It has been a busy month for the club. Many of the field upgrades have been performed, and we would like to thank all the people who have taken time out of their schedules to help out at the field. Without their efforts, we couldn’t continue to improve our Club. The field looks great! The last work party painted everything! If it was there, they sprayed it.. The impound shed is going to get a few improvements based on input from members. We appreciate the input and suggestions from the membership. This is how we continue to grow and improve our Club. Our fencing around the pilot stations and pit area is in a state of disrepair and we are looking at some new plastic coated fencing to replace it. We will also use this fencing for the spectator fence.

We have had many new aircraft show up at the field for first flights this month. I would like to see Doug’s new Skywalker banned from the field as it is way too high on the awesome factor and puts many of us to shame! On the note of first flights on aircraft, take the time to have a senior flier safety inspect the aircraft before you fly it. Many times they may catch an error that could cause the loss of an aircraft on the first flight. It is time well-spent even for the experienced builders.

Please remember to attend the next club meeting. We are having a great time and have good prizes (is Richard still eligible to buy 50/50 tickets?). Also, remember to mark your calendar for the Learn To Fly Day on Sunday, July 8^th. It will be a great day again as it has always been in the past. (Corrected Event Schedule)

back to top

Hi all. It seems lately I have been flying electrics because of there ability to fly almost anywhere. My flying time is severely limited it seems! Anyway, I have a soft spot for small planes. Combine this with a Warbird and I'm hooked. While cruising the net I came across some micro WWII kits for indoor electric. They are called the "Roadkill" series by DJ Aerotech. Roadkill because they are profile or flat fuse. Wing span is 20" and all up weight is 3 oz! I built the P-51 and it is really cool! It has ailerons, elevator and rudder with a steerable tail wheel in the scale location! It does the most realistic take-offs...it goes awhile then the tail comes up and it gets light on the mains before finally breaking ground. Very cool. The battery pack I am using is a little on the heavy side, so performance suffers a bit. I should have a new pack ready for some flying at the next meeting. Come check it out. Progress on the Speed Sea Plane project has been slow but we have moved forward some! The most notable item being the engine. I contacted Performance Specialties and purchased a Nelson .40 F.I.R.E (front intake rear exhaust) FAI pylon racing engine. In FAI they use no nitro at all. Dave at Performance Specialties has modified it to use nitro thus increasing overall power. This one of a kind engine will turn 30+ RPM and deliver over 3HP! The size of the intake alone has to be seen to be believed! I will have it at the next meeting. We have finalized the wing airfoil/platform and are well into the final design phase. My hope is to be cutting metal for the molds in 2 months. It will be called the Piranha. C-ya at the meeting, Red

back to top

BY TOM NOWELSKY

As anticipated, April turned out to have significant field activity, some pleasant, some tragic, as we shall see.

On Saturday, April 14^th, there were many pilots and planes at the field, and the weather was very nice. Larry Miller flew his F-15 Jet, which is quite fast. It looks very scale in the air. I brought a new Tiger 2 to the field. With the help of Steve Cole, it had a nice maiden flight, and I actually took the controls for a bit. Mike Beito brought his StuntWagon, which cut quite a swath through the sky.

Tom Haddorff came to the field with a new Kadet LT40, (not the ARF), which he had modified as a tail-dragger. It flew very well, but the engine had some idle problems.

Phil Heidt landed short with his new Extra 300, causing some damage to the leading edge of the wing.....could have been much worse. It seems the engine quit and Phil set up for a dead-stick landing. Unfortunately there was a stiff head wind, preventing the craft from making the runway. It caught the bushes at the North end of the field.

Larry Miller was, of course, flying his 1/4 scale Sig Extra 300. This plane is really a very impressive flyer.

Richard Lange was present and flying his Freya Heli. The craft had sustained major damage the previous week, when it landed very hard, but was now back in good shape. Having had many parts replaced, there was some re-setting-up needed to get it flying well.

The following day, Easter Sunday, Richard was again flying the Freya, when some kind of mechanical failure occurred. The Heli crashed to ground, and was a total loss. According to Richard, only the engine and some servos were able to be saved. Coming on the heels of a major repair job, this was a really tough break.

As of this writing, Richard is, once again, flying his Raptor.

On Saturday, April 21^st, there were many planes at the field. Greg Penning arrived with his new 37% Extra 330 L. This is an awesome aircraft, powered by a Desert Aircraft DA150 twin cylinder gas engine, turning a huge three-bladed prop. With the wings and horizontal stab removed, the fuselage barely fits in Greg’s minivan from between the front seats, all the way to the tailgate. Those of you who have seen the plane in person know just how huge it is. The plane looks and flys like the full-size aircraft, and includes a great smoke system.

