AMA CHARTER CLUB NO. 329 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 6 JUNE 2002 See story on page 2 Monthly Club Meeting Friday, June 21, 2002 8 PM County Council Building/Auditorium 100 Maryland Avenue Rockville, MD "Please mark your calendars for the July 19 monthly meeting as DCRC will pay special tribute to Fred Marks in recognition of his induction into the AMA Hall of Fame" June Meeting Raffle Saito FA 56 4-Stroke engine Provided by: Doug's Hobby Shop 2935 Crain Hwy. Waldorf, MD 20601 Orders 1-888-DOUGS RC (368-4772)
PAGE 2 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB JUNE 2002 PRESIDENT: V.P. Jim McDaniel Walt Gallaugher BOARD OF DIRECTORS Scott Davies 301-770-9150 Mike Dooley 301-843-8818 Andy Finizio 301-983-8557 Walt Gallaugher 301-253-4074 Kevin Jackson 301-963-6091 Jim McDaniel 301-916-0366 Jeff Mervis 301-762-0020 Fred Nielsen 301-299-4375 Mike Peizer 301-589-8299 TREASURER: Scott Davies MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Andy Kane 305 Natick Court Silver Spring, MD 20905-5875 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mike Peizer SHOW TEAM MANAGER: Paul Howey NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Andy Kane 301-236-9222 dcrceditor@aol.com MEETING PROGRAM COORDINATOR: Marion Mecklenburg 301-656-6112 The DC/RC Newsletter is published monthly by the District of Columbia Radio Control Inc. Deadline for submitting materials for publication is the last Friday of each month. Any part of the newsletter may be reproduced for non-profit purposes unless otherwise noted. Please credit the Newsletter and Author if named. Articles may not reflect the opinion of the club, but that of the author. Visit us on the web: www.dc-rc.org Matt Chapman and yours truly, Matt really enjoyed flying the Super Cub. Jim and Kim McDaniel, These two really know how to have fun. Each month at the regular club meeting, raffle tickets are 6 for 5.00, and the prizes are always great. Did you know that any airplane brought in to the model shop will receive 3 free raffle tickets. Bring in your models each month for your free tickets, and to share ideas. What a flight line. Model airplanes and some really beautiful ones, as far as the eye can see. TABLE OF CONTENTS Joe Nall 2002 pg. 2 Minutes, Club and Board pg. 3 Udvar-Hazy Center Update pg. 4 The Good Stuff/Calendar pg. 5 Xtra Easy 1-2-3 pg. 6 Presidents Report pg. 7 Raffle Support/Radio Raffle BC Cover: Doug Harper s Old Cub on New Floats, and the DCRC crew with Andy Finizio s Cub Photo by A. Kane Saturday Night BBQ Maryland and Florida Group. Matt Chapman s New Rudder Servo Set-up JR-8411, Nifty Graphics.
