Daily Archives: November 25, 2020

13 posts

Chairman’s Corner for Nov. – Dec. 2020

President's Corner

Hey Guys!

We are nearly to the end of 2020, and I’m glad it’s almost over! Hopefully we will return to something closer to normalcy in the next few months.

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving with their closest loved ones. Normally I attend a large event put on by a co-worker, but kept it (very) small this year in ongoing efforts to keep everyone safe.

As for the current State and County COVID restrictions, our site is tied to the fate of the beach areas. As such, we are still considered a safe outdoor activity – as long as we continue to use smart practices on-site. As we reopened in June, there were some fears of overcrowding at the flight line on weekends. I am there most weekends, and I’m glad to report it just hasn’t been an issue. Try to space yourselves to one person per table, and if you must share a larger (10 foot) table – just use opposite ends. From what I have seen, people are doing very good maintaining their distancing, with some people being proactive and staying masked at all times. For your continued safety, please mask up if you cannot avoid closer interactions with others.

November is traditionally the month we vote for club Officers to manage operations for the next year. I put out a call for nominations in September and October, and the responses were slimmer than expected. We were in need of a President, and our current Secretary has some obligations out of the country that would interfere with his prescribed duties. We had one person volunteer for the President position, and one of our Members At Large agreed to swap positions with the Secretary for 2021, and maybe longer. Since there were no challengers for either position, After a lengthy discussion, I proposed to the BOD that we ratify the  positions without a general vote. The Board of Directors voted on my motion and your BOD members for 2021 will be:

Chairman – Brad Bender
President – Jovi Murek
Vice President – Steve Manganelli
Treasurer – Quan Nguyen
Safety Officer – Steve Neu
Secretary – Eric Shapiro
Member at Large – Carl Cox
Member at Large – Jeff Struthers
Member at Large – Ken Dresser

Please thank them for their service to the club when you see them. I Understand these are challenging times and appreciate that each and every one of them has stepped forward instead of stepping back. If any member has thoughts of wanting to get involved in the future and would like to sit in on a Board meeting, or four, over the next year, let me know and I will invite you!

Also needing your thanks are:
Our Club Editor, Steve Belknap – who tracks down noteworthy tidbits to bring this monthly newsletter to fruition, and works tirelessly to maintain our web site, and keep hackers/spammers off of it.

Our Membership Coordinator, George “ MAVERICK” Sullivan – for keeping it straight and spelling everyone’s name correctly.

Our weekend Photographer, Frank Sutton – for some amazing shots!

Our Table repairmen, Jim Bonnardel and Mark Davis – only a few more to go – Thanks guys!!

And the guys that always help with the ongoing maintenance tasks that is generally boring and sweaty- Dennis LaBerge, Jeff Struthers, Nico Goosens, Bob Stinson, Vince Gonsowski, Frank Gagliardi, and Scott Vance. There are quite a few others that routinely assist,( Thank you all!)  I mentioned these guys specifically because they ALWAYS show when there is a need.

We are finishing 2020 with 303 members. Not terrible since a lot more people stayed home this year. The club has officially closed its books on 2020. For the remainder of the year we are going to allow non-members of SEFSD to enjoy using our site as long as they have current AMA membership and understand our safety procedures. Quan and Steve have disabled the “Join Now” tab on the web site are working on modifying the required pages to allow memberships for 2021. The tab should be active again on December first for next year.  Dues will remain unchanged at $50.00 for the primary member, and $10.00 for family members sharing your address. Remember, it takes up to 2 weeks for your AMA membership renewal to update on their online database, and our application process will not let you complete if the AMA database says you are not current – or are shortly due to expire.

My understanding is there will be 4 ways to renew which can be selected from the web site:
Online application with payment via PayPal.
Online application with payment via credit card.
Online application with payment via check in the mail.
Download and printed application with check in the mail. (board members will also have paper copies for issue if needed.)

For our snowbird members that come in from out of town addresses – please remember to note a local address you would like to have your card shipped to, or ask to have it held by George until he can give it to you. An e-mail to George, Quan, or myself can get a hold started.

