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November, 2000
BILL JONES Due to continued health problems, I am sorry to announce that I must resign as President of the Wine Country Flyers. We have been working to restructure the leadership of the Club and to have a Triad formed to administer the Club's affairs and run the regular meetings. That was to begin in January, but we have now decided to begin the Triad's term immediately. They will run the meeting beginning November 21st and thereafter into next year. I fully support their efforts and they have developed a format for the meetings that should be interesting and enjoyable for everyone. The business of the Club will now be handled at the regular Board Meetings, to which all Club members are invited to participate. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President this past year. RED’S CORNER ROB JENSEN I have been messing around with electric's lately, mostly because of the ability to fly at local parks with my daughter Taylor. Speed 400 class models are relatively cheap and kits and ARFs are plentiful. I have been flying a plane called a "Miss 2", which is an ARF Old Timer that I bought from Dave at Hangar One. It is a kick in the pants and I'm easily getting 20-30 min flights. Well, those who know me will not be surprised that I was soon hungering for a faster more agile model. I like to go fast.....period. I don't care with what or how, as long as its fast. I also have a soft spot for small planes. I've been watching the pylon racing speed 400 planes with interest for quite some time. I had my eye on a plane called a Switchblade, and had Dave order me one up. It has a fiberglass fuselage, a blue foam wing vacuum bagged with carbon fiber and .75 oz. cloth, and sheet balsa tail. I had seen this plane fly on video before and was somewhat skeptical of its performance. The plane on the tape flew awesome but, I thought the one I had seen was using a hot brushless motor and not a stock $10 speed 400. It took about 8 hrs. to complete it and it tipped the scales at 14oz. with batteries to give it a 16.5 oz/ft. wing loading. I thought this was a little high, especially for such a small model, but after all....the box says it's supposed to fly!! When the day came to fly it I could hardly wait. I put a fresh charge on the 8 cell 500 Mah pack, and bolted the wing on. I took a few deep breaths, hit the throttle and tossed it hard into the slight breeze. It launched straight and stable and before I knew it was getting quite small. I turned it around and noted that it was flying perfectly straight with no trim!! After I was done feeling good about my building job, I realized it was quite far away and VERY small!! Man this thing moves!! Well, I pulled pretty hard into a left turn and let it sink to about 10' over the runway for a fast pass. I then pulled up to vertical and let it run thinking it would slow soon and I could make a large circle overhead. Wrong. I should have known by now, it was small again and climbing like a homesick angel. Split S to a downwind speed run. As it whizzed by me I noticed the pleasant sound of the airframe whistling through the air accompanied by the buzzing churn of the 5x5 prop clawing for air. OK now I was hooked!!! I had just made a 100+ m.p.h. speed run with a plane that weighs much less than a pound, will fit in a back pack, is almost totally quiet and is powered by a $10 motor. I stated flying laps and was soon doing low rolls and hot passes up and down the runway. After about 4 1/2 min. I noticed the whine of the motor starting to sag and I began to set up for a landing. I cut the power on down wind and turned base and final with what I thought was barely enough airspeed, and began to flare for touchdown. Well, it wasn't ready to land yet and sailed by me about 2* over the deck. I eased it down and it slid off the end of the runway into the weeds. I flew it 4 more times, and each time I slowed it up more, eventually getting it to touch down at about 15 M.P.H. I let Steve Cole fly it, he was hooked too. He'll have one soon and we can race. No noise complaints here!! NAME THE PLANE Name that Plane Congratulations to Chuck Green for correctly identifing last months plane as a 1913 Deperdussin floatplane. Here goes this months question. Name the first, (and only) supersonic seaplane. See ya at the meeting! MEMBER PROFILE - STEVE JENSEN BY JEFF COSTA This month I have chosen Steve Jensen for the Member Profile. Steve was born in Corvallis, Oregon in 1946. He moved with his family to California in 1948. He has 2 twin half sisters and 3 stepbrothers. He is also the father of another member of WCF, Robbie Jensen (the poor guy). Steve and his wife Jan have been married for 34 years. They have 3 grandchildren, Taylor, 3, and most recently, Robbie and his wife Carol gave them twins, Jack and Macy. I asked Steve how long he has been flying and he told me that he started flying control line in 1954. From there he moved into radio control with a Lanier Hawk all foam and plastic glider with an 8-foot wingspan. It was equipped with a Min-X Reed radio. Some of his favorite planes were an F4 Phantom and a Kaos 60. In 1998 he also built a carbon fiber