October, 2000 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

BILL JONES

The Point proposal has been worked out and the finished point schedule will be published in the next Newsletter, Thanks to Gary Child we have boundary signs placed at each flight station. Remember to turn left as you take off heading south. We now have a C.D. account at Summit Bank for $5,000 @ 6.5%. Steve Berkhofer has picked up 2 new awnings and they will be put up as soon as we find some anchors for them. Thanks Steve. We will be having an end of the year work party on Saturday, October 28th to finish the tables, shed, etc. Nominations for the WCF board will begin next month (Oct).

Positions that will be open will be President, Vice President, Secretary. Anyone interested please notify the current board members. Larry Childs has offered his experience, and will be nominated to the Board next month. The Board is also working on a new approach to the leadership of the Club and the format for the new regular Club Meetings. Come to the Meeting on October 17^th and we'll share the Board's ideas to help make our Club even better than it is now and the meetings more fun and informative. See you all at the meeting.

RED’S CORNER

ROB JENSEN

Hello again!! I'm back after a brief hiatus. My wife Carole and I had twins on August 10. Jack Matthew and Macy Alexandra are doing great, and although things will never be normal anymore, we're starting to get on a schedule again.

Steve Cole and I competed in the PACNATS 1/12 scale combat Western National Championship in Sacramento on the last weekend of September. I arrived just in time to witness Steve's beloved Pica Corsair blown to bits in a midair with the RCCA President Scott "Pappy" Anderson. What a way to start the day!! I was up next in the second with my trusty Bearcat, and flew it 6 rounds on Saturday without a scratch and 5 carrier landings to boot! Steve was not so lucky. He proceeded to hurt 3 more planes on Saturday before the day was over. I felt horrible, here I was with a beat up old plane and not a scratch, and Steve was fighting just to have enough planes to stay alive.

Well, my day would come. At the end of Saturday, I was doing pretty well in 5th place. All that would end soon. Steve, even though his planes were raining out of the sky, was not too far behind me. At the hotel, Steve left to go to Jeff Weiss' shop to repair some damage, and I went out to dinner with my wife and parents.

Sunday dawned beautiful and clear and promised to be a perfect day. Steve had done some serious thrashing and rebuilt 2 planes. I was particularly impressed with his Ta-152. It was destroyed and he managed to get it back together and have it looking quite respectable. Sunday did not go well for me. In round 1, My Bear was hit hard and tore the motor and firewall loose, it hung on only by the throttle cable. I managed to nurse it home and land semi-close to the runway. After the round, my Dad sent a flurry of Epoxy flying, trying to get her airworthy again. Meanwhile, I was switching the receiver to my back-up plane, also a Ta-152. I flew rounds 3,4 and in the 5th I lost sight of it in the 9 plane melee and it bit the dust straight in at lull throttle!!! I had to dig the motor out of the ground. Dad had the BearCat, dubbed "Amazin' Grace" by my Mother, patched back together enough to try to fly the last 2 rounds. It was not to be, my radio would work no more. The receiver had taken quite a jolt and possibly cracked the crystal. My day was done. I ended up in 11th place overall.

Steve flew his back-up P-51B's and did quite well. At one point, Jeff Weiss had loaned Pappy Anderson his Bearcat to fly and made him promise not to hurt it. Well, guess what. I was chasing him with my Ta-152 when WHAMMO he got mid-aired. I was yelling "Yahoo, hey Steve..Pappy just got taken out!!" Steve who was also flying at the time said "Hey that was me!!" Scratch another one for Steve! He lost his Ta-152 again possibly due to excessive drag from a streamer way out at the wing tip. He finished up in 8th. We both had a great time and would do it again in a second, even with all the carnage!! For pictures, check out the Sacramento Area Modelers website at: http://www.sacramento-rc-flyers.org/

I have for some time wanted to make an attempt on the Sea Plane World speed record. It has stood since the late 70's and is held by a gentlemen from the Soviet Union at 203+ M.P.H. There have been great leaps in technology in both airframe design and construction, as well as motors that I think will make this attempt feasible. I have the preliminary design work completed on a plane that I would like to make an attempt with. It uses a wing from a Q-40 plane that is already in production, with a molded fuselage and tail. The floats will be tail dragger style with two medium sized ones about where the wheels would go, and a small one in the rear. I have contacted a major motor manufacturer in the racing world and he has showed interest in possibly developing an engine specifically for this attempt. I have also Contacted JR Radio Control in a bid for support.

