Flying High With Electric Power! The Ampeer ON-LINE! September 2003 The Club Newsletter of the Electric Flyers Only, Inc AMA Charter 2354 Walled Lake, MI, USA Editor: Ken Myers Fly the Future - Fly Electric!

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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
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Board of Directors:	Board of Directors:	Ampeer Editor
Jim McNeely	Jeff Hauser	Ken Myers
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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: Saturday, Sept. 13 Time: 10:00 a.m. Place Camp Dearborn, Milford MI

What's In This Issue?
Report on the 2003 Mid-America Electric Flies	Upcoming September EFO Meeting	More On Speed "XXX" Motors!	1st Annual JR Indoor Electric Festival	The Bugatti Flies
Electric Tiger Moths	Jumping to Conclusions	PMAC 1st Annual E-fly In	Upcoming NEAT Fair	Upcoming Events
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Report on the 2003 Mid-America Electric Flies By Ken Myers View of the Flight Line looking west.      Friday was the setup day, and what a day it was! It was cold and very, very windy. Several folks stopped by the field, but only the very brave, or foolish, attempted to get into the air and the buffeting wind.      Saturday, the sun rose to a beautiful Michigan summer day. There was a pretty fair breeze blowing from the time of the pilots’ meeting through the end of the official flying, but with the great planes and pilots attending the Mid-Am, there was always plenty of action in the air.      The Oak Leaf Region of the Ford Model "A" Restorers Club was there with 14 of their cars for the pilots and spectators to enjoy. We enjoyed their cars while they enjoyed our airshow!      As always, the official flying was followed by the awards ceremony. There were many outstanding aircraft. It was very difficult for the judges and pilots to pick the winners or most outstanding aircraft in any category. Saturday’s Awards All up Last Down: Steve Horney Pilots Choice: Adam Rogozinsky - F-16 Best Scale: Dave Grife - Howard "Ike" Most Beautiful: Jim Young - Super Skybolt Best Ducted Fan: Adam Rogozinsky - F-16 Best Sport Plane: Steve Pauley - original design Fusion CD's Choice: Laddie Mikulasko - Savoia Marchetti SM71      Doug Ingraham was this year’s recipient of our Charlie Spear Award. The award is given in Charlie’s name to a person who has contributed to the advancement of electric flight. Doug is the programmer and developer for the Astro Flight chargers, speed controls and Whattmeter. He also sold his own line of speed controllers under the name of "Lofty Pursuits." Well deserved Doug!      Once the awards were concluded, the raffle prizes, donated by our sponsors, were given to their respective winners. Please be sure to check out our sponsors when you are considering a purchase.      Dave Hares and his crew of family and Ann Arbor Falcons arrived and set up the grills for the great steak sandwiches with sautéed onions. The potluck, following the awards, is a highlight of this meet. Everyone shares in providing a great picnic at the field. It is really nice to sit and chat with folks from all over the US and Canada, have a nice meal, and then go flying again.      Once the potluck picnic was finished, the winds had gone down quite a bit and the park fliers took to the air with a vengeance! They were joined by Larry Markey, of the Midwest RC Society, who flew his jet turbine sport plane. This was a super chance for some of the fliers to see another exciting aspect of this hobby. Some flying continued after dark with a great finale. Howard Kendall, president of the Midwest RC Society, flew his glow-powered helicopter in an awesome 3-D performance of aerobatics. This bird is fully lighted with lights that change color as the engine changes RPM and cyclic. There are no words that can describe this! It really has to be seen to be believed. Just ask Mr. Tom Hunt.      Speaking of Mr. Hunt, congratulations are in order. Tom will be officially inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame at the NEAT Fair this month.      Saturday ended up being a really great day, with most everyone getting a chance to fly his or her type of plane.      