April 2016 Club Meeting Recap
Chuck started the meeting
Membership is about 340 members.
We recently lost Terry Strunk and Wallace Henrie, both PVMAC members, Fellow RC Pilots, avid modelers and great well respected guys. (Photo of Wallace Henry with his VQ P-39 Below, Right)
There was an email floating around that said 2 fields had ben visited by the feds, and fines were issued, and one field was closed. Chuck talked to one of the presidents of the club, and he reports that the pilots were issued warnings, but not fines and the field was not closed.
Chuck asked that each member please be registered as a pilot with the FAA, and asked that each member make sure that others are registered at the field. He is afraid that if the feds show up and we have a bunch of pilots not registered, that they could shut us down. There was some discussion over if they have the right to close a field, but were not sure we want to be the first to find out.
Chuck talked about a club he visited in Florida. Where you had to open the gate by disconnect and reconnect electrical wires, which are used to keep out the gatorsand wild boars away from the field.
Chuck Contacted the AMA again to see if they had re-considered their membership new imposing membership year round policy, but they were not getting back to him.
There was a great deal of discussion around this new policy and how the files would police the member at the field.
There were discussions about using solar powered card readers to solve the problem of policing the field and making sure that each member was current.
Another idea was brought for to use Different colored badges for those that renew with the AMA mid year, thus we would only have to check those folks every time they fly. Those numbers would be a lot less. Everyone else would be business as usual.
The contract for the field with the city and army core of engineers has not been renewed yet by the city.
Larry Marsh talked about Weed spraying, which was done last in March and in April they did a touch up.
Road Flags have been replaced, 1300 ft worth.
For Show and Tell
Paul Smith brought in his Lady Alice P-51 by VQ models. That balanced out perfectly. He found that the rudder pushrod was sliding. It is 7lbs total with
It does like to ground loop, but it flies very well for a warbird.
Randy Wilbur brought in his SBD with the pneumatic retracts in and the bomb glued in. But he realized that once he glued the bomb in, he could not get to the screws that secure the servo for the center wing flap is at. He figured out how to work around it with a special latch cover. He had to do some lathe work to get the prop spinner to work with the engine he has. (Photo of Randy at bottom)
John Maxwell brought in his older, but never flown Yak 55 By BH models that he won at an auction at a club. It has a OS 160 pumper, that was built by Steve and Lonny at hobby club USA. It has full digital servos with a glow ignition system. John plans on flying at the Scale Master qualifier at Gilman Springs. It came with a plastic spinner that was replaced with a true turn spinner.
Yak 55 Update: The airplane flew great on it maiden on May 2nd , and John was doing loops and rolls before the flight was over.
Philip Passmore won $15 Larry Marsh won $75
Daniel Miller won $25
Carlos won $25
Bill sheets won $15
Larry Pall won $15
Paul Smith won $50
Joseph won $25
Ted Novak won $15
Steve Bloom Won $25
October Meeting Recap
September minutes were read By Larry Marsh (below are the September minutes)
- Charlie Mitchel long time member and former board member, gave a farewell message to the club; he’s moving to Texas. A cake was presented to him as his friends and club wish him well
- Chuck Pozanak spoke about some questions about some radio interference at the east corner of the field.
- There was a discussion about the FAA report on drones, California leads at 196 reports.
https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=83544 - Larry reported on the AMA and FAA’s before you fly app.
https://www.faa.gov/uas/b4ufly/ - Chuck welcomed new member – Eric Erickson, he is an air traffic controller from Chino Airport. He is a welcome edition to our club.
- Chuck reported that the club will be going to the AMA show. Lonnie Morrison spoke about the Classic Pattern , an AMA event, food will be provided at the event and the field will be closed.
- Show and tell for September was Lonnie, - a Christian Eagle by Great Planes 28% and Randy Wilbur– T-6 Center Wing Piece, Bulk Heads and Plane Body
October Meeting
Membership numbers ended the 2015 at 406 members
November begins the heaviest period for weekend dog events which is November through January. We have a nice relationship with the Dog Clubs, and have we have never had any issues in the past and they donate lots of Toys for Tots, so please make sure they feel welcome.