control line 1/2 a proto speed plane. At that time it was the third fastest plane of its type in the world. Another major accomplishment for Steve was back in 1988-89 when he worked for a man named George Miller. Steve built a scale model of a DC-8 that was used in the filming of Die Hard 2. This model had a 22.5 foot fuselage with an 18-foot wingspan. To those of you who think you have built some big airplanes, think again. It was while working on this project that Steve learned how to fiberglass. I asked Steve to estimate how many model airplanes he has built. His best guestimate is somewhere around 300 planes. They range from control line planes to jets. He is presently working on a 1/4 scale Staudacher. I also asked Steve what his best crash was and he told me it occurred many years ago while flying an Ugly Stick at the Cotati Drag Strip. He was inverted about a foot off the runway and pulled down on the elevator stick instead of pushing up to pull out of it. He said it was pretty impressive. Steve has also helped about 10 people learn how to fly model airplanes. He said that these days he doesn't have the patience anymore. Got to admire his honesty. Steve's most memorable moment of R/C flying was watching his son Robbie solo at 6 years of age. I asked Steve how far the hobby has progressed since he first started and he said it has advanced tremendously. Transmitters at first were Reed sets, then progressed to the Galloping Ghost radios and then finally to computer radios. Glues have progressed a long way as well, from Testers glue to ambroid glue and finally to CA glues. Airplane kits have also come a long way. When Steve started building, model parts were on printwood where you had to cut them out with a knife. They then progressed to die cut and now they are laser cut. He told me wood quality has also improved as well as epoxy and enamel paints. Steve's other hobbies and interests include fishing, computers, barbecuing, trading on EBay and collecting antique fishing lures. I can personally attest that Steve is a storehouse of knowledge when it comes to R/C. He has personally helped me many times when I have been stumped with a certain airplane project. I am sure Steve has helped many others as well. MINUTES OF TRIAD FORMATION MEETING OCTOBER 11, 2000 Minutes from Triad Formation Meeting 11 October 2000. In attendance: Rob Jensen, Steve Cole, Lany Frank, Larry Childs The meeting was scheduled at the last board meeting to come up with a system to share the responsibilities of the club president with more people. The recommended system is a Triad Management System. The Triad of people will share responsibility for the following: 1. Board Meetings
2. Club Members Meetings
The following positions on the board all assist the Triad in the best interest of the Club: Treasurer
Field Marshal
The following committees all report to the Triad in the best interest of the Club: Events Committee
Field Maintenance Committee
Flight instruction Committee
Newsletter Committee
Website Committee
Dear Members, This is a general outline for the reorganization of club management. The club has grown in size and in the responsibilities of the governing body. This change is to spread the workload of managing the organization among a group of dedicated officers. This new group is known as the Triad. By spreading the workload among three people, we will be allowed to conduct most of the business at the board meetings away from the club monthly meetings and bring ftm back to the meetings and club functions. We believe three people working together at a common goal will greatly benefit our club in many ways. The three volunteers for the Triad are:
The Triad of people will share responsibility for the following: 1. Board Meetings
2. Proposed Outline for Club Monthly Meetings
The following positions on the board all assist the Triad in the best interest of the Club:
Committees are currently being formed and we need member participation. The following committees all report to the Triad in the best interest of the Club:
NEW ACCESS LOCKS BY HAL MEYER Gate and building locks and the number of keys in circulation were discussed at the October 17 general meeting.
It was proposed that combination locks should be installed. Such locks have been used in other locations with good results. Advantages:
Disadvantageous:
Suggestions:
TO ALL CURRENT MEMBERS (JUNIOR & ADULT): Club dues for 2001 are now due and payable. Send checks for the correct amount to the P.O. Box above. Like last year, we need a copy of your A.M.A. card when you receive it in order to get your badge. Remember, this protects everyone and is required for us as a Charter Club. New for this year! Dues must be paid by February 28, 2001 or there will be a late fee assessed of $50.00. The point system begins in January and is for paid members only. If you want your service hours to count to reduce your next year's dues, you must be paid in full before work party credits will be applied to your account. Dues for this year are: $60.00 Adults (over 16, including you wise seniors) $30.00 Juniors (under 16) Thanks for your support of our Club and model aviation. |
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
