A few days ago a bunch of us got into a discussion on after run oils. Lonnie Phillips said that he had a test for oil compatibility with fuel and that most oils do not mix with our fuels. He filled a fuel can cap with fuel and put some of his after run oil into it. In a minute or 2, after some stirring, the oil did combine with the fuel. We continued to experiment with other oils and found that most of them acted just like oil on water-distinct drops of oil floating on the fuel! Lonnie’s is the NAPA Air Tool oil, which comes in a pint plastic bottle. Bruce Scott also likes air tool oil, but he uses a different brand, and I don’t remember the name.

< While covering my new Senior Telemaster with Super Coverite fabric my iron kept loading up with adhesive off the material. The buildup was so bad and so rapid that my usual cleaning method of wiping the hot iron with a paper towel just was not cutting it. I tried some solvents on the hot iron and that was useless. However, wiping a cool iron with acetone (available in paint stores) took the adhesive off like magic.

< My partner, Russ Petersen has introduced me to a different magazine called R/C Report. The newsstand price is $3.00 and subscriptions are $19. It is not fancy with a lot of slick paper and color pictures, but they also do not gloss over product reviews. I read one review for a heavily advertised plane stand that basically said it was useless! Their website is www.rcreport.ws.

< Most of you are aware that I do not run the fuel out of my engines and load them with after-run oil at the end of a flying session. I have been having trouble keeping 2 of my engines going at low throttle and finally the Tower 61 started flaming out at medium to high throttle settings. Bruce Scott, our engine wizard happened to be at the field and I enlisted his aid. He was unable to get the thing to perform, but started talking about possible bad bearings. He explained that in his experience when an engine acted like mine it usually was caused by a failure in the rear ball bearing, and thought that he could detect roughness in the bearing. Since that day I have thought a lot about the engines I have used (and abused) and decided that the reason I have not had the problem before is because I have used PLAIN BEARING engines up until the OS 46 FX and the Tower 61-both ball bearing engines. I now believe in after-run care for all ball bearing engines-and I’ve got the after-run oil to prove it!

A Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): Because you lost the bloody war."

I hope all of you like the new format for OUR newsletter. I welcome any suggestions for format or content as well as cartoons, jokes, pictures, stories, and articles. OUR newsletter content depends on YOUR participation-I am not the fount of all wisdom, nor do I have endless ideas for stuff to write about, so if you want a GOOD newsletter, become a contributor.

As part of our new format I will be asking members to write up a piece about themselves. We don’t need to know about your sex life or all your grandkids unless you think those items are of special interest to the general membership. Heck, we really are not all that interested in how old you are! I guess we are more interested in who you are and how did you get into modeling. Your skills, either from work, school, or experience, would certainly be of interest, especially as they apply to the hobby. What kinds of planes do you like best? Do you have a desire to become competitive in some aspect of the hobby? Are you still employed-what do you do? What did you do before you retired? I think none of us will mind sharing a bit of our lives with our friends-and who knows, we just might become better friends!

As most of you are aware, Russ Petersen and I wrote a fairly comprehensive book on learning to fly, setting up a workshop, basic and advanced maneuvers, etc. It should be of interest to most casual flyers and beginners. The club has several copies that can be checked out from Bill Anliker. The Petersen and Granger web site is at http://www.thercflightmanual.com/ if you want to order a copy of your own. We are also advertising in R/C REPORT magazine.

I have noticed a lot of the flyers doing Immelmanns. The logical next step is to start doing half of a Cuban eight. As you know, the Immelmann is half an inside loop followed by a half roll to horizontal, upright flight. If the inside loop was held just a little longer the plane would assume some inverted angle with the ground. Neutralizing elevator and doing a half roll puts the plane upright, but still at some angle with the ground. Applying a little up elevator brings the plane back to horizontal flight and you have done half of a Cuban eight! It sounds a lot harder than it really is-try it.

This is the meeting that starts the "FUN" part of the Fun Fly. We do the planning, scheduling, and work out the food arrangements as this month’s program. DO bring ideas for the events or evil creatures lurking in the shadows will create torturous challenges for pilots and planes! This is the only flying "competition" the club sponsors, it is for members only (although we have allowed a guest on occasion), and is paid for with club money. There are no entrance fees and the intent is to design events that give all skill levels an equal chance to win (I have never won an event so I’m not sure about that last-Pete). Above all, we want to put on an event that is fun for everybody-even my wife likes these things!