Hi Gang,

Well, as I write this we are in the middle of another fine flying season, and I was hoping to have several aircraft in the mix (more on that one later). The summer usually brings out a slower pace for your BOD, but several things are still going on that I thought might interest you. In case you might have not noticed, the shelter has work has now essentially been completed. Your club VP and secretary (Gary Weaks, and Ross Hardy) put in significant hours on much of the field. I certainly am thankful for this and I hope each of you would thank them and the rest of the helpers that made this happen.

We had our "big bird" fly since our last newsletter, and this meet is getting smaller, due in part to our sound limitations. It is a complex issue for the owners of many of these big birds to power them under 94Dba, but it is necessary for our field survival that we do so. I am sure more than 1 bad thought has been hurled my way from these flyers, but that’s what the club pays me the extra nickel for! (And you all thought I did this job for free!) - As usual, our industrious newsletter editor may perhaps have a CD report on this elsewhere in the issue. If memory serves, Warbirds and Scale is the next event, and I am hoping to finally get my One Design (which believe it or not, is covered in scale) out and flying. The One Design actually calls out for a specific color scheme, so technically my ship is a DR-107 (I think).

I am saddened to report to all that Pete Foss’s mother passed away in Mid June and I am sure that I speak for all of us and add our sympathy and thoughts to Pete and his family.

Your BOD is also still working on a few issues that I am reminded upon on a regular basis, including our support of Helicopters, new events, etc. As I always do, I promise to report on them when a conclusion is reached. Most of these issues are more complex than they appear, and part of our job at the BOD is to wander through fact and fiction.

Each flying season is always full of interesting turns for me and this one is no different. I started the season with 8-9 flyable ships and was optimistic that I would be able to fly all season for once. Well, 3 crashes, 3 over the sound limits, and 3 cantankerous/mysterious fuel problems later, I sit with only the trainer I built for my son and daughter being airworthy (at least 2 of the three crashes are simple repairs). I am back to my familiar mode of scrambling to get a ship in the air.

Along the lines of getting a ship in the air with quickly, I decided to finally buy the Hanger 9 Cap 232 ARF I had seen and heard about. I went to Riders hobby credit card in hand ready to buy one. I met up with Greg Charbeneau (Skymaster who works R/C at Riders) and asked him if one was in the back room. I saw a sad look on his face and was prepared to hear, "sorry Joe but the last one was sold only this morning". Instead what I got was, "yes, I have one in the back, but it’s mine on layaway" – So being the nice person I am, I then asked to at least admire it. Of which Greg willingly obliged. Greg then had a painful look on his face and said that since he was disappearing for about 10 weeks on his Scouting duties he could sell it to me. I obviously had pains with this, but being the crash happy flyer I am, finally convinced myself to buy it over the sad face of Greg. Now, Greg is a very complete and careful builder, and knowing this, I asked him if he also had the IP panel, pilot figure, etc. for the plane. Well, of course he did, so I bought them also! – Greg goes through all this work of ordering top notch extras for the Cap 232 and I bought it all from under him with hardly any guilt on my part – Talk about your good sales staff!

Enough said for this month – keep ‘em flying

Joe Finkelstine

Welcome to the July 1999 issue of Skywriter. Another busy month! Kid’s Day and a Four Stroke Rally and the beginning of Student Night 99 topped off the month

Our flying events coming in July! Our Student nights continue every Wednesday. Our Fun Fly and Warbirds and Scale events are also in July. See more info on all these events inside.

Some congratulations and condolences to pass on this month.

First congratulations to Rob and Denise Cote on the birth of their son! Ryan James Cote was born on May 24. Mom and baby are doing well, and Rob still made it to a contest in June and placed fourth in Sportsman Pattern!

Our thoughts are with the Foss family this month. Pete’s mother passed away on June 17 after a long illness. See thank you from the Foss’ for the arrangement sent by the club.

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…

The 20th Annual Chet Brady Memorial Mamoth Fly-In was held on May 23, 1999. While it is called the Chet Brady Memorial, Chet is still with us and participated in the event. A bit of history regarding the name of this meet. Twenty years ago giant scale was in its infancy and just beginning to become mainstream. The Skymasters were fortunate to have several advanced modelers heavily involved in giant scale; Chet among, if not leading, them. When the Skymasters decided to hold a giant scale meet, our illustriuous president at that time, Harlen Neuville, jokingly called it the Chet Brady Memorial. While the "Memorial" part of the name was a joke, the intent was to name the meet as a much-deserved tribute to Chet.

