Hey Flyers!!!
I would like to start off this month’s note with a few safety concerns. As we finish August and move into September we can expect the temps to remain pretty high. This brings a couple of things to the forefront. Fire safety needs to be in the daily thought processes of all persons utilizing our site. With the fires in the area lately, you can imagine what will happen if an accident gets out of control… I handed out a few more fire extinguishers in the end of June. The idea is to always have a few on hand every day of the week. Please do not be afraid to use them when needed! Also, with how warm it has been lately, please ensure you bring plenty of drinking water and stay hydrated. One of our members ended up in stage 3 kidney failure this last month due to dehydration. It’s not a bad idea to bring a few portable pop-ups and some hats to provide shade.
I am again going to put out a general call to members to LOCK THE GATE if you are the last one out. There has been some dumping happening that I suspect has been going on while our site was unoccupied and the gate was open. A couple of the early morning crowd has reported that quite often the gate is either open, or closed – but not locked. Please help keep our site safe!
Thanks to Tom and Chief for their continued efforts at keeping the weeds from reclaiming the runway and pit area. They have been spraying and chopping during the week. As we talk about field maintenance, there are a few soft areas between gate 3 and 6 that have developed over the last few months. Some folks have had their landing gear ripped off or had a plane flip over after a decent landing. Jim plans to rent the water truck and roller after he returns from vacation. To help prep the field for this, I would like to have a follow up to our “ Get your Rocks off” event we did in February. On Saturday the 27th, prior to commencing our monthly Fun Fly, I would like members to bring brooms and sweep of the rough areas. Maybe 1/3rd of the field will need to be swept.
Brad Alix recently donated a brand new 5 MPH sign for the driveway into our site, this one is larger and will be more visible. We still have the general public blowing into our site at 30 MPH or above, and I continue to ask them to slow down, maybe the new sign will help… However, about half of the people kicking up dust are members that are so excited to get to their respective area that they seem to have blinders on and literally race to their parking spot. Please keep your fellows in mind and don’t dust everyone out.
Membership is now over 400. I believe this is largely due to our general members being welcoming to new people and willing to answer questions or share quality information. All I can say is “THANK YOU!” to all of you. Thanks also to Isabel for her diligence in keeping track of all membership and AMA happenings. As a usual note, please keep wearing your badges at the site, and don’t be upset if you are not wearing it and someone asks to see it. On that note, you do not have to be a member of the board to ask people to verify they are members. You pay for access – why should others play for free? Please do not force a confrontation, but remember that if they are not members, it’s likely they do not have AMA either. These people put our entire site at risk. If they cause damage and just leave, the fingers will point at us.
You will hear this same topic from me over the next few months. While most of your current board of directors have agreed to continue representing you during 2017, there are a few that have indicated they would like to move on. Please consider taking a hand in the direction of the club for the next year or two. ALL of the positions are open to nominations, and if you feel you have something to offer I would like you to throw your (or your buddy’s) name into the hat for nominations in October. Sadly we have heard a couple of comments from members that “I don’t want to get involved, I just want to have fun!” While I understand this position, it still takes guidance to keep a club this large from having a TON of drama and issues, and making the FUN happen! Some of you have come over from other local clubs and know EXACTLY what I mean.
I appreciate those of you that have brought chairs to the field! We could use a few more, but we are quite a bit above where we were at the end of June. Also still accepting used carpeting if you are having yours replaced.
Our Monthly Fun Fly and club meeting day will be this Saturday, 27 August. If you attend, please bring a broom! This month’s event is Jet Day. The event will kick off at 10:00 AM, with general flying restricted until all jet pilots have logged their flights. All jet pilots will have a chance at $150.00 in prize money. Traditionally jet day lasts between 60 and 90 minutes, and will be followed by our monthly meeting and a hot dog lunch.
Brad
Monthly Archives: August 2016
7 posts
Oh my… have you had enough yet? This is a pretty big political year and I’m sure the rhetoric of this election season is wearing on many of you. So, what do I have to talk about this month? That’s right, elections!
