Daily Archives: October 22, 2021

14 posts

Chairman’s Corner for Oct – Nov 2021

Things are finally cooling off and recent rain has left the field in fine condition. It’s still pretty dry in the outlying area though, so please continue being diligent with fire safety. We continue to request the city keep our are safe by restricting access to non-members when the gate is closed. The city did respond by placing the railroad ties, but there are still determined people that move the boulders to access the field. There continues to be damage to the parking lot and people dumping trash on site. Our part in this is to lock the gate when there are no members on site. Please – if you are the last one out, Lock the gate behind you.

I have seen some distressingly unsafe things this past month that I would like to touch upon. With the nature of our hobby, we need to be extremely aware of what is happening around us. There were a couple more incidents of planes having an abrupt landing in the pit area or parking lot this month. While I generally get on the pilot for not warning others, I understand that they are busy trying to save their aircraft. If you see it, whether it’s your aircraft or not – please loudly warn others. Also, I continue to see people walking onto the runway without actually looking both ways to ensure it is clear. While some do call out that they intend to cross, they do not always call out loudly enough to be heard at all of the gates.  We HAVE to look and be safe! I had someone step out 10 feet in front of a 30 lb plane that was on final – at head height. His statement afterword? You guessed it – “ Well I said I was crossing! ”  The same thing goes for preparing to take off – Just saying “Taking Off” does not mean its ok to taxi out in front of people already landing, and in one case, two jets that were landing next to each other in formation when a trainer type aircraft slowly taxied out in front of them both… If you hear another pilot call out, and they are using their inside voice instead of their MAN voice, please feel free to pass it on in a louder manner so others are aware.

For those of you that remember our past club member Bak Kahn, or “Captain Bak” as he was affectionately known, I had a chance to visit him and his family in the Portland area late September. He is staying away from the drama in downtown Portland and is doing great things. He has attempted to find a local flying site, but seems to only find grumpy clubs. I’m thinking the friendly atmosphere he enjoyed at SEFSD may have spoiled him. I’m trying to convince him to visit before Christmas.

There will be some minor changes in the make-up of the Board of Directors for 2022. Most of the Board members have agreed to stay on for another year. THANK YOU TO EACH !!!  We will say Thank You and farewell to our current Secretary, Eric Shapiro – and will possibly shift a few current members around in positions. I have had one member say he would like to join the BOD ( Thanks Larry Kosta!! ) and am still awaiting an answer from 2 others ( Dave?, Larry? ) who made previous suggestive comments about serving. I will firm the possible nominations up and determine whether there will be active competition for any position – which will require a vote.  If seats are spoken for without challenge, there will not need to be a vote.

Quan is finalizing the details for the club banquet which will be held on Jan 15th. It should be an amazing event this year, making up for the one we missed last year. Once ticket sales are announced I recommend jumping on them, seating will be limited, and even alligator tears will not get you a seat once sold out…

The club meeting and fun fly at the field will take place on Saturday the 23rd at the field starting at 10:00 AM. Jovi has an interesting twist on the Bomb Drop that I am looking forward to! Following the fun fly, we will have Hotdogs provided by Fritz and cooked by Carl.

With the holidays coming this may be the last meeting at the field this year, so come out and join us!!

Have a great month and be safe!

Brad

President’s Corner for Oct – Nov 2021

Aloha, club members.  My wife and I had a great time on the Islands and it’s also good to be home! But the real fun was being able to sit in the captain seat of an Airbus A330 as you can see in the picture.  Naturally after that I had my Mai Tai…….and enjoyed the flight!  We have had some interesting weather of late, all which has been great for the field.  The lightning was amazing and something we San Diegans don’t see that often…unlike back east.  Then we got a good rain storm followed by some wind. The first storm caused us to miss out on our club meeting and Fun Fly “Bomb Drop”.    However, hot dogs were served, (Thank You Mark and Carl) and they were enjoyable!

We will get back to the fun fly, but now some club news.  I am happy to say that we will be having our annual gathering on January 15, so please mark your calendar.  We will have up to 125 tickets available in the coming months.  Entrance is $20.00 per person at the Edgewater Grill which is located in Seaport Village.  This will be a fun event and we are going to make up for the lost year. 

Our field looks pretty good these days.  Thanks to Dennis for keeping the runway smooth and getting rid of any footprints that may damage the runway.  And, as always, we are looking for more chairs, so if you have any old outdoor chairs please bring them to the field. 

There are still times at the field when pilots don’t call out “takeoff”, “landing” or “low flyby”.  Please, call out your intentions (projecting your voice) so that all pilots are able to hear you.  From the west gate to the east gate, you must be heard!  Thank You!

