February 2013

The Comets Tale
The Official
Newsletter of the President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Field Marshal/Safety
Webmaster
Alastair Brennan
Dale Nash
Lynn Breedlove
TJ Moran
George Lanquist
Don Sorensen
(805) 388-0180
(805) 532-1433
(805) 933-6647
(805) 649-8193
(805) 646-5365
(805) 968-4288
dsorensen@tricounties.org
Comets’ Tale Editor Jerry Deanda (805) 641-3730 deandamid@charter.net
Comets Website www.vccomets.com
Board of Directors
Alastair Brennan, George Lanquist, Dale Nash, Lynn Breedlove, TJ Moran
Instructor Pilots
Emery Balasa, Steve Billings, Andrew Carlson, Bob Root, Ron Scott, George
Lanquist, TJ Moran, Steve Steinmetz, Alastair Brennan
February 2013
The Comets’ Tale is the official newsletter and record of
the Ventura County Comets, AMA Chartered Club #173 and is published
monthly at the Comets’ Tale Plaza, somewhere in Ventura
Editorial contributions are welcome.
Next Meeting: 7:30 PM, Thursday, 21 February,
At the Oak View Community Center
the Oak View Community Center
Prez Sez
January’s weather has been a bit hot/cold, and some rainy or questionable flying days in there too. I hope
everyone’s been making a point to get out and fly, or build something to fly so that you are ready for the
warmer weather.
I finished up a Gee Bee R2 a couple weeks ago and test flew it the other day. It flew pretty well, landing
gear is mounted too far back. I found this little beast at some on-line hobby
Coming Up! shop and got it for a song. I’ve always been a fan of the Granville Brothers
and their crazy planes. So finally I have one. It’s not scale, but so what. It
has that “flying barrel” look…well the cool lines that make a Gee Bee a
Gee Bee. Can the prez enter “Model of the month”?
Sun., 24 February
Poker Fun Fly,
Camarillo Flying Circus
First Sunday of
Each month
Open House at Santa
Paula Airport
We had a group of mini copters flying one day on and about the main
flight line. This seemed fun. And the calm morning meant the helis actually
went were they were supposed. I have a similar one and any breeze plays
havoc with it, so I fly sorties in my living room with it. These newer ones
have multi-axis gyros and are rock solid. Ron Scott brought an inexpensive
quad-copter a couple of weekends ago. Four gear-driven rotors for not
much money – If this sounds like something you are into, ask him about it.
I see more and more of these being advertised.
1 There are still grumblings about the runway - We are going to need to address this and perhaps arrange
some sort of temporary fix - We will discuss this soon. Any there any new ideas out there - Let me know.
Ron got the schedule of events out - Thanks again Ron. Has everyone received it, have you marked your
calendars for the stuff you are interested in?
Alastair Brennan
Root’s Rambling
I have a few pictures from the AMA model show which took place in January. NASA had a display of an unusual rocket powered glider as shown in pictures 1 and 2. I didn’t get any details but one must agree it is unusual. Anyone interested in giant scale? Picture 3 shows a 65 % scale Fokker Dr.1 which is available as an ARF! It seems like you would need a hanger to store it. I thought it looked neat although it was too glossy. The Boeing B-­‐
29 shown in picture 4 was very impressive. Built by Frank Gaguarbi from Don Smith plans, it weighs 62 pounds and is powered by four G-­‐23 gas engines. It had been flown 9 times at the time I saw it. An inflight video is available at YouTube “B-­‐29 Miramar”. A very nice 1908 Curtiss “Jenny” is shown in picture 5. Note the extensive engine detail in picture 6. The model was built by Jim Reed from plans. It is 30% scale with a wing span of 151 inches and is powered by a G-­‐62 engine. 2 The WWI S.E.5a shown in picture 7 was on display at one of the booths and was not entered with the display models but I thought it was really well done. The builder told me the cockpit (picture 8) isn’t finished yet. I wonder what is missing? At lunch the other day TJ Moran made a list of the models that have made a landing hard enough to require repairs. I have included the list, below. John Dugan crashed his Cessna 182 when the radio quit working. Tom Wolf was trying to expand his helicopter aerobatic envelope without enough altitude. George Lanquist’s little T-­‐6 racer just quit listening to his transmitter. Tom Wolf made one of his normal perfect landings and when he turned around at the end of the runway the landing gear wasn’t interested in making the turn (old age?). George Boston got too slow and landed in a bush instead of the runway. I changed the servos in my Little Toni and tried to take off with too much nose down trim and not enough elevator control. The Tony just barely got off the ground and proceeded to cart wheel. I had an engine failure on my Nieuport and had it set up for a perfect dead stick landing, but it was about one foot short of the runway. The wheels stopped in the grass but the airplane wanted to proceed so it did a perfect inverted landing on the runway. Dan Elsasser put a new radio in his Cub. The model was out of trim so badly it quickly landed wing first and not on the runway. TJ didn’t have the details on Rodney Cooper’s problems. The summary of all this is that sometimes the radio just quits (not often), or we fly too low, or we don’t check the trim carefully enough. Ventura County Comets R/C models injured in the last half of January and the first half of February 1. John Dugan Cessna 182 Totaled 2. Tom Wolf Helicopter Totaled 3. George Lanquist T-­‐6 racer Totaled 4. Tom Wolf Extra 330 Landing gear removed 5. George Boston P-­‐51 Overstressed landing gear 6. Bob Root Little Toni racer Wing tip and rudder hinges broken 7. Bob Root Nieuport 17 Vertical tail removed 8. Dan Elsasser Piper Cub Landing gear removed 9. Rodney Cooper ? (ask TJ) 3 9 15 11 TJ Moran on the left, and Lynn Breedlove on the right, with the Quaker twins, sort of.