We had many great submissions this year for the badge picture for 2021. Thanks to all that sent images! Some of them will end up in our smugmug gallery linked to via our web site. The Photo we picked for next year was submitted by Carl Cox, and it is a nice colorful shot. As people renew, George will print the cards and hold them until Badge Day at the field on Jan 02. If you absolutely need yours mailed before then, let him know. The new badge will have the updated lock codes to the gate and the porta potty printed on the back. I will grant a bit of a grace period for renewals and won’t change the locks themselves until the weekend of Jan 23rd. As I have said before, your membership doesn’t pro-rate, so if you plan to fly in 2021, please renew early and get your new badge!

A couple of things were brought to my attention this month that I would like to touch on. There have been reports of flyers diving across the runway at the pit area at full speed, then yanking up and away just before crossing the fence line. This is outright dangerous and needs to stop. We see servo’s fail every day, it’s just not worth the risk.

Also, there were quite a few flyovers of the pit and parking areas without the pilot calling out to notify others that there is a problem. ( Hopefully ) YOU know where your aircraft is. You should be the one to warn others.  On a positive note, People have been doing a very good job of calling their take- offs, landings, and any time they step onto the runway!

I hope you all have a great, safe month!

Brad

Rob’s COVID Project – 88″ Wilga

Builds & Reviews

My PZL_104 Wilga aircraft ARF from Black Horse Models.  This aircraft is a STOL civilian plane from Poland.  I really liked the uniqueness of this model. I wanted to maintain the appearance of the cowl, so I used a motor designed for sailplanes.  It’s specs are 40-30-390k 8S 2200W.  The electronics are Spektrum SMART receiver, ESC, batteries and a DX9 transmitter. The pilots are removable and are secured by magnets.  Here is a link for more information on the Wilga. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-104_Wilga

Wingspan    88.19″
Length        63.98″
Weight        14 lbs

Thanks,

Rob Stein

T28 Race Results – October 24th 2020

T28 Contest Results
By Steve Neu
We had a second T28 race date on the schedule in October—some people missed hearing about it resulting in a light turn out. We might have had light attendance but the racing was anything but light! The preliminary races were very tight with pilots doing everything possible to gain advantage—including making lots of cuts. The cuts made for some amusing moments for the pilots who thought they had won a race only to see Carl the upwind cut judge walking towards the center to deliver the bad news—taking pilots from “hero to zero” —or in this case from  first to third place! No one got upset and everyone was having a good time. 
After some hard fought races the preliminary round numbers were totaled and the Silver and Gold races were set. It was interesting to note that Randy did not win a single preliminary race—he was second each time——but his consistency  put him into the Gold  race. The finals races were well matched and tight the whole way with in many cases only 10 feet between planes at the finish. The Gold race was notable for the number of cuts by the the Otto and Alex—they had a fierce battle for the lead—with Otto crossing the line first followed by Alex and then Randy—their celebrations did not last long when the two leaders were awarded with 3 cuts each—a new record for the T28 racing series. Maybe we should rename it the “Gold Cut”?  Randy  who keep out of trouble while the battle raged up front got the win. 
Results:
Silver:
1) Steve N
2) Jeff K
3) Steve M
Gold:
1) Randy W
2) Otto
3) Alex
Our next race date for T28 racing is this coming November 28th. Get your planes trimmed and ready to “go fast and turn left”.

Replacement Nuts for Spektrum TX

General Interest

Has this happened to your Spektrum transmitter?

It happened to mine and I couldn’t find the missing nut. After sending an e-mail to Horizon Hobbies I got a response listing the web page for eight replacement nuts and a tightening tool.

They even have orange colored nuts if you want to jazz up your Tx….

Cheers,

Jeff Struthers

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/radio-silver-switch-nuts-8-and-wrench/SPMA1304.html

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/radio-orange-switch-nuts-8-and-wrench/SPMA1303.html

The Glue Guy, or Misadventures with an AcroMaster

Builds & Reviews

By Wayne Walker, SEFSD

It all started when I was given an old Multiplex AcroMaster pattern plane. I won it because I bought the late John Forester’s two model sailboats. They say never look a gift horse in the mouth, yeah right.