Sun, light breezes and a temperature in the low 80’s made Sunday the perfect weather day. Because of this perfect weather, all types of planes were in the air at all times. Keith Shaw handled the separation of types as the flight coordinator for both days. A hot and thankless job! Sunday’s Awards All up Last Down (SP400 or smaller): Hartmut Klaus Pilots Choice: Scott Black - F-86 Sabre Best Scale: Jim Young - Howard DGA-6 Mr. Mulligan Most Beautiful: Bob Belloumini - Pyranha EDF Best Mini-Electric: Dave Thacker's - Vertigo Best Multi-Motor: Allen Mrock's – Sikorsky S-38 CD's Choice: C.J. Wysocki's – Mosquito      Once the awards were given out, many folks headed for home.      This year’s participants were excellent in taking care of the Midwest RC Society field. When the flying was over, and everyone had rolled out, Keith and I had very little to do to return the field to the MRCS in better shape than when they loaned it to us.      Keith and I were very pleased to see the number of scale airplanes that brought their owners to the meet. The pilots and planes were of the highest quality ever. It appears that just about anything can and is being done with electric power.      The trend is definitely toward brushless, and the coming of Li-Po cells is on the cusp. Today, the electric flyer can have the power and duration of the majority of glow fliers. It’s all a matter of choice and money.      The electric ducted fans (EDFs) were very impressive this year!      Keith and I wish to thank all the EFO and Falcon members who so generously gave of their time. We especially thank Warren Phlor who ran the transmitter impound so well with the help of many of the Falcon members. Paul Susalla, of the MRCS, did the parking all day, both days, thanks.      We’d also like to thank all of you who came to fly, watch and learn. We can certainly tell that you have been learning!      This year marked the return of Dymond as one of our vendors. Welcome back Helmut. Radical RC and E-Cubed also did a brisk business, as well as some smaller vendors and individuals. Thanks for coming folks. It looked like you had a very successful meet. Our Sponsors Dremel: (9.6V MultiPro Cordless 7800-01) Edge R/C Inc.: (Bird of Prey EPP Combat Wing) SR Batteries, Inc.: (Bantam kit and $80.00 in gift certificates) Ryan Aircraft: two 50% off gift certificate. Radio Controlled Models, Inc.: (50% off gift certificate) Sig Manufacturing Co., Inc.: ($10.00 gift certificate) Model Electronics Corp., Inc.: (5:1 SuperBox) JMGlascraft: (two 50% off gift certificates) Seriously Fun Models: (F.X.X. P-51) Vinyl Graphics by Greg: (130 Mid-Am 2003 decals, 2 Mid-Am 2003 tumblers, and 100 pens) Tower Hobbies: (three $10 Gift Certificates) AirAge Publishing (Model Airplane News): (five free subscription cards) Horizon Hobby: (two folding lawn chairs and four JR digital sub-micro servos) Kiona Publishing, Inc.: (20 magazines, 25 hats, and 10 t-shirts) Windsor Propeller Company: four propellers, 50% off coupon, hat, and coffee mug) Boca Bearing Company: (bearing lube and helicopter rotor grease.) Performance Products, Inc.: (six $10 gift certificates) Dymond: (Raven and Foxbat kits) Mark Rittinger: (P-51, P40 and Invader plans)      Photo below: Plenny Bates and Bob Livin brought some great old-timers, high performance sailplanes and sport planes with them from Iowa. More Photos and Write-ups      Jim Young has written up the meet and posted pictures in an article at the E-Zone Magazine site on the Internet. www.ezonemag.com will get you to the E-Zone magazine and the article URL is: rcgroups.com/links/index.php?t=article&cat=105&id=4223 This article really captures the flavor of the meet and has some excellent pictures.      Don Skiff has posted photos, taken by Ken Bates, at the Ann Arbor Falcon’s site. www.donskiff.com/MidAmerica will get you there.      Also, watch the major modelling magazines for more, as there were columnists attending from most of them. They were taking photos and getting information for articles about the meet, pilots and planes.      I think that Keith Shaw really summed up the meet well with his comment, "I saw a lot of ‘severe’ smiles and many compliments, great weather, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves even more this year.      It just keeps getting better, maybe the future really is electric!" Mid-Am Thanks      Pete sent the following via the eflight list:      Thanks again Ken and Keith for a blast at the Mid-America Electric Flies. The Foss family had a great time as usual. We didn't break anything, that must be some kind of record.      