Daily Archives: March 24, 2022

12 posts

Chairman’s Corner for Mar – Apr 2022

Hello Club members, I hope all members are doing well, better than me these days.  On March 16 I lost my job of 12 years with General Atomic EMS division.  EMS stands for Electro Magnetic Systems.  I use to work on the Launch and recovery systems on Aircraft Carriers.  I worked on CVN78, 79, 80 and 81.  It was a fun time while it lasted.  In some cases, the job was driving me up the wall.  Now all that stress has left my body I can be more comfortable when flying my planes.   In the long run, this is better for me.  Opportunities are out there, just got to find them.

Thank You Dennis for rolling the field, it looks really nice.  Thank You Jim for taking care of the rotorplex and getting rid of the weeds, much appreciated.  We may be getting close to placing a smother surface on our field.  The BOD still has a lot work to do to ensure we are doing the right thing to help our field and most of all have the city of San Diego behind us.  Will have more on this as time goes by.

Last weekend caught my attention to how our pilot’s fly.  It’s the position in which we stand as we fly.  Fredrick was the one who caught my eye.  This is something I am going to try to capture every weekend and post in our newsletter so beware you could be next!!!  I want to thank Fredrick for being the first victim.  You can see in the picture……

I have a field note to discuss.  Wednesday, I had a chance to go fly and it was good to see a lot members out during the week, my first time.  The wind was coming out of the east and changed many directions, east, north east, and even south east.  Ok, so we all know if the wind is coming out of the east, we takeoff and land in the same direction, in this case, left to right and that means the flight patter is counter clockwise.  On this day I saw pilots taken off and then flying in the opposite direction.  This is not allowed.  Please, let’s not do that, don’t want any midair’s, right.  I ask you to follow the rules out at the field.  Flying Left to right, is clockwise, Right to Left is counterclockwise.  Thank you all for you cooperation with our flight patterns.

This weekend we are having our club meeting. Also this weekend is the RCX Show out in Pomona running Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Steven Belknap our Editor, sent out a flyer out a few days ago in the morning, so look for it if you want to attend.  Just have fun!

All right club members, below is the start of the building of the DC-3, enjoy!

Jovi

President’s Corner for Mar – Apr 2022

By Steve Manganelli

Spring has sprung! Daylight savings time is back; birds are singing and we’re flying. Gotta love our San Diego weather, I can scarcely remember any Winter flying Sunday I missed for rain.  If you like the condition of the field, thank Dennis LaBerge.  We try our best to roll the field coincident with the last Friday rain storm of the year and “we” AKA Dennis pulled it off early last month; thanks Dennis! Dennis has the rolling technique down to a science. When I came to the field late Friday afternoon to offer support, I found the job complete and was offered the chance to take out any aggressions on the parking lot!  I also want to welcome aboard to our new Treasurer, Mr. Alan Isaacs whom has now fully assumed the duties from Quan Nguyen.

I next want to thank our humble editor, Mr. Steve Belknap whom was “scheduled” to receive a recognition plaque at the Banquet. Due to his other commitments, I was honored to present his plaque commemorating his 13+ years as our Newsletter Editor at the field at the end of February.  One of the potential make-up days Steve was busy, he and Frank Gagliardi raised $650 for the Club via an R/C Estate Sale! Thanks for that too, Steve. Keeping us in communication is a vital function of the club. Next time you see Steve’s classic 60’s black van parked at the East end of the runway, give him a shout of thanks for his service. Speaking of awards, (2) types of medals have been awarded at least once, so it’s time to show what you’re playing for.

“SEFSD Sports” with the T-28 depicted was designed by Frank Sutton and will be awarded for monthly T-28 Gold-Silver-Bronze cups and the monthly club meeting fun event. The latter only when there is some flying skill involved; the “Foam Frenzy” and “Poker Fly” don’t qualify. I have it on good authority that for April’s “3 Ring Circus” event, there will be 3 medals awarded for each sub-event. You won’t want to miss that one! We have Larry Kosta’s professional graphics designers to thank for the Electroglide medal design, thanks for that and production of the inserts, Larry. These are awarded at the Electroglide pilot’s meeting commemorating the previous month’s winners.

