Genesee Valley Aero Modelers

Editor: Glenn Crocker
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534


Prez Sez

Another winter month has passed and I don’t even have half of the things done that I wanted to complete for this winter. As a matter of fact, I am up to four different building projects of my own going and another one that was given to me. My latest project is an electric version of the 1/2A pylon racer, "The Hornet". Both Jim McBride and Dave Beckwith have their own versions complete and being tested. Mine is built, and ready for covering. They all are powered by speed 400 motors, not brushless, that would be too expensive. This is a budget operation. One has a gear drive and they all have various battery packs. The hope is that we can get a few pylon races going this summer without the joy and the noise of dealing with Cox 049 motors. If you would like to join us, Dave has plans available.

We had our second outing at the high school gym at Honeoye. The turn out was even better than the first time. Lots of rubber-powered planes were flying around and even one rubber-powered helicopter, at least John Ward called it a helicopter. Three small RC’s were there also with no damage to props or planes this time. Unlike the first time, there were no UFO sightings.

To follow up on my Science Olympiad coaching, things did not go as well as we had hoped. The good plane was disqualified because the coach "helped" too much. Fortunately, the girls were able to fly our backup plane that they had done all the work on. The winning plane had a time of just over two minutes, and we now have a good idea of what we need to be competitive next year.

Now get back to those projects, you only have one more month till the April meeting when we all want to see what you have been working on.

Max

At The Field
By Glenn Crocker

The weather has been giving us a pretty good break this winter. One weekend we were able to fly Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we had a good crowd at the side of the road each day. Ned finally found the snow he had been searching for. I have done some Tuesday flying at the RAMS Macedon field this year as well. Hopefully we will have some more good winter flying weather.

We had another session at the gym for some more indoor flying. Ned and Lou were the new faces at this event. John brought a single blade helicopter (eat your heart out Mark) that did quite well. Lou had quite a selection of rubber bands (oops, sorry, I meant motors) and he found a motor that satisfied his requirements. For a while I didn’t know if he was going to fly them or eat them. See photo. Ned spent the evening training his planes. By the end of the night they were doing very well. Eric was still flirting with the netting in the ceiling but managed to stay out of it this week. He still had the best trained free flighters that evening. John was a very close second. There is one more indoor date scheduled. Come and join the group to fly or just watch.

A group of club members are going to the WRAMS show this weekend so we should have good coverage of the event and new goodies in the April Newsletter. They all plan to keep their hands in their pockets.

See you at the field? Watch out for the snow snakes!


Rotary film cutting

Those miniature, rotary fabric-cutting tools from the fabric or sewing store are ideal for cutting covering film. Use a straightedge as a guide, or make curved trim pieces freehand or with a French curve

from Brainbuster Newsletter
Brainbuster Free Flight Club
Abram Van Dover, editor
Newport News VA






Dues Are Due

It is that time of year again. Dues are due for 2005.

Juniors: Age 0-19 years $1.00

Seniors: Age 20-to Charlie’s age $45.00



Think you know everything?

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
There are more chickens than people in the world.

from the newsletter of the
Mississinewa Skyhawks Inc.
Dave Hecker, editor
Somerset IN

From The Fuel Fool

I will be taking fuel orders at the March meeting. If you can’t make the meeting give me a call with your order. I plan to place the order March 14^th. The fuel will be here in time for the April meeting.

The price of the fuel is the same as 2004. The price is based on the 64 gal price and will contain 20% lubricant made up of 18% Synthetic and 2% Castor.

10% Nitro $12.35

15% Nitro $13.50

Two cycle and four cycle fuel are the same price.

If you want any other type of Nitrol/lube mix let me know. They will mix anything you want.


The only caution they have given me is not to go more than 2% Castor with the lube.


Repairing dings

If you use spackle or balsa filler to repair a ding in a wing, use a drop of thin CyA on it after it has been sanded. The CyA will harden and make it more durable.

from Smoke Signals
Meroke Radio Control Club
Joe Di Prima, editor
Franklin Square NY


Separating iron-on covering

If you have trouble separating the iron-on covering from its plastic backing, try this. Stick a small piece of tape to each side of the covering, near the edge, and pull them apart. This should separate the covering from the backing. Another method is to stick a No. 11 X-Acto blade into the backing at a sharp angle. The blade will puncture the plastic backing but not the covering. Then, just lift up on the blade, and the backing will come off.
from The Wine Country Flier
Wine Country Flyers
Phil Leech, Stevo Smith, editors
Santa Rosa CA


Indoor Flying

Open Flying for Indoor Freeflight and Small RC.
Honeoye Central School High School Gym
All Club members and One guest each welcome
March 12^th, from 4:00 to 8:00pm


Chiefs Annual Auction

Canandaigua Chiefs Annual Auction & Swap Meet

Saturday March 19, 2005
Canandaigua Middle School
215 Granger Street
Canandaigua, NY
Doors open at 10 AM> Auction starts at Noon
Adult Admission $2.00


Did You Know

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

Setting a slow, reliable idle
A month seldom goes by in which I don’t receive letters from readers experiencing idle problems. As this seems to be a common problem, let’s take a look at setting up an engine’s idle. It isn’t really all that difficult.

