Conference vmszoo::rc

    
From:	CRL::"Jim=Cavanagh%IS=MIL5A%[email protected]" 23-NOV-1994 08:36:08.77
To:	distribution:;@[email protected] (see end of body)
CC:	
Subj:	 



  Happy Thanksgiving to all!!  And to all...er...a long weekend!!!  :^)



                   
          Jimbob

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    I didn't know where to put this, but I thought you guys might enjoy
    my friend's first encounter with a full scale Pitts....
    
    I decided to head out to the airport to hang out with Ryan.  I
    ended up flying for 1.1 hours with Ryan's brother, just practicing
    stalls, steep turns, etc. - the basics.  Well, we came back and 
    did three landings (the first one sucked - approach too high 
    (typical), and touched down almost 3/4 of the way down - major 
    floatage, others was good), and came back in.  Well, we went back 
    up to Pax to hang out with Ryan for a while. Brian Howard happened 
    to be there (friend of ours who does aerobatic competition), and 
    asked if I wanted to take a ride in his Pitts S2B (aerobatic 
    biplane).  Well, twist my arm, I was there!                      
    
     We went down to the hangar and did a brief pre-flight (the plane is
    immaculate), and then he threw a parachute at me and said - "That's
    yours." Hmmm...  I says to myself - this should be interesting.  Next 
    came 10 minutes of strapping my butt into the airplane.  First, strap 
    the parachute on, then fasten shoulder, waist, and 'crotch' straps on
    the harness.  Then, ratchet -YES, RATCHET- yourself in until you feel 
    like you're going to become a permenant part of the plane (you're 
    gonna need it), then plug in the headset, don't forget to fasten the 
    chin strap - you'll need that too, put on the sunglasses, and you're 
    stylin...
    
     Engine start-up (damn thing sounds like a Porsche), and taxi out.
    Taxiing in a tail-dragger is interesting.  There is NO forward
    visibility.  You have to sort of see-saw back and forth to look forward
    along the side of the plane.  Out to the run-up pad, do the checks,
    reset the *G*-meter :):), call the departure on the radio, and pull
    out.  He gave it full throttle, and I about sh*t.  If I could have
    moved, I would have been thrown back into the seat REALLY hard.  As it
    was, though, all strapped in, I just enjoyed the sheer joy of it.  He
    rotated at about 90 knots, and stayed in ground effect.  When we
    reached the 1000' markers on the far (02) end of the runway, he said
    "We're passing through 150 kts".  At the end of the runway, when he
    pulled up, we were blowing through 180 kts.  (For reference, I rotate
    the 172 at about 65 kts, and I'm damn lucky to get 110 kts cruise).  I
    was just starting to enjoy watching the scenery fly past at over 200
    mph when he pulled up.  It produced a gut-wrenching 4 G's upon me (it
    was all I could do to hold my head up), and a 3,750 ft/min rate of
    climb (750 ft/min is great in a 172).  It was awesome.
    
     We climbed a bit, and he said - "Ok, your airplane.  Do a few shallow
    turns back and forth to check for traffic, and to get a feel for the
    airplane."  Well, the controls consist of a stick (no yoke like I'm
    used to), a simple wall-mounted throttle, and rudder pedals.  In this
    airplane, though, you don't push the rudder pedals in a turn, you just
    push ON them. Just a little bit of pressure and it does the trick. 
    Also, there are no control cables in the Pitts, they're all push-rods. 
    No stretching = no play in the controls.  It was sensitive as hell. 
    Then, he took the airplane back, and showed me how to do an aileron
    roll.  Then, he had ME do an aileron roll.  It was incredible.  I've
    always wanted to just roll an airplane!  Next, we did an inside loop -
    then, I did an inside loop.  Next we did inverted flight - that was
    cool.  There is a clear bubble-canopy on the plane, so you can see ALL
    around you.  Flying upside-down gives you a WHOLE new view of the
    world, lemme tell you.
    
     After that, he did an outside loop,  a couple of cuban 8's, and a few
    other things that I can't remember all that well now (probably because
    my brain was plastered to the top of my skull by the end of the
    flight). After the last gut-wrenching maneuver, I started to feel a
    little green - I'd had enough.  So, he gave me control of the airplane
    again, and I took us home.  (No, I didn't land it - you can't see sh*t
    in front of you, you fly a downwind, then a base-final (almost
    together), and land using only your peripheral vision).  We taxied back
    to the hangar, and I finally found my way out of the mess of harnesses,
    and stepped back onto solid ground. Wow, what a flight.  All in all, I
    had lasted 24 minutes before getting a tad bit nauseated by it all.  I
    glanced at the G-meter as I was getting out (it records the current as
    well as the highest positive and negative g-forces of the flight) - we
    had reached 6 positive g's, and 3 negative g's at various points.  MUCH
    more than I've ever endured.  I had a headache for the next 12 hours :)
    
     So, I now have .4 hours in a Pitts S2B in my logbook, and, since Brian
    is a CFI, he logged it as dual - my first aerobatic lesson.  He said
    that next time we go up (I heard next time and grinned bigger than
    life), we'll try to go a little longer and build my body up to be able
    to withstand the g's without wanting to toss my cookies :).  We're
    going to do spins, hammerhead stalls, tail slides (go verticle, stall,
    slide backwards, apply full rudder, nose comes down sideways, dive to
    the ground), and a bunch of other stuff.  I don't really care what we
    do, I just know I'll enjoy every second of it.  I've gotten a taste of
    REAL flying :), and I think I'll  cry the next time I climb back into a
    152 or 172 and lumber into the air - straight and level :(....
                                     

hmmmmmmmm,

sounds like you got to know the experience between a ferrari and a vw beetle
(the latter i am driving at the moment...) and reminds me of the missed
opportunity joining a skybolt ride....

have fun!
joe t.

    The one and only time I've ever done aerobatics in a full size, I 
    lasted about the same amount of time before "having" to get back to
    the ground. I was doing "spins" for about an hour after we landed. 8^)

    The average pilot, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very
    much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring.
    These feelings just don't involve anyone else.
    
    Steve 8^)

I heard it slightly different in that it referred to the R/C widow...

[...] These feelings just don't involve her.

Yeah, I can relate to it 8^)

Foam cutting demo by Dan Snow and Eric. I've got my gravity fed automatic cutter
with me for show and tell.

Anyone interested in grabbing a sandwich somewhere near 495/rt2 before the
meeting?

    Due to our nice streach of warm weather, and the resulting EXTREAM
    MUDDY CONDITIONS at the CMRCM field, it was decided at the Board of
    Directors meeting last night that the field will be closed for at
    least this week and possibly next week. 
    
    At the present time, it is almost impossible to navigate the entrance
    road and the parking area is a guaranteed tow truck call.
    
    I'll put in another entry when the field is officially opan again, but
    if the signs on the gate, don't fly.

    
     Geeezzz, 70 degrees in January, and we STILL can't fly! 
    
      Life just ain't fair! :)

    Hmm...could somebody give me a swift kick in the !#@$ to get me off 
    the couch and build my next kit?
    
    That kinda sucks about the field being so bad.  I can't fly anyways
    since my AMA hasn't come back yet.  Anyone else not get his yet?  I
    guess maybe that my address change slowed them down a bit.  You know
    how difficult those can be to comprehend.
    
    Andy
    

    Re Dan
    
    Charlie said the same thing. How ironic we can't fly because the
    weather is TOO GOOD.
    
    Andy, I FAXED in my application for SAME DAY service around the 
    middle of December. Just got it back last Saturday. Maybe they REALLY
    meant same QUARTER service. 8^)

    Hey...if you any of you are interested in a picture of Jack's little
    rocket ship, I scanned one in today.  I took it just before its first
    "mishap".  Enjoy,
    AD::USER1$:[BARBER.PUBLIC]rocket.gif
    
    Andy
    
    

    Well, I came home last night delighted to see a large box from Tower
    sitting by my door.  I unpacked everything and checked it all over.  I
    don't remember there being that much wood with these kits.  I think
    this one may take me a while, especially since I'm trying to build a 60
    size airplane on a 2� by 3� foot table! What I wouldn't give for a
    workshop about now.  I think tower packed in a bottle of balsa-slow
    with the kit.  Or maybe a few.  Well, I'll keep you updated on
    progress.  I'll start here even.
    2/14 - opened box.
    
    andy
    

Andy,

I have a workshop with a couple of 8' benches... due to the clutter, most of my
building occurs on a 2'x3' piece of plywood on top of the trash barrel 8^)

(my box is open and one panel is done. Now if I could just remember how I put in
that first retract 8^)

US60, Christmas 1992 8^)

    Regarding .14
    
       One thing that I have done in order to speed things up when building
    the Ultra Sport 60 is to do as much preassembly as possible. Take the 
    time and read the manual all the way through, you will see what I mean. 
    It really makes it easier when you don't have to stop to glue pieces 
    together to continue building, and it will only take you a couple of 
    hours at most.
    
    Things that will need to be glued together will be the following.
    
    		Fuse sides
    		Wing Spars
    		Leading edge sheeting
    		Center section sheeting
    		Stab surfaces
    		Rudder surfaces
    
	**NOTE** Check the fuse sides for bowing. I had two kits that had 
                 fuse sides that came this way and needed fixing. Take the 
                 fuse sides and with the Top edge facing down, lay them on 
                 a flat building board or up against a straight edge the
       		 full length and see if they are flush.
    
      		 The pieces that came with my kits were bowed from 3/16" to
                 1/4" from front to rear. If you don't correct this problem
    		 you will be putting negative incidence into the stab.
    

    Thanks for the hints.  I'll need all the help I can get.  I assembled
    the fin and rudder on wednesday night.  I was going to build the
    elevator last night but I went skiing instead.  Looks like this weekend
    will be a wash on building as well since my roomate's girlfriend has
    taken over the apartment for the weekend.  Oh well, you can't win them
    all I guess.
    
                
    Andy
    

Just don't let it go for a year and a half like some of us 8^)

I actually hope to get some building in this weekend, to help me avoid doing my
taxes 8^)

Jim

    Well, I completed the elevator/rudder section last night.  Next I start
    on the wing panels.  Any advice on it before I start Jim??
                                       
    Andy
    

Do both panels in parallel and do the retracts in the same session 8^)

Jim (the forgetful)

    I framed up the right wing half last night.  It went pretty smoothly
    and it turned out to be easier than I thought.  Now, I have a question. 
    Should I put dihedral into this wing?  Over the years, I've grown to
    dislike dihedral, so I put 0 dihedral in the right panel.  Now, after
    thinking a bit, I decided that this may not be a good idea since low
    wing aircraft tend to be more unstable than high wing aircraft.  Should
    low wing aircraft always have some amount of dihedral?  I can still put
    dihedral in the left panel, but I would only get half of the
    recommended dihedral.  
    
    Andy
    

    Tonight's CMRCM meeting will the the first CMRCM auction. A real short
    business meeting (like about 30 seconds) and then into the auction.
    
    Clean out your workshops, bring the stuff to the auction, and make a
    few bucks to buy all the stuff you need to start the new flying season.
    
    Doors open at 6, auction will start about 7. Any CMRCM members that
    wish to help setting things up should arrive about 5:30.
    
    I will be having 3 raffle's during the auction. First is a McDaniel
    ni starter and charger. Second a power panel with built in field
    charger, and third will be a Black and Decker cordless screw driver.
    Tickets will be a buck apiece or 6 for 5.
    
    See ya there.

