April, 2001 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE TRIAD LEADERSHIP TEAM

Radio Frequency Safety and Frequency Pin Control

As many of the members know, we now have a new radio impound shed at our field. This has been done to increase the safety of our field. As we have continued to grow in members, it is important the senior members teach the new members correct frequency control and flying courtesy. Radio impound will be policed by the Club Officers and Field Marshals, but it is the responsibility of all members to ensure the impound rules are being followed. All members are authorized to enforce all field rules (remember, it can be your aircraft lost needlessly). Members caught not impounding radios will be asked to impound radios. If they will not comply, they will be required to leave for the day. Repeat offenders can get 30 day suspensions and possible termination of membership. (try flying at other AMA sanctioned clubs without impounding your radio!) If there are any disputes over impound situations, Please contact a club officer ASAP. Latest Announcement on Radio Impounds.

The following guidelines need to be used by all members-NO EXCEPTIONS:

1. All transmitters will be impounded when you arrive at the field. Do not leave them in your vehicle, (radios may be left in the case if case is open to inspect if transmitter power is on or not).

2. Retrieve your radio with the PIN to fly your aircraft when ready to fly.

3. When flight is complete, return radio to impound shed and return PIN to pin board. Do not keep radios at the tables when you are not flying. Impound after each flight!

4. Retrieve radios when departing field.

Remember to clearly mark your name and frequency (use frequency flags) on your transmitter. This will prevent someone from taking the wrong radio from the impound (we have many members with the same transmitter model!)

A Note on Frequency Pin Courtesy:

All members need to familiarize themselves with other members at the field with the same radio frequency as you have. It is common courtesy to return the pin to the pin board after each flight (when you impound your radio) to allow other members to use the frequency. When multiple people are on the same frequency, please restrict frequency pin use to less than 30 minutes to allow other members to fly.

RED’S CORNER

BY ROB JENSEN

All Electric Pylon Race a Huge Success!!

On Sunday April 8th. an all electric pylon race was held at a top secret 22 acre flying field on the outskirts of Santa Rosa. Pilots from as far away as San Jose, Lodi and Half Moon Bay came to try their luck at the pylons.

Racing began about 10:30 with 14 pilots registered to race and. many more in attendance. I, along with Steve ,Cole, were in the first heat along with two of the out-of-towners. 3-2-1-LAUNCH and here we go! I jumped out to an early lead, man my plane was moving! I was a bit nervy and ended up cutting out in the first heat. Steve and I had some great side by side racing action though! Steve won the Heat. Team Red's Racing aided by factory sponsored (Red's Hangar One) specially propped race motors had a definite edge on the rest of the entrants. There was one other plane there that was noticeably faster than ours called a "Stinger.' Luckily for us, he was having technical problems, so he was not in contention. It was really fast owing to its small design and all molded construction. The "Stinger" is built in the Czech. Republic where the dollar is strong so we can get them here for about $150.

In the second round, Steve and I again faced the out of towners. I had to change to my back-up motor due to a bad landing in the previous heat and was a little slower. I got a good start and got out in front and flew wide laps to make sure I didn't cut! Steve came up through the pack and by lap 8, I was fighting to hold on. In the last turn of the last lap Steve pulled tighter and got by me to take the win by less than 5 feet!! Wow, what fun! We were hollerin' and laughin' and havin' a great time.

In the third heat, I cut out again and Steve came in second behind another Sokol that had found a little extra speed in the pits. With two 1sts and one 2^{nd ,}Steve was the overall winner.

We also had a bunch of fun flying in between heats. Some great Foamie aerobatics with a few hair-raising low upside down passes (not by me!!) and just generally a good time! We BBQ'd burgers and dogs and told some lies.

There were three very impressive Noon demos, too. There was an electric Mig-15 that went 159+ mph on Radar!! and flew for probably 6 minutes. Steve Cole did a wild 3-D Heli demo that had the whole crowd applauding, and Greg Penning brought his newly-completed 118" Aeroworks Extra IMAC plane out for its third flight. You need to see this thing fly!! Greg has an awesome smoke system on it that literally fogged the sky!!

We had more racin' and fun flyin' then we got out the Radar gun to see what our planes were doing. Steve had an MVVS powered FW-190 pylon plane at 130. My Switchblade went 107 and Steve's Sokol went 112!! Wow! Pretty good for a $9 motor.

A good time was had by all, and we are trying to put together a small 4 or 5 field circuit. Should be a blast. See ya next time.

FIELD HAPPENINGS

BY TOM NOWELSKY

Since I have been a member, I have noticed that our Newsletter does not regularly document what goes on at the flying field. Just in the last few months, many noteworthy things have taken place, which. I'm sure, many members would like to hear about.

Some of the happenings which immediately come to mind include a certain trainer which tried to mate with a Ford Mustang, a killer heli demo given by a visitor from Texas, some interesting dogfights entered into by several of our warbird enthusiasts, a hand-launched, main-gear-less Kadet .40, and some very low "valley" flying. All of this occurred in just the past few weeks.

Many of the incidents I have witnessed were unfortunate crashes and perhaps, the victim would just as soon forget the carnage. Nevertheless, perhaps the circumstances, when documented, may serve to improve the survival rates of other member's aircraft, or to increase field safety. And lets not forget that some crashes are also just plain entertaining in their own right. (In that category, I place my own dumb-thumbing of my brand new Kadet LT40, which is now only a memory.)

But I don't intend to only document re-kitting. There are many happy interesting things which happen at the field. I am referring to the maiden flights of some beautiful planes and heli's, new solo pilots experiences, some very special flights, and demonstrations by many of our advanced pilots. Even some on-field "major modifications" to get back in the air are of interest, and those members not lucky enough to be there in person would enjoy a "blow by blow" description.

