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The Prez Sez
Hi everyone,
Didn't we just do this? It seems like
only two weeks ago that I sat down to do the Febuary newsletter and now
I have to do March. I didn't know when I signed up for this job that I
would be spending half my time sitting at a keyboard trying to think of
a subject for a letter.
There is a growing feeling out there
that the newsletter should come out after the monthly meeting not just
before it. Let me know at the next meeting how you all feel about that.
The new frequency board arrived and in
my opinion it's pretty impressive. It really looks like it will do the
job for us. I'll bring one piece to the March meeting so you can get a
look at it before we get it mounted. I'm planning to bring it to the
field this Saturday and get it up on the wall. If any of you have a
cordless power saw please bring it along so we can make any adjustments
to the 2x4's I'll be bringing.
So how many people out there still
build from kits or has everyone gone ARF? Myself I still get more
satisfaction out of seeing a long term project fly successfully. It's
just not the same spending a week assembling someone else’s work,
throwing in a motor and radio gear and out to the field flying the same
bird two others are flying. I currently have a Pica T28 kit on my
bench, the wing is almost complete just need to figure out the retracts
I'll be using before placing the last couple of ribs. The project has
been sidelined however by a dreaded ARF (a spitfire) which in turn has
been sidelined by my wife insisting that the hobby room gets moved out.
So now I'm in the process of moving everything into a new shed we just
had built. She has not yet asked me to put a bed out there so it's not
all bad! If you have a kit in the works or are scratch building let me
know so I can publish the details, give other people the incentive to
give it a try. I'm including an article on the subject of scratch
building and kit bashing, maybe you'll get some ideas.
See you all Thursday March 1st
Mick Fox
Do You Have an Itch to
Scratch?
by Bill Bowne
Do you
have an itch to scratch? Scratch build, that is. One of the greatest
pleasures in modeling is creating your own design—something that no one
else at the field has. I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years, and I
still enjoy it.
Let’s
get one thing straight, before we go any further. When I refer to
“scratch build” I mean draw up your own plans and build from them. I
don’t mean building from someone else’s plans, because they’ve done all
the hard thinking for you. Nor do I advocate making scratch builders
grow their own balsa trees!
I
believe that using stock parts and subassemblies from other models in a
new model still rates as scratch building, although I can understand how
others might differ. The FAA says that if you do 51% of the work in
building a full-scale airplane, then it’s a home-built airplane. I say
it’s the same for models.
Okay,
how do you get started in scratch building? Actually, you can do it
either of two ways. You can plunge right in, or you can work your way
in. That’s how I started, by working my way in. Kit-bashing, that is,
starting with a kit and modifying it until no one could recognize it as
a kit. Kit bashing lets you take known good components and combine them
with your own ideas. As long as you don’t drift too far from the
original design (at least, at first), you can’t go wrong.
So,
let’s talk about how to kit bash. The easiest way to start is by
changing wing tip and tail shapes. As long as you keep the areas pretty
much the same area, all will be well. Don’t get paranoid! If the
airplane flies well with a 50-square-inch stabilizer, it’ll fly just as
well with 48- or 52-square-inch one. On the other hand, making a few
changes in outlines can make a big difference in the airplane’s
appearance.
Going
further, you can make a high-winged airplane into a shoulder or
low-winged one. You’ll lose some stability as you go, so either increase
the dihedral or add ailerons! When I converted a Little Stik into a low
winger, for example, I traced the side view of the fuselage and wing,
and then moved the wing profile straight down to the bottom of the
fuselage.
This
is where the plans come in handy; just flip them over and trace through
them. If you can’t quite see through, apply a little oil and the plans
will turn transparent—that’s cooking oil or clean machine oil. Don’t use
your old, filthy lawnmower oil and complain about it being opaque!
[Technical Editor’s note: this is very messy and you must cover the
oiled plan to keep it from getting oil on the balsa or anything else.]
Keep the stabilizer the same distance back from the wing and keep the
same center of gravity.
