May 2007 file
Transcription
May 2007 file
The Official Newsletter of the Diablo Valley Radio Controllers 3500 John Henry Johnson Parkway P.O. Box 9411 Pittsburg, CA. 94565 May 2007 www.dvrc.org From the Editor: To round out the month we had the annual HobbyTown swap meet in the parking lot next to HobbyTown, Concord. And I almost did it again. But I waked away with my hide still intact. My wallet was still warm from the auction. Goood morning DVRC….. Well, a fairly busy month! Will the fun never end? We can hope not… Could have been busier but the holiday weekend slowed us down some. I hope you all have something planned. BBQ at home or with friends. Most of all, take a minute to remember our fallen brothers in arms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It’s just money. It’s not like it’s anything important. Did you know that Memorial day, a day of remembrance for those that have died in our nations service, is actually May 30th but we now observe it on the last Monday of the month. Did you know that it was originally called “Decoration Day”? It started with organized women’s groups decorating the graves of fallen soldiers before the end of the civil war. The day was offically proclaimed on may 5th 1868 and celebrated on May 30th 1868. It took congress until 1971 to proclaim it a national holiday. Only 103 years. Why am I not surprised??? So, lets see, we had Newbie day this month. Lots to see on that as you turn the pages. Then we had a meeting with a huge auction after. That would have been more fun if I could keep my hands in my pockets….. You will note that we have a new contributor this month. It’s nice little article too. I will say it again, in case you didn’t know, I will gladly print just about anything you members want. If you have a thought, idea, experience, or a relevant rant, let me know and we’ll get it in the newsletter. So, read on and enjoy your weekend. See you at the field… T. J. Houchins, Newsletter Editor [email protected] 925.550.6279 On the cover: The happy raffle winners from the Newbie Day/Open House on May 5th. Each of them is a first time flyer and were entered in the raffle. It’s like the DVRC farm system… 2 The President’s Corner… May 2007 we will open to discussion and vote upon the following: Should Alameda Hornet Squadron RC Club be given Subordinate Organization status at DVRC, and under what conditions. For example, the duration of such status. Hi All and welcome to the May newsletter. Most of you are familiar with AHSRC (Alameda Hornet Squadron RC) one of our neighboring RC clubs. I bring this to your attention because they have just received news of their lease being revoked by the Navy. With permanent loss of their runway due to the Navy beginning contamination cleanup, they are left looking for an alternate flying field with little notice. Finding a replacement in the Bay Area is likely to be a time consuming task. This set us thinking about how we might help overcome the short notice. It is my hope that should DVRC ever be faced with such a serious setback, our neighbors will rally around us and assist wherever they can. This is our opportunity to consider doing just that for a local club in need. I urge you to come to the meeting and share your comments and questions. -----Fun stuff starts here-------Newbie Day, Oh my what fun we had. Kids all over the place, both on the ground and in the air. The sun was nice enough to come join us, but brought along a stiff breeze with it. High winged trainers were the order of the day, and the kids did a great job flying them in the adverse conditions. As per usual "kids" refers to both young and young at heart and many adults were seen at the sticks with the same silly (having fun) grin as their kids. This was the first event as CD for Steve Anderson and he did a marvelous job. Thank you Steve. Also to be thanked are the many members and one non-member that made the day such a success. HobbyTown helped provide raffle prizes including three park flyers and the newbie's ran off with them all. At the last club meeting it was proposed that we extend a helping hand by allowing AHSRC to have "Subordinate Organization" status at DVRC for 2007, as provided for in DVRC's Bylaws. What this would mean to AHSRC is that their club would have access to our facilities and would be governed by all the same rules and regulations as our regular members. In order for this to be