Genesee Valley Aero Modelers

Editor: Glenn Crocker
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534

The time has come for the election of officers for the Genesee Valley Aero Modelers. According to Article III, section 2 of our constitution, a nominating committee is to be selected at the September meeting, nominations are to be presented at the October meeting, and the election is to be held at the November meeting. The first part of the process has been completed. The nominations will be presented at the next meeting, which is scheduled for October 11th. At that time, there will be an opportunity to nominate candidates from the floor.

This entire process has become rather difficult for one simple reason: It seems that no one in this club ever wants to serve as an officer. We're all happy to belong, but very few are willing to step out and accept the responsibilities of leadership.

The GVAM certainly is not the only club ever to have this problem It is, in fact, all too common. In any organization, the number of individuals willing to accept an elected office generally is very small. Our own club has some 60 members, but a typical club meeting has merely a fraction of that number in attendance. There are times when it is difficult to secure a quorum to conduct official business. The number of those willing to serve as an elected officer is even smaller.

Agreed, not everyone is suitable for a leadership position Constraints of time, along with work or family responsibilities, as well as personal temperament may make it inadvisable for some members to become a club officer.

These remarks are not meant to scold or criticize. I simply feel that I would be remiss as president if I neglected to point out a problem that I think is rather significant. I merely ask you to consider what your part as a member of the GVAM is and should be.

On another subject, you undoubtedly have been contacted about the annual Ladies Night Out Dinner which will take place on October 13 th. Preliminary indications are that attendance is going to be very good. As in the past, I expect that we all will have an enjoyable time. I look forward to seeing you at the Holloway House in Bloomfield, October 13th at 6:30 for cocktails and 7:00 for dinner.

In the meantime, fly, fly, fly!! The days are getting noticeably shorter, the weather is turning cooler, and before you know it, we'll be dealing with those nasty snow snakes!!

Ever notice a moving "star" in the night sky?
If it's a steady light, it's probably a man-made earth satellite.

I've had a lot of fun recently using two great web sites that identify hundreds of satellites, and predict exactly when and where in the sky they'll be visible where you live.

Perhaps the most fun of all is watching the manned International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, especially when the Shuttle is about to dock or has recently undocked from the Space Station. When these large objects are high in the sky, they can be brighter than anything else up there except the Moon. You can't miss them -- if you know when and where to look.

Here's a brief description of the web sites and how each works (but explore each one yourself; each has a ton of other information):

This fascinating site (don't forget the hyphen) asks you to specify your location from its huge database, then gives you exact times (to the second) for seeing many satellites from where you live. It also gives magnitudes of brightness (lower numbers are brighter), and tells you where in the sky to look (by compass direction and number of degrees above the horizon).

For instance, you can choose among 10-day predictions for the International Space Station (they call it ISS), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), or daily predictions for the brightest satellites.

The Space Station and Shuttle, like most satellites, usually are only visible a couple hours after sunset or before sunrise, when they are in sunlight but we are in darkness. Some nights they aren't visible at all because they're not near enough to us at the right times.

Several times I've managed to see (and photograph) both the Station and the Shuttle at the same time when they are maneuvering near each other -- two bright lights, one following the other across the sky. Very impressive.

This site also gives sky charts, and sometimes ground-track maps, showing exact paths of satellites.

This site, operated by NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center, also gives viewing predictions, but its best feature is "J-Track 3D". Click on that, wait a few moments for data to load, and what you see is a real-time graphic of the Earth and hundreds of points of light, each representing a specific and identifiable satellite. Click on any of them to identify it and see its orbit path.

You can zoom in or out on the Earth, and even "rotate" the Earth to get, for instance, a view of all these satellites from above the North or South poles.

This site works great as a complement to the Heavens-above site. For instance, you can check Heavens-above to find exactly when you can see the Space Station, then go to this 3D view and watch as the point of light representing the Station approaches. Then you run out in your back yard to see the real thing!

By the time you read this the shelters will be put away for the winter. I would like to thank the mowing volunteers, Abe Sickles and Stuff Alger for their help this season. The field sure looked top drawer.

We will still have some good flying until winter sets in. We have our annual invite from Tex to do some snow flying on Tuesday mornings during the winter at the WRAMS Macedon field. This is civilized winter flying; you can go into the shelter and get warm by the fire with a hot cup of coffee.