    Dan's right.  I was just minding my business putting my ballistic
    Eindecker with floats thru some neat aerobatics when I realized I was
    being hounded.  So without saying anything, I just decided to join in
    and have a little fun.  We really should have had streamers in tow and
    it would have been even funner, although at the speeds we were
    traveling I doubt if the streamers could hold together.  Great fun.
    
    I must say, Dan wasn't very touchy about me calling his new creation a
    Gremlin, but I did get a dirty look and was reprimanded for making a
    big mistake.  Dan, I think you should call it "Dremel" since it augers
    in so well 8<).  It is nice to see someone experimenting with creative
    designs and be willing to risk their investment for the sake of
    progress.  I think you are right about the fin area being too large for
    the turns.  I'm sure you will get it sorted out.
    
    About four years ago I made a pair of skis for my low wing trainer and
    had a ball flying off snow with them.  Only trouble was that I was
    almost always flying alone, since nobody else at that time was into
    snow flying.  Well, all that has changed.  We now have 10 to 12 pilots
    flying with either skiis or floats on a regular basis.  I've never seen
    our Merrimack field as crowded during the winter season.  It does my
    heart good to see all these budding All Season Flyers.
    
    BTW, some of the "regulars" are students who are taking their winter
    lessons flying with skiis or floats!!  That's kind of a novel thing,
    but it certainly is giving them an added dimension early in their
    flying experience.
    
    This has been a great winter for flying.
    
    -Joe  
                                 

    So... last night was the 1st annual CMRCM auction (which I was unable
    to attend). How'd it go? I head about lots of sellers heading down but
    not any buyers. How was the turnout (many people from outside the
    club?)
    
    Jim (I'm gonna repanel this doghouse...)

    I got there about 20 minutes to six and was the first CMRCM member
    there. There was one other van with 3 guys from the North Shore.
    Charlie and George arrived a few minutes later and we began setting
    up. Eric showed up about 6 and other people started to show up around
    then as well.
    
    There was definately more sellers than buyers but money "did" change
    hands. There was some nice stuff there that didn't sell because of the
    price. Not that it was over priced, but people just weren't spending
    big bucks. One guy brought an F15 ducted fan that he didn't even put
    up because of the way the bidding was going. He also brought a G.P.
    60 stick that was brand new and really nice. Came complete with a brand
    new 60 motor (forget the brand but not bad) and he wanted $200. Not a
    bad deal at all. He took it home. I'm not even sure anyone bid on it.
    
    Per usual, there's always one thing that you walk away saying "I can't
    believe it went for that price". In this case, a new US Aircore cub
    went up for sale and sold for $50 bucks. What a piece of junk. There
    was some good stuff there, but people wanted big bucks. Like $30 or
    $40 dollars below regular retail. Most of it didn't go.
    
    Harvey and Eric split the auctioneer duties, and Wally, George, Jack
    and Dave Walter brought stuff to the stage. I relieved Wally later on. 
    Charlie and ??? (can't remember his name. Mental block this morning) 
    took care of collecting the $1.00 per item admission fee and handing 
    out slips. Also the money transactions when a sale was made. I ran 3 
    different raffles during the course of the auction.
    
    I'd say we had between 80 and 100 people show up total. We just about
    had enough room in the side room to hold all the things people brought.
    When all was said and done, the club made around $350 dollars on the
    auction and the raffle made $17 over and above the $68 I took back for
    the prizes and new roll of raffle tickets. By the time we cleaned up,
    put all the tables and chairs away and "de-briefed", it was shortly
    after 10 P.M. when we turned out the lights and headed home.
    
    As I'm sure everyone does, we learned some things putting on our first
    auction that we'd do differently the next time. But, overall, I think
    it went very well. Condisering we're "post WRAM show" and a Monday
    night, I think the turnout was great.
    
    Some people were noticeably absent (JIM REITH...DAN WEIER and others).
    Eric brought a bunch of props just for DW2 and sold some, took some
    home. He had a nice MK 3 blade prop he use to run on the Acro Wot that
    he had no more use for. Actually, come to think of it, neither does
    Dan Weier.......8^)

    Steve summed it up well. With the little advertising we had, the
    auction was a success. If it was anymore well attended we wouldn't
    have had the room for both people and auction items.
    
    The only problem I could say we had was the number of people that kept
    roaming through the side room during the auction where we kept the
    auction items. People standing in door ways and just generally "in
    your way" made it tuff to get things into the auctioneers area. 
    
    There were somewhere around 140 items to auction and I'd say 30% were
    no go's. I ended up selling (2) new Futaba S133's and a covering iron.
    
    George

    Hey, when did Eric move to NH??
    
    I got passed this morning by a Pontiac Bonneville ("tubocharged" of
    course) and the license plate was (NH)  
    
    			HTA-1
    
    

    Still no word on my order of B&D retracts.  Apparently, Elvis has been
    spotted with a pair of B&D's.  Maybe he got mine.  So should I can my
    order with Hobby USA and order elsewhere?  Maybe I will check out RC
    Buyers and see if they have them in stock. 
    Is anyone going to that estate sale this weekend?  I would like to go. 
    If anyone wants to go with me let me know.
    
    Andy
    

    Hey, is anyone going to the airshow this weekend?  I heard that there
    will be RC stuff there as well.  I'll be going after I get some
    practice in for Sunday.
    
    andy
    

    Unfortunately, I have to work Saturday and even if they got rained out
    (rain date is Sunday), I have a wedding I have to attend.
    
    The word was put out that if anyone was interested in doing a flying
    demo at the airshow, to contact an individual who's name escapes me
    at the moment. We were also told that if you tell the person at the
    gate (presumably pointing people to the parking areas) that you were
    a member of CMRCM (have your membership card), or were part of the
    RC demo, you would get pointed to a PRIME parking area reserved for
    airshow people only.
    
    If I were going, I'd throw a plane in the back of the van and tell
    the guy at the gate I was with CMRCM. If the answer was something
    like SO.......I'd point to the plane and tell him I was part of the
    show. I'm sure you could help out even if you didn't fly and still
    see the airshow.

    
    Last Thursday, Dan Weier and I sent a few mail messages back and
    forth regarding the Sayre PA. pattern contest that took place this
    past weekend. I told Dan that I EXPECTED him to take first place in
    Sportsman. Just wanted to be the first to let everyone know that Dan
    does what he's told..............In what I consider to be Dan's first
    MAJOR contest (over 70 entrants), Dan did, indeed, capture FIRST PLACE
    in the sportsman class at Sayre. Some of the east coast's finest pilots
    attend this contest, so the competition was stiff. They were also
    running 3 flight lines at the same time which were close enough
    together to have 3 airplanes in the same air space at any given time.
    That equates to a TON of extra pressure. Everyone put their hands
    together for Dan. This is quite the accomplishment.
    
    The following is a contest report from Charlie Watt who also deserves
    kudo's for taking 4th place in Advanced with an aborted first flight.
    
    

Hi Steve,
	We survived Sayre and we all had a good time.  There were over 70
pilots there with 21 in Sportsman and 20 in Advanced.  Dan Weier rose to 
the occasion and took first in Sportsman against some stiff competition.
He improved a little each flight as he got more used to the pressure of
flying in a big contest.
	We had a nasty thunder storm around 2:30 on Saturday that disrupted
things for a couple of hours.  We had lightning, hail, and very high winds
that blew all of the tents down.  Fortunately, we took our planes apart and
put them in the vans before the storm hit or we would have probably lost 
them.  Jack's tent blew a half mile down the runway!  They almost called off
flying for the rest of the day but we talked them into flying until 6:30.
It got dead calm and real nice after the storm.  The nice weather lasted until
after we ate dinner at the field and then another nasty storm - not as
violent - came through.  Yesterday, we had a cross wind in our faces but
it was a real nice day.  We got in five rounds total but we did not finish
up until about 5 pm.  
	I managed to move up to fourth in Advanced after losing the first
flight to engine problems.  I changed the engine and the throttle servo
after the first round and the plane ran great the rest of the contest.  I
put in 50 flights on that plane this year with no problems and it chose to
act up when it counted. :-(  Since there was only one throwout, I was under
the gun the rest of the contest.  I was really pleased with my last flight
in a stiff wind in my face.  We had the best judges that round - ones that
knew how to score wind corrections and such.  I did a pretty good job keeping
the plane out in far enough to not violate the box.  I got second that round.
	Jack flew the best he has ever flown.  He finished ahead of Eric
two rounds.  Needless to say, Eric was not flying his best.  I don't even
know where he ended up but he was well back in the pack.  His head was not
into pattern this weekend. Dan, Jim, Jack, and I worked very well 
together and everyone had a great time and flew well.

	I still have not flown my new Boxer.  I was planning to fly it last
thursday and nothing went right.  I took the afternoon off and went home only
to find that my daughter had taken my van to work.  I borrowed my youngest
daughter's Ford Probe and squeezed in my old boxer so I could get in some
final practice before heading to Sayre.  Since the new plane was untested,
I pulled the engine and took it along as a spare.  I was glad I did that 
because I could switch engines when my other one acted up.  I still do not
know why but it was easy to switch and I did not have to worry about whether
the problem would reoccur.

Have a good week - I'm headed to Houston for the week. :-(((

Charlie

    Hey Dan!!!!  Congratulations for taking first place in Sportsman.
    
    You deserve it because of all the hard practice work you put in at
    Merrimack, and this is a difficult venue to practice pattern.  All that
    hard work paid off.
    
    Now that you've become an east coast pattern star, make sure you don't
    forget all the little folk who support you at Merrimack. ;-)
    
    Again, great job.  You earned braggin' rights for the month.
    
    Regards,
    Joe

    
        Thank you to all the folks who have sent me mail or posted
     congratulations in the file. I don't know exactly how to take it all,
     but I will say its a nice feeling to have everything come together
     and get a win. Eric said I would have a "glo" about me for about a
     week based on his past experiences, and I think he's right. That
     combined with "braggin rights for the month" feels great! :)
    
        Although it was neat to be credited with a win, as the old cliche
     goes: It was a team effort. I am flying a plane built by Charlie Watt
     that is a proven contest winner. Charlie took 1st in the same contest
     2 years ago with the exact plane. In talking to him last week, he feels
     he could have been in contention last year if he had stuck with this 
     plane instead of trying to get a new plane sorted out before/during the 
     contest. He still managed to win a round last year after switching
     back to this plane. Charlie knows how to build a competitive pattern
     plane! The Conquest 6 ( designed by Dave Patrick OF Carl Goldberg 
     Ultimate, Extra 300, and Sukoi fame) is a TOTALLY honest plane and 
     does exactly what it is supposed to do. Bottom Line, if you mess up a 
     manuever, you OWN it! 
    
        I have been trying to get in LOTS of practice combined with
     coaching from Charlie Watt, Jack Zimmanck, and Tom Loose. It really 
     paid off as Charlie was still pointing out things I was still doing 
     wrong as recently as a few days before the contest. Due to where I 
     need to go to get the coaching I need AND the smooth field 
     for the delicate retracts I have been doing the majority of my flying 
     lately in Westboro.I would be nice to be able to continue practicing
     at the Merrimack field, but it just wouldn't work with retracts. 
     I have also been practicing at the field in Litchfield after joining
     that club recently.           
    
        The HTA team is great to fly with at meets. Everyone of us is
     climbing over each other to offer what ever help is needed. People
     at different meets have been amazed by our team effort. In the
     team we have pilots, engine experts, expert plane builders,
     judging experience, pit/calling experience, great coaches, etc. Jack
     and Charlie kept the OS.61 running great this weekend and I got great 
     calling from both Charlie and Jim Cavanaugh. Its not to say you NEED 
     a team like this to successfully compete, but it SURE helps 
     ( and its a LOT more fun! ).
    
