Pikes Peak Radio Control Club AMA Club Number 179 P.O. Box Colorado Springs. Colorado Website: Merry Christmas!

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1 Pikes Peak Radio Control Club AMA Club Number 179 P.O. Box Colorado Springs. Colorado Website: Pikes Peak RC Club Newsletter Volume 38 Number 12 Club President Mark Gus Grissom; Club Vice President Kevin Kinzel; Club Treasurer - Frank Tuxworth; Club Secretary - Rob Waggoner; Club Newsletter Editor - Keith Davis Next Club Meeting: (Tuesday) Dec 7th :00 PM at the ELIC (East Library Info Center) Pikes Peak Public Library on Union Last Month s Minutes... (November) Merry Christmas! Meeting Started: 7:00 pm Meeting Adjourned: 8:05 pm Members Attended: 31 Visitors: 0 Old Business: 1) Club President Gus Grissom, spoke with Avery Asphalt about airfield repairs again. The repairs were done on the east and west runways and both pit areas, but not to the satisfaction of the club members. So Avery Asphalt will come out again when available, and make the necessary repairs. cards in the frequency box. The club members present at the meeting, voted to add the line, Pilots who operate with 2.4 GHz systems are required to place their valid AMA card in the frequency box. This additional line (or similar to that effect) will be added to the club s bylaws. 2) Club Treasurer Frank Tuxworth, talked about the club s October finances. He also mentioned that as of October 1st, the club currently has 125 members. 3) Frank further mentioned that several club members had paid for their 2011 AMA cards several weeks ago but still haven t received their 2011 AMA card. Frank said AMA is working on the problem. He then added if you have a receipt showing proof of the AMA payment, it will qualify as a valid 2011 AMA card until your actual AMA card arrives. 4) Club member Dan Brunson, announced that if you have a Spektrum 2.4GHz carbon fiber receiver, they are now being recalled. You can send the receivers back to Spektrum for a full refund. Airplane Funnies... Submitted by: Rudolph Laidoff 2) Gus then spoke about the National WWII Aviation Museum and if the club should have an annual donation plan, donate a one-time payment, or do nothing at all. Gus further stated that he will have an EC meeting in November to gather all the facts and details and bring it to the December club meeting for discussion and a final vote. New Business: 1) Club President Gus Grissom addressed the issue of the club by-laws not stating anything about 2.4GHz users being required to place their AMA Santa just traded in his eight used reindeer for one brand new C-130. It drinks a whole lot less and doesn t make a big mess! PPRCC Newsletter 1

2 Show &Tell Part - I From the Safety Guy Article for Rick Paquin At the November club meeting, Rick talked about how successful the Warbirds over the Rockies went without a single personal injury. He contributes that to the pilots having assistants or asking for help when needed. Rick commented, At our airfield, don t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Rick also addressed the practice of starting your plane and not using a tail hold or using your field box to hold your plane in place. Safety wise it s not a good practice. Club member James Murphy displays his brand new BH Models F4U Corsair. It has a 70 ws and comes with built-in retracts. James installed a 1.20 size two-stoke engine in the Corsair, and it s just about ready for its first flight! And finally, Rick reminded everyone to be aware of your position when your plane is running. Being in front of the plane when the engine is running may seem safe, but engines do vibrate loose and can come flying off right towards you! Also, stay out of the prop arc. Spinners and props can fly off too! 2011 Frozen Needle Valve The club s annual New Year s Frozen Needle Valve is just a few weeks away. It s currently scheduled for Saturday, Jan 1 st You can bring whatever you want to fly, but you have to fly at least once to get a 2011 PPRCC Frozen Needle Valve badge from Gus Frozen Needle Valve. It s 20 degrees outside! Club member Frank Tuxworth brought in his brand new Aeroworks Profile. From all the great reviews that he has read about the plane, he should have hours of fun flying it! Frank also brought in a pair of OS.46 AX s for sale. With only about twenty minutes run time on each engine, he is asking only $ for each one Frozen Needle Valve. 45 degrees outside! You can never tell what the weather will be like until you get out to the airfield, so bring your T-shirt, your sweatshirt and your winter coat! PPRCC Newsletter 2

