Warringah Radio Control
Society Incorporated 
(Incorporated under the Association Incorporation Act 1984)

Newsletter - February 2005

Nosecone of Jim Masterton's Me-110
MEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGS
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 8th February 2005 at Tennis Cove, Eastern Valley Way, starting at 7.30 pm. 
We have a special guest speaker, come along to meet Vic Cramer (former CO of 27 Sqn based at Scampton, UK - that's where the 617 (Dambusters) Sqn were previously based!)
The next meeting after that is on Tuesday, 8th March 2005.
NOSTALGIA CORNER
Recently we published an article by Martin Cowan about his Aircraft. Martin now lives in Canada but was a long time Member of WRCS, in fact Martin's relationship was influenced by his father, Tim Cowan who was an avid scale modeller and long time member of the Club during the seventies and eighties. Tim was the one who actually commissioned and paid for Wal Van Heeckeren to make the current WRCS Perpetual Scale Trophy that is still awarded at the November (or October) Scale Day each year.
Martin has just written to us to tell us that sadly Tim Cowan passed away on June 6, 2004 after a long illness with Alzhiemers. His memory stays with many of the Club's members, may his soul rest in peace.
Martin has found some photographs from his collection, we hope you enjoy them:

WRCS circa 1981


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Martin with the late Charlie Peake about to fly Martin's Byron F16. This was one of the first jets to fly at WRCS (1982), it was  powered by Picco 80
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 

Right: Tim Cowan's Sterling PT-17 Stearman (1983) - OS 60 FSR
 
 
 
 

Left: Martin and Tim Cowan with their 1996 Fiesler Storch (past WRCS scale trophy winner) - OS91 4stroke
 
 




 
 
 
 
 
 

Left: David Rose with his Platt Jungmeister - O.S. 91


 



Above and right: John Piggot flying his Cricket (1985) - O.S. 25 FSR
Bet it won’t be the last though!
Well, here’s the first one seen at the field, the new ARF Corby Starlet proudly displayed by it’s owner Tony Warren Smith. 
It really looks good on the ground and Tony says it flies as well as it looks! All this for less than $300 ….well, a dollar less than $300 but that’s a bargain for build this good. 
Tony said he had great fun finding a pilot – wandering the toy shops of Sydney looking for a doll and had to settle for a girl doll as he couldn’t find a ¼ scale male. 
I think it won’t be long before we have a squadron of these which could make flying together tricky, ask Col about flying the same plane as someone else at the same time!
Apparently David Foster now has one and Mike Minty has one on order ….a squadron??
VALE JIM MEISTER
Ron Lucas has written to us to inform that Jim Meister passed away on the 30th December 2004 in a hospital emergency department in the USA. 
Jim designed the Spitfire that Ron built several times, and many other good models. He had a heart transfer about 1 year ago but it seems that it may not have lasted.
R.I.P.
NEXT EVENT
GLIDER & ELECTRIC  DAY
Sunday, 20 February 2005

Open to all electric models 
Glider 5 minute max. Bonus points for spot landing, 3 rounds. 
Electric 5 minute max. Bonus points for spot landing, 3 rounds. Deduct motor run times from total flight times.

THIS IS A FUN EVENT WITH SAFETY PARAMOUNT;
COMPETITION IS INCIDENTAL.
Competition Director - Jim Masterton
SOUVENIR 2004 CD
Souvenir 2004 CD's available, cost is $10 + postage ($3). 
All enquiries to the Editor 9371.0823 or send a cheque to:

Tom Wolf
10/299 Elizabeth Street,
Sydney  NSW  2000

2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 Souvenir CD's are also available on order, each on the same terms
Turner Special 
Our old mate Peter Leaney has been busy in Adelaide. Peter will be remembered as a keen modeller willingly involved in all its  elements, gliding and electrics as well as fuel powered models. In particular Peter loves scale and speed and the Adelaide Air Races is just his venue!
Here is his latest creation getting ready for the Air Races in April - a Turner Special. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Peter was inspired by seeing a real one at Oshkosh in 2003 and he says it still has a couple of scoops to fit but it flies great! 
It is 86 inches span, 70 inches long and weighs 21 pounds. Built from good old ply and balsa wood with fiberglass parts from the US it is powered by a Zenoah 62. 
The prop remains a racing secret but around 22x12 (large cowl = larger diameter prop they say). Some of the other guys are using 18x14. 
The model is built from a Wendell Hostetler plan with dual RX and batteries all JR with 579 servos. It’s covered with Sig Koverall and painted with silver car paint and clear coat.  It’s taken around 9 months to build off and on. 

Good Luck Peter.
 
Before and after!
In August 2004 we reported that Gordon Nichol in the UK had completed a massive USAF B-52 project. and then, sadly, in October we reported that it had crashed and there were very few little bits salvageable. This had to be one of the most expensive B&A events of 2004
The mighty 27’ span B52  hit the deck at the UK Nats. The final verdict on cause was “pilot error” in part due to the pilot being distracted by people and events around him and subsequent over banking of the plane. Ain’t we all been there, but not at such cost! Remember it takes skill and concentration to fly a model well and safely.
If you wish to see the full crash movie, log on to: 
homepage.ntlworld.com/robert.ashley/teambananaracing/gallery.htm
ROTARY WINGS
By sheer coincidence we came across photos of helicopter flying at Belrose in October 2004, these photos were off-loaded from a Net site where they were contributed by "Jafa", the captions are as offloaded but we just don't know who the nicknames relate to.
It was sad to read some comments by our heli-flying members that suggest that they are getting a RAW deal, maybe a frank and open discussion rather than complaints on the open internet in some chat line may be more beneficial?

