newsletter january 2005.indd

Propbusters
Publication of
Rapid City Propbusters
Radio Control Club
Volume 47
Issue 1
News and
Notes
It is time to clean
out your closets
and drawers. The
Propbuster
auction is set for
April, 16th. Send
a list of auction
items to Jim Tiller
so a list can be
compiled.
If you have not
already paid
your 2005 dues,
please make
your payment to
Treasurer Denny
Bernal at the next
meeting.
Have you received
your AMA card
for 2005?
Newsletter
AMA Charter 591 Rapid City, South Dakota and the Black Hills Area
Chilly and Chili for New Years
15 degree Temperatures Greets Frost Your Buns
If you remember last year’s Frost Your Buns Fly ,
it was a real treat with the temperature topping 50
degrees. But that was last year and in true South
Dakota tradition, this New Year’s high was about 15
with a little snow flurry thrown in for good measure. On the brighter side, there was no wind. Club
‘historians’ put this day’s temperature in the top (or
bottom) five in the long Frost Your Buns archives.
Not to be intimidated, our flyers rose to the challenge and put several aircraft in the air and quite
a bit of chili in their bellies. Those in attendance
included club President Doc McGuigan, vice
president Darrell Cassidy, Secretary Ken Corrin,
Treasurer Denny Bernal and members Ken Gatzke,
Jim Tiller, Gene Steeley, Bob Olson, and Wayne
Zimmerman. Chili donations came from Doc and
Denny as usual. Ken Corrin brought along some
excellent cookies.
.
umbs
Ge
g his th
y freezin
ne Steele
There was
snow in the
air as we arrived and the
field got a
good dusting before
it ended.
Jim Tiller,
Ken Corrin, Gene
Steeley
and Ken
Gatzke
put
planes
in the
air, with visibility fair in the intermittent snow.
Gene Steeley lost a wheel shortly after take off,
but landed uneventfully on 2/3 of the gear. When
asked if any emergency actions were taken before
the landing, he remarked that mother nature had
‘foamed the runway’. Ken Corrin got the prize
for the most
flights with
his electric
glider.
It wasn’t long
before the
crew gathered
around Denny’s heater
in the shelter
and sampled
the chili,
corn bread
and cookKen Corrin brings in his glider.
ies. There
was plenty of food to go around but space near the
heater was in short supply.
By noon, our weather hardened crew had decided
that a warm house, hot coffee and New Year’s day
football were preferable to freezing your fingers
trying make balky engines stay running in the cold,
so they began packing up and heading toward their
TV set or work shop.
I’m sure we’ll make it back again next year to
celebrate the first flying in 2006. I could say it
can’t get much worse, but knowing South Dakota
weather, I’ll just say: Bring it on.
The official chili tasting crew.
January 2005
Propbuster Christmas Party
From the
Desk of the
President
New Location, Good Food, Plenty of Fun
This year’s Propbuster Christmas party
entrees we previously selected were all
was held Sunday night, December, 5th at
pretty darn good according to everyone’s
Arrowhead Country Club. The setting
reports.
was
differAfter supper Doc picked up
ent this
the ticket containers and beyear
gan drawing number for the
thanks
gift exchange. It seems the
to the
Christmas elves had a little
work
trouble sorting the tickets by
or Ken
gender as the first five numCorrin
bers drawn were ladies. That
and
just meant most of the ladies
Lowell
got their presents unwrapped
Hambefore the men got started.
ilton.
After
Bob Olson, last year’s recipiBob Olson and Gene Kelly with their gifts.
last
ent of the Traveling Trophy
year’s party goers expressed some disaward brought the trophy to be presented
pleasure with the quality of the food at the to Wayne Zimmerman -- his choice for the
Holiday Inn, Lowell Hamilton
has suggested using the country
club since their food was top
notch.
Since our group was smaller
than the minimum for a Sunday
special event, we had to do
some negotiating. But, with
Ken and Lowell’s diligent efforts, this was our site this year.
And from those I’ve talked to
the change was a good one.
Summer and Clancy Kingsbury open their exchange gifts.
The food and the atmosphere
were great.
next recipient. Since Wayne was not there,
we suitably praised his name was with all
Those attending were: Doc and Arlene
due pomp and circumstance and the trophy
McGuigan; Darrell and Barb Cassidy; Bob will be given to him in person at the Januand Barb Olson; Lowell and Adeline Ham- ary meeting.
ilton; Gene and Maren Kelley, Ken and
Roberta Corrin; Ben and Regina Roller;
The evening finished with a short video
Zac and Cary Roller; Clancy and Summer
showing some acrobatic performances by
Kingsbury; Mike and Terri Wagner; and
air show pilots. Pretty exciting.