This is a World record, so it is overseen by the FAI. The FAl, since it is an international organization, requires a good deal of paperwork and commitment. To make this possible it takes a great deal of manpower as well as some sophisticated timing equipment. The FAI likes to see club backed attempts to help out with the work load. I will be talking about this at the meeting and looking to assemble a small team to make this possible.

The initial test flights will take place at our pond with a mildly propped 0. S. FX .46 for power to evaluate basic flight characteristics and keep the noise level down. Then I will have to find another site, possibly Woodland, to make test flights with the race motor installed, and for the attempt itself. I am extremely exited about this. If you would like more info or want to help out, come to the meeting or give me a call.

NAME THE PLANE

Well its time again to win a prize! Just bring the correct answer to the next meeting and the winner will be drawn from all the correct ones received. Here Goes!

In keeping with the Seaplane speed theme, name the plane that won, in what year and the average M.P.H. of the first all Seaplane race. Good luck and see ya at the meeting.

MEMBER PROFILE - CHUCK GREEN

BY JEFF COSTA

This month I have chosen Chuck Green as the lucky candidate for member profile. Chuck Green was born and raised in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Chuck has 2 older brothers. He and his wife, Shirley, have been married 52 years. They have 4 children, 3 boys and a girl. They also have 9 grandchildren.

After graduating from high school. Chuck joined the Marine Air Corps in 1943 .When he got out of the service in 1946 he went to work for United Airlines as a maintenance inspector where he worked for 9 years. It was during this time that Chuck and Shirley, both employees of United Airlines met and got married. Chuck then went to work for Trans World Airlines where he started as a flight engineer. In 1969 he started flying Boeing 707's as a pilot, then piloted the Lockheed Tri-Star also known as the L-1O11, then finally the Boeing 747. Chuck worked for TWA for 30 years before retiring in 1986.

I asked Chuck how he got interested in radio-controlled airplanes and he told me that he first flew rubber band powered airplanes, which coincidentally is how he got into the Marine Air Corps. The Marine Air Corps at that time were flying F4U Corsairs. I asked Chuck what was his favorite model airplane to date was and he told me that it was the Sig Astro-Hog. Chuck has been in the modeling hobby now for about 10 years. Besides being a member of Wine Country Flyers, Chuck is also a member of the Arizona Desert Flyers.

Chuck's most memorable moment flying model airplanes was just a few weeks ago when he was buddy-boxing with his grandson and the plane was too low and too far away from the field and the engine quit and he had to venture out into the poison oak to retrieve it. Another memorable moment was when he was flying his Super Cub and instead of moving a trim switch he turned off his transmitter and before he realized what he had done, the plane became an extended part of a tree branch.

I asked Chuck how he heard of Wine Country Flyers and he told me that he saw our club newsletter at Hangar One. Before joining our club he flew at the old Navy base here locally, then at ya-ka-ama, then at Two Rock near the Coast Guard Base where he helped some of the coastguardsmen learn to fly.

Chuck's other hobbies are hunting, fishing, water and snow skiing and RV traveling. If any of you have been to our floatplane site or ever do get out there, think of Chuck Green, because if it were not for his influence and persistence, we would not have this site. Chuck is a great guy. I really enjoyed talking with him while doing this profile. He is a credit to our hobby.

MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 2000 MEETING

LARRY MILLER

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by President Bill Jones. We had fourteen members present.

Treasurer Dale Chiaroni gave his monthly report to the members. He has invested some of our money in a CD account and all our bills are paid in fall.

