Flying High With Electric Power! The Ampeer ON-LINE! September 2002 The Club Newsletter of the Electric Flyers Only, Inc AMA Charter 2354 Walled Lake, MI, USA Editor: Ken Myers Fly the Future - Fly Electric!

President:	Vice-President:	Secretary/Treasurer:
Ken Myers	Richard Utkan	Debbie McNeely
1911 Bradshaw Ct.	240 Cabinet	4733 Crows Nest Ct.
Walled Lake, MI 48390	Milford, MI 48381	Brighton, MI 48116
(248) 669-8124	(248) 685-1705	810.220.2297
Board of Directors:	Board of Directors:	Ampeer Editor
Jim McNeely	Jeff Hauser	Ken Myers
4733 Crows Nest Ct.	18200 Rosetta	1911 Bradshaw Ct.
Brighton, MI 48116	Eastpointe, MI 48021	Walled Lake, MI 48390
(810) 220-2297	(810) 772-2499	(248) 669-8124
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The Next Meeting: Date: Sunday, September 15 Place: Midwest R/C Society Field, 5 Mi. Rd. Time: 10:00

What's In This Issue?
The 2002 Mid-America Electric Flies	The SR Bantam Monoplane - a review	Finding Small Things on the Floor	Mid-Am Notes - Thanks	OLY II kit Now Available
Upcoming Events	Send Ken email

The Mid-America Electric Flies 2002      It was another very enjoyable Mid-Am. Seventy-six fliers signed up on Saturday, and another ten signed up on Sunday, giving a total of eight-six pilots over the weekend, and approximately 350+ aircraft. Just about every type of flying machine was seen at the meet including; scale, old-timers, gliders, sport planes, flying "bugs", helicopters, parasailers and ducted fans. The aircraft came in all sizes from tiny to HUGE!      The weather was reasonably nice for Michigan in July. All three days were sunny and warm, actually quite WARM on Sunday.      Many folks came in early on Friday and flew until sundown. Actually Bob Aberle, Tom Hunt and Jim Reid, of Long Island, NY, beat me to the field on Friday morning!      Friday is always a lot of fun, as Keith and I get to chat, watch and enjoy our friends coming in as we go through the tedious work of setting up. Thanks to all of the participants who gave us a hand in getting ready for the meet. Since both the EFO and Ann Arbor Falcons are small clubs, and this is a big meet, we always need help.      Saturday was a perfect day for flying. Low winds and lots of sun. Keith kept the flightline running and organized. The day went well with lots of flying and sharing. The Model ‘A’ Restorers Club brought out their wonderful cars and shared them with our pilots. This is a truly unique aspect of the Mid-Am, and is enjoyed by all.      "Official flying" was halted at about 4:00, and the pilots moved to the dining canopy for the Awards presentation and prize raffle. With so many great planes flying during the day, it was hard to single out any special "winners", as all the planes were wonderful.      Here are the Award winners: Best Scale: Martin Irvine - Neiuport XI Most Beautiful: Dave Grife - Fokker D-VII Best Ducted Fan: Chris True - El Bandito Best Sport Plane: Marc Thompson - E3D All Up / Last Down: (ended as a gentleman’s agreement draw) Larry Markey and Tom Bacsanyi CD’s Choice: Ken Manuel - Me-109 Ken Manuel’s Planes Seriously Fun Models at: http://webhome.idirect.com/~manuel      Bob Aberle received the annual Charlie Spear Award. This award is given in memory of longtime electric flight columnist and all-round great person, Charlie Spear. It is presented to someone who has advanced electric flight in a significant way. Winners in the past have included; 1995 - Ken Myers, 1996 - Dr. John Mountjoy, 1997 - Bob Kopski, 1998 - Bob Boucher, 1999 - Martin Irvine, 2000 - Jim Ryan, and 2001 - Jim Bourke.      After the awards were given out, Joe Hass introduced AMA Hall of Famers, Art Adamisin, Peter Waters and Bob Aberle. He then made the very exciting announcement that Keith Shaw has been accepted into the AMA Hall of Fame. Dave Grife completed the necessary paperwork to get Keith nominated, and thanks to the efforts of the folks at AMA Headquarters, the announcement was able to made at the meet. The official induction will happen at a future time and place, but we were all excited to share this information and to be there to honor Keith, our friend and mentor!      