Genesee Valley Aero Modelers

Editor: Glenn Crocker
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534

The Prez Sez . . .

As I sit down to write this column, I'm painfully aware of the fact that I really don't have much to offer - no pearls of wisdom, no news to pass on, no building hints, nothing profound or even not so profound. Moreover, I note that today is the shortest day of the year: only 8 hours 59 minutes of daylight. Could there be a connection here? Whatever the reason, your president has a very short column this month.

We had a good turnout for the December meeting, especially considering the uncertain weather and the fact that this is the holiday season, a very busy time of year for many of us. The business meeting was short and we were able to spend considerable time just visiting and doing a little hangar flying.

A gentle reminder: the annual dues are due. Remember also that your AMA membership must be renewed as well.

We will begin planning for the 2001 flying season at the January meeting. In addition, Glenn will be taking orders for fuel. After the meeting, I'll be showing some slides of the RAF Museum, which is located just north of London. I took them a number of years ago at the time of my first visit to the UK. In the meantime, I hope that (unlike me) you are now working on your winter building project(s).

I also hope you all will have had a great holiday and that you found lots of goodies of the RIC modeling variety under the Christmas tree. I'll be anxious to get a full report on the frozen finger fun fly.

That's it for now.

Winter Flying and You

Flying radio-controlled airplanes in the winter provides a few different challenges than flying in the summer.

First of all, there are no bugs. This means you don't have to worry about a gnat flying in your ear when you're trying to flair for a hot landing. No distracting mosquitoes biting your legs, and no bees and hornets buzzing behind you. Also, no can of smelly bug spray in your flight box.

There are, however, a few new things you do need to worry about.
As you load up the car for the journey to the field, don't forget a small piece of plywood and/or a piece of carpeting to kneel on and to set your flight box on so it doesn't sink into the snow. Glo plugs, screws, and small tools like to disappear in the snow when they are dropped, so your plywood can also be used for a work surface.
If your skis are warm from sitting in the car with the heater on full blast while on your way to the field, the cold snow will tend to want to stick to them. Let them sit in the snow for a while to chill out before taking off.
Getting small engines to start in the cold may require a shot or two of WD-40 (which, by the way, stands for the fortieth revision of a water displacement formula) into the carburetor. And tuning a needle valve behind a spinning propeller will instantly remind your fingers of what the weatherperson means when he/she mentions "wind chill."

Batteries will lose their stored energy faster when they are cold, so make certain you check their condition before each flight, and don't plan on flying so many times in one outing unless you have a charger with you. Plastic parts like to become brittle as they are chilled. And plastic covering is damaged much easier, too. This is just your airplane's way of telling you that it would rather be sitting in a nice warm basement Don't ignore these pleas for warmth, just keep them in your mind. December and January air is denser than June and July air. Denser air means your wings will generate more lift, and your prop and engine will generate more thrust. Lift and thrust are good. After all, they are the two basic elements of flight that Mother Nature did not provide to us. The lift is extra nice to have, unless your wing configuration is a high-lift design, then the airplane still wants to putz around in the sky when you are ready to head for home.

Safety around a propeller cannot be ignored in the winter. Sure, your fingers are numb from the cold, so a strike from a prop's leading edge probably won't be felt until you thaw out the next day, but keep in mind that your gloves are bulkier than your bare hands, and they can get sucked into the airscrew much easier. Props also like to eat scarves that hang around your neck, so keep them tucked into your jacket.

Footprints in the snow are not the best thing to have while attempting a takeoff or landing, so be careful where you step if you need to retrieve a dead stick.

Being the mere hunters and gatherers that we humans are, we generally are not well equipped to withstand long exposures to cold. So pack plenty of coffee or hot chocolate in the car, and wear plenty of warm clothes. Standing still in the midst of a barren field requires more insulation than shoveling snow from the driveway.

Good luck, fly safe, and DO NOT stick your tongue on the windsock pole!

ftom Tile North West Angle
3eff Taylor, Editor
11131 Utah Avenue North
Champlin, MN 55316-3752

Dues Are Due

This is the annual reminder that club dues were due by December 31st.
Senior members (those over 19 but under 110) $45.00.
Junior members (19 years or under) $1.00.
You can pay at the January club meeting or mail your dues to me at the Newsletter editor’s address shown on the first page.

GVAM Fuel Fool

I will be taking fuel orders at the December and January meeting. Two cycle and 4 cycle prices are the same.
Lubricant for 2 & 4 cycle is 19% but you can increase to 20% without additional charge.
The club has historically used 2-cycle fuel for 2 and 4 cycle engines, with20% lubricant. The lubricant mix has been 50% castor and 50% synthetic.
The prices for what we usually order is as follows and includes the prepay discount.

Nitro Price/Gal.
5% $10.30
10% $11.14
15% $11.98
30% Helicopter (20/22% lube.) $16.05
If you have other requirements, I will have the complete price list with me. You can also find the complete price list on our web site.

