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SkyWriter
Chartered Club #970
Skymasters R/C Club Newsletter
- September 2000
See Skymasters on the Web at www.geocities.com/~skymasters
President's Message
Hello and greetings,
Wow, just got back from our annual corn
roast and all I can say is what a perfect day for flying. Mother Nature
sure timed this one right, light winds, mild temperatures and mostly sunny
skies. This year's turn out was wonderful even with so many conflicting
events on the same weekend. See the article in this month's Skywriter for
more details and for the contest results for Top Gun and our first Great
Planes Slow Poke Slow Gun events.
Our next flying event is our largest event
of the year. The 10th Annual Mid-West Regional Float Fly is
just around the corner. September 9th and 10th will
provide two full days of flying from the water in Island Lake State Park.
This event, of course, requires all kinds of volunteers. The Skywriter
has registration details. Join us for a superb dinner and entertainment
on September 9th after the flying. Please consider helping out,
also. There are plenty of jobs to do before, during and after the Float
Fly. Carl Long is our event director for this magnificent weekend. Please
contact him if you can help out. If you have never flown from the water
before there are some basics that you will want to learn first. Many of
your fellow Skymasters are quite experienced at float flying, you'll want
to seek their good advice before attaching and using floats on your aircraft.
Our Larson Middle School meetings will
be starting up again soon. They are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays
of the month at 7:30 PM and will resume on Wednesday, September 13th. Each
meeting has a special topic or guest speaker, along with show and tells
of members' latest projects, 50/50 raffle, video library, and discussions
of up-coming events. Join us for these fun and informative meetings. The
BOD is busy putting together a schedule of speakers and themes. One that
is already finalized is on October 11th we will be joined by
Ed Kaminski who runs the Military Art Gallery in Mt. Clemens. Mr. Kaminski
advertises and sells the most exciting aviation prints and original paintings
you'll ever find. He has met many of the famous aces and aviation pioneers
portrayed in his artwork and will share some of those stories with us that
night. I would like to make the theme for our October 11th meeting
"Aviation Art". If you have any of your own aviation art handy-work, paintings,
drawings, photography or sculptures please bring them in on October 11th.
Lastly, just a reminder that September
ends our Wednesday student night/pot lucks. As we move inside for Wednesday
meetings, Thursdays become our "unofficial" student nights. We encourage
students and instructors to be at the field on Thursdays as long as the
weather holds out. Enjoy the flying and camaraderie of your club.
That's all for this month. Fly safe and
happy landings.
Gary Weaks
From the Editor…
Welcome to the September 2000 issue of
Skywriter!
August was home to two events - Multi Engine/Multi
Wing, and our Corn Roast/Top Gun/Slow Gun - great weather for both and
lots of flying and eating - see more details inside. The end of August
also brings an end to our formal Student nights and Pot Luck Dinners. Thanks
to Bob and Donna Burns for once again coordinating the Pot Luck Dinners,
and to all the Instructors and others that helped out along the way.
September brings with it the 10th
Annual Midwest Regional Float Fly on the 9th and 10th;
and a beginning of our Larson Meetings for the fall.
It's not too late to volunteer (but its
getting close) to help out at our largest event! If you have never been
to the Midwest Regional Float Fly, it is a lot of fun! Two days of flying
with a wonderful dinner Saturday night. Give Carl Long a call to see what
help he needs.
Got ideas for programs this fall - topics
you would like to see discussed?? Give Gary a call and let him know!
Please send me any input you may have for
the newsletter. Please send mail to GMCardillo@att.net, or to my address
on the back cover…
Events of the Last Month
Multi Engine / Multi Wing event 12 August
2000
Gary Walling
This year the weather cooperated and we
had magnificantly clear skies and just a small breeze to contend with.Twelve
pilots came out and brought two twins and about 16 biplanes. The flying
was excellent with no 'events'. Mike Cisler won the Sig Hog 'bipe, Ross
Hardy won the Sig Ultimate fun-fly 'bipe and Brian Schick won the plane
retainer which was kindly donated by Mike Cisler. A fun time was had by
all and hopefully nobody got too sun burnt !
A big thank you goes to the Devine family
who manned the kitchen.
