November 2019 Edition

Wine Country Flier

Next meeting: 10 December, 6:00 P.M. Charlie’s Grill, 1320 19th Hole Dr, Windsor, CA 95492

www.wcflyers.com Promoting Model Aviation in Sonoma County

2019 Club Officers: President: Guy Nicholas (707) 291-2781 [email protected] Vice President: Buzz Russell (707) 537-5299 [email protected] Secretary: Chris Bailey (707) 490-6206 [email protected] Treasurer: Paul Gibson (707) 318-5926 [email protected] Safety Officer: Mike Cracchiolo (707) 537-5198 [email protected]

2019 Board Members: Adam Clement (707) 322-5318 [email protected] Bill Van Aslan [email protected] Steve Koll (707) 297-0247 [email protected] Eric Bergesen (707) 494 0562 [email protected] Jake Chichilitti (707) 535-0977 [email protected]

Newsletter: Guy Nicholas Website: Patrick O’Halloran Presidents Report By: Guy Nicholas

Greetings and welcome to the end of November. We actually had a November general meeting this month and I was pleasantly surprised that we had a decent showing. A good meeting was had and all the pizza was consumed.

A couple of items happened over the past month or so that I would like to share with you.

First we had a night fly on 9 November. I didn’t make it as I was on a plane to New York at the time, but I was told everyone had a good time. The event started early as there was also an auction happening prior to the even and given that, about 30(?) members showed up. After the auction/ give away happened and the sun was down, the temperature dropped considerably and a number of people were caught off guard and left. I guess a lot of us still need our mothers to remind us that it might get cold after dark in November :) There was also a ton of food available as the event was a pot luck. In the end, a good time was had by all and I think we will try to get in some more of these simple but fun events in the coming year.

I went to the AMA West convention with Patrick O’Halloran. This was my 4th or 5th year of going and each year both the attendance and the vendor participation has dropped. Last year they moved from the Ontario convention center to the much larger Fairplex Exposition Complex, and they had both indoor and outdoor activities. I thought this move may make the event more popular, but apparently I was wrong. I was told by a vendor friend that the AMA stated they have lost money at the events and the losses were increasing every year. Due to this they will no longer be having the events! It’s unfortunate, but probably inevitable. Our district VP Lawrence Tougas mentioned “replacing” the event with a fly-in type event...I’m not holding my breath for this one though.

The Christmas party is fast approaching and we need to get a good count in for our reservation. If you plan on attending, please send off your rsvp. Paul is fine with people paying at the door, but if you want to do that we strongly urge you to email Paul at [email protected] to confirm your attendance and count and then you can pay at the door. I think our change in venue will make for a more relaxed and personal event for the club.

Finally, I would like to share a small safety tip with you. I recently upgraded my FrSky radio with a newer version of the same thing. My old one had upgraded gimbals in it so my first job was to do a gimbal swap to get the better ones into the newer radio. This really wasn’t that big of a deal. Fast forward a bit and I crashed my small heli. I wasn’t sure what really happened, I sort of lost it in bad lighting and then it didn’t seem to respond correctly as it was coming in, but it was quick and not that obvious so I ignored it. A few weeks later I was flying my T-28 and after take off it went into a slow left roll, I briefly got control back and then lost it again. Upon inspecting and checking the aircraft I found the would “stick” every so often. So when I got home I dug in deeper to make sure I fully understood what was going on. On inspection of my radio I noticed something odd which you can view on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/R2EO02uu1uE What you will see in the video is me moving the stick and a representation of the stick position in the square on the display below. Notice that the indicated position did not match the stick position. I opened the case to check things out. Do you recall that I mentioned replacing the gimbals myself? Here is what I found when I got inside. Notice the plug isn’t quite seated? Do you know how much better the sticks work when they are actually connected to the motherboard? Lesson learned...I should wear my glasses when working on any electronics! Float Flying at Lake Hennessey By: Jake Chichilitti

Jim Wolfe and I took a ride over to Lake Hennessey on Tuesday Nov. 12. The weather report showed ideal float flying weather, light wind and warm temps. The weather man came through and we had perfect weather all day.

Jim had never flown a float plane, but he had a great model to start out with.The Apprentice makes a really nice first time float plane. Jim's model had plenty of power for take offs and aerobatics with the stock motor set up. He made three flights and all were very nice. He did have to take the raft out when the plane taxied into the reeds.

I had three flights on my SIG Somthin' Extra which hadn't flown since last year's float. fly Did lots of touch and goes, some nice and smooth and some a bit bumpy(like the runway). The model has an O.S. .70 four stroke and is set up for wheels and floats.

I'm hoping we can go once more before the end of the year. Let me know if you are interested and send me an email, I'll let you know for next time.

