Genesee Valley Aero Modelers

Editor: Glenn Crocker
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534

How quickly time passes! Here it is June already. The lengthening daylight hours and better weather have helped to bring the flying season into full swing. As I write this column, however, a low-pressure system has stalled just to the west of our region, bringing rain and very breezy winds. Hopefully, the front will have moved out and we'll be back to more congenial flying weather by the time you read this.
Fortunately, the weatherman did cooperate over the weekend of 19-20 May, and the annual float fly at Honeoye Lake, sponsored by the Canandaigua Chiefs with our own Dick Parshall as CD, took place in excellent flying weather. I spent a short time at the rally late Saturday morning, and there appeared to be a very nice turnout with a lot of flying activity. I'm told that Sunday was a repeat of Saturday.
Several weeks ago my wife and I received a letter from a friend who lives in Watkins Glen. Included with the letter was a clipping taken from the Elmira Star-Gazette relating a sad story about a burglary that took place in the home of a gentleman who lives in Wellsboro, PA. Six RIC models, fifteen engines, two gallons of fuel, and a large collection of tools were stolen. Although it's a long shot, RIC clubs in Pennsylvania and New York are being contacted about this theft. If anyone should learn of the sale of items such as these that appear to be "hot," please call (570-662-2151).
The club's Board of Directors will be meeting in June to discuss what, if any action should be taken regarding the mowers. If you would like to offer input on this matter, please contact either one of the club officers, Dave Beckwith or Charlie Vogel as soon as possible and let them know your views. We hope to have a proposal to offer to the club by fall.
On another field-related matter, the dandelion problem has become rather severe; so bad, in fact, that some of the smaller aircraft are having difficulty taking off. In order to bring the situation under control, plans have been made to have the field sprayed at the earliest opportune time.
That's all for this month. Although the snow snakes have gone into hibernation for the season, be ever watchful for those plane-eating trees! I know from personal experience what nasty demons they can be!

Happy Landings!!!

You are at the field and you need to tweak your plane. You don't have the proper screwdriver, so you buy a 14-piece set for your field box. Next week you need a wrench. You buy a 100-piece socket set and dump it in your box. Now, your box is too crowded, so you build a bigger box.
You are now prepared to fix anything, but are you ready to carry that thing? This may be a little far out for most of us, but I have had a heavy box plague me.
I recently ruptured a disk in my lower back and the doctor has limited what I can lift. To the best of my knowledge, I wasn't injured by my heavy flight box, but I now have to make two trips to get it from one place to the another.
It takes very little to injure your back, especially when the load is off center hanging from one arm. The older you get, the thinner the disks get and the easier they are to damage. I am certain that blowing a disk can make you ready to do anything to get relief from the pain.
If you are getting to the point where you memory is starting to give trouble, and you hair is starting to get gray, like me, you might want to examine your field box. Make sure you aren't carrying a bunch of stuff you really don't need.

Touch-and-go is a great way to practice landings. It's a sure way to rapidly improve your technique, but even the best of us will bring one down a little hard once in a while, and the inevitable result will be a bounce.

The size of said bounce will be in direct proportion to how enthusiastically your airplane meets the runway. If unattended, of course, the first bounce will be followed by a second bounce and, if the second bounce doesn't break your prop or worse, you might be lucky enough to dribble to a stop before running off the end of the runway.

This type of landing will usually bring enthusiastic responses from critics on the sidelines.

There are, however, a couple of ways you can recover from a bad bounce and keep your dignity intact. One way is to maintain "full back pressure" on the stick (i.e., full up elevator) in the hope that there is enough flying speed to cushion the second bounce. If the bounce is more of a high-speed "skip" then this method works well.

The second method is to immediately apply power and return to level flight. I've tried both methods, and a "bounce-and-go" with quick application of power will usually result in a more positive recovery from a bad bounce.

The best landing procedure is to hold the aircraft off the deck a foot high with idle power, and try "not to land." The airplane will slow down and "sink in" in spite of you, giving you a smooth transition from air to ground.

June has rolled around, the dandelions have done their thing and the field is in great shape. The dandelions this year almost brought things to a stop. You almost needed a Quadra to get off the ground. Dick was right; we needed to spray this year. Abe Sickles agreed to do it when the conditions are right.

There has been a good turnout for club night and most any evening the weather is good. Club nights look like the family picnic. We counted 22 on one Thursday and I believe there were more the week before.

Stuff’s Sukoi made its maiden flight on the 7th with Jim McBride doing the test pilot honors. Stuff looked like an expectant father the way he fussed and checked. He even used a mirror to check inside the cowl (thought he was looking for snakes) and make adjustments. His plane flew very well and it looks like he has a winner here to go along with his Sky Raider.

The trees for the most part have been on a diet. Tom Brown and David McBride have teased them on occasion.

June 16-17 Sam 58 Town of Clay, Grenadier Field. Antique A/C-RC events-call 315-655-9068.

June 23-24 Sky Rovers Annual Air Show Ford Field.

June 30-Jul 4 Dave Landers Blow Out. Arkport N.Y.

July 28-29 RAMS Open House, Macedon.