JUNE 2002 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB PAGE 3 BY MIKE PEIZER The Club meeting was called to order by Jeff Mervis at 8:01 PM. Reports: There were no reports this month because all the rest of the Board was attending the Joe Nall event in South Carolina. This news was greeted with a smattering of applause. The regular reports will resume next month. This announcement was greeted with silence. New Business: Alan Zametkin commented about two people breaking in engines in the pit area recently. He asked if we could install a stand somewhere out of the way for breaking in engines. Michael Peizer commented there is such a stand located at the north end of the fence, on the pit side, that separates the parking lot from the pits. We will publicize it in the newsletter and the Board of Directors will discuss putting up a sign directing members to the test stand. Bob Yount asked how the new tables were coming along. We replied they will be installed by June 9 th. Program: Jeff Mervis provided two half-hour episodes from RC TV. The host is not exactly a polished professional on camera, but for the most part, the material is interesting. The bulk of the material presented favors cars, then planes and lastly boats. Raffle: Tonight s raffle prize was provided by Michael Peizer A Rumpler Taube park flyer, from Ikarus, complete with motor, props, battery, etc. was won by George Edler. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM. The Board meeting was called to order by Jim McDaniel, at 7:24 PM at the home of Jeff Mervis. In attendance were Mike Dooley, Scott Davies, Andy Finizio, Jeff Mervis, Jim McDaniel, Fred Nielsen, Andy Kane, Walt Gallaugher, Michael Peizer and Kevin Jackson. Jim started off the meeting with a few announcements. We are planning a small ceremony to acknowledge the induction of Fred Marks into the AMA Hall of Fame. It will be held at the general meeting in July, assuming Fred and his family can attend. The Board meeting for June 26 will be held at the DCRC Field. The tables have been constructed. All that remains is for the final assembly at the field this Saturday. The materials for all ten tables cost about $1,200.00. Jim McDaniel did the basic assembly in his spare time. Michael Peizer remarked that he had gotten a call from Art Vail of the SWAP Modelers in Baltimore. Art had read in the newsletter about the delay in erecting a permanent shelter at the field, and he wanted to let us know about a rather inexpensive shelter they had found. It measures about 10 feet by 20 feet and costs about $750.00. Some of the Board members were familiar with this shelter. After a bit of discussion we decided that it would be less expensive for us to cover over the permanent 4x4 tent poles we already have in the ground to provide temporary shelter. This would also distribute the available shade along the flight line. Thanks to Art for taking the time and effort to call and suggest an option. Reports: Treasurer: Scott Davies reported two expenses over $100.00 since the April report. Field Maintenance: The subject of the servicing of the portable toilet at the field was raised again. It seems it is seeing heavy use and needs to be serviced more than once a week. Jim said the phone number of the company is on the side of the toilet. Anyone who notices the toilet needs to be serviced should feel free to call the number and inform the company that it needs to be serviced. Jim will call about its current condition. The board discussed adding another flag pole across the walkway from the windsock pole. It can be used to hang the club banner for events and Kevin can install an antenna on top for frequency monitoring. We will try to have it in place by June 9 th, county appreciation day. Newsletter/Membership: Andy Kane reported 219 new members at this time. Events: Andy Finizio asked Walt to bring a sound meter to the county appreciation day event. Walt agreed, but registered doubt about the efficacy of sound measurements on the ground using our inexpensive sound meters. Measuring sound levels in the air over time is a better way to do the measurement, according to Walt. After a bit of discussion it was decided that Walt would have the meters at the event and we would measure sound levels on the ground and in the air. County appreciation Day flyers were passed out to the Board. Andy is going to place a small ad in the Gazette as well. The club trainers will be available at the event so the public can fly for an hour or so. A jet demo is also scheduled. as well as a Warbirds and other interesting surprises. Flight Instruction: Kevin needs someone to be keeper of the password for the website so the site can be updated in his absence. Andy Kane was nominated to do the job. (while he wasn t looking) He accepted. Sound & Safety: Walt showed the new membership cards with 10 important safety reminders printed on the back. Andy Kane will print them up, and every membership card issued from now on will have the safety reminders on the back. The sign up sheet has about 300 names on it from the past 30 days. Not all members are remembering to sign it. Please sign in when you go to put your card in the frequency board. Walt figures about 50% of flyers are remembering to sign in. This means two things. Number one, we have to do better remembering to sign the use sheet. Number two, the field is getting a lot of use! The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.
