The October Meeting

 The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Mr. John Guizar was in attendance as a new member. Welcome, John.

   1. The meeting minutes from the September 4th meeting were approved.

   2. Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report and it was approved by membership. Recent expenditures include the want ad for the field search, the air show skydivers and routine field maintenance.

   3. Old business –

·         Al Jones and Al Niessner reported on the progress of the field search committee. The want ad in the CDT - and a posting on the internet yielded no responses. So far, the best prospect is in Ferguson Township, on land either designated for recreation - or for agriculture if a variance can be obtained. Director, Tricia Lang supplied Al Niessner with maps. Al Jones made a motion to apply by sending a letter of intent to Ron Woodhead during January of 2008 and prepare for formal presentation to take place late next year. Motion approved. Active land-use planning will take place in December of 2008. Former SCRC member, Dan Durachko, saw the ad and offered the occasional use of his private R/C field in Yarnell to members who contact him for permission in advance of their intended visit. Currently, links to Dan’s e-mail and website are still posted on SCRC’s “Members on the internet” web page.

·         Henry Margusity, chairman of the committee for the flight training program, advised that no new information is available at this time.

·         Curt Buergin drafted his proposal for a mandatory flight observer rule and read it to the members. The proposal defines the role of designated observers and their responsibility to watch for approaching or departing full-scale aircraft to warn R/C fliers. After discussion, Curt motioned to accept the proposal as a new field-use rule. Motion failed. Curt will modify the proposal and have it posted on the website as an advisory.

·         Al Jones made a motion for the club to purchase an air horn to warn fliers of approaching full-scale aircraft planes. Motion carried. John Guizar offered to donate an air horn to SCRC and the club will buy another one.

·         Nathaniel Rice drafted a map of the SCRC field at Centre Air Park and clarified the guidelines for the proper use of the helicopter and fixed-wing model designated flight areas as posted in the July, 2006 meeting minutes. Curt made the motion to accept this as a rule. Motion carried.

·         Curt advised that Karl Stashak’s request was granted to have last year’s safety warning letter disregarded on the grounds that the accuser was the only witness to an incident. It was found that by not discussing and agreeing on this action, SCRC officers did not follow the bylaw for club member sanctions.

   4. New Business –

·         Curt advised that a sympathy card was sent to member Don Frazier whose wife passed away.

·         Curt reminded us that the time has come to appoint a club officer nomination committee. Curt Buergin, Sam Stitzer and Paul Bittengle will make up the committee.

·         Al Jones reported on annual income and expenses and advised that dues will not cover the field maintenance and rent for 2008. Al recommended raising the individual membership dues to $50.00 per year and the motion was made and passed. The dues for non-flying club associates will remain the same at ten dollars.

·         Curt motioned to once again hold our SCRC winter banquet at the Old Fort American Legion in Centre Hall. Motion carried.

·         Curt reminded us of the EAA fly-in at Centre Air Park scheduled for October 6th and 7th. There will be no general model aviation activity permitted there during that weekend.

5.   Program – No program

6.   Show and Tell

·         Sam Stitzer advised us that his son, Mike, is selling his MoJo 40 3-D profile plane. Anyone who has seen Mike fly with this model knows what a great performer it is.

·         Al Jones showed his rechargeable lithium-powered Dremel rotary tool. Al advised that this is a very handy and useful tool. It features small size, pistol grip, light weight, powerful variable speed, and a soft start button.

·         Daryl Allen brought along a nearly completed, kit-built Midwest Aero Star model. Deviations from plans include: tail-dragger landing gear instead of trike gear, enlarged control surfaces, bolt-on wing, tail surfaces relocated to the fuselage topside to allow for a tail wheel and dual aileron servos instead of torque rods.

Daryl Allen’s Aero Star in gold and black color scheme – nice!

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM and Al Niessner won the 50-50 drawing, splitting $18.00 with the club

 

What a difference!

  I have been flying an original design electric powered glider which I call the Circuit Rider for two seasons. It’s a two meter wing from an old Bob Martin Models Pussycat sailplane (20 years old!), with a scratch-built cabin type fuselage with tail dragger landing gear. It has a very elderly geared Cobalt 05 for power, and had been using a seven cell, 1000mah NiCad battery pack. In this configuration it flies about five minutes with no help from thermals, and on a good day I could get maybe 15 minutes or so with a thermal.

  I bought a LiPo battery for use in a new Tower Hobbies Uproar that I’m building (slooowly!). It is a 3600mah, three cell pack.

   I decided to try the LiPo pack in the glider, and boy does it ever work well!

The LiPo weighs about 9 ounces, which is an ounce less than the NiCad, and puts out 11.1 volts compared to the 8.4 volts from the NiCad. The old Cobalt 05 really turns up, and doesn’t seem to mind the extra voltage, at least in short bursts to climb.

   Ground takeoffs were difficult with the NiCad, so I usually hand launched, but now I sit the plane on the ground, shove the throttle up, and the plane rolls about 6 feet, then jumps into the air and climbs out at about a 40 degree climb angle!  It gets to thermalling altitude in seconds, and I can glide down and climb back up there five or six times per flight.  

   Now my flight time without thermals is 15 minutes, and I have easily flown with thermal assistance for over a half hour, landing with still enough power left to easily taxi back to the pit area!  I deliberately do not run the battery down because my old Sprite 25 speed control has its voltage cutoff set for NiCads, not LiPos. Based on recharge time, I estimate that I still have about 1/3 of the charge left when I land. Duration would be even better with a new speed control.

   The only down side is that it takes nearly an hour to charge the LiPo instead of 15 minutes for the NiCad.

   This is my first foray into the world of LiPo batteries, and I must say that I am impressed! This is performance we could only dream of a few years ago!

 

  Penns Valley High School Demo

 On October 8, George Gurney, Al Niessner, Curt Buergin and I gave an R/C flying demo at Penns Valley High School for some eighth grade kids. Due to construction our usual flying area was closed off, so we had to fly off the softball field. The day was WINDY! I was glad to get my Daydreamer parasol up and down in one piece! Al Niessner wasn’t so lucky. His electric foamy was literally blown into the ground! George and Curt wisely chose not to fly, but gave a good talk about the club and how radio control works. Curt fired up the engine on his Stearman biplane to show the kids how a glow engine works. They enjoyed the show, and maybe learned a thing or two about model airplanes and R/C. It was a fun time in spite of the wind.

 

That’s all for now.

 

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com