To start with, many idle problems with non-pump equipped engines can often be traced to an improperly positioned fuel tank or a fuel tank that is too far from the engine. The centerline of the fuel tank should never be any higher than the centerline of the fuel jet and preferably 1/4 to 3/8 inches below. This helps decrease the siphoning action with a full tank of fuel.

The make of the glow plug also plays an important role. Any older design, cross-flow scavenged (ported) two-stroke engine should use an idle bar glow plug. Most of the newer Schnuerle ported two-stroke engines do not require an idle bar plug, but if idle problems are experienced, an idle bar plug should be used. If you aren’t sure whether the engine is cross-flow or Schnuerle ported, just look into the exhaust. If there is a baffle on the far side of the piston, the engine is cross-flow ported. If there is no baffle, it is Schnuerle ported. Some engines do have better idle characteristics than others due to differences in porting, timing, compression ratio, etc.

When it comes to the actual adjustment, there are two basic methods. The first is to start with the fuel tank half full and the idle speed set in the 2,500-2,700 rpm range. This is where a good tachometer comes in handy and is something every toolbox should contain, not just for setting idle speed but for proper richening of the top end as well. Then, use the "pinch test" (i.e. pinch the fuel line). If the engine dies immediately, the idle mixture is too lean and needs to be opened in 1/8-inch increments. If the engine speeds up and the idle improves, the mixture is too rich and the adjustment should be turned in or leaned.

If the engine is cowled in and the fuel line to the carburetor is not easily accessible, with a tricycle gear ship, lower the tail. If the engine dies immediately, the mixture is too lean. If the idle improves, the mixture is too rich. Remember to always make any idle mixture adjustments in 1/8-turn increments—not one or two turns at a time.

With a tail-dragger, make the mixture adjustments with the tail raised to a level position, being careful not to go so high as to have the propeller hit the ground. Then, lower the tail following the same procedure as with the tricycle gear model.

For the final check, accelerate the engine to full throttle. If it slows and sags and has a weak sound, the mixture is too lean and needs richening. If the engine sputters and spits out a lot of smoke, the mixture is too rich and should be leaned.

After a satisfactory idle and acceleration have been established, you can try lowering the idle speed to the point where the engine will remain idle for a prolonged period with good acceleration to full throttle. Again, the idle speed should be set with a tachometer and not by ear.

Many cases of an engine dying at idle are simply because of pilots who try to idle the engine too slow. It is nice to watch an engine tick over at 1,800 rpm, but an idle speed in the 2,200-2,500 rpm range is more practical and reliable.

Also remember, the heavier the propeller and the larger the diameter, the better the flywheel action. Increased flywheel action is always beneficial to a slow and reliable idle.

from Prop Talk
Riverside Radio Control Club
Jim Bronowski, editor
Riverside

Eric’s XB-35 Project

Eric Higham has been quietly working on a scratch project for the past three years. He is building a scale model of a Northrop XB-35 flying wing. The model will be 1/24 scale and will have an 86 "wing span. The power will be electric with four engines and will be turning counter rotating props. The photo below is Eric holding the top sections of the wing to give you some idea of the size. The full size XB-35 had a wing span of 172 feet so a 1/24^th scale is still a good size plane.



As with any project of this type you are on your own. This hasn’t proven a problem for Eric. He has designed and built the engines for the plane. He has used two 280 motors for each engine, machining the bracket to hold the motors and drive system. The inner shaft is metal and the outer drive shaft is made from a fiberglass arrow shaft. The spinners, hubs and bushings were designed and fabricated by Eric. The workmanship is truly outstanding. I believe the only purchased parts in the drive system are the motors, gears and prop blades. The sound of the engine is awesome. We had a free home demonstration at the last meeting.



When it came to the landing gear he was on his own again.

The retract modules are Hobbico mechanical retracts. Eric machined the mounting flanges and drilled lightening holes to reduce weight. He saved one ounce on each of the units.

The nose gear is a little unusual. It retracts to the side. He was able to use a Robart strut and an off the shelf wheel. The main gear strut the size that he needed didn’t exist so he fabricated them. The struts are spring loaded with lightweight wheels (2.75 " dia.) and the whole system is incredibly light.



He does not have a schedule that he is working to. He works on this as he has time. I will keep you up to date with Eric’s progress.

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