considered and put to the vote, it is required by DVRC's Bylaws that our membership be given notice of the intent to address this issue. So to make this official, Saturday June 9th 2007 10:00am in the clubhouse, 3 The President’s Corner… (Continued) May 2007 In my mind a perfect outcome. Please see Steve's comments in this newsletter for further details, but I would just like to thank the newbie's themselves for taking the time and coming out to visit us. The auction held after May's club meeting was guided by our usual auctioneer, Greg. Thanks to Greg's hard work, all of the items were snapped up and the clubhouse no longer looks like Tom's garage. Thanks go to those that donated, purchased, Greg and ..... Dave. 8-) June was scheduled to be a quiet month with regard to events. But, the Memorial Day holiday caused the DVRC cup event to be rescheduled to June 2nd. June 9th is the aforementioned club meeting. The DVRC Cup is Saturday June 23rd and Tom's cooked up a new event for us as usual. So, a quiet month just got busy again. I look forward to seeing you all at the field and at the next meeting. All the best, Barry Whiffin 4 Along the Way… The park flyer I always wanted, but they didn’t make... Begin: Search for a park flyer that would be durable, not like foamies that need repair after each flight, fast, able to fly in wind, have a wide speed range, and aerobatic or 3D capable, and inexpensive if possible. Too much to ask, you say? The standard motor installation is a stick type mount for the geared 370 as seen in this photograph. Enter: Great Planes Mustang EP ARF “Sport Fighter” with a 33.5 “ span, 16 oz. Weight with a fully symmetrical airfoil should be okay. However, it’s supplied with a 370 brushed motor that makes only 65 to 85 watts. Not nearly enough power for aerobatics. An outrunner motor comes to mind. All sizes and power levels are now readily available. To enable the mounting of the outrunner I made a radial mounting system consisting of a vertical balsa bar which supports a light ply firewall. I kept the thrust angle at 0 degrees up or down and 0 degrees right or left and the thrust line remained unchanged. Build: Standard glue-the-partstogether ARF style. The plane has a neat simple flutter free hinging system of carbon fiber tubes & sleeves that is a positive feature. Wimpy, flexible, stock linkages are a negative. I choose to reinforce the wing and fuselage with strapping tape and used CA and fiberglass to add rigidity to the control horn mounting points. See the photo on the next page for details. 5 Along the Way… (continued) This picture shows the new home made motor mount. Battery box, speed control, and radio installation is a straight forward procedure. I positioned the 25 amp speed control on the outside of the fuselage for easy access and plenty of cooling airflow. The model balanced perfectly with a 1000 to 1320 mAh battery and slightly nose heavy with the 1500 mAh battery. Motor: I have tried two different motors that produce great results; 100 to 150 watts of power I used the Rimfire 22M–1000 with a 12 amp ESC. 200 + watts of power I used the Rimfire 28-30-1450 with a 25 amp ESC. For a slight weight penalty, 2 oz. Vs. 1.5 oz., the performance of the larger motor is outstanding. Overall the model flies well. Excellent rolls, loops, split S’s, stall turns, all easily performed. Negative roll coupling occurs with maximum rudder travel. Fair 3D performance in some maneuvers. It will penetrate well in windy conditions and will slow down well for spot landings. Battery: 3-s Lipo 1500 mAh works well, but causes the airplane to be a bit nose heavy. For light weight use 900 to 1320 3-s Lipo but be careful of the maximum discharge rates. Check battery temperature or use a watt meter. You have to keep in mind that with this conversion, this is not your grandpa’s Oldsmobile anymore. But also keep in mind that it flies well at part throttle. Have a look at the next page for a shot of the plane in action… Fly it: With 150 watts of power, performance is excellent. Good climbs, great aerobatics, great low speed performance and slow landings. You end up with a lighter wing loading as this combination of power system is 2 oz. Less than the stock 370 motor. With the 200 watt system you get outstanding vertical performance. VTO’s (vertical take off’s) are effortless and great high speed performance. 