Board of directors nominations were opened and there’s always not an abundance of members looking to be nominated and this year was no different. Based upon the number of people turning out to nominate members for the board, everyone must be extremely satisfied with the way the club has been running.
Chuck commented that you should always be nice to your fellow fliers. If someone is being mean or nasty just ignore them.
If your going to declare a mayday, do not land from north to south. We had an incident where someone emergency landed on the runway, but pointed towards the pits. The plane bounced over the fence, and hit a couple of other planes that were in the pits.
Chuck talked about the USRA races at Rabbit dry lake where a few of our members volunteered and witnessed alcohol-fueled 150cc-200cc powered , heavily modified airplanes compete in on of 5 classes for over $8000 in cash and prizes. 4 airplanes were destroyed at about $8000 a piece, 2 others are in bad shape, but all the volunteers had a good time.
The fastest at the speed dash was 240 MPH with a 15 MPH head wind was more than quick enough for RC veteran and team Horizon Hobby pilot Peter Goldsmith to claim the $4000 prize.
Congratulations Kyle and well done!
Here are a some Unlimited class rule highlights that all all the competition had to follow
- All entries must be a scale representation of a full size aircraft that qualified to race in the Unlimited Class during any year at the Reno National Championship Air Races or other scheduled Unlimited races such as the Phoenix 500.
- Minimum wingspan for single engine aircraft is 100” and 112” for twin engine aircraft.
- Minimum aircraft weight is 25 lbs. (dry). Maximum aircraft weight is 55 lbs. (wet).
- Wing and tail group airfoils suitable for model aircraft may be used. Wing and tail group planforms should follow scale planform, chord, area, etc., of the full size subject when scaled and/or as specified in the USRA Aircraft Specification Sheets.
- Engines must be neatly cowled where possible with no more than 50% of the cylinder head length projecting outside the cowl.
- All aircraft must use scale-like retractable or fixed main landing gear as appropriate to the aircraft modeled.
- Aircraft must be propeller driven with piston or rotary engines.
- Exhaust system components (headers, mufflers, tuned pipes, etc.) may not protrude from the airframe more than 30% of their total length
You can watch Kyle’s winning run here. https://youtu.be/SOuqdRjTlMA
The Pattern Contest on Saturday September ,26th had only 14 pilots, but everyone behaved and had a good time. Hopefully we can get a better turn out next year, and can only speculate why the numbers are so low. Sundays Classic pattern Contest was a bust due to weather, though right after it was canceled, the weather cleared up and the wind calmed down, and the few that remained had a good day of flying.
Big Jolt was discussed which was on October 23rd through the 25th.
Tom Marcure, a board member who handles all membership processing, has been impressed by everyone who has been sending in the proper documentation for membership renewals, which is already at over 70 members for 2016.
George Pollard Brought in a Saito Fg120, Great planes Ultra-sport 1000 80” wingspan, weighs 14 lbs. has a symmetrical airfoil, and the wing is modeled after the Kaos an was stick built.
Oscar Furlong brought in the Horizon Hobby B-17. He reports that it doesn’t handle much wind and recommends a larger 500mah battery, to balance. All Motors turn and the tail wheel is not steerable. 4 channel radio is required. Price is $83 dollars after shipping with the AMA promotion. Oscar recommends the product .
Oscar also won the 50/50 raffle…..again…$71
Members Drawing – 10 lucky winners, Nate won the $75.
PVMAC Members Placed 1st and 2nd at Scale Master Qualifier
The Southern California Scale Masters Qualifier this year was hosted by the Gilman Springs RC Flying Club. There were 5 PVMAC members in attendance doing their best to demonstrate their flying skills to the judges and qualify for the US Scale Masters 2016 Championships. Two PVMAC Members, who both recently joined The PVMAC did extremely well. Carl Lindou (Photo-Right) took 1st place in the ProAm Sportsman class, with his yellow J3 Cub with a 12' wingspan and a DLA 58cc engine. Eddie Ayala (Photo-Left) also did will and took seconds with his CAP 232, that is modelled after a Matt Chapmans Airplane that he took Bronze in the world Aerobatic Championships and led the US team to a Silver Medal in 1998. They both qualified to move on to the US Scale Masters 2016 Championships that are being held at the Woodland- Davis RC Field, in Davis, California this September 28-October 2nd. If you see them at the field, be sure to welcome them to the club and congradulate them on their performance at the 2016 Socal Scale Master qualifier.
