The world was changed forever last week. As we watched in horror, more than 5,000 people became innocent victims of an unimaginable evil that seems to pervade so much of this world. My parents= generation spoke of Pearl Harbor - the pain, the anger, the fear they endured, but I never fully understood how they felt......until now. Now I know, and, oh God, I=m angry, and hurt, and scared, as we all must be. What lies ahead? Some tough times, I=m sure, but the evil will  be defeated and life will return to some definition of normal.

  How unfortunate it is that the terrorists chose to use as weapons the things we as R/C modelers love so much.... aircraft. How very, very unfortunate.

  On to business as usual.......

      -The September Meeting-

 The September meeting was held on September 4, at the field. It was a beautiful evening, and several club members flew before the meeting.

  We welcomed back a former SCRC member, Woody Brem. Woody was active in SCRC a few years back, and was editor of the club newsletter long before I acquired the job!

  Treasurer George Gurney reported that we made a small profit from the sales of food and drink at our air show. All the food we had was sold.

  Later, George finally sold the last of our SCRC T-shirts which were purchased several years ago!

  President Mark Wharton gave a report on our August 12 Air Show. We had attendance of about 150 to 200 people. The half-hour walk around time before the show was well received by the spectators. They enjoyed seeing the planes up close! We had only one crash during the show when Woody Struble=s Cropduster spun in.

  Mark reminded us that the October and subsequent month=s meetings would be back at the Vo-Tech School at 7:00pm.

  Henry Loewen and John Werner reported on the air show which they attended at Frederick, MD. It included about 50 Warbird models as well as full scale Warbirds. An eight year old boy flew an aerobatic model there, and did very well at it!

   Field Safety Officer Hugh Zinsmeister reminded us that there is still a possibility of transmitters intermodulating when pilots stand close together, and recommended that we maintain about 20 feet of space between pilots when flying.

  After the meeting, Will Coder showed us his cordless version of the Great Planes Slot Machine. This is a great tool which cuts slots for hinges in an instant. Being cordless makes it even more convenient! He also brought the Woodpecker, which is a set of spiked wheels on a handle, and is used to perforate sheet balsa surfaces to eliminate trapped air which causes bubbles in iron-on coverings. Those spikes are SHARP! Careful handling is mandatory to avoid puncturing one=s fingers!

  Mark Wharton showed his Slow Poke 40.

 It has a five foot span and a huge 18" wing chord, which makes a bunch of wing area. The plane flies like its name suggests - slow and easy. Mark did a nice job of covering it with blue and yellow transparent Monokote.

-A NEAT event-

   I just returned from the NEAT Fair in Downsville, NY. It was a three day gathering of electric R/C enthusiasts. It was well attended in spite of recent events, with over two hundred pilots registering.  George Gurney and Gib Sanders were there representing SCRC. George won some good stuff in the raffle, including an electronic speed control and a gearbox for a flight motor. The full spectrum of model types were there, from slow flyers to fast ducted fan jets and helicopters. The most impressive plane I saw was a large, but very light plane doing low level areobatics only a few feet off the runway. Lots of power, huge control throws, and great piloting skill added up to an incredible show! There was even some night flying with planes equipped with AGlow Wire@ lights. These lights look like miniature neon signs, but are made of a flexible plastic material, and come with a special electronic driver running on two AA batteries. I found them on the Internet under the name Xenoline. Perfect for our New Year=s Eve madness! It was a great event, and all seemed normal, except that conversations always turned to the awful events of last week. We all had a great time and it was good to do something normal again!!

-Coming Event-

Buzzard Field Fun Fly - should be on Sept. 29 and 30 at Mill Hall, but, as of this writing,  I have not received any confirmation.

In closing, a lyric from AAmerica the Beautiful@.....@Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears@

 Amen.

Sam Stitzer 814-364-9530

 samstitz@yahoo.com