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Mister Mulligan coming in for landing at the RC Propbusters 2019 All Electric Fun Fly, July 13th.
Photo credit: Mark Thompson
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The RC Propbusters newsletter will take a one-month hiatus vacation during August. The next
issue will be combined August/September.
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RC Propbusters of Salem CT www.rcpropbusters.com
Jim Holzworth, Newsletter Editor [email protected], 860-885-9260 RC Propbusters, Inc. ©
AMA GOLD LEADER CLUB
AMA Club No 191
Founded 1937
July 2019 Newsletter Upcoming Events: August 17th –Neighborhood Fun Fly. See page 4 September 7th – Labor Day – Club Fun Fly & Pot Luck. See page 3
Newsletter hiatus: Next issue will be combined August/September
RC Propbusters meetings: Third Tuesday of every month @ 7:30 PM. Meeting location is Salem Public
Library, CT Route 85, about one mile north of Salem Four Corners (Circle).
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Learn to Fly!
If you have an interest, come to our field. There is usually a member there who will give you the
opportunity to try flying a trainer type model either powered by an electric motor or fueled engine. The
gentlemen listed below have generously offered to help you learn to fly rc airplanes, helicopters, drones,
and gliders.
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RC Propbusters, LLC. Officers for 2019
President: Bill Mares
Vice President: Ed Deming
Treasurer: John Banks
Secretary: Peter Sylvester
Safety officer: Tom Vernon
Webpage Editor:
Newsletter Editor:
Mark Thompson
Jim Holzworth
Field Marshal: Shane Duffy
Board of Directors: Mark Thompson, Dave Hoffman,
Mark O'Connell, Bob Beauregard
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE:
WWW.RCPROPBUSTERS.COM
If you want to contribute something to the website, you can do so on the forum or contact Mark Thompson at [email protected] Submit ideas and tips for the newsletter to Jim Holzworth at [email protected]
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“The Wright Brothers created the single greatest cultural force since the invention of writing.
The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages, ideas, and values
together.” — Bill Gates
https://www.skygod.com/quotes/
“Why do so many online commenters treat stand-alone LiPo batteries like bombs waiting to go
off, but don't even think twice about the LiPo sitting in their pocket?”
— https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/230155/why-is-there-so-much-fear-surrounding-lipo-batteries
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INSTRUCTORS
TOM VERNON CHIEF PILOT 860-859-1584 JOE COMEROSKI HELICOPTERS 860-848-3184
DENNIS DUPLICE FIXED WING 860-376-6230 ED DEMING HELICOPTERS 860-884-3222
ROBERT LARSON BOTH 860-526-2267 MARK O’CONNELL BOTH 860-460-8835
KYLE SWAIDNER ** GLIDERS 860-405-5304 LEN BUFFINTON * GLIDERS 860-395-8406
DAVE GRAINGER FPV RACING 860-302-3169 RICHARD CROOKS FIXED WING 860-446-0050
* Len Buffinton is a Glider and Aero-Tow expert who can also help you with fixed wing flying.
** Kyle Swaidner flies everything, and also is offering to introduce you to sidearm and discus launched GLIDERS.
If you are a student, hook up with one of these men and get trained.
Any club pilot can train you, but an instructor must sign you off.
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RC Propbusters Labor Day Fun Fly – Pot Luck – Sept. 7th.
Fly whatever you want. Bring some food to share. Club will
supply soda and water.
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This is the Mayan god of corn. Behave respectfully at our flying field!
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/776880391297433601
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NOTICE (from the Editor): Do we have your correct email address? If you are currently a member of RC Propbusters in good standing, and can only receive the monthly newsletter from our website (http://www.rcpropbusters.com), maybe your email address has changed, or was incorrectly entered on our membership list. Monthly newsletters are sent individually (directly) to each club member at the email address listed on the membership list. If you have a new email address, or need to make a correction, please contact Jim Holzworth at [email protected]. Our membership list will be updated.
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Notice August 17th –Neighborhood Fun Fly.