So much for the history, now on to the meet itself. We were fortunate this year to have reasonable weather (past years have seen a plethora of wind, rain, and even snow). This year the meet was sandwiched between rain on Saturday and rain again on Sunday afternoon. The participants this year were down from past years with only eight pilots and 12 planes. Last year we had 11 pilots with 14 planes.

The pilots and planes at the meet were Chet Brady with his Citabria and Commodore; Steve Fredericks with his Champ; Graham Overton with his Troy Build One Design and Staudacher; Terry Overton with his One Design, Elder, and Stampe; Greg Cardillo with his Olympic II; Daniel Devine with his J-3 Cub; Randy DesRosieb also with a J-3 Cub; and yours truly with my PBY Catalina.

Special thanks to Jack Fleming, Carolyn Foss, and Gary Weeks for their help in the kitchen.

Despite the heat, we had another great turn out for Kids Day. We had 97 first time fliers for this event and many spectators. Flying started at 10 am and continued steady until after 2 pm.

I would like to thank the many people who helped this event run smoothly. Chet Brady directed traffic while Gary Walling spotted the cars and collected the money for the State Park permits. Carolyn Foss and Laura Devine greeted and registered our guests. Jack Fleming gave a brief ground school for most of the day. Dave Shea took over briefly for a spell to take a break from the kitchen grill. Ron Thuringer ushered the procession to the waiting flight blocks. Marv Middleton, Pete Foss, Gene Thuringer, Paul Goelz, Dick Freiwald, Greg Cardillo, Paul Zabawa, Joe Finkelstine, Darryl Watts, Herm Grief, Dan Devine, Ross Hardy, Mark Smith, Bob Donohue, Jack Ferguson, Paul Shurliff, Craig White and Rick Denescu readied planes, bear-hugged students, and prevented our aircraft from having hard ground encounters. Randy MacInnes and others who could not attend provided trainer aircraft. There was a virtual plethora of airplanes covering the field to each side of the flight blocks, no shortage of aircraft.

A half time show featured Mike Wallo, Greg Cardillo and Pete Foss. Mike and his helicopter awed the crowd with loops and stalls and other Italian moves. The helicopter performed flawlessly. Greg put his F–14 Tomcat to the sky. The plane swooped, climbed and rolled with precision. The planes retracts reflected scale motion as they extended for a greased landing. Pete Foss showed us his T-33 electric ducted fan-powered jet and his electric powered yellow pattern ship. They seemed silent and moved effortlessly as they passed the flight line. Greg Cardillo provided a well-rehearsed javelin hand toss launch to both. Josh Hardy provided a fine commentary for the show. GOOD-JOB JOSH!

The kitchen was a very busy place all day. As you may recall, we give each flyer a ticket good for free a hot dog, soda, and chips. We also served hamburgers and kielbasa. Gerry Blumenthal and Dave Shea did a superb job of keeping the grill going. Thanks guys. When Dave’s wife, Linda, showed up to visit with their two daughters Caitlin and Liz, they took right to the task of staffing the kitchen for a while. Roberto Mesnik and his friend, Lory Doran, asked to help and also assumed duties in the kitchen. Other helpers included Samantha Foss and Tony Devine—Thanks, kids! Ice water stations were set up in three places--thanks for the dispensers, this was a godsend.

Clean–up is always a lot of work also. Thanks to Greg Cardillo, Ross Hardy, Paul Zabawa, Pete, Carolyn and Samantha Foss, Dan, Laura and Tony Devine. They all stuck around until the end, making sure everything was cleaned up and the trailer was reloaded.

Thanks to Bob Ryan of the Flying Times who came by our field and took some pictures of our Kid’s Day event . Bob recently refurbished a 1946 Luscombe (full scale). He and Kaye Noble plan to fly and cover more ground for the Flying Times. I asked Bob if he was giving out rides? He told me that I would have to fight Kaye for it first. We wish Bob and Kaye the best with full scale flying and a new camera angle to the photography and thanks for the issues donated to be given away!

Lastly my wife, Cindy, was there all day. I awakened her at 5 am to help me load the car and truck. She left the field at 5 pm. She worked the event from the kitchen and always smiled. Thanks sweetie.

I was glad to see so many new faces. The club’s extension of the shelter came right in time. We look forward to seeing our new friends on Wednesdays for some good food and conversation as we enjoy our shared interest in flying.

