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January, 2000
BILL JONES This is the very last call for the Fly2K dinner party. Please RSVP now!! We need to know how many people will attend so we can order tables and enough food. Beginning February 1st., EVERYONE MUST wear their 2000 membership badges while at the flying field! In This way we will all know each others names, and who is and isn't a member. It can be put on a hat, jacket, shirt or anywhere it is visible. Rumor has it Field Marshall Novak and entourage will stick one on ya if you don't have one. Very special thanks to Tom Wikie and Rob Jensen for their work and devotion while serving as Treasurer and Newsletter Editor. Great job guys' ABOUT THE NEW NEWSLETTER Gary Child. With the new year now upon us, the Board of the Wine Country Flyers felt it was time to usher in a new Newsletter format. The goal of the Newsletter is to be informative, instructive to the members and prospective members and responsive to your concerns and interests. We will have input from several different members and feature items that you will want to read. It is planned to keep the regular sections such as the "President's Message," "Name the Plane" and "Minutes" of the prior meeting. To these regular sections we will add an Events Calendar, a Product Review, How-To articles, Classified Ads, Photos, Editorials and the Treasurer's Report. In order to help members know their fellow flyers better, we will have a "Member Spotlight" on one member each month. We want to know what else our members do, something about their background and what makes them so addicted to the sport of R/C Flying. To make this Newsletter as good as it can be, we need each member's input and suggestions. Give us your ideas, photos of your planes and the flying field, classified items to sell or trade and suggestions for products you would like to be reviewed. We have a great Club and a beautiful part of the world to enjoy our hobby. Hopefully our Newsletter will reflect it all. So let us know. back to topVICE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Welcome to Year 2000! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Our Newsletter is about to take on a new look. First of all, a big thanks to Robbie Jenson for doing such a great job this past year on our Newsletter. The board has decided to divide the Newsletter input among the board members. At this time I would also like to introduce a new board member, Gary Child. Gary will be our new Newsletter editor and coordinator. The Club Officers and Board Members for the new term are as follows:
We have a very energetic and enthusiastic board for this term. Please support them any way you can. Thank you and may all of you have a happy and prosperous New Year. * * *Jeff Costa*** TREASURER'S REPORTSee Members-Only, Financial Pages http://www.wcflyers.com/members/finance/financial.html PRODUCT REVIEW Thunder Tiger has a new electric plane called the Skymaster. It is powered by a speed 280 motor with a 33.5" wingspan, 6V 600Mah Nicad, and an all up weight of just under 20 oz! It comes with a Hi-tec Focus II radio already installed and a 30 minute quick charger. It is built of plastic covered white foam and can be assembled very quickly. All you need to provide is 8 "AA" batteries for the transmitter. This is as inexpensive as it gets!! Before Christmas they were selling for $139.00, but the price has gone up to about $160-still a great deal! These planes were the hot ticket at Hangar One. Dave ordered 4 to see how they would sell, and they were gone in the first day! So he ordered 12 more and had 8 sold before UPS could even deliver them. They were all gone by Christmas week with orders for more. Building time could be 15 min. or less if you used foam safe CA. (Gold label with a black tip at Hangar One) The glue provided in the kit needs an hour to dry. The landing gear and tail feathers need to be put on, fold the wing on and glue a center piece in. The radio gear comes pre-installed. Mount the wing with rubber bands, check the C.G. and control throws and you are ready to go. Most have been coming out a little tail heavy. Glue a couple of pennies in the cowl and it will be fine. The stock control throws are fine for a beginner but an advanced flier may want more. The motor has a switch on the outside of the fuse. In other words wide open all the way! It will climb out at about a 15 deg. angle, so a little down trim is required at a safe altitude. The motor will run approx. 5-6 min. before shutting off automatically, so don't stray too far from the field! Landing is normal and straight forward but you only get one shot at it, not like a Wingo where you can power up for a second try. The glide down has a bit of a heavy feel, but these were in Winter test conditions, you may be able to thermal it in better air. It will do loops and rolls and is approximately 10 m.p.h. faster than a Wingo. You could install a speed control but you would need a radio capable of a third channel. All in all this is a great flier and inexpensive enough for the first timer. OPINIONS & EDITORIALSFor too long, too much has been done by too few! Last year we had 125 paid members, most of whom did little or nothing to help maintain the existence of our Club. Our Club does not run itself. There has been growing interest in giving financial incentives to members who help out and contribute time to the success of our Club. Many other clubs have a similar policy. Club members could lessen their dues by volunteering to work for the Club in many ways. Members could contribute by flipping burgers at the fun fly, many of us have more talent standing in front of a BBQ, than an R/C transmitter anyway. The grass has to be mowed and the garbage taken to the dump. We often need people to go to Costco, wash tables, take money at events, and do many other small and large tasks. Maybe you have a business or skill that could be of use to the Club. There are many ways to help. If the Board approves this policy, it could take effect as soon as 2001. Anyone with an opinion about how to create incentives for more active participation in the Club is welcome to attend the next meeting and make a suggestion or work with us to implement the ideas of others. We would all like to have a greater participation in the Club by all members. What do you think? *** Dino House*** UPCOMING EVENTS DATE EVENT LOCATION COST INFO NO REGULAR CLUB MEETING IN JANUARY JAN 22ND 6:00 PM NEW YEARS LOS ROBLES BUFFET
