The Official Newsletter of the Dusters RC Club Dusters News ISSUE The Dusters RC Club lost a true friend to all of us in the passing of John Weisz on Tuesday, January 11, at his home. John was the landowner on whose property we operate Duster Field. While not a flyer himself, he was always took an interest in our activities and could often be found visiting with club members at the field. A lifelong resident of the Woodburn/Gervais area, John is survived by his wife Geraldine, son Greg of Gervais and one daughter Pam Nance of Redmond. A Rosary service was held Friday evening and the Funeral Mass was held Saturday, January 15th at St Luke Catholic Church in Woodburn. Approximately 450 people attending, including the Criswells of the Dusters and a floral arrangement was sent on the Clubs behalf. Heya: My sincere apologies for failing to get a newsletter out in December. I have absolutely no idea where that month went and now that January is nearing its end, its time to get motivated for the upcoming flying season with the Dusters. A club thanks to Don and Laura for getting the membership cards out and a reminder that there are a few days left for those that haven t paid their dues yet. The club meeting is this Monday, the 24th at 7 PM at Don s Meeting site/home Make plans to attend as we prepare for an exciting year of events and flying at Duster Field. Inside: _jay Meeting Notes Inclement weather kept the attendance at the November meeting to a minimum, with 6 members braving the elements and no new members or guests. All bills are paid and current Don reports he has problems with his e mail server and until it can be fixed, Terry will do the mass mailings. Ron Campbell reports that when the weather improves, he will construct the new flagpole and we will be adding gravel to our access road. Please watch your emails and this newsletter for calls for volunteers when the time is near. Flight stations will be improved with extra hog wire as the mesh we are currently using is proving inadequate. We had a close call with a plane poking through the existing mesh. Trevor Holman displayed a little ducted fan plane under construction Meeting adjourned. The $15 gift certificate went to Dale Nelson, and the $30 gift certificate went to Don Steigman. Meeting Notes Area Events Field Activities
The Official Newsletter of the Dusters RC Club Pg 3 This is a reprint from the Woodburn Independent newspaper detailing member Trevor Holman s contribution to the Wings Across America Project. Adds Trevor: The kids really enjoyed this notoriety. Lots of comments from people at the North Marion schools where we spend a fair amount of time. Even today when we picked up a XMAS tree outside of Woodburn a farmer recognized us and wanted to talk planes. That was the whole point of the project. Have fun and introduce others. Photo By: Ray Hughey Trevor Holman (right, kneeling) shows off the radio-controlled model airplane he flew as part of the Wings Across America project. With him are, from left, Dan Williams, Aidan Holman, Evan Holman and Harrison Williams Flying RC style Plane will travel over 13,000 miles By: Ray Hughey Published: 12/12/2010 9:14:31 AURORA Aurora resident Trevor Holman says he s still young at heart. The 40-year-old continues to passionately pursue the love of flying radio-controlled model airplanes that he discovered as a kid. And he has plenty of company. Holman was number 248 out of 380 kindred souls taking part in the Wings Across America 2008 project, helping fly a battery-powered RC model airplane in all 48 contiguous United States. The white, trimmed in red and white, model airplane is called a Squirt for simple quiet robust trainer. It s a type called a park flyer, typically flown in parks or on soccer fields. The journey, expected to take about 4 1/2 years and cover more than 18,000 miles, is the brainchild of an avid Virginia RC pilot. What is different about this project is that the participating pilots hand deliver the model to the next pilot all across the U.S.