MINUTES of the JANUARY 2013 MEETING
•
Meeting was called to order at: 7:31pm
•
Meeting attendance was 20 members. There were no new members or guests.
•
Treasurer`s Report (T.J. Moran): Treasurer`s report was reviewed by the Treasurer and no
exceptions were noted. Motion was made to accept the report and 2nd`d. There was a discussion
regarding membership dues. Those who have not paid their dues by March 1st will not receive the
combination to the field locks. We currently have 41 paid members.
•
Safety Officer`s Report: No report – Safety Officer not in attendance.
•
Park Liaison Report: No report – Park liaison Rep. not in attendance.
•
Misc.: There are 12 members who have completed and signed the Li-po battery paperwork.
•
Old Business:
•
Camarillo Condors are working with a consultant and writing a report outlining their
procedures for fire prevention. When completed it will be submitted to the University.
Comment was made on the Condors Field condition – much maintenance to do if
approved for use.
Question was raised about the “books audit” by Steve Steinmetz – who else is on the
committee? Ron Golding and Dave volunteered.
New Business:
Discussion about Float Fly dates for the composite schedule by Ron Scott. TBD.
George Boston brought up that we need to make application to AMA approx. 3 months
prior to the float fly in time to get it published in the AMA Magazine – G. Boston
volunteered.
Also, the AMA Charter renewal is due in March.
4 •
Model of the Month:
Rodney Cooper submitted a 34” wingspan Quaker electric
built from a kit. It was very nicely done but has not been
flown. (News Flash! – it was flown the following Saturday
and it flew very nicely with plenty of power).
Berny Hammer submitted a model of a Brown B2 1934
racer. The original aircraft won 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th in several
races including the Bendix. The model was built from a kit
and was a beautiful red.
WINNER – Berny Hammer
•
Raffle:
•
People won good r/c stuff.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Lynn Breedlove - Secretary
MYSTERY PLANE
I got, let’s see, counting Cap’n Bob Katt’s entry
from Arizona, one guess on the identity of this
airplane. So. This here is a Saab MFI-15 Safari,
known as the Supporter in its military version.
(yeah, yeah, I know… just hold the wisecracks for
a while) which as Cap’n Katt said, is probably the
cheapest tactical airplane on the planet. Saab built
something like 250 of these things in Sweden, mostly the civilian versions, and there were 92 assembled
in Pakistan as well as another 120 built outright there. It’s a two-seat trainer most of the time, but there is
a provision for a back seat, probably for mothers-in-law or something like that. I understand it’s pretty
tight back there. Military versions had hard points under the wings for a variety of rocket pods, gun pods
and fuel tanks. It’s a pretty conventional all-metal airframe. The shoulder wing lets everybody see all
around. The forward-swept wing wasn’t an accident, it’s like
that to keep the center o’ gravity and center of pressure where
they belong and still keep the seats out in front of the wings.
The t-tail is just to keep the stabilizer up and out of the way
when the rocks and dirt clods fly back when operating from
unimproved airfields. A good ol’ 200 horsepower Lycoming
IO-360 provides the power.
Denmark, Norway and Pakistan still fly them, Sierra Leone
and Zambia had some, but don’t use them currently. I can’t find
any indication that any made it to the United States. Too bad, it
sounds like a fun airplane to fly with great handling, a very stout
airframe, fully aerobatic and has a very supportable, common
American engine.
