Genesee Valley Aero Modelers

Editor: Glenn Crocker
21 Highview Trail
Pittsford, NY 14534

In case you haven't noticed, the waning days of summer are sneaking up on us, bringing with them noticeably shorter daylight hours. So get out to the field and fly while you can! Unfortunately I have been unable to follow my own advice lately. Since the end of July, I have been "out of the loop" because some personal matters have required my undivided attention. However, I hope to resume my flying activities shortly, which in turn undoubtedly means that ~ severe summer drought is about to end!

Sunday, August 5th, was our annual club picnic, and great event it was! We had a very nice turnout of members and families. A considerable amount of flying took place, the fellowship was great, the weather was grand, and, as usual, the food was excellent. Those Zweigel hot dogs are absolutely the best!! On behalf of the club I want to thank everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this event the great success it was. I especially would like to extend my personal thanks to Glenn Crocker for all of his efforts. It is much appreciated

I recently learned about a remarkable feat that is being attempted by a group of modelers in the Washington, D.C., area. They are planning to fly a radio controlled model airplane across the Atlantic Ocean!! In fact, the flight may already have taken place, as the original timetable called for a late July take-off I don't have much information about the model, except that the all-up weight is 11 pounds and it will carry about one gallon of fuel. The flight will begin at Newfoundland and, if all goes well, will terminate some 40 hours later in Ireland. The entire journey will be pre-programmed into two on-board computers. One of the men actively engaged in the planning for this historic flight is Maynard Hill, a familiar name to many modelers. Maynard holds many world distance and duration records for model airplanes, including a 26,900 feet altitude record. If this feat is successful, I'm sure we will be hearing much more about it.

Remember that we will resume our regular second Thursday of the month meeting schedule at the Bloomfield town hall in September. So mark your calendar, and I hope to see you then, if not before. In the meantime, Happy landings!!

While we're in our winter building cycles, we will soon be faced with the age-old question about "What color should our new creation be?"

If this is a scale representation of a full-scale airplane, then the color scheme is predetermined. If we are young and eagle-eyed, then the color is chosen more on the basis of aesthetics rather than visibility.

However, if our eyes aren't quite as good as they used to be, then the color needs to be such that we can see it better.

The following paragraphs are reprints from previous On The Flight Line presentations which deal with the best color and scheme for best visibility. If you can't see it, then you can't control it.

From the May 1996, issue comes the following chart which shows the visibility index for a variety of colors;

While contemplating what colors to put on that new model, consider the following:

Avoid single-color aircraft. Particularly solid silver or solid dark colors.

Beginners are advised to color the bottoms of aircraft wings a dark color and the tops a light color.

Orientation recognition can be enhanced by placing large dark circles under the wings and a starburst pattern of straight lines on the top.

Any series of adjacent colors on your aircraft that is intended to facilitate orientation should be gray-scale opposites-not color opposites.

Don't rely on intricate patterns; they tend to blend together to form an edgeless fuzz at approximately100 feet away.

A bright red or orange leading edge on your wing and horizontal will help you keep your wings level during landings.

Color lines parallel to and above the fuselage horizontal thrustline provide a good angular reference on the glide path prior to the final turn.

For better loops, make the wingtips and horizontal stabilizer red or orange, and the body background a very light color such as white or yellow. This helps you tell if the wings are flat.

from On the Flightune Pikes Peak Radio Control Club
Bill Sanderman, Editor

1 Field box. Hardwood construction. $49.00
1 Folker DVII kit for .60 2 cycle or .80 4 cycle with wheels.
Half built Comet Clipper for R/C. Built by local craftsman. $130.00 or best offer or 4-cycle engine trade.
1 Rebuilt from Auction purchase RCM 40. Asking $30.00.

The 2001 flying season is rapidly coming to an end. The flying weather has been very good with most of the club taking full advantage of the flying conditions. As far as I know only two people fed the trees this year. Yours truly happened to be one of them (with the help of the tree sirens).