Away from our national elections for president, in the coming months we have some decisions to make much closer to home. First, your club’s election cycle is fast approaching. Nominations are accepted in October, for our November election. I would sincerely ask you to consider taking a leadership role in the club by nominating yourself for the board election. This year is my 2nd consecutive term as your president, and I cannot run for Pres. next year. Per the bylaws, your existing board will announce their support for candidates for the board for 2017 once nominations are made.
What we need your support and effort on more than ever now, is the AMA Elections that are coming up. Our own friend, and District 10 VP Lawrence Tougas is running for AMA President. Lawrence has been a friend to SEFSD and a great VP for us. You may recall Lawrence came to our club for a visit when VP elections were up, and we successfully assisted him in winning his office against another local club’s president. His credentials in aeronautical engineering and experience with full scale aircraft in the private and public sectors are impressive. Lawrence works with a major domestic airline and has seen, ?rst hand, how airlines that can adapt to rapidly changing business environments stay alive and those that do not either get gobbled up or liquidated. I feel it is our relationship with Lawrence that is helping him to understand the needs of the FPV, multi-rotor, and technology-based pilots. His roots are strong in the traditional roles of the AMA and its membership, but with our club he has seen that there are big numbers in AMA members that are taking the technology paths with UAV’s. I am confident he will act on behalf of our members with the highest level of dedication.
Interesting development… It seems that there is a person from the state of Florida, who could not complete their own paperwork in time to be considered an official candidate for AMA President, that is mounting a campaign called “Take back the AMA”. I strongly urge you to dismiss those campaign promises and hype, and vote with logic and within the bylaws of the AMA and not participate in any write in campaign you will likely read about in the near future.
To recap, please consider running for SEFSD office for 2017, and cast your vote in the upcoming AMA elections for president with me, for Lawrence Tougas.
See you at the field,
Jim Bonnardel
So back into the shop for repairs and more MODIFICATIONS.
Note aileron torque rod position is too much; it caused binding and loss of control.
Note aileron torque rod position. This is all it took to avoid binding! This setting provides for excellent roll response.
While the Mighty PT-17 was laid open I took the opportunity to increase the down thrust to mitigate the “ballooning” on full power.
That’s a lot of down thrust.
These modifications made the airplane fly just great. I flew it so much that I wore out the motor and battery and it just started to not take a charge well and the motor needed the dreaded “flick” to start and the wings were floppy from so much damage and I chose to retire “The Mighty PY-17”.
But, as luck would have it, your Editor-in-chief just happened to have an extra PT-17 for sale and I gladly bought it and immediately cut it open and swapped out the bellcrank , added more down thrust, and replaced the battery Velcro with a better grade so as not to lose the battery in flight as the stock Velcro is want to do. Still, this plane is kind of pitch sensitive. I have noticed the leading edges are cut a little bit more sharply than the last airframe. This made me think I should do more MODIFICATIONS!
So I took the old airframe and added leading edge inserts. I tried to make the leading edge radius symmetrical while still leaving enough under camber to keep flying speeds down. These had numerous effects that I still do not have definite answers for.
Leading edge inserts.
Achmed (the dead terrorist) supervises.
This photo shows the leading edge radius modification. (and a lot of battle damage as well )
All I can say is: WOW, what huge difference in flying capability. This totally transformed the flying capability of this airplane. It is no longer pitch sensitive as the stock airframe is. Outdoor flying in the wind is now a pleasure due to the vastly improved penetration. Roll response with the stock bell crank is now completely acceptable ( it is still no Pitts ) The extra down thrust is now no longer needed and I will remove it next time I have an “opportunity” to modify it once again. It flies noticeably faster and yet it slows down for landing OK. All in all, if you fly outside , as I do, this is a great modification. Inside loops, outside loops, Cuban 8’s all are much better. I have not tried snaps or other maneuvers yet.
In conclusion;
If you fly primarily outdoors this is THE modification to perform.
If you try this modification do not use balsa wood! It is too heavy. Stock weight is 44 grams, with this modification. It now weighs 49 grams! That is a stunning 10% weight gain ! Depron would be a better material. I believe the higher flying speed is in part, due to the excessive weight increase.