At our July monthly meeting, Everett St. Louis
shared a letter addressed to him (21 October 1985)
and signed by then Pratt & Whitney president Arthur
E Wegner, in appreciation for modelers who flew at
the P&W 1985 airshow. Club members from
Central Conn RC, Salem Propbusters, NCRCC and
Rocky Hill Turf flyers participated. Everett believes
over 1 million people viewed this two-day event.
Thanks for sharing, Ev!
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July Aviation Events & Milestones
27 July 1901 (USA) — Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first of a series of test glides at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their redesigned biplane glider No. 2 has a larger wing area and wing control worked by a pilot's hip-cradle device.
9 July 1924 (Netherlands/France) — The first recorded flight of a live bull takes place when champion breeder “Nico V” is flown from Rotterdam, Holland to Paris, France. The bull is carried by KLM in a Fokker F.III transport aircraft.
2 July 1937 (South Pacific) — Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are lost over the South Pacific near Howland Island in a Lockheed Electra. This was to be her last long-distance attempt.
13 July 1957 (USA) — President Eisenhower becomes the first United States president to fly in a helicopter when he is flown from the White House to an unnamed military post in a USAF Bell UH-13J.
16 July 1957 (USA) — Major John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC, set the Transcontinental air speed record, flying an F8U-1 “Crusader” from NAS Los Alamitos, California to NAS New York — Floyd Bennett Field, in 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 8.4 seconds. “Project Bullet” as the mission was called, provided both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed, and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States. Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the mission.
17 July 1969 (USA) — The Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket blasts off from the Florida Space Center in route to the first moon landing.
20 July 1969 (Moon) — Neil Armstrong lands the lunar module “Eagle” on the surface of the moon. His immortal first words are, “that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” USAF Colonel “Buzz” Aldrin joins Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon while USAF Lt. Colonel Mike Collins remains in orbit.
https://www.skytamer.com/July.html
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The aerodynamics of Argentavis, the world's largest
flying bird from the Miocene of Argentina
Sankar Chatterjee, R. Jack Templin, and Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr.
12398-12403 | PNAS | July 24,2007 | vol.104 | no. 30 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0702040104
Few prehistoric animals have captured the
imaginations of paleontologists so profoundly
as has Argentavis magnificens from the upper
Miocene (≈ 6 million years ago) of Argentina
with its enormous size and predatory lifestyle.
With an estimated mass of 70-72 kg and a
wingspan of ≈ 7 m, it was the world's largest
known flying bird (1-10), about the size of a
Cessna 152 light aircraft.
Argentavis magnificens from the upper
Miocene (6 million years ago) of Argentina,
with an estimated mass of 70–72 kg and a
wingspan of 7 m, was the world's largest
known flyingbird. Because the fossils
of Argentavis are found in the foothills of the
Andes to the pampas, it is likely that it used
primarily slope soaring over the windward slopes of the Andes and thermal soaring over the open pampas. In slope
soaring, a bird flies in a region of rising air caused by upward deflection of wind over a ridge or a cliff. If the sinking
speed of the animalis less than the velocity of the rising air, the bird is able to remain airborne indefinitely without
flapping its wings. Cranial morphology indicates that Argentavis, like other teratorns, was an active predator rather than a
scavenger. It was probably a diurnal predator, dependent on thermals for flight activity for much of the time much as large,
broad-winged carnivorous birds we see today. Strong thermals occur by mid-day and disappear in the evening, so thermal
soaring for Argentavis would have been possible only between those times. With a skull > 55 cm long and 15 cm
wide, Argentavis was capable of catching sizeable prey with its formidable beak -- From: Chatterjee et al. (2007).
Dorsal wing profile in silhouette of Argentavis is compared for scaling with those of a Bald Eagle.
Chatterjee, S., R. J. Templin, and K. E. Campbell, Jr. 2007. The aerodynamics of Argentavis, the world's largest flying
bird from the Miocene of Argentina. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104: 12398-12403.