PAGE 4 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB JUNE 2002 Udvar-Hazy Center Update NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM NEWS BY LIN EZELL, PROGRAM COORDINATOR The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum is building a new museum for the display and preservation of its collection of historic aviation and space artifacts. In honor of its major donor, it has been named the "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center." Located at Washington Dulles International Airport, the Udvar-Hazy 5/02/2002 It won't be long before we are watching IMAX movies in the theater (round structure). The horizontal slots in the main hangar will have windows to provide reflected light to the exhibits inside. Photo courtesy of Sisson Studios, Inc. 4/2/2002 In late January, the construction team lifted the first giant trusses into place, starting on the north end of the aviation hanger, Structural steel for the circular IMAX theater is complete and the base of the observation tower awaits the next delivery of steel beams so it can reach its full height of 162 feet. Center will provide much needed space for the objects that tell the history of aviation and space flight. The Udvar-Hazy Center will be south of the main terminal at Dulles Airport in northern Virginia, near the intersection of Routes 28 and 50. The 70,611-square-meter (760,057-square-foot) building will be situated on 176.5 acres. The design calls for exhibit hangars, an observation tower from which visitors can watch air traffic at Dulles Airport, collections storage, classrooms, archives, a large-format theater, restaurants, gift shops, and more Over 200 aircraft and 135 spacecraft will be on display, including the Space Shuttle "Enterprise"; an SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft; the Dash 80 prototype of the Boeing 707; the B-17 Flying Fortress named "Swoose;" an F-4 Phantom fighter; the B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay;" and the de Havilland Chipmunk aerobatic plane, to name a few For more information visit http://www.nasm.si.edu/ REMINDER ABOUT THE FIELD USAGE LOG BOOK: It is very important that we show our support of the model airpark by using the field usage log book. The log book should be signed by anyone using the facility. The log book is located in the transmitter impound. Part of article by John Worth, RC MicroFlight, May, 2002: Scheduled for the evening of June 20 on the History Channel is a program called "Modern Marvels," which will feature radio control as its subject-what it is now, and how it got started. I was asked by an official in the Radio Control Hobby Trade Association (RCHTA) to provide historical information for the program. I essentially supplied them with what I wrote in the April issue, in the segment titled, "How we got here." I also spent several hours on the telephone answering their questions and relating details of RC history. I hope that the information I provided will be used. I anticipate that the program will be interesting and factual; the History Channel is noted for its accuracy. It was interesting to think back to the beginnings of RC and what has happened since then. I also liked being able to pass on a lot of what we have published in RC MicroFlight. Welcome to New Club Members in May 2002 Robert McNamara, Gaithersburg David Waxman, Boyds Barry and Matthew Ponticelli, Silver Spring Kenneth and Michael Johnson, Olney Jorge Nunel, Germantown Joseph Henry, Washington Robert Thomson, Silver Spring Ryan Gould, Germantown Michael Fox, Gaithersburg William Freeman, Gaithersburg Nathan Olyer, Silver Spring Roger and Jonathan Ford, Gaithersburg Looking for some plans: Can you help! I am interested in finding a set of plans or whatever for the Curtis "Jenny" JN- 4. I am also looking for a set of plans for the Phil Kraft designed "Quik Fli III " a model I flew years ago and would like to build again. Thank You Tom Rankin tmrdaisy@aol.com 410 442-2490 {Past DCRC member}
