April 2007

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
Seaside Soaring Sorties
APRIL 2007
President Says ....
Once Again Crash has
Landed!
On the strength of rising air
columns SAM glider enthusiasts had
a great day at the Seaside Beach on
March 10th. After last year"s very
poor day for soaring, this year turned
out to be spectacular.
It was a case where spoilers were
very e'ective, but your editor was
the only one with spoilers. Several
had to dive their gliders into the ice
plant to get them down (right
Malcolm Bruce?).
Although this years group was
smaller there were times when the
gliding air space was so full of
aircraft that one wondered how mid#
air collisions were avoided. And then
the inevitable did happen when two
gliders $kissed% and lost &ying speed,
but both recovered and again joined
the mechanical seagull parade.
Joe Francis brought out his new
&ying wing, but it had some trim
problems. Malcolm Beety"s wing &ies
great and he and Terry Gansberger
did a bit of Battle of Britain as seen
in the photo below.
The wind did back off early
afternoon, but around noon it was
just about right for most of the
gliders present. In fact, some had
trouble landing because as they &ew
back behind the curl, there was still
enough wind that they soared right
back out to sea.
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
Too bad we don"t have more of
these slope soaring times!
By your Editor
And once I get more practice
flying, my landings will be
predictable again. But on with the
show!!!
We seem to be getting more
folks in the club, which is good! I"ve
gotten several emails this year from
folks that have gone to the *eld, met
some of us, and have joined the club.
We s e e m t o h a v e o n e o f t h e
friendliest bunches in the hobby.
By the time you read this, we
should be done with the repairs on
the runway (mother nature allowing).
This should be done on March 24th.
We"re wanting to get this done
before the weather turns too hot and
before the April Fly#In on the April
27+29th.
If you"ve been coming to the
monthly meetings, then you know
we"re getting more folks, having
more show and tell, showing some
videos that are a blast, and getting
some FABULOUS education from
Continued on Page 2
PAGE 1
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
PRESIDENT SAYS ....
(CONT. FROM PAGE 1)
Alan Brown. We have a SPECTACULAR newsletter
(Thanks John!), we have folks that want to work to make
our club the BEST it can be, we have folks willing to
work at our events, we have happiness in our pits, and
we usually have food in our stomachs. What MORE
could we want???!
HAH! Now that I"ve set that up, on to April"s IMAA
Giant Scale Fly#In. Here"s the low#down. Right now we
have the *eld being opened on Friday morning 4/27 by
Joe & Chantel Francis. They will be doing the Friday eve
BBQ for those staying the night. Saturday morning will
see something new, Linda and I will be serving breakfast
for those who wanna eat from 7:30#10 A.M. This will cost
,3.50 per person. This will include co'ee and orange
juice. There will also be the usual donuts available for
those wanting them. THEN, our Fabulous lunch#time
crew will be serving lunch from noon "till 1:30. At noon
on Saturday, we will be having a world famous
professional aerobatic pilot WOW us with his
SPECTACULAR ability. It will be the BEST full#scale
performance you"ve ever seen-just trust me! Now, for
dinner on Saturday we will be having a Tri#Tip BBQ at 6
P.M. for ,15.00 a plate. You will get more than the
money"s worth, as we"re gonna *ll your tummies with
some really SPECTACULAR eats! Sunday will see
breakfast and lunch, same time and same prices. We will
be having a Noon Ra.e with prizes from: 1) Airtronics,
2) Sheldon"s Hobbies, 3) D & J Hobbies, and several
other hobby shops that have soft#committed. Hopefully
we"ll have several members that have stu' taking up
space in their workshops to donate something for the
cause. I know I have a couple of items for that.