Read the complete article at: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/104/30/12398.full.pdf
Also see: http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/554notes3.html
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Fundamentals: Airport Traffic Patterns 29 OCTOBER 2012 BY ANDREW HARTLEY
Using the airport runway as a guide, there are six possible “legs” that planes might be flying around the runway.
“But wait!” you say, “How can there be six legs when a runway only has four sides? Shouldn’t there only be four legs
around a runway?” Correct you are; but part of a traffic pattern at an airport has to do with altitude (or at least how
altitude is changing and what the pilot aims to do on that leg). Bear with me:
Chapter 4, section 3 of the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) discusses traffic patterns:
• Upwind leg. A flight path parallel to
the landing runway in the direction of
landing.
• Crosswind leg. A flight path at right
angles to the landing runway off its
takeoff end.
• Downwind leg. A flight path parallel to
the landing runway in the opposite
direction of landing.
• Base leg. A flight path at right angles to
the landing runway off its approach end
and extending from the downwind leg to
the intersection of the extended runway
centerline.
• Final approach. A flight path in the
direction of landing along the extended
runway centerline from the base leg to the runway.
• Departure leg. The flight path which begins after takeoff and continues straight ahead along the extended runway
centerline. The departure climb continues until reaching a point at least 1/2 mile beyond the departure end of the runway
and within 300 feet of the traffic pattern altitude.
In the image above, you can see a standard traffic pattern – which means the airplane is making left hand turns, and is
landing (and taking off) from left to right as you see it here on the page. The blue color lines mean the plane is at a constant
altitude, green means the plane is climbing, and red means the plane is descending. The only exception to these color patterns
would be if a plane went from upwind to crosswind (then all of the crosswind leg would be maintaining altitude),
versus from departure to crosswind (in which case the aircraft would be climbing in crosswind).
You can see why upwind, downwind, and crosswind are named such, knowing that aircraft always take off and land into,
or against, the wind (upwind). I like to think that base leg is called “base” because it is really the foundation of your landing
(the “base” of a house is its foundation – and if it isn’t right, the whole house will never be right) – if the base leg isn’t right,
your whole landing will suffer for it. Final approach is just that – final. It’s your last chance to get the approach together
before you touch down.
If you use the same lines, but imagine the plane going the opposite direction, you can imagine a “right-hand” pattern. This
is technically “non-standard,” but that does not mean that it happens less. In fact, many airports use “right traffic” as their
pattern (you might even see right traffic when taking off in one direction, and left traffic when taking off in the opposite
direction) – so it pays to do your research before you go to a new airport!
Read the complete article at: http://smartflighttraining.com/fundamentals-airport-traffic-patterns
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RC airplane disorientation An unfortunate and potentially dangerous part of the radio control flying hobby is that of disorientation, whereby the
pilot becomes confused with exactly what his/her rc airplane (or aircraft) is doing, and which direction it's headed.
If you're new to the hobby, you might be thinking "How can the pilot not know which way his plane is flying?? " but
believe me, it's very easy to become disoriented and it's something that can happen to beginners and experts alike.
So what exactly is rc airplane disorientation? It's a horrible situation that rc pilots can get in to, and if not corrected can
result in complete loss of control of the plane. Disorientation occurs when the pilot loses his or her accurate visual
reference to the plane, in terms of its trajectory and which way up the plane is.
When disoriented, the pilot does not know if the airplane is flying away from him, or towards him, is climbing or is
descending. The airplane becomes a silhouette to the pilot, with no clear indication of its exact situation in the sky.
Disorientation example
If you look at the left hand image below, you'll see a plane flying away and turning to the right. But look at the silhouette
on the right hand side, which is exactly the same image - what do you see? A plane flying away and turning to the right, or
a plane coming towards you and turning to the left and in a slight nose-down attitude?
Congratulations, you've just become disoriented!
Left: a silhouetted plane can quickly disorient the pilot.
In this particular example, you know that you're flying your
plane away from you and that it's in a gentle right turn. But in a
moment of complete disorientation, your brain suddenly tells
you that the plane is turning to the left, and coming towards
you. Yikes!
