The St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club

Transcription

1 The St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club UU BROADSIDE 20 January 2018 Commodore Jane Benefield (636) Secretary Bob Keeler (314) HH Vice-Commodore Kent Morgan (314) Asst. Secretary John Ziemer (636) Asst. Vice-Commodore John Ziemer (636) Editor Jane Benefield (636) Treasurer George Kirby (636) NOW HEAR THIS YOUR COMMODORE FROM THE BRIDGE Congratulations to Kent Morgan, Bob Keeler, George Kirby, and John Ziemer on being re-elected by the membership to their positions as officers within the club. In addition, I really appreciate the confidence of the membership in my ability to serve as your Commodore for the coming year thank you for reelecting me. It is a pleasure to have all of your support and participation in making the Club meetings and activities interesting for everyone. The positive comments I have received about our informative Club meetings and gatherings would not be possible without your full and continuing support. In addition, thank you to everyone who have offered and are offering periodic presentations to Club members and to those who have and continue to provide interesting articles for our Club newsletters. Please keep in mind our unique weather conditions -- if the weather is hazardous, do not take chances -- stay safe. Hope to see you at the Toy Show and other scheduled events in February. NOTES Attention: Scheduled Events Sunday, 4 February 2018 Gateway Mid-America Toy Show at Westport Plaza Wednesday, 7 February 2018 Electric Motors and Servos by Bob Keeler Wednesday, 7 March 2018 Electronic Speed Control (ESC) by Phil Frisch Next Gathering: Wednesday, 7 February 2018 Prior to our 5 PM monthly 1 st Wednesday-of-the-month dinner-meeting, sailing is from 2-4 PM at our usual St Ferdinand Pond, Florissant, MO weather permitting. Dinner set for 5:00 PM at our Handel s Restaurant, 599 St Denis, Florissant, MO 63033, followed by our 7:00 PM meeting at our meeting place at the Old St. Ferdinand Shrine, the Old School House, 1 St. Francois Street, Florissant, MO. 3 rd Sunday every month (2-4 pm), March thru November: Sailing at St Ferdinand Pond -- weather permitting. Gratefully, Jane Commodore *************************************************************************************

2 Secretary s 3 January 2018 Meeting Minutes Call to Order / Pledge of Allegiance: Commodore Jane opened the meeting at 7:12 P.M. at Old St. Ferdinand School house in Florissant. There were 9 members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Lynn Blaszkiewicz. Reports, Administration 1. Commodore s Opening Comments: A. Thank you to everyone who attended the 6 Dec 2017 Christmas gathering at the Olive Garden on the Rock Road. It was wonderful to see everyone. The New Year is here and hope it proves wonderful for all. B. Norm Kalaskie has since had his surgery and is recuperating and doing well. Norm wanted the club to know how honored he felt that we presented him with the Emeritus Award. Betty, his wife, is under the weather as a lot of us are, but she is starting to feel better. C. Father Tom Keller s mother is ill. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to him and his mother. D. Emil Wolfshoefer s wife has been in the hospital since December 26. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to him and his wife. E. Commodore Jane presented the Emeritus Award to Ed Gant at his home and he expressed his heartfelt appreciation for being recognized for this award. He will be undergoing ankle surgery in February 2018, and while being immobilized after surgery, he agreed to write some articles for our newsletter with his wife Janet s assistance. Thank you Ed, and we are wishing you a speedy recovery and looking forward to your articles for the newsletter. F. Commodore Jane and Michael visited with Don and Doris Taschner in December and he indicated he might also write an article for the newsletter. G. Greg Rocklage graciously agreed to write an article in the near future about his experiences with his on-going scratchbuilding of a replica of our very own St. Louis Admiral paddle-wheeler. H. Russ Wick kindly agreed to do a presentation during our August 2018 Club meeting about Ship/Boat Dynamic Stability and Trim. I. I really appreciate everyone for providing interesting presentations for our meetings and articles/information for our newsletters. J. We will no longer receive Gift Cards from Mark Twain Hobby Center. However, I will provide Mark Twain Hobby Center with our membership roster (names only) and they will place your name in their computer and you will automatically receive a 10% discount on most items in the store as well as on special orders you may make. Mark Twain Hobby will send you an if you are interested about ongoing sales -- if you are interested, please contact them directly and provide them with your address. Mark Twain Hobby will not sell your contact information to anyone. Your May 2018 dues will have to be current in order to qualify for the discount from then on. K. Commodore Jane checked into t-shirts for the club from BlueSky Apparel, which is a local company. Catalog for color choices is available they also do hats. The short sleeve t-shirts with our logo in one color will be $ There will be a one-time set-up fee of $ BlueSky Apparel has no minimum purchase requirement. Commodore Jane will check on the costs of mult-colored options. Shirts can be short or long sleeved, XL and larger will have price differences. Members present selected Aqua Blue for the shirt color as it represents water. L. Commodore Jane updated our website showing the Emeritus Award recipients and our meeting/sailing dates. 2. Secretary s Meeting Minutes Report Bob Keeler: The November minutes were published in the Broadside newsletter. Motion to approve minutes as printed was made by Kent Morgan, seconded by Ralph Blaszkiewicz. Motion approved. 3. Treasurer s Report George Kirby: Treasurer George Kirby was absent. His report was deferred until the February meeting.