          This week, The Conquest is in for maintenance. I picked up a new
     set of Dave Brown Retracts at the contest to replace the "tired" ones
     I have installed now. The gear legs are so soft ( even after recent
     hardening attempts ) they bend back even on a perfect landing. I am
     also going to re-cut the holes in the wing and upgrade from 2 1/4" to
     2 1/2" wheels to cut the rolling resistance down on the grass fields.
     I bought a set of 2 1/2" Pro Mags for the "old gal" in appreciation
     for "her" performance last weekend ( WOW, talk about rationalization!
     :)
    
          Taking the week off from flying ( got a bit burnt out last
     weekend ) but it will be back to practice on Sunday.

    
       Ment to title the last reply <Thanks>, not <ex>

    
    Good work Dan..... I guess the choppers go into retirement this
    year. 8-)
    
    George

    Congrats Dan!  Also congrats on the CMRCM win too.  Although, your
    latest win sounds much more impressive :) My ultrasport is starting to
    take shape finally.  The wings are almost completed.  I only need to
    attach one airelon and drill for the dowells.  My fuse is mostly framed
    up.  I just have to install the radio and tail feathers and turtle
    deck.  Hopefully I will be done before I get my new computer.  I have a
    feeling I will spending a lot of time on the computer when I get it:)
    
    andy
    

    
       WRONG, the Choppers did not go into retirement this year! I have
      still been flying them ( although not as much as the Conquest). I
      In fact, I hope to compete again in the Shluter Cup in September.
      My latest dilema is to decide whether to attend the Crow Island Heli
      Fun Fly or the Bridgewater Pattern contest on the 25th of June
      (Life if SOOO complicated! :)       
         

    You can attend the CMRCM open glider contest on the 25th of June. Being
    as how I got conned into CD'ing this event before knowing the Pattern
    schedule for the year, Bridgwater is yet ANOTHER contest I'll miss.
    
    I also have a funfly to CD on July 16th. Guess what else is scheduled
    on July 16th. That's right..........the second NEIC contest at the 
    NH field. I'll be trying like hell to find a replacement for THAT
    contest. This truely SUCKS....................
    
    STeve

    
      Thanks Steve, you kind of cheered me up! :) I don't feel so bad
    anymore! :) 

    Actually, I'm doing this on purpose. I figure I'll let you win a
    few contests to get your confidence up, THEN I'll come 
    back..............8^)
    
    
    
	and when I do.......I'll get my butt kicked and there will be
    no dealing with you anymore............8^)

    re: .37
    
    Dan if you do go to Crow Island, be sure to let me know how it goes.
    I really wanted to go to that contest myself, but family commitments
    put an end to that :^(...
    
    As for the Schluter Cup, I definately plan on attending that this
    year..
    
    Wayne

    Well...it's been a while and there hasn't been much traffic here.  I
    thought I would post my Ultra Sport progress.  It's done!  Just
    kidding.  I've got about 80-85% of it done.  The wings are finished. 
    They just need covering.  The fuse is getting close.  I have to shape
    the cowl, add the canopy, and glue on the tail feathers.  I also did a
    slight modification.  I don't care much for the "cab forward" design of
    the plane, so I moved the cockpit back about 5 inches to give it a more
    sleek look.  I'll scan in some pictures of it when I finish.  Hopefully
    I finish it before I move (aug 1st.)
    
    Andy
    

    I forgot to say that my rudder broke in half on sunday evening.  I was
    flying real high and then went into a power dive when I noticed my
    rudder was flapping like humming bird.  I pulled out, slowed down and
    kicked in some rudder and the rudder bent over 45 degrees!  Immediate
    landing and inspection revealed that the rudder had sheared off about a
    � inch above the elevator exactly parallel to the elevator.   Some
    packing tape I had put on there from a repair was the only thing
    holding it on!  Then I noticed that the split was exactly where I cut
    the monocote to repair previous damage.  The slight cut I put in the
    rudder from this was enough to cause breakage!
    
    andy
    

    This coming Sunday, July 16th, the CMRCM club is having an "open"
    funfly contest. This means you don't have to belong to the club to
    enter and fly.
    
    There will be 3 classes. Novice, Sportsman, and Expert. Placque's will
    be awarded for 1st thru 3rd place in each class.
    
    Novice flyers can have instructor help if needed.
    
    Pilots meeting around 9:30. Contest start at 10:00 A.M.
    
    Come on down and strut your stuff........

    In the old DECRCM notes file, there was a note that had pretty
    extensive research on prop size versus RPM versus thrust. If I remember
    correctly, the note basically showed the thrust obtained from a
    particular size prop running at a particular RPM. There were many many
    prop sizes and RPM ranges listed.
    
    By chance, does anyone have this online so that they could send me a
    copy????????

    The first CMRCM general membership meeting of the season will be
    September 11th at the church in Berlin (usual meeting place) Coffee and
    donuts at 7:00, meeting at 7:30.
    
    As usual, if you have something you'd like to bring for the show and
    tell, bring it.
    
    Steve

    Hmm..the notes here have been dead recently.  Well, add I'll my new news.
    The UltraSport is done and has successfully completed it's maiden
    flight!  Last sunday I arrived at the field with the US and T60 in tow.
    I took plenty of pictures of the Ultrasport "Just in case".  Then I
    BS'd for a while before putting the Trainer up for a spin.  Charlie and
    Jack kept bugging me to break the engine on the US in, so I finally
    proceeded to fuel it up for it's first run.  Funny thing happened. 
    Almost as soon as I started pumping fuel into the plane, it started
    flowing out the muffler connection tube.  Wierd.  Charlie suggested
    that either the lines were reversed or that the tank was in upside
    down.  Well, it turned out to be an upside down tank.  I hate it when
    that happens.  So, a half an hour later I have the tank in the right
    way.
    The intial run of the engine was great....until the glow plug shot out
    at Charlie.  I forgot to tighten it :).  After retightening, we
    proceeded to run the engine again.  This time, the engine would quit
    when going from full throttle to idle.  A glow plug change fixed this
    problem.  With a little high end adjusment and no low end adjustment it
    was running like a charm.  SOOOOO much nicer than K&B.  VERY quiet
    idle.
    After running 2 tanks thru it was time to put it up in the air. 
    Charlie was the test pilot.  Once it was airborn, it required very
    little trimming.  No airleron trimming was required.  Some of the
    throws were out of kilter though.  After a little toying around,
    Charlie handed to me.  It flew GREAT.  I love it.  Very smooth.  I only
    got a few minutes on it though and it was time come down.  Charlie did
    the landing (a good job on it too).
    I went back to the pits and made some adjustments to the throws.  Now
    it was my turn:).  Tail draggers were new to me, but I didn't have too
    much trouble taking off.  I flew around for about 8 minutes practicing
    a few manevers.  Then the landing.  It's speed is kind of deceiving,
    but I managed to bring it using the whole length of the runway.  So,
    that's my story for the week.
    
    Andy
    

Looks like you beat me to it Andy. I haven't gotten any time on mine since I was last in here...

<wave>

Jim

    
    (Reformatted to 80 columns..)
    
    BTW - Who was that masked noter??
    
    
               <<< VMSZOO::DISK$NOTES:[NOTES$LIBRARY]RC.NOTE;4 >>>
                  -< Welcome To The Radio Control Conference >-
================================================================================
Note 1636.48                     CMRCM RAMBLINGS                        48 of 48
MPGS::REITH                                           5 lines  29-SEP-1995 13:31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Looks like you beat me to it Andy. I haven't gotten any time on mine
    since I was last in here...
    
<wave>

Jim

    Jim who??????????????

       			      CMRCM FALL FUNFLY
    
           CONTEST DATE OCTOBER 8TH            RAIN DATE OCTOBER 15TH
    
            Pilots meeting 9:30 A.M         Start time 10 A.M. sharp  
    *************************************************************************
                            NOVICE   SPORTSMAN   EXPERT
           Prizes (placques) will be awarded for 1st thru 3rd place in each
           class
    *************************************************************************
    
    NOVICE EVENTS.....Timed Taxi around pylons
          	      Mini Reno (take off, one loop, land)
         	      Guess your time in the air
    
    SPORTSMAN EVENTS
                         Modified Reno (take off, 3 loops, 3 rolls, land)
                         Most rolls in 60 sec.
                         Guess your time (take off, 3 rolls, land)
    
    EXPERT EVENTS
                         Adrenaline rush (take off, 3 loops, 3 rolls, 
    		                          3 T&G's, land)
                         Dead stick landing into a circle
                         Most touch and goes in 2 minutes
    ******************************************************************
    Novice pilots need not have soloed to participate. Instructors will be
    available to help out. Only accepted "trainer" type airplanes allowed 
    in Novice class. Expert pilots who own trainers need not apply!!!!!!
    ******************************************************************
    Any type of airplane may be flown in the Sportsman class EXCEPT 
    recognized funfly type airplanes.
    ******************************************************************
    Expert class is reserved for all out funfly type airplanes. You may
    enter a non funfly plane if you wish, but be aware of what you'll 
    be up against.
    
                                                                        

    There is a meeting tonight right?
    
    Andy
    

    There WAS a meeting LAST night. 8^)
    
    S.

    re: CMRCM Fall Funfly
    
    Is this event open to public spectators? I have a 15 yr old who has
    been bitten by the RCM bug and would go *nuts* to be able to see
    something like this...
    
    If it is OK - does CMRCM still fly out of the site by the MA F&G
    of 135 in Westboro (I found brief directions in note 15.66).
    
    Thanks!
    
    /dave

    Spectators are most welcome. By all means, stop on by and say hello.
    
    Steve

    Well my son was just bitten by the bug to fly before, but after
    watching the Fun Fly last weekend, that bite is now inflamed ;^)
    
    And the old (26 years dormant) urge came back to me in a rush as
    well...
    
    Look out MasterCard, there's a heavy whack a'comin'!
    
    Favorite events were the dead stick landings and the touch'n'go's.
    Speaking of the latter, who was that guy with the "double-sided" stunt
    plane that came up waaaaaay short on his upside-down landing attempt?
    
    Pretty neat stuff all around. Felt quite welcome as well.
    
    Cheers! and thanks!
    
    /dave (and #2 son)

    Glad you could make it. Wish you had said hi. I could have shown you
    around some more.
    
    The guy your talking about is Eric Henderson. His plane is called a 
    Unic and he put landing gear on the top of the wing to do upside
    down landings and take offs. Eric is the former CMRCM club president
    and "corrupter of young RC minds". He has the nick name Evil Eric, or
    the Evil one. If you ever want to know how to make a plane do weird
    things, see Eric.
    
    Eric is also a former Decie who was bitten by the down sizing bug.
    He landed a new job but it's in New Jersey so we don't see him to often 
    any more. He was on his way to England on business and stopped by for
    the funfly.
    
    The first Monday in October is the next CMRCM club meeting at the
    church in Berlin. Meeting starts at 7:30 but people show up at 7:00
    and shoot the breeze for awhile before the meeting. Why don't you
    stop by and see what it's all about.
    
    Steve

    Well, I finally took the plunge and bought a heli. It's something I've
    been interested in for some time, but just never got around to. Now
    I've got one.
    
    I bought the Shuttle ZXX with the new OS SXH heli engine. I'm flying it
    with the JR X347. It has PCM receiver and 1300ma battery pack.
    
