SCRC Letter Head

SCRC Monthly Meeting Notices


Monthly meeting are generally held the first Tuesday of each month with exceptions caused by holidays, etc. During the summer months, June through September, the meetings are held at the club's flying site. All other meetings are held at an indoor facility.  Check the notice for the current month to find the location and time.

The monthly meeting notices are maintained on this page. Past meeting notices can be found by clicking here.

 

Opening the Meeting

Making a Point

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NEWSLETTERS OF THE STATE COLLEGE RADIO CONTROL CLUB


Next Meeting - Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 7:00 PM

It will be at the SCRC Flying Field

In case of inclement weather

 the meeting will move indoors to the airport office

Minutes from the July Meeting

The July Meeting

The July Meeting

     Chuck Paulson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Mr. Eric Keller attended as a new member. Welcome, Eric.

1.  The minutes from the June 3rd meeting were approved.

2.  Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report. Expenses since last month included field maintenance. We received $100 in dues from two new members. Al advised the balance of the SCRC account loss and then his report was approved.

3.     Old business –

Chuck reminded us of SCRC’s Fun Fly Picnic on Sunday, July 20th. Members should bring their own food and drinks. The barbeque grill will be available and some members will bring ice chests containing ice. The rental of one porta-john has been arranged for this event. Please see “coming events” on the SCRC web site for details.

For the field search committee, Al Jones checked into a site owned by Skip Stewart near the Nittany Mall. He advised that the site is not suitable for our needs. It’s only about 5 acres and has power lines on two sides. Al was also able to get a good view of the Whitehall Road Park property and informed us that this site is desirable.

Chuck Paulson reported on the progress of the air show committee. Roy Long and the Civil Air Patrol will direct parking traffic and perform their flag ceremony. Mark and Chris Wharton will bring Chris’s PA system. Members should contact Todd Cook to sign up for Air Show flying. We need more pilots, please! We have no raffle prizes yet as Nittany Line Hobbies has not yet made a commitment to become involved. Instead of paying for newspaper ads and other publicity, we may end up taking advantage of free announcements such as the CDT’s “Weekender”. The air show committee will meet again soon to finalize publicity plans and address other issues.

4.  New Business –

Chuck booked the American Legion for SCRC’s winter banquet on January 24th. He advised that reservations go fast and time slots are quickly filled. A motion to hold the banquet there on that date was passed by membership.

Al Jones printed new copies of the membership roster, with complete phone numbers which he handed out to the attendees.

There will be some “no fly” (“spotter required”) dates for models this month at Center Air Park to accommodate an EAA event taking place on July 11th, and 12th. Bob Grove advised that there will be too much full-scale air traffic. Al Niessner will post a notice on the SCRC website.

5.  Show and Tell –

Henry Margusity showed his new CMP Giles 202 that he ordered from Nitro Planes. It’s a great flying model with heavy-duty linkage parts, digital servos, a Saito 120 four-stroke glow engine and a color scheme that features attacking space aliens.

  Brad Fisher won the 50-50 drawing, splitting $19.00 with the club.

Relay For Life Demo – 6/28

  Several of our members had a static display of aircraft and a flying demo at the Relay for Life at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall on June 28. We set our planes in an exhibit building, which was not in a high traffic area, so we didn’t get a lot of folks to see us. Those who did were favorably impressed by our hobby. Josh Crews, the grandson of one of Al Niessner’s neighbors was visiting from Virginia, and gave some good demos of controls working to interested viewers. At 3:00pm we moved to the west end of the parking lot to do a flying demo. Of course it was windy, but we managed several good flights, and took our aircraft home in one piece! Woody Struble’s modified Kadet Sr. will fly anywhere! Tall grass and wind – no problem! It takes off easily and floats in at a ridiculously slow speed! I flew my little electric parasol through a bumpy flight, and got it down intact. My sons were there and Mike flew his Primo 3D through some wild aerobatics which amazed the spectators. Then Nathaniel Rice flew his chopper, doing all the incredible aerobatics his skill allows! Wow! We had a successful day, and made some good public relations points. My thanks to Woody, Al Niessner, George Gurney, Daryl Allen, Nathaniel Rice, Josh Crews, and Mike & Mark  Stitzer  for helping out!

SCRC Club Fun Fly 7/20

It was another hot, sticky July day with a stiff breeze that was, luckily, straight down the runway. We had a good crowd of pilots and models, and many flights were enjoyed.  