Jake [email protected] General Meeting Minutes 26 September 2019 By: Chris Bailey • Meeting started @ 7pm • Welcome new member Joe Lacchia • Paul: treasurer’s report, Trending slightly ahead, renewal letters have been mailed, 92 members • Guy: safety minute, Eric B had a large Lipo battery that was damaged, he cut the charge leads and placed in a bucket of salt water to fully discharge battery prior to disposal, still had a huge amount of stored energy, violent reaction when placed in saltwater(see picture in last newsletter) • Runway update: Astroturf surface has been decided by board • PCAM airshow recap(Guy): Beautiful Saturday morning, Mike, Jake, Guy attended safety meeting, then wind picked up, became too windy to fly, show cancelled for Saturday, Sunday, very nice day, no wind, no issues while flying • Adam: attended and competed in Scale Nationals, took 1st place, had the highest flight score, com- peted in ProAmPro class, Flew Jim Swanson’s beautiful zero, Congratulations Adam and Jim! • Please get your Christmas Party reservations in to Paul as soon as possible • Night Fly, Saturday Nov 9, auction before it gets dark, items from Steve Green and Ollie Burns, potluck dinner including chili, corn bread, hotdogs, then night flying, come early for auction, come to fly or just to attend auction, eat, and support event! • Flight Track app(Guy): shared info about app for phone, can see path traveled by an actual air- plane, Guy used example of a CDF air tanker • Auction: Funtana 125 • Raffle • Election of Club Officers: Move to accept nominations(Bob), 2nd byAdam, all members present in favor, Club officers for 2020 accepted • Remember November General Member Meeting November 21 @ Pizza Gourmet, 6:30 pm, auction to include Sig 4 Star 60 kit, 50th Anniversary edition Goldberg Piper Cub kit, and assembled glider • Show and tell : Eric shared his new P51 Mustang, a great deal from Jake’s Performance Hobbies Board Meeting Minutes 24 October 2019 By: Chris Bailey

• Meeting started @ 5:20 pm • Present: Guy, Adam, Jake, Chris, Paul, Bill, Buzz, Eric, Steve K. • Runway surface (Guy): Astroturf or Geotex(Petromat)? Group discussion, motion by Adam for As- troturf, 2nd by Steve, all present in favor, surface will be Astroturf • Christmas Party (Guy): will be @ Charlie’s in Windsor, Tri Tip, Chicken, Salad, Fresh Vegetable, Potatoes, Dessert to be supplied by club(probably Costco cake and pies), Steve Koll will obtain items for Raffle@ Christmas Party • Night Fly: Saturday, November 9, pot luck, Chili, corn bread, hot dogs, etc., auction items from Steve Green and Ollie Burns • FAA: “Tower Dave @ Sonoma County Airport, AMA must be involved in wording of agreement , Mike C. will continue working on this • Club Field Rules: Rules specify that all engines must have mufflers, Jake C. ask if he could fly his plane with a .049 cox engine (no muffler), all board members agreed, due to small size of engine, limited noise • After discussion, it was agreed to move November General Meeting to the 3rd Thursday in Novem- ber, Thursday Nov 21, since the fourth Thursday is Thanksgiving; there are 3 plane kits that were donated to the club, these will be auctioned at the meeting • Meeting adjourned: 6:10 pm For Sale/Free

Editors note: When the new website becomes available we will certainly have a section to show, “for sale”, “for trade”, “free”, or even “wanted” type items. Until that shows up I will post any of those things here for anyone who sends me information.

For Sale/Free By: Bill Andersen

SPITFIRE 1.) Spitfire - The History F6F HELLCAT Morgan&Shacklady (a massive volume; con- 1.) F6F Hellcat - Aero Detail 17 sidered the “bible”) 2.) F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 Osprey 119 2.) Spitfire Mk IX & XVI Engineered Young Monforton (another massive volume) 3.) F6F Hellcat at War 3.) Spitfire - Flying Legend Graff Dibbs&Holmes 4.) Hellcat Aces of WWII 4.) The Few Tillman Kaplan&Collier 5.) Grumman F6F Hellcat - Naval Fighters #92 5.) Spitfire in my Workshop Meyer&Ginter Glen 6.) F6F Hellcat - Walk Around Squadron/Signal 6.) Into The Swarm #9 Yeoman&Larsen 7.) F6F Hellcat - In Detail & Scale. D&S Vol. 49 7.) Viking Spitfire Kinzey Larsen 8.) Grumman F6F Hellcat - F6F-3, F6F-5 Models 8.) Modellers Spitfire - Part 1 Boiko Humphreys 9.) Spitfire, Merlin Variant - Walk Around OTHER MISC. TITLES Mackay 1.) Air Force Colors - Vol. 1 1926-1942 10.) Spitfire In Action - Squadron/Signal #39 2.) Curtiss Army Hawk - In Action Squadron/Sig- 11.) nal # 128 Ducimmus 3.) The Curtiss Army Hawks - Profile #45 12.) Supermarine Spitfire - Osprey Modelling 4.) Building The Dawn Patrol - Vol. 1: SPAD XIII Manual Wilkins 13. Supermarine Spitfire - Mk VI to IX and Mk XVI Listermann

Best way to contact me: [email protected] Thanks Bill Andersen For Sale/Free By: Devin Gordon

My name is Devin Gordon, I have an RC collection for sale, I live in the Ukiah area, looking for some- one who is honest about values and interested in buying any or all of the collection. Please feel free to distribute to other club members or interested parties, thanks for your time.

Sincerely

Devin 707-489-0261 WCF 2019 EVENTS SCHEDULE • Christmas Party: Tuesday 10 December 6-? • New Year’s Day Fly: Wednesday 1 January.