As we approach the end of year, the club will just be holding the T-28 races to finish out the series.  As far as club meetings and Fun Fly events go, this month’s event and meeting will be the last one for the year.  It’s Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am sure a lot of members will now be able to enjoy the holidays since COVID 19 hit us.  I would also like to mention that this is the time of year that Board of Directors members are looking for new club members to join in the fun.  I would like to run for President again and I also invite any members as well who would like to be President to run.  Same goes with Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Safety Officer.  If you are interested in any position, please advise any BOD of interest in becoming a BOD member.

Thank you all for keeping the gate closed and locked as you leave the field.  Along with the new railroad ties that were installed, it looks like we are keeping the riffraff out.  So, thank you club members.

We may have missed last month’s Fun Fly, but we’re not going to miss out this month.  The Fun Fly for this month is “Bomb Drop – Squadron Style”.  Each squadron has five pilots and your positioning is based on how you pick your ticket.  Each ticket identifies what squadron you have chosen with a number listing your position.  If you chose number 1 you are the lead pilot and the other pilots follow in the order they have chosen.

Two squadrons will be on the runway ready to go.  The first squadron takes off, one pilot after the other.  Continue to make final approach and each pilot will try to maintain some sort of controlled distance.  When the first pilot drops his bomb, the next pilot drops his bomb and then the next and so on.  When all five pilots land the next squadron takes off.  The altitude for the bomb drop will be the height of the wind sock, no lower or you will lose points if you are below.  Each pilot will have a spotter in helping to help them with flying, staying in formation and dropping the bomb.  Each pilot must keep an eye on their aircraft and not watch where the bomb drops.  A spotter will inform you of your drop.  If a pilot does not watch his aircraft and it veers off to the pits, you could be disqualified from the event and we don’t want that.  So, keep an eye out on your aircraft at ALL times!  The pilots who comes closest to the center of the target advance on to the next round.  Once the first round is completed, we move to the round of Squadron Leader.  From this round we will determine who the true Squadron Leader is.  Gift certificates are awarded based on how close the leading pilot comes to the target; the closer the better!

My last note is that you all should be receiving or have received the AMA voting ballot for District X.  Please make sure you vote for the candidate that you like.  So far we’ve had one candidate at our field, Greg Stone, and we look forward to meeting the other candidate(s) when they make an appearance.  I do believe Mr. Stone will be down for our monthly meeting this weekend since he, like we, were rained out last month.  So please make your vote count!  Voting goes till November 12, 2021.

Thank you all and looking forward to seeing you all at the field!

Jovi
President, SEFSD 2021

October’s Event – Bomb Drop, Squadron Style

An exciting variation on the popular Bomb Drop

Bomb Drop Squadron Style,
Five pilots per squadron. Each squadron bomber takes off one after another, follows the lead pilot, turns final and drop their bomb. Tally the drop and distance to the center of the target for that squadron. Closest to the target gets to advance to “Squadron Leader round”. This is the same process for the remaining squadrons. 
More information in the “President’s Corner” above. 
$150 in Prizes awarded, 1st through 5th place.
 Monthly Meeting, and Hot Dog Lunch served afterward.

Electroglide Report for October 2021

The final Electroglide Contest for the year was held last Saturday, a beautiful San Diego Fall day.

With clear skies and a very light breeze, nine pilots got their gliders up on the first launch. Wind conditions were so light, the lift was hard to find.

All pilots had short flight times except Alex Sutton who found a narrow column of warm air rising just north of our runway. Alex was able to milk it out for a long flight of 9:26 minutes and pick up a 10-point landing. The second place flight was 2:53 minutes long and flown by Scott Vance, picking up a 20-point landing on return. Third longest flight was from Deric Knight at 2:38 minutes.

The large difference in the flight times between Alex and everyone else on that first launch, points to his skill as a glider pilot.

Second launch had a mix of pilots trying to find the lift where Alex had flown and others trying at the western end of our flying area, near the boat ramp parking lot. The lift was now even harder to find.  Bob Anson had the long flight at 4:30 minutes with a 20-point landing. Bob Stinson was second at 3:52 and a 30-point landing. Dennis La Berge and Deric Knight both came in third at 3:30 minutes, with Dennis picking up a 30-point landing.  I must confess to causing a mid-air collision and taking out Stephen Treger’s vertical stabilizer. He was able to land off field with no further damage. With a little CA glue, Stephen was able to compete in the fourth launch.

Third launch was again into light conditions with the longest flight generated by myself at 4:54 minutes and getting a 10-point landing. Bob Anson had the second place flight at 4:47 minutes, also with a 10-point landing. Scott Vance had the third place flight at 4:11 minutes, with a 20 point landing.

