AMOS May 2018 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Unfinished Business AMOS May 2018 Newsletter AMOS Board Meeting 5/1 7:00PM recap RC Country Swap Meet: Mike Haston reported: Dean and Tracy had not turned in report as of time of meeting, but donuts sold out, some hot dogs left over which we can use at other events. President also thanked Tom and John for helping out. Start Up Stands: Jim Irey reported: $1,895 received in donations. $1, spent on materials. Seven stands and two work benches built. $ left over, some of which will be spent on preservative. New Business: Issue With Former Member: The Board discussed a former member who has had verbal altercations with two club officers and engaged in inappropriate action at the field. Because the former member has not been to the field since the last incident, the Board decided immediate action is not necessary, and the matter was postponed until the next Board meeting. One officer volunteered to talk to the former member. FAA/AMA Special Rule: Mike Haston: AMA has sent an to members. The House of Representatives passed its version of the FAA reauthorization bill. The bill includes the rule from prior law that the FAA generally can t regulate model aircraft that are flown under the rules of a proper community based organization. (Registration is still required.) This means, in effect, that members of AMA clubs flying under AMA and club rules generally are not subject to FAA regulations. The bill now goes to the Senate. Don Schwartz: John Sorenson: Don is mowing the entire field Friday at his own expense. When we ask to cover his expenses he usually refuses. Proposes we hand Don a $100 bill and suggest he take his wife out to dinner. Motion passed. Dave Jenkins: John Sorenson: Dave spent about $100 on batteries for plane for training program. Agreed he should be reimbursed.

2 Board Reports: President Mike Hasto: Field looks good. Shade covers going up soon at south end of pits. Treasurer Keith Roberts: Prepared a cash flow statement for April showing net amounts of income and expenses for the month. We had a lot of Field Maintenance expenses for April so broke those down in a separate statement. Both statements are attached here. Membership Jim Irey : 198 members. Expecting a couple more. Field Marshal Tom Aschwanden: Mowing Friday. What Don can t get with the big mower we will get with ours. Problem with members leaving trash at field. Past President John Sorenson: Reported that he had checked with MRF concerning new lease extension. Heather (MRF sec.) stated that a failure to get a forum kept them from signing the new lease. Should get it next week. AMOS General Meeting 5/8 7:00PM recap Unfinished Business Startup Stands/Tables: Mike Haston: Project finished. Thanks to Jim Irey and Tom Aschwanden. Final cost about $180 per stand, $250 per table. Mowing: Mike Haston: Don Schwartz came in with large tractor. Mowed south perimeter and four swipes in front of runway. RC Country Swap Meet: Mike Haston: Waiting for final report from Dean and Traci. Sold twenty dozen donuts. Some hot dogs left over. Will be used at heli event, and any still left can be used at float fly. WDA Float Fly: Mike Haston: Pretty nice. Good turnout. A few crashes. New Business FAA/AMA Special Rule: Mike Haston: Legislation to re-authorize the FAA passed the house with the special rule for model aviation still intact. Has to go to Senate. FAA Registration: Mike Haston: Anyone flying under the special rule for model aviation has to register with FAA. FAA has updated its website. When you register,

3 ( select Fly Model Aircraft under Section 336", not Fly suas under part 107. Trash Left At Field: Tom Aschwanden talked about problem of trash on field, and even in the toilet. All members are requested to pick up trash even if it is not yours, and remember nothing unnecessary in the toilet. Jim Irey has posted an appropriate message in the port-a-potty. Gas Money for Mowers: Tom Aschwanden suggested getting a club credit card to use for buying gas for mowers. After discussion it was concluded to give the Field Marshal a cash advance for expenses which he would account for periodically. This can be done similarly to the way advances for event expenses are handled. Board Reports: President Mike Haston: Thanks to Tom and John for great job on lawnmowers. Treasurer Keith Roberts: events. $2,450 in the treasury. $1,500 in outstanding advances for Membership Jim Irey: 201 members. Field Marshal Tom Aschwanden: Thanks to Jim Irey for filling and transporting gas cans. New fuel tank for mower ordered. Shade covers will go up when wind permits. Safety/Training Les Klear: Seven trainees last Wednesday. Short one instructor. It was busy. Past President John Sorenson: Club cleared $380 from sale of estate items. AMOS Field Fire Department Controlled Burn on 6-1 The Roseville Fire department showed up on Friday morning to do a controlled burn on some areas around the AMOS field. The result was some important fire block zones.

4 2018 AMOS Event Schedule Electric Fun Fly - August 11th Presidents Fun Fly - September 8th - Mike Haston, Randy Sizemore Jet event: Randy Sizemore: September Nor-Cal Huckfest - Saturday October 6th - Basil Yousif, Gary Meyers, Geordan White and Ron Brugh - Big Planes - Great Time!! AMBRO Profile Event - October 20th - Randy Allen 2018 Christmas Dinner - Glen Gibson organizer. To be held at El Torito Mexican Restaurant at 5637 Sunrise Blvd, Citrus Heights. The date hasn't been set.