This year it was Sam's turn to win a kit from Dymond. Thanks very much Helmut!!! Carolynn won a kit from them two years ago. My turn next year (grin).      The highlight this year, for me, was Adam and his Jepe F-16. ZOOM! Pete Foss Skymasters RC of Michigan www.skymasters.org Greetings to Ken and all!      Just wanted to let you know how much my electric flying buddy (Jim Maine) and I enjoyed the Mid-Am Flies. Watching people such as Keith Shaw and Dave Grife fly their beautiful models was very inspirational. We finally got to meet each other! It was great meeting new people and discussing various aspects of electric flight.      It's events like this that really keep this hobby going, and it really gives me a shot in the arm to finish off my languishing projects and plan for a new one... conversion of a GP 40 size cub to electric for next season. All in all we had a great time meeting people and watching the flight demonstrations of all the different aircraft.      This is another must attend event to add to my yearly schedule along with the Toledo Show.      Thanks to everybody for their great job! May we all hope for an even bigger and better event next year! John Zook Dear Ken and Keith:      Thanks for again hosting the Mid-America Electric Flies. Chris and I had a great time. Chris has certainly come a long way in his flying from a year ago. This year he flew one of the prototypes of the Vertigo 3D that Dave Thacker from Radical RC brought along. The encouragement of all of the fliers helped to make that possible. I am forever grateful.      The electric flight community has benefited greatly from all of your dedication and expertise. The flights of my Sig Rascal 110 are testimony to that. Thanks for your continued support. Sincerely, Joe Hass Rochester Hills, MI      Thanks for the photos Joe. I’ll get them captioned and included in the Ampeer soon.      Bob Aberle sent along his, Tom’s and Jim’s thanks for a great time as well as this photo. Kinda says it all for Keith and me. Return to "What's In This Issue?" Upcoming September EFO Meeting      The next EFO meeting will be a picnic fly with MISS at Camp Dearborn in Milford, MI on Saturday, September 13 starting at 10:00 a.m. Lunch will be provided. All local electric fliers, with AMA membership, are invited to join us. This will be just a laid back day of enjoyable flying and chatting. See ya then. Return to "What's In This Issue?" More On Speed "XXX" Motors! From: Dereck Woodward DereckW@comcast.net Hi Ken,      Just read the August Ampeer - thank you again for the efforts you put into this great newsletter, always eagerly awaited and read!      The letter from Walter Steckenreiter on motor naming brought back some old memories, on the "Speed" designation. I have a feeling this started thanks to Graupner, who designated their re-badged ferrite motor thus for many years. Back when Sue had just moved to England in1988 - I found myself living within easy driving distance of the Shuttleworth Collection's Old Warden museum aerodrome. At that time, there was a monthly themed model aircraft day or weekend from March to September. These were huge meetings - attendance must have run well into four figures and drew interest from well into Europe and even the USA.      On one of my early forays, a German visitor was demonstrating his Graupner "UHU". This was the basic three-channel soarer, though few in England had ever seen an electric that could climb and aerobat like it could. He'd purposely launch alongside glow models and easily out climb many of them.      Anyway, after rocking the crowd back on its collective heels, he let it be known that he had some 'stuff' for sale in his car. That's when I acquired my first "Speed 600" - as you rightly say, a rebadged ferrite, though with no indication of origin, bearing Graupner's familiar logo.      For a long while, the only reliable source of decent e-flight motors in England was Graupner's "Speed" range, with 400, 600 and even the odd 700 often appearing in hobby shops. That in an era when electrics were very rare on club fields indeed.      Like "Hoover" and many others, nothing more than a trade name that stuck!      I bought one of that chap's Speed 600's and used it in several models - all on 6 or 7 cells with 7" or 8" various props. Can recall it being labeled an "8.4V Race BB" model - it did have a front ball race bearing. It did sterling service in two Puddlemaster flying boats on seven cells, finally leaving a short smoke trail behind my ElectroStreak when I decided that model needed to move like it looked! At that point, it had been airborne a lot for some eight years.      