The February Meeting

Chuck Paulson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. No visitors, guests or new members were in attendance.

1.   The minutes from the January 8th meeting were approved.

2.   Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report which was approved by membership. Al reported the current treasury balance. The expenses paid for last month’s banquet balanced with payments received from the attendees.

3.   Old business –

·         Al Jones gave us an update on the field search efforts. The Penns Cave Airport would not be a good possibility due to the high level of activity. There is no further news to report on the development of the proposed recreational area near Whitehall Road in Ferguson Township.

 

·         Al Niessner showed aerial views of the three fields proposed by Paul Bittengle. One of the sites is on farmland behind Nittany Valley Feed and Hardware on Route 64. Another Farmer has two possible sites. This land is in Hublersburg. It was agreed that the field search committee should look the sites and talk to the land owners.

   4. New Business –

·         A Jones had several new hobby knives that were sent to the club by Hugh Rogers. SCRC thanks Mr. Rogers for his generous gifts.

·         Chuck and Al Niessner brought along a Sig Kadet LT40 kit and a new ST G45 glow engine which were given by Mrs. Jenny Edmonson in memory of her husband, who did an excellent job of building the plane up to near completion of the framework. Members expressed sympathy for the loss of Mr. Edmonson and Jenny had stated her family’s desire to have the model be completed and flown by an SCRC member. Daryl Allen was interested in taking on the project, will complete the model and sincerely thanks Mrs. Edmondson for her generosity.

·         Chuck asked if there were any members who might be interested in participating in an afternoon group visit to Spikes Stadium and possibly fly demonstrations at a nearby field in an effort to drum up baseball game ticket sales. There were no volunteers in attendance but please contact Chuck if you are interested.

 

 ·         Al Niessner informed us of the “Flight Challenge” program. This activity is for middle-school students and involves designing, building and flying small, balsa catapult gliders. The actual date was not given but Nathaniel advised us that the competition will take place at the Penns Valley School this year. Please contact Al if you can volunteer as an instructor and help the kids.

 ·         Al Jones reminded us of the upcoming R/C flea market in Lebanon on March 8th. It’s the 28th year for the huge event at the Lebanon Fairgrounds as promoted by the Central Penn Aeromodelers. For more information, call 717-412-8579 or visit the website at http://www.cpaa.us/ for details and directions.

·         Al Jones informed us of our $30 annual AMA chapter fee and the renewal of insurance coverage for the Garbrick property for a premium payment of $60. Motions to make both payments carried. Al will send a list of current SCRC members to the AMA headquarters. Al reminds members that club dues must be paid by the end of the month or names will be dropped from the roster. Please don’t delay! This is Important!

·          Al received some flyers from the AMA promoting the purchase of items with an AMA theme, the AMA plans service and the introduction of the AMA “Park Flyer” membership. For just $29.95, you can now join the AMA if you fly silent models under 60 mph and of 2 pounds or less in weight.

·         Sandy Jaffe pointed out that the current issue of Model Aviation Magazine contains an article on Nathaniel Rice and his award of an AMA scholarship. Congratulations, Nathaniel! Great work and a well-deserved award!

5.   Program – No program but Al Jones read a series of airplane related jokes to the amusement of all in attendance. Good one, Al !

 .   Show and Tell – None

Here’s a neat story from the AMA National Newsletter.

Aviation History: Charlie Brown's Story
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called ‘Ye Old Pub’ and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
 After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he had never seen an airplane in such a bad state. The tail and rear section were severely damaged and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere. Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained airplane.
  Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180°. Franz escorted and guided the stricken airplane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe. When Franz landed he told the control operator that the airplane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anyone. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.
   More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He has never talked about the incident, not even at post war reunions.
  They met in the United States at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now—all because Franz never fired his guns that day. Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years! 

That’s all for now.

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com