5 2013 CALENDAR -­‐ R/C FLYING EVENTS (VENTURA COUNTY & AROUND By: Ron Scott as of 1-­‐24-­‐13) January 11-­‐13 AMA Show in Ontario February 8 Fun Fly/Scale event – Valley Flyers Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 9 AMA/FAI PATTERN AVTI (Lancaster) http://www.avti.org/ 10 CLASSIC PATTERN AVTI (Lancaster) http://www.avti.org/ 16 Electric Fly (indoor) @ Simi Valley Rec Center 5005 LA Ave. @ 7:30 PM 17 Fun Fly & Swap Meet -­‐ Valley Flyers Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 24 Poker Fun Fly – Camarillo Flying Circus -­‐ http://webefier.com/drupal/ March 16 Quickie 500 Pylon races – San Gabriel RC League – Whittier Narrows Rec. Park 818-­‐554-­‐ 3517 16 Electric Fly (indoor) @ Simi Valley Rec Center 5005 LA Ave. @ 7:30 PM 24 T-­‐28 Races – Camarillo Flying Circus 23-­‐24 Q40/Q500 pylon racing – Valley Flyers www.valleyflyers.com April 6 Simi Valley Flyers – Electric only -­‐ Fun Fly, BBQ, & Swap Meet 4-­‐6 Warbirds over LasVegas–William Bennett Field-­‐Bill Hope bhope22@gmail.com, 410-­‐533-­‐
3405 ?6 RC Swap meet – Canyon Crosswinds (Lake Castiac) -­‐ www.canyoncrosswinds.com 12-­‐14 Float Fly – Lake Cachuma – SBRCM club, No Charge, no BBQ or raffle 6 IMAC flying competition @ – Salinas -­‐ www.mini-­‐iac.com 20 Electric Fly (indoor) @ Simi Valley Rec Center 5005 LA Ave. @ 7:30 PM 21 Swap Meet – Camarillo Flying Circus 20-­‐21 Float Fly @ Lake Casitas – Ventura County Comets ?20-­‐21 SC Scale Masters Event at Hemet Model Masters www.hemetmodelmasters.org 28 Warbird Day – Camarillo Flying Circus ?26-­‐28 24th Annual Gathering of the Giants event @ Condor field – WWW.CICONDORS.COM 28 Electric Fun Fly -­‐ Valley Flyers – www.valleyflyers.com May ?4-­‐5 Spring Glider event -­‐ Canyon Crosswinds -­‐ www.canyoncrosswinds.com 4 IMAC flying competition @ Bakersfield -­‐ www.mini-­‐iac.com 11 Scale Fun Fly -­‐ Canyon Crosswinds www.canyoncrosswinds.com 25 IMAC flying competition @ Prado (Chino) -­‐ www.mini-­‐iac.com 12 Mothers Day ?18 Electric Fun-­‐Fly & Glowpower < .15”. + BBQ @ Comets Field 18 Quickie 500 Pylon races – San Gabriel RC League – Whittier Narrows Rec. Park 818-­‐554-­‐ 3517 ?18 CPGT Pattern contest @ Condor field (Per Robert Fish) 18-­‐29 L A Jets Spring Fly-­‐in – Valley Flyers www.valleyflyers.com 19 Fun Fly & BBQ – Camarillo Flying Circus 24-­‐26 Float Fly – Visalia Russell Pond – for directions -­‐ www.CVRCSoaring.com ?29-­‐6/1 Memorial Day weekend – Giant plane Fly-­‐in – West Coast Mini-­‐Fest – Castle Airport Central CA Modelers. Contact Scott at scottmalta@comcast.net or 209-­‐617-­‐5789 6 June 1-­‐2 RCX – Model Airplane Expo @ Pamona Fairplex -­‐ www.rcx.com 8 IMAC flying competition @ Fresno -­‐ www.mini-­‐iac.com 7-­‐9 Float Fly -­‐ Lake Cachuma – Santa Barbara R/C Modelers. No BBQ, or raffle 7-­‐9 Scale Fly-­‐in Prado Airpark, Chino, -­‐ Randy Wilbur 949-­‐683-­‐9662 See www.scaleSquadron.com 7-­‐9 Q40/Q500 Pylon racing – Valley Flyers www.valleyflyers.com ?9 7th Annual Helicopter day @ Condor Field ?8 or 9 Scale Fun Fly at Crosswinds Field -­‐ Lake Castiac 15 Simi Valley Flyers -­‐ Fun Fly, BBQ, & Swap Meet 15 IMAC flying competition @ Riverside -­‐ www.mini-­‐iac.com ?15 Swap Meet – Discount Hobbies – Chula Vista Phone: (858) 560-­‐9633 16 Fathers Day 22 Helicopter and Tri-­‐copters only day – Camarillo Flying Circus ?22-­‐23 Scale Fly-­‐in Prado airpark Chino CA – www.scaleSquadron.com for more info. 22-­‐23 Western States All Electric Fly-­‐in see www.valleyflyers.com for details 23 Glider & Electric planes and helicopter Fun Fly – Camarillo Flying Circus ?22 Quaker Fun Fly & Baloon drop -­‐ Comets Field -­‐ Lake Casitas ?29 War bird day –CI Condors Field – all clubs welcome. WWW.CICONDORS.COM 27-­‐30 Rally of Giants, Medford Oregon – www.rogue-­‐eagles.org Contact Cliff Sands 541-­‐941-­‐
