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USA Service Again
From: Lex Davidson email: ldavidson@xtra.co.nz
Hi Ken
 Just another note on the neat service from another US manufacturer/supplier. I
hope you guys get the same service I enjoy down here - 12,000 or so mile away!!
I had a problem with my Astro 25 geared. Hadn't had it in a model for 12 to 18
months and the model it had been in was well and truly decked. A shoot down-- we have a rule in our club that the guilty party
replaces the model. Only very rarely we have a problem but the rule was honoured in my case. The motor and other gear had
appeared OK so that wasn't in the replacement agreement.
Actually I was so trusting of the 25G that I didn't take any AMP/ RMP tests
before flying in the new Cloud Dancer. The cells and prop were as previous (16 cells driving an APC 11x9 ). I should have
taken some readings because the motor shut down after only a minute in the air!! Thought I must have false peaked the battery
so after a cooling period went up with another pack--same thing. OK then I read the AMPs Yikes +40 on the 11x9. That prop
should and did run at about 27AMPs!!. Something wrong. At home I measured the no load AMPs with different meters (hoping
it was just a meter and cooling fault). The result was way too high. Check with small props and all the readings were way above
what they should be.
So here I am with a week to our 1st big E-rally and no motor for the new plane!!
Email to Astro and Mr. Bob Boucher comes right on back with a fix. The prang
had forced the front/rear bell to move--way over advancing the motor. He said back off the timing and you should get
xxxAMPs--if not a winding is shorting.
Did that and it all worked. Point of the message - we can feel very lonely down
here (New Zealand KM) when something goes wrong and it is absolutely terrific that a
supplier will take the time out to email a suggestion/ fix as Bob did for me this week.
As you know this isn't the first time a specialist eflight supplier has gone that extra
wee way for me way down here. Sure is appreciated. Lex D.
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Provincial Electric Funfly 2000
www3.sympatico.ca/dionnel/rc/emeet2000.htm
Louis Dionne email: dionnel@sympatico.ca
tel: 450.689.4918
For the third year, the Quebec E-meet will be hosted by the C2VM club, during
August, this summer of 2000. Dates are set for August 26-27 in Ste-Julie. First day will be held at the well-groomed Anti-Gravité
club site, like last year. Second day at the C2VM sod farm in Ste-Julie - only minutes from each other.
Activities like demonstrations, pylon racing will be held and some prizes distributed.
Basic accommodations will be available.
Last year, we were blessed with good weather, supportive sponsors and a great crowd. This year promises to be even better.
Information about the event will be updated on the C2VM web site
(www3.sympatico.ca/pthiou/c2vm) and on my own web site
(www3.sympatico.ca/dionnel/rc)
Please, make sure you add a note in your calendar. Then come and join us for fun,
flying and just hanging out.
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
New Zealand Rally
From: Lex Davidson email: ldavidson@xtra.co.nz
Ken,
We held the E-Rally I sought your advise on yesterday 27 March.
We fly off a very nice farm site. The guys who look after the runway have it just
about perfect now. Nearly as hard as concrete, but still with enough very short grass to stop the dust flying.
Absolutely perfect weather--a nice 23 degrees C (about 73F) low humidity- and
hardly any wind!!! Weather was unusual because a breeze normally comes up in the afternoon. I picked the date (a) because if
any date in our variable weather pattern is likely to be OK it will be in this 2 or 3 week window and (b) because there wasn't
anything else on the contest/rally schedule.
Because of the conditions - even the ultra-light slow flies were able to fly right
through the day. Smallest/ lightest was a Tom Hunt Elipstick which was incredibly aerobatic and had excellent duration and
heaviest most powerful a Goldberg Chipmunk with Astro 40, super-box and 24 cells. A lot of power - vertical for a long way
from take off! Both of these were built and flown by Chris Kaiser one of our top F3B and HLG glider pilots (Yep he is younger
than the "average" modeller) . We had a huge range in between those extremes.
E-gliders to Old Timers had lift all over the field. At least one "Old Timer"
was nearly a fly -away--actually very, very lucky to find it. We had motors from the "can 280s" through the Aveox
and Kontronics Bushless. A Jim Ryan Bearcat--1st time most of us had seen one of the famous machines. Built by a master,
flew like we have heard and appeared to be easy to launch.
The same guy (Wayne Bilham--who drove 6 or 7 hours times 2 for the event) had
a very nice Tiger Kitten powered by a Magnetic Mayhem geared on 10 cells. Plenty of power. Looked very good in the air.