JUNE 2002 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB PAGE 5 THE GOOD STUFF BY DON GRAY Well Opening Day is behind us and what a successful event it was, thanks to Dave Fepelstein and all of those who helped make it a Big Go (not to be confused with Bingo). I recently reviewed the field sign-in log for a thirty-day period and realized that I made it out to the field 15 times. Some of us need to get a life. But regularly flying our miniature aircraft (some aren t so miniature) can become an enjoyable way of life for several of us. Some professionals even suggest that this type of regular activity can help us cope more fully with day-to-day stress and realworld events so many of us face in our hectic lives. And when you can share your flying outings with fellow modelers, new and old, it makes it all the better. This month we start off our photo shoot with Tony Chow flying his Thunder Tiger Raptor 30 chopper. The Raptor flies quite well on an OS 32. Tony is one of our pilots who flies both fixed wing (airplanes) and helicopters; using a Mode I transmitter stick configuration (throttle on the right stick and elevator/pitch control on the left stick for you younger pilots). This stick configuration was popular among several R/C pilots who flew Reeds prior to the introduction of the modern digital systems in the mid sixties; including Phil Kraft, Bob Violet and other well known modelers actively flying competitively in either pylon or pattern. The next photo captures a few of our Senior MWF-Club members mentioned last month, posing between flights and/or stories. Starting from the left is Lou Goldberg, Al Anderson, Pat Freeman, Ron Bozzonetti, and Tony Chow. Models almost visible in the foreground include Lou s GP AT-6 Texan w/enya 60 4- stroke; Pat s COROSTAR II; and Tony s NotForSale, sporting an OS 46fx in the nose. Dennis Heffner is shown in the third photo holding his GP J-3 Cub, which is powered by an OS 70 Surpass 4-stroker. In Dennis hands, it sounds and flies almost scale. And our final picture this month shows Chi Lin (a.k.a. Dr. Engine/ Tuned Pipe) holding his Champion 45L, with a very strong K&B 48 up front which appears to not be sporting a TP! Until next month, see you at the field and don t forget to bring yourself and a model or two to County Appreciation Day, June 9 th. For Sale: Hobbico Superstar Select 40. It is in great condition only 3 years old. Comes with an O.S.40 engine installed (Not the LA type). Four servos installed. It looks just like it does in the adds but there is a fat yellow strip around the wings midsection where the two wing half have been fiberglass together and a siluete picture of a person on the vertical stabilizer. This plane is a perfect trainer, It had me flying solo in just 5 flights. $150 obo. call Josh Adler at 301.469.0504 JUNE: 1 DCRC Training session 31-2 TOC Of Maryland, SWAP Field Baltimore ArtVail@erols.com 8 Freestate Model Warbirds, 9 DCRC County Appreciation Day 13-16 IMAA Rally of the Giants, Muncie IN 15 DCRC Training session 20 Modern Marvels TV Show, (History Ch) 21 DCRC Club Meeting 21-22-23 XFC in Dayton Ohio, Frank Noll 22 PGRC Q-500 Races 26 DCRC Board Meeting (Dooley) At the field 29-30 PGRC IMAC Contest Capitol Classic JULY: 6 DCRC Training session 19 DCRC Club Meeting (Gallaugher) 16-21 IMAC Nationals, AMA Site Muncie IN 20 DCRC Training session 20-21 Mid Atlantic Warbirds, Essex Park, MD 24 DCRC Board Meeting (Gallaugher) AUGUST: 3 DCRC Training session 16 DCRC Club Meeting (Jackson) 17 DCRC Training session 17 PGRC Q-500 Pylon Race 21 DCRC Board meeting (Jackson) 17-18 Frederick Airshow FDK, MD 23-25 Bealeton IMAA, Virginia www.bealetonflyin.com 31 DCRC Training session SEPTEMBER: 14 DCRC Training session 20 DCRC Club Meeting (Nielsen) Nominations 21-22 PGRC Q-500 Races 25 DCRC Board Meeting (Nielsen) 28 DCRC Training session OCTOBER: 5 PGRC 11th Annual Open House Fly-In 6 DCRC Oktoberfest 12 DCRC Training Session 12 PGRC Q-500 Races 18 DCRC Club Meeting (McDaniel) Elections 23 DCRC Board Meeting (McDaniel) 26 DCRC Training session NOVEMBER 9 last DCRC Training session
