MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

AROUND THE CLUB

>By the time you read this Dick Benjamin will probably be running marathons, but I feel compelled to relate an event that took place while Dick was in the Convalescent Home. Dick’s version: While I was at the convalescent center they put on a Hawaiian theme party for the inmates..er..patients. I was all dressed up in appropriate attire enjoying the party when I noticed a curvaceous young lady across the room giving me the eye. As she started slinking toward me I saw that she was wearing only a wrap of transparent, multicolored Monocoat. She stopped right in front of me and put her arms around my neck, etc, etc, etc. The nurse’s version: I put a lei around Dick’s neck and told him he could tell all his friends he got lei’d at the rehab center!!!!!!

>Eleven Tri-Area RC Flyers covered the SKP hall tables with models. There were many large planes including two Senior Telemasters with 8-foot wings and a glider with 12-foot (I think) wings. There were also 2 Tigermoth biplanes, a WWII Corsair, a piper Cub on floats, and a nice amphibian among many more very nice looking airplanes. The goody table was very popular with more than 12 dozen cookies and most of a large cake disappearing.

Our SKP hosts seemed very appreciative and interested in our efforts. Certainly our annual show and tell is small pay back for being able to use this wonderful facility. Special thanks have to go to Rachael for seeing us through the program in place of Dick Benjamin who was still recovering from his knee operation.

>I was in Port Angeles recently and noticed that Pacific Rim Hobby was no longer in their First Street location. They are now in a rather run down frame building 2 blocks West of the ferry terminals on E. Railroad Ave.

HINTS, KINKS, AND STUFF

>I recently had to replace bearings in a couple of engines. Typically the ball bearings installed in our engines are put in with what engineers call a light press fit. This means that it is nearly impossible to remove the rear bearing without a bit of trickery, as there is usually nothing to pull or push on. The solution is to bake the engine as the pot metal engine crankcase has a higher rate of thermal expansion than the 52100 ball bearing steel. Do wash all the oil out of the crankcase before heating it so you don’t bake the oil on. I found that baking for 15 minutes at 300 degrees F worked well. Then pick up the crankcase using an oven mitt and rap the back of the engine sharply on a flat wood block. The rear bearing should drop right out. Insert a short wood dowel or other tool of similar shape (I used the blunt end of a chisel) into the crankcase and tap it on the wood block. The front bearing should pop out pretty easily.

The follow-up task is to put the new bearings into the crankcase. If you were clever enough to put the new bearings into the freezer when you started the bake process, you should be able to drop the new bearings in place by hand with perhaps a gentle push. Otherwise you must reheat the crankcase again. Be sure the bearings are seated all the way into the bearing recess. Do be sure to protect your hands from both the heat and the cold. I found that cotton work gloves worked pretty well, but lacked sufficient protection when the parts were at their hottest.

Lubricate the inside of the crankcase and the new bearings before reassembling the engine. Also, double-check the orientation of the sleeve with the various ports when reinstalling it.

AERONAUTICAL JOKE

fighter jock that he was number two behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down.
"Ah," the pilot remarked, "the dreaded seven-engine approach."

MEET THE MEMBERS—Jim Tolpin

I’ve been flying free-flight model airplanes and have been a member of the AMA since the mid-1950’s—except for a long hiatus during my college and career-building years in cabinetmaking and then journalism. I didn’t start flying RC, however, until fairly recently. About 5 years ago I started to experiment with electric-powered gliders and park flyers (the latter so I could fly at in-town fields). I also explored slope flying, though the loss of good local sites has stifled that interest to some extent. I do occasionally go up into the mountains for alpine-type soaring or over to San Juan Island to fly on the bluffs near Cattle Pass.

My primary interest, however, remains with flying electric-powered gliders—especially the high performance "Hotliners". I just love watching these sailplanes fly gracefully and silently against the sky, though I’m also totally addicted to the sound they make as the air rushes over them as they come back down from the cloud base at well over 100 mph! Hotliners have also taught me a lot about selecting the right combination of prop, motor, gearbox and battery to optimize performance. As the field of motor and battery technology is changing rapidly, it’s a constant challenge to keep on top of all the options for achieving optimum setups. Enormously promising developments in Lithium-based batteries has truly energized the electric model community—pun intended. My prediction is that within a decade electric power will likely become the energy source of choice at our flying fields. Anybody want to take some bets on it?

FUN FLY REPORT

August 14 was warm and sunny with light breezes—a perfect flying day except by 11:00 it was more than warm. We had 8 contestants and about 25 for lunch. This year’s events were TANKER, BOMBER, PYLON RACE, and CLIMB AND GLIDE. The first 2 events required that a foam cup be strapped on the airplane.

Five different size beans were issued to each pilot in the TANKER event. Lou Creedon was the only one that landed with all 5 beans to take first place. Loren Nisbet and Roy Green landed with 4 beans, but in the fly-off for second place Loren landed with all 5 beans to take second place.

In the BOMBER event a badminton birdie was placed in the cup and the pilot attempted to hit a traffic cone on the runway. The birdie fell out on several initial flights, but then folks got the hang of it. In the end Pete Granger got first with 28 paces and Lou Creedon picked up an easy second when, unseen by all, his birdie fell out 30.5 paces from the pylon!!!!

