March, 2000 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

BILL JONES

The Wine Country Flyers Board members are in the process of setting firm dates for a Mall Show in May, Learn To Fly Day in early June, a Pylon Race in June with various classes of participants from Trainer class to 1/12th scale, and Open House in July, Pacific Coast Air Museum in August, the annual Neil Taylor Picnic and Fun Fly in September. The dates for these various events will be set and announced to the Club Members as soon as possible. The recent winds have done some minor damage to the south end of the runway. We would like to organize a work party as soon as weather permits to pull back the Astro Turf and secure it into position. We will need as many participants as possible to help with this project since the wet Astro Turf is extremely heavy. Please expect a call to help and your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Until next month, have fun flying.

MEMBER PROFILE--TOM WIKLE

BY JEFF COSTA

Working my way down the senior list of Wine Country Flyers, I chose Tom Wikle, our 1999 Club Treasurer, as this month's Member Profile candidate.

Tom was born November 30, 1920 in llwaco, Washington on the Colombian River. He and his wife, Helen, have been married 50 years. They have 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy. They also have 10 grandchildren. One of their grandsons is in the Army and recently has been accepted to the Westpoint Academy.

Tom worked 2 years for Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in the Accounting Department. After that he worked as a civilian for the U.S. Navy as an electronic technician at the Twelfth Naval District Headquarters. In that capacity he moved from Ogden, Utah to the Hawaiian Islands. Tom said there wasn't much development in Hawaii back then. For the next thirty years he owned and operated a service station and auto repair business before retiring in 1985.

Tom first started flying R/C in 1960. He told me that the first computer radios were made by Kraft Radios and cost about $500.00. There was no such thing as a buddy-box system. The Flyer and Trainer just handed the radio back and forth. Tom's first plane was called a Box Fly. He showed me a picture of it and it bears a strong resemblance to the modem day Ugly Stick. It flew much like a trainer, was very durable, and had a rubber band on wing.

Tom's interest in R/C planes began one day as he was hauling a load of clippings to the dump. He saw a plane similar to a Kaos flying some aerobatics nearby and decided to go check it out. The first club Tom belonged to was the Sunnyvale Pioneers. They were located near the Lockheed Facility over a filled in dumpsite. The County moved them around frequently. They were located on the south side of Highway 237 for awhile and ended up at the Agnew Mental Facility. Tom later joined the Tomcats located at the Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark near Morgan Hill in 1980. He showed me some pictures of the Tomcats' beautiful flying site complete with paved taxiways at both ends of a paved runway. That Club had a membership of over 400 members when Tom left. Tom and Helen moved to Sonoma County in 1995 and he joined the Wine Country Flyers.

Tom told me that when he first got into the R/C hobby that airplane kits were mostly Japanese and most were smaller 20 sized planes. ARF's didn't exist then. In Tom's opinion, the biggest improvement in the hobby over past years has been in the engines that have become available for our planes. His most memorable events in flying have been the eleven (yes, ELEVEN!) midair collisions he has had. Two of the planes survived to fly again. (Try matching that Adam "Midair" Smith!). Tom says he is not anxiously awaiting number twelve. His favorite kits have been a 20-sized Chipmunk and a Four Star Forty. Since he started flying, Tom has owned 40 to 50 planes.

Tom is extremely entertaining to talk with and he tells some great modeling and flying stories. When you see Tom at the field during the week, take a break from flying and swap some stories with him. I'm sure you will find him very interesting and entertaining.

THE SAFETY CORNER

GENE NOVAK

This month's topic on safety is one that is near and dear to my heart, literally. It has been noted in a few rare articles that the fumes from Cyanoacrylate glues can be hazardous!

The warning on the package typically speaks to skin and eye irritation but does not delve into the problems offtimes causing other health problems.

I would like to insert my own cautions against inhaling times from this product. I have discovered firsthand, as well as from other articles, the fumes might be contributing to a heart problem known as "Atrial Fibrillation". While there is no direct evidence that CA causes this problem, it appears there may be a relationship, or contributory effect with this product.