PAGE 6 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB JUNE 2002 Xtra Easy 1-2-3? BY MARY CATHERINE JOHNS LADAS PHOTOS BY ANDY KANE Early Saturday required juggling schedules. I had confirmed complex arrangements and organized chauffeur duties for the day. It was now the relaxing part of my Saturday morning. The airfield was a haven. Bob Yount appeared, She s the one! She can help us, I heard him shout to Andy. I looked over. Bob turned to me, Can t you? Sure, I responded, not even second-guessing my desire to be helpful. Saturday mornings on the airfield were always pleasant experiences with the generosity of expertise and teaching. I was so appreciative of everybody s assistance and kindness in teaching flight preparedness, safety and flying skills to Louis. Anything, I thought. Nothing big, Andy shows me the box with an airplane on it. You re going to put this together for us then fly it. Andy s expression didn t change. I stood speechless. I had never built a model airplane but, years ago, I learned of their life cycle. A box full of balsa wood arrived by UPS truck. After many days a plane emerged. I d go to the airfield and watch the first few flights. I learned about dancing trees and dodging cows, and briars. Some planes withstood hours of meticulous repair while others hung in stages of disrepair. I had seen bits of balsa wood pinned to wax paper covered boards and had been asked to feel the smoothness of a sanding job. I had been shown the importance of sanding the glue to be imperceptible. I had seen the careful cutting to extract the most from a mono-kote roll, and the process and painstaking effort to prevent wrinkling. I had been taught to respect the deli- cate materials and process in building a plane so the plane would be well balanced. My only experience in flying airplane models was of my brother s newly built Jap Zero U-Control. Upon my protest, I was required to fly this, first. I immediately put it into a nosedive where it met with the hardened soil. I don t know whether he felt worse for me, knowing how badly I felt, or if I felt worse for him knowing how hard he had worked. I decided model airplane building or flying was not for me. The box said Xtra Easy 1-2-3. Of course, I didn t believe it. It was intimidating. Andy looked at his watch. I began. From the start, the directions were easy to read, and seemed easy to follow. However, not familiar with the process, I found myself rereading the directions to help retain the order of what needed to be done. I felt apprehensive handling the wings; afraid I might break through the mono-kote or damage the underlying structure. Andy assured me I didn t have to treat it so gingerly. This proved true and I was able to focus on the fact that putting the plane together mostly involved snapping or slipping parts into place. All of the materials were enclosed in the box, were easy to find, and were identified. For example, the servo for the aileron was so marked with a tab. If I didn t know a part, i.e. servo, or whether to use the long screw or the short screw, the pictures made it clear. I was usually surprised by the quick completion of a step. The most difficult part of putting the plane together was in getting a screw into a recessed part of the fuselage. After finding the screw I had dropped in the grass (thanks, Bob) the solution was to tape the screw to the screwdriver (thanks, Andy.) This was to be the first time I was to fly a radio control model aircraft. Andy took it off and gave me three, short instructions on how to turn the plane using the two knobs on the radio control box. Once the plane was in straight and level flight, the controls didn t have to be touched. Andy handed the box off to me. The plane flew as easily as Andy had described, and with appreciably less finesse I was able to keep it in the air without feeling frantic it would spin out of control. I turned the plane several times for the fun of it. I handed the box back to Andy for the landing. It had been thrilling to try; and fun to fly. I couldn t imagine a less complicated introduction into model aircraft flying. It broke me through a personal threshold and reminded me of the ageold maxim to never count yourself out until you try. I know the intent wasn t to get me involved, but thank you Andy, Bob, and DCRC for giving me the opportunity. I enjoyed the Saturday much more than I ever expected. And in the end, yes, a novice could put together and fly a plane within an hour. The Xtra Easy 1-2-3 RTF was as easy to assemble and fly for a novice, sans take off and landing, as it was claimed to be. Come with your plane, boxed or assembled, to one of the upcoming training sessions. Next two are June 15th and July 6th.
