Newsletter Editor The Johnstown R/C Club Roger A. Luther raluther@atlanticbb.net October 2012 Newsletter AMA Charter # 718 2012 Johnstown RC Clubs 50th Year Upcoming Activities... Join us online at: www.johnstownrc.org Member of the Month... September Family Picnic... Sunday, September 30 th, 5pm at the field. This will probably be our last picnic for 2012. Don't miss this one! Bring a dish to pass and a plane or two. On this day we will hold a Half A Texaco "Postal" contest, so bring a Half A Plane! October Club Meeting: Tuesday, October 2 nd, Note the earlier winter time schedule, 7:30 pm at the Richland Twp. Municipal Building. November Club Meeting: Due to Election Day, our November meeting will be held on th Wednesday, November 7, 7:30 pm. Nomination of officers for 2013. Member of the Month Zane Kough Zane Kough likes to fly all types of aircraft including electric, gas, and even Helies. He has six planes in his hanger, plus three helecopters. Zane was a member of our club many years ago, back when the flying field was up in New Ashtola on the other side of Windber. That must have been 40 years ago, but he lost interest and then moved away from the area. Below, Zane and one of his electric planes with Grant Moore. January In-Door Fly-In: Jan. 8th Half A Texaco "Postal" Contest Sunday, September 30th Zane Kough with Grant Moore
For a number of years Zane was a member of the Midwest Sundowner's RC Club out in the state of Indiana. Zane is trained as a tool and die maker, and has worked for Joy Air Compressor Co, as well as the Bendix Corporation making engine controls. Zane has however, spent most of his adult life in the Johnstown area. of their club members helping Zane get a plane ready for flight. As with all RC fliers, Zane has lost a plane or two over the years. Remember that beautiful Decathalon pictured on the first page, well this is that same plane after a rather nasty crash after many trips to the sky. When he returned to the Johnstown area after working in Indiana, he joined the former Mulligan Hill RC Club, (Now Valley Brook) and flew down there, since he lives in the west end or lower Yoder Twp. area of Johnstown, the distance to either clubs flying field is about the same. He has been a member of our club during this second stint for the past four or five years. Zane is fifty-five years old and has two sons age 29, and 30. For about five years now he has been unable to work in his profession due to a disability that plagues him. We often find him joining the "morning fliers group" of retired guys who visit the field on nice sunny mornings, as well as some evenings and weekends. We salute Zane Kough as our October "Member of the Month". Above is a shot taken a few years ago at the Mulligan Hill Club and shows a number Member of the Month...Zane Kough!
A Visit to the Miami RC Club, Lebanon, OH... Aerial View of the Miami Valley Club Your editor had the privilege of taking a trip out to Lebanon, OH, not too far from Dayton, to visit a friend, and located only about a half mile away was the flying field of the Miami Valley RC Club. I got to fly there twice and was welcomed both times. They have a leased field, with a paved runway and a very nice clubhouse. The club house contains storage for three Alpha Trainer planes which they use to teach new flyers on trainer cords. They also have a desk with a giant flat screen computer display for using the Real Flight simulator, right there at the field. In addition to probably 12 plane stands, they have a covered area with picnic tables and chairs and benches for spectators. The club has about 150 members, charges $50 annual dues, and they pay someone to mow the grass areas around the paved runway. Above is a view of their club house and covered picnic table & patio area. The field is surounded by farmland crops, and is very flat. The only trees are a good ways off, and not a factor in approaches. I took a video of their field on one of my flights and several still shots. It took awhile to get used to the paved runway and of course my Escapade wing got a little "runway rash" during a quick turn at the end of the runway. It was tricky to get used to a paved runway, turns are much quicker than on our normal grass field. I really think I prefer our nice short cut grass runway to the paved runway. The other thing I noticed is you really have to watch on your landings, that thing is only as wide as a two lane road, and sometimes hard to hit in the center. Kind of short too, turns out it's only 300 feet long, compared to our 900 foot long grass field. Your planes rolls alot more after you land with the smooth pavement. I guess it's just something you have to get used to, but this flyer likes our runway better! It was a great visit though. Another view from my "Plane-Cam"
The Three Escapades... You have all heard about the three Musketeers, and perhaps the three Amigos, well, above are the three Escapades! One night a few weeks ago, Roger, Ken, and Bruce all brought the same plane out and the picture above was snapped. Of course we put'em on high rates and raced them around for about 10 minutes and surprisingly there were no mishaps! We all agree though, that the Escapade, made by Great Planes, and available through Tower Hobbies, for $129, is a great flyer and an easy ARF to assemble. Giant Scale Fly-In... about half way between Reading and WilkesBarre. The event was well attended with dozens of very large scale planes, as well as a number of turbine jets. At one point there was quite a group of war birds up, including three Corsair's with folding wings. A large 1/3 scale "The Beast" made by Hanger 9 performed a great show during a noon demo. The "Beast" with pilot Mike Luciano For a nice 2 minute video plus a lot more pictures, check out the front page of the District III website at: WWW.AMADISTRICT-III.COM This club is only about 5 years old, but puts on 3 or 4 big events each year including this Giant Scale extravaganza. While visiting our son who lives near Wilkes-Barre, PA, I was checking the new AMA District III website and saw that a giant scale event was being held the same weekend, and only about 45 minutes away. Well, I asked my son and grandson if they would like to come with me and they said "YES"! The event was at the Farview RC Flyers field which is near Hamburg, PA, The field is very level "fairway" worthy grass field, and over a half mile long! The venue was fantastic and really enjoyable.