Corn Roast / Top Gun / Slow Gun
Gary Weaks
What a great day for flying as we crowned
a new Top Gun champion this year! Light winds, mild temperatures and mostly
sunny skies. Our turn out was impressive, too. We counted 117 members and
visitors throughout the day on a weekend full of other events including
the Dream Cruise, a NASCAR race, and a near-by large scale event. Those
that stayed until the end were treated to some full-scale aerobatics courtesy
of an unknown bi-plane pilot in the local area (no, I can't take credit
for arranging that one).
After we all feasted on fresh, grilled
corn-on-the-cob and other grilled goodies Darrell Watts conducted the Top
Gun competition. Darrell got things started by towing a banner with his
Eindecker in true command performance by showing how he did it at Camp
Jeep earlier this summer. The competition allowed contestants a three-minute
free-style exhibition of aerial skill judged by all of the non-participating
pilots. When the dust settled we crowned Joe Finkelstine this year's Top
Gun. Runners up were Joe Hass and Greg Cardillo. The Slow Gun event was
similar, but it also included a static judging. The winner of our first
Slow Gun event is Jim Held. Runners up were Otto Gutgsell and Herman Greif.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Jim Held
Slow Gun 2000
Joe Finkelstine
Top Gun 2000
Student Nights / Pot Luck
Dinners
Labor Day marks the end of another season
of Student Nights and Pot Luck Dinners. True to our motto, we always ate,
and we even flew most weeks! Mother Nature gave us a slow start with some
windy and rainy evenings, but we ended with some great weather and turnouts.
Over 100 people for the Fish Fry, and over 50 people for many of the weekends!
Our thanks to Bob and Donna Burns for coordinating
the Pot Luck Dinners throughout the summer, and to all the families that
supported it. (This event is supported completely by those attending.)
Our chefs, Pete Foss and Greg Cardillo
manned the grill for the summer and helped make sure no one left hungry!
A special thanks to our Instructors that
came out each week to help our students. From the 'retirees and wanna bees'
that covered the daytime hours, and those that came out after work for
the evening. We also had many experienced pilots that offered their help
in checking over many of our students new creations, making sure they were
safe to fly, and offering help to those in need.
And of course, thanks to our Students -
the new members trying the hobby for the first time - some returning after
an absence - that continue to help this hobby grow! We saw a large number
of students this year, many getting signed off as the year progressed.
This is one of the events that makes Skymasters
stand out as a family oriented club that welcomes newcomers to the hobby.
For those of you interested in some
'informal' student nights, we will be continuing into September as long
as Mother Nature cooperates… We will be out there Wednesday, September
6th, then switching to Thursday evenings for the rest of September
as our Larson meetings start. Note however, that you will need to bring
your own utensils, plates, condiments, etc… The 'Pot Luck' supplies are
packed away for the season. We will still light the grill for cooking,
and have instructors available weather permitting…
Still need some instruction, feel free
to call one of our instructors and arrange a time to meet them. Several
of us will fly throughout the year as long as Mother Nature allows.
Skymasters Events
September 9-10, 2000 Midwest Regional
Float Fly – Island Lake State
Park, 9:30 AM
Our 10th Annual of this event
- hopefully the largest ever. Get those planes on floats and come enjoy
the fun. Two full days of flying, a great dinner Saturday night, lots of
prizes for pilots, and our Super Raffle for the Top Flight Stinson - built,
covered, radio, engine, Ready to Fly!; and second prize of a Great Planes
Spacewalker - assembled - just add radio and engine and go flying!
We have had about 100 pilots and 140 planes
the last two years. See August 2000 RCM for a write-up on last years event!
SKS videos will be back this year to make another video tape!
Carl Long is running the event this year
- and help is needed. Contact Carl if you can help out!
See signup sheets in this issue!
September 13, 2000 Skymasters Meeting–
Larson Middle School, 7:30 PM
September 27, 2000 Skymasters Meeting–
Larson Middle School, 7:30 PM
Our fall meetings start at Larson Middle
School. Larson is on Long Lake (18 Mile), between John R and Dequindre.