Fourth and final launch had the long flight being flown by Scott Vance at 5:00 minutes, with a 20-point landing. Second place flight was by Bob Anson at 4:37, with a 20-point landing. Third place flight was by myself at 4:02 minutes.

First place finisher for the day was Alex Sutton with 190 points, Second place goes to Scott Vance at 175 points and third place was won by Bob Stinson with 159 points.

In totaling up the monthly points for the top pilots for this year, Alex Sutton came in first place with a total of 1140 points. Scott Vance was second with 979 total points and I was third with 741 total points.

We held a prize raffle for all this year’s pilots, with three pilots winning $ 100.00 gift certificates redeemable at Discount Hobbies.

Thanks to all Electroglide pilots who competed this year, it was a lot of fun. The Electroglide will be on vacation for November and December, returning to active competition on January 15th.  First launch at 10:00.

Enjoy the holidays,

Jeff Struthers

See more of October’s Electroglide pics here.

T28 Racing Report for October 2021

While we had a light turnout for this months T28 racing it did not mean we did not have some wingtip to wingtip drama over the race course!
The preliminary rounds were 5 laps and for the most part went without much drama aside from a few pilots cutting a pylon or two—or maybe 3? The results of the preliminary rounds was as follows with cuts factored in:
1) Brad B
2) Steve N
3) Steve M
4) Alex S
5) Otto D
6) Bob S (Tie)
6) Frank G (Tie)
The finals were as often is the case where the most excitement occurs—and this time was no different. 
The Bronze Cup was first up with Bob and Frank going head to head—Bob took an easy lead and never looked back for the entire 10 laps. It was clear that Frank needed some better batteries( later he won a new pack in the raffle). 
The Silver Cup was more crowded with  SteveM, Alex and Otto doing battle. Otto and Alex went head to head with each trying to gain the advantage—Otto crossed the finish first but did not get the medal because of a cut pylon turn.
The Gold Cup race was between Brad and SteveN. The entire race was wing tip to wing tip for 10 laps with at least one instant of a “bump and go” with no resulting damage. In the end SteveN crossed the finish slightly in front of Brad. There was some sad news that the course judges provided after the landings—SteveN had made 3 cut pylons and Brad had 6. In the end a good time was had by everyone! We had a raffle with various items for the helpers and pilots—most everyone was able to take home a prize.
The Weedwackers in Santee have invited us to run our next T28 race at their field on November 13th—the details and time are still to be worked out and we will send out a email to everyone as we know more of the details. For now we are planning on having our next race there. 
Stay safe and enjoy nice flying weather!
Steve Neu

Treasurer’s Report for Oct 2021

We have 337 members as of October. The Holiday Banquet is booked for Edgewater Grill in January 2022! Tickets will go on sale soon, so be on the lookout for that. Right now we’re looking at 100 indoor seats available, plus a few overflow in the patio section, so buy your tickets quickly when they are available. Elections are coming up. While I have offered to run for Treasurer again, if anyone else has any minuscule desire to run, I shall gladly provide necessary training, step aside, and run for other positions. 

-Quan

BOD Minutes for Oct 2021

10/6/2021

SEFSD Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Quorum at 6:43 PM, meeting convened.

In person participants: Jovi, Steve N., Quan, Eric, Kenny
Online participants: Steve B., Steve M., Carl, Jeff
Visiting member online: Larry Costa
Not present: Brad

Meeting at Steve N.’s home.

Steve M.: Considering chairman position since Brad stepping down.

Steve N.: Safety issues were few.

Steve B.: Website remains in good form.

Jeff: Final round of Electroglide this October

Carl: wants to remain as Member at Large

Jovi: Banquet discussion – approved, see notes below
Fun Fly cancelled last time due to weather (Bomb Drop)

Quan: 337 members as of 10/6/2021
Bank balance sufficient and financials available to club members.
Banquet reservations made.

Eric: Purchased 3 sets of gift certificates for future Fun Fly events.

Banquet funded to $3000 total for banquet prizes, $500 of which for the women.
Banquet meal budgeted to $5,500.
Total banquet budget to be $8,500.

Motion approved and seconded for above banquet budget.
Motion approved and seconded for $20 banquet tickets.

Upcoming events:

T-28 racing on Saturday, 10:00 AM on 10/9/2021

Electroglide on Saturday, 10:00 AM on 10/16/2021 (final round)

Bomb Drop rescheduled for Saturday, 10:00 AM on 10/23/2021

Banquet scheduled for 1/15/2022 at Edgewater Grill.

Next BOD meeting date 11/10/2021.

Meeting adjourned at 7:27 PM.

Eric Shapiro
SEFSD Secretary 2021