The folks already committing to helping for the
event are: Malcolm Beety, Chuck Bosso, Alan Brown,
Malcolm Bruce, Steve Fields, Joe Francis, Jack Jell/, Rick
Maida, Bob McGregor, Chris Meharg, John Midgorden,
Dick Moeller, Walt Newman, Dale Oxford, Chris
Thomsen, Bob Tjerrild, and $CRASH% St. John. Now if
anyone not on this list is willing to help out for a short
time, these folks won"t have to working as hard. From
what I hear in the wind, we are expecting between
40#60 pilots and a herd of spectators. This will be
BIG!!!!
Nu' of that, now for reminders: DON"T &y over the
pits, get a pin and put your card in the slot, don"t leave
trash at the *eld, don"t forget to clear the combination
on the lock, if you see a stranger at the *eld introduce
yourself, and lastly HAVE A GREAT TIME!
Happy Landings! !Jim !CRASH" St. Joh#
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
APRIL 2007
MINUTES OF THE MARCH CLUB MEETINGS
President Jim St. John began the board meeting shortly
after 6:30 P.M. (the club meeting at 7:30). The entire
board was present along with several other members.
There were sixteen present for the club meeting includ#
ing Chris Thomsen (a new member) and Jack Jell/"s
cousin Chris.
Bob McGregor gave a treasurer"s report (we are still sol#
vent) and reported that the membership now stands at
62, with several new members joining recently.
Old Business
1.
Bill Range has not been able to repair the Turbo
Raven that belongs to Helen and James Klimas.
2. Malcolm Beety reminded everyone of the soaring &y
in at the Seaside Beach.
3. Dale Oxford reported that the April Float Fly has
been arranged with the park rangers.
4. The plan is to reseal the runway on March 24th, the
scheduled workday. Action: Midgorden to send out
notice that the runway will be closed.
5. Bob will get Chuck to *eld to show him what we
need regarding pushing down bamboo, etc. Bob still
needs to *nd someone with a trailer to get the
tractor to the *eld.
6. Bob reported that it is fairly certain that Sean
Tucker will bring his four plane team to put on a
show for the IMAA event the end of April. Still not
*rm enough to advertise.
New Business
1.
Spread Spectrum users still need to have a pin
system . Bob to look into what it will take to do this.
2. The Ray Smith saga is a non#issue.
3. Jim reported on the IMAA event in April and
indicated that we could have between 50+60
pilots.Plans are progressing nicely for meals, etc.
4. Needed: Directions to Lake San Antonio on the
website, maybe a link to Mapquest.
Show and Tell
Dennis Stanley brought his Baby Boomerang jet with
FT 13 # thrust gas turbine engine. It is getting close to
*rst &ight.
Program
Alan Brown discussed his papers on sweep and dihedral.
PAGE 2
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
Fun at the Beach
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
PAGE 3
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
Caught Flying at SAM Field
New Member Chris Thomsen
& Cherokee
Fred Baker!s New Corsair
Fred!s F4U
Gary Sobak and Kaos
Student pilot Rob Ellis
taking o" !
Gary Mallett & PTS Mustang
Whoops, Jack lost his Merlin!
Moeller cranking up his
Telemaster
New Member Dave Murphy
and his Sig Kadet
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
PAGE 4
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
The Man and His Planes!
The Man this month is Bob McGregor. I imagine everyone in the club
knows Bob-he takes your money and signs you up as a member each
year. Bob is a native Californian and has lived in Salinas since 1968. He
and his wife Annette have three sons and four grandchildren.
After 21 yeas with the Spreckles sugar company he and his wife bought
the Air Trails general aviation business at the Salinas Airport. He bought
Air Trails from Jack Jell/, another stalwart of SAM. After earning his Air
Transport Pilot certi*cate he became chief pilot for Tanimura and
Antle, from whom
he retired in 1995.
His aviation friend
Jack Jell/ was in#
strumental in getting
Bob and his son
Randy into RC in
1986. He has served
as president and
treasure of SAMthe treasurer posi#
tion for at least the
past ten years.