   Nathaniel Rice test flew his 1930’s style racer, which he had scaled up from plans for a rubber powered free flight version. It has a 90 size engine and retracts. The flight was pretty squirrelly, and he pranged his landing gear and muffler on the landing, but it will fly again soon with a few adjustments!

   Woody’s ¼ scale P-51 flew beautifully! He’s got it dialed in just right for very realistic flight, and his landings were great, although  one of the barrels along the runway seems to have a magnet in it!

   A very BIG Extra (not sure whose) flew some nice flights with very scale-like aerobatics. Those biggies didn’t care about the wind blowing at all!

    On the other hand, several small electrics bounced around a bit, and mine even went backwards a little with the motor at idle and the nose up, into the wind! Paul Bittengle got some exercise retrieving his Soarstar from the weeds when he got downwind and couldn’t quite get back. But we all survived and had a great time! Thanks to all who came out!

    Note: Click here for attached photos for all who receive this newsletter by email, but my printer can’t handle them for the snail mail recipients. Sorry about that!

 That’s all. Let’s fly!

          Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

          samstitz@yahoo.com 


Last Meeting - Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 7:00 PM

It will be at the SCRC Flying Field

In case of inclement weather

 the meeting will move indoors to the airport office

Minutes from the June Meeting

The July Meeting

The June Meeting

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

1.   The minutes from the May 6th meeting were approved.

2.   Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report. Expenses since last month included field maintenance. We received some membership dues. Al advised the balance of the SCRC account and the report was approved. Al had copies of the updated membership roster which he passed out to the meeting attendees.

3.   Old business –

·         Chuck Paulson reported on the progress of the air show committee. Al Jones motioned to set the date of the show for 10th of August. Motion carried. Chuck advised that Roy Long and the Civil Air Patrol will be available to park cars and perform their flag ceremony. A motion was made to appropriate $100 for the skydivers and $140 for the rental of two porta-johns. Motion passed.

·         Chuck reminded us of SCRC’s open Fun Fly on Sunday June 22nd. Members and guests should bring their own food and drink. The club’s barbeque grill will available and we will provide ice. Woody suggested that we rent one porta-john for this event and Chuck motioned to spend $70 for the rental. Motion passed. Setup will start around 10:00 in the morning. Please see “coming events” on the SCRC web site for further details. The members decided to discuss plans for the July 20th SCRC picnic at the next meeting.

·         Sam Stitzer mentioned SCRC’s participation in the Relay for Life event at the Grange Fairgrounds on June 28th. We should be there by 1:00 in the afternoon to set up a static model display. A flying demonstration will take place later in the day. This year, we should have better place to fly. The members who attended last year had a good time and it was a great public relations opportunity. Please contact Sam if you’re interested.

·         Al Jones had nothing new to report from the field search committee. He did receive some input from Mr. David Kelly, a competition IMAC flyer from the Pittsburgh area. In Mr. Kelly’s opinion, we have a great site and should not be so quick to give it up. He believes that a limited-use private airport can be a safe place to fly model aircraft and offers some other advantages. He may be interested in joining our club to make use of the SCRC field when he is in the area.

4.   New Business –

·         Woody Struble made a motion to paint a line to designate the pit area behind the flight line. This was done last year with the help of Curt Buergin.  Motion carried.

5.   Show and Tell –

·         George Gurney brought a miniature helicopter and Alex did an admirable job of flying it amongst the members in attendance.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Paul Bittengle won the 50-50 drawing, splitting $6.00 with the club.

SCRC Fun Fly

   The forecast called for clouds and heavy thunderstorms, but June 22 dawned bright and clear! I went to the field in the early afternoon and found a small crowd of folks enjoying a good day of flying. A moderate breeze blew straight down the runway, and the thermals were there for the gliders. I flew my Circuit Rider electric glider for a twenty minute flight and landed only because my neck was tired from looking up! I still had power left in the Li-Po battery.

  Al Niessner used his buddy cord to help some youngsters fly his beautiful 4-stroke powered Sig Kadet Senior, and his electric Miss 2. Both planes are good trainers, and the Miss 2 was thermalling along with my glider.

Al and the kids

 

Karl Stashak flew his overpowered trainer through some crazy aerobatics including his now famous inverted tail touch on the runway grass! (This is a trainer?!!) Karl also showed me the “World’s Highest Dead Stick” where he climbed to speck-in-the-sky altitude, then killed the engine, and looped, rolled, and spun during the descent, then landed nearly at his feet! It’s a fun plane to watch!