Thank-you for your efforts in making this years Kid’s Day a success.

With warmest regards,

Carl Long

(Cindy’s mandate to me is that I actively fly this year… I surely intend to!)

We had a beautiful day for our annual "Big H" 4 Stroke event this year. 19 pilots joined us for a day that started with almost no wind and sun! Vi (Mrs. "Big H") and her family joined us once again for the event in memory of her husband. This event always brings out a wide range of planes, as almost anything can be powered by a 4 Stroke. From trainers to Cubs and Champs, and from Chipmunks to Aeromasters; a successful day of flying!

Thanks to Carl Long for coordinating the kitchen for me, and all those that helped out!

July 7, 1999 Student Night! – Scripps Road Field, The fun starts whenever you can make it! Student night begins June 2 and continues every Wednesday through the summer. We are out there rain or shine. Dinner is at 6pm. (We always eat, we sometimes fly!)

July 3, 1999 Skymasters Meeting – Scripps Road Field, 12:00 noon

Summer meetings are short, so be prompt and bring a plane!

July 11, 1999 Team Fun Fly – Scripps Road Field, 10:00 AM.

Some fun competitive events for all skill levels, from students to expert. Don’t have a teammate – we’ll find one for you.

July 25, 1999 Warbirds and Scale – Scripps Road Field, 10:00 AM.

Any warbird or any other scale plane is welcome to fly! See ad in this issue.

July 11, 1999 Team Fun Fly – Scripps Road Field, 10:00 AM.

Some fun competitive events for all skill levels, from students to expert. Don’t have a teammate – we’ll find one for you.

August 7, 1999 Meeting– Scripps Road Field, 12:00 noon. (SATURDAY!)

Summer meetings are short.. Be prompt and bring a plane to fly before or after!

August 14, 1999 Multi Engine / Multi Wing – Scripps Road Field, 10:00 AM. (SATURDAY!)

More than one engine or more than one wing is the order of the day! The sound of multiple engines ‘in sync’ is a wonderful sound.

August 22, 1999 Corn Roast and Top Gun – Scripps Road Field, 10:00 AM.

This ones for club members, their families, and our neighbors! All food/drink provided by the club – of course plenty of corn roasting away! Also our annual Top Gun competion. Our defending champion has hinted at retirement after three wins, so it may be an open field! Come on out and show your stuff, or just to relax and enjoy the day!

Flying site: Island Lake Recreation Area, Brighton, Mi., is located on the south side of I96 at Kensington Road (12 mi. west of the I96 - I275 intersection or 3 mi. east of the I96 - US23 intersection). Michigan State Park "Permits" are required and may be purchased at the gate.

1999 is going to be a special year at the Mid-West Regional Float Fly.

• SKS Video will be filming, to create a float fly video that will then be advertised in the magazines and available direct from them. You can order your copy at the event.
• The August ’99 RCModeler has our Cesna 182 on the cover and an article about the ’98 event inside.
• Dave Brown, President of AMA, has told me he plans to be there.
• Dick Kidd, Senior Editor of RCModeler told me that he will attend.
• I already have new entries from AZ, TX, MO, and KS. We should have the most exciting display of airplanes ever!
• We have devised a system to give you even more flight time from our existing 7 flight lines.
• We will have our usual array of great pilot’s prizes.

Plan now to attend!! Also, plan on attending the cookout – everyone that has ever attended will tell you that it is great food and a great time. (We are usually done by 7pm, if you still want to checkout the nightlife.) P-lea-se send your entry back to me ASAP – it really helps with thte planning.

(Thanks!)

I look forward to seeing all of you again this year – let’s show our special guests and the video crew what R/C Float Flying is all about!

Saturday/Sunday, July 10-11 UFO 10^th Annual Giant Fly, Tom MacDonald 248-851-8988

Saturday/Sunday, July 10-11 AA Falcons/EFO Mid-America Electric Fly, Ken Myers/Keith Shaw 348-669-8124

Sunday, July 11 Irish Hills R/C 16^th Annual Outdoor Swap Meet, Gary Adams 517-592-6060

Saturday/Sunday, July 17-18 Chesaning R/C Heli Fun Fly, Paul Binkley 810-639-2711

Saturday/Sunday, July 17-18 GLASS Dual Soar In

Saturday/Sunday, July 24-25 Signal Seekers Q-500 Pylon (2 one day meets) Bob Wooley 734-721-3923