A
Xerox makes replicating the wing side view much easier, provided the
Xerox makes true copies. I’ve run into several that didn’t. To check,
compare the copy with the original. Or Xerox a ruler and compare that to
the original. (As a side note, it’s always a good idea to trace or Xerox
the ribs and bulkheads when you build a kit, so you have templates for
repairs. If you Xerox them, of course, make sure they match the
originals!)
When
you change the wing’s position, you’ll have to redo the fuselage side.
One solution, popular with fully symmetrical wings, is to just flip the
fuselage over. Since the top and bottom of the wing are the same, the
wing saddle matches both ways. If you can’t do that, then copy as much
as you can. Use the same structural methods the original designer did;
just change the shapes of the parts.
The
hardest part of making a model into a low-winger is usually the landing
gear. If you’re using foam wings, this is easy; you can even buy
preshaped landing gear blocks. One of the reasons I like tail draggers
is how easy it is to set them up. For a tail dragger, if you don’t want
to diddle with plywood ribs and the complexities of mounting the landing
gear in the wing, just mount it at the wing leading edge. As long as you
make sure the gear sweeps back enough so that the axle is under the
leading edge of the wing, you should be okay.
Part
of the fun of kit bashing is that you can improve an airplane’s
performance as you go, for example, adding bottom rudder. When the
rudder is deflected, it exerts a sideways push on the tail of the
airplane. If most of the rudder is above the airplane’s center of
gravity (as seen from the rear), the push will add roll to the
airplane’s yawing motion. Please, don’t confuse this with adverse yaw!
One way to cure it is by mixing in aileron compensation via a
computerized transmitter but if you can design it out, you don’t need
the fancy transmitter!
Here’s
a typical top rudder (as in an Ugly Stik). Notice that when the rudder
is deflected to the left, the airplane rolls to the right (The red dot
in the rear view is the roll axis as seen from behind). My Sylph has
this pretty badly—I can turn the model on rudder and elevator alone,
without any need for aileron.
But,
if you move a large portion of the rudder down below the roll axis, you
reduce the effect of the rudder on rolling. This is great, if you plan
to do stall turns, slips, crabbing, or other maneuvers that entail
rudder. Ever notice how all those Extras, CAPS, and other aerobatic
full-scale models have their rudders shaped?
But
kit bashing can go further than moving the wing up or down or changing
the tail shapes. You could start with a common low-wing sport kit such
as the 4-Star series, then add a turtle-deck and chin scoop. Throw in
some block for a streamlined spinner, curved tail surfaces, and dummy
landing gear housings, and you have a “Sorta P-40.”
Remember, most of an airplane’s personality is in the fuselage, so even
if you use a Hershey bar wing on an Me-109, most of the personality will
be there. Heck, it’ll be a lot easier to fly, too! Unless you plan to
compete in a Scale event, what does it matter? I’d rather have a
good-looking airplane that looks well, then a great-looking one I’m too
scared to fly!
Or,
take two Stiks and make a “Zwilling” (twin fuselage). If you use a
constant-chord wing, all you need to do is cut out more ribs. If you do
a twin of something like a Kougar, use the root chord for a constant
chord center section.
Start simple,
then work your way up. At first, you’ll see people staring at your
model, trying to figure out what’s different about it. Finally, they’ll
get it. As you get more into kit bashing, you’ll see them take longer
and longer to figure it out. Finally, they’ll have to ask you those
sweet words: “Okay, I give up. What is it?”
FEBRUARY MINUTES
MMRCCINC MINUTES
FEB 1, 2007
Meeting Opened at
7:00 PM
Officers:
Pres: M. Fox, V. Pres: S. Fox, Treas: T. Fenn III, Sec. T. Campbell,
Safety Officer: Bill Hermes, Newsletter Editor: Will Hermann,
Members:
Jerry West, Rory Boyer, Jeff Ochs, Rich Hotchkiss, Jerry Fenstermacher,
Steve Mason, Eric Fisher, Tommy Romanowski, Lynn Heishman, Jack Putnak,
Ron Boyer, Gary Burrows, Don Adams, Bart Bergman, Ed Koharik, George
Benoit,
Tim Meyers
Guests: Bill
Lewis
Treasurer’s
report: $2,576.86 in bank account. An additional $130.00 in
memberships. Windsocks have been purchased.
