Upcoming EFO Flying Meetings Reminder Event Reminder.	Change of Email Address Requested Ken suggests keeping your email address up to date with him.
EFO and Midwest RC Society Freeze Fly and Season Opener the happenings at the May EFO Meeting.	A Report on the 2025 Keith Shaw Birthday Fly-in at the Balsa Butchers Flying Field The happenings at this wonderful, friendly even.
The June EFO Flying Meeting The happenings at our June meeting.	60 Years in 60 Minutes Joe Hass share info on his son's 3D turbine and flight photos of his AstroMite.
FMS Clevis Warning Keith Shaw shares information about faulty clevises he found on a FMS SuperEZ.	A Bit of Ancient History Keith Shaw shares his early experiences with galloping ghost and some very interesting early photos.
Planes for Sale Walt Thyng has some planes for sale and catches us up on what he's been up to.	First Flight of of the Darmstadt D22 Keith Shaw shares information on the maiden of the Darmstade D22.
41st Annual Mid-America Electric Flies 2025 & FREE Open Air Swap Meet Event Announcement	Upcoming E-vents
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EFO Flying Meeting Reminder      Please keep in mind that summer EFO flying meeting dates are tentative because of the weather, but not for the Mid-Am.      Everyone is welcome and proof of current AMA membership is required to fly.      Spectators and visitors are always welcome.      The next EFO monthly flying meeting is the Mid-Am scheduled for Saturday and Sunday July 12 & 13 at 10:00 a.m. at the Midwest RC Society 7 Mile Rd. Flying Field. Return to "What's In This Issue" Change of Email Address Requested By Ken Myers      A reminder for Ampeer subscribers. If you wish to continue receiving the monthly notice, please update your email address whenever you change it. Thanks, Ken Return to "What's In This Issue" EFO and Midwest RC Society Freeze Fly and Season Opener      More than a few years ago I started a Retro RC Radio Flash.      Saturday, May 26, was the Season Opener for both clubs and, as it turned out, Freeze Fly, held at the Midwest RC Society 7 Mile Road flying field.      Well, it was not really freezing, but it sure felt like it, as shown how we are dressed in the photo with all of the guys bundled up.      The temperature was in the low 50s with a harsh and brisk wind blowing. The sky remained mostly cloudy for the whole day.      Denny Sumner did get in a couple of nice flights on his new Cub.      The photos were taken at the brightest part of the day. Shortly after the photos were taken, the clouds rolled in and stayed the rest of the day.      AMA Hall of Fame members, Pete Waters and Ken Myers, had a nice chat about aeromodeling's past and future.      Pete Waters brought over an early, large jacket back patch for Denny Sumner to put into his build room. How cool was that?!      A field lunch of hot dogs and chips was provided by Greg Eilers, of the Midwest RC Society. Greg was also the chief cook at the grill.      Thank you Greg and the Midwest RC Society!      Although there was not a lot of flying, it was still a great day to get together and enjoy each others flying stories.      The cloud cover can be seen in these photos.      A very special guest also showed up for the meeting. It was great to see Mark Rittinger at the flying field again after his very trying times with long COVID and its after effects. Thanks also to Mark for his Sig Seniorita as a club trainer.      While it was not the best "day", it was still a great day at the flying field. Return to "What's In This Issue" A Report on the 2025 Keith Shaw Birthday Fly-in at the Balsa Butchers Flying Field      Dave Grife was once again the contest director (CD) for the 23 annual Keith Shaw Birthday Fly-in on May 31, 2025. The annual event is held at the Balsa Butchers' flying field near Coldwater, MI, with near the southwest corner of the lower peninsula of Michigan.      While the weather was not ideal, everyone had a good time.      The temperature hovered in the low 50s for most of the day and there was a strong, chilly wind out of the north. Luckily, it was mostly sunny with a bit of haze from the Canadian wildfires.      Keith Shaw, the birthday boy (June 6, 1946) shared some great flying of his new Darmstadt D-22.      More information on this very unique, zero stagger wing biplane can be found in previous Ampeers. Feb. 2024 Ampeer May 2025 Ampeer Photo Courtesy of the the Flying Circuits Community Facebook Page      Keith also flew his great flying Dreamer Bipe.      This is a look down the flightline early in the day.      Dave Grife flew all of the planes from his beautiful fleet.      Roger Wilfong, John Liberg, Pat Mattes and Keith Shaw are shown discussing Keith's new D-22.      Pat Mattes was up from the Fort Wayne, IN area and had more photos from the meeting posted on the Flying Circuits Facebook page.      The following photos are from that Facebook page. There are a lot more photos there, so be sure to check them out.      Jim Young, of Brighton, MI walks his Wedell-Williams out for a great flight.      Dave Grife's Jet, with full afterburners, is shown above and his big, beautiful Ike racing plane below.      