The March Meeting

State College Radio Control Club Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 Meeting Minutes

The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Peter Caddick introduced himself as a new member. Gordon Narehood and Lew Fulare were in attendance as visitors and potential SCRC members.

    1. Meeting minutes from the February 6th, 2007 meeting were reviewed and approved.

   2. The Treasurer’s report was presented by Al Jones and approved by membership. Income for 2006 was $1,535 and expenses were $2,099. This would suggest $1,500 budget for 2007. Al recommended that no immediate action be taken but advised us to be aware of our expected expenses and be conscious of our expenditures.

3.   Old business – 

          * Curt Buergin advised that the AMA Certificate honoring Diana Coder is on order.

          * Curt mentioned that club dues are due by the end of this month.

          * Curt reminded us of the SCRC event dates for 2007:

Open Fun Fly – Sunday, June 24th, 2007

Members Fun Fly / Picnic - Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

                        Air Show – Sunday, August 19th, 2007

          * Al Jones updated us on SCRC’s Leader Club Status. We’re approved – 12^th consecutive year!

4.   New Business –

          * Assisting Hugh Zinsmeister, Paul Bittengle has volunteered to be our Assistant Safety Officer. Thanks Paul.

          * Henry Margusity suggested that we start planning for this year’s air show as soon as possible. Membership discussed possibilities for a bigger and better show for 2007. Henry will chair the air show committee and other committee members include Nathanial Rice, Curt Buergin, George Mock, Woody Struble and Daryl Allen.

          * Ron Angle proposed the idea to help Jack Garbrick repair damage to the airport parking lot. A motion passed to offer the labor of club members, equipment and possibly one truck load of stone for the project.

          * Al Jones brought two of Will Coder’s models to the meeting. A kit-built Sig 4-star 60 (a real beauty) and a very nice trainer type (scratch-built) be auctioned to club members after the meeting.

5.   Program – No program

6.   Show and Tell

          * Al Niessner and George Gurney showed their WWI war birds. These are Electrifly ARFs as offered by Tower Hobbies. We hope to see Al’s S.E.5a and George’s Fokker DVII dog fighting at the field this season. Nice planes, nice jobs guys.

 

 

          * Ron Angle treated us to an indoor flight demonstration of his new Hobby Lobby Co-Co Lama micro helicopter. A good looking, nice flying little chopper for around $120.

          * Gil Halblieb showed us the beginnings of his latest kit building project, a huge 120 inch wingspan Ercoupe. With full functions, this plane could require up to 20 channels. Gil explained some of the features and intricacies of his Futaba 14 channel transmitter, which is expandable up to 28 channels.

          * I showed my original design, flying wing slope soarer. It uses a ½” thick plywood profile fuselage with radio gear strapped to the sides. The wings are foam cores, sheeted with cheap posterboard. It was made to be durable!

7.   Ron Angle won the 50/50 drawing and donated $20.00 to the club.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.

‑Equipment Checklist-

 (reprint from 2004)

Spring is here, and it’s time to get your planes out and fly! Before you head out to the field, it’s a good idea to check your model and equipment. Last year’s flying might have caused some wear and tear, and finding it now is way better than finding it at the field or, worse yet, in the air! Here is a Radio Control equipment check list from the AMA National Newsletter to help you.

AIRFRAME

‘ Check wing for warps and use a heat gun to correct if necessary

‘ Check wing attachment mechanism (dowels or bolt on)

‘ Check for loose covering and seal down and remove wrinkles if needed

‘ Check physical attachment of fin and stabilizer

‘ Verify that name, address, and AMA number are in or on aircraft and are legible.

CONTROL SURFACES

‘ Check linkage for flexing/bowing—should be able to move servo with control surface (Note that some

servos do not like to be reverse-driven, so be gentle).

‘ Check control horns and clevises for tightness/wear/keepers and replace if necessary

‘ Check thread-on metal clevises and tighten jam nuts and check keepers

‘ Check brass threaded couplers—use only on throttle (use stainless on control surfaces)

‘ Check for broken, loose, or worn hinges and replace if necessary.

RADIO INSTALLATION

‘ Check servos, servo tray, and servo rails for secure mounting.

‘ Check servo output arm screws and linkage attachments (clevis, EZ connector, Z-bend).

‘ Check receiver on/off switch for proper actuation and mounting.

‘ Check all servo connections to extensions and the receiver itself.

‘ Check receiver and battery foam padding—replace if worn or fuel soaked.

‘ Check antenna integrity and routing.

‘ Check battery capacity with cycler or ESV—replace if less than 80% of rated capacity.

LANDING GEAR

‘ Check landing gear for bends and replace as necessary

‘ Check that landing gear mounting screws are tight

‘ Check nose gear/tail wheel linkages—verify travel and no binding

‘ Check that wheels spin freely and tighten wheel collars if necessary (use fuel tubing outside of collars).

ENGINE/PROPELLER

‘ Check engine mounting—engine to mount, mount to firewall, firewall to airframe.

‘ Check engine cylinder head bolts and muffler attachment.

‘ Check valve clearances on four-cycle engines.

‘ Inspect propeller for nicks/cracks

‘ Check needle friction for both high-speed and low-speed needles (if applicable).

FUEL SYSTEM

‘ Remove fuel tank and check for debris and/or leaks (vacuum test)

‘ Replace fuel tubing between fuel tank and engine if it looks worn/old.

‘ Use filter between muffler and fuel tank to eliminate debris.

‘ Hold airframe nose up and shake to verify that fuel tank clunk is free.

SUPPORT EQUIPMENT

‘ Empty out your flight box and clean it.

‘ Review tools carried and remove any you don’t use.

‘ Stock up on glow plugs and props that you will need.

‘ Charge/check 12-volt starter battery.

‘ Charge/cycle glow plug battery and replace if necessary.

 

That’s all for now.

 

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com