5 AMOS Event News Warbirds Over Roseville Saturday June 9 This event was hopping!! Many of the best R/C Warbird pilots showed from all over California and Nevada along with quite a few AMOS members. The field looked like Miniature WW2 airport. 40 pilots registered and the place was packed. All the food was sold out for the BBQ. Again Mike Haston and Family put on a great event. The profit was $752. The Wind speed was 10 to 20mph with shifting direction and gusts. There were a few crashes. More pilots should have taken advantage of the cross wind runway. Larger planes with powerful engines faired better.

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7 RC Helicopter Basics by Chris Mulcahy Helicopters can be daunting to someone who has never really been around them. They look so mechanically complex, with pilots talking about how precisely they are set up and which multitude of settings they tweaked to get them perfectly dialed in. There is a whole new vernacular that goes along with helis, and half the time it s as though we are speaking a different language. Even pilots who are crossing over from flying airplanes can be intimidated because the complexity of a helicopter versus an airplane is increased to a level with which they are not familiar. With the addition of flybarless gyros, governors on ESCs, and nitro engines, a new level of digital programming is also introduced. So where does a new pilot start? The Local Flying Club I m a firm believer in immersing yourself into the subject in which you are interested, regardless of your skill level. You can usually find out where the local helicopter pilots are flying, either through a local hobby shop or a by doing a little searching on any of the online RC forums. I don t think there is a single helicopter pilot out there who would turn you away. Take a look at the helicopters they are flying and ask questions. They should be more than happy to help you. Stick Time Now that you ve met some helicopter pilots, you want to start putting your hands on the sticks. Where do you go from here? There are a couple of roads that you could take. Before you even purchase a helicopter, you can dive right in on a computer simulator and start learning orientation skills. This is a great way to get started, and the more time you put in at this stage, the more it will pay off down the line. Another advantage of this method is that you are on your own schedule. Practice whenever you can squeeze in a few minutes here or there. While you are browsing to decide which heli kit to buy, keep at it on the simulator. There is also the old-school method. Buy a helicopter and learn as you build. I highly recommend building a helicopter from a kit for two reasons. The first is that you will learn how the parts go together, how they move, and what they do. This is great on-the-job training. If you get stuck on something, ask the heli pilots whom you ve already met at the flying club.

8 The second reason is that when you crash and you will you will have a better idea of how to replace parts and repair the helicopter. By the way, don t worry about the crashing part; it s a natural part of learning to fly helicopters. All pilots crash, regardless of skill level. If you decide to build your helicopter first and use it as a trainer, you can ask a pilot if he or she can buddy box with you as you learn to hover. Most will be happy to help. On the other hand, if you find yourself without anyone local to help you (as I did years ago), you can still fly. When I started learning, there were no helicopter pilots or instructors who could help me. I was on my own. There was also no such thing as a computer simulator. I strapped some training gear to my landing skids and spent many hours learning how to hover and keep it in one place. The training gear was basically an X brace made up of wooden dowels with small plastic balls on the end of each stick. This made it less likely that the helicopter would tip when it was close to the ground. Using this method, I was able to learn to hover by myself without getting into too much trouble. What Size Heli? Ask a dozen pilots what size helicopter to get as your first model and you will receive a dozen different answers. One thing to bear in mind is weight vs. cost. A larger, heavier helicopter will be more stable in the air, but the price of parts might be higher. Although parts for a small heli are less expensive, the aircraft tend to be twitchier and bounce around more in the wind. There are many prebuilt helicopters available in the smaller size (450 size and below), but my opinion (and take it for what it s worth) is that any helicopter close to a 550 or 600 size would be perfect to learn with. It has enough weight to handle any wind that you might be flying in, but the parts are still relatively inexpensive. A larger helicopter would be easier to work on if you need to repair it. What about nitro or electric power? That s entirely up to your comfort level. Both have their pros and cons. Electric helis are clean and easy to power up and fly, but generally have a shorter flight time than a nitro-powered helicopter (unless you re Gary Wright don t get in line behind him!). Although nitro helicopters have longer flight times, they are more complex in their setup and are self-lubricating (messy). They also don t typically have the instant torque/power that an electric helicopter has, but as a new pilot that will not be an issue. With that stated, nitro helicopters are awesome. They sound cool, they look cool, and when you fly them at night, they get even better! To sum it up, find some local helicopter pilots or join an online helicopter forum, practice on a simulator or get yourself some training gear, and build your first helicopter from a kit. Ask lots of questions and don t be intimidated. There s no denying that the learning curve for helicopters is steeper than other model aircraft, but the time and effort are well worth it for the rewards you get from flying helis. They challenge your mechanical skills, your technical skills, and your flying skills, and they will always be satisfying! -Chris Mulcahy - Forwarded by Geordan White

9 Jokes I forgot!! Patient to his doctor: I have forgotten so many things lately, and it s getting worse. What can I do? - Doctor: Yes, this is a known illness, unfortunately it has no cure. I d also like to remind you about the $800 you owe me? They have more Cash!! I really can t stand it when homeless guys shake their cups of money at me. Do they really have to rub it in that they ve got more cash than I do? The Adoption Father: Son, you were adopted. Son: What?! I knew it! I want to meet my biological parents! Father: We are your biological parents. Now pack up, the new ones will pick you up in 20 minutes. Warbird Event Awards- AMOS Newsletter prepared by: Basil Yousif, Send Newsletter feedback and topic info to basil.yousif@sbcglobal.net USE - AMOS Newsletter as the Subject for the