IMHO the standard of building and general presentation of models was several
notches above what we would expect at a "normal" rally.
I think the only types we didn't have was an E ducted fan models and E
helicopters.
I don't know whether Shoo Fly pie is a joke or not --anyway we didn't offer it---
Lots of cool drinks and good NZ beef and Sausages for lunch.
One thing we tried was a "boot sale" I guess = "trunk sale" selling the
stuff you want to pass on. A couple of guys took up the offer and did quite well. We will promote that next time.
Apart from the exceptional weather the really neat things were, the number of
guys and kids that turned up for a look, the coming together of E guys from a big catchment, many we didn't know about ( well
you have more area-- we have more coastline), the terrific yak yak (talking) that went on, the way the guys just really enjoyed
the day and were happy to say so and no frequency incidents and no smoking holes in the ground.
Actually on that note- one of the biggest groups around the runway -with video,
cameras and betting slips (well not betting slips) was when, with some arm twisting, I agreed to try out my Sailplane and Electric
Modeller hands free bungee launcher. This is a thing built out of 36" lengths of 6x1 with sort of a pivot release for the
bungee. I couldn't see why it was a risk. Seemed to me to be a lot easier than a one person effort on a "normal"
short bungee. Anyway I tried it with my ME110 which isn't bad to hand launch (twin speed 400s). It's neat --you can't use it over
long grass -- but off a runway, or short grass-- highly recommended.
Looks like we will have to do it again next year!!!
February, March, April are probably the best months to come down here (unless
you want like snow sports) so we would love to see a US visitor next year.
Lex Davidson
NSMAC Web Page: http://home.ait.ac.nz/staff/jroberts/nsmac.html
Cloud Dancer Rating 5-Stars!
From: Lex Davidson email: ldavidson@xtra.co.nz
I think I got one of the last kits available. Ex a notice on Ezone, from Tasmania in Australia to NZ. I just wish I had built one before. Built nearly as per Jim Bourkes review on Ezone. Nearly all ply substituted for
balsa - but none of the supplied balsa replaced. Weight came out at 6 pound with Astro 25 geared, APC 11x9 and 16x RC2000. Really a very nice flying model. This one is going to be flown to death. I really did think this
would be a bit like going to a movie with good reviews --performance didn't match. Happy to be wrong--excellent max stars.
I suspect that built from the RCM plan with selected wood all the way it could be even better. It really is one of those designs/ models that can make the pilot look better than he/she really is. This is the easiest model to slow roll and fly inverted I have ever had and yet it is very, very well behaved. With the power set up it can easily do upward, outside loops. Really do like this
One. Fingers off recovery is probably better than many trainers!!!
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Electric History
I’m looking for all the electric history that I can get. If you have any information on
our past, please get it to me in any form. Dale has contributed three pieces now. I’ve got some ready to go, but I need all I can
get. Hopefully, I’ll start a "history" page on the EFO site this summer. Thanks - Ken
More Electric History
From Dale Wilde email: Wildenm@cs.com
They're flying electric in a salt mine! The article is from Howard McEntee's column
in the July 1965 issue of American Modeler. Sorry my photo scan isn't so hot.
I'm hard at work on a small scale version of the Polish RWD-8 parasol wing
trainer. Hopefully it will fly with a geared Speed 400, I'll let you know if it does.
| Photo 1 | Photo 2 |
| Photo 3 | Photo 4 |
| Take one salt mine, add one electric motor powered model (very, very light), an
ultralight receiver, battery and actuator, and what have you got? Obviously one of the most amazing radioplanes in the history of the
hobby/sport. Fred Militky get our applause for doing the impossible. Of course, the rest of us are somewhat handicapped - not
having a salt mine nearby. Howard (VIP) McEntee provides the technical details in his column. Oh! To what depths man will go to
pursue his favorite hobby.
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From Howard’s Column
Indoor Electric R/C! Fred Lilitky (c/o Johannes Graupner, 7312
Kirchheim/Teck, Postfach 48, Germany) has flown R/C plane with electric propulsion for around 2 minutes, expect to raise
this duration. He is designer of the Silentius electric-drive kit plane sold in this country (Germany) - a very fine flyer,
incidentally, his first DC powered R/C flight was with the kit plane in late 1963. While successful, it appeared that much better
results could be had with a lighter plane. As a modeler with considerable indoor experience, this came easy. He decided to
stick to the Micro-Tot-03 motor, emplys 15-1 ratio version. Plane shown, less radio and propulsion equipment but including
prop weighs 18 grams, has a wing span of 920 mm and fuselage length of 600 mm. Motor alone weighs 25 gm and the
saltwater battery on 4 gm. Latter is rated at 2.2 volts at 1.4 ampere-minutes. Bentert receiver weighs only 7 gm, magnetic
actuator is 8 gm, 3 volt receiver battery is 6 gm. Total plane weight ready to fly is 68 gm (roughly 2.4 oz., span 37 inches).