Graupner's catalogues of the 90's listed many "Speed XXX" variants, some with gearbox/prop combos, all with rudimentary (but understandable!) info on what application they suited. Most were probably only obtainable through German hobby shops, which would have complicated matters for most of us!      So - the name "Speed 400" does mean something - if you read a Graupner catalogue! Regards Dereck Woodward Return to "What's In This Issue?" 1st Annual JR Indoor Electric Festival Presented by Horizon Hobby What: Radio Control Indoor Flying at it’s BEST! When: Saturday, October 11, 2003, 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Where: Four Seasons Golf Dome, 5000 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43213      The goal is to promote the new and fascinating world of indoor R/C flight. The flight area is 85,000 sq.ft. Activities will include continuous indoor flying, seminars, manufacturers’ demos, vendors and swap meet activity. *Pilots must have current AMA card to participate *Anything above Speed 300 needs to be approved by the CD *Micro helicopters only *Aircraft weight is limited to 16 oz.      Pilot registration is $20 for pre-registration and $25 at the door. Spectators $5 with children under 12 free. A limited number of non-commercial swap meet tables are available for $20.      There will be designated areas for 3D and slow flight. Concessions will be provided by W.g. Grinders.      For more information and a registration form, email tsnitsch@msn.com and check out the Web site at www.tooltex.com/jriefest.htm. Return to "What's In This Issue?" The Bugatti Flies Information provided by Keith Shaw Hi All,      This is just a short note to let everyone know that my Bugatti flew yesterday (July 6, 2003). A short hop was made last week, the length of the runway, but I elected to not try to continue. Never got out of the high drag takeoff mode, so the counter-rotating props never started working together rather than fighting each other. That flight was with 20 cell CP-2400 pack, while yesterday's flight used a 24 cell CP-1700 pack. The static current was now at 44 amps, but based on the flight time, it dropped to about 30 amps in the air.      The plane lifted off well after about a 100 foot run. Handling was acceptable, but the pitch axis is VERY sensitive, even on 50% low rate. The ailerons are solid with a good "scale" roll rate. The yaw stability is good. The underslung rudder produces a positive roll coupling as expected. There was a slight slow pitch oscillation that might indicate slight tail-heaviness, or slop in the elevator servo output. I will replace the elevator servo with a ball-bearing unit before the next flight. I really can't move the CG any farther forward and have any hope of landing on a grass runway. Perhaps a gyro on pitch will cure the oscillation. The flight was purposefully limited to two minutes, since I had no idea if the counter-rotating props had unloaded correctly. On the test bed pattern plane with 20 cells, the static current was 35 amps, but dropped to less that 20 in the air, based on full throttle flight time. Other than one roll, I just did several passes, then climbed to altitude to do stall tests. It is reluctant to stall, and it just sort of hangs nose high and mushes. Even accelerated stalls did not produce a real stall or tip drop.      Everything went fine until landing approach when one gear only came about halfway down. I recycled the gear with the same results. Not knowing if I had enough to do a go-around, I momentarily went to full power and gave a sharp jab of up elevator, which succeeded in locking the gear. The end of the runway was approaching, so I had to set it down faster than I had intended, resulting in a nose over which bent both landing gears back somewhat and popped one of the gear doors off. There was no other damage than that.      Disassembling the retract unit showed a "catch" at the mid position that I can't seem to resolve. Fortunately, I have a spare, now installed. The legs have been straightened and the door reattached.      I probably won't have time for a second test flight before Mid-Am, so Saturday will be Flight Number Two. I ask everyone to be understanding of any less than perfect landing results as I try to get this beautiful beast sorted out. It is a thoroughbred of the highest order, and I'm sure it will tax my skills trying to learn how to land it correctly.      