JUNE 2002 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RADIO CONTROL CLUB PAGE 7 BY JIM MCDANIEL Ketchup It truly was and is an honor to have been chosen and receive the Outstanding Service Award in memory of Dr Al Montzka. As I look over the names of the past recipients, I m humbled to be a part of this history. At the April Meeting when Charlie was describing who Dr Montzka was and his unselfish contribution to our hobby I was looking around the room trying to figure out who might be the recipient? It never entered my mind to think it was me! Honestly! That having been said, rest assured my service to the club continues, Business as usual. Our flight instruction program is off to a robust start this year! As many as 25 students at each session so far. Thanks go to Kevin for continuing this challenge. Thank You s go to all the support Kevin receives from both Instructors and Ground help! With out your volunteerism and support this program would not be successful. Remember, you don t have to help every time, just as often as your schedule permits. Opening day was again a great success. Fun was had by all! Weather was a bit iffy, but still a great turnout. Thanks to David Fepelstein for the good time! You ve probably noticed by now the new tables. May 25 th (Field Clean Up Day) we assembled new tables, 10 in all, six for the Airplane side and four for the Helicopter side. It s pretty nice having a level table that you don t have to leaning over while working on your plane. DC/RC paid for and constructed these new tables. Thank You s go out to Jeff Mervis and Mike Peizer for covering for me at the May meeting while I and the family attended this years Joe Nall in Greenville South Carolina. If you like model airplanes of all kinds and size from Big to Bigger, Warbirds, Scale, Scale Aerobatic, this is one of the finest and best display you ll find. See the Pictured insert. DC/RC is well represented down here! We had a terrific day. A Field Trip if you d like. On May 24, one of our members (Ron Trower) son (Kevin) convinced his 5 th grade teachers at Mill Creek Elementary School to have all eighty (yeah 80) of his 5 th Grade classmates come to the Flying Field and learn about Model Airplanes. With Science being the flavor of the day, we spent a lot of time talking about what make an Internal Combustion engine run, how does the transmission of the signal/frequency happen etc These Kids, Teachers and Chaperones loved this. Many of them had no idea this hobby even existed. The word of the day was COOL. As a treat, the teachers had selected some of the students to actually get on the buddy box with me and give flying a real time try, instead of just watching. These kids went from saying; I can t do this, too? You guessed it, COOL! They had a blast! These Field Trips are geared toward educational and yet are a great opportunity to reach out to our youth and expose them to this hobby of Model Aviation. As I mentioned earlier, these Field Trips are Educational! Well they are. But we like to give a little extra! I invited Andy Kane to come along with me and provide the WOW for the day. Andy put on an Aerobatic Demonstration that had all, and I mean all the Kids watching in amazement! They couldn t believe their eyes! It quickly became obvious, the stuff I had shown them was COOL, but the stuff Andy showed them was WAY COOLER. A heartfelt Thank You goes out to Andy, from the kids and I, for taking time out of his day to help perpetuate our hobby. See you at the June Meeting. Jim
Return To: Andy Kane 305 Natick Court SILVER SPRING MD 20905-5875 FIRST CLASS MAIL Hi I'm Doug! Welcome to my Hobby Shop. "May I help you?" That's what I said to my customers when I first started in the hobby business. It was a small 2,500 SQ. FT. retail store built to serve hobby enthusiasts in the southern Maryland area. Well, Thirty years have gone by and my goal is still the same, complete customer satisfaction and I still work long hours to attain this. The only difference I see today are 1) I am now serving hobbyist all over the United States and 2) I am supported by a tremendous staff, the D.H.S. Team, who share my aspirations. The D.H.S. team feels that complete customer service can only be attained by serving you better today than we did yesterday. We offer quality merchandise at fantastically low prices along with expert friendly assistance. It is our pleasure to support the DCRC Club Raffle E-mail us at dougsrc@dougshobby.com Doug's Hobby Shop 2935 Crain Hwy. Waldorf, MD 20601 Orders 1-888-DOUGS RC (368-4772) Local (301)843-7774, (301)932-9405 Fax Orders 1-301-870-5592 Store Hours: Monday - Friday 10 am.- 8 pm. Saturday 10 am - 6 pm. Sunday Noon - 4 pm. JR10X Airplane Radio World Championship Precision Radio Control System Complete Set a $1300.00 Value Includes: 10X Transmitter, Metal Transmitter Case 950 Receiver, Data Safe Computer Software 4/DS-8231 Digital Servos, 1400 Mah Extra Battery Drawing to be held Saturday August 24, 2002 at the Bealeton Flying Circus, Virginia Need Not be present to Win, Only a limited number of tickets will be sold See Andy Kane for tickets and more details.