The Saturday evening picnic is always a big hit at this meet. It allows the pilots a chance to sit around and "gab" while enjoying a great steak sandwich. Many thanks go to Dave Hares for his extraordinary effort as our super chef and steak wrangler!      Flying picked up again after dinner and continued until after dark with Doug Ingraham and Don Belfort turning on the lights and flying after dark.      We could tell that Sunday was going to be a HOT one, as early in the morning the sun had the heat turned way up. George Maiorana brought out his scale Tu-4, fresh from winning the Team Scale competition at the NATS in Muncie. George’s pilot, Dave Pinegar, flew the giant around with great skill and realism. This plane has to be seen on the ground and in flight to be totally appreciated. George has been wanting to bring it to the Mid-Am for the last few years, but has been involved in flying in the NATS. This year worked out perfectly, and flights 99 and 100 on this beauty were flown before the appreciative crowd at the Mid-Am. Thanks George!      Flying slowed down about 2:30 because of the heat, and the great amount of flying done over this lovely weekend. The pilots once again gathered under the dining canopy for the Awards and raffle drawing. Sunday’s awards: Best Multi-motor: George Maiorana - Tu-4 Best Mini-electric: Dick Fleming - Heinkel 177 Most Beautiful: Art Tomes - Beaver Best Scale: Mark Rittinger - P-40 All Up / Last Down: Dave Thacker Pilots’ Choice: George Maiorana - Tu-4 CD’s Choice: Ted Biggs - Sea Fury      This is wonderful cooperative venture of the EFO, Ann Arbor Falcons and the Midwest R/C Society. We would like to thank everyone who helped out. It is a “hard” way to spend the weekend, working while others are having so much fun. The Falcons, under the leadership of Warren Phlor, manned the impound and frequency all weekend. Great job guys, thanks, thanks, thanks! Ron Lalinsky headed up Saturday’s registration. Jim Young secured the prizes for the raffle. Paul Susalla, of Midwest, lead the hard working crew for parking. Mark Lambert headed up the concession crew for Midwest. Keith Shaw and Dave Grife controlled the flightline. Scott Rellinger, of Midwest, saw to it that the porta potties were there. Dave Hares prepared about 100 steaks! The list goes on and on and on. For everyone who helped to make this a great event, here is a huge thanks from Ken and Keith: THANKS, we truly appreciate it. I would especially like to thank those who stuck around in the heat on Sunday afternoon to help do the tear down. This meant a great deal to us. Folks, this was great. Thanks so very much.      We’d also like to thank the vendors who came out and provided the crowd with a place to swap their money for “goodies.” Radical R/C, E-cubed, StarFlight, Riders Hobbies, Modelair-Tech and JMGlascraft, as well as a few smaller vendors and individuals provided a great service to the pilots and spectators. Thanks for coming folks!      The raffle and meet were also supported by the following companies and individuals. AirAge Publishing (MAN & Backyard Flyer) Boca Bearing Co. Carstens Publications, Inc. (Flying Models) Castle Creations Ron Daniels Hobby Lobby Intl. Hobbytown Horizon Hobby Dist. JMGlascraft Modelair-Tech Model Electronics Corp., Inc. New Creations RC RCM, Inc. Ryan Aircraft Sig Mfg. SKS Video SR Batteries Tower Hobbies Windsor Propeller Co.      I know that there were others who donated some prizes, but my memory is poor, and I’d love to hear from you to give you the proper credit. Please, let us do you justice and give you the thanks you deserve. Drop me an email for inclusion of our thanks in a future Ampeer. Ampeer Error      If you receive the paper Ampeer, please check your expiration date. It is found after your name on your mailing label. If you gave me money at the Mid-Am, please be sure that I’ve updated your date. I accidentally made change using the money with your name on it. Silly me! Please give me a call or drop me a note so I can correct this error. Sorry! A Mystery Plane!      