Our students have made excellent progress this year (even Tom). Tuesday evening training night has worked out very well. For the most part club members have respected training night and gave the students the evening to develop their flying skills.

We had a good turnout for our annual Family picnic. The weather was perfect and for a change we drank all of the soft drinks. We had 35-40 attend and everyone went away with enough to eat, enough to drink and enough flying. We gave the club cook (Dave Beckwith) the day off this year but he will be back on duty next year.

The interclub picnic was hosted by RCCR at North Hampton Park. There were approximately 30 to 35 people in attendance with as many planes and the weather was perfect. Usually the flags are straight out with an Olean crosswind. There was plenty to eat, some great flying and good conversation and heckling. We will be hosting the interclub picnic next year and I hope we have as good a day as we had this year.

Take advantage of the flying as much as you can because you know what follows Fall. Stay clear of the plane eating trees!

This year is an election year for GVAM. We will be nominating and electing officers for a 2 year term. Elections will be held at the November meeting.

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

I would like to thank the 2001-mowing volunteers. The field has been kept in excellent condition as a result of your efforts.

I would especially like to thank Abe Sickles for mowing the high grass again this summer. Abe mowed three times this summer and has kept the field looking like a park.

Wendell is concerned it looks so good the town may reassess him.

from the Texarkana R/C Flyer Joe Cole, editor

via The Clanking Armor David Dishong and Ron Vogel, editors

If you need an extra-long screw or bolt for something such as a wing tank or mid-mounted wing, make one by cutting the correct size threaded rod you need, then solder a wheel collar on one end. Next, using a cut-off wheel, cut a slot in the wheel collar for a screwdriver.

Get some ammonia, found in the household section of the supermarket. Put some in a spray bottle and spray both sides of balsa sheet liberally. Carefully bend the sheet to the right shape. You can even tape it to a form, such as an aluminum soda can, and let it dry. Once dry, it may be used as turtle-decks, etc.

Fill plastic Ziploc bags of various sizes about three-quarters full of fine sand, and seal each well. Use these to hold down large parts such as wings while building. The sand will conform to the shape of parts well. They also work well when gluing sheeting.

Goldberg Ultracote film covering has a paper backing that you can print on. Cut an 81/2 x 11 inch sheet, put it in an ink jet printer, and print your design on the paper backing. Don't use a laser printer or anything that uses heat. It will destroy your covering.

This works well for large lettering. Make sure your image is reversed, so that when it's printed on the backing, you can cut it out and it'll be correct when ironed on your airplane.

If you want to use a piece of covering that's smaller, print the design onto paper first. Then carefully tape the Ultracote to the paper over the design. Run the whole thing through your printer and the design should print in the same place.

If you can find a kitchen spice rack at the flea market, get one to put your CyA and epoxy glue bottles on. The kind made for small bottles works very well. The empty bottles can also be used to keep small hardware items in.

A spray bottle of water on your bench comes in very handy for bending balsa sheets. If you spray a little water on the wood before you use filler, it will stick much better and go on smoother.

Have you ever had a dent in a balsa leading edge? Try fixing it with water! Get a small diabetic syringe and put water in it. Inject a little water into the balsa into and around the dent in the leading edge. Heat the area with your covering iron. When the water starts boiling, it will build pressure and push the balsa out to its original shape. (Courtesy Victor A.)

1) Sure but not an Independence Day.

2) Everybody has only one.

3) White.

4) Halfway. After that he’s running out.

5) Six more hours.

6) Nine.

7) 70.

8) Two.

9) No. A dead man cannot marry.

10) You don’t bury survivors.

11) Neither, Mama COW does it.

12) 29 Days.

In the case where you have a single bolt hub, prop slippage can be a problem. A simple cure for this is to use sticky-back sandpaper; any grit, and stick it to one of the contact surfaces.

Got nicks and dents in your balsa? Just put a cloth over the area and wet it, and then place a hot iron on the wet cloth. Small nicks and dents disappear like magic.