Up until the last Newsletter, I only knew Mark Davis as an ace barbecue man. Little did I know Mark knows his way around an Oscilloscope! Mark’s write up about glitches caused by long wires and digital servos (and how he solved it) is the kind of fantastic content that put SEFSD on the map. Thanks for that Mark. Servo Twitching in Large RC Airplanes

I’ve been involved with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design-Build-Fly (AIAA DBF) competition for teams of undergraduate College students for the last 20 years. In most cases this is the first time students get to see an aircraft of their design take to the air.  This year, Steve Neu (Pilot) and myself (Design Advisor) are helping San Diego State University design an (R/C model) aircraft that carries and deploys simulated vaccine vials and syringes. What’s most interesting about the competition, is that the cargo/rules change every year so there can be no year upon year iteration. The competition took a Covid hiatus for 2020 and 2021 became a video competition, but this year we are back to a flyoff which will take place at Cessna’s field in Wichita KS, April 20th to 24th.  SDSU will be joining the top 110 schools invited to participate in the competition after submitting a design proposal at the end of October. I did not know there are more than 110 schools with UnderGraduate Aerospace Engineering Programs! There are only when you count the 30 or so entered from abroad. The SDSU

Students’ so named “Quetzlcoatl” prototype aircraft took to the air on February 20th and we’ve been doing flight and mission testing  most Sunday afternoons since. For more information, see here : AIAA Design/Build/Fly | AIAA . The SDSU Team is led by Jeremy Johnson (red sweatshirt, holding plane) and Systems Integrator Roberto Marquez (standing, 5th from the left).

University of California San Diego is having their own model design competition and up to (4) teams will be competing at our field on Friday, June 10th.  Don’t know much about it except it involves approximately 3’ span models.

Finally, it’s about time to start running the gates! By that I mean fly super high powered “hot liners” on the Federation Aeronatique International (FAI) Class F-5B Motor Glider distance course. The aircraft have to climb outside the course and then glide between the planes of the course for 200 seconds. The 2 parallel planes of the course are located at our runway Gate 5 and parallel to the fence, 150 meters East of gate 5.  A judge is positioned at both gates and for safety precautions, both the drone course and the runway must be closed to sport flying when F-5B distance practice is taking place.

FAI-F5B is an international event with a World Championship scheduled to take place this September in Bulgaria. The USA Team consists of our own Steve Neu, Jeff Keasaman and Lenny Keer. Closing the field to practice doesn’t mean closing the field to other members with “hotliners” wishing to try their hand at the course. We highly encourage that will be happy to provide coaching on this challenging international event.  Watching a full on  7kW , 10 cell Avionic climbing at 150 mph is breathtaking enough, but really any 3S+ powered aileron equipped glider is capable of negotiating the course, so watch for an announcement soon and we’ll see you there!

Jovi’s DC-3 Build Project, Chapter 1: Stabilizer, Fin and Rudder

By Jovi Murek

Hello Club members, Here I am getting ready to start to build the DC-3.  Starting off with the tail section of the aircraft.  The first part was to make the skins.  Here I took two sheets of 1/16 x 3 x 30 and glued the two sheets to together so the outcome would be 1/16 x 6 x 30.  I created three sheets, two for the stab and one for the fin and rudder.  Now starts the fun part, building!   Now that we have gotten the skins ready, I’m starting to build the Stabilizer.  As show in the picture I have all the parts laid out on the building board and preassembled them before gluing them into position.

DC-3 Fact:

After presiding over various projects including the Matin MB-2 bomber at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft company, Donald W. Douglas Jr, born April 6, 1892, co-founder the Davis-Douglas Aircraft Company in the spring of 1920 with help from David Davis, a millionaire with a great desire to fly.  By the mid 20’s Douglas designs were well known throughout both the civilian and military aircraft industry.

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The San Diego Air & Space Museum Remembers Brigadier General Robert Cardenas

The San Diego Air & Space Museum Remembers Brigadier General Robert Cardenas

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is remembering Brigadier General Robert Cardenas, whose distinguished aviation career earned him an honored spot in the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame.

San Diego, CA – March 11, 2022 – The San Diego Air & Space Museum is remembering Brigadier General Robert L. “Bob” Cardenas, USAF (RET), whose distinguished aviation career earned him an honored spot the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame. General Cardenas passed away on March 10, 2022 at the age of 102.
 