I saw this plane at the Mid-Am. I wanted to get the info on it. It is really very, very nice! The photo is by Steve Horney. He took it at Toledo, and it appears in his column at the Ezone Magazine, http://www.ezonemag.com      Steve was kind enough to fill me in on it, as the owner/builder Mike Goolsbee of Toledo, OH had recently sent the info to Steve. Thanks for sharing this info Steve.      It is scratch built with fiberglass fuselage and nacelles and foam core wings with 1/16" balsa sheeting. The Sea Stylist has a wingspan of 59 inches with 404 sq. inches of wing area. It is covered with 3/4 oz. fiberglass and epoxy and finished with Krylon paint. The ready to fly weight is 62 ounces. It uses 14 1400 mAh NiCad cells to power two 4.35 to 1 Graupner Speed 480's turning two four bladed ground adjustable 9 inch Varioprop propellers.      Watch for even more planes to show up from the Mid-Am, as I will be receiving some from the folks who attended. Return to "What's In This Issue?" The SR Bantam Monoplane By Ken Myers      The article is found here. Once you've read the review, use your browser's Back Button to return to this page. Return to "What's In This Issue?" Finding Small Things on the Floor From: Dr. Ralph Cook email: The_Cookies@t-online.de      (The Bantam review was posted online at the end of July. Ralph came up with this neat solution to a problem that I caused myself. KM) Dear Ken,      I just read the Bantam construction article. I have a suggestion for finding small things that have fallen on the floor. One takes a good flashlight, e.g. Mag-Lite, and focus it to a very narrow beam. Then hold it so the beam just grazes the floor, maybe 1-degree to 3-degrees. The ellipse of light should be at least 6 feet long. Very small things, i.e. SMD resistors, cast very long shadows, which can be easily seen, when lit in this way. You will be amazed at everything that you find. The only problem, which I have encountered with the method, is that things can sometimes take the craziest bounces and land in totally unexplainable places (e.g. cracks between boxes), but with a little patience even these can be found with this method. Things do NOT just disappear even though Murphy was here!      If you have halfway smooth walls and ceilings, this method is even good for finding the pesky mosquito in the nighttime bedroom. They sometimes hide in the curtains or similar places. Shake the curtains a little and with a bit of luck they will land on the ceiling. That is their end. Greetings from upper Bavaria, Dr. Ralph Cook Return to "What's In This Issue?" Mid-Am Notes - Thanks From: From: Larry Clark larryann@pocketmail.com Ken,      Thanks for your hospitality at the fly in. We had a very good time.      Have never seen so many good flying electrics in one place at one time. Thanks again, Larry & Ann Clark From: Pete Foss petefoss@yahoo.com      You missed a great Mid America meet this year if you weren't there. Thanks to Ken and Keith for putting on such a great meet. The weather was perfect for flying (and melting when I stood in the sun too long). Thanks also to all the companies who donated prizes. Carolynn and I took home products from Model Air-Tech, Garrison Aerodrome and Flying Models. Thanks all for your support. Pete and Carolynn A big thank you all around! From: Bob Aberle Dear Ken,      We had a great time and want to come back. You guys sure know how to make a bunch of e-flyers enjoy a weekend.      I can't tell you how thrilled and honored I was to receive the Charlie Spears Memorial Award. I knew Charlie for years and that makes this all the more special for me. I can only thank you, Keith and your entire club for bestowing this honor on me.      I also was so pleased that Keith could be told of his upcoming induction to the AMA Hall of Fame. Both Dave and Joe did a great job in making this happen.      Again our sincere thanks for a job well done. Please pass that thanks on to everyone in your club. We hope to see you again next year! Bob Aberle Return to "What's In This Issue?" OLY II kit now available from Sky Bench From: Ray Hayes skybench.aerotech@gte.net Hi Ken,      I'm trying to get the good word out that the OLY II kit is now in production by Sky Bench. Thanks. Ray Hayes Web Site: www.skybench.com 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/