The flying field lunch was fantastic. Of course there were the usual hot dogs, but the members of the Balsa Butchers added so much more with a potluck of great dishes. A thanks goes to all of those folks who made this a truly great birthday party!      Pat Mattes brought several of his flying buddies up from Fort Wayne and they had a good time putting on a great combat event. Unfortunately, PatÕs plane fell victim to the combat, but it can be repaired and in the air again soon.      Ken, Keith and John discussed the good ole days at the AstroFlight booth at the original Toledo Show. Memories!      Pat is seen admiring and discussing Keith's new D-22.      Dave, and his Balsa Butchers' crew, did a wonderful job in hosting this low key, super fun and friendly event.      You should really plan on attending next year's event when Keith turns 80!      See ya there! Return to "What's In This Issue" The June EFO Flying Meeting      The June 2025 EFO flying meeting was held at the Midwest RC Society 7 Mile Road flying field on Saturday, June 7.      The weather was only a tad better than the previous two flying meet-ups.      The temperature rose quickly to the upper 60s and lower 70s. Wow, no "winter" gear was needed.      Unfortunately, the Canadian wildfires were still causing a haze and breathing issues and the winds were quite high and switching from northwest, north and northeast. That made flying "interesting" for sure.      Roger Wilfong, foreground, and Denny Sumner, background, got in a few flights before the winds got so "interesting".      The cover, on one of Midwest's sun shades, needed a bit of repair. Denny Sumner and Aaron Heiner worked on the repair, while Keith Shaw and Roger Wilfong looked on.      The shade was well used for the rest of the day.      Keith Shaw arrived with his Dreamer and D-22.      Of course a "bit of wind" wasn't going to keep him down.      Keith returns to the pits after a great flight with his D-22.      Keith taxis out his Dreamer to do battle with the wind.      Ken Myers finally took his very first flight of the the year. He used his trusty FMS SuperEZ, and the flight and landing went especially well. Surprise. ;-)      Even though the flying was far from ideal, the group didn't break up until after 2 p.m. They were just having too much fun!      Hope to see you at the next meeting, which is the Mid-Am! Return to "What's In This Issue" 60 Years in 60 Minutes From Joe Hass via email      Monday May 26, 2025 was a phenomenal day for Chris and me. Within about 1 hour Chris did the first flight of his new, thrust vectoring turbine jet.      Then he flew the Astro Mite using Galloping Ghost for a 2-minute flight, R.O.G. with a landing back on the runway after the motor timed out and shut down.      60 YEARS OF TECHNOLOGY IN 60 MINUTES!      What a phenomenal contrast.      Astro Mite update. I reprogramed the ESC for prop braking, as the windmilling prop caused a lot of drag on the glide.      We both agreed that it was flying too fast so I am going to see if I can adjust the motor RPM from the timer before I try a different prop.      While charging the single Li-Po that I use for the receiver the Li-Po failed open. Glad that happened on the ground.      Take a close look at the elevator on the 2 pictures of the Astro Mite. Full up in the first. Full down in the second. Both with no elevator input.      And to think that my Dad flew a Tauri with the same type of RAND actuator with a glow .19. Joe Return to "What's In This Issue" FMS Clevis Warning From Keith Shaw via email      The reason for this message is to warn everyone of a scary/near_disastrous experience with one of my club's trainers, a FMS SuperEZ.      After some very minor maintenance last night, I wanted it to get a fight check before going back in service.      The flight was uneventful, but some trim was required.      When I disconnected the first clevis, it literally fell apart in my hand. I moved on to the next, SAME THING. Third clevis seemed okay at first, but when I went to put it back on the horn, the pin broke away. One side of the other aileron clevis was broken, and only held together by the silicone safety band. ALL FOUR OF THE CLEVISES WERE JUST WAITING TO FAIL.      I would HIGHLY recommend checking any FMS planes you may have, and replacing the plastic clevises with Metal Du-Bro units. You will have to make new pushrod ends also, as the thread is not the same. * * * * *      In addition to the SuperEZ, I took 4 other planes to the field today. The Dreamer and the Darmstadt D-22 flew well and are considered trimmed, although I may move the CG on the later back a tiny bit, not really necessary though.      The BearKitty did well but didn't seem to have the power and vertical I remember, and after about 3 minutes it told me it was well past time to land. The prop stopped on final, a few inches above the ground. I suspect one of the smaller A123s has faded. The bigger A123 cells seem to live forever, but I've had a few of the small ones lose capacity after 4-5 years.      The EstrellitaÊhad a problem with a wandering LiPo battery, so I elected not to fly it until I can make a rigid battery mount (no velcro).      