After I got the sailboats sorted out and ready to go sailing, I turned my attention to the AcroMaster as I wanted a rough & ready plane to practice my maneuvers & landings.

I went through it and everything seemed all right, so I found a 3S – 3000 battery for it, and put it in place, it didn’t balance at all, nose too heavy. Then I noticed it had a pretty big motor for that size plane, all the better I thought but it was obviously too heavy & why the plane didn’t balance with the battery in the location designed for it. Moved things around & added 4 ounces of lead to the battery and it now balanced.

Took it out to the field to test fly it. Roll out was good, but as soon as it was airborne it didn’t seem to have good control. I was able to make a 180 from the takeoff, but then it was all over the place! It ended up crashing over by the RotorPlex area. When I was gathering up the pieces, I noticed the right aileron was pulled out of the wing, hmmm probably what caused it to go out of control.

Later back at my shop I glued everything back together with my trusty 30 minute epoxy and paid extra attention to getting the aileron flex hinges glued in with plenty of epoxy to make sure they held in the future. I also had fun gluing the nose pieces back together and wrapping a fiberglass bandage around it all to keep it in place and hopefully straight and sound.

Back to the field to try again. Takeoff was normal & turnaround normal then as I got it about even with me where I was standing all heck broke loose and it was uncontrollable again! And it crashed.

When I was gluing things back together again, I noticed that most of the glue joints had turned brown, I just figured the builder used low grade epoxy or rubber cement. I was also mystified as to why the recently epoxied aileron joins had pulled out again. I asked around and everyone I asked said they thought the epoxy was the best way to glue Multiplex’s Elapor foam together.

Well, it turns out that epoxy & carpenters glue only proved a half-baked bond to Elapor & similar shiny skinned plastics! After getting what I term “Old Wives” tales of which glue to use I found the following on several Multiplex model airplane construction manuals:

From: MULTIPLEX Modellsport GmbH & Co. KG

Important note

“This model is not made of Styrofoam™, and it is not possible to glue the material using white glue, polyurethane glues or epoxy; these adhesives only produce a superficial bond which gives way when stressed. Use medium-viscosity cyano-acrylate glue for all joints, preferably our Zacki-ELAPOR®, # 59 2727 – the cyano glue optimized specifically for ELAPOR® particle foam. If you use Zacki-ELAPOR® you will find that you do not need cyano ‘kicker’ or activator for most joints.

However, if you wish to use a different adhesive, and are therefore obliged to use kicker / activator spray, we recommend that you apply the material in the open air as it can be injurious to health. Please be careful when working with any cyano-acrylate adhesive: these glues can harden in seconds, so do not allow them to contact your fingers or other body parts. Wear goggles to protect your eyes!”

In another Adhesives note I found the following advice on technique.

“On one surface spray on Kicker and let dry for several minutes.

On the other surface apply Medium CA as needed.

As the join will set in a very short time align the pieces carefully before letting them touch as there will only be several seconds before the CA hardens making a permanent bond.”

I found that using this procedure results in a 2-3 second flexible time, not really enough to align large pieces of work like an AcroMaster wing panel.

So with all this new information, what did I do? Of course I ran my own tests to see how well these adhesives bond Elapor. I also did a test of Formula 560 Canopy Glue.

Here’s the picture of the test samples I glued together and then 24 hours later tested for strength. All samples were on virgin Elapor foam.

I tested both “Plain”, no preparation, and Prepped with alcohol and then sanding to remove the gloss on the surface of the foam.

Results:

The Canopy Glue 560 was the weakest with only a small pressure to part the two pieces.

Using Odorless CA was almost as weak as the Canopy glue.

The high quality Epoxy joined pieces were next in strength, 1-3 pounds of pressure to break the bond.

I didn’t test White, Carpenter’s or Ambroid glues as these are seldom used in modern model construction.

The Medium CA plain & prepped samples I was not able to break apart, but my arthritic hands were only able to apply about 5-10 pounds of force to the joins, this is probably equivalent to a hard crash to the joined pieces.

Conclusions:

When gluing Multiplex Elapor and similar shinny skinned foam use Med CA with or without Kicker, it will be the strongest join available, and no prep is needed to make a strong joint.