    Dan Weier has been kind enough to get it set up for me and I've flown
    it once so far. Well, maybe "flying" is a bit of an over statement.
    Some months back, I was able to try my hand at heli flying on someones
    buddy box so I knew what I was getting into, but man is this tough.
    
    I flew it in the back yard night before last, and out of 2.5 tanks of
    fuel, got a  whopping "two" aprox. 15 second hovers where I was able 
    to keep it in one place, and I consider that to be doing good. It's
    definately a challange and a new set of RC skills that has to be
    learned. It's also a matter of "un-learning" airplane skills. I found
    myself instinctively doing "airplane" stuff when I needed to be doing
    "heli" stuff. Oh well, it will all come together in time. The nice part
    is I can fly in my back yard. Not very far, but I can learn to hover
    any way.
    
    It's definately a blast and has gotten the RC juices flowing again now
    that there is something "new" to learn.

    Alright Steve,
    
    Glad to hear you have the Shuttle up and running. There should be
    plenty of new things to learn about helis to keep the RC juices flowing
    for a long time to come :^). I think you'll be surpised how quickly you
    progress. Before long you'll be hovering like a pro and from there it
    is just a hop skip and a jump to being able to do some real damage :^).
    
    Now that there are getting to be a significant number of heli
    pilots over at CMRCM, we should consider having some kind of heli
    "event" next year.
    
    Have fun
    
    Wayne 

    Steve,
    
    flying a heli will make a dramatic improvement in your airplane skills. 
    If you are the type with a lazy left hand... you won't be!  Also, about
    breaking airplane habits; the one thing you don't want to do while
    hovering and you get into trouble is to pull back on the right stick. 
    I was through my 1st gallon of fuel and getting to where I could hover
    consistently when it happened.  I got a little out of shape and
    instinctively pulled back.  The result: major adrenalin rush, a fancy
    two step, the dreaded boom strike, a new boom, and new rotor blades and
    cross shaft.  I will say though that it broke that habit.  I've been
    progressing nicely ever since, except for my first 7/8 of a loop... but
    that's another story.
    
    Chris
    

    Wayne, I understand the Loopers heli funfly had a good turnout. Maybe 
    we "can" have an event next year. I need to run a sanctioned contest.
    Maybe now it can be a heli contest.
    
    Chris, boy do I hear ya. I was talking with Dan Weier about the exact
    same thing this morning. It's already happened to a much lesser extent
    than you. I've already found myself pulling right stick to "flair" when
    I back off of the collective a little too much. Does a whole lot of
    good.....8^) It will come with practice though.
    
    Like I said to Dan this morning though. I'll finally get it burned into
    my head and the next time I'm out flying "planes", when it comes time
    to flair, I'm going to jump on the throttle and burry the plane. 8^)

    Yes the Loopers had a heli funfly this year, and in spite of the fact
    that we did very little to publicize it, we had a good turn out.
    I expect we will have 2 such events next year. It is
    getting so that there are a fair number of helicopter pilots around and
    events are few and far between.
    
    If you wanted to have a "sanctioned" event I think there would be be
    pretty good turn out for an AMA type helicopter contest, even if all
    that was done was Novice and Sportmens classes.
    If you would be willing to CD such a thing let me know and I'd
    be happy to help out in any way I can as long as it still permits me to
    fly :^).
    
    Wayne

    Typically, the CMRCM club sets aside several dates each flying season
    for contests. Some are annual events, some are just "reserved" days.
    I think we had at least 2 and maybe 3 days this summer that were put
    asside and never used.
    
    I've got to get a sanctioned event in next year in order to get my free
    AMA membership for being a CD. So.......I think I'll try and fit in a
    heli event.
    
    I'll have to go over what the typical events are and any help would be
    appreciated. "I" want to fly too..............8^)
    
    Steve

Steve, 
good to hear you've joined the ranks. People may laugh at your 15 second hovers 
but those of us who have been there know how good that small accomplishment can
be. 

Just out of curiousity, are you using a simulator to help with the learning 
curve? 

    Hi Dan,
    
    Nope, no simulator. Don't have a PC at home. So, I gotta do it the hard
    way.
    
    Last night, I went out to the back yard again and had a real good
    session. It was dead calm, so I got a good chance to really check the
    trims and play with the dual rates. I've got it set up now so that it
    feels comfortable. I ran 3 tanks last night and was able to fly almost
    a whole tank in a very respectable 5/6 foot hover. Like I said, it was
    dead calm, but I'll take it.
    
    Steve

    Funny the move to helicopters these days. I got one of the .049 Lite
    Machines as did Lamar Phillips and now Steve and Charlie Watt. My buddy
    George Dainis has a .30 size one as well. I'll probably get a .30 size
    one eventually but the .049 is a great learning experience and it's
    really taken a beating. Getting that first tank hover under your belt
    really helps. I've got my training gear off and have been trying to get
    comfortable with nose in hover.
    
    Jim

    Who is this phantom person that keeps popping in here every now and
    then.
    
    Care to tell us what your up to there Jimbo?????????????
    
    
    Steve

    Charlie, Jack, Andy Barber and myself went down to the CMRCM field
    Sunday to do some flying. Andy brought his new Ultra Sport, Jack had
    his home built Distraction, Charlie had his Unic and heli, and I had my
    Unic and Heli.
    
    The first thing I did was get to wiggle the sticks on Andy's US. It
    fly's very nicely and Andy did a great job building it. We did some
    testing to see how his particular US likes to do stall turns, and got
    it sorted out. Andy was doing great stall turns in no time.
    
    Jack was tuning his his distraction (i think that's the name) and had
    it flying and running like a top. It's a 40 size sport pattern plane
    with retracts and looks and fly's neat.
    
    Charlie had bought a new Nelson muffler for his YS45 on the Unic and
    wanted to try it out. The difference it made was incredible. He had
    power like you wouldn't believe. Verticle was literally out of sight
    and when he punched the throttle, you could visible SEE the Unic jump
    ahead as it picked up speed. He could pull it into a verticle climb,
    chop the throttle till just before it stalled, punch it, and climb out
    from there with authority. It was a whole different ball game with that
    muffler.
    
    It was pretty windy most of the afternoon, and Charlie and I debated
    wether to bring out the heli's, but soon decided that we couldn't hide
    for ever, so out they came. The first couple of flights for each of was
    was HUMBLING to say the least. But, once we got used to what the wind
    was going to do, meaning how it would effect the heli, things started
    to settle down. By the third and fourth flights, I was feeling pretty
    good again. We got to practice a new dimension to heli flying today due
    to the wind. Every time the wind picked up, the heli would start to
    climb. When the wind died down again, it would sink. Then there were
    the gusts and turbulance that were just plain instinct. Anyway, the new
    dimension was throttle control. Along with everything else you have to
    do to fly a heli, in the wind, you have to manage the throttle. When
    the wind picks up and the heli starts to climb, you have to back off on
    the throttle/collective to maintain altitude. But, when the wind died
    back down again, you had to come back up on the throttle/collective to
    keep from sinking. We were kept busy to say the least but were both
    successful and felt we had accomplished something. Although there were
    some awkward landings for both of us, neither of us really got near to
    breaking anything. So, we all had a good day and Charlie and I both got
    some good experience flying the heli's.

    Morning all.
    
    Well, I'm currently in SHR on a longterm contract with the Video on
    Demand group doing client software. Since I've only been here a few
    weeks, it's tough to say what it'll really be like longterm. The good
    news is I'm 10 minutes from CMRCM and 1/2 an hour from home (closest
    I've worked to home in 15 years).
    
    My last contract kept me busy enough I've been unable to keep up with
    the foam cutting and had to back way off on the custom work. I'll be at
    a show in Virginia Beach this coming weekend run by ex-CMRCMer Dave
    Evans.
    
    Jim

Hi Jim.  Sorry to hear you won't make the Gremlin contest on the 28th.  We'll 
miss 'ya.

Regards,
Joe

    Heard from Dan Snow today. He was taking a 1/2 day (hope you knew, Lin
    8^) to go flying at CMRCM. I was going to meet him for a lunch session
    but was greeted by the closed for hunting season sign. Did I miss an
    announcement that the field had closed?

    It just hasn't been widely communicated yet. It was only at the last
    BOD meeting that we knew what the hunting season dates would be. The
    news letter is a little sporadic since George gave it up so I don't
    think the dates have made the news letter yet.
    
    For those interested, the CMRCM field will be closed to flying Monday
    thru Saturday from October 14th, through November 26th. The field will
    be open on Sunday's only.
    
    I also may as well announce that this coming Sunday, October 29th, is
    the annual CMRCM pattern contest. The contest is for Novice and
    Sportsman classes so if you've never flown pattern before and would
    like to try it out, this is the perfect opportunity. You DO NOT need a 
    pattern plane to fly.

    Thanks Steve. Where I missed the meeting, I wasn't sure.
    
    Jim
    
    P.S. Gremlin contest in New Boston this weekend for those without
    wheels and at CMRCM the following sunday (5th)
    
    P.P.S. I'll be in Virginia Beach at a model show for any noters down
    that way this weekend.

    Did I know Dan was takin' 1/2 a vacation day yesterday????
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Yup :)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Did Dan know the field was closed?????
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Nope :(   Not until he got there!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Cheers,
    
    Lin
    

And I spent so much time in the Burger King Drive-thru that I missed him at the
gate.

An impromptu meeting of the ASSes (Acton Soaring Society 8^) happened today at
lunch with Dave, Kay, Lamar and I managing to coordinate our schedules. the only
model on hand was a sub...

Jim

    Hey Jim, glad to see you back in notes again!
    
    And now for something completely different....
    In the process of messing with my retracts, it seems as though I have
    caused some damage.  First I noticed that one of the rib doublers           
    didn't seem fully attached in a small section so I glued it togther 
    with some thick CA.  In the process I managed to dribble some on the 
    retract arm.  I didn't think much of it.  I figured it would dry and 
    not affect anything.  Well, then I retracted the retracts and before I 
    knew it, I had glued the retract in that position!  Actually, I had no 
    clue why it was stuck all of the sudden.  I tried with all my might to
    move it, but with no luck.  It finally dawned on me that the glue had 
    gotten in there and bonded.  Well, I had to remove the retract
    and bang the retract arm with a hammer to loosen it.  Unfortunately,
    the retract action was very sticky and hard to move.  It took some
    WD40 and a lot of "exercising" the retract to get it back to normal 
    operation.  Finally I got the retract installed again.  But then I 
    noticed that the servo seemed to bind about 3/4 of the way in.  I 
    checked each retract and there was no obstruction. Only thing left was 
    the servo.  I opened it up and sure enough, there was a couple of 
    teeth missing in one spot on one of the gears. Dooh!  Anyone know 
    where I can a new gear before the Pattern contest on sunday?
    

Hi Andy.

I'm jealous you have your US flying. You didn't state what servo you were using.
That'll probably affect availability 8^)

    Firstly, what size wheel do you need so that your US doesn't sit
    lopsided???????? I have several at home and I'm sure I can furnish
    you with one.
    
    Secondly, it it's the retract servo your talking about, your using JR
    right???????? I have a JR retract servo you can borrow till you get a
    new gear set. RC Buyers should have them.
    
    Steve

    Yeah, it's a JR retract servo.  I also need a 2.5 inch wheel.  If you
    have one that would be great!  And Jim, I think you should finsish that
    Ultrasport!  I've enjoyed mine immensely so far and I've only flown it
    maybe six times total!
    