 

Left:  Bob coming out of a loop 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Below (left and right): Bob’s the auto king doing auto’s

Right: VR_Heli’s Raptor V1


 
 
 		 Left:  Nitro Boy’s XSpec 


Below (left and right): Phil’s Shuttle 
If the "Rotary Air Wing" (RAW) have any other material that could be enjoyed by our members, those contributions would also be most welcome.
MORE MEMORIES OF THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
Further to our article last month, we have received some more photos that may interest you all.
We have also received compliments such as "best ever" and wow, the food was great"

 

Right: We had some showers, heavy at times as you can see in this pic of Chris Hebbard returning from the car park. with extension wiring for the lights from the generators

 Above: Looking back from the flight line to the sheds where the Committee, in it’s wisdom given the weather forecast, had taken a few precautions.
 

Left: Mike Minty is not trying to stab his C/L plane but trying to adjust the compression on a Russian diesel he got from Tony Vella about 7 years ago – it had a slotted screw head for adjustment – bloody tricky at full revs, the driver won’t stay in the slot with all that vibration! The plane, by the way, was built by our ex member Mr P. Leaney, now of Adelaide, many years ago.

Right: As the evening progressed a series of groups formed under the canvas discussing life, the universe and everything, here’s one of them, until it got late, the gennys died down and people went home (except for some intrepid campers)

 Left: Father Christmas (aka Doug Radford suitably padded!) found some charming company in the form of  Marg, Una and Caroline.


 
AD ASTRA DICTUM
* A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum. (Jon McBride, astronaut) 
* If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible. (Bob Hoover - renowned aerobatic and test pilot) 
* If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it; ride the bastard down. (Ernest K. Gann, author & aviator) 
* The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and, a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.  (Author unknown, but someone who's been there) 
* Basic Flying Rules  -Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there. 
* You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal. 
* From an old carrier sailor - Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky. 
* If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe. 
* When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.
* Progress in airline flying; now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant. 
* Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.
* Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines
* If work was so good, the rich would have kept more of it for themselves
Samuel Pierpoint Langley
The "Aerodrome" on the houseboat waiting to be launched
Professor Langley was a respected astronomer and inventor. At the end of the 19th Century he was head of the Smithsonian Institute, which in those days was a serious scientific organization.  He started to experiment with model airplanes called "Aerodromes" which culminated in a couple of Steam Models that earned him a permanent place in pre-Wright Brothers aviation. 
Being asked by the Department of War to construct a man carrying air craft, he built a craft he called the "Aerodrome" after his models but it didn't fly. Twice the "Aerodrome" was catapulted off the roof of a house boat and twice it fell into the Potomac river "Like a handful of wet mortar." 
The first failure on October 7, 1903 was due to a miscalculation of the centre of gravity, the second on December 8, 1903 when the tail snagged on the catapult and broke during launch.
The press ridiculed the attempted flights and after the heavy criticism he received Langley never again attempted another flight before his death in 1906 and the damaged "Aerodrome" languished in the Smithsonian. 
Nine days after Langley's second attempt the Wright Brothers flew (and patented) their airplane and then set about enforcing any violations of the patent.
Glen Curtiss was one of the individuals who wanted to avoid paying the Wright's considerable royalties and he embarked on a series of lawsuits that was to drag on for years.
In about 1914, in an effort to show that the Wright Brothers didn't make the first airplane capable of flight Curtiss approached the Smithsonian with an offer to see if he could make the remains of the "Aerodrome" fly. The Smithsonian who stood to recover from shame and ridicule agreed to this. But the "Aerodrome" was fundamentally unsound, and Curtiss had to make many modifications before he eventually achieved limited flight on May 28, 1914.
The Smithsonian then made the dubious claim that Langley had been the first to successfully develop a manned powered aircraft after all, not mentioning the fact that Curtiss had found it necessary to make some 93 modifications to Langley's design to make it airworthy.
Nonetheless, the Smithsonian credited Langley with the historic achievement starting a long-standing feud with the Wright family.
Indeed, Orville Wright was so incensed that in 1925 he donated the "Wright Flyer" to the Science Museum in London rather than to the Smithsonian. Finally, in 1942, the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Charles Abbot, authorized publication of an article that clearly showed how the reconstruction of Langley's "Aerodrome" had been rigged. With that, Orville told the British that his airplane should be returned to the Smithsonian Institution after the war. 
Eleven months after Orville died in 1948, the famous Wright airplane was returned to America to the Smithsonian, which had once been such solid Langley turf. Today the best known biplane that ever flew hangs over a label giving the Wright Brothers their due.

The tail of the "Aerodrome" snaps off during the second attempt
Below: The "Aerodrome" with an obvious Curtiss modification ... the floats
Above: The "Aerodrome" as modified by Curtiss takes off in 1914
The "Aerodrome"

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