The pylon racecourse was marked by 3 traffic cones well spaced out on the runway. Each pilot had to do 2 laps in a race with the clock. Pete and John Fitch were the only ones that left wings on their airplanes (they had no choice) in an event clearly dominated by wingless wonders. Loren and Roy Green tied for first, so we had a "runoff" drag race, which Roy won because Loren went off the runway.

CLIMB AND GLIDE allowed 30 seconds for the airplane to takeoff, climb as high as possible, and get the engine killed. Then the plane was glided as long as possible before a required runway landing. Loren beat Lonnie out of first place by a measly 2 seconds to win.

As soon as the contest was completed we had lunch with Mark Wylie presiding over the BBQ again this year. The ladies came through with scrumptious salads and deserts again this year and a good feed was had by all. Following lunch trophies were awarded through third place for each event and Wylie also had a "grab bag" of miscellaneous hardware for all. Lonnie won the raffle—that cute little OS26 four stroke much to the disgust of many others that also lusted after the engine.

The ladies for their delectable food

It seems that this event gets better every year—and we certainly have a fun time. I really liked the selection of events this year as there were NO crashes and all types of aircraft were competitive in most of the events. We did have a few thrills along the way and a couple of downright dangerous faux paux (screwups), but everything worked out OK. Fun was in first place all day and that is how it should be.

Pete

EDITORIAL

The club has a good, hard working nominating committee that is trying very hard to put together a viable slate of officers for the election. It is time for the rest of the club to step up and support the organization that is providing YOU with a maintained, safe flying field complete with flight instructors, entertainment, and socializing—all at nominal cost. You people that enjoy what OUR club supplies are in DEBT to the organization. It is payback time right now!!!!!! If the nominating committee thinks highly enough of you to ask you to run for an office, jump at the chance to help your friends. If you have been asked, but turned the offer down, call the guys back and ask to be reconsidered. The board is already quietly talking about a commitment to club service as a condition of membership, and I don’t think there will be any grandfathering. If it is ever formalized I’ll bet we won’t have to worry about a membership cap!

I am proud to say that the committee has asked me to run for a position and I accepted. I am president, newsletter editor, and Fun Fly CD at the moment. I also maintain and print up the membership cards, pilot certificates, and some signs. That is too much for one person. Bill Anliker has served as Secretary and Treasurer since day 1. He also is the club fuel czar and the club librarian. That is too much for one person and Bill is beginning to show signs of being willing to lighten the load.

I will continue as newsletter editor and whatever office I can effectively serve in, but I am going to get back to flying instead of working so much on club stuff. YOU had better be ready to step into the void.

Pete

FOR SALE OR TRADE

If you want to list an item, just send me the details including your name, phone number, and asking price or trade-for item.

Used airplane sale: Balsa USA Eindecker complete with experienced pilot, rigging, steerable tail wheel, and ailerons. Finished to resemble the plane flown by Ernst Udet in the spring of 1916. Flies like a trainer, no crashes, no hard landings, and no broken props. I flew it with my OS .91 4 stroke. You will need a radio with 5 servos, engine mount, and appropriate engine. $150.00 includes some scale documentation.

Pete Granger 379-3185

.25 Magnum 2 stroke less than 2 hrs. run time $40

Hitec radio- broken but new battery. $6

M.D.S. .61 2-stroke engine, nearly new $35

O.S.Max .40 F.P. Good. $30

Cox .049 on pylon w/prop. $10

3.5" spinner, new & wrapped $4

Twenty one various propellers, $0.30 per inch

O.S. .70 four stroke, good serviceable $45

Lou Creedon 379-8425

MANEUVER OF THE MONTH (MOM)—Stall Turn

This is a follow-up to last month’s MOM, the Wingover. The stall turn is one of the showiest of the turn around maneuvers and the sudden silence as you go to idle grabs a lot of attention. If you are able to do a wingover, the stall turn introduces only one new element—throttle management. As in the wingover, from full throttle and level flight pull to a vertical line. Reduce throttle to idle and apply full rudder in the direction the plane seems to be leaning (which puts the left stick in a bottom corner). Some airplanes are reluctant to swap ends and may require a momentary burst of power to kick the tail around. Once a vertical downward line is achieved begin to ease in throttle and up elevator until satisfactory level flight is resumed.

MONTHLY MEETING September 14, 7:00 at the SKP Clubhouse

Our program this month focuses on batteries, those items so crucial to our hobby whether you fly electric or liquid fueled planes. Jim Tolpin, one of our few electric only pilots, will be doing the program. There is a huge upsurge of interest in electric planes fueled by giant strides in battery energy density (think energy units per pound) and the enormous popularity of park flyers. I am sure Jim will have a ton of good information and you might want to take a few notes during this one.

The by-laws require that the membership be notified in advance of any dues increase proposal. A dues increase of $10.00 per year was proposed at the last board meeting and approved for submission to the membership. This proposal will be presented during the September 14 meeting.

MEMBER BUSINESS ADVERTISEMENTS

The Board at the August 3 meeting approved allowing club members to place small ads in the newsletter at no charge. The ads will be included in the newsletter so long as the newsletter editor receives a monthly request for it.

A professionally written manual to introduce all aspects of the RC hobby from getting started through intermediate aerobatics. Download order forms from http://users.cableaz.com/~ken.petersen/index.htm

Petersen & Granger, LLC

Many thanks to Lonnie Phillips for the pictures. He does such a good job we should anoint him official club photographer.

Pete Granger

granger@olypen.com