There have been four recent reports of a possible cause and effect relationship with the CA. So remember, when using glues, paints or other products with strong fumes, have adequate ventilation. Ventilation is far cheaper than any heart operation.

That's it for this month. Fly safely.

AN EMBARRASSING MISTAKE

GARY CHILD

Some lessons are more fun to learn than others. This last week Adam Smith and I met to fly our electric Zagi's. I also brought along a new foam F-15 slope soarer. We attempted to hand launch it several times, but we could not get much lift. Finally, we decided to launch it with a surgical tubing bungee I had made for just such an occasion. We turned off the receiver and the transmitter to save power while we got everything set up. After pounding in the stake, attaching the bungee to both the stake and the plane, we stretched it back about fifty feet or so and let it fly! It was just what we needed to get the necessary lift. It looked great in the air! However, I had no control over the plane--it wouldn't turn, it wouldn't go up and it wouldn't come down. It flew beautifully and high, right into the top of a huge nearby oak tree! I had forgotten to turn the receiver switch on the plane back on. It is amazing how much better they respond with a receiver than without. No damage to the plane. A ladder and a scary climb to the top of the tree and we are again ready to try it again--this time I think we'll try it with full control and a receiver. OOPS!

RED'S CORNER

ROB JENSEN

This month I'll continue with a few tips about fine tuning your aircraft's performance. All airplanes, no matter what design, from Trainer to Pattern Ship, suffer from a condition called "Adverse Yaw" to a certain degree. Adverse Yaw is most easily seen when doing rolls. It shows up as a "tail wag" or sort of a barrel-shaped roll. This is caused by the downside aileron having more drag than the upside opposite aileron. For example, if you roll to the right, the downward deflected left aileron creates more drag than the upward right one, yawing the nose to the left. "How can this be?" you ask. I have equal travel up and down. That is exactly the problem. Equal travel is the culprit! Visualize the shape of an airfoil. We know that lift is generated by air speeding over the top surface of the wing, creating a relative low pressure area above the wing. This means that the air beneath the wing sees a "higher" pressure than the top side of the wing. Now, with equal travel, the down side aileron sees "higher" pressure than the upside and causes the nose to swing in the opposite direction of the roll. Fortunately, the solution for this is relatively simple. You need differential aileron travel. If you are using a computer radio with dual aileron servos, there is a mix in most radios for this. If you have dual servos and no computer radio, you must pull the servo arm off and rotate it forward one spline and lengthen the pushrod accordingly. This makes the servo geometry asymmetric so that it pushes the aileron up more than it pulls it down. The same theory applies to a single servo torque rod set-up. If you move the rods slightly ahead of the center point, this will also pull the down side aileron less than the upside. If your servo is on top of the wing, you will need to move it behind the center. Now, there are many Other factors influencing this, such as airfoil shape, wing placement, center of gravity, etc., but most planes can benefit from differential throw. You just need to experiment with the right amount for your model. Generally, about a 60%--40% split will do the trick.

NAME THE PLANE

Okay, here's an easy one! Name the largest and the smallest airplanes ever to fly. Hint: One is military and one is civilian. Answers at the next meeting. Answers to February's "Name The Plane": One was the SAAB Grippen and the other was the Mitsubishi Shindyn. Good Luck!

TREASURER'S REPORT

DALE CHIARONI

WE NEED TO HAVE A COPY OF EVERYONE'S AMA CARD ON FILE FOR THE YEAR 2000. PLEASE SEND ME A COPY IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO ALREADY!

See Members-Only, Financial Pages

http://www.wcflyers.com/members/finance/financial.html

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR SALE: Great Planes Kit, PT-40 with O.S. .40 motor, Kyosho 5-channel radio.

$95.00. Call Gil Delagnes at 433-1953.

FOR SALE: Trainer Hawk II, all foam with .15 size engine. Brand new in the box.

$75.00 or offer. Call Lou at 575-0706.