The Prez Sez . . .
 This month, I'd like to share a little fable with you. Once upon a time there was an RIC modeler who was an experienced builder. He had been around model airplanes and engines practically his entire life, having started out with gliders and rubber-powered models as a child. He went on to build free flight and control line models powered by gasoline engines, and later graduated to the new glow plug engines. 

However, he was never an especially good RIC flier, partly because he became inactive just before the advent of the analog and subsequent digital radio systems. By the time he returned to the hobby, RIC modeling had become very sophisticated, and he had to struggle mightily to become a reasonably proficient flier. 

Gradually, however, he got to the point where he could do a pretty good job of getting his trainer, a Seniorita, to do what he wanted it to do, like land in one piece. Eventually the time came to move up to something a little more advanced, like a Sig LT-25. 

He finally got the LT-25 built and took it out to the field one day to have someone test fly it for him. He got there early, before any one else, and decided to check his plane out to make sure the controls were okay and the engine was running properly. Everything was fine, so he decided to kill the engine and wait for his test pilot. As he reached to pinch off the fuel line, he got a bit too careless and managed to stick his fingers into the spinning propeller. The result? Two banged up fingers, one of them requiring two stitches to close off the wound. 

This of course is no fable. It happened to me several weeks ago. The point of the story is very simple. No matter how experienced you are, BE CAREFUL!!! It takes only a momentary lapse of attention or carelessness to cause a lot of damage. I was lucky. In a similar accident, a fellow in another Western New York club recently injured two fingers so severely that 13 (!) stitches were needed to repair the damage. So remember, fellows, pay attention to what you're doing. These 'toys" we play with have a nasty bite!! 

And now, to more pleasant matters.

The October meeting was a great treat with a demonstration of scale aircraft engines. Thanks to Jim McBride's efforts, Mr. Joe Sciarratta brought several engines that he had handcrafted himself. The jewel of his efforts was a fully operational quarter scale 5-cylinder Kinner radial that performed flawlessly, from full bore to a puckata, puckata slow idle. Several of us mentioned how great it would look in front of a quarter-scale Fleet biplane! 

We also had our own John Ward demonstrate his fully operational scale World War I type rotary engine (a Gnome, I think). It was another jewel that gave a very realistic performance. It, too, had the scale builders fantasizing about the possibilities of a large-scale World War I airplane powered by this beauty. Our thanks go to everyone who had a part in this great demonstration.

 One final note. Remember that the annual Ladies Night Out Dinner is fast approaching, on November ₁₈th, to be precise. If you haven't signed up yet, it's not too late. Give Glenn a call and make your reservation. It looks like we're going to have a nice turnout and you don't want to miss out on the food and fellowship.

 That's it for now. Happy landings!!!

 Another flying season has come to an end (at least for the warm weather folks). Everyone seems to have a winter project lined up to combat the long cold days. Some of the crazies are getting ready to put the skis on the planes and do some snow flying. 

Quite a few of the more “mature” members are heading for the warm temperatures for the winter. The only problem with Florida is that there is no building season. 

I feel we did an excellent job of keeping the trees on a diet and keeping the carnage to a minimum. Charlie even flew his Laker a couple of times (from land). Mark Smith was seen cruising the field daily looking for helicopter converts. He even stopped by Canadice Lake once. There were several Judd sightings this summer, with confirmed reports that he made a few flights. He had his “Wanna Be” tuned to perfection (Nowakowski would have been proud) and the next step would be to fly it, so he thew his back out and we didn’t see him for the rest of the summer. 

Stay safe and enjoy the winter. If you fly watch out for the snow snakes. 

 Ladies night out is scheduled for November 18 th at the Holloway House on Route 5 & 20 in Bloomfield N.Y. Cocktails will be at 6:30 pm with dinner at 7:00 pm. Plan to join us for our annual end of season dinner.  

 Nov.18           Ladies Night Out

Nov. 25          RAMS Annual Auction.  

 For any members that have attempted to access the club web site lately you found that it is down. This is a result of my changing my internet service to Road Runner. As long as we need to change servers I thought it would be a good time to explore other options. I found a local organization that provides free site hosting to non-profit groups, that’s us!  