3 4. Vice Commodore -- Comments/Actions Kent Morgan: Kent Morgan reported on a new site for sailing our boats in St. Peters Lakeside Park at the intersection of I-70 and I-370. The lake was rough but a section has been enclosed in a wall with dock side for launching boats and it was relatively calm. There is RV parking available and attendants seemed friendly. 5. Commodore -- Comments/Actions: A. 37th Annual Gateway Mid-America Toy Show - Sunday 4 February AM 2 PM, Sheraton Lakeside Chalet Westport Plaza, 191 Westport Plaza, St Louis, Mo B. Amendment of By-Laws: Commodore Jane is working on amending our By-Laws to include spouses as associate members in order for them to participate in club functions (affirmative Club voting in 2017). C. Election of Officers: Current Officers have agreed to run again, There were no others nominations from the floor. The current officers were elected by acclimation. Boat Club Items and Notices of Interest: 1. Fleet-Event Notice, Preparation and Fleet Activity Information. Regatta 2018: Commander Jane will be contacting the Boathouse again this coming year for our 2018 Regatta to be held 29 and 30 September 2018 at the Boathouse in Forest Park. Bob Keeler and Kent Morgan agreed to co-chair the 2018 Regatta again. Any others who may be willing to help, please contact Commodore Jane. 2. Commodore at Homeport: Special Notes. None 3. Dues are $30 per year if you receive newsletter by ; $40 if you receive newsletter by mail. Dues were due pay 31 May, and are now past due. Commodore Jane requests all to keep dues current. 4. SSMA: A. Bob Keeler has sent in club registration for 2018 (as well as his own). He will send in forms for insurance for B. SSMA Individual Membership Renewal Information: Bob Keeler discussion: Check to see if your SSMA membership is due for renewal. Note new Membership Director: Heinz Ricken, SSMA Clubs/Membership Director, 514 Cranford Avenue, Cranford, NJ Show-and-Tell/Articles/Presentations/Round Table Discussions: 1. Show-and-Tell: Michael Benefield brought several racing sailboats in conjunction with his presentation on sailboats. 2. Admiral s Club Newsletter Voluntary Articles (as of 30 October, 2017, updated monthly): Completed and submitted voluntary articles to be published in an appropriate month of the Admiral s Club Newsletter. A. Russ Wick: A scratch-builder s experiences in scratch-building the U.S.S. Lexington Battle Cruiser R/C model. B. Ed Gant: History, reminisces, activities, and a scratch-builder s experiences in observing St Louis (and other) towboat traffic river runs. In turn, converting real-world towboats and barges (from observation and full-scale plans) to smaller (but true-toscale) scratch-built R/C towboat (and barge) models. C. Don Taschner: He indicated he might also write an article for the newsletter. D. Greg Rocklage: He graciously agreed to write an article in the near future about his experiences with his on-going scratchbuilding of a replica of our very own St. Louis Admiral paddle-wheeler. 3. Presentations A. Current Presentation for This Meeting: Michael Benefield gave a presentation on the nomenclature and physics of cruiser and racing-design sailboats, showing pictures of full size cruising and racing sailboats ( including his and Jane s new 30-foot cruising sailboat Moon Dance ). He also demonstrated different R/C model racing sailboats by other R/C Clubs around America. As noted, he brought several of his R/C model sailboats to illustrate his various classes of model racing sailboats, including the Fairwind which is officially a registered class with the American Model Yachting Association. For R/C model racing sailboat classifications, see the American Model Yachting Association website See his full presentation (pdf format) at the R/C Model Club website and abbreviated presentation version below in this newsletter. B. Volunteers: Who would like to give an R/C-topic presentation or write an article for the Admiral s Club Newsletter? Any and all volunteers are highly appreciated. We have slots open in the presentation schedule below, or we welcome any new presentation topics or new topic ideas. A. Past Presentations: 1. Propellers October 2017 Kent Morgan 2. Sailing/Sail Boats -- January 2018 meeting: Mike Benefield