Unfortunately, Keith was not able to fly the Bugatti for the folks at the Mid-Am. A gopher had other ideas! On his initial takeoff run, one of the landing gear dropped into a gopher hole. This allowed the props to strike the ground. Keith made a couple more attempts, but the power wasn’t there.      Saturday night he inspected the motor and gear-drive unit and found a chipped tooth. Since he machined the gears himself, there wasn’t time to make a replacement.      I can attest that you did miss a beautiful plane in flight. This is a remarkable job of engineering, from the gear-drive unit through the construction of the airframe. Of course the finish is one of Keith’s top-notch jobs. This is another one of his groundbreaking planes. KM Return to "What's In This Issue?" Electric Tiger Moths From: Richard Adams radams@gogebic.net Hey, Ken!      I'm the guy from the western U.P. whose boyhood buddy was Larry Markey and who invited you to come fly at one of the most scenic grass strips in the world. Last year I sent you a JPG of the Tiger Moth I had converted to Speed 400 power and you put it in the Ampeer. Guess what?      If you have the August RCM, go to page 156 and take a look at Sneak Previews. It's a great story, as I collaborated with the original designer's son, David Mitchell, to put the construction article together. When he was 12 years old he posed for the cover shot holding his dad's TD .020 powered Moth. He is now 40 years old, and builds and flies small electrics and lives in Washington, D.C. For the upcoming issue I sent him a partially framed up Moth last winter, with all of my electric modifications, and he drew the plan addendum to convert it to Speed 400 power. I authored the article and shot the photos.      Just thought you would be interested to know that the Electric Tiger Moth first appeared in the Ampeer!      Keep up the good work! Dick Return to "What's In This Issue?" Jumping to Conclusions or Listen to Your Radio System!      Those of you who attended the Mid-Am saw my Vertical RC Cap 232 crash not once but twice. After the potluck picnic, I decided it was time for me to get in a little flying on this plane. With over 40 flights on it, I was feeling very comfortable with this wonderful little flier. There were several planes flying in the perfect evening air. A few minutes into my first flight, the Cap nosed over and dove into the tall grass on the far side of the runway. The only damage was a bent shaft. I was very surprised, since this little plane had shown no signs of problems before. There was no sign of interference (I had a frequency scanner), and a check of the radio showed it to be working, as all servos were working properly, as well as the ESC. Humm!      I replaced the bent shaft, recharged the battery and decided to fly it again. All of the flight functions appeared normal before takeoff. About four or five minutes into the flight, I came out of a maneuver inverted, not as I intended, but decided to let it fly a little and then push it out over the top. When I applied down elevator, nothing happened! When I decided to roll out, the plane dove into the runway. The crash totally mashed the font end of the plane.      I checked the radio and the receiver did not seem to be working. There were a few "odd" wiggles, but no firm commands being received by the FMA Extreme 5. I decided that the receiver had "died."      When Keith arrived early the next morning, we decided to do a full postmortem. The crystal was given a good "shake", as sometimes this will show a broken crystal, not to be unexpected in such a forceful crash. There was no sound. The servos were plugged in over and over in various combinations of functions and the receiver would not follow the commands of the transmitter.      Since I had checked the transmitter with one of the other planes that I fly on it, the conclusion was that something had gone dreadfully wrong with the receiver.      The plane was put away, broken, and I elected not to fly anymore of my planes at the meet. The Cap sat forlornly on the basement floor for several weeks, waiting for me to pull the receiver and send it in to FMA for a full physical.      