times during their visit. Guest Flyers are limited to 3 days of flying at Tangerine Field within one Membership Year. The RCACF Member who sponsors a Guest Flyer is responsible for: 1) ensuring that the Guest Flyer is a current AMA Member; 2) ensuring that the Guest Flyer understands the club s flight and safety rules; 3) signing in the Guest Flyer; 4) issuing a Guest Flyer (Visitor) badge for the Guest Flyer; 5) ensuring that the Guest Flyer flies his RC aircraft in a safe manner; 6) remaining at Tangerine Field with the Guest until the Guest has completed flying or pass off responsibility to another RCACF Member; 7) ensuring that the Guest Flyer (Visitor) badge is returned to the Guest Flyer Sign-In Log All Guest Flyers MUST be signed in on the Guest Flyer Sign-In Sheet by a current RCACF Member Sponsor. Guest Flyers are not allowed to sign themselves in. Guest Flyer badges may also be used by an RCACF Member who forgets or loses his/her Membership badge but MUST also be signed in by another current RCACF Member. The above highlighted instructs should be replaced by: Guest Flyer badges may also be used by an RCACF Member who forgets or loses his/her

4 Membership badge. In this event, the Member must sign himself/herself in the Guest Flyer Sign In Sheet, including a minimum of the Visitor Badge #, Date, Name, AMA # and the reason for signing himself/herself in. The Member will then wear the Visitor Badge for the duration of that day. In the event that the badge has been lost, the Member must also contact the Membership Chairman to request that a replacement Badge be issued at the earliest convenience. The second change involves the training of Student Pilots. The current policy, as highlighted below in yellow, indicates that Student Pilots must be under the direction of an RCACF Instructor at all times while flying. This was discussed by the Board and it is recommended that this policy should be changed such that a Student Pilot can be trained by any active RCACF Member but final Flight Certification must be performed by an RCACF Instructor. 8.1.Student Pilot All New Members who indicate Beginner on his / her Membership Application will be assigned the Student Pilot status. At no time are Members wearing a Student Pilot badge allowed to fly without being under the direction of an RCACF Instructor. This Member will remain in this status until such time as he / she completes training and Flight Certification. At that time, the Member s status will be changed to New Member if he / she has been an RCACF Member for less than 90 days or to a permanent status if the 90 days have already been exceeded. New Membership credentials will be issued accordingly. To reflect this change, the highlighted instructions above should be replaced by: A Student Pilot must, at all times while flying at RCACF, be under the direct supervision of either an RCACF Instructor or another Flight Certified RCACF Member who is willing to assist in the training. A Student Pilot seeking Flight Certification, must arrange with an RCACF Instructor to perform the actual Flight Certification Process. Please review these changes and be prepared to discuss any issues or concerns regarding them at the March Membership meeting and the acceptance vote will be held at the April meeting. Al Cooper

5 Lynne Higdon Secretary The meeting was called to order at 10:05 on February 9, 2019 by the president, Bill Higdon. A new member Liden Feliciano was introduced as well as a new old member, Gary Freeman Sr. The minutes of the January meeting were read. The presidents report: January was a quiet month partly due to the less than perfect weather. The X class drone event has been firmly scheduled for May 11. The club meeting will be moved to Saturday, May 4. Membership chairman s report: Al Cooper reviewed the policy change regarding combining work party and instructor hours to earn points for dues discounts. The details were published in the January and February Flypapers. The change was unanimously approved by the membership in attendance and will be retroactive to January 1, Current membership total is 169 with more expected over the coming months. Treasures report: Tom Connelly reported that all bills were paid to date Including the bills for all the recent improvements at the field. The treasury is in good condition because 160 members is the break even point for the year. Chief flight instructor, Tim Bucher reminded all members to contact him regarding flight instruction and technical help. Freddy Pedrosa, safety officer, said he would go over the safety rules with the new members in attendance. Eric Barnett thanked Tim Bucher and Freddy Pedrosa for taking over in his absence. Bill Higdon went over plans for the coming work party. He announced that Jim Lyons was making his most excellent ribs for the lunch. He also stressed that pictures of things that happen at the field are needed for the Flypaper. It was generally agreed that the more pictures that show up in each month s publication the better. Please forward pictures to Bill. New business: The handicap parking space was discussed and is currently on hold but is a project the club wants to complete. Pat Castelli said that she has a lot of assorted gas airplanes, parts, and tools left by her recently deceased brother, Richard Frazier. She will send pictures of the items and Bill will put out a memo to all members about how to contact Pat. In the 50/50 drawing Tom Conolly pocketed $30. Vittor Pinho won the $25 Graves gift card. Freddie Pedrosa won the plane raffle and took home the Viper jet. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40.