  Woody Struble flew an autogiro with a wing, which took off fine but had trouble turning and ended up in the wheat field. The belly scoop of his P-51 fell off earlier in the wheat, so Woody got a lot of exercise retrieving things!

  Daryl Allen’s Quickie 500 flew great, but a radio glitch put him down with a broken off nose. Ouch!

   Nathaniel Rice and John Ream made many nice helicopter flights, including some wild aerobatics! Today’s choppers still amaze me with their capabilities! So do their pilots!

   Everyone there had a good time, but attendance was low. Perhaps the dismal weather forecast and high gas prices kept some folks away. Who wants to burn $30 worth of gas only to get rained out? Still, it was a nice event, and we all enjoyed it!

Sentimental Journey 2008

  I rode my motorcycle to Lock Haven on Friday, June 20 to see the Piper Cub Fly-In. They wanted $10 to get in to the field to look at planes, and of course, I didn’t have that much on me, so I parked at the west end of the runway next to the Piper Museum and left the planes come to me! There was a steady stream of Cubs and other vintage planes taking off and landing all afternoon. It looked like our model field with sometimes six or seven planes up at once!

  Besides a bunch of Cubs and their variants, I saw a Stearman PT-17 biplane, a Fleet biplane, a Fairchild 24, and big, beautiful DC-3 twin! They were selling rides in the DC-3, and seemed to be doing a brisk business.  It was fun to watch these historic planes actually flying, rather than sitting somewhere in a museum!

  Sidebar: The lot where I parked was the same lot I used when I worked for Piper in 1972 and 1973. The Piper Museum is the old engineering building and prototype shop. Ahh, memories! Man, I’m gettin’ old!

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com 


Past Meeting - Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 PM

It will be at the SCRC Flying Field

In case of inclement weather

 the meeting will move indoors to the airport office

Minutes from the May Meeting

The July Meeting

The May Meeting

Chuck Paulson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. The members welcomed Mr. Ron Lueth as a guest.  Ron builds electric powered foam models from plans and is interested in joining the club.

1.   The minutes from the April 1st meeting were approved.

2.  Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report. Expenditures included $500 to Jack Garbrick for field use, $200 to Woody for field maintenance and $25 for the repair of the frequency board. AMA club charter dues and rent for the flying field. Al advised the balance of the SCRC account and his report was approved by membership.

3.  Old business –

Woody Struble reinforced a wooden post for the frequency board with steel. He also did a great job of adding the missing frequency numbers. Al Jones added 11 card slots for 2.4 GHz transmitters.

Al Jones had nothing new to report from the field committee but in response to a question, he did advise that SCRC has submitted a letter of interest to the park planning board for the Whitehall Road property. The board will meet in December to decide how the land will be used

The 2008 SCRC Air Show will be held either on August 10th or on August 17th. Chuck will chair the committee and other volunteers include Henry, Nathaniel, Todd and Daryl. Henry Margusity advised that the food vendor plans to participate again this year and we should discuss the extra electricity usage with Jack Garbrick.

A motion to hold our Open Fun Fly on June 22nd passed. Another motion was made to have the closed Fun Fly (club picnic) on July 20th. Motion carried.

4.  New Business –

Hugh Zinsmeister reminded us of some safety rules and field courtesy points. Your AMA card should be removed from the frequency board after each flight and we should stand behind the flight line when flying. Cigarette butts and other trash should be picked up and thrown out. Larger items such as wrecked models should be taken home with you instead of disposing of them at the field. High speed passes should be made at mid-field and farther from the flight line. If a full-scale plane approaches, don’t panic and mess up the landing – it’s better to fly over the corn field in a holding pattern if necessary. Don’t take off if a full-scale aircraft is on the field with its engine running.

AL Jones informed us that he and Woody recently rolled the field to smooth out the runway. Henry Margusity asked that we turn on the Radio in the office and make sure the outdoor speakers are working so we can hear the transmissions of approaching and departing full-scale aircraft. Henry advised us of a new R/C supplier that he’s had good luck with. They have good prices and can be found on internet: http://www.rcslot.com/

Chuck announced that Peter Caddick has been relocated by his employer to Illinois. Peter wrote a thoughtful farewell letter to the club. Best of luck to Peter. Chuck also reminded us that the June meeting will be held outdoors at the flying field.