6 Along the Way… (continued) And Away… Parts Used: GP P51 EP ARF Up… GP Rimfire 28-30-1450 GP SS-25 Speed Control Thunder power 3-s Lipo 1320 mAh (20c) 3 oz GP 3-s Lipo 1500 mAh (15c) 4.5 oz Hitec HS-55 (3) servos Hitec HFS-05MS receiver Up… Similar ARF’s: YAK 55 3D ARF # gpma1190 Focke Wulf 190 EP ARF # gpma1193 Mitsubishi Zero EP ARF # gpma1195 Gruman Hellcat EP ARF # gpm1196 We have main engine start… Thanks for reading the article. See you at the field, Dan Lively 7 May Club Events The month of DVRC Club events started off this month with our annual “Newbie” day fun fly. This year the event was as big or bigger than it has ever been in terms of turnout. I saw the sign up sheet to fly and it had over 20 names. And that was just the kids and adults that wanted to try their hand at RC. There were a lot more folks that brought the kids who were spectators. Here are some shots of the event and keep reading as we have a closing address by this years CD, Steve Anderson… A large group of kids were in attendance this year as well as adults. The kids listen intently to the presidents address… After a short ground school, our instructor pilots got the kids in the air. Here is Ron trying to be kid sized in order to be a better coach Mike McCoy, with the aid of Ron Williams readies his big plane for the much anticipated candy drop… 8 May Club Events (continued…) When the candy hits the ground the race is on. The kids line up in anticipation of the candy drop… The BBQ was good as always. Everybody here looks happy. Look again at the cover shot and you will see prize winners from this group… Steve Anderson would like to say a few words to the club about the Newbie Day event: I would like to thank all of you for the time and effort you spent on Newbie Day. Without the help from all of you this couldn't have been the success that it was. Bob, what a great job getting the word out! Did you see how many people showed up? This had to be one of the biggest Newbie crowds to date! John, Jim, and Jack what a BBQ, every time I looked up that way, there were lines of people waiting to get some of that good food. No complaints from that hungry crowd. TJ , thanks for the flyer and certificate . What a great idea to get Mel's flight trainer. That really worked good to show the kids how the planes work. Really got their attention! Barry, Sean, Ron and Greg you guys flew your hearts out on Saturday. I just loved seeing the smiling faces on those kids and adults as they were flying. Isn't that what this day is all about, giving them the chance to fly and to see what we have all enjoyed doing for so long. 9 May Club Events (continued…) Tom, and Sean thanks for all your help. Sean thanks again for helping get the great raffle prizes, as always Hobby Town helps out, we are so lucky to have them . It was so neat to see how happy all those the kids were that won a prize, and that they were all Newbie Day flyers. Tom thanks for all your help with the email, and just the support that you gave to the day. Mike your plane looks great, I can appreciate the may hours you spent building it for the candy drop. The first thing my youngest grandson said to me, was grandpa is there going to be a candy drop? Thank you for doing that special part of Newbie day each year. To the unknown guest, I think his name was Jim. What a surprise to get a laptop with the G3 Simulator for the kids to use. He was so patient with them, you could tell they were enjoying that as much as the real thing. Thanks again to all of you for a very successful day. Steve Anderson , Newbie Day CD Next up for the month of may we had our regularly scheduled meeting and because of two very large and generous donations of RC planes, kits, helicopters, and equipment we needed to hold an extra auction. The club house was brimming with airplanes. Greg Gallegos CD’ed the auction as he does with the annual year end auction. As usual he did a fine job of selling and quieting the peanut gallery…. The club took in a terrific $1106. That will go along way to a paint job for the club house. Thanks Greg. The auction is under way here. As you can see, every bit of available table, and wall space is being used. 10 May Club Events (continued…) Then we moved on to Saturday the 19th. This was not a pure club event, but the annual swap meet in the parking lot of HobbyTown. While it may not have been a club event, an awful lot of people there were either club members selling or club