Enjoy the rest of the season but watch those trees.

This is a reminder that Ladies Nite Out is being held a month early this year. Some of the members that head for Florida asked if we could move it up so they could attend.

Dinner is still at the Holloway House. Cocktails at 6:30 PM and Dinner at 7:00PM.

I don’t believe we will have to worry about slick roads this year.

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

On September 29 two of our junior members (Michael Parker and Benjamin Lessard) were given their Young Eagles flight. The Pilot was GVAM club member Tex Mantel.

The morning was questionable but the fog and overcast lifted about 10:30 and the flying began after a through preflight. The ride was smooth and the smiles were ear to ear.

The Young Eagles Program has been developed by the Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation to welcome young people into the world of aviation. Part of this activity is a flight. They hope to reach 1 million young people by 2003.

I am not into the 21st century yet and my photos need to be developed. We should have photos for the next newsletter.

I'll have to admit that in all the years I've been flying RC (Radio Control) airplanes, I've never really had a complete grasp of what happens to an engine left without lubricants after a weekend of flying. I know that the engine will obviously rust solid if nothing is done, but am I doing everything I can to protect my expensive engine?

I have my usual routine of running the engine dry of fuel and then adding Marvel Mystery Oil to the carburetor after my last flight of the day. I flip the prop over several times to draw the oil into the crankcase of the engine, cover with an old sock, and put my airplane away until the next sunny day.

Bob Slater; of Scottsdale AZ, has done us all the great service of addressing this question with his many years of rust-free engines. To prevent bearing rust and internal rust from destroying your engine, pull the fuel lines at full throttle and let the engine run out of fuel. Put the glow plug battery back on the glow plug and spin the prop with an electric starter for about 30 seconds.

Remove the battery from the glow plug and squirt a good shot of Rislone oil into the intake (of a two stroke) or the crankcase vent nipple (on a four stroke). Rislone® can be purchased at most auto supply stores.

Spin the prop again for a few seconds to distribute the oil throughout the engine, and repeat the "squirt and spin" procedure two more times.

That's it! If you plan on storing your engine for more than a month, squirt the oil in a little heavier and stand the engine on its crankshaft until the oil runs out of the front bearing housing.

This has been Bob's routine for the last five years, and he swears by it. Thanks, Bob.

Bridgeport WV

Last month I talked about the fire/explosion hazards of airborne fumes and how to minimize those hazards. This month I will discuss another fire/explosion hazard.

That hazard is wood dust. That's right, wood dust! Wood dust, like those piles of balsa dust that we all tend to make, is also extremely explosive.

A balsa stick or balsa dust in a pile burns ... right? Well, when that pile of dust is floating around in the air it can burn so rapidly that an explosion occurs. If there is enough wood dust suspended in the air, an explosion powerful enough to damage your home or even kill someone could occur.

This is a pretty sobering thought when you consider how many folks routinely reach for a cigarette during their sanding sessions.

An electric sander really adds to the problem by rapidly filling the air in your shop with wood dust.

A shop vac with its nozzle located near the sanding belt or disc can draw this dust away before it becomes airborne.

Yes, this is an extra step and extra noise, but it is also extra safety. That shop vac combined with other housekeeping tools can be used to make your balsa dust factory a healthier and safer place to work.

If you have a wing or tail surface that has overlapping sheets which form the trailing edge, put a strip of 1/64 inch ply between the sheeting to provide a harder edge for sanding or finishing.

William Hervoy, of Waukegan IL, paid a little more attention in home economics than the rest of us guys, and he's laughing all the way to the bank. I'll bet that most of you have taken the easy way out and have gone to the hobby shop to purchase a cloth boot to slip over your covering iron. Not William! In an all out Boy Scout attack on this outrageous expenditure of money, Mr. Hervoy has come up with a very cost-effective method for solving the same dilemma.

With William's design, you get twice the life out of your boot by turning the whole thing over and relacing it when one side becomes scruffy looking. He was kind enough to enclose a sample of his handiwork, and I can tell you that it works great! Thanks, William.

from The Altimeter
Clarksburg Model Aviation Club Richard Rader; editor
Bridge port WV