As a natural reaction to what your brain is seeing and telling
you, and in a moment of blind panic, you put the plane in to a
steeper right turn to get it away from you. In reality, the plane is already turning right, and so the turn suddenly gets
tighter, causing you even more panic. That is true rc airplane disorientation!
What causes RC airplane disorientation?
Rarely does an rc pilot become disoriented through complete stupidity - but that can happen!
It's more common for disorientation to occur through no real fault of the pilot, but by the pilot just getting the plane in to a
certain situation when flying normally and sensibly.
Some common causes are...
• Flying your rc airplane too far away from you is a great way to become disoriented. The further away it gets, the smaller it
becomes and the harder it gets for you, the pilot, to see what it's doing. This is especially true for the 'ultra micro' size rc
airplanes, but applies to any size.
• Flying in bad light, for example at dusk.
• Flying across the sun.
• Flying a plane that's a similar colour to the sky e.g. a blue plane against a blue sky, a grey plane against a cloudy sky etc.
• Flying your plane directly over your head, from front to back.
This last one is really nasty, and I have seen an rc airplane crash in to a car (putting a hole in the front fender of the car)
because the pilot became so disorientated when he flew directly over his head. Luckily nobody was injured.
It happens in this situation because as the plane flies over you, you must look directly upwards and turn your head at the
same time. All visual reference to the ground and surrounding objects is lost momentarily, and the resulting disorientation
is almost inevitable.
So the trick is to never fly over your head in the first place!
Flying our rc airplanes in bad light isn't always avoidable, as conditions can change during a flying session. But going out
to start a session just as the sun is setting, now that's asking for trouble. But with that said, modern LED lighting on planes
has made night-flying a reality - just don't try flying in low light levels without an illuminated plane!
To learn how to avoid RC plane disorientation, read the complete article at https://www.rc-airplane-world.com/rc-
airplane-disorientation.html
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Tips & Tricks https://www.rc-airplane-world.com/
Balancing RC airplanes - how to check your plane's CG
Correctly balancing your rc airplane is so important for safe flying, because an incorrect Centre of Gravity (CG or CoG)
can potentially result in the plane being quite uncontrollable.
Every rc airplane (and all other aircraft) has a specific CG position, it's the mean point where all
gravitational forces act upon the plane, and the point where the plane balances fore-aft correctly.
Technically this is called longitudinal balance. You can liken a plane's Centre of Gravity to the fulcrum of
a see-saw, for example. The CG point is determined during the design stage of the plane or aircraft and is
typically shown on a plan as a disc split in to four quadrants, as shown to the right.
If you've built from a kit & plan, the CG should be clearly marked on the plan but if you've bought an ARF or RTF plane
then the instruction manual will likely give the CG position, in terms of distance back from either the leading edge of the
wing or from the nose.
…
Balancing a radio control plane correctly about its Centre of Gravity is so important because a very badly balanced plane
will, at best, be hard to control. This is especially true for tail-heavy planes. At worst, the plane will crash within seconds
of getting airborne.
Methods of balancing RC airplanes
High wing planes are the easiest to balance and if it's your first plane then this is likely to be the case, since
you should have bought a high wing trainer! (Learn about beginner planes.)
The first thing you need to do is identify the correct Centre of Gravity position according to the plan or manual. As a very
general rule of thumb the CG will be about one-quarter to one-third of the wing chord (width) back from the leading edge
of the wing. The main spar, if there is one, often lies in this general area.
Again, this position is only a generalisation and in reality a CG point can be found anywhere from, say, 25% to 50% of
the wing chord back from the leading edge. A CG point outside of that range is rare, but not impossible.
A quick and easy method of balancing rc planes, if you don't have a
special plane balancing tool, is this: Place the tips of your index or
middle fingers under each wing, exactly on the line of the CG
(i.e. the specified distance back from the leading edge of the wing or
nose of the plane) and a couple of inches out from the fuselage sides.
Gently lift the plane up so it is clear of any surface and let it rest
freely on your fingertips.