On Sunday, April 22^nd, John Gorsich came to the field with a new Great Planes ARF Spacewalker. This is really a good looking aircraft, which has that "old-time" appearance, even though the design of the full sized plane is not all that old. John’s plane was powered by an OS .91. It appears as though the control throws were set-up too high and the plane was very unstable in the sky. Less than a minute into it’s maiden flight, it spun in and was virtually destroyed. The radio and engine were saved, but it was a big disappointment to John and the spectators as well.

On the same day, the author managed to destroy his new Goldberg Tiger 2 ARF. I’m just not ready for low inverted flight, and I learned the hard way that you should NEVER pull up elevator when you are low and inverted. Anyway, I’ll have another Tiger 2 soon, as it is a great flying airplane.

On Saturday, April 28^th, the weather was beautiful down in town. At the field, however, there was a very strong North wind that must have been 25 knots, gusting to 35. This did not deter Greg Penning with his big Extra 330, but the flying was greatly curtailed.

Mike Beito did fly his Stuntwagon, which took off from East to West (across the runway, instead of up or down). It was very interesting to watch the big Extra land. Greg Penning would line up on the center line, and point the nose of the plane 45% toward the pits. The Extra would fly crabbed, tracking the runway perfectly until just before touchdown, when Greg would kick the tail straight with the rudder, and land. Just like the real thing, and very impressive.

Loren was there with his new Augusts A-109 Power, scale Heli. Although not yet painted, and missing a few windows, he did fly it. This is the item described in last month’s column. When flying with the gear retracted, the heli looks very cool, indeed.

On Sunday April 29^th, there was much less wind, and many more flights. Doug Boucher flew his Breitling CAP 231, which had been giving him many problems with radio interference. On this day, Doug had a new PCM receiver, but it did not help. There were still glitches and Doug was just happy to get the plane back in one piece. (Doug has finally fixed this problem, by finding out that there was a loose wire in the on-board ignition system.) Once this was fixed, the plane has subsequently flown fine.

As a final note for this month, Larry Miller was good enough to send me the following report about some recent field maintenance. We all owe these guys a big THANK YOU for the work they did at the field.

back to top

REPORT FROM THE FIELD

On Wednesday, May 2nd, Doug Boucher, Larry Miller, Jeff Costa, Dale Chiaroni, Bill Jones, and Steve Birkhofer met at the field for a work party.

The new impound shed, the storage shack, and all the tables were painted, top and bottom. The tables were put back in alignment and IT IS REQUESTED THAT THEY NOT BE MOVED. The pit area was enlarged slightly for safety reasons. Also, the outhouse was moved to a more central location, with the storage shack to be moved in the near future.

Dale serviced the lawn mower and Larry put it to use, mowing the pit area and anything else he could find. Note: The air cleaner on the mower had at least an inch of crud covering it. It should be checked more frequently. The mower now runs great. Several folks brought their own weed whackers from home and waked all the grass the mower couldn't reach. We loaded Jeff's pickup with trash and made a dump run. (A very short trip) Jeff also brought some Roundup from home and sprayed weeds until he ran out.

The field now looks one hundred percent better. New fencing is in the planning stage and, if we can con Novak out of some more Pennzoil pennants, we'll have the best looking flying field around.

back to top

I have really enjoyed flying slow flyers and park flyers. It gives me the chance to fly after work or on short notice. I have found several interesting places to fly where I do not bother neighbors, but can get to within a few minutes from my home. I already have a Wingo (doesn’t everyone) and an electric Zaggi. These fly great and are perfect for what I want. However, just as I am always looking for another great park to fly, I am also looking for the next fun Park Flyer for the purpose.