    

    If I finished my (christmas 92) UltraSport, I might get R/C stuff for
    Christmas again (and I could work on my winter 1990 P-38 8^)
    
    Steve, check if R/C Buyer's ha any sparetime. I seem to be out...

    Jim...
    
    You mighta cut your sparetime by mistake when filling a core order and
    shipped it somewhere :)
    
    If you find some somewhere...let me know, too :)

    I'm finishing my US40 (93' July Birthday present) this weekend.
    This is not as long as Christmas 92 but mine is the ARF. It is
    very sad when you can't find the time to build an ARF. I'm blaming
    the whole thing on that guy who evented the Gremlin. He is pure
    evil!
    
    Rich 

    At least we have good taste in the kits we neglect 8^)
    
    Jim (packing Gremlins)

        I almost didn't pick up on this, but I guess the directions to the
        CMRCM meeting place in 15.something are no longer valid and the
        meetings are now held in some church in Berlin.
    
        Which church - and what street is it located at?
    
        Thanks muchly - and I'll be hoping for a bright calm day for you
        come Sunday!
    
    /dave

    Who was that masked core cutter?
    
    

    Dave,
    
    	The CMRCM meetings are held at the church in the center of Berlin.
    Take RTE 62 towards Clinton and you will go through the little center
    of Berlin. On the right, is a big white church. That's the place. If
    you go through a tight S turn immediately followed by the fire station
    on your left, you've gone too far.
    
    Steve

    Wow!
    
    Talk about inspirational/death defying acts! Some serious time (and 
    money) spent building some beautiful aircraft was at major risk in
    Sunday's pattern competition - held in gale winds, cold temp's, and a
    nasty sky. (Wonder how the Gremlin's up in New Boston did in the wind?)
    
    But there was some great flying just the same, and other than one major
    post hole blasted into the turf (only the engine survived - if that) it
    looked like everything else was fixable...I have to admire the
    dedication these fliers have (while wondering about their sanity ;^) to
    put their assets on the line under those conditions, but the flying was
    wonderful to watch (although the landings were hair-raising to witness,
    from approach to engine off!)
    
    It was good to meet Andy and Steve - thanks to both for making my son
    and I feel welcome. And sincere thanks to Steve for giving my son's
    PT40 a good sanity check and tuning the ThunderTiger Pro40 to
    perfection (man what a neat running critter that's turning out to
    be!) Now if Ma Nature would calm down a bunch! 
    
    Looking at the collection of pattern planes and sports models it sure
    makes trying to pick a winter project even tougher! I'm still leaning
    towards a GP US60 - and after watching Andy take the Novice competition
    under those conditions (granted mostly due to his skills) - and not
    that I'd fly in *those* conditions - it's still a comfort  that the
    plane not only held up (popped retracts notwithstanding) but did very
    well, even against some dedicated pattern designs...
    
    Anyway...good stuff, plenty of courage to go around, and I sure hope
    you guys get better weather for the Gremlins next weekend!
    
    Cheers!
    
    /dave

    Ya, it WAS an interesting day. Unfortunately, "I" was one of the ones
    that had a "little mishap" with the LA1. During the second round
    landing, a gust of wind came out of nowhere and did me in. Just before
    the LA1 touched down, the gust shot me up to about 5 feet, and then
    decided not to blow any more. Before I could add power and go around,
    the LA1 dropped the left wing and nosed over into the runway. Can you
    say "stall"???????
    
    Anyway, damage was limited to a couple of cracks in the fiber glass
    fuse which is semi easily repairable but put me out of the contest.
    Still, even having to scratch the third round, I still managed 3rd
    place.
    
    Dave and son introduced themselves and had a good time taking in the
    contest. It really was hairy conditions. It was REAL easy to loose
    orientation against a miserable sky, and the wind was a b*tch. It's
    been quite some time since I've had to fight the airplane in the air to
    make it go where I wanted it too like we had to Sunday. Everyone
    deserved 1st place just for having the guts to take off. There were
    several people there flying over $1000 worth of equipment in those
    conditions.
    
    Oh well, a contest is a contest and you can't have it good all the
    time. That's why you practice in the wind too.
    
    After the contest, I checked out Dave and son's PT40 and they did a
    fine job building it. Couldn't find anything wrong anywhere. Typically
    you'll send someone home two or three times to make corrections before
    the plane is "flight ready". Not in this case though.
    
    It was far to windy to even consider a maiden flight, so we at least
    got the motor running well, and taxied the fuse around the runway a
    bit. Everything is ready to go, and we only need mother nature to
    cooperate. If the PT40 is there for the Gremlin contest this coming
    Sunday, maybe a flight or two or three will be in order.

	
Subj:	Gremlin Combat at CMRCM Sunday Nov 5th

Fellow HTA's.....

	We have a Gremlin Combat scheduled for next sunday, nov 5th at
CMRCM.  I am the CD.  I hope everyone can make it and can you pass the
word around.  We'll start at 10AM and have a BLAST.  Kill or be Killed!

Charlie

Talkjed to Charlie this morning and he might be a bit delayed but I'll be there
early and I'm sure we can get it all set up with the cumulative experience that
should be present. Since I was away, did anything take place in New Boston
saturday?

Jim

        New Boston was a (literal) wash-out. Joe, as CD was there at
        08:30 along with Bob Spear, myself and a couple of other contest
        "helpers". It lightninged, thundered and persisted down down like
        a cow persisting on a flat rock, if you know what I mean. Since
        it didn't show any sign of letting up, I bailed out (heh!) around
        10 or so. One guy from Connecticut (I think) showed up to compete
        but he left around the same time.
        
        Andy

We were supposed to run into some of this rain heading down on friday but it
was a beautiful weekend in Virginia.

Well, there's CMRCM this sunday for those in need of a season ending fix.

Jim

    Would anyone happen to have a current copy of the Pica-Robbe catalog
    handy that I could copy a couple of things out of???????????????
    
    I called the company this morning and they would have been glad to send
    me a copy for FOURTEEN DOLLARS plus shipping which they figured at
    SIX DOLLARS. So for twenty bucks, I could have gotten a catalog so I 
    could look at the 4 or 5 things I'm interested in. The little b*tch
    I mean darling on the phone and I went around a little bit and in the
    middle of her "justifying" something or other, I hung up.
    
    So, if anyone fairly close by had a copy I could take a peak at, I'd
    appreciate it.
    
    Steve

Watching the weather Saturday night, I really wasn't too enthusiastic about
going to the Gremlin Combat on Sunday. Looked like it was going to be windy
and cold, and I hate standing around freezing. As it turned out, I'm glad I
went. It started out rather nippy and then the clouds rolled in making it even
colder considering the wind chill factor. By late morning though, the clouds
had moved out again, and it was half way bearable.

For a contest this late in the year, I thought the turnout was outstanding.
We had 14 total entrants with some flying in both stock and open class. A
good number of people made the trip up from Rhode Island and Connecticut to
attend which goes to show just how dedicated we combat pilots are.

It wasn't long before the contest was started and people were releasing their
frustrations on their fellow dog fighter. One of the draw backs to having
"any" kind of a contest at this time of year at our field, is the sun position.
It's "in your face". Because of this, the normal "box" was moved to the left
so that we could have our contest and not send anyone home blind. The bad
news is, this put the majority of the flying over a pond that is normally not
an issue. This day, it WAS an issue.

In the course of the contest, there were 3 mid-air's that occurred. I don't
remember the exact order and all the names may not be correct, but Jim Reith
and Wayne Field had the best luck of the day, if you allow for any sort of
luck AFTER a mid-air, by having enough control left to fly away from the pond
and stay dry. In fact, Wayne had very little damage, but Jim's Gremlin was
done for the day.

There was another mid-air between Rene Rouche and one of the R.I. guys. Rene
ended up center punching the pond but the wind blew his Gremlin back to shore
so it was an easy retrieval. The other guy went down, but not in the pond
and in fact was able to fly again.

The third mid-air was really unfortunate. Let me give you a little advice
here. If Jim Reith ever asks you to borrow your Gremlin to fly a round,
"JUST SAY NO.....", or at least get the promise of a new Gremlin FIRST. You
also may want to think twice if asked to fly "designated target". It's kind
of like saying "hey Jack, how about putting this blind fold on and running
back and forth across the Ma. Pike for 4 minutes." Needless to say, Jack
volunteered to fly designated target, and Jim Reith "borrowed" Kay Fisher's
Gremlin due to his previous mid-air. Wouldn't you know it, somewhere close
to the end of the round....WHACK.....and two Gremlin's succumb to gravity.
Kay's Gremlin was virtually cut in half with BOTH halves doing the proverbial
"splash down" in the pond. The wing half that was just foam floated to shore
and was retrieved. The other half with motor, servo's, battery pack, receiver
etc. was just about in the middle of the pond and appeared to be stuck. I
think the streamer line was caught on some underwater "growth" which was
preventing it from drifting to shore. Jacks Gremlin came down in a wicked
flat spin and landed in a couple of inches of water. Nothing inside the fuse
even got wet. As Jim mentioned, some weighted line and some persistence saw
the "important" half of Kay's Gremlin returned to shore and I'm sure once
everything dry's out, it will be fine. Jack will need a new fuse, but I think
the wing is repairable.

The contest was pretty much your standard combat, other than the mid-airs,
except for one other point. We have a new Gremlin owner who just a couple
of months ago, brought his Gremlin to the field for the first time. We tried
to encourage him to fly in combat, but he was reluctant due to the potential
for the sudden demise of his Gremlin. Well, this guy took third place Sunday
and only missed Second place by about 6 inches in a dual with Charlie for
landing points. He did some of the most aggressive flying there, got a cut,
and won several landing points. He couldn't wait to fly and showed NO MERCY
on his his opponents. This person is Andy Barber who, from this day forward,
will be known as BARON VON RIKBARBER. Sheeesh, and I thought Andy was this
laid back, wouldn't say a bad word about anyone, type person. You've got to
look into this latent aggressive behavior Andy. 8^)

Finally, after the contest was over, Dave T. and son Doug were anxiously
awaiting the maiden flight of their new PT40. They had it fueled up and
ready to go when the contest ended, so we fired it up, and set it free.
She took off with no problem at all, and required very little trim changes.
I spend about 5 minutes getting everything trimmed properly for about half
throttle flight and then landed to refuel. We tweaked the motor some to 
richen up the low end and went up again. I did a second flight for a reason, 
but can't remember what the reason was right now. Anyway, after a couple of
minutes, I landed again, we refueled, and I gave Doug some ground school.

We were loosing the sun by now and it was cooling off fast so we only got in
about a 5 minute flight. But I can tell already, watch this guy Doug. This is
the first time he's had his fingers on the sticks, and through the whole 
flight, I never even considered taking the Tx back from him. He's got that
natural ability and I have no doubt will progress rapidly. It will be a
pleasure to work with him and his dad Dave.

Well, I guess that about covers the events of Sunday. Now it's time to get
into the workshop, get next springs "toys" built, and sit back and wait for
those once a month flights.

    Newsgroups: rec.models.rc.air
    Subject: Any Digital HTA's in this group?
    Date: 4 Nov 1995 00:34:30 -0500
    Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
    
    You know who you are...  I'm just curious if any of you made it to
    here.
    
    I'm happily adjusted to life after DEC and just discovered this group;
    I'd
    be pleased to follow up with anyone from the past life...
    
    Reply to [email protected]
    
                              o
                            --+--
    \-------------------------|||--------------------------/     or
    something
    close in VAXNOTES :-)
    

    Can't seem to put a last name with the first. Must have been some time
    ago.

