March - the Santa Cruz County RC Bees

RC BEES of Santa Cruz County, Inc.
Newsletter
March 2015
Editor: Alan Brown, 388 Aptos Ridge Circle, Watsonville, CA 95076-8518
Phone: (831) 685-9446. E-mail: alangwenbrown@charter.net. Web site: www.rcbees.org
Old Business
Next Meeting
Thursday, March 19th, 2015,
at the EAA building, Aviation Way,
Watsonville Airport, 7:30 PM.
Treasurer’s Report (December)
Beginning Balance
$10,999.95
Income
Dues
Subtotal
$306.00
$306.00
Expenses
AMA Charter Fee
D & G Sanitation
Meeting Expenses
Subtotal
$270.00
$64.95
$5.00
$339.95
Ending Balance
$10966.00
February Meeting
The February 19th meeting was called to order by
President Steve Boracca at 7:30 pm. with 12
members present. The minutes of the previous
meeting were approved, as was the treasurer’s
report.
We went into more detail regarding the forthcoming
Boy and Girl Scouts day which will be held on
Sunday, April 19th. Don Jocius already has 14
Scouts confirmed as attendees. Alan Brown will
give an introduction on flight basics starting at 9
a.m. Dan Morris and Alan Miller have volunteered
flight simulators for demonstrations, and we would
like to have a couple more. Steve Boracca can
arrange to have awnings to give shade and improve
their visibility. Marcelo Montoreano, Gary
Gonzales and Don Good have volunteered to do
flight training. So we’re off to a good start for what
should be a great experience for these young
people.
Alan Brown gave a further update about Bill
Boone’s condition. Steady improvement, but he is
still in rehabilitation care, and probably will be for a
while.
New Business
Dan Morris suggested the third Saturday in May for
a night-flying event. Quick smart phone access by
Allen Ginzburg noted that sunset would be at 8:07
p.m. that day, and so there would be plenty of time
for the event. It was questioned whether the
Hollister club should be invited to this and future
fun-flies, although it was noted that invitations
should be of the RSVP type so that food supplies
could be organized accurately.
Steve Boracca showed a flyer for the Aero Club of
Northern California’s next meeting in Mountain
View on February 24th, which will feature Reid
Dennis’s Around-the-World-Flight in his Grumman
Albatross amphibian. It will be followed on April
8th by Alan Brown talking about the F-117A
development, which will also be seen at our own
EAA building on March 3rd.
Allen Ginzburg brought a new ultra-miniature
quadcopter to the meeting. It is an Estes Proto X.
First, you see it on Allen’s hand. It flies very well,
just like any other good, but larger, quadcopter. But
the next picture is a real eye-opener. The system
comes with first person view attached to the
included transmitter, as well as GPS capability and
homing system. How much? A couple of hundred
bucks, would you believe?! Wow!
Show and Tell
George Ribeiro brought along a very nicely made
ARF model of an E-Flite Piper PA-20 Pacer,
recently featured on the front cover of Model
Airplane News.
Dan Morris showed us his latest converti-plane. The
wing and elevator movement are tied together. How
could you not love that face?!
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Down by the River
Sorry to say that your editor didn’t get down to the
field often enough to see any new or interesting
airplanes, nor did any of our other contributors, so
for the first time for a long while, we have nothing
new to report in this department.
A postscript to my Avro Lancaster debacle from
Hobby King is that they have credited my account
with the current cost of the model, so I am $100 in
the hole on postage and packing.
For Sale
Mr. Moltzen, not an ex-member, lives near the
summit on highway 17, and has graciously donated
some kits, some partly built, to our club. They are in
various states of repair, and will be brought to the
March club meeting for auction. Here they are with
some descriptions and photos. Thank you, Mr.
Moltzen!
First is an Airtronics Eclipse electric sailplane, 78”
wingspan with a 600-sized brushed electric motor
and gearbox and folding propeller. A nice looking
model which could easily be updated to a brushless
set-up, or flown nicely as is, with a LiPo battery.
There is also a kit for a Sterling Models 33”
wingspan Tiger Moth, which has been partly built,
but is in a poor state of repair, perhaps only useful
for parts and wood.
There are six rolls of coating, some Monokote,
some Ultracote, a North Pacific StarFlyer small allbalsa rubber powered model and a Futaba Attack
FP-72NBL 2-channel radio, which I have never
seen before. The left channel is elevator and the
right channel rudder or aileron. For you model
airplane historical buffs, this may be worth anything
from nothing to millions! It doesn’t appear to have
been used, or at least not much.
Next, an Olympic 6650 72” wingspan sailplane,
partly built.
Next, a Cheetah Models Super Cheetah, 64”
wingspan with a fiberglass fuselage and covered
foam wings (the others are conventional built up
balsa construction).
Inspired by this array, I went through my own
collection and decided that there is no way I’ll ever
complete all the kits (sorry, no ARF’s!) in my
garage. So here are some of my own, which are also
going to be auctioned at the next meeting, all new in
box.
A Great Planes Extra 300, 0.60 size, 64” wingspan,
and Great Planes Learjet, 0.40 size, 55” wingspan.
Followed by a Craft Air Drifter II 72” wingspan
sailplane.
The Learjet was designed for a 0.40 glo-engine
driving a propeller at the nose. It may or may not be
easy to modify for twin ducted fans.
The Great Planes Spirit 100 was a 100” wingspan
contest sailplane at its time. It can be built as an
intermediate or advanced sailplane.
The next one I have really mixed feelings about.
Our long-time member, Joe Sl;uga, who now lives
in Colorado, is in a club there where a number of
kits were donated, including this Pietenpohl. Noone in the club wanted it, and Joe was good enough
to mail it me free of charge, so it clearly has a
sentimental value. However, I have to be realistic,
and if anyone wants to build it, take it and thank
Joe! It’s by Bob Martin R/C Models. Note how
many of these kit manufacturers have departed the
scene.
Finally, a kit still available from BMJR Models at
$74.50 for a Miles Magister, a British primary
trainer of the 1930’s. It’s radio-controlled, 33 1/2”
wingspan, complete with brushed motor and
gearbox, and was designed by Dave Platt. I bought
it because I’ve always admired Dave’s airplanes,
and thought it would be nice to have one without
going up to the Top Gun level!
Future Events
Here are flyers for three events coming up in
California and Arizona. I particularly recommend
that everyone should go at least once to the Castle
Fly-In. Don’t be deceived by the 1st Annual Title.
This is because it was always an International
Miniature Aircraft Association event, and that,
sadly, no longer exists.