Tonight will be a night of maintenance/repair/testing. Very important for aircraft longevity and safety! Keith      Since I fly a FMS SuperEZ a lot, I responded to Keith. Hi Keith,      Shortly after receiving your note this morning, I brought my SuperEZ to the workbench to check the clevis on each control horn.      All of the clevises physically checked out okay with secure pins, and in good condition. Whew! I plan on flying it this weekend at your Birthday Fly-in.      My SuperEZ went into service in the very early spring of 2016 and probably has several hundred flights on it, as I used it as a trainer for my students since day one.      That certainly doesn't mean your observation and warning is not valuable, as I'm sure that, over the years, FMS has gotten many batches of those clevises, possibly from various sources, with different materials being used.      I concur that anyone with a FMS plane, of any type, should do a clevis inspection before flying any FMS plane again.      Thanks so very much for heads up! Ken Return to "What's In This Issue" A Bit of Ancient History From Keith Shaw via email      I was looking through my photo-shoeboxes to find photos of my Midwest Astromite after seeing Joe Hass' version in this month's Ampeer.      I uncovered many other curiosities that will go out in future emails.      My Astromite served as a test bed for the development of my homemade analog servos working with my favorite Kickin' Duck control system. Kickin' Duck was a way of separatingÊout the elevator function on a Galloping Ghost radio. It operated at a higher pulse rate with no interaction. The surfaces had only the slightest of quiver. The radio was quite reliable and became the plane that I took to college for the rare days I had time to fly.      The Midwest Astromite had a simple box fuselage with a molded foam wing and stabilizer, and powered with a Golden Bee 049.      I have a "new" wing and stab in the basement, so maybe the skies of Michigan will see TWO Astromites trying to fly in formation.      I also found a few photos of my favorite sport bipe of the era, the Wildfire.      I had three over the years. The first was dark blue with white trim and flew with a homemade radio and a Babcock escapement (~1962). Second was orange and white and was my "reeds" trainer (~1964). Third (~1965) is shown here, making it apparent that I loved sunbursts. It was my long-serving test bed for my own analog proportional, then my hybrid analog-digital, then finally my real digital in 1967.      Notice that some long-forgotten strange person is holding them. :-) (Yes folks, that is Keith km) Keith      I followed up with this:      OMG, we looked so similar in the 1960s. That is me on the left and my friend and singing buddy, Lonnie VanTrump, on the right. Christmas 1966. Ken      Pete Foss followed up with this, "I was a bit younger in the mid 60s!".      Joe Hass shared his galloping ghost "birdcage" photos on his original AstroMite using a Mighty Midget motor. (That is what I used on my GG controlled models until I got Rand Actuators. KM) Return to "What's In This Issue" Planes for Sale From Walt Thyng via email Hi Ken,      Loved the bit about the Astro- Mite with the Galloping Ghost system. My first "proportional" system was an EK Logictrol transmitter with a Rand 3 function actuator (all I have left is the switch). I think the airplane was a DeBolt Champ.      IÕm curious to know if I could advertise some kits in the Ampeer. My best friend of 72 years recently died and his widow shipped me a bunch of his stuff.      There is a Yellow/brown box TopFlite P-51B with the D model conversion canopy. It has been stored in a dry place; the wood has never been out of the box. This is really a collector's item, but I'd rather sell it to a builder (especially one who would convert it to electric power). I'd like to get $200.00 plus shipping for it. The next is a Sterling Rimfire (a copy of the Kaos); 59 inch wing span. It's also old enough to be a classic; asking $150.00 plus shipping. The third kit is a TopFlite Headmaster; 48in wing span, three channel (a decent builder could easily add ailerons). The nose extensions to the fuselage sides have been added. This kit is also old enough to be a classic. Asking $100.00 plus shipping. Walt Thyng; thyng@att.net; 815-404-1086      If this is against policy or practice, I will understand. (Nope it is not. KM)      IÕm cutting back to the 800 mm class of models now and have sold all but two of my 60 inch plus planes; not counting gliders. In the space of 10 days, I went from no gliders (guess why) to 3. Bought one, got two free. Keep those amps flowing, Walt Return to "What's In This Issue" First Flight of of the Darmstadt D22 From Keith Shaw via email May 14, 2025      I successfully flew the Darmstadt D22 this afternoon against some ominous skies. The storms have yet to fully develop, but I could see a wall of really dark clouds on the western horizon, but for the first time in a week the winds were under 15 mph, or dead crosswind, or pouring rain.      