If you don’t have an SCRC name tag but would like to get one, please contact Al Jones. AL has the names of people who were removed from the membership roster because of unpaid club dues. A former club member has been seen flying at the field and Daryl Allen will address this issue with an e-mail to that person.

6.  Show and Tell –

Gil Halbleib showed his Great Planes 1/3 Scale Pitts Biplane. It’s powered by a Fuji 50cc gasoline engine and weighs in at 18 pounds. Gil demonstrated the flaperon function that he programmed into his transmitter. This is an ARF that is no longer available - and a fantastic looking model. Great job Gil – can’t wait to see it in the air!

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Daryl Allen won the 50-50 drawing, splitting $16.00 with the club.

Another Way to Launch a Glider

My son came up from Lancaster for Memorial Day weekend and brought along his Telemaster equipped with a glider carrying cradle he designed for it. The glider sits on top and is held with rubber bands over the wings. To release the glider, Mike throttles back, flips a switch on his transmitter, and a servo pulls pins which allow two aluminum bellcranks to rotate and release the rubber bands. He then uses a bit of down elevator to make the Telemaster drop away from the glider. It Works! We tried it at our field today (May 24) with my old salmon colored slope glider. The Telemaster easily handled the extra weight of the glider. The release went well, but...... Somewhere between takeoff and release, my old glider radio quit working!! I now had a free flight glider tumbling uncontrollably and drifting downwind, and finally disappearing into or behind the trees at the southeast end of the field! We searched for a half hour or so with no luck. Oh, well! Murphy’s law strikes again!

  Here is a photo of the cradle setup with Mike’s EZ Glider on board:

Here is a link to a video of it flying at Mike’s club field.  The Telemaster might look familiar. It was Will Coder’s. Mike swapped Will’s old K&B 40 for a Super Tigre 51 for a little extra grunt and it works well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUAF2kG28k

 

That’s all for now. Please remember those who sacrificed their lives in battle so we can live in a free land.

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com 


Past Meeting - Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 7:00 PM

It will be at the Old Fort American Legion, Centre Hall, PA

From the traffic light at the intersection of Rts. 144 and 45 at Centre Hall, go 130 yards East (toward Millheim) on Rt. 45.  The American Legion will be on your right (south side of 45).  Drive around the back of the building and park. Looking at the building from the rear, enter via the back door on the right and go down the steps.  Meeting will be in the large banquet room.   

 Minutes from the April Meeting

The May Meeting

The April Meeting

 Filling in for Chuck and Curt, Al Jones called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM on April 1st.

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

 2.   The Treasurer’s report was read and approved. Expenditures included AMA club charter dues and rent for the flying field. Al Jones read a list of names, people who have been removed from the membership roster because of unpaid club dues for 2008. Al Niessner suggested that we do an e-mailing to these people to encourage them to re-join. Al Jones agreed to handle this.

 3.   Old business –

 ·         Woody Struble will reinforce our broken frequency board with channel iron. If this works, there will be no need to organize a work detail, thanks to Woody. He will advise the club president if the fix works.

 ·         Al Jones, Al Niessner and George Gurney reported on field search efforts. The Whitehall Road property for recreational development officially belongs to Ferguson Township now so we will pursue that opportunity this summer. Sometime in April, the committee will take a look at property owned by Joe King. This site is more isolated than the other ones along Route 64 and could be a good location for us. George made plans to meet with a man from a Baptist Church which owns property near Route 322 and Mt. Nittany Boulevard. Al Niessner showed us an aerial view of this site in Boalsburg. It may be too close to homes and businesses but Al and George will check into it.

 ·         Al Jones still has the iron-on SCRC shirt patches available for $6.00 each.

4.   New Business –

 ·         The Wings of Williamsport R/C club will host a Fun Fly on Saturday & Sunday,May 17th & 18th. Al Niessner has posted a notice with details for this event on the SCRC website.

 ·         The U.S. Scale Team is holding a fund-raising raffle. There are 50 prizes still available. If you are interested in taking a chance and supporting the team, please contact Al.

 ·         We received a brochure from Horizon Hobbies. They are promoting a special offer on Spektrum and JR DSM radios. Buyers can get up to two free receivers. For details and a listing of eligible products, here is the link:

http://www.spektrumrc.com/giveaway/?utm_source=rcg&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=rcu_sw&utm_content=GreatDSMSwitchover

 ·         We discussed volunteering for the air show committee but due to low attendance, we decided to wait until the May meeting.