Since 1963, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame has honored the world’s most significant pilots, crew members, visionaries, inventors, aerospace engineers, business leaders, preservationists, designers and space explorers. Cardenas entered the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2008.
 
“General Cardenas embodied the spirt of aviation and space exploration which earned him an honored place in the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame,” said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “General Cardenas was a remarkable man; war veteran, witness and participant in the history making flight which helped usher in the age of supersonic flight and space travel; accomplished test pilot; and all-around true gentleman. The San Diego Air & Space Museum mourns his loss while remembering him fondly for his incredible achievements and contributions to aviation.”
 
Brigadier General Robert L. “Bob” Cardenas, USAF (RET) flew over 60 different aircraft in his career as a test pilot, combat leader in bombers and fighters, and Commander of the Air Force Special Operations Force. Gen. Cardenas began his military career as a private in the Army Cost Artillery. He became a pilot as a cadet in the Army Air Corps, and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in July 1941. In 1942 he was sent to Twenty-nine Palms, California to establish an Army Air Corps Glider School. His distinguished military career included flying combat missions in B-24 Liberators over Germany. Shot down on his 20th mission, he evaded capture and escaped. As a test pilot, he participated in the flight test evaluation of the German jet fighter ME-262 and the Arado 234 bomber. 

Cardenas was an instrumental member of the X-1 supersonic project. He served as operations officer and command pilot of the B-29 that launched Captain Charles Yeager into the realm of supersonic flight on October 14, 1947. 
 
Gen. Cardenas was a key figure in many of the United States’ foreign military operations, including Korea, India, the Himalayan Mountains, Pakistan, Thailand, and North Vietnam. Gen. Cardenas had the dubious honor of negotiating with Muammar Gadhafi the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Wheelus AFB in Libya. 
 
As the U.S. Deputy to Live Oak in Belgium his responsibility to SACEUR was to maintain open corridors to Berlin by calling the Soviets bluff to block travel to Berlin by land, air or rail. 
 
Prior to his retirement in June 1973, General Cardenas served as Chief of the JL Division of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (JSTPS), where he was responsible for the development of the Joint Strategic Target List of the U.S. nuclear War Plan (SIOP). 
 
In 1983 Cardenas served as the California coordinator for President Reagan’s Southwest Boarder Economic Action Group. He also served as General to California Veterans, Chairman of the San Diego United Veterans Council and Director on the Board of the Veterans Memorial Center & Museum. 
 
For his service, General Cardenas earned many honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Presidential Citation. Foreign decorations include the Spanish Grand Legion of Aeronautical Merit with Sash & Dagger.

The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is the most prestigious induction of its kind in the world and is composed of hundreds of air and space pioneers, engineers, inventors and innovators, along with adventurers, scientists and industry leaders. NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are honored in the Hall, as well as famous legends such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart. Notable inductees also include Buzz Aldrin, Igor Sikorsky, Wernher von Braun, Jack Northrop, Jackie Cochran, William Boeing, Sr., Reuben H. Fleet, Glenn Curtiss, Walter Zable Sr., Fran Bera, Wally Schirra, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, T. Claude Ryan, Jimmy Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Ellen Ochoa, Peggy Whitson, Linden Blue, Patty Wagstaff, and many more. 
 
For more information, see the following link: http://sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/online-exhibit-page/international-air-space-hall-of-fame.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is California’s official air and space museum and education center. The Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was the first aero-themed Museum to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is home to the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame. The Museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The Museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with admissions until 4:30 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

RC Kites

By Rob Jahnke,
“I have another RC kite I was planning to bring this year. I call it the RC Eagle which is the Revolution Eagle kite created by Joe Hadzicki of Revolution Kites. It has an 8ft wingspan and is powered with a 3S 1500mah Lipo but packs up into a kite bag. You can see the first test flight here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYhJ2Ij3mDw&t=75s
For the Revolution Eagle kite story check it out here:
The details of the RC Eagle Build are shown in this photo album. 
I make good use of the 3D printer for this project. I am happy to share the stl files.