3 All About Civilian Birds The military version of the Air Tractor is the AT- 802U. It is equipped with armor plating around the cockpit, nine hard-points for rockets and bombs plus dual.50cal 3-barrel Gatling guns. The Piper Pawnee, the Cessna Agwagon and the Air Tractor, are all well known as crop dusters and tow planes, right? But used as an aerial fire bomber or a close air support aircraft? No way! Yes Way! During the July 2010 Farnborough Airshow in England, the modified Air Tractor (or AT), was brought out for the first time, to show its new role as a fire bomber and a ground attack fighter. The firefighter version, called the AT-802F, is equipped with floats so that it can land on water and pick-up its water supply and then quickly return to the fire location. The AT-820U with rocket pods and a pair of 500lb bombs installed. Note the armor plated cockpit. The military role of the armed AT is counterinsurgency, surveillance and close-air support. Many smaller countries find this plane to be a cheap and reliable combat aircraft. Since the airplane is cheaper to acquire and maintain, drug enforcement agencies are now purchasing the plane because of its ability to take-off and land from jungle strips and dirt roads. The AT-802F Aerial Fire Bomber. It can scoop up 820 gallons of water in 30 seconds. The plane is also very maneuverable and has a loiter time of nearly 10 hours. Ideal for observing suspected drug fields. The AT-802F is currently being sold throughout Europe and working its way to North America. Minnesota is currently the first U.S. state to try out the plane as a fire bomber. Close up view of the GAU-19 three-barrel, 50cal Gatling gun. To the left is the 7-shot rocket pod. The AT-802F is also equipped with retractable wheels for land operations. Did You Know? Other variants of the Cessna C-188 AG-Wagon were named the AG-Pickup, the AG- Truck, the AG-Husky and the AG-Carryall. A total of 3975 of these agricultural airplanes were built. PPRCC Newsletter 3

4 Show & Tell Part - II No Vice President Vote this Year Due to unfortunate circumstances earlier this year, the club s former President Ben Woofter stepped down. This automatically moved Vice President Gus Grissom into the President s position. The VP position became vacant so the club voted on a new VP back in August. Kevin Kinzel was elected as the new VP. Therefore, Prez Gus and VP Kevin finished out 2010 in their new positions and will continue to hold the positions in Club member Doug Ransom brought in his nicely done, scratch-built Bingo 20. He said that it took about two months to build. It only weighs about 3 pounds and the detailed monokote work that he did on it, is impressive. The club normally votes for a new VP every December. But at this December s club meeting, voting for a new VP will not be necessary. So, What is this Helicopter? Club member Gus Gustafson just purchased this 120 ws Ava sailplane from fellow club member Curt Hughes. Gus is also a member of the local Soaring club and is looking forward to flying the Ava for the first time. Do you have an article, picture or a story that you want to share with the club? Get it to me at: Lkdavis02@msn.com Keith Davis PPRCC Newsletter Editor Clue #1: This was the U.S. Army s first and only Heavy Lift helicopter to make it into production. Clue #2: Although production was stopped back in 1975, this helicopter is still being used today as a fire bomber, a logging helicopter, heavy lift utility helicopter and a passenger helicopter. (When the pod is installed!) Clue #3: This helicopter has held numerous helicopter Climb to Altitude speed records. Last month s airplane was a Lockheed X-P-58 Chain Lightning. Paul McCoy was lightning fast in being the first one with the correct answer! PPRCC Newsletter 4

5 Show & Tell Part - III Nitroplane s New Jets for 2011 Ok now, don t get me wrong, I m not trying to promote any new RC products, but I thought this is pretty neat. Nitroplanes has just released the coolest, first ever functional, small electric, swept wing RC jets that I have ever seen. While browsing Nitroplane s website, I noticed their new swept-wing F-14 Tomcat and the Panavia Tornado. I m not into electrics, but they do look nice. Club member Rick Paquin tells everyone about his newly bought, Topflite P-47 Thunderbolt that he purchased from club member Curt Hughes. This sharp P-47 has an 85 ws and powered by a Brisson 4.2 gas engine, turning a 22x10 prop. The F-14 Tomcat showing its wings in the swept-back and swept-forward positions. I didn t get into the all details about the jets, but it is electric and you can buy either jet in the RTF, ARF or the kit option. Prices do vary though. Both jets have around a 40 swept-forward wingspan and require two inducted fans. The Panavia Tornado showing its wings in various positions and swept-forward in flight. Club member Dave Storey talks to the crowd about the Monster Planes event that he attended at Lakeland, FL. It was a 3-day event from October 7-9 and well worth the trip. It looks like there were some really big planes there! Dave hopes to get a CD of all the pictures to Rob so that Rob can post them on the club website. So if you are looking to try something a bit different for 2011, try one of these swept-wing babies and let us know how it went! Support your local hobby store! Micro servo and wing position indicator markings. PPRCC Newsletter 5

