Hey Fliers!
I hope everyone had a great new year and is ready for 2025!
Still no rain, so the runway is dusty, and the field is very dry. I hear about field conditions every weekend, and at this point we simply need a couple of hours of steady rain to pack it down again. It sounds like we may see that at the end of this week, so my fingers are crossed.
There was a wonderful turn out for the club’s 2024 end of year banquet, which was held on 18 Jan. Thanks go to Quan, for selecting and coordinating the location, Brian for selecting and bringing the member prizes, Michelle for selecting and bringing the guest prizes, and Jovi for being our MC for the evening. When you have a chance, Please give a “THANKS” to John Weaver – Owner of Discount Hobby Warehouse for his support of our club. He provided a generous discount which allowed Brian to purchase 2 additional planes with the money allotted. Thanks also go out to Phil, for providing half of the children’s prizes.
As I mention the children’s prizes, I need to make mention of something I wanted to say at the banquet, but lost the opportunity.
Some of the kids prizes were donated by a past member that is currently fighting melanoma ( Sunscreen is your friend! ), who had purchased these 15-20 years ago and never got to them. A couple had brushed motors and old controllers in the box. While the electronics – if provided – are outdated, the planes themselves are perfectly fine from respected manufacturers and will fly great with current accessories. They aren’t RTF like the current E-flite planes, but met the criteria as an ARF of the time. They will require help from Dad to finish them and do initial flights. A couple require intermediate skills, so may stay in the box for a bit – but should be fun to fly.
I’m always a proponent of everyone having a good time at the field, and don’t like raising my voice at members. The things that get me excited though, are unsafe activities, lack of situational awareness putting planes and people at risk, and driving like Joey Logano in the parking lot. If I single you out, I’m not trying to be mean or embarrass you, I just want you to understand the possible results of your actions. Please stay safe – think about the safety of others, and maintain your awareness of things around you.
Recently we had a non-member fly as a guest for a few days while passing through. I found out last weekend that he was attempting to solicit payment for helping tutor new members as an “instructor”. He was approaching members with aero scouts and spending an hour or more trying to convince folks.
There is no need to pay anyone to learn to fly at our site. We have instructors and are willing to recommend the proper purchases to put you on the path to success. If you want more info, feel free to approach myself or any Board members at the field.
That being said, none of the active members will purposely give you bad information. Some, however, may share information that may be right for them, and not necessarily good for you. As you learn who is who in the zoo, please take some things with a grain of salt. Figure out the people that YOU want to seek advice from, and do your own homework before committing to a course of action. RCGROUPS.com is an online forum of modelers where you can get a lot of answers or ideas from other modelers like you.
As I close out this note, I’m torn between telling you that I look forward to our POKER FLY and meeting at the field this Saturday, and hoping for some decent rain. Both will be great!!
If it rains, please stay off of the wet runway!
Brad