Saturday/Sunday, July 24-25 Ribcrackers Open Air Show, Greg Bessette 810-229-9732

Sunday, August 1 Chessaning R/C Big Bird Fly In IMAA, Paul Binkley 810-639-2711

Saturday/Sunday, August 7-8 Flying Pilgrims / DAM Michigan Jets and Turbines, Burt Eisenberg 248-626-8838

Sunday, August 8 PMAC 11^th Annual Scale Meet, Tom Wheeler 248-334-7693

Saturday/Sunday, August 14-15 DAM Giant Size Air Show/Fly In IMAA, Stan Spiewak 313-534-3300

Sunday, August 15 RCCD 8^th Annual Great Lakes Scale, Richard Vukmirovich 313-526-3168

Saturday/Sunday, August 21-22 PMAC IMAC Pontiac Grand Prix, Tom Wheeler 248-334-7693

*See additional information for these events in this issue of Skywriter!

The fuel order is in! See Al for your order. There is additional fuel available – 10% Cool Power if you need some.

Also, Al will be in need of fuel jugs for the 2000 fuel buy. Looking for new or like new jugs, preferably with the inner plastic seal. Place your empty jugs in the rafters of our shelter. Al will get them from there and store them till the next fuel buy!

Thanks to the efforts of several fellow club members we have been able to make some much-needed improvements. The largest project has been the expansion of our picnic shelter (see, it wasn’t your imagination) We added 24 feet to the length of the shelter to provide the cover needed for our events and Wednesday night pot-lucks. The expansion was raised for the

cost of materials ($1000.) on May 22 thanks to many club members including Ross Hardy for his post-hole digger, Dan Devine for his air-compressor and pneumatic tools, and Steve Fredericks for his guidance in positioning the poles and ribs...I mean trusses.

On Wednesday, May 26, in place of meeting at the school for our last spring meeting, we held our meeting at the field for a spring spruce-up party. It was a very productive event that included; Painting the shelter and work stands, cleaning the sandbox and adding 500 pounds of new sand, cleaning the bathroom, placing sound-check blocks (These are two sets of red bricks spaced 10 feet apart for sound measurements. They are located on both ends of the pit row) painted dba limit signs, cleaned and painted the gas grill (Grill donated by Dan Devine), seeded the runway (70 pounds of seed), spread two truck-loads of wood chips under shelter and performed general clean-up. Many thanks to all who participated.

Harold Reuter

Many gift certificates were issued by the Skymasters for work performance at Bald Mountain Involvement Day. A few members donated their certificate to me for the school program. After long thought about how to utilize them without favoritism, I unloaded onto Vice Principal Mike Stanek. Today I encountered one of my students showing off his gift certificate he received from Science class. Mr Stanek passed the certificate on to a Science teacher, who in turn put it in the hands of a peer group. This group of kids determined that Pat would be the best candidate since he was part of our airplaneclub, and that Pat would put it to best use.

Interesting that so many people in the school system handled a piece of pa[er with "Skymasters" name attached? What is the value, to us, to have such name recognition?

Some planes for sale this month (some good looking ones too!)

Starhawk .40

Intermediate/Trainer

Yellow & Black Monocote

SIG King Kobra .60

Sport/Pattern

Silver W/Red, White & Blue Monocote

Retracts, .60 FP, Servos

(will separate)

Lanier Stinger .40

Intermediate/Sport

Black w/Neon Pink, Yellow & Green Monocote

.36 ThunderTiger, Servos

(will separate)

Please contact Vince Pettke @ (248) 852-1625

Or email @ rc_mom@tir.com

" How to Clean an Oil Soaked Airframe"

It is possible to restore even a severely oil-soaked structure with a little elbow grease, time, and patience. You’ll need a 12-16 oz bottle of isopropyl alcohol and an 8-10 oz box of corn starch.

Strip the covering off the affected areas. Make a ‘soupy’ slurry solution of the starch and alcohol. Using a paint brush, apply the mixture liberally to the oily area. Wait 20 minutes, then apply a second coat (make sure the alcohol is replenished so the mix stays soupy).

After drying overnight, use a stiff bristle brush to clean off the no oil-ladden corn starch. Repeat process until corn starch comes off in nearly powder form. The last step is to wet a cloth with alcohol and wash the wood. When it dries, the wood is almost as good as new!

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 1998 is 95dB 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. Assistant Chief Flight Instructor is Graham Overton.

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!