Well, someone needs to drop him a note and say hi! he might have been a lurker
from the past

A search of topic 4.* reveals the following possibilities:

    Name: Frank Benson
    Node: MAARTR::MJOVAX::BENSON
    Loc.: 4000 Vine Street
          Middletown, PA 17057

    Name,	stephen franklyn
    man/tech SQF 

none of which look terribly likely...

To fully flesh out the URL

http://www.airage.com/ works and 

they have a section titled "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"

[email protected]    Model Airplane News
[email protected] Radio Control Boat Modeler & Radio Control Car Action

    I'm in a class and don't have time to poke.

    Did anyone catch the Wednesday night edition of Popular Mechanics on
    the Discovery Channel last night?????? They had a segment on radio
    control aircraft. Naturally, I didn't know it was on and only caught
    the last 3 or 4 minutes of it. Don't know if they showed any flying or
    not, but they appeared to be in someones shop and were showng a big
    Sukoi and an ARF trainer. The RC guys name was Gordon and he spoke with
    sort of an Australian accent. Could that be Gordon Banks???????
    
    If anyone sees that it's coming on again, please let us know.

I saw a bit of it on at about 6:30 last night while surfing the channels. I
didn't catch the name but all the stuff they were showing got plugged as
available from HobbyShack so I figured the guy was from there.

Jim

    In case anyone happens to read this, Last night I noticed that the
    Popular Mechanics show will be on the Discovery Channel today at 4pm.
    Don't know if it's a repeat of the Wednesday episode or the initial
    broadcast of next weeks. I'll still be here at work.
    
    Jim

    If anyone has a Stunt Wagon NIB they would be willing to sell, or knows
    of any hobby shops in the Florida area that has one in stock, please
    let me know. I know someone who crashed theirs, and want another one.
    Apparently their hard to find.
    
    Steve

Ray has one, I believe. Does it have to be in Florida?

    I suppose not. Just thought it would be easier.
    
    I got a call from Bob and Barbara the other night and they are doing
    well. Bob is still having trouble with his eye sight so isn't doing
    much flying, but Barbara is making people eat their words every other
    day. Seems the club they fly at just can't get used to having a women
    that can fly.
    
    I guess the field they fly at down there is so huge, everybody lands
    WAY out in front of themselves. When Barb makes a normal CMRCM landing
    all the old farts run for cover cause she's SO close.
    
    Anyway, some "instructor" was going to show her a few things with the
    Stunt Wagon. Barb suggested he take it up and get the feel of it first
    but he "didn't need to". Barb had the rates cranked and he lost it
    during the first attempts at rolls. Flew it across the runway, thru the
    pits, and into a fence. Seems their having a hard time finding a
    replacement.
    
    It wouldn't do ME anygood to talk to Ray, so maybe you could find out
    if he does have a Stunt Wagon kit he would be willing to ship to Bob
    and Barbara. I can get you their address if he's up for it.

As it happens I'm seeing him at lunch. He has a customer for 10 Gremlins. I'll
get a price and check into it for ya. If he has one, I'll let you know and ship
it to them for $5 over the kit cost, just like a normal order.

I've heard about their field while down visiting my parents. There's also a
similar sized glider field in the area. My parents live just the other side of
town.

Jim

Kit located. Contact in progress...

    Emergency!  Is anyone going to the meeting tonight coming from the
    west?  I need a ride from Clinton (and back) if I'm going to attend the
    meeting.  My truck goes in the shop today and I have no transportation!
    If you are able, please respond by 4:30 as I will be leaving around
    then.  Thanks,
    
    Andy
    

    I'm the reason Andy needed a ride. Hope he got one. I was supposed to 
    pick him up, but our fridge decided to croak, so we were out buying a
    new one.
    
    Anything interesting go on????????????

I didn't go. Dan Snow mentioned he wasn't going. I'd be interested in hearing
some news as well.

Jim

    
         Charlie,Jack and I attended. You missed nothing. It was basically
    a waste of time unless you were there to pay your dues. The meeting was
    over with by 8:40. 
    
                     Sorry to bore you with all the details...... :)

>    a waste of time unless you were there to pay your dues.

An idea I'm still trying to justify. Most of my attendance to the field was at
open contests...

    
     Come on Jim, you HAVE to re-join! We need all the help we can get in
    establishing the HTA-C (Chopper division) at CMRCM! I want to start
    lobbying for a practice/hover pad at the field to really start driving
    Harvey nuts!
    
       I am living for the day that we have 5 - 6 HTA's flying choppers
    at the field, and there are only 2 - 3 airplane guys there and they are
    going nuts trying to fly between us! :)
                                                          
       Seriously, the sole reson I am re-joining is to fly Pattern practice
    with Charlie, Jack and Steve and hopefully get some Heli flying in too!
    
    

    Yeah come on Jim. We chopper guys have to stick together.
    
    Wayne

Well, I was considering joining loopers instead due to the support of choppers
down there. I'm getting too old for this fighting the system crap...

$30 to get crap from Harvey the couple of times we went to try out the .049
chopper isn't too big a draw. Other than that it was all contests

    Let's get a real heli contingent going and get rid of whatever hair
    Harvey has left.
    
    I can't wait to see his reaction when I tell him I want to CD a heli
    funfly.
    
    Time to start fighting back..........

Well, I'm still waiting on my AMA renewal form I sent in a few weeks back. See
what the reaction is before the February meeting and I'll renew then. Of course
this all assumes I'll have time to fly next season...

    Well, I finally fixed my US60 retracts.  THey are now fully remounted
    and adjusted for a better angle.  My productivity on this repair
    greatly increased after buying a coping saw.  It made things soooooo
    much easier.  All I have left to do is to reglass the area around the
    retract, recover the area, and reconnect the servo.  Now on to the next
    project, new gremlin wings.  Say Jim, can I buy a wing set off of you?
    
        
    Andy

    Good going, Andy! Hope you weren't feeling too much pressure from this
    end ;^) but if it got you off your butt, so much the better!
    
    How far out did you glass your wing? Sounds like you went a lot further
    than the instructions called for.
    
    /dave

    I glassed the wing just as the instructions instructed.  I also glaseed
    around the retract mounts, although this glass doesn't touch the center
    section glass.  Basically, it just looks like a patch around the
    retract hole.
    
    As far as pressure, that wasn't a factor.  I knew you wouldn't be able
    to fly yours by the time I got mine fixed anyways :).  This weather
    isn't very condusive to flying.
    
    Now a general question.  Does anyone know how to cut monocote off your
    plane without scoring the balsa underneath?  After my Trainer 60 rudder
    cracked in half from such a scoring, I understand how detrimental this
    can be.
    
    andy
    

    Andy: You ain't kidding about the weather - not that I planned on taking my
    US60 up before the ground softens considerably ;^) or - for that matter
    - be the one who get's her airborne the first time anyway(!)
    
    I understand the surface glassing around the mounts - every little bit
    of strength helps there, I bet...
    
    As for pulling up the monocote - I'd think the only safe way would be
    to heat it up, lift it, and slide a new razor along the cut lines. I
    know there's a trim tool that'll let you precisely set the
    knife-tip-depth that supposedly let's you do such cutting safely, but
    as long as you're going to set a patch anyway it'd probably be safer to
    avoid that. I was reading in the usenet rc group about a guy who's
    ship folded the h-stab that I'll bet had made the mistake of cutting
    the covering "in place". 
    
    Bet that was a surprise ("AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" (crunch)!)
    
    /dave

Andy, will you be at the CMRCM meeting next monday night? I should be and can
bring a set of wings with me. Email me a reminder at home and I'll bring what
you need. Where are you located? I'll be in HLO this friday morning for a
talk. Got the housenet up and have a domain registered through Ultranet. send
email to [email protected]

Updated webpages and mirror of the world info coming soon.

    Yeah, I'll be at the meeting.  I'm in HLO so you can bring them in
    friday if you want.  Let me know how much they are.  I'll email the
    reminder too.  I'll try and build this wing without a 2 inch hinge gap
    :)
    
    
    Andy

I'm going to the Linux meeting at 9am on friday. I can get you the cores
before or after. Friday is probably a safer bet than monday. Things tend to
come up 8^(

2" hinge gap is fine. Once you seal it you have extra wing area! 8^)

    Hey cool, I'm going to the Linux seminar too.
    

That's what powers the cutter 8^)

I like the new content-free newsletter format. Allows it to fit on a postcard!

8^)

    CMRCM is really going places with the new board.......
    
    Let's see.....for the first time in probably the clubs history, we've
    got money in the bank, so what's on the agenda??????  reducing dues,
    and senior membership discounts. Give me a break. The dues are only
    $25 bucks as it is. I must have missed the new logic that having money
    in the bank was a BAD thing.
    
    No one showed up for any funfly's last year, so they've scheduled FOUR
    more. There's that damn new logic again. Wish I knew what I was doing
    that day. Can't wait to see what's next.

Well, I'm still on the membership fence. I haven't renewed yet and I can't
make monday's meeting.

Maybe we can make up the loss in dues with a pit chair rental fee. That seems
to be where most of the action takes place.

Good to see you, Dave, and Andy today as well as Dick Bissen.

    Or should I say, who is not going?
    

    I'll be there with my US60 is tow. I'll also be bringing my Futaba 8UA
    in case anyone wants to take a look at it.
    
    /dave (thawing out the car!)

    I had car trouble and had to run around and pick everyone up. Rose has
    a monday night class this semester so I doubt I'll make many meetings.
    I would be interested in hearing how the business part went.

    When I showed up at about 8:15 it seemed like it was Steve vs. the
    board.  Then at the end he asked for a helicopter funfly.  I think he
    got it, but I wasn't listening too hard.  Dan was banging his head
    against the wall.  I saw Dave's US60 minus covering.  Very nice job
    Dave (that's the only reason I showed up, I was going to stay at work
    later:).  Lots of show and tell, but I didn't stay for the tell part.
    Let's see, what else. Charlie, Dave W., Dave T., Jim C., Steve, Dan,
    and I were there to form the "deccie" ambassadors.  Care to elaborate
    on your efforts Steve?
    
    

I got email from Steve about the meeting. Very depressing. Why do groups feel
they can have binding votes on a secret ballot with no notice?

I'll probably not rejoin at this point. It would be nice to attend the contests
as a visitor and actually enjoy flying.

    So what was the deal?  I didn't hear what happened there.  Dan
    mentioned something about the vote but I wasn't sure what he was
    talking about.
    

I'll let someone that was in the meeting correct me but my understanding from
Steve was they wanted a secret vote on whether to hold the open contests. It
got reduced to an "opinion poll" (which the board will probably act on if you
think about it). Why a secret vote? Why a binding vote without notice in the
news-postcard? Harvey has his private little club again and he'll shape it into
what he wants and then sit on his butt inthe pits and complain that nobody
every does anything.

This reply is from Dan Snow:

I was the one who questioned the need for the secret ballot.  If there was going
to be something voted on, why wasn't this sent out to the members prior to the
meeting in the "newsletter"?  I also questioned why this was done on the spur of
the moment without having any chance to discuss the issue. Jack Buckley then 
decided to change it to an "opinion poll" instead of a "binding vote".

I believe the results were:

Open Glider          25 Yes    4 No
Scale                29 Yes
Pattern              25 Yes    4 No  or might have been  27 Yes   2 No

If I had known ahead of time that something like this was going to happen, I
probably wouldn't have rejoined.

    It appears that the "board" will try and get it's little agenda's
    through by whatever sneaky means it can think of.
    