After indoor glide tests to trim, the plane was taken deep underground to a salt mine, where there was a large area of
completely dead air. One channel of a Grundig Variophon multi transmitter was utilized; actuator holds rudder full right, signal
puts it full left; thumb is the “pulser”. With four witnesses, the first flight was 1 minute 45 seconds. Further efforts will be to
raise this, of course. Does this give anyone ideas for indoor activity next winter.
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Gordy Cells
From: Gordy Stahl GordySoar@aol.com |
| I have plenty of Gordy Cells right now, just for your information :-) |
Gordy Stahl
9303 LeBeau Ct
Louisville Ky 40299
502-491- 5001 |
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Plane Rating - HobbyFlite Clipped Wing Wing
From: Andre McFayden email: AMCFAYDEN@aol.com
Clipped Hobbyflite Wing: Four (4) stars
Hi Ken,
This is based on the Hobbyflite kit (see elsewhere in the ratings). Cut down to
about 34" wingspan, elevons relocated to just inboard of the vertical fins, servos placed in cutouts on top of wing ( to
prevent gear stripping). The wing is now much more aerobatic, rolls about twice as fast as previously. Glide is steeper, but still
easy to land. A very cheap performance upgrade. Caveat: new CG is about 7.5 inches from nose, only hump packs
will fit.
For pictures go to: http://hometown.aol.com/amcfayden/clippedwing.html
Regards,
Andre
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology
From: Tom Hunt Email: THunt95147@aol.com
This September, the Silent Electric Flyers of Long Island are holding a "follow
on" electric meet to continue the nearly 2 decade tradition of the promotion of electric model flight in the US started by the
Keystone R/C Club of Hatfield, Pa.
The KRC members put on an excellent show for so many years. I personally
attended the last 7. Not single-handedly, but certainly, this show influenced more people to try electric model flight than any other.
With over 250 pilots and a couple of thousand of spectators the last few
years.... their "influence" was certainly being displayed.
SEFLI would like to build on this tidal wave....Many modelers have asked to
resurrect the event. There is a desire, there is a way, there is a site!!!
On Sept 22, 23, 24th of this year.... and hopefully for many years to come, The
NEAT (Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology) Fair, will be held a little farther north than Allentown Pa., in Downsville, NY.
This site was acquired with the help of Joe Beshar and his friend "Ski." A campground, along the east branch of the
Delaware River, has a lot to offer, not only to the modeler, but the vacationer. The new site will obviously be closer for some,
farther for others, but the beauty of this place, and the immense flying field is worth the extra drive.
A TREMENDOUS grass field, REAL toilets/showers, more than enough room to
grow well past the size the largest KRC did, and best of all.... at a fair price to the organizers....
The meet will be "hosted" by SEFLI, but will also be supported by the
Grumman Wingnutz R/C Squadron (a mixed wet/electric club) and individuals from wet/electric clubs in the Tri-state area....
making this affair a real "group effort" of modelers dedicated to the advancement of electric flight.
Two websites to visit:
The Virtual Home of the NEAT Fair, hosted by Gabe Baltaian of NY Blimps ( a
SEFLI member, and terrific inventor) can be reached at: www.nyblimp.com/NEAT.htm
The site is still under construction and will be "fluid" for some time, visit
it often for updates.
The other is the Peaceful Valley campgrounds..... the virtual site to the
"physical" site where the event will be held. See them at: www.peaceful-valley.com
If the NEAT website does not answer all your questions, you may email us at
Neatfair@aol.com. Gabe Baltaian has done a wonderful job with the NEAT fair website
If you plan on attending (and flying) please pre-register (form on the site). If you
plan on coming but don't plan on flying, please also use the separate form there too. Both will help us and the campsite owner
plan the event.
Pre-registration fees are fully refundable, just in case you cannot make it.
Pre-registration does a few good things.. (1) it will save the modeler a few bucks. (2) It will help SEFLI plan the event (3) it will
warn us of any "overloaded" frequencies and give modelers a chance to change them if they can. (4) SEFLI is not a
cash rich club, it will allow some working capital to get the snowball started.
ALL fliers must hold an AMA or MAAC card.
