If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.

- Bob Hoover

April, 2005

March Meeting Notes

The March meeting of the Monroe County R/C Club just happened to fall on the same day as the National Weather Service’s state tornado warning test. The weather service conducts a test every year, as part of severe weather awareness week in Indiana, to give everyone an opportunity to go over their emergency plans in the event of severe weather. They get to test their warning procedures & equipment as schools, businesses, & individuals in homes test their ability to receive & act upon a severe weather warning. Since the evening test tornado warning was issued at 7:00, I was outside conducting a SkyWarn severe weather test net on amateur radio. Thanks to VP Bruce Hoffman for taking meeting notes for me while I was outside playing on the radio. I’m sorry to announce that twenty-one of the twenty-four people at the meeting inside the building were either killed or injured by the test tornado because they didn’t heed the test warning & take cover. Could they be called April fools?

There was one guest at the meeting. Dwight Masson came to visit. Mike Habig of Martinsville was not present but was voted into the club. Several of you already know Mike from Nebo field & from several swap meets where he has had a table.

Welcome to the club Mike!

The club swap meet on February 27 was a huge success. We took in over $500.00 at the door & almost $100.00 at the concession table. After expenses it looks like there will be a little over $500.00 added to the till for field maintenance in 2005. We may need to look at a bigger building next year or add more tables to the current building. We’ve been selling all available tables the last few years & there’s not a lot of room to grow. More on that subject later. Thanks to the organizers, volunteers, & everyone who participated!

Figure 1:

The club swap meet, on February 27.

The fuel has been ordered. We don’t know when it will arrive or how much it will cost yet.

A field work day has been scheduled for Saturday March 26. The plan for the day is Cracker Barrel at 7:00 A.M. (naturally), and arrive at the field to clean up the flood debris at 8:00. Rakes, shovels, & wheel barrows will be needed.

The field is getting used by more people during more of the year & the old outhouse is in need of repair. Mark will order the rented port-a-pot one month early this year & will try to organize a repair party for the old stand-by.

Matt Fornefeld will search the Internet & find us a new wind sock that hopefully won’t rot off the pole in a year or two.

Randy Byers supplied the show & tell segment this month, using Mark Sexton’s AC-47. It was purchased last year at a swap meet as a DC-3 & revamped into a Vietnam era gunship.

The meeting was closed at 7:35 & moved to Nick’s English Hut because fat boys gotta eat...

Interesting Bits

Vargha Manshadi has been working very hard with Steve Bryant on the club Web site. It has a new look & new features. If you haven’t noticed, check it out at www.monroecountyrc.org. Please give them your input on how you like it & what you would like to see there. Their contact information is listed on the Web site.

Tim Mellott has repaired two of his crashed aircraft, with some major help from Charlie Thompson.

Jim Scott has a shiny new clipped wing Cub from World Models. Very impressive.

After a near disaster from radio interference, Randy Byers has removed three tons of on-board glow junk from his Tigermoth biplane. No more glitches.

I have fixed the landing gear attachment point on my little Hobbico Extra again. It seems that regular construction grade plywood won’t cut the mustard in that location & having the grain running the wrong way didn’t help either. If you’re gonna make bad landings, you gotta have a strong board & I’m gonna make bad landings.

The weather has sucked so far this year. Cold, rain, snow, wind, & mud. There should be more to report on at the field than sitting around watching the wind sock stand out later this year. It should warm up, calm down, & dry out by mid June.

Mark Claerbout has been busy this Winter working on an ME-262. It’s big, it’s electric, & it looks like a shark. It’s got a group of batteries powering the twin fans that could help pay off the national debt. Mark had it out one windy afternoon for taxi testing. Here’s a photo of Mark with his creation.

Figure 2:

Mark Claerbout, with his ME-262.

NMPA

If you fly at Nebo Memorial R/C Field in Martinsville, you should consider yourself a member of the Nebo Memorial Pilots Association. There is no club, no organization, & no money. Just a bunch of like minded R/C pilots who enjoy the challenge. We ordered a batch of t-shirts last Fall & they went over well. Several have asked about hats & they are now on order. I had to order twenty-four hats & hope to sell all but two. If you are interested in a NMPA hat, please let me know. The hats should be nine or ten bucks each (including embroidery).

We are also taking donations to purchase a new roller to replace the one that was stolen from the site last Fall. If we purchase a new one, it will be stored inside under lock & key. A 24” X 48” steel roller is $190.00 at Rural King in Martinsville. If U know of a better deal please step up & be counted. It looks like gas is gonna be an issue for mowing this year too. At $2.00+ a gallon, it’s going to start adding up. Your donations are not tax deductible but are appreciated. Help support your local R/C flying fields & stay out of those trees!

Figure 3:

Some of the club members are enjoying a day at the Nebo Memorial R/C Field in Martinsville.

Lane Jorgensen has been drafted to serve as a Monroe County R/C Club flight instructor. He will be specializing in the area of Hitec computer radio buddy box applications, since he has a Hitec PCM computer radio with a spare memory location & the proper Hitec cord. He already has a student by the name of Larry & is making good progress. Thanks for your service Lane & good luck Larry!

Event Calendar

Figure 4:

Weathered, yet dependable, our reliable AMA windsock is still with us.