4 X. Presentation Topic Schedule (as of 22 Oct 2017): Any volunteers for open name presentations below? If you have second or third thoughts later, please let Commodore Jane know. a) Electric Motors and Servos -- February 2018 meeting: Bob Keeler b) Electronic Speed Control (ESC) -- March 2018 meeting: Phil Frisch c) Transmitter/Receiver and R/C System -- April 2018 meeting: Mike Benefield d) Ship/Boat Hulls -- May 2018 meeting: Name? e) Ship/Boat Weight, Volume, and Shape Factors for Propulsion -- June 2018 meeting: Name? f) Ship/Hull Static Stability and Trim -- July 2018 meeting: Name? g) Ship/Boat Dynamic Stability and Trim -- Aug 2018 meeting: Russ Wick Y. Ideas List (as of 22 Oct 2017): Suggested ideas for future Admiral s club-meeting presentations and related published articles (including non-presentation articles) for the Admiral s Club monthly newsletters. Please feel free to suggest to Commodore Jane additional ideas that a club member may want to have added to this list: 4. Round Table Discussion History of SS Admiral History of Eads built Civil War Gunboats Special Mississippi and Missouri River boats Unusual barge loads and boats (i.e.. aircraft and submarines) Barge Designs Lock and dam operations. A. Michael Benefield s presentation was the subject of tonight s Round Table discussion as he answered many questions about sailboats. NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 7 February 2018 at 7 P.M. The meeting was adjourned at 8:54 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Bob Keeler ************************************************* ************************************************

5 Bill Kammermeyer, President Howie Smith, Sec y November Meeting Highlights Meeting: 14 December 2017 Gather at 6:30 p.m. Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. The Workshop of Bill Kammermeyer 1533 Carman Rd Ballwin, MO Following up on the results of our initial dry-fit of the paddlewheel in October, Bob and Dr. Mike completed the rigging of the 102 cross-braces between the axle hubs and the inner rings [Photo 1]. We have also added removable sections to the Hurricane deck structure thereby permitting paddlewheel installation/removal without prior removal of the deck [Photo 2] At the November meeting we successfully performed the final paddlewheel dry-fit [Photo 3], which included one of the 17 prototype wooden paddle-boards or buckets. This allowed us to finalize the locations for the paddlewheel support ramps using the prototype axle pillow block bearings that Bob [Photo 4 ] previously made using his 3-D printer, and thereby accurately set the nominal depth of paddle-board penetration into the river water. Dr. Mike will now proceed with the brass machinings of these pillow blocks and he & Bob will use special U-Bolts to install the remaining 16 buckets which Bill is pre-painting. Since, in use, these buckets were obviously prone to breakage due to floating debris and snags in the shallow rivers, we are considering storage of spare buckets in the lower hull or the deckhouses. Bill outlined his initial plans for finishing the Hurricane deck using pearwood planks which should provide an excellent appearance. These planks were originally attached using large spike nails which will also be represented.[photo 5 & 6] Tim dry-fit his second prototype wood carving for the bow bulwark rail roller guide fitting located adjacent to the stem and was used for the anchor chains and forward mooring lines. [Photo 7] USS St Louis Project Status: This past month we have concentrated on completing the major Hurricane deck elements [Photo 8] and their interfaces to the point that it will maintain its rigidity when totally removed from the lower hull. This will permit us to simultaneously plank the fore, aft & gundeck, finish the fore, aft & side casements, and install the armament, while completing most of the Hurricane deck at a separate location before re-mating it to the lower hull for final assembly. The first stage of this process will be to create a more substantial disconnect able joint between the Hurricane Deck clamp and the upper ends of the fore, aft & side casements. To accomplish this, 6-foot long intercostals have been temporarily clamped to the port and starboard Hurricane deck clamps. These intercostals will be notched to receive the upper ends of the 80 port & starboard side casement frames. The lower ends of these frames will be permanently secured to the chines at the gundeck [Photo 9] To date, the port side gun port sistered frames have been dry-fit to achieve 46 1:24) wide gun port openings. The remaining 75 upper casement frames will be installed on 16 i:24) centers for the full length of the casement. [Photo 10]. Wood blocks will be added to the Hurricane deck clamps and drilled for screws into the port & starboard intercostals. Separating the Hurricane deck from the lower hull will be accomplished by simply removing these screws.[photo 11] For the USS St. Louis 32-pdr smoothbore cannon occupied stations No. 1, 3, & 4 while 8-inch Smoothbores were carried at station No. 2. [Photo 12] Meanwhile Bill has made good progress with his planking of the starboard half of the Hurricane deck, including framing for the smoke-stacks, ventilation grates & funnels [Photo 13]. The ventilation funnels had the ability to be rotated and elevated to use of the prevailing winds. [Photo 14]. The port side decks will remain largely un-planked to permit improved viewing of the model interior. Framing of the Captain s Quarters on the gundeck has been completed [Photos 15 & 16] and is ready for planking. It s forward wall which is coincident with the wheelhouse and the starboard inside wheelhouse wall planking are nearly complete [Photo 17]. The original egg-crate framing for the small opening on the Hurricane Deck for the forward skylight has been opened into a single rectangle to also serve as a larger cargo hatch [Photo18].