There are over 200 campsites available, a few B+B rooms and two cabins. You
are responsible for making your own reservations with PV.
Although only verbal at this point... many of the "BIG" electric vendors
have pledged to come. As the vendors "officially" respond, we will list them on the site.
Response to the announcement of the event at the WRAM show was
tremendously encouraging. SEFLI will not promise a first year re-coup of all that the previous KRC's were, but it should big quite
big still!!
Event Directors have been selected for the three day event:
Tom Hunt representing the Grumman Wingnutz R/C Squadron will be the ED on Friday.
Bob Aberle representing SEFLI (host club) will be the ED on Saturday.
Joe Beshar representing the Old-Time Eagles of NJ will be the ED and close on Sunday.
Hope to see you there....
and lets all give an electric round of applause to KRC for all the years they gave us!!
Regards,
Tom Hunt and all of SEFLI
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
A Pattern Question
From: Jack Heyrman email: 103521.426@compuserve.com
Hi Ken:
I downloaded your very informative construction article on the SR Batteries X250 in
preparation to building the kit myself. I plan to follow SR's recommendations with 10 x 500 mAh cells, at least as a starting point.
My objective, in addition to flying an enjoyable plane, is to prepare for F5A
e-pattern flying with an appropriate designed plane. There seems to be a lot of interest in F5B, but pattern does not get a big play.
As a pattern flyer (Intermediate) with my 120 size 4-strokes, I feel that there is a place for a much-smaller e-powered plane
which will execute a more modest pattern to accommodate electric power. I would appreciate any suggestions that you or EFO
readers might have on the subject.
Thanks again for your fine article.
* * * * *
Folks if you have any suggestions for appropriate planes, flight plan, or
thoughts on electric pattern, please send them to me, and I’ll run them through the Ampeer to see how others feel about
electric pattern. Ken
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Second Annual E-FLI-OWA
Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10, 2000
Place: Seven Cities Sod Farm - Junction of I-80 and Iowa 130. For detailed map contact the CD
AMA Sanction #00592 *** AMA License Required
There will be a $15.00 landing fee which will include a raffle ticket for two Hitec Focus III
radios to be given away, one for each day. You must be present to win.
Flying will commence both Saturday and Sunday at 08:30 AM and end at 5:00 PM on Saturday and 4:00 PM on Sunday
This will be a fun-fly only. NO competitive events.
Buy, sell or trade is welcome.
For further information:
Jon McVay AMA 6004
5 Hillcrest Heights
Mt. Vernon, IA 42314
319-895-6527 or email: Togflier@aol.com
|
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
River Valley Flyers (WI) Electric R/C Event
From: Charles Benner email: cjbenner@tznet.com
Phone: (715) 424-5179
 The meet will be held June 10th and 11th in central Wisconsin. Information can
be found on the River Valley Flyers site, www.rvf-rc.org
We are expecting about 40 pilots this year, and 6-12 vendors, and interest is
building rapidly in our event.
We have blocks of rooms reserved until May 5th through three different
motels: Wisconsin Rapids Quality Inn (715) 423-5506, EconoLodge in Wisconsin Rapids (715) 423-7000 and at Wisconsin Rapids
Super 8 (715) 423-8080. The weekend of our event, there will be a high-school-age State Soccer Tournament in Wisconsin
Rapids, so you need to reserve a room as soon as possible, or you may not be able to reserve a room after the May 5th deadline.
We also have primitive camping (free) at the club field (Two port-a-potties are
the facilities) or reserve a site in one of the county parks for a small fee. Sites can be reserved at the Lake Wazeecha public
campground, near the club flying field, by calling the Wood County parks department at (715) 421-8422.
Early arrivals on Friday the 9th are welcome to fly at our club field after 5
P.M. We are located within a 60-75 minute drive of Wisconsin Dells, which have many scenic parks and campgrounds, antique
stores and shopping, water park, paper mill tours, local history museums, casino, cranberry agriculture and cranberry museums to
interest the rest of the family if they would like to come along.
The local chamber of commerce telephone number is (715) 423-1830, if you
would like more information on tours, accommodations, etc. They could also put you in touch with the Wisconsin Dells Chamber
of Commerce.
* * * * *
This would be a great meet to plan your family vacation around. If
you’ve not been to the Wisconsin Dells, you are in for a real treat. Lots of fun for the whole family. The folks in the
River Valley Club are great, and you’ll have a good time at the meet too. KM
Return to "What's In This Issue?"
