Next meeting: Tuesday the 21^st of October 2003. Time: 7:30 P.m.

President: Steve Cole (707) 566-8838

Vice President: Red Jensen (707) 585-3170

Secretary: Larry Miller (707) 577-0496

Treasurer: Tom Haddorff (707) 526-7058

Member @ Large John Reade (707) 545-9831

Nominations for 2003 Club Officers will take place at our October meeting with voting in November. Remember that we don’t have a meeting in December because of the Christmas Party. We’re sure that we will have a good slate of candidates for next year we just have to keep thinking ahead.

And Gary Child has completed work on the first draft of the new By-laws that he will present to the membership at the October meeting with time for membership review over the next month or so anticipating a vote for adoption at the January meeting. Gary has spent a lot of time working on this project and it should give us a sound basis for managing our club.

We have two new members this month to welcome. We can start with Broday Carlson who is apparently doing very well with his flight training and is expected to solo soon. The second new member is Dennis Forer. Both Broday and Dennis hail from Santa Rosa. Hope to see both of these guys at our next meeting or at the field soon. This brings our membership up to 108 for 2003!

Submitted by Phil Leech

Joe Geiger Solos! Sept 24 Joe flew with Art Sutter and completed his solo program with some 8 takeoffs and landings. Joe has been pretty determined with his flight training and has persevered through a number of crashes and setbacks but now he can join the ranks of accomplished flyers. John Reade is preparing a "Solo Certificate" that we hope to present to Joe at the Oct 21 Meeting.

About the same time that Joe soloed (maybe the same day?) Art Sutter was flying along with Sid Maxwell and Kurt Hiner. Art was flying his nearly new Ultra Stick and Sid was flying one of his "Dog" series of planes. Suddenly, Sid cried out, "I’m in trouble" as his Desert Dog wasn’t responding to control. Art, who was standing next to Sid looked over to see if there was anything he could do to help Sid. (It later turned out that one of Sid’s aileron horns had come off). Art quickly looked back to his Ultra Stick when he realized that there wasn’t much he could do to help Sid. He followed the plane for a few moments and then he began to realize that something wasn’t quite right. What was wrong with his plane? It was doing its own thing alright….what was it? "Omigod", Art shouted when he realized that the plane that he was tracking was Kurt Hiners! So, where was his Ultra Stick? The Ultra Stick was…GONE!

What a bad feeling! Art isn’t sure where the Ultra Stick went down because he never saw it go in. It’s out there in the jungle somewhere. Maybe Jungle J (Julio) can find it….maybe not. Sorry about that,

Art.

The following Saturday, Sept 27 a work party consisting of John Reade, Duane Hope, John Lehtio, Stevo Smith, Steve Cole and myself met at Hangar One and proceeded to the East Bay. Duane had borrowed a trailer from his landlord that John had attached to his Ford 250. John Lehtio drove his Chevy Astro for the rest of us to the clubhouse of Sacrats where we were met by Lou Haney. We weren’t there long before a truck carrying a rental forklift arrived and unloaded for us. We were well prepared as Steve, Stevo, John and maybe Duane all knew how to operate the forklift. Both Steve Cole and Stevo Smith took turns picking up the rolls of AstroTurf and loading them on to the trailer. After we had loaded six rolls we checked the trailer and realized that one of the tires was about ½" from the frame. John Reade announced, "I think we can do about one more" and that was it. Seven rolls. We left about two rolls that maybe we can get in the future. The trip back to the field was fortunately uneventful but we did stop a couple of times to check on the tires. At the field, we didn’t have it so easy because we didn’t have a forklift to unload the rolls. Fortunately, Joe Geiger was there with his FWD Ford truck and we were able to pull the rolls off of John’s truck. All in all it was a good day but we probably have more work in front of us as we plan where we will install the AstroTurf.

And this just in. Steve Cole flew his P-38 for the first time on Friday Oct 10 and all went well. The P-38 is powered with two Saito 100’s and sounds great. Steve flew again on Saturday and I wasn’t there for either event. Damn.

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Steve Cole.

We had 27 members and guests present.

The first thing on the agenda was the drawing for the door prize. A gallon of fuel was won by Guy Nicholas.

Treasurer Tom Haddorff gave a report on our financial and membership status. The bank account looks good and we have 108 members on the roster.

Phil gave us an update on the Astro Turf. A group of members will be going down to the bay area on Sept.27 to pick it up.

Steve Cole reported that he is almost done assembling the new frequency pins.

There was a discussion on storing a small retrieval boat at the float site. Due to past experiences, it was decided it was not a good idea as we've lost three boats in the past.

Sid Maxwell briefed the membership on the work party he put together to clear out a lot of the weeds in the float pond. This should make it a lot easier to launch the aircraft.

Tim Kriegel, a former club member, donated a new outhouse to the club. Once it is cleaned up it will be designated for women only.