Motion to accept:
Rory Boyer, Second: George Benoit, Approval: unanimous
Minutes:
January 4, 2007 minutes read. No corrections.
Motion to accept:
Ed Koharik, Second: Jerry West, Approval: unanimous
Bollin Field
Safety Report: No new items.
Flight
Training:
Steve
Mason and Eric Fisher are the new Instructor Pilots for 2007. Bill
Hermes is no longer an IP.
Discussion
about location of Club owned airplanes and transmitters. Custody
transferred from Pete Haring to Eric Fisher.
New AMA rule is 60
days for flight training. (Used to be 30 days).
SOLO: Tommy
Romanowski trained by Eric Fisher
Steve Mason is
working with Jack and Susan Putnak
SOLO: Larry
Weatherwax trained by Jerry DeBach
Old Business:
Bollin Field
lease agreement with the City of Sierra Vista –
No news from
the City of Sierra Vista.
Bollin Field
Sign on Charleston Rd – Bill Hermes talked to John Startt. Per Mr.
Startt, the sign was taken down because the family complained about the
spelling.
Cable Fence –
Mick Fox
inspected the cable fence for reflectors. The reflectors need to be
secured in the middle of each section of cable. Discussion about adding
some orange plastic fencing to improve visibility. Consensus that the
plastic would not be visible at night. A letter to the City of Sierra
Vista stating our safety concern has not been written. Bill Hermes
stated that the club should send a letter to the City as an implied
“CYA” action.
Bollin Field
Frequency Board –
Jerry West
attended the January AMA Convention in Ontario, Ca. Per discussion with
AMA representatives, AMA does not have a board to sell nor do they have
a set of plans. However, AMA does have requirements listed under flying
rules on the AMA website.
Eric Fisher
queried the internet (RC Universe) and came up with several examples of
frequency boards. Also, there is an independent source for purchase of
a board.
Motion to purchase
a frequency board by Eric Fisher, Second: Steve Mason (Note: Tom Fenn
Jr. recommended installation at the East end of the Ramada (where the
old bulletin board is located).
Long
discussion of how the board is to be used. Frequency board should have
a place for AMA Card and should include a clothespin which can be
clipped to a transmitter antenna. Members are not sure of how
non-members without an AMA card should be represented on the board. Tom
Campbell suggested that the club make up a card or clothespin on which
the persons name can be written in. Loss of frequency clothespins is
still a big problem.
Open House-
Eric Fisher
and Steve Mason are gathering ideas for an open house scheduled for
May. Eric asked to membership to offer up any ideas. Don Adams said
that he has some banners for towing by airplanes.
Ideas
include: Parking, food, Public Address System and emcee, raffle, radio
and newspaper adds. Bring planes, helicopters, etc.
New Business:
Small
Windsocks – 11 new windsocks were purchased. One has been installed at
the airfield. Tom Fenn recommended that the big windsock should be let
go. People do not seem to use it and it is difficult to replace.
Fathers Day
Fun Fly:
CD is Bill
Hermes. Scheduled for June 16, 2007. This year it will be an AMA
sanctioned event.
Recommendation that
engine/motor size be equal to or less than 1 cubic inch.
Recommendation that
two pilot classes be represented this year, one of new pilots of low
experience and one for pilot of advanced experience. More details to be
discussed at the March meeting.
Bulletin Board
– The existing bulletin board is coming apart and will be displaced by
the new frequency board. Tom Campbell offered to draw up some ideas for
presentation at the March meeting.
Motion to
adjourn: Ed Koharik, Second: Lynn Heishman
Meeting
adjourned at 8:00 P.M.
MEETING
The next meeting of the MMRCC is
scheduled for March 1, 2007 at 7:00 P.M. The meeting will be held at the
Northrop Grumman facility. Personnel are required to sign-in and sign
out for security purposes.
See you at the
meeting……………….Will
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