Newsletter from Keystone Radio Control Society September 1999 Issue

Meeting called to order by President Malcolm Hafer at 7:01 PM.

Secretary’s report was approved as written in the August newsletter. Treasurer’s report was read by Don Epler. The report was accepted and filed for audit.

Flight Proficiency Certificates- No members were recognized for successful completion of flight proficiency exams. Completed flight exams should be left at the Hidden Hangar in the "For the Newsletter" envelope. Members are encouraged to attend the regularly scheduled monthly meetings to be recognized for completion of flight exams.

OLD BUSINESS

---

Field Maintenance-(Charlie Hafer/Hershey, Dave Willis/Hoernerstown) Operating instructions have been posted for the Kubota tractor at Hershey. The Hoernerstown Field is now OPEN for club flying activities. We gambled, we lost! The dry weather shows no sign of improving the field condition. Air filters on engine carburetors recommended!

Flight Training-Flight training is offered every Tuesday night starting at 5pm at the Hershey field. All new members are encouraged to come out and work with experienced flyers.

August Corn Roast-(Linda Coover) This event will be held on August 15^th at the Hershey Field. If you miss this event, please come to the September meeting for a full report.

NEW BUSINESS

---

Prospective members- Stephen Longo, Michael Young, Evan Heffley and Randy Halterman were voted into membership and welcomed by the members present. Membership "packets" are available to new members from Bill Moore at the monthly meetings or call (717)533-2266.

New members are encouraged to join the video rental program at the Hidden Hangar. The initial $5 donation entitles you to unlimited rentals (a maximum of three tapes can be signed out at a time). There are currently about 50 different tapes available.

Members are encouraged to attend the next monthly meeting to be held on September 13^th at the Hoernerstown Church, 7pm. Chile will be served up by James Rautzhan at the Hoernerstown Field Pavilion at 6pm. Bring along items to show or items for sale.

The meeting adjourned at 7:20pm. (Shortest meeting on record!) George May won the 50/50 drawing and donated the winnings back to the club. That’s the spirit, George, thank you!

Respectfully submitted by Secretary, Tim Milletics

Where did the month of August go? They say time flies when you’re having fun. I don’t think I had that much fun. I did very little flying at either the field or the river. I do have a couple of gripes to get off my chest.

Number One: People use things and don’t put them back where they got them, and in the same condition as they got them.

Number two: TRASH- the club rules say if you bring something to the field, you take it home with you. We don’t have trash pickup at the fields, and the cans & bottles can be recycled. SO DO IT. Suggestion- carry your own garbage bag to the field.

See you at the September meeting.

Red Hafer, President

 HERSHEY HOT AIR BALLOON CLASSIC
 OCTOBER 22nd,  23rd and 24th

Its not too early to prepare for the biggest KRCS event of   the year- Three days  of KRCS flying and static displays! Think now about what static displays you want to present!  We will begin on Friday afternoon to set up our tent and static displays, and may do some flying on Friday. Balloon launches occur every evening and morning between Friday and Sunday.

Raffle tickets are enclosed with this mailing of the newsletter. There are three things you may do with them in the order of preference: 1- Sell them   2- Buy them yourself    3- Return them

If you are not going to do (1) or (2), please return them EARLY to KRCS so we can re-distribute them for sale (you can leave them at the Hidden Hangar).

More details about this event  will be given  at the September meeting and in  the October Newsletter.

WE NEED HELP ALL THREE DAYS !  PLEASE CALL:
 Henry Spangler, Chairman
  (717)566-5493

---

FLIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM
WEATHER PERMITTING, the Flight Training Program runs in accordance with the schedule printed below. Novice flyers are encouraged to show up at the Hershey Field on Tuesday evenings after 5:00 PM. Qualified flight instructors will be available. You may also call any of the instructors listed below to arrange for other sessions.

-Flight Instructors-

Ron Campbell 367-0419 Harry Capper (717)652-0868

Charles Hafer 367-5798 Malcolm Hafer (717)545-2470

Henry Spangler 566-5493 Robert Whiteman (717)944-9170

Roy Stone 367-8216 Allen Sudbury (717)867-1253

If you are unable to meet your scheduled time, please call another instructor to take your place.

Bill Morris, Flight Training Coordinator

---

• It is possible to make a small fortune in Aviation- all you have to do is start with a large fortune........From the AMA National Newsletter

Many of you have seen my "Big Nifty" pulling banners, or just flying slowly at the Hershey Field. This aircraft was originally built by Bob Shutter, over 10 years ago.