By the way, your plane must be 'flight ready' when you balance it i.e.
flight battery pack in place or fuel tank empty. With the latter
scenario, an IC plane is best balanced with an empty fuel tank
otherwise the plane will become tail heavy as the tank empties during
the flight. It's far better to start a flight slightly nose heavy than be
landing slightly tail heavy!
A correctly balancing rc airplane, sitting on your fingertips, will
either be level or have the nose pointing slightly downwards. If the
tail points downwards then the plane is tail heavy and you need to do
something about that.
If the balance does need to be adjusted to get the correct Centre of Gravity, the first thing to do is try moving the battery
pack further forward or backward inside the plane. By doing this you are adjusting the balance without adding extra 'dead'
weight in the form of ballast. In an electric plane this will be the flight pack that you want to try and move, in an IC plane
it will be the receiver battery pack. … Read the complete article at: https://www.rc-airplane-world.com/balancing-rc-airplanes.html
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RC Propbusters All Electric Fun Fly: July 13, 2019 Photo credits: Mark Thompson
Tom Vernon greets pilots and guests.
Spectators had excellent views of the flying action.
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Checking out an airplane.
Checking out the Piper Cherokee.
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At the workbench
Dave Grainger at the controls of his drone. Spectators watch the on-screen action.
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Hovering drone
Heli action
A safe and gentle heli landing.
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Piper Cherokee in flight.
Lots of biplane action.
More biplane action.
See more of Mark Thompson’s Electric Fun Fly pics at: http://rcpropbusters.com/electric-fun-fly---71319.html
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Models of the Month
Bob Beauregard showed us a Goblin (on left) and a Viggin (on
right), both made of foamboard. The airplanes are electric,
sold by the Flite Test Store: https://store.flitetest.com/
The Goblin flies with a 3s 2200 mAh lipo battery, and the
Viggin flies with a 4S 4000 mAh battery.
Larry Wolfgang will be
leaving our club and
moving out of the area.
He thanks us for our
friendship and offered a
few of his airplanes for
sale. Here (on left) is an
E-Flite Extra 260 with
two batteries. Best offer
makes it yours.
Tom Vernon, Dave Grainger, and Bernie Liskov show a
display table of books gifted to our host, the Salem
Library.
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Minutes of the July 16th, 2019 RC Propbusters Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM with 19 members present.
Minutes of the June 2019 meeting were read and accepted.
Treasury report: from John
$2000 has been transferred from the general account to the savings account
o Opening balance: $4,945.62
o Income and dues: $427.29
o Expenses: $926.05
o Ending balance: $2446.86
o Savings account:
32016.07
Events
Mike reporting: E-Fly was beautiful. We had a total income of over $1000. This includes donated airplanes.
Neighborhood fun fly on Aug 17th. We will have food at the field but no raffle.
Labor Day Pot-luck on Sept. 7. Come fly and bring food.
Quiet Birdman would like to have their yearly cookout on Aug. 8th. We are invited to fly. Motion to invite them
accepted.
Old Business:
- We have the new flagpole. Looks great.
- Bluetooth microphone purchase still in progress.
- Groton Airport demo on track. It is in a controlled airspace – we have to apply for a variance.
- Lawnmower’s blades were replaced.
New Business:
- Tom Vernon did show the aviation related books that the club is donating to the Salem library.
Good and Welfare:
- Everett St. Louis did share a letter dated Oct 21st 1985 thanking for members of the club participating in an RC demo
event at Pratt and Whitney.
- Larry Wolfgang Moving to Pennsylvania – did thank the club members for the help he got from us.
New Members
- Shawn Monocchi, Grant MacNally, Dany Pelletier, Stephen Faust
Show and tell
- Bob Beauregard two planes made from foam-board by Flite-Test.
Club Officer attendance:
__X_ President ____ Vice President ___X__ Treasurer __X___ Secretary __X___ Safety Officer
__X _ Field Marshal
Meeting adjourned at 8:05
Respectfully submitted by Peter Sylvester.