Treasurer’s Report for March 2022

I would like to welcome Alan Isaacs as our new Treasurer. It’s been a journey finding the right person to take over this important role. Alan and I have been coordinating for several weeks now to ensure a smooth transition. Alan has been a dues paying, rules abiding SEFSD member since 2020, and I trust the club’s finances will be in good hands. As Vice President, I will still have access to the club’s accounts as a backup. With my time freed up, I look forward to working on SEFSD’s important initiatives, such as getting us included in the Mission Bay Master Plan, improving our runway, getting our flight ceiling back up to 400 ft, and engaging the community to get more youth interest in our hobby.

-Quan
Outgoing Interim Treasurer

T28 Racing Report for March 2022

We had a good turnout for the March edition of our T28 racing series with 10 planes present to do battle. The preliminary rounds had some hard fought rounds with the lead being swapped numerous times and the leaders being separated by just a few feet. After the preliminary rounds the scores were totaled with the scores setting the finals flight groups.
The finals results were as follows:
Gold: Alex Sutton
Silver: Carl Lewallen
Bronze: Frits Logan
The Weedwackers club has invited our interested club members to come to their T28 races which will be Saturday the 2nd. The format is a little different than ours with 3 rounds with 6 lap races. See the flyer that has been sent out for the details. Lets support them!
Our next race will be the following Saturday on April 9th at 10am—usual format.
Go fast and turn left!
Steve Neu

Electroglide Report for March 2022

 It was a fun Electroglide this month. We had nine pilots competing under blue skies with light 6 -7 mph breeze out of the Northwest. The gliders flown comprised of seven Radians and two Conscendos.

 There was a brief ceremony to award the club’s new competition medals to last month’s winners.

 In the Open Class, Dennis LaBerge placed first, followed by Bob Stinson in second place and Derik Knight in third place.

 In the Radian Class, Alex Sutton won first place followed by Scott Vance in second place, with Bob Anson in third place.

 A special thanks to club president Steve Manganelli, club members Frank Sutton and Larry Kosta for creating these cool medals for the Electroglide competition.

 So, first launch went smoothly with all nine aircraft taking to the sky. However the lift was not to be found. Jon Graber had the long flight, piloting a Radian for 3:20 minutes and hitting a 20-point bonus landing. Scott Vance, also flying a Radian, was second with a flight time of 3:11 minutes and a 10-point landing. I came in third at 2:50 minutes, also with a Radian.

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Scaling and Comparing Performances of Aircraft Models (2D/3D Wing Loading)

[This article was borrowed from the April issue of the Ampeer.  Thanks to their Editor: Ken Myers]

By Andrej Marinsek

1. Introduction

Many years ago (Model Airplane News, Dec. 1997) an article was published in this magazine titled “3D Wing Loadings” (Three dimensional wing loadings) by Larry Renger; it was recently published again on the internet in a slightly cleaned up version. Its different approach to a specific modeling subject is interesting but, as it will be shown later, has some problems. The concept of the 3DWL, though correct in one respect, has otherwise rather limited reach and leads to some vague interpretations and questionable conclusions. The 3DWL persists around in different forms and publications and seems to be, nowadays, the most advertised and supposedly even the only appropriate approach for estimation and comparison of some model performances. This is somehow surprising, so it needs to be addressed in some way.

2. General remarks

Coherent units from the International System of Units (SI) are used in calculations as they are clearer. In most cases only one unit is attributed to a certain physical property and numerical transformations are simpler or not needed at all.

Instead of the term weight (W), which is strictly speaking, a kind of force, the expression mass is used (designated by the letter m), which is the proper name for the physical property measured in kg (lb., oz., etc), and is employed in all calculations here.

3. Agility of models

The motion of models in the air can be on one side described by the words like “agile” or “hot” or “docile” or “flyable” or whatever expression is used to appreciate the performance of models in flight. However this can be pretty undetermined and subjective.

On the other hand, some objective (given by numbers) performance parameters exist. With regard to the lateral axis of models, some performances directly depend on the lift force. These are the minimal speed in horizontal flight vm (stall speed), the minimal absolute turning (or circling) radius Rm and the minimal relative turning radius (RTm), which will be defined and discussed a bit later.

Also, some settings (such as the center of gravity) and a number of model properties, for instance wing profile, low/high wing, aspect ratio, tail (distance from the wing, area, position), the size of rudders, propulsion, thrust vectoring, etc. considerably affect certain performance parameters.

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