August Family Picnic... The August Family Picnic was held on Sunday, the 26 t h. We had sporadic rain showers, but nothing heavy enough to dampen our flying. We were able to conduct the Half A Texaco "intra-club" contest plus a few others who got to fly between the sprinkles. The meal was awesome as usual, with the ladies bringing an bountiful variety of dishes to compliment Ken's Ball Parks, and Ken Shilling's corn on the cob. The attendance was above average with a count at one time of 25 cars in the parking area. The "Intra-Club" annual Half A Texaco contest went fairly well with Cliff Majercsik taking first place. This was a mixed blessing, since on a later flight, after the wind picked up, Cliff lost his plane over toward the golf course due to the prevailing wind, and couldn't get it back to the field. After some searching, it appears to be lost for a long time, or for as long as the leaves are on the trees at least. Second place went to Jim Patterson, followed by Scott Holsopple who took third. Six club members took part in the contest and in addition to those listed above, Paul Yuhas, Sam Kaplitz, and Ken Reesey gave it the old college try. The Johnstown RC Club's Half A Texaco Boys, from left to right, Jim, Ken, Scott, Paul, Sam, Grant, Cliff, and Mark. --------------------------Even with a few occasional light showers, it was a very successful family picnic by all accounts. I could never get an accurate count, but close to 50 people were present for this important club event. Quite a few of the wives were in attendance which always means..."great Food". We love you all! Abby Majercsik shows her joy by swinging on one of the tent supports, after watching her Dad compete in, and then winning the Half A Texaco Contest.
Club member Ed Develin and his daughter Elizabeth, camped out at our field on Friday evening, August 24 t h. Ken Reesey and Roger Luther flew with them on Friday evening, and they, plus a few other club members joined them for donuts the following morning, and we all flew again. This camping trip has become an annual fall event for Ed and his daughter. They enjoyed RC flying, a campfire, and even some fire-works in addition to camping out at the field in their tent. Thankfully, there was no rain! Above, Paul, Sam, and Ken tally up the flight times for the Half A Contest. Bill and "Satch" Rosage enjoy the picnic Annual Camping Trip... Club member Ed Develin and Elizabeth Giant Scale at our Field! We received a call from AMA member Dave Harris, who hails from West Virginia, but was camping near Bedford, and he asked if he could come fly at our field on Tuesday, August 28 t h. We of course agreed, and gave him directions. Well, much to our surprise he arrived with a large trailer containing not one, but three 1/3 scale airplanes. I was able to get the word out and Ken Reesey, Caleb, Zane, Fred, Bill, and myself got to watch him fly impressive 3-D maneuvers. Quite amazing to watch this large plane do all sorts of stunts, 3-D hover, and it was fantastic display, that's for sure. He agreed to come back and fly during our Arbutus Demo scheduled for Friday, August 31 s t. Dave is a member of the Prop Buster's RC Club in WV, and is a construction superintendent for commercial buildings. He and his wife camp in the Bedford area quite often, so we might see him again in the future. He visited our field three times during his stay in Bedford, and really wowed the crowd on Friday, August 31 s t when we welcomed the Arbutus Retirement Community group who came out for an RC demo and picnic. There was something special this time, three giant scale aircraft which flew quite a number of times, once even with "smoke"! These West Virginia boys were really sharp with their flying and quite a few members came out to watch thier portion of the demo. Thanks for the Show Dave and Kenny!
September Club Meeting: Dave and Kenny Harris & the 35% YAK The 37% YAK goes verticle Just before they departed we snapped this picture of the group of residents who came out to visit our field from the Arbutus Park Retirement Community. They even brought lunch for all the club members who were watching and flying their planes. It was a great day for everyone! Our September meeting was held on Tuesday, the 4 t h. It was a great night for flying before the meeting, but only Roger and Kenny came out to the field to fly. We had 15 members present. Sam opened the meeting followed by Paul reading the minutes of the last meeting, and Ken reporting on our finances. The port-a-john has been cleaned twice since changing to the new company, and everything is working well, even though we have not yet received our first bill from Kamzik Sanitation. Sam reported on the August family picnic, which was reported on earlier in this newsletter. We decided to have our clubs Half A Texaco "postal" contest during the next family picnic on Sunday, Sept. 30 t h. After much discussion, we voted on our dues rates for the year 2013. They will be as follows: Full Member, $55, Non-Fly Member, $20, and Jr. Member, $10. There will be no discount for early payment, as has been the case in the past. These rates should keep us financially sound for the coming year, given the estimated amounts for each expense line item. This is the first year for an increase in at least 12 years, and is long overdue. Roger and Bruce brought their computer and projector and during the show-n-tell portion of the meeting & they showed pictures from the Giant Scale flying we experienced at our field during the past week. We also saw some of the pictures from the Arbutus Retirement Community demo held on Friday, August, 24 t h. Six Arbutus men joined us for the Flying Demo, and they also fed the half dozen club members who were there to talk to, and fly for them. We decided to hold our November meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 7 T h, since the regular Tuesday date is election day. It was also decided that we will have a pot-luck type In-Door Fly-In in January, since Neil and his wife will be away. Everybody is to bring a dish to pass, similar to the Family Picnics. The date for this event will be January 8 t h, since the first Tuesday is New Years Day this year.