Two weeks later, Dave emailed me that he wanted to go flying to practice with his new AcroPro. I decided to take my Cutie, and grabbed the required equipment, including my trusty Focus 4 and headed for the field. When I arrived at the field, Dave was already flying his Bantam. I decided to fly the Cutie while he finished his flight. I got the pin, turned on the transmitter and then receiver (Hitec 555), wiggled the sticks, and all was okay. As Dave was about to land, I decided to shut down and chat with him before taking a flight on the Cutie. When I turned the system back on and wiggled the sticks, there was no elevator response and the aileron stick moved the elevator. Huh?      Dave happened to have a Hitec Eclipse 7 with Spectra module, so we change it to my frequency (54) and the Cutie flight was just fine. After landing, I checked my Focus 4 again, and it appeared to be working correctly. There was some more head scratching, but I decided that I no longer had faith in my trusty old transmitter.      It was one week until the PMAC meet, and I had five planes that I used with that transmitter, most of my small air force.      As luck would have it, Keith called me on Sunday evening. We chatted, and then I told him the experience that I’d had with the elevator movement jumping to the aileron channel. He told be that it is possible when a receiver doesn’t get a clean signal to move the movement to the next function. He also noted that the Extreme 5 requires a very clean signal to function properly. By now, some lights were coming on!      On Monday I tried the Focus 4 with the 555 in the Cutie again. It appeared to be fine. Leaving the transmitter on and undisturbed, I tried the Extreme 5 in the carcass of the Cap. While the 555 appeared to be working okay, the Extreme 5 was still "flaky." I then tried the Focus 4 with my TigerShark, another 555 receiver, and once again the functions jumped "channels" on me. I shut down and tried the Cutie again several times, and finally it jumped functions on me. My conclusion was that my transmitter was seriously ill. I Need a New Transmitter      I’d been thinking about a Multiplex Cockpit for a long time, since I held one in my hands about three years ago in Toledo. What a perfect feel. I checked into it online and found that it comes in positive shift only. The majority of my planes have negative shift receivers. Rats.      Online, I read that there was a factory mod that allowed switching the shift. Yes, but ... I also ran into the specifications for the Multiplex Evo. Wow, its design is similar to the Cockpit and can have a synthesized module. Could it get any better?      A call to Glen at Multiplex (part of Hitec now) confirmed that there is no negative shift Cockpit available and the Evo is not shift selectable. Double rats!      It was now Tuesday and my options were running out quickly. I considered the Laser and Flash models from Hitec. I didn’t really like the feel of Dave’s Eclipse 7, but I decided that now was the time to take the plunge into a computer radio.      I checked all of the local hobby shops and found that the Prop Shop in Warren had one, and the price was fair, as it came out to be about the same as Tower’s price with overnight shipping. As I was running out of time, I took the hour drive to the Prop Shop.      While the transmitter was charging, I read the manual the first time. I "played" with it a little, and then I read the manual again. What had I gotten myself into?      Wednesday morning, I reread parts of the manual and set up the Cutie. Ah, got it! Everything appeared to be working exactly as expected. I set up my other flyable planes. I was learning.      Finally, I wanted to find out if the “clean” signal from the new transmitter would "fix" the problem with the Extreme 5. I moved the model select to the next model and tried the Extreme 5. It was still "flaky." Thoughts of sending the receiver in danced through my head.      For one last test, I unplugged all of the servos from the Extreme 5 and started plugging them in one at a time. Success, at least to a point. I’d plugged in the rudder and aileron servos and all was well, then, when I plugged in the elevator servo, the system was "flaky" again! I unplugged the elevator servo, and once again all was well. I plugged a different servo into the elevator slot of the receiver. Everything was working. I then plugged in the one that I had determined as bad – "flaky" – good – all was well once again!      Maybe, just maybe, there was nothing wrong with the Extreme 5. I needed a test bed. Over the next two mornings, I rebuilt the nose of the Cap.      