KOTRC Newsletter for March 2006

Meeting Notes, 2-21-06 Note that this meeting and the Sekret Kabal meeting for Feb. were pushed back a week to avoid conflict with St. Valentine's Day.

Guest: Dave Williams, an original member of the Knights

Show and Tell:

Joel Chesler - cookies and cupcakes courtesy of Diane. Also a copy of the Mirror Meet Stunt Pattern

Eric Rule - Grapefreet (the plural of Grapefruit)

John Wright - An All American Senior in the process of rebuilding. Originally built by Jim Lavell (- Spelling?), it suffered a blown apart nose when the prop got dinged on takeoff and vibrated badly. John will use a Fox 35 and wants to have it ready for VSC. He found a special plastic prop extension, but probably will use a different spinner or none. Because of the odd geometry of the plane, John will use a left-handed crankshaft.

Antone Kephart - Another reworked ARF Nobler, this time he stripped it, tissued the fuselage, corrected the number of ribs in the stabilizer, added a 'glass cowl, landing gear in the wing, P-40 style canopy. Polyspan on the wings and tail, then doped finish.

Ebert - ARF Bi-Slob. He powers it with an L&J Fox. Current prop is a 10-5, but he thinks that he needs to go to a 10-4 to get good hovering. It is a blast to fly.

Pete Soule - Showed a new set of rules from the AMA that would effectively kill off FAI competition by USA teams, at least for events like Team Racing. On the good news side, he has a new computer program that calculates the correct line rake for any model.

Dale Kirn - He showed a completed Spook model. He designed the plane while at C*x in the early '60s. It is an all plastic flying wing that is capable of the entire stunt pattern. Weight is 8 ounces. This example was tissue covered then Moneykote over the tissue. He will have it on display at a museum in Salina, KS. They are having a ?Just Plane Fun? display from May through August.

Old Business:

At the Sekret Kabal meeting, it was discussed naming the flight circles after members who have passed on. At our age, it was thought that we will soon run out of circles. There were alternatives discussed, and the final motion was to name specific events after late members. That motion was passed, as was one to name the Classic event at the Palmer after Lucky Pyatt, and the Profile Carrier event at the Joust for Kenn Smith. Let's not name the rest of the events TOO fast, guys!

Pete Soule updated us on his contacts with Planes of Fame, and Dennis will contact John Malone to try to put a demo together.

It was moved, 2nded and passed that Joel should propose to Diane 'while the getting is good'.

The subject of the videos we use at the AMA Convention was brought up. After discussion, the first thing we need is video footage to work with. As such, members with digital and video cameras are encouraged to take them to the field and just start recording the scene. We have a lot of slack time at contests, so it can't be that hard to start making movies.

Eric Rule discussed the Phoenix contest of a couple of weeks ago. It was held at a very nice, though temporary field. There was moderate participation. John pointed out that Eric was given the Ed Southwick Memorial Service Award as a result of his support for Control-Line flying. We gave Eric a round of applause.

New Business:

Larry is to contact the AMA and arrange for our booth at the 2007 Convention, providing the price is still $100.

Warren distributed samples of the Palmer Meet flyer, and various additions and corrections were proposed. Warren will make the trophies again.

The rules for Profile 40 were discussed, and the 25 point no-flap bonus was retained for the Palmer Meet.

There is a MECA meet on March 4th at the West Covina Sr. Citizens Center. 9:00 is the usual start time.

Eric Rule has been working with Bill Netzband on airfoils. They now have a program that will take all the basic dimensions for a wing, and the root airfoil and generate a set of rib patterns for laser cutting to any specifications. Palmer meet needs judges. Contact Ray Ebert, he is setting that up for the meet.

Also regarding the Palmer meet, there was discussion on whether there should be new T-shirts done. It seems that Bill Heyworth is having hats done, so it was moved, 2nded and passed that we should request that 25 more be made at our expense for sale/award at the Palmer Meet. Warren will call Bill.

Respectfully submitted; Larry Renger Secretary (Why did I volunteer?)

The Ex Files

I would like to congratulate all the new officers and thank them for agreeing to take on their respective duties. We should all think about how we can assist them in performing their tasks and volunteer, when possible. I have recently been reading about the history of the Brooklyn Skyscrapers; a Free Flight club that I had the privilege of being accepted into, while I lived in Long Island. When I saw that they were celebrating their 70 th. year of activity, I went to their website and was quite impressed at all the information there. They are probably the oldest Model Aircraft club in existence and have accumulated an impressive resume. California?s own Sal Taibi was a founding member and control line stunt legend Leon Shulman is also a member. I?m hoping that 70 years down the line, The Knights Of The Round Circle can be just as proud of our heritage. Due to a change of plans, Diane & I are finally leaving for Australia at the end of the month. Have a nice few weeks, until we all meet again in the spring.

JOEL CHESLER