By Steve Manganelli
Probably not the best leading story, but I’m compelled to announce that we will be having a dues increase for 2023. Inflation is generally rearing its ugly head (been to the grocery story lately?) and as austere as our expenses generally are, they are going up. The cost of the port-a-potty is increasing, the cost of renting the roller for the field has gone up substantially and the collaterally required water truck is just plain not available! Yes, the BOD recognizes the field has dried up to the point that an application of the dust down is needed but until we can secure a water truck, this can’t happen. Inflationary pressures are going to affect all R/C model clubs in town; we do expect to continue to be your best value club next year as well.
Inflation is also effecting our annual Holiday banquet. We are attempting to close that gap via divesting the Club Trailer, but even with that additional expected funding source, the ticket price is going to be higher. You wanted the Aerospace Museum again, we listened and now we have to pay for it. Oh yeah, the Museum raised their prices too! Let’s face it: a couple is not going to go into any decent restaurant, have hors d’oeuvres a couple of drinks, dessert and walk out of there for anything close to $110. Think of that comparatively when the banquet is formally announced and tickets are available. That $110 won’t give you a chance to win any airplanes either! If someone wants to visit a restaurant where a couple won’t get out of for under $300, let me know, I have a few suggestions for you!
Does your model have a story? I was recently treated to a fascinating tale of a warbird where the member started with an off-the-shelf foam ARF, then customized it to represent a particular aircraft in history. I believe there was some supplemental painting, custom graphics and specific serial numbers applied to make his model like no other out-of-the-box ARF. The full scale aircraft had a really neat story of it’s exploits in WWII. I never really thought about customizing an ARF to yield something historically significant, but it does sound like a really nice enrichment of our hobby where ARFs now prevail and something that needs to be written up in PEAKCHARGE! So if this sounds like something you did or would like to do, please share it with us! The article should state what R/C model you started with, where and how you obtained the enhancement graphics, paint, and any other customizing hardware and then a description of its full scale exploits including its pilot if known. I’d say we’d need at least one picture of the model with you in it as well!
I love my new SEFSD LOGO sunshield hat from LNN Custom Apparel! The beauty of this custom process is the large variety of items you can obtain with our logo on it. Clearly as a small business owner and given the size of “our market” we obviously can’t expect to have everything shown on the website in stock and in every color and size possible for immediate delivery. Rather, LNN must have a relationship with her suppliers to obtain the basic garment on demand and then she customizes it for us to our custom order! This is so cool! I admired Alex Sutton’s hoodie sweatshirt with graphics the other day. I’m probably going to need one of those for when the weather cools. I also heard that you can have your name embroidered as well for a small additional fee; how doubly cool is that?
Finally, the last fun-contest/hot dog cookout was a fun as ever. Master of ceremonies, Jim Bonnardel, began with an “explanation” of Altitude Quest. You spin the dial, needle lands on a graphic showing 50 to 175 in 25 increments, fly to that altitude (without going over) Jim reads out your peak height from a small recording altimeter, closest to proscribed altitude wins! Easy, right? What if there’s a tie, Jim? Signup order prevails! Earliest sign up breaks the tie! Oh crud, everybody get out of my way while I sign up! What if you go over, Jim? “Under beats over in a tie!” OK, so 1 foot under beats 1 foot over, correct? “Yeah”. So does 1 foot over beat 2 feet under? “Uhhh…Yep”. So what if 2 people are one foot over and 2 are one foot under, does sign up order prevail? “Yep”. Hmm…now we need a super computer to sort out the scores! I was a mere foot over and anticipated being in the money. As the prizes were being handed out and my name wasn’t called, I chalked that up to not understanding the scoring formula. I recall hooting and hollering to not one, but (2) pilots whom hit it to the exact altitude, a pretty good feat. I figured there must have been 3 other pilots whom were just a foot under. In general, you’re higher than you think; most pilots shooting for 150+ erred on the high side. Found out later that I should have been in the money but there was an error in scoring, did I want a supplemental prize? No need, already won: smiles, chuckles and camaraderie with a great group of friends. Thanks to Jovi for the hot dog cooking. We’ll see you at this month’s Fun Event.