Tech Tip

Have you ever tried using clothing dye to color your canopy, then end up blue to your elbows?
Have you tried painting the inside of the canopy, only to find that the paint falls apart and flakes off the canopy?
Well, take a tip from the slot and RC car guys, and try painting the inside of your canopy with Faskolor paint.
Faskolor is designed for painting Lexan car bodies, and is available in some colors (including colors that change with the light) that will really set off that project you're just finishing up.

from The Fly Paper
Greater Pittsburgh Area Radio Control Society
Dick Kocur, Editor
1547 Pinehurst Dr. Pittsburgh PA 15241


Indoor flying at Honeoye High School	Another indoor model doing it’s thing.

Some more Olean 2000. Don’t know owner(s) of planes.	John Street after bailing out of his LT-25.

The Canadice Lake "Gang of Four". Charlie, Tex, Warren and Dennis	Cap 10. Nice color scheme

Charlie Vogel (1985). He still looks the same in the summer of 2000. The only difference between then and now is that his center of gravity is a little lower.	Iceboat races at one of our Frozen Finger Flys.

First Sandy Bottom float fly. Walt was even present.	Ex member Jim White at the 1984 Frozen Finger Fly. Now enjoying Florida on Jan 1.

1994 Getting the Mosquito ready for a trip.

Murphy's Law Applied to Model Airplanes
Compiled by Robert Osono

Trees are ALWAYS closer than they appear.
To calculate the location of the exact rear center underneath your workbench, just drop a small screw.
The screw you forgot to check during your preflight will always be:
A: The first one to come loose.
B: The one that causes the most damage when it comes loose.
C: The one behind the transmitter.
When the best thermal bubble of the day appears the receiver or transmitter batteries are empty or too weak.
If you want to hear from your son by phone, just glue a part of your airplane with 12 minute or longer epoxy that you have to hold together by hand. He will call for sure.
If you can't go flying tomorrow, the weather will be perfect.
The right way to cover a certain shape is always found out the day after you just covered it the wrong way.
If it's not a tail dragger, it will be.
The number of radio hits is inversely proportional to the flying skill of the pilot.
Glide distance is exactly equal to the distance between the spot where the propeller assumes the horizontal position and the nearest spot level enough for a landing minus 10 feet.
It always rains on your day off.
Just when you've finally obtained a vehicle that's large enough for you and your planes, your wife will claim it for use as the family vehicle, leaving you with the two-door sports car.
Like milk, every airplane has an expiration date. Some are sooner than others.
When building a model, you will always find the missing part, just as you have finished duplicating it.
If there is only one tree in an otherwise deserted area, your model will always fly into it.
When an expensive model is in the air, there will always be a young child within range playing with his model car, whose radio will be on the same channel that you're using.
Holding a transmitter always causes an overpowering itch all over your body as soon as your airplane takes off.
CA is a medical adhesive. As such, it is much more effective at gluing fingers than balsa.
When, during the construction of a model, you need three hands and yours are busy, the bottle of CA you were using will secretly lay down, spilling the contents to the floor and you, in your bare feet, will stand in it, gluing yourself in position.
The probability of an engine quitting is directly proportional to the distance the airplane is from the landing area.
A new glow plug will last forever if you have spares, but only about a half-an-hour if you don't.
The size of your workbench has nothing to do with the size of your airplane, your engine, or your house, but with the size of your spouse's heart.

Servo Setup
By Joe Jackson

Servo mounting should be done with rough treatment and vibration in mind. If you have some leeway with servo location, we suggest you do a preliminary balance check and locate the servos fore or aft accordingly. No need to load the airplane with more balance weight than necessary. We favor maple or other hardwood beams installed across the radio compartment. We also have used plywood plates with servo holes cut into them. Be sure the plywood is thick enough to cover the screw threads. If not, glue on another layer of wood. With either of these arrangements do not rely on butt glue joints. Add pieces of sheet wood above, below, in front of and behind the plywood edges where they butt against the compartment sides.

We have experienced failures with plastic servo trays sometimes included in radio sets. A plastic tray carrying the weight of four servos but mounted in the aircraft with only six screws near the edge of the tray will break at the edge holes during a rough landing. This type of failure is particularly deceptive, as the controls may appear to be normal on the ground.

Servos come with rubber grommets which fit into the mounting lugs to provide vibration isolation. To function properly brass ferrules are inserted into the grommets. The ferule controls the amount of compression applied to the grommet by the mounting screw. When the screw is tightened until it contacts the ferrule, the correct compression is attained. The ferrule must be inserted from the bottom so that its flange contacts the mounting surface. If inserted in the other direction the flange will be under the screw head (not needed) and the sharp end of the ferrule may cut into the mounting plate causing excess grommet compression. Position the servo so that it contacts the airplane only through the rubber grommet.

In general it is better to position the servo with its long axis fore and aft. If mounted across the airplane, pushrod pressure will cause rocking. This consideration is less important for throttle servos.
from The Fly Paper James Pemne, editor via The Digital Dope Sheet, Paul Yuhas, editor Box J56, Dunlo PA 15930

G.V.A.M. Newsletter
c/o Glenn Crocker, Editor
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534