When gluing Styrofoam pieces use Odorless or Foam Safe CA glue, or epoxy.

As far as Hot Gun Glue goes, I’ve bought several Chinese models that have them, but don’t recommend the technique.

As an aside, I found that Du-Bro & other hardware suppliers have discontinued the line of hard plastic hinges and instead recommend the Fiberglass mat type of hinge material. I’ve now substituted this for all my flex hinges.

The Short Nose, Reinforced, Multiplex Fun Cub Propulsion Experience

Builds & Reviews

By Carl Murphy

One Airplane, Two Batteries, an Hour of Carefree Flying

(0) to (750) Feet At a Count Of Ten (5S) or Thirteen (4S) or Fifteen (3S)

This is an instruction by examples of electric propulsion choices for a four foot wingspan, molded from impact resisting foam, reinforced, light wing loading, semi-scale RC Piper Cub.  Chronicled are testing, things gone right and wrong, and, RC flying as a whole experience.  From light weight one and an eighth inch diameter outrunners, light to medium (37) mm diameter outrunners through geared competition inrunners, four combinations were selected as optimal.  From relaxed to outrageous, flight times start at twenty-five minutes on just the motor and battery.  Altitude gain at maximum climb for count of ten ranges from three hundred to seven hundred and fifty feet, glide back down from a seven to one ratio to fifteen to one.

Tuning Is Worth It

Where I started RC flying in Orange County, CA, back in the mid 1990s it was next to the current F5B world champion and six other current or former thermal, slope soaring and pylon RC pilots.  At San Diego’s Mission Bay my company includes a former F5B world champion who manufactures the worlds best RC racing motors plus several more national and international ranking F5B, F5D and F3A precision aerobatics RC pilots.  As a friend in low places (I gave up my Piper Pacer at the start of the second great depression, for ten years I was almost, but not quite, broke) though the experience with getting a RC airplane set up right was not lost on me.  Significance; Nobody has ever seen a Fun Cub fly this well, when I loan my RC airplanes to other pilots they don’t get as much performance or duration.  Part of that is having flown enough to be “one” with this airframe.

This article is paired with articles about The Mentor Propulsion, a larger and heavier airframe and an article about The Cost of Flight, Outrunners verses Inrunners.  Continue reading →

Treasurer’s Report for Nov. 2020

General Interest

We’re closing out the year with 302 members. Thank you everyone for your support, even during a difficult year where we had to cancel most events. We certainly will miss having the annual holiday party at the Harbor House in January, and sadly, the venue is going to close next September to make way for a new restaurant. However, the board and I are closely watching CDC, state, and local health orders so that we can host the annual party as soon as feasible. For next year, I’ll be your humble Treasurer again. Our finances are sound, and we have sufficient reserves. This winter, the club purchased 40 blankets that will be donated to low income older adults across the county. Thank you Lisa (Brad’s wife)  for connecting us with an incredible deal to buy the blankets at cost! I’ll be delivering the blankets to St. Paul’s PACE in Chula Vista on December 3rd. Look out for an email announcing membership renewals for 2021!

-Quan

AMA Air Mentions San Diego

General Interest
About half-way through the live AMA Air Show, SEFSD, Alex, and Otto were mentioned when show host Matt featured our Happy Halloween 2020 Flying Witch video!  WOW!  SEFSD made it on today’s IFLYAMA segment! WOW!
Also, Torrey Pines Gliderport was selected as NOV’s R/C Club of the Month!
V/R,
Frank “Hobie Cat” Sutton

Desert Warbirds

General Interest

“Thank you for helping to spread the word about our upcoming 2021 Desert Warbirds event.  I hope we will see some of your members out for our event.  This event and our Coachella Jet Jam are our two main events for the year, helping us raise money to not only support the club’s needs, but also to help the Wounded Warriors Project and Rebuilding America’s Warriors (RAW).  With the great support of our RC community we have been able to donate a minimum of $1000 each year from the proceeds of these events to those two organizations to help our great wounded veterans.  I hope your members can come out, have a great time, and support a wonderful cause.  Thanks!

Alan”