By Quan Nguyen,
It’s been another fairly quiet month at the field. If you want to come down on weekends to get your flights in, there are plenty of gates available! We had good weather, with only one weekend where there was a nasty south wind that kept most of us grounded. The only safety issue I noticed several times was some members flying opposite the pattern when they are along the northern edge of the runway. If you want to go fast downwind, please keep it on the northern edge of the field, away from the runway. While the skies haven’t been too crowded, we still want multiple models to operate safely without risk of a mid-air collision.
I had a few reports of kite fliers on the northern end of field who get in the way of the flight line on the weekdays. On one occasion, Brad, Hoang, and I walked over to the shore when they were flying and very politely informed them that they were letting their kites fly too close to the field. We had some success in getting them to cooperate and reel it in. At our field, members have right of way over non-members intruding (deliberately or not) in our organized, city-sanctioned hobby. When you have people doing things that prevent you from flying safely (whether they fly a kite over the field, or walk across the field), you can bring two friends with you (safety in numbers) and inform the encroachers that they are in a model plane field.
On to more exciting news. The holiday committee and myself have been checking out some very nice venues for our winter banquet. Last year, we had about 120 attendees. This year, we are looking at booking a high quality venue that can hold up to 200 people for a sit down dinner. We hope to get as much attendance as possible from our 400+ members for this special gathering. Expect an announcement in the upcoming days as we confirm a venue.
-Quan
Off & Running
The first launch looked great, with all nine aircraft charging up into a now westerly breeze. After “motors off “, most pilots headed west looking for the lift coming from Sea World’s parking lot. The wind made it tricky to stay in the lift however, with only Bob Stinson and Roger Ball staying aloft beyond 5 minutes. Bob had the longest flight of 5 min. 13 seconds and topped that with a 30-point landing.
The second launch was similar in flight times and conditions, but the landings for extra credit became really fun. Take a look at the enclosed pictures, that’s three of us parked in the bullseye and a forth aircraft halfway in. That round had three 30 point landings, two 20 point landings and two 10 point landings. Roger Ball had the longest flight of 5:10 and one of the 10 point landings. Really good flying guys.
Concentration
The third launch found the wind a bit stronger and the flight times were mostly in the mid 3 minutes. Only Scott Vance and Brian McCune had times above 4 minutes. Scott had a 4:30 aloft and Brian had his Multiplex Heron working well for a winning time of 6:37.
The fourth and final launch had short flight times as well, the lift being hard to find. Scott Vance and Brian McCune again had the longest flights. Scott had 4:04 aloft and Brian had 5:14. Most of us managed to land on the runway, but only Scott (20 pt.) and Rich (10 pt.) made the target circles.
More Concentration
Placing first for the day is Scott Vance at 216 points. Second place goes to Bob Stinson at 170 points and third place goes to Brian McCune with 150 points.
Bob Stinson and I noted that, as far as we can remember, no one has scored four 30 point landings in one Electroglide competition. Scott Vance had three last Saturday, his final landing coming close with 20 points.
For those of you who do not know the rules for an Electroglide, we only allow 20 seconds of motor run time. During those 20 seconds we have to get our aircraft high enough (max of 400 ft.), so it can glide to where we think the lift will be. If we find some lift that’s great, because each minute aloft is worth six points and every ten seconds is worth 1 point.
We set the maximum flight time per launch at 10 minutes. If we fly beyond that, no score is awarded. If we land off the runway, again, no score is awarded. Extra points come from landing in the target circles, (30, 20 and 10 points). The first aircraft that lands on the runway gets a “Lucky Dog “award, which means the time aloft is doubled.
Remember, all this flying is done “Dead Stick”, the motor is turned off after the first 20 seconds. Like the other contests the club organizes, this kind of flying teaches you to pay close attention to your aircraft and that translates to good flying skills for any pilot.
Want to try? This is challenging and fun. The next Electroglide is scheduled for September 17th at 9:30.
Until then,
Jeff Struthers
Pics from the July Bomb Drop Contest.
Pics from the August Otay Lake Float Fly.
Randy shot this video of the Otay Lake Float Fly.
Classic Pattern Paul Ennis Marksman by Otto.
Snoopy over Knotts Berry Farm by Otto.
Snoopy over Comicon 2016.