    They started talking about funflys, dates that had already been
    scheduled etc. There are 4 fulfly's scheduled and they had already
    picked "their" people to run them. Mark Hamilton and Russ Miller will
    be running the funfly's. This is all decided behind the scenes before
    anything is said at the open meeting. Next thing you know, something
    is very quickly said about the open contests we have every year, and
    they start passing out ballots saying the "membership" will be making a
    SECRET vote to decide if we will continue to have these contests. Dan
    and looked at each other and basically said, what's this SECRET BS. Dan
    and I both said our piece and Jack Buckley decided to change the "vote"
    to an "opinion" from the membership. The "opinion" was to
    overwhelmingly continue with the open contests. My guess is that
    certain people had been spoken too, similiar to the way the last
    election went, and the "idea" was to have the so called membership vote
    to continue the glider and scale contests, but vote out the pattern
    contest. The results, as posted by Dan, were quite different after we
    voiced our concerns with the way it was being handled.
    
    Later on in the meeting, Harvey made the statement that the club had
    alot of money in the bank and that the board would be looking at ways
    to INTENTIONALLY REDUCE this sum of money. Almost immediately, a motion
    was made to reduce next years dues to HALF this years dues in order to 
    HELP iliminate all this EXCESS money. When Buckley made the fatal
    mistake of saying "is there any discussion on the motion", I took my
    que. This must have been when Andy walked in. I tried not to come off
    being too "angry", but rather remind the membership that we have our
    field at the mercy of the state and our polititions. Also that no
    matter how good a relationship we may have with the fish and game, they
    could tell us tomorrow that we no longer could use that field effective
    immediately. I guess my biggest "push" was that the last I had heard,
    having money in the bank was NOT a BAD thing and I couldn't understand
    why people were so anxious to get rid of it. At any rate, by the time I
    was done, I think everyone was convinced that we SHOULD have money in
    the bank, and the guy that made the motion to cut the dues in half,
    withdrew his motion. So I think Dan and I were successfull in shutting
    down the board on a couple of questionable actions and we pretty much
    figure we're MARKED people now. I figure there should be a contract out
    of us any day now.
    
    On the more positive side, Dave brought in his US60 and he's done an
    absolutely great building job. He definately has the nack for putting
    models together. There is some really fine workmanship there. Can't
    wait to see it fly. Nice job Dave........
    
    On the not so positive side, for those of you who know Bruce Schnieder,
    he's in the hospital and will be going through prostate cancer surgery
    this morning. Bruce is a member of the Charles river club, I believe
    the Crow Island club, and CMRCM.
    
    If anyone wishes to send get well messages, I will create a note for
    that purpose and collect all messages there for a few days. Then I'll
    print them out and drop them off at Bruce's house.

    re: last .few
    
    Uh, yeah...What did you guys get me *into* anyway?!? I had no idea that
    this rc club stuff could get so heated so quickly! Some of the more
    inane stuff taking place had Steve's blood pressure raised pretty good
    (Steve, as you didn't stroke out last nite, your pump and plumbing are
    good for another 50K miles! ;^)
    
    I realize that being the ultimate newbie to CMRCM I shouldn't be
    commenting, but still, it's simply amazing that in a hobby where a
    single glow plug can cost $7 and a prop can run $15 or more, that there
    are people trying to cut $5 off a $25-30 yearly membership fee (which
    from what I understand must be the lowest fee around these parts).
    
    Considering both what Steve mentioned about the CMRCM flying under the
    current good will of the Central Divison F&W, there is new legislation
    that funds the state buying more recreational/conservation land. A
    potential side-effect could open up the possibility of every bit of F&W
    managed land being re-examined as to the best use (who decides what's
    best?) Ya never know - the Westboro site could turn into a wildlife
    preserve!
    
    If a coup d'etat is required, I'll vote for the insurgents ;^)
    
    Whew...Anyway...Thanks, Steve/Andy for the kind comments. I guess being
    totally anal has its rewards ;^)  You guys better not bail on me when 
    the season starts - one or both of you will be flying this bird long
    before I do!
    
    Got the last bits of my sons Gremlin to cover, then a quick trip up to
    RCB for some film for the US60 this week...Then I gotta clear the decks
    again for an Easy Sport 40 and a Fun One (Whew! My younger son and I
    asked for kits this winter - but we had no idea that both sides of the
    family would get together and kick in towards a handful!)
    
    Cheers!
    
    /dave

    Dave, 
    	I think this is a hobby cultural thing (World Wide). 
    
    	If you modified the notes to substitute [names], [dates],
    [places], you could end up with a generic template for typical
    club/committee going's on. It's the same all over.

That's a GREAT personal name

    Is anyone going to the auction tomorrow?
    
    andy
    

A college buddy, George Dainis, is heading down. I've got to get ready for
the WRAMS show

    Dan's favorite company!

    Pass the word.  Monday April 1st is the CMRCM annual RC auction. Clean
    out the basement and stop by. Good opportunity to make a few bucks.
    
    Or, if you already have a few bucks, stop buy and check over the
    bargains. In the past, we've had more "stuff" than space and it's been
    a good time.
    
    Doors will be open about 6:30 and the auction is scheduled to start by
    7:30. We will only have about a 3 minute club meeting, and then we'll
    get on with the auction.
    
    Hope to see ya there.
    
    Steve

    
    Took my son and his trainer down to the field Sunday to see what was up
    (if anything). Surprised that nobody was around (got there ~2PM) on
    such a nice day (well, it was nice when we left the house, but by
    3PM the windsock was straight out and the gusts were making landings
    interesting)...
    
    A couple of others showed up after a while (Mike the new newsletter
    guy, Harvey, and one other that I didn't catch the name of). Harvey
    glued himself to a lawn chair, Mike was trying to get a new pumped
    KB60-something to run reliably on a canard-wing creation of his, and
    the third guy had a lovely scale Cub (~100+ inch wingspan) with an 
    OS120 4c...
    
    I managed all the takeoffs/landings while my son hotdogged around in
    between, and we had a blast. Used plenty of rubber to keep the wing
    secured through the multiple loops, rolls, dives, and weirdness that
    Doug was doing up there ;^) with some heavy gusts trying to screw him
    up. With over an hour in the air/6 takeoffs & landings nothing got
    dinged or broken (other than an older wood prop on a dead-stick landing
    that didn't quite make it back to the field). Felt pretty good
    considering these were the first flights I've taken in 20+ years...
    
    I'll probably be setting up our two tx's for "buddies" to start working
    on his landings next for those days that a real instructor isn't
    available (I might also think about whipping together another wing in
    advance ;^)
    
    We finally got Mike's KB running well enough for him to get up and then
    die (he survived the landing well short of the runway), the Cub was
    handling the wind quite well for the most part (real slow lander that)
    and the owner demonstrated his payload/bomb-drop mechanism (can you
    believe he can haul 7 ears of corn airborne with a Cub?) and Harvey
    took everything in without ever leaving his seat (does he ever actually
    fly?)...
    
    The ride home and most of the evening were filled with Doug wanting to
    know *exactly when* I was going to get the rest of the fleet covered and
    engines broken in. Looks like I better get busy quick!
    
    Cheers!
    
    /dave

    
     Dave,
    
         Several of us were at the field on Sunday morning, but we left
      by about 1:30 to go sheet my Boxer wings at Jack's house. 
    
         I got to the field about 10:00, and over the course of the morning
       CHarlie, Jack and finally Steve showed up. I was anxious to get my
       first pattern practice flights of the season it and I was hoping
       the Conquest would awake from its winter hibernation with minimum
       problems. I was also planning to do some heli buddy-box action with
       Charlie and get some heli stick time myself.
    
         The Conquest fired right up and I didn't even have to adjust the
       needle valve form last year! The first flight was uneventful and
       felt great! After I landed, Tony? was flying his Saphir and ended up
       losing control of the left aileron. He wasn't real comfortable with
       the plane yet, so he asked me to get it down safely. After a couple
       circuts around the field I had the feel of it and set it down
       without a problem.
         Unfortunately, this was an omen of things to come! On my second
       Conquest flight, I noticed the muffler was hanging down towards the
       end of the flight and I semi-rushed to get it in and landed before I
       lost the muffler in the bushes. I had a perfect apprach set up at
       idle and then stupidly reverted back to "automatic" approach mode
       and killed the engine. With the strong headwind, I ended up getting
       too slow and stalled it in from a couple feet. The only damage was
       to the prop, which was particularly aggrevating considering the prop
       was stopped when it hit (perfectly vertical, ARGGH!).
          After changing the prop and straightening the retracts, I did
       a heli buddy-box flight with CHarlie. This was the second time he
       tried forward flight and he did really well. The buddy-box did pay
       off a couple of times when he lost orientation for a second.
          Next it was on to another COnquest flight. This time, right after
       climbing to altitude, the throttle clevis let go and I the carb was
       stuck wide open! Oh well, I figure I have 10 minutes to race around
       the sky until the tank runs dry. Then Charlie informs me that when
       the YS 4-strokes run dry they tend to backfire and spit the
       prop/spinner ( about $40). I continued to make big circuts around
       the field when I started getting radio hits at both ends of the
       field! Now I had to keep it circling right in front of me for
       several minutes to keep the radio signal strong ( keep in mind that
       these birds are doing about 100mph at full throttle AND the sun was
       in a lousy spot! ). Bottom line
       is the radio interference was being caused by the throttle arm
       banging against the muffler and causing metal to metal interference.
       The engine did not backfire and I was able to land it without
       incident with Charlie's coaching. Turns out all this excitement
       could have been avoided by a small piece of tubing on the throttle
       clevis ( Shame on me :( .
          
           After another conquest flight, a DIversion flight by Jack and
        a couple Electrostreak flights by Charlie we decided to head out.
       I had enough excitement for one morning! :)

    I wished I could have gotten out and flew some!  I was in Boston all
    day guitar shopping before a Barenaked Ladies concert.  Saturday was a
    waste because I hosted a BBQ for a bunch of people at work.  I have my
    new gremlin wing all covered though!  Actually, the right half of the
    wing is just white.   I haven't figured out what design I want to put
    there yet.
    
    

    re: dan
    
    Ah - that explains a lot: we noted plenty of tire tracks and scuffed up
    dirt in the pits that all looked fresh that day. Should've figured we
    were late - the best air was in the morning (natch!) 
    
    The prop I toasted was also stuck straight up/down - curious because
    I've been setting all our engines up with the prop hitting solid 
    compression at horizontal. After I reprop'd the motor (the same way) I
    couldn't duplicate that vertical "lockup". Strange...
    
    There was one close call that I'll relate as a cautionary entry: when
    the guy with the cub made his last landing we noticed that one of the
    wings looked sloppy as he was taxiing to the pits. Upon closer
    inspection he determined that the nut holding the plug-in wing panel
    was missing and the wing had pulled out a couple of inches! A bit more
    and we'd be one lovely cub poorer (check those locking nuts closely!)
    
    re: andy
    
    >actually, the right half of the wing is just white.   I haven't figured 
    >out what design I want to put there yet.
    
    How 'bout a bullseye? ;^)
    
    I don't think you would've wanted to test out your US60 retracts on the
    field quite yet - there's still some decent potholes and otherwise
    chewed up turf to maneuver around. Gremlins, light trainers with BIG tires,
    and big/slow/STOL's would've been fine though ;^) 
    
    Actually, that's probably overstating the conditions - the field isn't
    in too rough a shape considering the winter. The grass that's there is
    coming in nicely - just need to fill in some good size divots (some of
    those *would* test anybodies retracts for sure) and roll the whole
    field out (before it dries too hard to be worked)...
    