It handled fine, only needing a bit of down trim. It could do all the simple aerobatics expected of a Clark Y airfoil. But there will still be some minor trimming needed. I had set the top wind at a little higher angle of attack than the lower, but it appears that this was not needed, so tonight I will shim that difference out so that both wings are at the same angle of attack. My guess is that that will eliminate the down trim. It also might be slightly nose heavy, but I won't be able to tell for sure until the incidence setup is finalized.      But I am quite happy with it already. It looks very striking in the air and I think it will make a great conversation piece. :-) Oh and by the way, it has a VERY good glide, almost as good as a clean monoplane, so the 100% stagger really does remove the wing interference losses associated with a biplane.      Now I need to ponder the next project. Perhaps the quirky Granger Archeopteryx? British, of course. I drew plans (48" spam) for it during the COVID lockdown. Keith Return to "What's In This Issue" 41st Annual Mid-America Electric Flies 2025 & FREE Open Air Swap Meet (See Swap Meet Note at the end of this announcement.) AMA Sanctioned Event (Proof of AMA membership required to fly - Sorry MAAC membership is no longer accepted) Saturday, July 12 & Sunday, July 13, 2025 Hosted by the: Ann Arbor Falcons, Electric Flyers Only and The Midwest RC Society The 7 Mile Rd. Flying Site, Salem Twp., MI, is Provided by the: Midwest R/C Society Contest Directors are: Ken Myers phone (248) 669-8124 or email Ken Website for updates: theampeer.org for updates & info Keith Shaw (734) 973-6309 Flying both days is at the Midwest R/C Society Flying Field - 7 Mile Rd., Salem Twp., MI Registration: 9 A.M. Saturday Event Flying from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Saturday Open Flying 10 A.M. Until You Leave Sunday (Open Flying Saturday after the Event & All Day Sunday There are NO SCHEDULED EVENTS on Sunday, just open electric flying) No Pilot Landing Fee Donations will be gladly accepted No Parking Donation Will Be Requested from Spectators or Those Participating in the Open Air Swap Shop Donations to Midwest will be gladly accepted from Spectators and Open Air Swappers Awards on Saturday Only! Best Scale Most Beautiful Best Mini-Electric Best Multi-motor Best Sport Plane Foam Flurry for NCM aircraft CDs' Choice Planes Must Fly To Be Considered for Any Award Plaques for the winner in each category The Field is Open for Open Flying All Day Friday Night Flying Possible, Weather Permitting, Friday & Saturday Nights Field Lunch is provided to pilots and friends (hot dogs, chips, water or pop) Available on Saturday Field Dinner is provided (Burgers, Brats on Saturday evening for Pilots & Their Guests) Come and join us for two days of fun and relaxed electric flying. The NCM (Not Conventional Materials) Event Traditionally, model aircraft airframes have been mostly constructed from balsa wood, plywood, spruce, and fiberglass. For the purposes of this meet, NCM airframes are mostly constructed from not conventional materials i.e.; sheet foam, foam board, cardboard, block foam, foam insulation material, etc. Foam Flurry for NCM aircraft: This is a true event. It is based upon the all up/last down event of early electric meets. Any NCM aircraft may be used (no ARF types). Power systems are limited to a maximum of 3S (no paralleling) LiPo batteries or 4S maximum, no paralleling, for A123 packs. All planes qualifying for this event will launch at the same time, and the last one to land will be declared the winner. VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR 2025 - THE FLYING FIELD ENTRANCE TO THE MIDWEST FLYING FIELD CHANGED FIVE YEARS AGO! The old entrance to the Midwest RC Society flying field is permanently closed!!! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE IT!!! This is what the flying field entrance looks like. Please Drive SAFELY The field entrance is on the north side of Seven Mile Road about 1.5 Miles west of Currie Rd. entrance is on the north side of Seven Mile Road about 1.6 Miles west of Currie Rd. The address is 7621 Seven Mile Road, Northville, MI 48167. The entrance is through a private residence drive and out past the barn. How to enter the flying field, by going past the farm buildings, is shown in the following photo. Directions from Google Maps to the flying field Directions from Google Maps to the flying field To locate the Midwest R/C Society 7 Mile Rd. flying field, site of the Mid-America Electric Flies, use the link for the map above. Because of their convenient location and the easy drive to the flying field, the Comfort Suites and Holiday Inn Express in Wixom, MI have been added to the hotels' listing. They are only 10 miles northeast of the field and located near I-96 and Wixom Road. See the map-hotel .pdf for more details. Open Air Swap Meet There is a designated area for swappers. Please check-in at the event registration table before setting up. Someone from registration will point out where you may set up. Bring your own table(s) and chair(s). There is no swap meet fee. A donation to the Midwest RC Society, for the use of their flying field, would be greatly appreciated. Return to "What's In This Issue" To Reach Ken Myers, you can land mail to the address at the top of the page. My E-mail address is: KMyersEFO@theampeer.org EFO WEB Site