Sid Maxwell made a presentation on the replacement of the fencing at the field. He had a complete breakdown of type of material and the cost. He was given the green light to go ahead with his plan. I'm sure he will be seeking a work party in the near future.

The president brought up the fact that we'll be seeking nominations for club officers for the upcoming year at the next meeting.

Sid Maxwell announced that he will hosting a combat contest at the field on the morning of Sept. 28.

At this point in the meeting the 50/50 raffle was held. An extremely large pot was won by John Lehtio. Stevo Smith won a kit and 4 or 5 other members won numerous prizes.

For show and tell, Steve Cole related his experiences at the Reno Air Races last week.

And John Reade brought in his new Lanier Mariner .40 seaplane for us to check out. It looks like it's going to get real busy at the float pond next season.

It was announced that the next board meeting will be held on Oct.7 and then the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Larry Miller, Sec.

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Steve Cole. Members present were Gary Child, Phil Leech, John Reade, Larry Miller, Stevo Smith, Tom Haddorff, and Rob Jensen.

John will a couple of helpers and get the new women’s outhouse squared away as soon as it is serviced and cleaned up.

It was reported that there has been a problem at the field with inmate work crews disrupting flying and throwing trash around. If anyone should experience a problem with them, it was suggested that you approach the deputy in charge and tactfully inform him that we are responsible for the area and all rule must be adhered to by order of the county.

Steve informed us that the new frequency pins are ready to be used. We will use them on the old board until a completely new board can be finished.

We held a discussion on the awards for the xmas party and the nominations of new club officers for the upcoming meeting.

Gary has finished the first draft of the updated club bylaws and handed out copies to the board to be reviewed. Copies will be emailed out to all members and will also be available at the next meeting for all members to review and make any comments or corrections.

We talked about the placement of the new astro turf that was picked up several weeks ago. Most of it will go in the pit area and pilot stations.

Discussion was held on maybe putting outdoor carpeting on some of the tables at the field as suggested by Sid Maxwell. This will be looked into further.

John said that he is working on new solo certificates for those folks who have completed their flight training.

There being no more business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Larry Miller, Sec.

Flying Combat

Battle stations.............Battle stations..........!!!!!!!!

Combat pilots ............man your planes., enemy planes approaching on October 26,,2003.

The combat planes are ready to rumble, flying out of Alexander Valley Field.

After meeting in the Ready Room at 10 am for our battle plan, we will fly out into the wild blue yonder getting in a fur ball, tighter and tighter

until streamers are cut in every direction.

All Colonels be on alert, prepare your Fun Bats for combat.

The time has come.

Let the Dog Fights begin.............

Lets fly..................................see you there

Colonel sid maxwell

The Squadron has added two more commissioned officers to the ranks:

Colonel Bryan Rankin

Colonel Kevin Rankin

We now have 14 combat pilots ready for combat.

The Big Combat Exhibition on October 26 promises to be exciting and fun for all. If you would like to fly combat, get a Fun Bat or any small 1/12 size plane with a .15 size engine and join the fun...........take the challenge.................fly combat

Col. sid maxwell

"Jungle J" Does It Again

On August 30 I was flying my Fun Bat, "Bat outa Heaven", when it decided to fly without me. It headed straight out over the jungle and beyond. It flew out past the jungle, so far out I could barely see it. Finally I saw it spiral down maybe a mile out. Then on September 20,"Jungle J",

Julio Alvarez, asked me what direction my, "Bat outa Heaven", headed. I pointed the way and told him it was way, way out there. The last thing he said to me before he left was, "I will find". After about 20 minutes, what did I see? Jungle J coming up from the canyon with the Fun Bat in his

hands. I could not believe it !!! I asked Julio how he found it so fast he said, "in my country there is BIG jungle, this jungle--------------it is nothing".

This is the man if anyone needs help finding a plane.

Thank you Julio.........................................

sid maxwell....

COMBAT AIR SQUADRON

The Combat Air Squadron is really taking off. As of this date there are 12 commissioned officers in the Combat Air Squadron .All are

Col.s. Most are flying Fun Bats. All are

ready for combat at any given notice.........

If you want to join the Combat Air Squadron get a Fun Bat or any small combat plane with a .15 size engine, a streamer and let's fly............

Anyone can join. We want you !!!!!!!!

Combat Pilots

Col. sid maxwell, Col. ralph grella,

Col. john stouffer, Col. des shapiro

Col. bob film, Col. julio alvarez

Col. kurt hiner, Col. gary child

Col. sTevo smith, Col. red jensen

Col. steve cole, Col. brian blackburn

Timely Tips

When using nylon hold down bolts for your wing. Use a pencil sharpener and put a point on the end of the bolt. It will go right into the blind nut with no problem..

FOR SALE

FUN BATS------ARF combat plane.15 size, 37" wing complete with hardware, gas tank and hinges.......................................$32.00

sid maxwell (707)584-4428 (530) 832-4548