Wichita Historical Aircraft Modelers SAM 56

Newsletter for May 2018

Phil Burress, Editor. info@wichitafreeflight.org

I am always interested in ideas for this newsletter! -Email suggestions to Phil at info@wichitafreeflight.org

Announcements: Next Meeting is Saturday, May 12, 2018 at The Mediterranean Grill.

Meeting minutes for March 10, 2018 Attendees: Betty & Larry Bishop, Doug Burright, Jeff Englert, Jane & Earl Griffith, Marty Kline, Jeanette & Kent Peters, Marty & Jim O'Reilly, Linda & Chuck Powell, & Braden, Ed Salguero, Marilyn & Bill Schmidt.

OLD BUSINESS: Reviewed the actions from the last meeting. NEW BUSINESS: April contest has been sanctioned by AMA. Doug Burright told of Les Wollard death (a long time Wichita control line flyer). The WichiHawks CL club was essentially held together by his presence. Doug is looking for additional members to assure the club’s viability. The club has one of the last control line flying sites still supported by the local government entities. Dues are cheap, join and try it once/twice a year!

Show & Tell: Marty Kline displayed a Comet 23” (115%) version of the Supermarine Spitfire. It was beautifully done in British camo. The airframe had been built by Mr. Schmidt a few years ago, and interest in finishing was lost. Chuck Powell had a Keilkraft designed Senator. It was neatly colored with Design Master floral sprays. He also had a no-cal Chambermaid (which is becoming a common scale choice for him!) with a neatly rolled balsa motor stick. Bill Schmidt regaled us with his CO2 P-30 based airplane test flight story. Essentially, a successful test flight ended up in one of Bill Koch’s trees. He cut the tree down – he’ll tell you about it! A bunch of Dan Walton’s modeling stuff was given away.

(L)Marty Kline and his Spitfire. (R) Chuck shows off his Senator and no-cal Chambermaid.

WHAM Spring Contest (April 28-29) declared a success!

Our contest was delayed a week due to heavy rains and this turned out to be a good call. We had 13 adult contestants and more than a few spectators, spouses etc. Local pilots and even the Sheriff stopped by to hang out to shoot the breeze. Speaking of, Saturday was a little breezy but still very flyable with some nice lulls, and it actually calmed down a bit around noon. Sunday was predicted to be quite windy so Saturday was opened to Sunday’s events also. The twin pusher mass launch was well attended as usual. The club paid for pizza at the field so the lunchtime break was minimal. Saturday night’s dinner in Florence at the Town and Country Cafe was tasty and congenial and the pie was something to write home about. As expected, Sunday was pretty much a blow-out but diehard Bob Hanford did get some flights in in the morning. So, for a one-day affair, the contest was a great time with no fingers lost and some spectacular flights logged.

Clockwise from top left: (1)Twin pusher mass launch pilots poised for action. (2) WWI Mass Launch (3) Jeff Nisley and his Jimmie Allen BA Parasol (4) Marty Kline shows his good side and his twin pusher.

WHAM News, Views and Reviews: by Phil Burress

Welcome our new Member Doug Burright! Doug is a great builder with some 1/2a and 1/4a models that he is flying. Word is, he is working on a half-sized Wakefield and has other projects in the planning stage. His .020 powered B-70 Valkyrie is a fine flyer indeed. Update on Hummingbird Model Products. I have mentioned this company in the past and am happy to report that they have expanded their product line and seem to be doing well. They have short and long kits for a couple of Wakefields, some scale kits, dime scale kits and a nice selection of WWI and WWII plans. They also sell a Jim Jones-style balsa stripper and some interesting prop blanks that feature ply inserts for strength. Definitely check them out yourself at www.hummingbirdmodelproducts.com

If you haven’t lately, check out the Heart of America Free Flight Association website at https://flyhaffa.com/. Jeff Nisley is doing a fine job indeed with this site. The Member Resource Page has some interesting and useful stuff including a Ray Weeks article “ABC of Lettering” and printable aircraft lettering font.

Here’s a plan, and a bonus plan: Members Chuck Powell and Doug Burright both came up with

.020 powered B-70s recently. Here’s a chance to give it a go yourself. Scale to 20-30” wingspan and have at it! For the bonus plan we have Burt Rutan’s Vari Viggen. I saw this while perusing the aerofred site. Build it at peanut scale or get crazy and scale it up.

The next WHAM/SAM 56 Dinner meeting will be held May 12, 2018 at The Mediterranean Grill 335 S. Towne East Mall Dr., Wichita, KS 67207 (316) 651-5599. Social Hour @ 6pm, Dinner at 6:30pm. Club Events: 1/2a Texaco, Jimmy Allen, FAC Moth, C/HLG, or as arranged. Contacting WHAM/SAM 56: Email or mail Jeff Englert, 10118 Sterling Ct., Wichita, KS 67208 jenglert@cox.net Club Officers are President: Chuck Powell 316-655-3154; Vice President Bill Schmidt 316-744-0378; Secretary: Jeff Englert 316-722-7491; Treasurer Phil Burress 316-210-0707 *Meeting is this Saturday, May 12! Upcoming 2018 club meetings: May 12, July 14, September 8, November 10, 2018 WHAM/SAM 56 Jeff Englert, Secretary 10118 Sterling Court Wichita, KS 67205