This has a number of advantages. When the site is tied to an individuals personal account any time that account changes the web address changes. With this organization we should have a home for the site for the foreseeable future. In addition we can provide access to make changes to the site to more than one member making it easier to keep the sites content fresh and up to date. One other advantage is that they don’t have a strict limit on the size of the site. This would allow us to do some different things such as post the newsletter to the site and archive them so you could search for old articles easily. (we would of course continue to mail the newsletter). 

All of the above can be done at no cost to the club. The only potential cost is in registering a domain name if we desire to do so. What this means is that if we want a web address like www.ggw.org/gvam there would be no cost. If we want to register our own address (domain name) they will do that at a cost of $44.00 for the first two years and $22.00 year after that. The advantage to a registered domain are that it is a little easier to access and remember and we did move the site to another server in the future we could keep the same address if we wanted to.

I will not be at the November meeting but if someone wishes to bring this up at the meeting and let me know how to proceed I will get the site back up and running. Now that I have MS FrontPage and am becoming comfortable with it updating the site will be easier so I would like to start updating the site on at least a monthly basis. Member input will be welcomed and appreciated. 

The answer is: VMT Pyorremyrsky “Finnish Twister”.

·         Wing Span              34 ft.

·         Length                    30ft.

·         Speed                     326 mph

·         Top Speed               390 mph

·         Armament               20mm canon thru Spinner and 2- 12.7 mm Machine Guns.

“He’s Back” or well on his way. This is a warning for the Moonport Modlers. Tom Brown, otherwise known as the Titusville Terror was seen heading south for his winter haunt.

We tried and tried and tried and tried while we had the “pleasure” of his company this summer, to get him to solo. The results are, he does a terrific takeoff. His landings are keeping the landing gear companies in business. His fingers just seem to freeze up any time the term flair is used.

We enjoyed his company and look forward to next summer. To be on the safe side we plan to widen the runways and put hard covers on the shelters.

This is the annual request that we do not fly during deer season. There will be hunters in the woods adjacent to the field and our neighbor is concerned for our safety. Deer season runs from November 20 to December 12th.

I will be taking fuel orders for the 2001-flying season at the December and January meetings. I will have a firm price in the December Newsletter. If you are not able to make the meetings, you can call me to place an order ***-****. I will be placing the order the week following the January meeting to avoid the February price increase.

How to Detail with iron on coverings 

Your model is framed out and starting to look like the plane of your dreams! Now is when you have to sit back and layout what details you want to incorporate into your finished aircraft. A model can look like a model, or it can be enhanced with details to give an allure of realism.

 It does not take a lot of detailing to turn a simple model; into a very realistic looking aircraft. The simplest details can add up to make a model look like "the real thing".

 Covering a model is a matter of personal preference and project requirements; cover & paint, fiberglass & paint, pre painted fabric or plastic covering films. These are all viable methods of finishing your model and all have their pros and cons. Choose the look you want to achieve and work with the medium you are most comfortable with. 

I like iron on coverings such as Monokote, Century 21 fabric and film, etc and have had great success in getting the look I wanted. To cover with pre finished films, we need to have the framework absolutely smooth. After it is initially sanded apply a thinned coat of dope over the entire frame, (this will bring up the fibers in the wood). Allow to dry, then use increasingly fine sandpaper, aluminum oxide or wet and dry paper (320,400,60O grit) to sand the frame until it is as smooth as glass with no dents or bumps. Use a tack cloth to remove sanding dust from your frame. Any imperfections on the sanded airframe will be exaggerated through the covering when it is ironed down. The dope on the framework will also add adhesion to the covering. 

In order to get the impression of panels & lines on your model; start by drawing them on the smooth wood frame. All panels should be carefully duplicated according to the 3 view drawings of your particular airplane. When you are satisfied with the placement and shape of the drawn panels, proceed to measure and cut the covering material into matching panels. Add an 1/8" to a 1/4" to these dimensions, then when the panels are applied, they will overlap each other and create the panel lines you are trying to achieve. Cover the wings from the trailing edge to the leading edge so each panel overlaps with the previous one sealing each edge from the oncoming slipstream. 

Fuselage should be covered from bottom to top and from tail to nose. 