John Maxwell, Randy Wilber and Tom Callahan also competed in the ProAm Sport Class, and although they did well, it was not enough to take the 3rd spot in the class.
The Pro-am sportsman class and even the Pro-am Pro class for that matter is a great level to start competing at, because they allow ARFs and there is no requirement to build the model from scratch, and no expecation or requirement to detail it at all, or modify it it any way. In fact it doesn't even have to be expensive or large either. Several competitors were using inexpensive foamie airplanes to compelte, incuding the Dynam Hellcat flown by John Maxwell, as well as a foam BF110, and a small foam dehavilland beaver were in the mix and all did quite well. For the documentation portion, you are only required to bring a photo showing there is a real airplane that your plane is modeled after, to get the full 5 points for that part of the competition. At the higher levels of competion, you do compete on the scale look, fine details and building of the aircraft, and must provide extensive documentation, in additoon to the flying portion of the competion.
The other reason this is a great place to start competing at is because your competing with some basic flying manuvers your probably already familiar with and are probably already doing, such as an aileron roll, chandelle, procedure turn and loop. These are scale aircraft doing scale manuvers. You are judged on precision, placement, and realism of 10 manuvers, 3 of which are required; takeoff, the figure 8 and landing. You choose 7 other scale manuvers that you feel comfortable with and are considderd scale manuvers for the particular aircraft your flying. Some manuvers sound quite easy, but can be quite difficult, especially in the wind. Even a manuver as simple as a fly past at 10-20' keeping the airplane straight and parallel to the runway, ensuring wings are level throughout, and the elevation consistant throughout the entire pass proves to be difficult to execute perfectly, especially in 10mph wind. But that is what the competition is about, and its fun, and challenging. Flying in front of judges can be intimidating at first to say the least, however they put my mind at east right from the start, and gave me plenty of pointers before and after each flight. And the other competitors were also helpful in guiding us newbies through the process so by the end of the 1st day we were much more comfortable. You can download the rules here.
It was great of Gilman Springs RC Club to host this years qualifier, and from the sound of it, future qualifiers will be hosted there. If you have never been to Gilman Springs RC club, it is a fantastic place to fly, only about 50-55 minutes deive from the PVMAC Field near Hemet, and will soon be getting better. They have a great facility with un-obstructed flying, Covered Pit area, Electricity at each station for your chargers, an a clubhouse that features a flushing toilet and running water. The only down-side to the field is the runway, which is badly in need of repair. There were a few mishaps and damaged aircraft due to the runway. But the president of the club, Mike Stone, assured everyone that next year the runway will be as good as new. This years Socal Scalemaster Qualifier generated enough money, that they will be donating about $500 to the Gilman Springs RC club that will go towards resurfacing the runway.
Needless to say, we all had a great time, and I know I'll definately be doing it again, and I hope to see more of our members participating at competitions and fly-ins.
FAQ
General Questions
- When are meetings held?
- PVMAC Club meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at:
Chino Community Building
5443 "B" Street
Chino, CA 91710Please join PVMAC Club meetings for refreshments and door prizes. A quorum makes everything easier for our club to function!
- PVMAC Club meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at:
- Do PVMAC flying fields have handicap access?
- Yes. PVMAC has facilities at both fields to support the handicapped. We have a handicap pilot station that is wheelchair accessible, as well as handicap accessible outhouses.
- What type of aircraft can I operate at Norton?
- Non-turbine fixed wing and helicopters may fly at Norton. Helicopters and electrics fly on the runway. All aircraft must obey the 400 foot ceiling and no turbine aircraft can be flown.
- What type of aircraft can I operate at Prado?
- Non-turbine fixed wing and helicopters may fly at Prado. The main runway is for nitro, gas or electric fixed wing planes (electrics must be 40 size or larger) . We have designated areas for park fliers, less than 40 size, and all helicopters. All aircraft must obey the 400 foot ceiling and no turbine aircraft can be flown at anytime.
- How many people can fly at the same time?
- Five aircraft can be flown on the main runway at a time.
- On average how much does a plane and radio cost to start?