I had seen the Crazy Sparrow for some time and thought it looked fun. It is a symmetrical mid-wing, Styrofoam, aerobatic park flyer powered by a geared 280 motor and is reminiscent of the open cockpit racers of the 1930’s. I just had to get one. Red ordered the kit for me and when it came I was really pleasantly surprised. The detail of the ARF "Plug and Fly" is incredible—prepainted foam, rivets, plastic cowl already attached and a nice sheet of decals are only a few of the features of this little plane. When I picked up the parts, it was like picking up an egg shell. In fact, it is made from the same material and about the same thickness as an egg carton from the grocery store. I had to be careful not to crush each piece as I handled it during the brief building process. The whole construction time was about 10-12 hours, including the decoration. The wings plug in to the fuselage and are held in with epoxy. The stab and fin have pre-cut slots for perfect alignment. The tubes for the control wires are already installed and are a snap. Once everything gets glued into place, the strength of the Sparrow increases dramatically. I found the instructions a little confusing since they are translated from Korean (?) and only the most simple of pictures show how things go together. I had to read the instructions and look at the pictures several times and then assemble each step in a "dry run" fashion to avoid making simple mistakes. Actually there is very little you can do wrong! I used the wheels that came with the kit except for the tail wheel, which I thought was "flaky." I just replaced it with a light ply skid. I had difficulty finishing my final pre-flight check because I did not have the correct battery, but Red got me new one and I was ready to try the first flight.

The Sparrow is so light that a calm day is a must. I went to the field since I wanted to let it take off from a runway with enough room for possible mistakes. I placed it on the runway, sttod way back and threw the throttle forward. Then is when I discovered why they call it a Sparrow. It hopped (sort of) as it rolled slowly along the ground. Maybe my pilot was afraid of heights or maybe there were too many vultures overhead, but there was no flight. Only once when a gust of wind hit it head on did it even slightly hop into the air. I used the speed 280 geared motor that came with it and it just did not produce enough rpms to do much more than taxi.

The next day I went back to the workbench and modified the plane to accept a geared speed 400 motor and I increased the battery from a 350 mAh to a 500 mAh with Dean’s plugs. The weight was only slightly increased from about 16 ounces to about 19 ounces and the CG hardly changed at all! After several frustrating attempts to get it into the air, and after Red’s skillful assistance, I finally got it to fly—for s very short and disappointing flight. On landing in the grass at the park it ripped the wheels off. I flew it twice more and tore off the motor and did major damage to the fuse and wing. The plane is just so fragile that it cannot withstand any roughness at all. I intend to "beef" up the egg shell, rebuild it and try it again. Hopefully with better luck this next time.

back to top

By Larry Miller

The meeting was called to order by Larry Childs at 7:30 pm.

We had 24 members present.

New member Doug Cameron introduced himself to the membership. His main interest is helicopters.

The first order of business was the drawing for the door prize, a Cermark power panel, which was won by Richard Lange.

It was announced that the newsletter will be published on the web site monthly and that our web site is now linked to the AMA web.

The Treasurers report was given by Dale Chiaroni followed by a report by the secretary.

The membership thanked the crew who built and installed the new impound shed. Check the web site for photos of the shed and the guys who did all the work.

Doug Boucher announced that he and Larry Miller will be painting the buildings and all the tables at the field. Any help would be appreciated.

The Triad reminded everyone of the impound rules. These will be strictly enforced.

Dale Chiaroni was thanked for taking his tractor to the field and doing some major grass mowing. Our power mower hasn't been running well lately so Steve Cole volunteered to work on it in the near future.

The raffle was held next and Richard Lange won almost everything. He should have gone up to Reno right after the meeting.

This was followed by show-and-tell with Rob Jensen and his new electric racer called a Stinger. It's made in Russia, all molded with a 75 square inch wing area, and expected to go over 120 mph with an inexpensive stock motor.

Larry Childs showed a video of the Woodland-Davis Jet Rally.

Steve Cole showed us photos of his flight in Lefty Gardner's P-38. One lucky guy.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

NOTE: There will be a vote at the next meeting on purchasing the paint for the field.

This is a major expenditure so we need a vote by the membership.

Also, this month a special person will be having a birthday. Glen Ballard will turn 90 years young. Have a very Happy Birthday, Glen, from all of us.

back to top

MAY 1, 2001

The meeting commenced at 7:30pm at Red's Hangar One Hobbies.

Doug Boucher, our entertainment director, updated us on his plans for the year.

Steve Cole reported that he had worked on the lawn mower and it seems to be running better.

We had a long discussion on field safety. Some people seem to be ignoring the rules.

We have received permission to install more permanent fencing at the field so we are looking into getting materials to build sturdier barriers.

There being no more pressing business, we adjourned the meeting.

back to top

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. Date to be announced later.

July 8th Learn-to-Fly Day. Our most popular event where we let the public try their hand at buddy box flying. Food will be available.

(This is the corrected version of the schedule as of 5/12/01)

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.

back to top

Officers 2004:

You are visitor number on our site.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, November 18, 2003.
Please report problems or make suggestions here.

Wine Country Flyers
P.O. Box 4198
Santa Rosa, CA. 95402