Jim and Judi Tiller.
All in all a good time for all present and a
The evening began with good conversafitting way to close the 2004 flying year.
tion and some dues collecting. Jim Tiller
The consensus of those present is that
set up the year’s photos on his laptop for
we should go back to the country club
everyone to take a look at. The gifts for
next December. This will be proposed to
the exchange were sorted and tickets given the membership at the general meeting.
to those who would participate.
Happy flying in 2005 and see you at next
year’s party.
The dinner orders came soon after and everyone sat down to some food. The three
Page 2
Newslette
r Editor
The executive committee met just before
Christmas and set some dates for club
events for 2005. A copy of the proposed
schedule is enclosed in this issue. Adds,
changes and deletes can be made at the
January meeting and then it will be proposed for approval by the members.
There are a couple of new things in
this year’s events. We have proposed a
pylon race day at the Promised Land this
summer. Doc’s wind socks are the right
distance apart for use as pylons and we
thought it might be fun to get a few planes
in the air and circle the pylons. This is
strictly a run-what-you-have type thing
with no ‘real’ racing intended -- just an
excuse to do something a little different.
Another new idea is to award Propbuster
bucks for participation in club events.
This valuable currency with be negotiable
at the Christmas party in the way of prizes
that will be auctioned. The Propbuster
bucks will be your currency to spend on
those prizes. You’ll get $100 Propbuster
bucks for every club function you attend,
including monthly meetings. You get
another $100 if you fly at the event. You
will also get another $100 bucks for being
a CD at one of the club’s events. This is
intended to be a way to reward those members who participate in the club’s activities. At the meeting we will decide how
much we want to put into the prize pool
for the end of the year. Perhaps we could
put in enough for someone to get a new
motor or perhaps complimentary dues.
Come to the meeting and put in your two
cents worth concerning these ideas. These
proposals can always ber changed or
modified. Our only goal is to put a little
fun into the club activities. Let us know at
the meeting want you want to do.
One Hundred Propbuster Bucks
Signature
Date
100
One Hundred
100
In Bernoulli We Trust
One Hundred Propbuster Bucks
January 2005
Defensive Flying
One of the tips noted last month in defensive flying was using a check list. Here’s
a checklist that I designed. Let me know
what should be added or deleted and I will
put the check list on a card that can be put
in your wallet or field box. I would appreciate any changes and/or improvements.
Engine Start
Batteries - transmitter/receiver level OK.
Radio range - checked.
Frequency pin - On transmitter.
Wing Bolts/Struts - Tight.
Fuel tank - Full.
Aircraft - Properly restrained.
Transmitter - Switch on.
Model memory - Correct aircraft selected.
Receiver - Switch on.
Control surfaces - Movement correct.
Trims - Centered.
Throttle - Set to idle, high trim.
Glow plug - Battery attached.
Painting with Cheap Rattle Can Spray - Part 3
by Jim Tiller
from Flying Models, the internet and other sources,
Special thanks to Larry Scott and contributors.
Even if you cover your aircraft with a
film covering, you often still have to paint
wheel pants or cowls a matching color. Is
the model specific paint worth the extra
dough? Or can you save a few bucks and
just go down and buy a can of hardware
store paint ? As usual, there is arguments
to be made for both answers. Here’s some
information on the cheap stuff from long
time modelers that might be of use.
Take off.
Hardware store
paints are usually
enamels, lacquers
or water based
enamels. You have
to check the can to
know which type
you are buying.
Most enamels and
lacquers are not
fuel proof. The
nitro in glow fuel is
a good solvent and
will soften them in
a hurry. However, when I polled modelers
many had used hardware store paint with
success, but usually qualified the answer
with what brand of paint they used. The
name I heard most was Rustoleum and
Krylon was a close second.
Rate Switches - Properly selected.
Traffiic - Note traffic in pattern.
Intentions - Announced to other flyers.
Flaps - Take off position.
The amount of nitro in the fuel is another
variable. If you use 10% sport fuel, you
may get away with some brands where another modeler using 30% helicopter fuel in
his Saito 4-stroke would have a problem.
Taxi
Glow Plug - Battery removed.