members buying… A couple of shots here show both sides of the parking lot open for business…. And then, there was Going to be… the DVRC Cup event for the month of May. But, it got postponed as a lot of folks were going out of town for the memorial day weekend. The name of the event was “The Timed Pattern”. The pilot must complete all of the following maneuvers in the shortest time possible. The events may be done in any order and will not be judged for form, just for completion. The pilot must call each maneuver. Time will start when the plane leaves the ground and end after touch down. Take off 1 Loop 1 Roll 1 Stall Turn 1 Split "S" 1/2 Reverse Cuban 8 2 (count 'em two) spins! Landing See this space next month…… 11 Product Review: Hanger 9 F-22 “Raptor” PTS RTF So, I have had a chance to get my hands on this wonderful and unique looking plane. Upon arrival to my house, I immediately opened the packaging to build this plane. This plane was packed really well. After all, it took about 20 minutes to unwrap everything. So far I am impressed. This motor is very easy to start for a beginner; as it already is pre-broken in. The high-speed needle also has stops on the body that prevents you from overly leaning, or overly richening the motor. The new PTS comes with a very high quality JR FM Transmitter/ receiver combo. It is a six-channel radio that would allow you to use the knob on the radio for flaps, if you install the servo yourself. After all said and done, I had the whole plane built and flight ready in a little over and hour. It was nice, because I picked up the plane a day or two before the newbie day fly-in, and wanted to show off this awesome trainer. The plane comes with the .46 Evolution motor distributed through Horizon Hobbies. So, Newbie day was here, and now was the time for the maiden flight. The conditions were not the nicest on that Saturday. We had differentiating wind gust that threw some of the smaller, lighter weight planes off, and made them really twitchy to fly. 12 Product Review: (continued…) Hanger 9 F-22 “Raptor” PTS RTF For the first half tank, I idled the plane, and made sure that the servos worked, did the range check, and checked the transition from idle to high throttle. For the first flight, the plane took quite a bit of runway to get off the ground. Once it did, it was a real slow. I had full flaps, and was using the provided three-bladed training prop. The plane required a little trimming in the air, and was pretty stable. The wind that day took a real toll on how the plane landed though, upon landing, I hit the nose gear on the ground and it popped back in the air and flopped over, landing upside down. Over all, it is a great flying plane. If you have flown before, I would highly suggest taking out the pre-set flaps. I would also recommend swapping the heavy, three bladed prop for a two blade. The three blade weighed about the same as three standard apc props. Dan Sutherland 13 And now, something completely different: Movie Review... “Top Gun International.” This is the 2006 edition of Top Gun and this film is just outstanding from start to finish. It is as good or better than any documentary you will find on television. No kidding! The camera work from start to finish is just spectacular. There’s no herky jerky like a home movie. This is the sort of work you are used to seeing at the movies. The scenes are blended and edited for continuity very well. The flying scenes are intermixed with interviews with the pilot and builder who are sometimes the same and sometimes not. These interviews are not some hokey man-on-the-street type thing. They are staged events in a quiet setting. Some are at sundown at the end of the runway. Some are set in a park like atmosphere. Again, the lighting and editing is top notch. And the airplanes are just stunning. True museum pieces, but they still fly them. There are war birds of every era and planes of every genre. There is a terrific musical score to the film. Instead of competitor and spectator chatting in the background they have a carefully crafted musical score for the flying scenes that matches the flying. When you have a stunt routine you get high energy music, when you have an old timer fly by you get soft mellow music. It was all very tastefully done and served to enhance the film throughout. 