Originally designed and kitted by John Florio, it had a one-piece wing with a span of 96 inches, and was a 3 channel design. Fellow KRCS member Bill Guckavan is currently building one of these. Bob Shutter made my copy with a two-piece wing with working struts. He placed the fuselage in between the wing panels, increasing the span to 102 inches. With a chord of 20 inches, the area is over 2000 square inches. It weighs just 13 lbs. The aircraft is now powered by an OS FT-120 twin. I have added barn door ailerons to enhance control response in gusty conditions. This aircraft is a real pleasure to fly, and I am working to become more proficient at coordinating turns using the rudder and ailerons together. I also added a Sullivan "Genesys" generator and on-board glo heat, and the generator is doing a fine job of keeping all of the on-board batteries fully charged.

If you are interested in building this aircraft, the kit is expected to go back into production by Jim Florio, the son of the original designer. I have been corresponding by e’mail with Rich Hook, who until recently, had the rights to produce the kit. I was curious as to whether any had been constructed with ailerons. I have included one of his notes, below:

"The Big Nifty was designed by a very good friend of mine, John Florio. He is no longer with us. The prototype was built very heavy and was underpowered but still flew beautifully. He started kitting it very shortly afterwards and I received the first kit of the first run. It was modeled after the Nifty 50 which he also designed. My Big Nifty is currently broken after a mishap with a corn field during a night flight in Kentucky. I was doing fine, no lights and no stars. Blind flying at its best when an idiot started his plane not 5 feet behind me and continued to run his engine even though he knew I was trying to fly my plane by ear. He shut it off only in time enough for us to hear it hit the corn field. His only comment was "He should have had lights.". I gathered my plane’s remains and left at that point, and I guess the rest of the guys ran him out after I left. I was producing the kits for a couple of years there, but if you were at my web site you would see what happened to the business. Jim Florio (John Florio's son) has bought the business back and says he is going to start getting some kits out soon. I am waiting for a new kit so I can build a new Big Nifty.

As to the Big Nifty not having ailerons. Well, the little Nifty 50 was only a 3 channel trainer type aircraft. It flew so well that John wanted to scale it up to twice the size just to see how it would fly. There has also been talk of enlarging it large enough to make it an Ultra Light aircraft. Everyone asks why no ailerons. But it flies very well without them. It was actually designed to fly off the rudder. That is why it reacts so well to rudder. John felt, and I agree, that the ailerons disrupt the flow of air over the wing causing the plane to be less stable. He always got upset when someone would change the design. Most people would find out that he was right and the plane would not roll any faster with ailerons and know it had to come in a little bit faster on landings. We did find out though the barn door type ailerons were much more effective and didn't hurt the stability as much. They do come in handy on the crosswind landings.

Well I could go on forever about the Nifty's. I guess I am with no question the biggest fan of the Nifty 50 and Big Nifty anywhere."

"Keep'em Flyin’," - Rich Cap Hook - (DuBois, PA)

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like to see video clips of the Big Nifty pulling banners, check the Internet website of the Culpeper Aero Squadron at:

"http://www.gtechno.com/cas" , courtesy of the webmaster, Jerry Smith (K1AEP)

NOTE FROM THE KRCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS: THERE IS TO BE NO FLYING BEFORE 9AM WEEKDAYS AND SATURDAYS, AND BEFORE NOON ON SUNDAYS! NO EXCEPTIONS- AT EITHER FIELD! IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT SOMEONE HAS BEEN BREAKING THE SUNDAY RULE. PLEASE COMPLY!

FOR SALE: Futaba FG Series Radio with 4 FPS-148 servos $95
FP-6FG AM Trainer and gear on channel 20. Radio has never been used, and is still in the original box.
Hobbico Deluxe Starter, 12 V with alligator clips, very little use- practically new $18
Standard Ball wrench set (5 wrenches) $8
Fred Rudy (717)652-0781

FOR SALE:10 Gallons of Nitromethane $35
Buddy Edgar, (717)566-0936

WANTED: Someone to send out a meeting notice or a simple KRCS newsletter for the October meeting- I will supply the mailing labels, and any other items to help you with this- Harry Capper - (717)652-0868

Back to Newsletter Index
Home

---

This page created 9-7-99