DINNER & PARTY SANTA ROSA, CA $24.00 LARRY FRANK FEB 8TH CLUB MEETING EL PORTAL SAFETY TIPS & REMINDERS By Gene Novak To bring in the New Year safely, I hope to refresh everyone's memory on the safe flying zones at the Healdsburg Flying Field. We have an enviable safety record so far, and surely no one wants to see anyone else get hurt from an accident that could be prevented. As you know, we are flying toys that weigh between 5 and 15 pounds at speeds that can approach 100 miles per hour! Even the best of pilots at the field can have problems. With this in mind, here are some helpful hints and field rules which will help us fly accident-free: 1. Set-up tables are provided for preparation of the planes or helicopters for flight. 2. Start-up tables are provided for starting engines at a safe distance from others. When you are finished with your flight, remove your equipment from the start-up table so others may use it. 3. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask. We have an extremely friendly and helpful membership. 4. Be courteous and announce your intentions to taxi, takeoff and land. 5. No flying behind the safety fence or over the set-up table areas. 6. The area over the runway is for take-offs and landings only. 7. The area beyond the runway is free for all! Enjoy the sky and let the others enjoy their portion. Let's keep the great safety record we have and enjoy this great hobby! MINUTES OF DECEMBER'S MEETINGBy Dino House The meeting was called to order by President Bill Jones at 7:40. There were 25 members in attendance. The Treasurer's report was given by our new Treasurer, Dale Chiaroni. November income was $350. 00, November's expenses were $360.26. We have $1713.33 in the field fund and $1,194.23 in the general fund for a total of $2,907.56. The work on the shed is complete for now. Thanks to those who helped! Jeff Costa gave an update on the attempts to obtain Liberty Field as a flying site. Jeff is now focussing on getting permission to use the field for a few special events each year instead of as a regular field. Chuck Green discussed an "Internal Rotary Drive," for show and tell. It is an interesting servo drive that is completely encased in the wing. Rob Jensen brought the plans to "Ms Ashley," a new plane he will be producing next year. We will be looking forward to its flight. Thank you, Rob Jensen, for your two years as Editor of our Newsletter. He has done a wonderful job and only now do we realize just how much work it is. In fact, we now have formed a Newsletter Committee headed up by Gary Child to do the job. The many tasks of publishing this Newsletter will be divided up among the members of the Committee. We would also like to thank Tom Wikie for his efforts as treasurer) The Club's books have never been so well kept! The club appreciates his very detailed and organized records. Dale Chiaroni will continue the tradition and will be computerizing the records for the year 2000. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55. CLASSIFIED This section is available to members to advertise your planes, parts and/or services for sale, trade, etc. You may also advertise a request for items for which you are looking. For information regarding placing your ad in this space call Gary Child at (707)547-2706. RED'S CORNER ROB JENSEN Hi guys! As you are probably aware I resigned as the Newsletter editor. It was just getting too much for one person to handle alone. So it is now being done by a Committee headed up by Gary Child. I will remain active on the board and will still contribute to the Newsletter every month. Gary is very enthusiastic about the project and we hope to bring you a bigger and better Newsletter in the future. I just received two of the first Laser cut kits of my MA2, and the parts look great!! I built the fuselage and tail and really had to hold myself back from taking pictures for the manual along the way. I am amazed at the quality of the cutting. The parts literally fell out and went together perfectly. I found a couple of small errors that could be easily fixed in the building process, but I am going to redraw the parts and try to make it as perfect as possible. I should have a prototype flying soon. I'll keep ya posted.....Red NAME THE PLANEOk, this one may be a stumper. In 1964 when this aircraft was made public. President Johnson made a blunder in his announcement. He mistakenly reversed the first two letters in the designation. ( like TA-6 instead of AT-6) Instead of issuing a brief correction, the Air Force decided not to call attention to a mistake made by the Commander in Chief, and made the manufacturer change the designation on some 29 thousand drawings and technical documents, costing the tax payers millions. Can you name this plane?
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