In the meantime, I’d flown the Cutie with the new transmitter at the Midwest field on Wednesday evening. Everything was just fine.      With the Cap repaired and the new elevator servo installed, it was time to check out the Extreme 5.      Thursday evening was perfect for this, so it was off to Clara Miller Park. A few minutes into the flight, I was feeling very comfortable with the new transmitter. After about eight and a half minutes, I landed. The Extreme 5 and Cap were back! What Did I Learn? When your radio system does something "odd", no matter how much you want to fly, find out the real cause. Don’t fly until you are absolutely sure about what is going on, and you have fixed it or had it fixed. Don’t assume there is something wrong with a receiver, transmitters can go bad. Until this incident, for 41 years of flying, I’d never had a transmitter "die." Carefully and systematically check out ALL possible causes of a radio system "glitch." Transmitters, receivers and servos can all go "bad", and they can interact with each other, which makes diagnosing the problem difficult. No one is that good! Radio problems can and do occur. Avoid flying towards the pits and in too tightly. When you see someone flying in very tightly and constantly towards the pit, move yourself to as safe an area as possible, and keep an eye on that plane at all times. If it is happening while you are flying, land and seek shelter! Remember my warning – NO ONE IS THAT GOOD, just lucky so far. The FMA Extreme 5 is extremely good at "telling" you that there is a problem! In this case, it was telling me there was a "bad" signal from the transmitter, and then that there was a bad servo. Thank you Extreme 5. Several Conundrums      A check this morning showed the Focus 4 working with all of my planes on 54, even the Cap with the Extreme 5. There were no signs of "inappropriate behavior" at all. Is the Focus 4 dead? Is it intermittent? Was the whole cause of the Extreme 5 problem the bad elevator servo? What caused the control function jump on the Focus 4 with the Cutie at the field?      The bottom line is that the Focus 4 will not be used with a plane until it can be completely checked out by a qualified technician. Also, I now have my first computer radio, although it is not the one I want.      Don’t be surprised to find some good negative shift receivers for sale soon in the Ampeer. I’ll have more on the Eclipse 7 soon. Return to "What's In This Issue?" PMAC 1st Annual E-fly In      On August 9 and 10 the Pontiac Miniature Aircraft Club (PMAC) hosted its first annual Electric Fly-in. Twenty pilots and about 100 aircraft enjoyed the fine August weather. While warm, with the temperature in the low 80’s both days, the gentle winds kept the pilots and spectators comfortable.      Sterling (Smitty) Smith was the CD and had everything set up for a great weekend. The work at the transmitter impound went smoothly. The food at the concession stand was very, very good, especially the sausage and kraut. The field was in very good order, with the grass freshly cropped. There was no problem getting the X-250 or Vertical RC Cap 232 off the grass and into the air. Keith flies his Zlin while Dave’s Elextra awaits its turn.      Most of the time was spent flying with friends and just having a great time. For the most part, there were always several planes in the air.      Registration was well handled, and the cost of the daily park pass was included in the registration fee.      Smitty and the PMAC should be very proud of their first effort. Everyone attending had a really good weekend.      There were some awards given to the pilots and a pilots’ raffle throughout both days. The awards: Saturday Best Scratch Built or Kit: Bob Foran – E3D Pilot’s Choice: Guy Marshall – Ryan Bearcat CD’s Choice: Guy Marshall – Ryan Bearcat Best ARF: Jack Lemon - Camel Sunday People’s Choice: Randy Spurlock - Dragonfly Best Multi-motor: Randy Spurlock – C-160 Best Scale: Dave Grife – Fokker D-VII Best Mini-electric: John Fotiu – 4.5 oz. Estralita Return to "What's In This Issue?" Upcoming NEAT Fair      Don’t forget about the NEAT fair. The nations’ largest gathering of electric model aircraft will be held in the Catskill mounts in lower NY state on September 12, 13 and 14. Tom Hunt and the SEFLI have a great event for you. Be sure to wish Tom congratulations on his induction into the AMA Hall of Fame.      For more information please visit: www.neatfair.org. 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/