0503 July ?4 Fireworks and night fly -­‐ Canyon Crosswinds -­‐ www.canyoncrosswinds.com 7 Swap Meet & Fun Fly -­‐ Valley Flyers Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com ?13 Swap Meet San Diego – Don Madison ?20 Swap meet @ Crosswinds -­‐ Lake Castiac www.canyoncrosswinds.com ?27 Warbird day & BBQ + Swap Meet @ Comets Field $10 Entry fee includes lunch 20 11th IMAC flying competition @ Camarillo – Condors field www.mini-­‐iac.com 20 L A Jets – Valley Flyers www.valleyflyers.com 28 T-­‐28 Races – Camarillo Flying Circus August 3-­‐4 All Scale Event – Valley Flyers -­‐ www.valleyflyers.com ?3-­‐4 Glider – Slope racing @ Grass Mountain www.socalsloperacing.com ?4 IMAC flying competition @ Santa Maria www.mini-­‐iac.com 10 Simi Valley Flyers Electric only -­‐ Fun Fly, BBQ, & Swap Meet ?17-­‐18 Camarillo Air Show 17 Fun Fly & Swap Meet -­‐ Valley Flyers Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 23-­‐25 Float Fly @ Lake Cachuma, No BBQ, or raffle. 25 Fun Fly & BBQ – Camarillo Flying Circus September ?1 Swap Meet & Dawn Patrol Contest @ Hemet Model Masters – www.hemetmodelmasters.org ?9 Funfest – Simi Valley Flyers only ?8 All Electric Fun Fly – Valley Flyers www.valleyflyers.com ?7-­‐8 3D Helicopter Jamboree – all welcome -­‐ Canyon Crosswinds -­‐ www.canyoncrosswinds.com ?14 Big RC Swap meet @ Condors field in Camarillo open flying??? 21-­‐22 Float Fly @ Lake Castiac Lower Lake– Canyon Crosswinds www.canyoncrosswinds.com 20-­‐22 Float Fly @ Lake Mc Swane near Merced… 29 Poker Fly & Swap Meet – Camarillo Flying Circus ?27-­‐29 Lake Hemet Float fly – Hemet Model Masters – www.hemetmodelmasters.org October 4-­‐6 Glider Festival @ Visalia, CA ( www.CVRCSoaring.com 7 ?4-­‐6 Tucson Aerobatic Shootout -­‐ www.desertaircraft.com 5 Quickie 500 Pylon races – San Gabriel RC League – Whittier Narrows Rec. Park 818-­‐554-­‐
3517 12 Simi Valley Flyers -­‐ Fun Fly, BBQ, & Swap Meet 19-­‐20 Float Fly @ Comets -­‐ Lake Casitas 20 All Electric Fun-­‐fly -­‐ Valley Flyers – Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com ?25-­‐27 USRA Race of Champions – Rabbit Dry lake – WWWusrainfo.org for details 25-­‐27 Float Fly @ Visalia – Russell Pond for directions check www.CVRCSoaring.com ?25-­‐27 Giant Scale Air Races -­‐ Rabbit dry lake (Unlimited planes flying @ 150 + MPH) www.usrainfo.org 25-­‐27 Lake Cachuma Float Fly – Santa Barbara R/C Modelers – No BBQ or raffle 27 Combat – 4 rounds – Camarillo Flying Circus November 2 Swap Meet &Fun Fly -­‐Valley Flyers – Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 10 LA Jets -­‐ Valley Flyers – Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 17 Control Line Fun Fly & Swap Meet -­‐ Valley Flyers – Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com ?8-­‐10 Float Fly, @ London Bridge, @Windsor Beach Park, Lake Havasu, Az. (Desert Hawks Club) web site www.deserthawksrc.org 22-­‐24 Float Fly @ Comets – Club members only 24 T-­‐28 Day – Camarillo Flying Circus December ?1 Warbird Day @ Condors Field + Toy Collection 8 Toys-­‐for-­‐Tots Fly-­‐in – Valley Flyers – Apollo Field www.valleyflyers.com 19 Comets Christmas party ?25 Santa Claus brings new stuff to replace all the planes & engines that Murphy broke