August 3-5 Aero Show. Experimental A/C, Vintage A/C, Warbirds, Helicopters, Sky Diving. Pine Hall airport, 4906 Pine Hill Rd. Barre, Orleans County (716-589-7758)

August 5 GVAM annual family picnic. Coye field. Rain date is the following Sunday.

Sept. 2 Interclub Fun Fly.

Nov. 24 RAMS annual auction. Church of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you Abe for your time and effort in keeping the field looking like a lawn.

Although the XSB2D-1 (alias XBTD-1) Destroyer embodied much of the experience gained by Douglas with their SBD Dauntless series of shipboard bombers, it was, in fact, an entirely new design bearing virtually no resemblance to it’s predecessor. Intended as a heavy shipboard attack aircraft, the XSB2D-1 made its debut in 1942, the first two prototypes having the BuAer serial numbers 03551 and 03552. It embodied a number of advanced features, not least of which was the provision of remotely-controlled dorsal and ventral gun barbettes each containing a single 0.5-in. machine gun with 800 rounds. Fixed armament comprised two wing-mounted 20-mm. cannon with 400 rounds. An unusual feature was the form of the dive brakes, which were of finger-type, comprising six segments attached to the fuselage underside aft of the bomb-bay.

Powered by a Wright Cyclone R-3 350-14 radial air-cooled engine offering a maximum output of 2,250 h.p. for take-off and a normal maximum of 1,800 h.p. at 6,800 ft., the XSB2D-1 had an empty weight of 12,458 lb. and a maximum loaded weight (with two Mk. 13-1 torpedoes) of 19,825 lb. Overall dimensions were: span, 45 ft. 0 in.; span folded, 20 ft. 8 in.; length, 38 ft. 7 in.; height, 16 ft. 1 in.; wing area, 375 sq. ft. The fuselage bomb-bay could accommodate two 500-lb., 1,000-lb., or 1,600-lb. bombs, two 325-lb. or 650-lb. depth charges, or two Mk. 13-1 or, 2 torpedoes, and two 100-lb. bombs or 325-lb. depth charges could be carried on underwing pylons. Performance was as follows: maximum speed, 321 m.p.h. at sea level, 320 m.p.h. at 7,500 ft. 346 m:p.h. at 16,100 ft.; initial climb rate (at 16,273 lb.). 1,940 ft./min. (at 19,825 lb.) 1,150 ft./min.; time to 10.000 ft. (at 16,273 lb.), 6.3 min., (at 19,825 lb.), 12.6 min.; service ceiling (maximum loaded weight), 20,300 ft.; range (at 16,273 lb.), 850 mIs. at 180 m.p.h., (at 19,825 lb.). 620 mls. at 177 m.p.h.

An evaluation batch of thirteen SB2D-1s was ordered (BuAer Nos. 04959-04971), and a further prototype was completed (BuAer No. 44318), but prior to the completion of these aircraft they were redesignated as BTD-1. Destroyers. The prototypes being redesignated XBTD-1s. The third prototype and the pre-production Destroyers differed from the initial prototypes in having the remotely-controlled gun barbettes eliminated, together with the, position for the second crew member, this resulting in some cockpit redesign. The first pre-production BTD-1 Destroyer (04959) appeared in December 1943, this later being modified as the sole XBTD-2. and a further fourteen BTD-1s were ordered (BuAer Nos. 09048-09062), but only the first three of these were completed before further development of the Destroyer was cancelled.

If you happen to be flying and Tex Mantel and Charlie Vogel come up on each side with cameras, be very afraid. I really think they are tree people in human disguise.

I was flying at Canadice one beautiful morning minding my own business when I kept hearing come closer, come slower, come lower. Next to me were Tex and Charlie with their cameras. I made a closer, lower, slower pass but this did not satisfy them; they wanted more. As I was making a still closer, slower, lower pass the Willow tree that had crept up behind me reached out and snatched my plane.

The tree must have been on a low Nitro and no Monokote diet because it spit it out immediately, with most damage occurring when it hit the ground.

By this time Tex and Charlie had slithered up the beach and were standing with an "oh my gosh" look on their faces.

So if you see Tex and Charlie with cameras, land immediately.

CA that has cured on balsa, where you want to adhere covering, is difficult to remove. Here is a tool that works much better than sandpaper. It is Dr. Scholl's Callus Reducer. This is a double-sided file with coarse cut on one side and fine on the other. The cut pattern on the file looks like the old inner tube patch kit file that was used to rough up the inner tube prior to applying the rubber cement. It woks well. Submitted by Richard Trebel, Tulsa, OK.

Here is an easy way to guarantee stab alignment with the wing. Simply use a pair of 18" to 24" carpenters levels. First use one on the wing saddle. Hold it in place with rubber bands if necessary. Adjust the fuselage to center the bubble in the level. Put the stab in place and lay the second level on it. Adjust the stab seat to center the bubble level. Glue in place with the bubble’s level. If the model has a vertical fin assembly already on it, use two small torpedo levels (12" or smaller), one on each side of the fin. This is far more accurate than eyeballing it. Submitted by Ken Cigler, of Painsville, OH.