14 This film gets the 5 star rating only because a 6 star is not available. Go out and get this movie and watch it. You too will enjoy it. Wildberry productions has a series of these films and I have recently seen them in our favorite hobby outlets. I bet you could find it at HobbyTown. Let me know when any of you have the entire set. I’ll come by and watch them so that I can do a review. I’ll bring the popcorn… T. J. Houchins Minutes to the May Meeting… Jeff Raaberg , Secretary Old and New Business Jack Schonberger has installed metal screening on the club house bathroom windows to prevent vandals breaking into the club house. Jack also advised the membership, the City of Pittsburg came out and painted over the tagged cargo trailer with paint donated by Jack himself. Thank you very much, Jack!! TJ Houchins outlined some of the needed repairs to the clubhouse and is planning on setting up a work party soon. Monthly Club Minutes May 12, 2007 The May 2007 Membership Meeting was called to order by Barry Whiffin at 10am. Thirty one members were in attendance. Minutes of the April 2007 meeting were read by Jeff Raaberg and approved as read. Jeff also asked the membership to sign a Thank You card for George Scrimshaw who had graciously donated several items to DVRC for the auction following today’s meeting. New Members & Soloed Pilots Michael Pederson and Eric Mocker are DVRC’s newest members. Welcome aboard!! We had one new guest attending…Carl Krigbaum from Bethel Island. Mike McCoy reported on DVRC’s latest soloed pilots. Ron Penn was presented his pilots badge by Ron Williams. Brian Rodriguez, Ed Walker, and Tom Buckingham have also earned their pilot badges but were not present today. Congratulation to all. Treasurers Report: John Tester reported on the financials of April 2007. Balances are as follows; Field Fund $7,845; General Fund $8,070; and Weather Station Fund $292 for a total of $16,208. John reported that Dan Braudrick Services have been paid $394 for the use of the dumpster used during last months work party. During last months meeting, John was presented a letter opener as a gift of appreciation for his great work as DVRC’s treasurer, but mainly to help facilitate opening of the club mail instead of tearing it with his fingers. John was proud to show his appreciation by demonstrating how well the new opener is working. The club mail now resembles ‘mail’. 15 Barry advised the membership that the Alameda Hornet Squadron RC club has lost their flying site due to future dredging of the channel by the Navy. Barry suggested DVRC could extend the ‘subordinate membership’ clause as outlined in our Bylaws to AHSRC for the remainder of 2007 at no cost as a gesture of goodwill to this club. Discussion followed but everyone seemed to be in agreement. DVRC Bylaws require notice be given to the membership and the issue could be voted upon at next months meeting. Dan Lively made a motion to notify the membership and the proposal will be voted on during next months meeting. Motion was approved. Past and Upcoming Events Newbie Day as a great success!! Steve Anderson did a wonderful job organizing this event. Steve was not able to attend today’s meeting but an email from Steve was read by Barry. Steve wanted to thank everyone who attended and all the members who helped make this success. Minutes to the May Meeting… (continued…) Approximately 30+ kids were able to fly on buddy boxes thanks to all the instructors who helped out. John Tester organized the BBQ with estimates of 90+ people having lunch that day!! EBRC member ‘Jim’ even showed up with a flight simulator set up for the kids so they could have some instruction before taking to the skies. Thank you again for all the support. The Mecca Collecto was also a great success this year. TJ and Tom will be posting pictures on the web site. Turn out was very good with several venders, plane kits, and engines all available to the public. Tom Hutson keeps coming up with more exciting events every month with the Cup Series. April’s event was Precision Touch & Go. Eleven pilots participated with Ron Williams taking 1st place with 6 out of 6 T&G’s, Tom Huston 2nd place, and Sean Hutson 3rd place. This months Cup Series event will be Timed Pattern. Everyone will need to practice up on their precision pattern work…..loops, rolls, Cuban 8’s, spins….all in the shortest amount of time. Current standings for the Series so far have Jeff Raaberg in 1st place, Barry Whiffin in 2nd, and Tom Hutson and Dan Sutherland