during the year. For Corrections or additions, Call Ron @ 805-­‐522-­‐5455 CLUB OR EVENT CONTACT PHONE # ; AVTI (Lancaster) . . . . . . . . ?Jerry Budd . . . . . . . . (805) 943-­‐4970 ; Desert Hawks (Lake Havasu). . . ?George Field . . . . . . (928) 855-­‐1197 www.deserthawksrc.corg ; Comets (Ventura County). . . . . Ron Scott . . . . . . . . (805) 522-­‐5455 www.vccomets.com ; Condors (Camarillo). . . . . . . . Ron Scott . . . . . . (805) 522-­‐5455 www.cicondors.com/ ; Camarillo Flying Circus . . . . . . . . . . . (805) ; Giant Scale Squadron . . . . . . . ?Dave Hendrix . . . . . . (213) 758-­‐2935 ; Las Vegas R/C Club . . . . . . . ?Tom Hart . . . . . . . . . (702) 566-­‐0668 ; Port-­‐A-­‐Potti Pilots (Sylmar) . . . . Robby Hombre . . . . . . (818) www.RobinsHobbies.com ; R/C Marathon-­‐ . . . . . . . . . . Corona R/C Club . . . . . (208)486-­‐6063 Santa Barbara RC Modelers . . . Lloyd Gibbs . . . . . . . . 805 688-­‐4855 lrgiggs@msn.com WWW.SBRCM.ORG ; SGVRCL (San Gabrial Valley) . . ?Jim Riccio . . . . . . . . . (310) 973-­‐3696 ; The Unlimited (Torrance) . . . . . ?Lesley Burnett . . . . . . . (310) 320-­‐8369 ; Torry Pines Gulls . ……………………………………………………………………… http://www.torreypinesgulls.org ; Valley Flyers (Sepulvida) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.valleyflyers.com ; Simi Valley Flyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.simivalleyflyers.com Visalia Glider Festival . . . . . . . . . Ed Hipp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.cvrcsoaring.com Canyon Crosswinds . . . . . . . . . . Wally Briggs . . . . . . . . . . . . (661)722-­‐0029 www.canyoncrosswinds.com
Web Master Bob Archery @ 661-­‐618-­‐4388 -­‐ Santa Fe Dam R/C Modelers . . . Southern Calif -­‐ Slope racing Org. Web Site / Calander -­‐ www.socalsloperacing.com (626) 821-­‐4133 .. WWW.SFDRCM.COM -­‐ -­‐ -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐ IMAC(International Min. Aerobatic Club …....................... www.mini-­‐iac.com/DesktopDefault.aspx Riverside RC Club . . . . . . . . -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐
www.riversidercclub.org . . – Simi Indoor Electric fly Simi Valley -­‐ Matt Keennon . . . . . . . . . . . (805) ??????? Matt Keennon (AV) keennon@avinc.com -­‐ Corona RC Club www.coronarcclub.com 8 Good Internet web Sites -­‐ AMA Calender of events www.modelaircraft.org/events/calendar/Flying Events/wc012010.htm -­‐ " Club Links . . www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx -­‐ " Newsletter . . . www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/newsletters.asp -­‐ Gliders . . . . . . . www.rcsoaring.com -­‐ “ . . . . . . . . . www.sloperacing.com “ . . . . . . . . . . . Visalia Glider Club – www.CVRCSoaring.com " . . . . . . . www.nesail.com -­‐ “ . . . . . . . . . . . gliderking.com, combatwings.com -­‐ Electrics . . . . . . …www.sefsd.org -­‐ Warbirds. . . . . . . www.rcwarbirds.com -­‐ Airforce Pictures . . www.topcover.com File: C:\My Docs\ RC-­‐CAL2013.DOC By: Ron Scott 1/15/13 For Corrections or additions, Call 805-­‐522-­‐5455 CACHUMA FLOAT FLY INFORMATION
2013
DATES: APRIL
JUNE
AUG.
OCT.
12-14
7- 9
23-25
25-27
NOTE: The Cachuma Lake reservation system is now
working. IT IS NOW UP TO EACH FLYER TO
MAKE THEIR OWN CAMP SITE RESERVATIONS. The website is www.cachuma.com.
Standing at the back of our area looking toward the lake, the
campsites are:
585**
587
584 (TJ)
586**
588
583 (Scott)
582
581
580
** These sites were removed last year, but may be
reinstalled this year.
9