6 Last Sunday s Float Fly at Al Ward s was great as always. No big crashes this time, well maybe a few small ones. Not sure how one got up in a tree, but still a fun day.

7 A few snapshots of our great members having fun at the club with their cool airplanes.

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9 William Higdon Jr. Facilities Chairman When you have great members helping out things move along nicely. Many needed painting and repairs were accomplished. The weather was clear and the temperatures this time of year were perfect for hanging outside with great friends. The food was splendid as always! Thanks to all that gave their time to come out. Please join us next month.

10 Tim Bucher Chief Flight Instructor I attended the 2019 Blue Max event this year hosted by the Sanford Aero Modelers on January 25 and 26 at their field in Geneva, Florida. This is a contest for scale models of aircraft built between 1903 and Most of the models are of WWI aircraft and although there is no minimum size, most tend to be 1/4 or 1/3 scale. The models are judged on scale accuracy, craftsmanship, and scale like flying. This meet is held every year on the last weekend in January. This year s meet was outstanding partly because the winds were not too high and were close to being parallel with the runway. These models like their full size counterparts have difficulty handling cross winds. During WWI, aircraft flew out of aerodromes that were mile square grass fields. Ground crews wheeled the planes out onto the field and pointed them into the wind for takeoff. The pilot completed his flight by landing into the wind and then waited for the ground crew to run out and wheel the plane off the field. This year two 1/2 scale models were present a Fokker Dr.1 triplane weighing 115 pounds and a Fokker D.VI biplane weighing 100 pounds. Another model of note was a 1/3 scale Fokker D.VII that spun a very large prop powered by a Zenoah G62 engine equipped with a Shlundt 2.5/1 belt driven speed reducer. The flight of this model was especially realistic. A special feature on Saturday was a lunch time flight demonstration by RCACF Vice president Bill Freeland putting his turbine powered F-16 jet through its paces. This provided quite a contrast, illustrating the advance in aircraft technology that occurred between the early and late twentieth century. There is a Blue Max website ( that features a number of high quality photographs from this and previous years. I took some of the photos below but the flight pictures are screen shots I took off the website. If you missed this year s Blue Max meet, there is an opportunity to attend a similar meet this spring. The Bay City Flyers are hosting The Cruoix de Guerre (French equivalent of the Blue Max medal) on the last weekend in April at their Area 52 field in Land O Lakes Florida. This meet is also for scale models of aircraft but it will be a non-judged fun fly. Blue Max Flight line on Friday morning

11 American Nieuport 28 Running up the 1/2 scale German Fokker Dr.1 Triplane 1/3 scale British SE.5a 1/3 scale German Fokker D.VII powered by a belt drive equipped G62 engine Starting the 1/2 scale Fokker D.VI Tim Bucher

12 Freddie Pedrosa Safety Officer Safety at Home I ve met relatively few hermits who fly model aircraft. Most of us share our home with others, or at least have occasional visitors. These people are usually not modelers (despite seeing how much fun we have with our sport). Have you given any thought to what might happen if an unsupervised non-modeler encountered your hobby stuff? Some of us have rooms full of tools and equipment, but even a single airplane or drone fleet includes a battery and a propeller. Our aircraft are fascinating to many people, but those who are unfamiliar with models will often give the propeller a spin then pick the airplane up by the rudder. They have no idea about what is safe and not safe with an RC flying machine. Being organized is being in control Does your work bench look like this? How about this one?

13 It s worth an ounce of prevention to prepare your modeling gear for such exposure. Grab one of those handy electronic label printers and make it clear that this drawer is full of sharp or flammable things. Try to visualize your work area through the eyes of a fascinated, but untrained, visitor. Unplug tools and equipment when not in use. I found my own Dremel cutter sitting there, powered up and ready to cut someone or something with the touch of the slider lever, and my inquisitive young granddaughter was on her way over. Hey Grandpa, what is this for? Be Safe, Freddie Pedrosa

14 Monthly Airplane Raffle Freddie Padrosa with his new E-flite Viper Jet. The E-flite Viper 70mm EDF is the perfect first highperformance jet that delivers all the essentials including incredible speed, vertical performance and aerobatic capability while also being easy to take off and land on a variety of surfaces. 50/50 Tom Conolly, won this month s 50/50 raffle. Huge winnings handed to him by Lynne Higdon. Come to next month s general membership meeting to get your chance to win big! Graves RC Gift Card Graves gift card winner Vittor Pinho with Lynne Higdon. Next Airplane Raffle Thanks to Graves RC Hobbies we now have three aircraft to choose from. The winner has his/her choice. This months airplane raffle will consist of these fine airplanes: 1. E-flite Viper 70mm EDF Jet PNP (EFL7775) 3. Cherokee 1.3m BNF Basic 2. Hobby Zone Sportsman S+ with AS3X (EFL5450) Next general club meeting March 9 th 10AM