When Bob arrives at SAM *eld he is always pulling his mobil hanger full
of airplanes. The pictures here are just a sampling of his modeling ex#
pertise. It would be a long list to describe all Bob does for SAM and he
is always ready and willing to help, especially those new to the hobby.
His current projects are a large scale Grumman Duck and he is planning
to put his *ve cylinder radial engine (a gift upon his retirement from his
chief pilot job) in a DeHaviland Beaver. Here are some of his planes!
Your Editor
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
PAGE 5
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
Coming Attractions and Events
YOU ARE INVITED BY YOUR OFFICERS TO THE
APRIL CLUB MEETING
April 4th at the Landing Zone
Come early and have dinner with the gang.
Program Note: John Midgorden will be
making a presentation on the
NASA Scout Launch Vehicle!
First Float Fly of the Season
April 13#15 at Lake San Antonio
Dale Oxford says the Rangers are ready for us!
25th Annual IMAA Giant Scale Fly In
In Honor of Bob Francis, Master Builder and Flyer
April 27+29
This is going to be a very big event for SAM in 2007
Rick Maida and Joe Francis are CD"s
Rick and Joe are expecting 50+60 pilots
A Full#scale Aerobatic Show is scheduled for
Saturday at noon
We need All SAM Members to pitch in and Help!
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
PAGE 6
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
Ruddergate Season Upon Us!
First Ruddergate
of 2007
May 20th
What is a Ruddergate?
A Special Treat!
Our many new members may
be wondering, $What is a SAM
Ruddergate?% It is a Sunday pot#
luck lunch once a month during
the nice months of the year.
You bring the side dishes and
SAM provides the meat.
Chuck and Ginnie Bosso have
signed up to provide the entr0e
for the May Ruddergate. You
don"t want to miss this one!
The Bossos put on a special
meal-it won"t be hamburgers
or hot dogs.
Last Minute News
The Field Workday on March 24th accomplished a lot of work, thanks to the 16 SAM members who
came and worked their hearts out on the runway and cutting down $airplane eating% trees on the South
approach to the runway. And a big thanks to Kenny King and Jason Fierro for providing a great lunch for
the weary workers. No room this month, but next month there will be pictures of the workers!
Just received a note from Ken Shapiro, IMAA District X
West Coast Festival
Chowchilla Airport
May 25#28. 2007
This is the IMAA Event that has been traditionally held at the Atwater Airport.
Request for Photographs
I know that many of you have digital cameras now. I would appreciate it if those of you who have
cameras would take pictures at coming SAM events and email them to me for inclusion in the club
newsletter. Joe Francis would appreciate getting photos for the website as well.
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
PAGE 7
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
APRIL 2007
Contact Information and Calendar
OFFICERS
SAM INTERNET SITE
President Jim St. John! 442#5050 http://www.redshift.com/1modeler
Vice Pres. Chris Meharg! 442#0101 Webmaster Joe Francis 476#7392
Sec. John Midgorden!
633#4026
Treas. Bob McGregor! 422#3049 SAM MAILING ADDRESS
BOARD MEMBERS
Malcolm Beety!
Dale Oxford!
Jack Jell/!
393.9304!
663.5066
422#8035
Salinas Area Modelers
P. O. Box 6351
Salinas, CA 93912
April 4
Board & Club Meetings!
Salinas Airport
April 13-15
Float Fly!
San Antonio Lake
April 27–29
IMAA Giant Scale!
SAM Field
Come join the gang for dinner before the
Board/Club Meeting at the Landing Zone
Restaurant at the Salinas Airport.
FIELD MAINTENANCE
Malcolm Bruce!
Malcolm Beety!
April Calendar
449.4471
393.9304
SAM AMA Club Charter #1554
Salinas Area Modelers, Inc.
P. O. Box 6351
Salinas, CA 93912
SERVING THE CENTRAL COAST SINCE 1976
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
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OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SALINAS AREA MODELERS!
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4!
APRIL 2007
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