tied for 3rd. Come out and join in on the fun every month. Show and Tell Dan Lively showed off his Hanger 9 PTS P51 Mustang powered by a .91 Saito. Barry Whiffin showed off his latest Gremlin fitted with a Weber Speed .40 and tuned pipe (isn’t that cheating?). Barry also showed his EPP foamy Weasel soarer weighing in at 11.5 oz. Jeff Raaberg showed off his new Carl Goldberg Tiger 2 ARF powered with an OS .55. Raffle Due to the auction immediately following today’s meeting, Sean Hutson held off on the raffle this month. Plan on the raffle returning next month. Meeting was adjourned by Barry at 11:00 16 Jeff Raaberg , Secretary Picture of the Month… Remember this picture from last month? This was a caption contest, with no real winners, just for fun. We got a few submissions. Have a look below… “Hey, look, they threw away a perfectly good member" "Got Crap?" "We got lots" "Barry al la Carte" - - - Jeff Raaberg Tom Hutson Larry Lehman aka Larry a la carte "Hey Ron, a rattler this long just went up your pant leg" Barry Whiffin [email protected] 17 - Barry 18 2007 Club Events… Day Date Time Saturday 1/13/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting Saturday 2/3/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event - ROOPS Saturday 2/10/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting Saturday 2/17/2007 9:30 AM Mall Show for City of Pittsburg Greg Gallegos Sunday 2/18/2007 9:00 AM Coffee and Doughnuts Jeff Raaberg Saturday 2/24/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event - Georgia Air Show Tom Hutson 10:00 AM Club Meeting followed by Erv Rodemsky's 14th Annual Stud Fly Jim Haley Tom Hutson Barry Whiffin Saturday 3/10/2007 Event Saturday 3/24/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event - Faithful Indian Guide Saturday 3/31/2007 9:00 AM Combat Match - Gremlins 8:00 AM Work Party followed by BBQ and Club Meeting 4:00 PM Campout at the Field - Cook out, Night Fly and Pancake Breakfast Saturday Friday 4/14/2007 4/20/2007 CD Tom Hutson Jack Saturday 4/21/2007 Schonberge r and Tom Hutson 9:00 AM 7-11 Fly-In and April's DVRC Cup Series Event Milt DeGroodt and DVRC Sponsors Saturday 4/28/2007 8-12 am MECA Collecto At Pleasant Hill Elementary School Saturday 4/28/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event - Moved to 5/26 Tom Hutson Saturday 5/5/2007 9:00 AM Newbie Fun Fly Steve Anderson Saturday 5/12/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting & Special Auction Greg Gallegos Saturday 5/19/2007 9 am to 1 pm HobbyTown Swap Meet in the Parking Lot next to the Store Mike Mann Saturday 5/26/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event Tom Hutson Saturday 6/2/2007 9:00 AM Saturday 6/9/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting Saturday 6/23/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event DVRC Cup Series(rescheduled from 5/26) 19 Tom Hutson Tom Hutson 2007 Club Events… (continued) Saturday 7/14/2007 9:00 AM Club Meeting Friday 7/27/2007 5:00 PM Campout at the field Saturday 7/28/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Saturday 8/11/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting Saturday 8/18/2007 9:00 AM A Day on the Hill Slope Soaring Festival TJ Houchins Saturday 8/25/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event Tom Hutson Orin Allen Wednesd ay 8/29/2007 9:00 AM Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Facility FlyIn Saturday 9/8/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting Tom Hutson Saturday 9/15/2007 10:00 AM Introduction to Aero Modeling Greg Gallegos and Jeff Raaberg Saturday 9/22/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event Tom Hutson Saturday 10/13/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting and Auction at 11:30 am Greg Gallegos 5:00 PM Campout, BBQ and Night Fly and Pancake Breakfast Concord Model Engineers Tom Hutson Saturday 10/20/2007 Sunday 10/21/2007 9:00 AM Concord Model Engineers - Devil Mountain Electric Fun Fly Saturday 10/27/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event - Saturday 11/10/2007 10 a.m. Club Meeting Sunday 11/10/2007 10:00 AM Veterans Day Commemorative Fly-In TBD Saturday 11/17/2007 9:00 AM DVRC Cup Series Event Tom Hutson Saturday 12/1/2007 12 noon DVRC Annual Pot-Luck TBD Saturday 12/8/2007 10:00 AM Club Meeting and Toys for Tots Charity Fly In TBD 20 DVRC thanks HobbyTown Concord for their continued support! 21