The Official Newsletter of the Dusters RC Club Pg 4 Flying: Rc Style (continued) Each pilot will record his or her historic flight with a photo of themselves with the plane and a group photo with club members. Then, the participant drives the plane to the next pilot down the line. The 38-inch wingspan model airplane made its first flight May 24, 2008 As of July 4, the plane had visited 33 states, traveled 13,699 miles and had been flown by 295 pilots and hosted by 129 Academy of Model Aeronautics clubs. As of 2:47 p.m. on Dec. 1, the project had been underway two years, 191 days, one hour, 37 minutes and 40 seconds. Organizers display the elapsed time on their website at www.waa-08.org/. Holman, one of about 100 members of the Dusters RC Club, which flies from a Woodburn area field, made his flight Nov. 28. He took along his sons, a brother-in-law and some nephews. Everybody got a chance to fly, he said. The next day, he loaded the plane into its custom made traveling case and drove to Aloha to deliver it to the next pilot in line, Joe Famme. I m a kid at heart, says Holman. I ve been playing with these model airplanes since I was about 13. I ve always been fascinated by flight, he said. It s a great way to learn basic construction principles. There s a lot of satisfaction that goes into building a model and seeing it fly successfully. And, most importantly, it s fun. Holman, who grew up in North Bend, took some time out for college and some other things. I came back to my hobby as soon as I could, he said. His father saved all of his airplanes for him. My first plane was a little trainer plane called a Goldberg Eagle. I believe it was crashed and rebuilt three or four times. I d love to have another one. He has about eight RC models in various stages of repair or flight readiness, he said. The day he flew the Wings Across America plane, he also got some air time with his Delta Vortex model. It looks like a giant triangle, he said. Its wingspan is only 54 inches, but it s all wing. Working the controls to radio-controlled model airplanes can be challenging. It s a good lesson in reaction, Holman said. We try to visualize ourselves as the pilot in the plane and how we would control the plane if we were in it. The bigger the models are, the easier they are to fly because you can see them so much better, Holman said. Some Dusters RC members fly up to 40 percent scale with 10-foot or better wingspans. Each summer the club puts on its Big Bird show for model airplanes with a minimum wingspan of 81 inches. Everybody brings out their biggest models possible and show them off, he said. The popularity of flying radio-controlled model airplanes has surged in recent years with the advent of small, inexpensive, battery-powered lanes. The ARTF (almost ready to fly) models come nearly complete when you buy them, he said.
The Official Newsletter of the Dusters RC Club Pg 5 EDITOR S PICKS From the official newsletter of the Circle City Flyers of Corona, California The Importance of Setting Headings By Mike Lynch One of the first goals of flying RC is to be able to make smooth, level turns. As early as your first practice flight, your instructor will tell you to bank with ailerons, maintain the turn with the elevator, and straighten with the opposite aileron. The goal is to maintain a smooth turn with no gain or loss of altitude. The time it takes to master this first step varies from one beginner to another. And the good feeling you get from mastering this step is but one of many you will enjoy as your flying improves. With this step mastered, you will be able to keep the airplane in the air. However, you may not be able to enter and exit the turns you make as predictably as you would like. You may find that the airplane is flying you, wandering all over the flying field. The second step to flying is to master entering and exiting turns precisely and the importance of this step cannot be over assessed. As you begin learning how to land, it is mandatory that you are able to exit your last turn (during final approach) in a manner that has you perfectly aligned with the runway. You can master this very important talent only by knowing how to set headings. Practice with figure eights. Once you are relatively comfortable making smooth, level turns it is time to begin practicing more precise turns. Figure eights are excellent for this purpose because they force you to make left and right turns equally to avoid the I can only turn left syndrome. To begin, we recommend making left turns on your right side and right turns on your left side. This way the airplane will always be turned away from you. (Many beginners feel uncomfortable when the model is coming directly at them, even in a turn.) At first, you may find this quite difficult. The goal is to exit each turn with the airplane heading directly toward a corner of the field (with the center of the figure eight directly in the middle of the field). You will find that you must begin exiting the turn slightly before your desired heading is reached, which can be tricky. Your first few attempts will probably not be perfect and will force you to make minor corrections; you must be quite gentle with the controls to avoid over correcting. Once you have mastered, reverse the direction of the figure eight and start again (right turns on your right side, left turns on your left side). Always remember the importance of setting headings. As you practice landings (and even after you have performed your first solo), whenever you are having problems setting up your headings, go back and practice figure eights. NAVIGATION I-5 Exit 271 West on 214 to Butteville Rd. South on Butteville to Le Brun Rd West on Le Brun Rd. until you Cross the Tracks Look left, towards Duster Field
Editor Note: This is a short story I was compelled to write last summer, with the intention of sharing it during a slows news month...and that would be January -jay
The Official Newsletter of the Dusters RC Club Pg 6 2011 Dusters Officer Roster President: Don Steigman Secrtry/Newsltr: Jay Penninger 503-678-1243 idacascade@centurytel.net 503-437-2803 jaypenninger@gmail.com Vice President: Rob Campbell Safety Officer: Dan Lurvey 503-245-6911 campbr_2@msn.com Treas/Membrshp: Dale Nelson 503-981-0710 dale.nelson@raymondjames.com Field Maintenance: Bill Bale Webmaster: Terry Criswell