Covering with panels is much easier than trying to use one large piece, you have much more control with smaller pieces and can get beautiful results with no bubbles or wrinkles. 

Begin to cover, by setting your covering iron to the proper temperature, according to the manufacturer's directions. Only iron down the edges of the panel and leave one end open, stretch the panel by heating it with a heat gun, pull it drum tight, then iron down the remaining edge to seal the panel, use your heat gun carefully to further shrink down each panel and making them tight, being extra careful not to get too close to the edges. DO NOT touch the iron down to the panel itself, only to the outer edge! 

Allow to cool or use a damp sponge, there, you should have a perfect panel, no bubbles, no wrinkles & no scratches. If a stubborn area needs to be ironed down, use a cotton sock over the iron and increase the temperature a bit. The sock will prevent the iron from scratching the finish, when applied directly onto the surface. 

After all the panels of covering are ironed down and secure, we can further enhance them by applying other details, such as rivets, screws, hatches & Dzus fasteners. 

Rivets can be accomplished by applying them individually or by using a perforated tape, such as ticker tape, and dabbing white glue or wallpaper seam cement through the perforations. When dry, these glues turn clear and whatever color the covering is can be seen through the clear dots, making them appear the same color. 

Hatches are very simple to make, cut the covering material to size and shape and iron it down in it's proper location (use a sock over the iron so you won't scratch the surface). Remove the sock and turn the iron on it's side, use the edge of the iron to carefully outline the hatch. Press down onto the covering with a little pressure, this etches or engraves the line into the covering's finish, making it appear to be raised and 3 dimensional. This step is meant for solid surfaces, not open areas, here you need to cut a scrap piece of 1/64" plywood in the proper shape and cover it with the same material then simply glue it in place.

Screws and Dzus fasteners are made by first preparing a small screwdriver the size you need for your screw heads. Slip a brass or aluminum tube slightly longer than the screwdriver over the shank and glue it to the driver, file or grind the end of the tubing down so it will be even with the driver blade.

Grinding the tube down will leave some unwanted material around the tube, inside and out, Trim off any access material from the ground tube, with an Xacto knife, in order to keep it as round and thin as possible, around the screwdriver blade. Heat the end with a heat gun for about 30 seconds or so, and then press it down onto the covering with a little pressure, hold for a few seconds and the covering will be imprinted by the driver and tube to look like a Dzus fastener. Tubing by itself can be used also to make flush rivets or screw heads. A ground down miniature Phillips screwdriver makes a great fake screw, when heated and pressed to the covering.

 If painting is required on parts of the airplane to achieve a scale matching scheme, you can paint over most of these covering materials, by first buffing the area to be painted with a fine grit Scotchbrite pad, this will break the surface gloss of the covering ,and allow the paint to adhere.

Now that you have some insight on how to accomplish the desired details you want, you only need to imagine what you want to see on your airplane and work out the details. Be patient and have fun!

Pre-thinking saves a lot of redoing!
 From World Miniature Warbird Association 

 After you put that beautiful covering on your model, you accidentally spill some CyA glue on it, and you think it's a mess. To take care of the problem, get a bottle of "Debonder." put a little on a paper towel, and rub the glue right off. Wipe it clean, and you're brand new again!
from Oroville Air Corps Flight Line
Sid Maxwell, editor 

 To tighten a spinner backplate that fits too loosely on the shaft, use a center punch to make a few punch marks around the shaft hole. This usually pushes the metal inward enough to take up a few thousandths of an inch clearance. 

from Plane Torque Syd Russell, editor Snohomish Radio Aero Club 

 Another method for fishing servo wires through wings, especially ribbed wings, is to go to the hardware store and get about three feet of the smallest beaded chain you can find. You know, the stuff like on the pull chain of your ceiling fan, only smaller. Drop this chain in your servo bay, and rock the wing back and forth. The chain will find its way down like water. Tie a string or your wire to it, and pull it right through.  

 From hardware stores, you can get rubber-backed washers. Use these on the cowl and canopy bolts. They are nice because they hold the bolts in a way that they don't vibrate loose, and the rubber backing is easier on the paint than bare metal.

both above from http:llwww gsa/org via DCRC Newsletter
305 Natick Court Silver Spring MD 20905-5875