    I'm psyched! It's amazing how a youngster can inspire an old fart to
    get off his *ss, do some major fleet-building, and then escape from
    chores to go flying (actually it's that last part I like best ;^)
    
    Cheers!
    
    /dave
    

    
       Both Tony and I flew retracts on Sunday without a problem. I don't
     taxi my pattern plane, so that helps a lot. I didn't have any problems
     taking off or landing other than stalling it in once ( which wasn't
     the field's fault! :) 

    This coming Sunday, June 2nd, is CMRCM's first funfly of the
    year. It's supposed to be a great weekend so come on out and
    have some fun. Start time should be around 9 a.m. or so.
    
    Steve

    This Sunday, July 21st, it the annual CMRCM pattern contest. Classes
    will be novice and sportsman. We always run this contest with the
    express purpose of keeping it low key and relaxed. It's the perfect
    contest for someone to come on out and "try" pattern flying if you've
    been thinking about it or have never tried it before. Expert coaching
    and any other help you may need will be readily available.
    
    This is a sanctioned/open contest so everyone is welcome. Placques and
    prizes to the winners and grab bag stuff for all entrants. Everyone
    goes home with something. I believe flying will start promptly at
    10 A.M.
    
    Hope to see you there.

    
      Yesterday, CMRCM held its patten contest for "Novice" and "Sportsman"
    despite fairly windy conditions. There were (5) people who flew Novice
    and (8) in Sportsman which was a very good turnout, especially 
    considering the conditions. The Novice turnout was great and one of the
    highest of any of the recent contests I have attended. The planes flown
    in Novice included an Ultrasport, Lanier Stinger, and Saphirre. The
    Ultrasport proved to be a competitive plane in the end.
                                                                          
      We only flew (1) flightline which is nice for all involved as it
    eliminates the chance of midairs, reduces total # of judges needed, and
    creates less confusion and stress overall.
        They flew three rounds and were thinking about flying another round,
    but a pilot vote limited it to three rounds because some folks had
    a long trip home ahead of them. When (3) three rounds are flown, one
    round ( lowest score ) is dropped for each contestant.
    
      The flying started out rough in the first round as most contestants
    got used to the gusty conditions. The flying in the second and third
    rounds improved for most flyers. There were no crashes, and only a
    couple close calls, which again was impressive due to the wind.     
    
      Judging was rotated among several experienced pattern flyers and
    Judges. The judging was of a high caliber, especially for a smaller size 
    contest. Believe me, judging can "make or break" a contest!
    
       When all was said and done, our own Andy Barber took Second place
     in Novice flying his Ultrasport. He only missed 1st place by 2 points!
     1998 points vs. 2000 for the winner! That equates to about half a point
     on one manuver during the course of the day! I guess Andy shouldn't
     have razzed the Judges so much, see a couple points CAN make a
     difference! :)
    
        Notes to anyone considering trying their hand at Pattern.
    
    1. There is an NEIC contest NEXT week in Litchfield, NH. This contest
       is VERY informal and Novices are VERY encouraged to give it a shot.
    
    2. The name "Novice" is stupid and degrading and the Pattern community
       is working to change it. If you can "get past" the name, its really
       just a catagory for someone to try flying a few basic aerobatic
       manuvers in a diciplined manner. Don't underestimate how much you
       can learn in the "Novice" catagory. It may look easy, but when you
       combine a little competition and the disipline of flying the
       manuvers in a specific order, it can be challanging.
    
    3. As you can see from the list above, you can fly just about anything.
       Typical planes flown are Ultrasports, Ultimate Kaos, Uglysticks, 
       Extra 300's,etc. Yes, there will ALWAYS be someone who will show up 
       with a $3000 pattern ship in Novice, but there isn't much you can do
       about it, so just ignore them and have fun. The new rule is ANY 
       airplane under 55 pounds can be flown in Novice
    
    4. Help IS available. Despite the sometimes stuffy reputation of
       pattern flyers, my experience is that they always want more people
       to fly pattern and they are more than willing to help, just ask.
       Also, if you see pattern flyers out flying at your field and you
       are interested in trying it, just ask. Pattern flyers may come
       across as "cool and aloof" but that is usually only because they
       are focusing on what they are there to do. They are always willing
       to "corrupt" another flyer! :)
    
    5. Once you start trying to fly in a disiplined manner, ALL your flying
       will tend to improve. You may find yourself "hooked" and find you
       are now going to field to "practice" instead of just burn holes in 
       the sky and you need (3) more Mastercards to support your "habit! :)
       Or you may decide it isn't for you, but you won't know  until you
       give it a shot.
      
         
    
    
    

    Sorry we missed this while we were doing battle with the forces of
    Nature (and stripers ;^) down on the Cape. Between the 'Cane and the
    Cape we managed to miss a couple of Fun Fly's and the CMRCM pattern
    contest. I *think* there's another Fun Fly at CMRCM this coming weekend
    (confirmation anyone?) so hopefully - weather allowing - we'll get our
    jollies in then.
    
    Doug's been using our DBFS4 to practice the novice sequence from the
    Little Red Book and if he can translate any of that into the sky it
    can't hurt. I have to give this a try as well, if only to help
    memorize the short sequence...
    
    We managed to scoot over to the field Sunday - a "10" of a day to fly.
    We got Doug's Easy Sport moved over to his tx from mine (his 6VA fits
    his hands better than my 8UA) and he put a lot of air time in. He's
    gotten his stall turns down in both directions (he learned to modulate
    the throttle a tad at the right time to use prop wash to kick the tail
    when needed) and his split turns are looking good too. He's still kinda
    easily distracted when flying with two or more other planes in the air,
    but he's getting better at concentrating...
    
    I alternated between the Fun One and a Gremlin, and finally ended the
    day burning a couple of tiny Gremlin tanks of fuel making full speed
    passes as low as I could manage - what a blast! Having a $35 "nearly
    disposable" airframe really let's you hang it all out - I'd never do
    any of this stuff with our other ships. I got down to nearly ankle
    height a few times - and once even managed to skip off the grass at
    full speed =8^O which while it did kill the engine (but not the prop,
    amazingly enough) the Gremlin lost very little airspeed and I was able
    to regain about  15 feet of altitude before banking it back to the
    field. Cool! And not a scratch to show for it either! Fueled it back up
    and played some more before calling it a day...
    
    While we were at the field two planes went down in the trees at the
    southeast corner of the site. One totalled, the other missing (but from
    the loud crashing noise it's likely in shards as well). Both pilots
    felt they'd lost radio control of their birds. While I didn't actually see 
    either event, I bet at least the first one stalled in as it was slowing
    on base leg and got into a strong tailwind that built up just over the 
    tree line (a nasty effect that we made note of and avoided all
    afternoon). Don't know about the second plane but the same thing may
    have happened. That corner of the site sure seems to claim more than it's
    fair share of birds...
    
    Also learned that Harvey T. lost his Ultimate Bipe out in Oxford (it's
    still MIA) when he lost radio contact with it. Turned out his tx was
    nfg. It's bitch that it was the Ultimate that was in the air at the
    time - he had some serious change (and even more time) tied up in that 
    plane. Even more of a bitch - the tx had just come back from
    Airtronics...
    
    /dave 

    In the spirit of the Olympic Games and the gymnastics events, my 
    FunOne celebrated by performing a double cartwheel with somersault in
    the pike position while in the heat of a Fun-Fly battle. The height
    on the second cartwheel alone should have won on style points but the 
    judge (who looked suspiciously of Russian origin!) lowballed me =8^O
    
    Minimal damage to the outermost wing bays already fixed, and this time
    the t-deck stayed put (yay!) so I just have to fix the front of the
    saddle with a scab and 'poxy...
    
    Another lesson learned: know when to bail out of a takeoff - even when
    caught up in a competition. Sunday was mighty hot, the air was thin,
    the engines weren't puttin' out, and the grass was thick and a mite
    tall. Throw in a swervy runup and it all spelled "Disaster Ahead"...
    
    /dave (chastened but not stirred ;^)

    Man, what a weekend for flying! The S.O. was off doing her own thing
    leaving me and Doug free to indulge ourselves flying both afternoons -
    stayed until sunset Saturday and past the dinner bell Sunday. 
    
    Saturday (after first being confronted with the sight of a Telemaster
    with a 12 foot wingspan taking up a large portion of the pit area -
    Russell goes nuclear in the escalating war of Big Birds ;^) Doug spent
    a few tanks with his Easy Sport practicing the Novice  pattern routine,
    interleaved with me flying the Fun One (back again - the plane that
    wouldn't die ;^) finding new ways to mix flaps/ailerons/elevator
    without crashing...
    
    Once the crowd started petering down we switched to Gremlins. Doug flew
    mine for a bit to get used to it, then we set up his 6VA for his
    Gremlin. After a quick trim I handed the tx over and he had a ball with
    it. We alternated Gremlin flights trying to outdo each other with acts
    of bravado - I think I won when I managed to loop into something that
    resembled a set of backward somersaults - completely stalled out with no
    control. Don't even know how I got into it, but I got out using full
    down and full throttle and it eventually recovered, but not before I
    had mentally kissed it goodbye...
    
    Sunday brought a large and colorful contingent to the field, usually 4
    or 5 birds in the air at once. Some 1/4 scale behemoths with monster
    engines  were flown, mixed in with the usual, smaller fleet (the
    jutaposition of a 1/4 scale warbird running unleaded gas with a 5hp
    engine leaving a Baby Bee foundering in its wake was pretty cool). 
    With so many people of varying skill sets there were instances of
    chaos, but amazingly only a couple of Really Close Calls resulted,
    though there was enough calamity going on to get Ray and Harvey a bit 
    torqued (expect to hear more in the next newsletter).
    
    Speaking of torqued: I saw (and heard) a .40 size trainer that was
    allegedly designed to use standard servo pushrods for aileron torque
    rods. On its maiden flight it nearly fluttered itself to death (never
    heard flutter that bad before). It was so bad you could see the whole
    wing flapping! The pilot managed to get back to terra firma before the
    thing destroyed itself. Inspection of the aileron linkage showed that
    you could easily move the ailerons about 3/8" up and down without the
    servo moving a bit - nearly all of that movement allowed by flex in the
    torque rod. Back to the drawing board - with the suggestion that dual
    servos be used...
    
    Anyway...Plenty of flying in excellent weather, no damage other than a
    broken Gremlin prop (I "skipped" a low-pass again!). Think Doug and I 
    will tie on some streamers next weekend and see what kind of damage we can
    do to each other (sure hope Jim Reith gets the Gremlin core cutting
    going again soon! ;^)
    
    /dave (well baked!)

    Don't we have a meeting this monday?  
    
    In other news, I actually went flying last sunday.  Since I still
    haven't had time to fix my Trainer 60 or the gremlin, I was flying my
    ultrasport.  I arrived just in time to miss Dave's gremlin
    decceleration test.   It was pretty much an uneventful day considering
    there was a hurricane supposedly looming out there somewhere.  I got
    three flights in on the ultrasport, only one of which involved retract
    problems.  This time, a wheel came off during the takeoff roll.  I
    borrowed a wheel color and finished the flight.  That's about it.
    
    Andy
    

    Yup. This coming Monday, Sept. 9th, is the first meeting of the year.
    Unfortunately, I can't say I'm looking forward to it. All the BS from
    the "old farts" is really getting to me.
    
    Anyone want to take over the raffle??????????? (seriously!!!!!!!)