So this is my goal......to write an interesting column, to publicize some of our member's activities, and to document in real time (or at least real date), what happens "at the dump."

On Saturday, March 24^th, Loren Fong came to the field with a new Heli kit. It is a Augusta A-109 Power Heli from the German Manufacturer Graupner/Heim, and includes complete mechanics (less rotorblades), and a beautiful fiberglass fuse, including retractable landing gear. Loren explained that he found this on the internet, Ebay??, for $700.00 complete. It appears that the retail is about twice that price. This beautiful ship caused quite a stir at the field, and I was later informed that Loren is trying to get three more of these, which our heli enthusiasts will surely snap up immediately.

The heli-gods, however both giveth and taketh away, for the following weekend, Hai Nguyen subjected his X-Cell Heli to some ignominious damage. According to the pilot, he was practicing an auto-rotation, in gusty conditions, when the heli approached the ground in a tilted position. Unfortunately, Hai applied the opposite of corrective input, causing a main rotor strike. Damage included the main rotors, and many other parts. At last check, however, Hai indicated that the damage is well on the way to being repaired, and by the time you read this, the X-Cell may have returned to the air.

Perhaps there were many other interesting happenings in March, but they are not chronicled. Next month, hopefully, I will have a more complete report.

I would like to end with a plea. Since no one can be at the field all the time, I am bound to miss many historically significant events. If you are present for such an event, please give me a call and fill me in. I will take your verbal description, and write it up.....giving you credit for the tip, if you wish. I can be reached at 836-1037, at home, or at 799-6536 on my cell phone. Thanks for your help.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

MARCH 20,2001

By Larry Miller

The meeting was called to order by Rob Jensen at 7:30 pm. There were 40 members present and no guests this evening.

Several new members were asked to stand up and introduce themselves and tell us a little about themselves.

The first important order of business was to hold the drawing for the door prize which was won by Steve Cole. (Again).

The Treasurer's report was next followed by a report by the Secretary who informed the membership that the AMA Club Charter is in hand along with insurance policies for the flying field, the float pond, and the meeting room at the Vets Memorial Building.

Rob reviewed the new points system for the new members and some of the old ones who had questions that needed clarifying. -

Larry Childs reported on his quest for a Tuff Shed for the field. After much research and many phone calls, he has decided he can build a comparable building for half the price. We told him to go ahead.

Doug Boucher announced a club social event is planned for the near future to be held at Larry Childs home. This will be potluck except for the meat, which the club will furnish. There is plenty of room around Larry's house to fly electric aircraft. The date will be announced in the very near future. He also stated that he is still working on the party for next Christmas. In case you haven't noticed, Doug is our new club social director.

Tom Nowelsky has volunteered to be our field reporter. If you see something or do something fellow club members would be interested in hearing about at the field, give Tom a call or E-mail him the information. He can be reached at 836-1037 or E-mail (tnowel@cwia.com).

The first Fun Fly of the season is scheduled for Saturday June 9th. There will also be a BBQ and a swap meet.

We had several models brought in for show and tell. Paul Kramosil showed a very nicely done I/I 2th scale combat plane. Doug Boucher brought in his Breitling acrobatic aircraft powered by an OS 160 twin.

A raffle was held next with the 50-50 winner being Richard Lange. There was also many other prizes so many other folks also went home with some very nice merchandise.

The meeting was brought to a close with a slide show presentation put on by Rob of photos taken over the years by Lany Frank at the many contests and fly-ins that he had attended. Larry had intended to do the presentation but he wasn't feeling well the day of the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

BOARD MEETING

MARCH 6,2001

Discussed the need to certify flight instructors. If you would like to be an official instructor, contact a board member to make arrangements for certification. In the future, only certified instructors will be allowed to buddy box a student. This is a safety issue.

Observations at the.field. If you see garbage laying around on the ground, please pick it up and dispose of it in the trash cans provided. Also, take your crashed airplanes and empty fuel jugs home with you. Last week the garbage cans were over flowing with crashed planes and fuel jugs and someone had to make a special trip just to empty the cans, at a nominal fee to the club, I might add. Another observation. When you are done with your flight, please put the frequency pin back on the board. It's not fair to the other flyers to hog a frequency. It's only common courtesy. Enuff said.

Larry Childs reported that by the time you read this, the new shed should be erected at the field.

There being no more business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Tentative Schedule of Events For The Year

June 9th - First fun fly of the year, CD'ed by Doug Boucher, open to all flyers. A BBQ and swap meet will also be held. Classes for beginners and experts alike. Lots of great prizes. Maybe even a raffle.

Late June or early July Learn-to-Fly Day. Our most popular event where we let the public try their hand at buddy box flying. Food will be available. Date to be announced later.

Late July or early August Fun Fly, swap meet, open house, and BBQ. Date to be announced later.

September Annual Neil Taylor picnic and fun fly. This is a family event. Free BBQ for club members.

There are also several unscheduled events planned such as social events and pylon racing. The dates for these will be announced when plans are finalized.

Our neighboring club to the north, the Ukiah Propbusters, has several exciting events scheduled for the year. Some of these are invitational but I'm sure we're welcome to watch and maybe even get invited to join in. The most impressive of these is the Dan Sullivan Scale Contest, to be held on June 2nd and 3rd. Expert scale builders and flyers from all over the state participate with some incredible scale models. An event well worth seeing. On May 13th, they will be having a float fly at Lake Mendocino. This is also invitational but should be interesting to watch. Then on July 14th and 15th there is a Golden Age fly-in scheduled for their field in Ukiah. Again invitational but there will be some beautiful models to watch fly. On September 8th and again on November 10th they will be hosting fun flies at their field which are apparently open to anyone to participate.