Antenna - fully extended.
Wind direction - Note active runway.
Traffic - Clear taxi and runway.
Landing
Rate Switches - Properly selected.
Trim - Landing position.
Flaps/Gear - Landing position.
Runway - Clear.
Wind direction - Note active runway.
Intentions. Announced to other flyers.
Shut down
Receiver - Switch off.
Transmitter - Switch off.
Frequency pin - Returned.
Fuel Tank - Empty.
Page 3
Another factor to consider is where is the
paint in relation to fuel spray. You can
often get by on wheel pants if they are not
directly in the path of the exhaust. The
same is true on cowls. If the exhaust is
directed away from the cowl and you have
a remote fuel filler, you may be able to use
non-fuel proof paint.
Strangely enough, another factor to
consider is drying time. Most one-part
paints will continue to evaporate solvent
for days or even weeks. In that drying
state, the paint is still soft and solvents
have a greater effect. If you rush your
newly painted project to the field, you may
have a different result than if the paint is
allowed to dry a couple of weeks before
being exposed to fuel. This is also a good
reason to clean your plane after use. If
you leave fuel on the painted surfaces for
a long time, it will have a better chance of
softening the finish.
You can also fuel proof the finish with a
clear coat. Some modelers use the cheap
spray paints or even plastic model paints
for the color scheme and then spray
the whole thing with a fuel proof clear
-- usually a hobby specific brand such as
Lusterkote. However, several modelers
mentioned using one of the hardware store
clear polyurethanes. One brand was menttioned more than others:: Minwax clear
polyurethane. It would be worth a try.
One problem with clear coats is that most
of the spray can varieties are not really
clear but have some tint -- usually yellow.
This will change the hue of light colored
undercoats, especially white. Be sure to
do some testing before clear coating the
whole plane.
Another problem with clear coating
hardware store spray paint is compatibility.
Again, test the clear coat on a sample of
your finish to make sure that the clear does
not attack the undercoat paint.
How about just going to to gas or electric
motors? Most all hardware store paint,
including house paint, is impervious to
gasoline. And with electric’s -- well the
answer is obvious.
We may have enough info for one more
episode next month. Continued...
January 2005
Frost Your Buns
Picture Gallery
715 Main St
342-0875
WING SPAN: 37 IN (940MM)
OVERALL LENGTH: 36 IN (915 MM)
WING AREA: 329 SQ IN (21 SQ DM)
FLYING WEIGHT: 22 � 25 OZ (625 - 710 G)
MOTOR SIZE: PARK 400 BRUSHLESS
RADIO: 4 CHANNEL
SERVOS: 4 SUB-MICRO
January Special:
Mini-Funtana Regular $119.99
Sale Price: $99.99
Rock-solid harriers. Stable torque
rolls. Waterfalls...blenders...
parachutes...all the aerobatic
maneuvers imaginable. And
doing it electric style.
Darrell Cassidy helps Ken Gatzke
get a reluctant two-stroke fired and
into the air in South Dakota cold.
The new Mini Funtana 3D EP ARF is an extraordinary aerobatic performer designed especially for park flyer pilots who
prefer flying electric. It’s lightly constructed from balsa and
ply. It includes carbon fiber landing gear, fiberglass cowl and
wheel pants -- the same level of materials and craftsmanship
that goes into the big Funtan, but at a lower price.
Coming Events
01/11 - January Meeting. 7:30 P.M. Everyone welcome.
02/08 - February Meeting. 7:30 P.M. Everyone welcome. Table designs presented and prize awarded.
02/26 - Table Building. 1:00 P.M. Hills Tire and Supply.
03/08 - March Meeting. 7:30 P.M. Everyone welcome. Show and Tell new winter projects.
03/20 - Spring Fling. 9:00 A.M. Everyone welcome. First flight day for winter projects.
Propbuster Monthly Newsletter
Officers
President...............P.M. McGuigan, MD 348-6676
Vice President ............ Darrell Cassidy 716-3500
Treasurer ...................... Dennis Bernal 342-5209
Secretary .......................... Ken Corrin 342-3663
Editor ......................................Jim Tiller 341-9135
AST Manager ... ..P.M. McGuigan, MD 348-6676
Join us at the next meeting, Tuesday, January
11th, 7:30 P.M., in the
basement of the Beanery, Creamery Mini Mall,
201 Main St.
2815 Maple Av
Rapid City, Sd 57701