 ·         Daryl Allen motioned to discontinue collecting and saving the signed ticket stubs from the monthly 50/50 drawings. He believes that the stubs would be useful only if members were not required to be present to win banquet door prizes. Motion carried. As discussed, by the next winter banquet, we should devise a different way to distribute the door prizes, perhaps a method that includes only the names of banquet attendees. Other than that, the post-meeting monthly 50/50 drawings will remain the same.

 The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

 5.   Programs –

      ·         Al Niessner showed pictures of a Russian air show, mostly action shots of full-scale jet aircraft. There were some great shots of hair-raising maneuvers. Compared to the USA, they get away with a lot more in the way of safety precautions, even if means putting the crowd in peril. 

·         Al Jones gave a presentation, which included a PowerPoint slide show, on the Basics of Aerodynamics. Al dispelled some myths and explained theories and equations. A very informative program, expertly done and well-appreciated by everyone in attendance.

 6.   Show and Tell –

 ·         George Gurney showed his new Parkzone Cessna, an electric-powered model that is very light (18 grams!) and small enough to be flown indoors. It features rudder, elevator and throttle control.

 ·         Al Niessner brought along his electric ducted fan jet model and revved it up to demonstrate its impressive amount of thrust. He also showed his Hobby Lobby Miss 2, an electric-powered trainer type model.

 ·         Daryl Allen displayed his Sig Kadet LT-40. Modifications include dual aileron servos instead of torque rods, bolt-on wing instead of rubber bands, tail-dragger gear, a slightly larger rudder and decreased dihedral. At the February meeting, the nearly framed-up kit and a new ST45 engine were donated by Jenny Edmonson in memory of her late husband, Seth, with the wish that someone would complete the model and fly it. Pictures of the finished model were sent to Jenny. She and her two young sons are anxious to see the LT-40 fly before they move away in June.

Here is Daryl’s Kadet with faux military markings. Nice!

 

 John Werner won the 50-50 drawing, splitting $12.00 with the club.

Aerotowing Video

Here’s a link to a neat video shot by some of my son Mike’s fellow club members in Lancaster County. They used an electric powered Senior Telemaster to tow up a two meter glider. There are views from both the glider and tow plane. Aerotowing with models must be very difficult to do, but these guys seem to have no trouble getting good tows and great flights!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH0eX_49lPI

 

That’s all for now. Let’s fly!

Sam Stitzer  814‑364‑9530

samstitz@yahoo.com 


Past Meeting - Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 7:00 PM

It will be at the Old Fort American Legion, Centre Hall, PA

From the traffic light at the intersection of Rts. 144 and 45 at Centre Hall, go 130 yards East (toward Millheim) on Rt. 45.  The American Legion will be on your right (south side of 45).  Drive around the back of the building and park. Looking at the building from the rear, enter via the back door on the right and go down the steps.  Meeting will be in the large banquet room. 

 Minutes from the March Meeting

The March Meeting

The March Meeting

Chuck Paulson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. SCRC welcomed Craig Miller, a former SCRC member who was visiting and Larry Brown, who came to join the club.

1.   The minutes from the February 5th meeting were approved.

2.   Al Jones read the Treasurer’s report which was approved by membership. Payment of club dues accounted for all recent receipts. $90 was paid to the AMA for club charter fee. The renewal of insurance coverage for the Garbrick property was taken care of. Currently, there are 30 paid SCRC members.

3.   Old business –

·         Al Niessner updated us on field search progress as discussions took place among the members in attendance. Al showed aerial views and ground-level photos of the sites proposed by Paul Bittengle. The committee spoke with John King and viewed the land in Hublersburg. There are several areas on the King property that have potential. Mr. King is receptive to our interests and flying on Sundays would not be problem. Chasing down more leads, Paul spoke with John King’s brother, Joe, who may also have land to rent. The committee took snapshots of the Walizer property behind Nittany Valley Hardware on Route 64. The land is now owned by Barry Gensimore and leased by Jim Walizer. SCRC must now contact Mr. Gensimore to verify that this site is still a possibility.

·         Chuck reminded us of the importance of paying club dues as the deadline is here.

·         Woody Struble advised that the frequency board is in need of repair. One of the posts is cracked and both posts are loose in the ground causing the structure to twist and lean. Woody recently did a temporary repair to help prevent the board from falling. He advised that we should wait for better weather in April before organizing a work detail to fix the problem.