6 RC Plane vs. Full Scale Plane The reason I decided to put this article in the newsletter is due to our airfield being so close to the Meadow Lake airport. According to AMA safety guidelines, we should be safe from operational hazards of the full-scale airport. But on occasion while flying our models, we do get buzzed by Ultralights, private planes and sometimes helicopters! Following impact, the biplane is seen to continue flying, apparently under control and still somewhat flyable, while the model tumbled to pieces off to the side of the runway. There were no reported injuries to anyone on the ground though throughout the video, this small public event is seen to have some issues with crowd control (people very close to/or on the active runway) and significant confusion as to what the biplane was doing or should have been doing, though the current regulations dictate that the manned aircraft always has the right of way. This event took place at a RC and large-scale airplane show at Brighton, Colorado on August 14 th (Just outside of Denver). Even though this incident happened at a mere 25 feet from the ground, it could still happen to one of us flying our planes 200 feet from the ground. Here s the story; The full-scale Bi-plane just went through the RC plane. Pieces of the RC plane can be seen just to the left of the smoke. The pilot is flying his $8,000 airplane just minutes before impact. A half-scale remote-control airplane collided with a real aircraft over a Colorado airport last weekend. While there were no injuries, the incident exposed the growing tension between pilots and model aircraft enthusiasts and their ever-larger RC aircraft. The collision between the real and $8,000, 46% giant-scale remote-control aircraft occurred on August 14th at a small airport in Brighton, Colorado, outside Denver. As you can see in the video below, the RC plane is hovering above the runway ten to 30 feet from the ground in a vertical position, with spectators nearby. Suddenly, a single-engine biplane goes for a low pass over the runway and splits the RC craft in half. The full-scale aircraft suffered "significant" damage, but was able to land. The video continues for some time after the collision with the pilot of the RC model, 'Chris' expressing some concern for the plight of the pilot, even admitting that the bipe pilot could have been killed before spending the rest of the video bemoaning (warning, said video discussion contains significant usage of profanity) the "$8000" cost and loss of the very large scale RC aircraft. This incident can be found in numerous RC forums and is still under investigation by the FAA and AMA. The actual video can still be seen on You Tube. So be careful out there, you could be sharing the same airspace with someone bigger than you! This is all that was left of the $8,000 aerobatic airplane. The Bi-plane did receive significant damage but landed safely. PPRCC Newsletter 6

7 Tech Tips Club Prez Gus Grissom talked about this subject at the November club meeting. I just made it into an article for those to read who were not present. Gus uses the Futaba 2.4 GHz system and the receivers have two separate antennas. He recommends that both antennas be placed in the horizontal position with one wire being positioned at a 90 degree horizontal bend and the other wire with a 90 degree vertical bend. Just don t crimp the wires! 2011 JEFCO Auction The 2011 JEFCO auction is fast approaching once again. The official flyer with all of the details will soon to be out, but the event usually takes place during the first weekend of February. If you have never had the opportunity to attend the auction, the 2-day event is considered to be one of the largest in the U.S. You can buy new or used RC related merchandise or you can sell new or used RC related items to eager buyers. And if you have been to the auction before, then you know exactly what I m talking about! So watch for the flyer and get ready to spend a day or two at the 2011 JEFCO Auction! A typical Futaba 2.4ghz, two-wire receiver. Gus states by doing this, your Futaba receiver should get full reception coverage no matter what attitude or position your plane is in. What s Your Line? Club member Larry Laughlin, one of the auctioneers at the 2010 JEFCO auction. Thanks PPRCC! I just finished my second year as the PPRCC newsletter editor and I wanted to thank all those who helped in contributing to the newsletter during Names that come to mind right away are; Larry Laughlin, Mike Evans and Rick Paquin. I know that some of you guys out there are not only good fliers, but can tell some pretty good jokes too! So come up with a good One Liner for this picture and I will post it as the January s Airplane Funnies. The winner of the line chosen will receive an RC related prize at the January club meeting! And thanks to the Behind the Scenes support from Dan Brunson, Mike Weidner, Bill Sanderman and Paul McCoy. Rob Waggoner, Chris Hoff and myself hopes that everyone enjoys the new and improved club website and newsletter! 2011 should be just as good! PPRCC Newsletter 7

8 Upcoming Events: Dec 7 th 2010 (Tue) PPRCC Meeting Jan 1 st 2011 (Sat) PPRCC s Frozen Needle Fun Fly Jan 4 th 2011 (Tue) PPRCC Meeting Feb 1 st 2011 (Tue) PPRCC Meeting PPRCC Newsletter 8