Electric World Championships 2000
And
International Electric Flight Festival 2000
San Diego, California August 3-12
For only the second time in electric flight history, the Federation Aeronautique I
nternationale (FAI) World Championships for F5B (sailplane) and F5D (Pylon Racing) electric powered model aircraft will be
held here in the United States in August of 2000. The Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego and the Academy of Model Aeronautics,
will co-host the 2000 World Championships competition August 6-12, on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay Park, San Diego, California.
This event is limited to teams (seven official members) selected by the National Aero Club of each country represented.
In conjunction with the World Championship events, the International Electric
Flight Festival (IEFF) will be held August 3-6. The IEFF is open to pilots of all skill levels and since the F5B and F5D teams use
this event as a "warm-up" for the World Championships, electric modelers of all skill levels have the opportunity to compete
against the best pilots in the world.
Seeing this as a unique opportunity to promote electric flight here in the US,
The Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego, the host club, decided to expand the IEFF to include as many opportunities as possible for
those individuals who love to fly electric powered aircraft. Normally, the IEFF consists of four events -- F5B, F5B600 (10 cell),
F5D and a unique event known as "Sunrise to Sunset."
We have expanded the IEFF from a day and a half event into a full four-day
celebration of electric flight. In addition to the events named above, the San Diego version of the IEFF will include two additional
FAI events, F5A (Aerobatics) and F5C (Helicopters), and one they haven't thought of yet…F5B-7Cell. Since most of the US
pilots fly something other than FAI events we decided to add an American flavor to the IEFF by adding the following AMA
events: Class A Old Timer (617); Class A Sailplane (609); Class B Sailplane (611); and Fun Scale (520) for electric. In addition to
these, we incorporated a couple of NEAC events: Speed 400 Pylon and Sport Sailplane.
To further enhance the opportunity for as many pilots as possible to enjoy these
expanded events, we have, with the exception of F5B 7 Cell which will be flown with the other F5B events, scheduled them for
the weekend of August 5 and 6.
We are very appreciative for the generous support of our major sponsors,
Sanyo Energy, USA, the National Electric Aircraft Council (NEAC), Aveox, Inc., Hitec/RCD, ShredAir, R/C Direct and
Sailplane and Electric Modeler Magazine.
A special thanks goes to NEAC for a couple of reasons. NEAC is the Special
Interest Group that runs the AMA Electric Nats each year. Due to a scheduling
problem that could not be modified, the IEFF and the Electric Nats have conflicting dates. When I advised Ralph Weaver, NEAC
President, of this, he was extremely understanding and cooperative. Thanks to his efforts, we are able to hold the same type
events at the IEFF as AMA and NEAC is holding at the Nats. In addition, NEAC Past President, Doug Ward learned of the
sponsorship program and made a personal commitment to raise $2,500 from NEAC members for a Platinum Sponsorship. His
first $1,000 came from the NEAC treasury. The remaining $1,500 came from 45 individual NEAC members all across the US in
donations ranging from $10 to $100. This is truly and
organization that is dedicated to the advancement of electric flight. If you are not already a member, you should give serious
consideration to joining.
For complete information on these two events I direct your attention to the
Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego web site (www.sefsd.org) which is your one stop web
site for the World Championships and the IEFF. Please bear with us as we are continually updating and upgrading the site with
the most current information in order to make your involvement in this world class "happening" as much fun as possible. If I can
be of any assistance, please let me know.
Ron Scharck, Director
Electric World Championships 2000
Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego
San Diego, CA
619-491-0787
Scharck@aol.com
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VERY IMPORTANT EFO MAY MEETING INFORMATION!
There are two EFO meetings this month. Both are flying meetings. All EFO
members and any electric fliers with AMA cards are asked to join in the fun.
The first meeting will be on Tuesday evening, May 9 at the Romeo Skyhawks
R/C Field on Gould Rd. Gould Rd. runs north of 34 Mile Rd. just west of Van Dyke. The meeting time is an early 6:00 P.M., as
they can only fly at that field until 8:00 P.M. We will fly and pit talk to the Romeo Club members. Map to Romeo Field
The second meeting is a joint MISS/EFO event. It is on Saturday, May 20. It
will be held at Camp Dearborn in Milford, MI. Time: 10 A.M. Lunch will be served to the fliers. When you get to the gate, just
tell them that you are flying with MISS (Michigan International Soaring Society). Map to Camp Dearborn, Milford
There is also another meet that I’m planning on attending. It is the one in
Donnelsville, OH on May 13, so hope to see many of you then.
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@aol.com
EFO WEBsite: http://members.aol.com/KMyersEFO/
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