Our fall/winter meetings are typically a short business meeting, followed
by a hobby related program, and show and tell - where members bring in
their projects to share (and maybe win a gift certificate!)
Upcoming Programs/Events
Skymasters events listed elsewhere
in this issue!
Sat-Sun, Sep 9-10 GDSHS Sailpane - Addison
Oaks, Steve Martinez
Sat-Sun, Sep 9-10 Milan Flyers Precision
Aerobatics, Tom Weedon 734-697-0875
Sat-Sun, Sep 9-10 Midwest R/C Open Air
Show, Craig Moehler
Sunday, Sep 10 Michigan Whirlybirds Heli
Fun Fly, Paul Giles 810-790-5952
Sat-Sun, Sep 16-17 Flying Pilgrims Fall
Phase Out - Big Bird IMAA, Andy Pesonen 734-422-6389
Sat-Sun, Sep 16-17 RCCD 2nd
Annual Motor City Classic IMAC, Sam Monteleone 810-469-4594
Sat-Sun, Sep 16-17* Midland Radio Control
Model Air Show, Dave Schmelzer 517-496-9154
Sunday, Sep 17 Chessaning R/C Sport Scale
Fly In (any size), Greg Brausa 248-373-8949
Sunday, Sep 24 Jackson R/C 3rd
Outdoor Swap Meet, Ed Prahl 517-784-1448
Sat-Sun, Sep 30-Oct 1 Flying Tigers NMPRA
District 5 Pylon Championship, Pete Bergstrom 313-928-8260
*See additional information for these events
in this issue of Skywriter!
Event info from mailings received, AMRCC,
and Michigan RC Flying Times
Other Area Events
For Sale!
Foam Core Floats 39" Long, with 1/4" Plywood
top
Good for 6 - 10lb. Airplanes.
$20.00 a set. Call Mark Smith 248-391-5970
In Search Of…
We are looking for a volunteer to take
over running our Video Library. Our current custodian, Carl Long, will
be attending a class on Wednesday evenings, and will be unable to make
our meetings. If you are interested, please call Carl at 810-254-0048.
Thanks for all your work supporting this Carl!
Help Still Needed!!
Carl is still in need of some additional
volunteers to help out and provide relief for those already working. Please
contact Carl ASAP if you can help out.
Call in your last minute registrations,
and Dinner Reservations as well...
See you at the Float Fly!
More Float Flying!!
Didn't get enough Float Flying at the Midwest
Regional Float Fly???
Just got your plane set up and want to
enjoy more flying off water???
Well, here's your chance! We'll be flying
Saturday mornings at Seven Lakes State Park in Holly throughout September
(and into October if Mother Nature allows!) This is informal open flying.
The park rowboat will be available in September for retrieval (though a
small motor or boat for October may help!) Contact Chet Brady with questions.
Skymasters Information
Skymasters field is located within the
Bald Mountain State Park (see map). State Park Permits are required and
can be obtained from the Park Headquarters located on Greenshield Road
or at club events. Flying is permitted from 10 AM to 8 PM. The noise limit
for 2000 is 94dBa at 10 feet - this noise rule is strictly enforced.
Wednesday evenings during the summer is
Student Night and there are usually instructors around all afternoon. Student
night is also 'pot luck' buffet night so that you can fly-n-feed (though
not usually at the same time). Students are encouraged on other days and
weekends. It is a great idea to come on Wednesday, meet the Instructors
and arrange for more instruction time together. Our Chief Flight Instructor
is Greg Brausa.
From June to August, Club Meetings are
held at the field on the first Saturday of the month at 12 Noon - a great
chance to fly and gossip too! Winter meetings (September to May) are held
at Larson Middle School (on Long Lake just east of John R - see map) on
the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:30 PM. Show and Tell,
coffee and donuts, and model-speak are the order of the evening. Come along
- they are fun.
The Skywriter newsletter is sent to all
members, local hobby shops and other local R/C clubs. Any and all contributions
are welcome, please pass any articles to the Editor. If you know of anyone
who may be interested in our hobby (friend, relative, neighbor, colleague
or acquaintance) - please give them a copy of this newsletter or a copy
of an AMA magazine - it may spark their interest and get them into our
hobby!
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