6 Note: For those interested in more detail on this project, we have, since 2015, been creating a scratch build log on the NRG Model Ship World Forum web site under the title USS St. Louis Ironclad. This forum can be browsed by anyone and accessed for full participation by simply registering a user name and password on line. We continue making significant progress on the structural wooden hull and other large subassemblies, however we still have plenty of unassigned interesting model subassemblies for anyone interested which include the small forward sky light, anchors, armor plating, Hog Chain system, masting, shovels, cotton bale cart, insulated steam piping. In addition, a considerable amount of research is still necessary to supplement the data we have accumulated to date and complete this high fidelity model. I hope to see you there, Howie **************************************************************************************

7 Admirals R/C Boat Club, 3 January 2018, Mike Benefield Abbreviated Sailing Presentation for Newsletter with Preliminary Clarifications Clarifications Compass placed on a BIN NACLE (vice TABER NACLE) mount: compass head mounted on a binnacle (not tabernacle) or compass head mounted on a mast, and both with separate helm pedestals (left and center photos below); compass head integrated with helm pedestal (far right photo). Either way is good but separate is preferable, especially in relocating/preserving the removable compass head. Stepped masts: As shown below, tabernacle nomenclature is associated with older-version stepped or hinged sailboat mast configurations (where binnacle nomenclature relates to mounted sailboat compass heads as described above). There are at least two sailboat-mast step methods: above-deck tabernacle protrusion (older original method in left and center photos below); and below-deck recessed compression plate in the right photo below (which is a more recent mast-step method but one that displays chronic serious corrosion problems). Center photo is a jury-rig gin-pole system to manually raise a mast and step it on to a tabernacle protrusion post on the deck (as shown), or into a deck recessed hole and then to rest on a recessed compression plate protrusion post (essentially a recessed tabernacle).

8 Abbreviated Sailing Presentation (full presentation is on the website as a linked powerpoint file) Fastnet Race 1979 In August 1979, A Fastnet Race Fleet of 303 boats started in Cowes for a 600 mile high-speed race around Fastnet Lighthouse and back to Plymouth via Isles of Scilly. Rounding Fastnet Lighthouse 1979 A violent Force 10 storm with winds about 60 mph and waves greater than 35 feet hit the Fastnet Race fleet with little notice just after the fleet had rounded the Fastnet Lighthouse (most southern point of Ireland). Eighty-five boats finished the 600-mile course. Five boats were sunk and 15 crew lost. Fastnet Race Casualty Boats which hove to did not knock down, turtle or flip completely over and then return upright. Every Fastnet 79 boat which had hove to, deployed sea anchors and reduced sail, survived during the worst part of the Fastnet 79 storm. Hove to racing yacht Captains exercised superb seamanship judgment during the storm which saved every one of their crew from loss. Most notably, not a single hove to Fastnet Racer boat had sunk during the storm. Less seamanship judgment to press on with some boats in the face of the gale-force storm simply to win the Fastnet Race contributed to the loss of crew-member lives. Fastnet Race rules have since been modified to prevent such poor seamanship judgment in future races. Sailing in risky, subject to the whims of nature. Racing in particular requires constant crew vigilance and adaptive exercise of good judgment for the sake of sailing safety for all hands.

9 Fastnet Racer Sailboat, August 2017 Where Today Crew Safety is a Mandatory Priority Over an Unreasonable and Dangerous Drive to Win Notice the dual wheels. Typical Racer Small Keel Typical Cruiser Full-Keel (Cape Dory 30 Ketch) Commodore Jane s Moon Dance The Boat System Note: After getting underway with the boat, keep the jib sail leech taught and strictly parallel to the close-proximity main sail luff when close-hauled or In close-reach. The result enhances combined-sail lift performance.

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11 For R/C model racing sailboat classifications, see the American Model Yachting Association website

12 Sailing vessels in Amsterdam harbor, Netherlands PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS Jane Benefield 25 Treebeard Circle Saint Charles, MO 63303