Secretary Larry Miller read a letter from the county concerning the noise complaint they received from one of our neighbors and what they are doing about it. He also thanked those members who helped man our display at the PCAM Air Show ( Bill and Kirn Jones, Gene Novak, Kia Ravanfar, Bob Film, Jeff Costa, and Harold Meyers ). We had a crowd around our booth most of the time as we had some pretty impressive models. We answered a lot of questions and had a good time enjoying the show. While there, we were approached by the EAA, asking if we would be interested in participating with them in their Young Eagles program with kids. If anyone would be interested in taking on this venture, contact the Secretary, who by the way has a new address and phone number ( 5255 Faught Rd., S.R. 95403, - 577-0496. ).

Larry Frank reported that he purchased over $50.00 worth of props to have available at the field to see if we can quiet some of the noisier engines.

It was brought to our attention that our present impound rack is inadequate and unsafe, Larry Childs had a great idea on how to solve the problem. He suggested that we purchase a Tuff Shed and build some proper shelves to hold our transmitters safely. This should solve the problems a few of our members have had and ensure that all transmitters are stored properly between flights. This was voted on and approved by the members present. ,

Larry Frank announced that the annual New Years party will again be held at the Los Robles Lodge on January 20th.

A reminder. Nominations for board members for the upcoming year will begin at the October meeting. If you don't like the way things are being run, now's your chance to do something about it.

The Treasurer made a motion that members whose dues are not paid by the end of February will be accessed a penalty. All members present agreed so the board will work out the details and it will be voted on at the next meeting.

Dino House reported that as of September 1st, we have 125 members in the Wine Country Flyers.

There being no more business to discuss, we held the monthly door prize drawing. This months lucky winner was Joe Kagan who received a gallon of fuel just for coming to the meeting. The rumor is that next months door prize will be a kit. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.

MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 4^TH BOARD MEETING

BY LARRY MILLER

Jeff Costa was kind enough to host this months 7pm board meeting. The first item of business was to iron out the details of the Treasurers proposal of a late fee charged to members who have not paid their dues by February 28th. We did not think that this was unreasonable and suggested that $50 was appropriate. Most people don't realize the bookkeeping headache involved when dues are stretched out over six months past the first of the year. This proposal will be presented to the membership at the next meeting for a vote.

Richard Lange volunteered to take over the Web Site as Dino doesn't have the time to devote to it at the present. Dino set it up for us and has been doing a great job with it. Gary Child, the newsletter editor, said that after the first of the year we will have a choice of receiving our newsletter by E-Mail or Snail Mail.

Larry Frank and Jeff Costa have been working on getting some entertainment for our annual New Years party and I think they have come up with some good stuff. ,/Larry Frank, Bill Jones, and Jeff Costa have set up an awards committee for next year. ' Larry Childs, Larry Frank, and Rob Jensen are on a committee to restructure the board meetings for the future. As you all should know, all board meetings are open to the general membership so feel free to attend.

Bill Jones announced that he will be scheduling a work party at the field for Saturday, October 28th to get the place cleaned up and ready for winter. As usual, there will be no flying until the work is completed.

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

Respectfully submitted,

Larry Miller, Secretary

Wine Country Flyers

HELP SAVE OUR FIELD

BY LARRY FRANK

As most of you have heard, our neighbor to the South has asked the County to shut us down as our planes are disturbing the tranquility of his property. Should this happen, where would we fly? Just look at the lost fields in the past few years: the Santa Rosa Air Center, YaKa-Ama, Hamilton Field and the Marin refuse site.

Look on the plus side. As far as we know, we have the only flying site in the North Bay to operate with a duly granted and paid use permit, which is a big plus. County Public Works management has told us that WCF "offers a public service and if we meet County sound decibel limits at the property line, they (our neighbors) will be told they have no grounds for such a request." Can we comply? You bet! Just make sure that your plane(s) meet our new enforced sound limit of 93 dB measured at 9 feet and we will save our field. If you are in doubt as to what to do, see the instructions posted on the frequency board or call Larry Frank at 546-8753 or any Club Board Member.

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR SALE: Futaba Attack AM Transmitter Gold Sticker, Channel 20 with Futaba AM 4 CH receiver and crystal. $100.00. Call Bob Film (707)823-1165.