- You can buy a Ready To Fly trainer for under $400.00, depending on the size and components.
- Should I start flying with electric or gas (nitro)?
- It's a personal preference. A small electric foam plane can be just as, if not more, expensive as a nitro RTF trainer. It depends on where you have to fly.
If you have access to a local school or park and electric is great. If you only want to fly at a field, then nitro would be the way to start. It's nice to have an electric for camping or a quick flight after work.
- It's a personal preference. A small electric foam plane can be just as, if not more, expensive as a nitro RTF trainer. It depends on where you have to fly.
Membership Questions
- What do I need to join PVMAC?
- AMA membership, completed application, and payment of fees/dues.
- Where can I find the applications?
- CLICK HERE to go to the Membership Page
- How much is an adult membership?
- First year dues of $200 is required for new memberships and yearly dues after the first year are $80 per year.
- How much does it cost for youth?
- For a youth membership you need to be under 18 and have a school ID. The cost is $20 per year. The cost for the child of a current member (Child less than age of 18) is $10 per year.
- When can I start flying?
- Once you receive your membership card. This can take up to three weeks. You can still fly by paying the $10 day fee until you get your card.
Guest Questions
- When are the fields open to the public?
- Prado is closed to the public Monday through Friday. Members may bring guests during the week. Club member is responsible for guest at all times. On weekends Prado is open to the public from 9am-5pm.
Norton must have a club member present for any guest fliers.
- Prado is closed to the public Monday through Friday. Members may bring guests during the week. Club member is responsible for guest at all times. On weekends Prado is open to the public from 9am-5pm.
- What is required of guest fliers?
- Read and follow the club and AMA rules.
- Do not exceed 400 feet ceiling.
- Valid AMA card for frequency board.
- Pay $10 day fee.
- Treat the field as you would your own.
- Be courteous to our members.
- Who is required to pay day fees?
- Any non-member flying solo must pay the day fee of $10. No exceptions. Students on buddy boxes can fly at no charge. Please see a club member to purchase a pass.
- My family member is from out of state and flies solo.
- Does he/she still have to pay a day fee? Yes, the rules for day fees apply to all guest pilots at all times
- Where do Day Fees go?
- All collected day fees with a copy of the day pass must be turned in to the strong box at Prado or to the Treasurer. They are deposited into the general fund and help pay for club expenses.
- Who collects day fees?
- Any PVMAC member or Field Marshal can collect day fees. The receipt book is located in the small locked box next to the tan container. The guest is given the yellow copy for the frequency board, the pink remains in the book, and the white copy goes into the deposit slot on the tan container
Training Questions
- Do I have to be a member to get training from PVMAC?
- No. PVMAC allows anybody to fly at the field while training as long as THEY ARE ON A BUDDY BOX WITH A MEMBER OF THE CLUB. You do however need to be a member to solo (Fly by yourself).
- Does PVMAC provide training for new fliers?
- PVMAC does not provide training services as a club. However PVMAC members usually provide training for new members. Your local hobby store may provide training. Please join our club meeting or ask an available field marshal for more details.
- How much is training?
- Training costs are determined by an individual trainer.
- How much training do I need before I can fly by myself?
- It may take one to several training sessions. The ability to fly solo depends on how often you train. Away from the field a foamy or R/C computer plane simulator (G3) builds confidence and ability to fly solo.
Safety Questions
- What are the double yellow line on the runway for?
- During a normal right to left take off, no rotations can be performed until the aircraft passes the double yellow lines. This is to prevent aircraft from accidentally entering the spectator or pits area.
- Can I fly over the runway after take off?
- No. All aircraft maneuvers must take place north of the runway after take off. The runway area is strictly for take offs, landings, and approaches. Pilot must announce "Taking off", "Landing", or "Approach" when doing so. Properly alerting other flyers when accessing the runway area help avoid collisions.
- How do I retrieve crashed aircraft?
- Notify a Field Marshal to coordinate air traffic. Advise others not to take off and wait until all aircraft have landed. Close the runway and retrieve crashed aircraft.
- Who is responsible for knowing the rules?
- All pilots are expected to be aware of the club and AMA rules.
- Who is responsible for enforcing the rules?
- All club members have the duty to ensure all rules and regulations are enforced.