K FACTOR Official Publication of the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics
Volume 37 Issue 2 • February 2008
John Tarpinian’s electric powered Prestige. Submit your articles and photographs to: k-factor-articles@nsrca.org be sure to include captions with photos
In This Issue: Counter Rotating Props...pg 3 • Battery Ban...pg 4 • Welcome Aboard New VPs
Four-stroke power, pure and simple. ®
FL-70 4-Stroke Engine • Displacement: 0.699 cu in (11.5cc) • Bore: 1.09 in (27.7mm) • Stroke: 0.748 in (19.0mm) • Practical rpm: 2300-12,000 • Output: 1.1 ps @ 11,000 rpm • Weight: 16.5 oz (470g)
Higher torque, greater fuel economy, more realistic sound...these are all excellent reasons to step up to a ™ 4-stroke engine. And here’s an even better reason: O.S., the leader in 4-stroke engine technology, has developed a power plant with all of these advantages, in a clean, efficient design. The FL-70 represents a breakthrough in R/C engine manufacturing — the performance of a 4-stroke, but with less maintenance. This is due in large part to features such as a ringless piston/liner assembly, fixed components and a sealed front bearing. But it also has some innovations of its own, such as the Aeropressure™ system and a lighter-weight cover plate. And the FL-70 comes with a newly designed, easy-to-adjust 60W airbleed carburetor, a lightweight, compact F-4030 silencer and a #F glow plug. With this power plant’s streamlined engineering, stepping up to the benefits of a 4-stroke is easier than it’s ever been. Fear 4-strokes no more...the FL-70 from O.S. is here! For more information, and the location of the dealer nearest you, visit our website at www.osengines.com , or call 1-800-682-8948 and mention code number 3060P.
The Aeropressure™ system utilizes pressure from the silencer to maintain more consistent fuel delivery regardless of your plane’s attitude — which greatly improves performance during aerobatics.
Made of heat-resistant plastic, the FL-70’s cover plate is nearly as durable as aluminum, and contributes to the engine weighing approximately 20% less than the FS-70 Surpass II.
www.osengines.com ©Copyright 2004 — 3071271
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Distributed Exclusively Through GREAT PLANES MODEL DISTRIBUTORS COMPANY, P.O. BOX 9021, CHAMPAIGN, IL 61826-9021
February 08
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Counter Rotating Props By Allan J Main from Chile Also known as Kiwi on Flying Giants
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February 08
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ents, One thing about this RC airplane hobby is there never ever seems to be a day when something new or bigger or better does not hit the stores. It’s a constant battle to keep the credit card in the wallet if your one of those people enticed by new technology. On my most recent visit to Argentina for the world F3A championships I could not help but notice the power system that our good friend Sebastiano Silvestre was running. Looking at it on the ground it defied all the laws of counter rotating propellor technology and I just had to find out more about it. What I could tell was that it had the purple
Sebastiano Silvestre’s Angels Shadow with counter rotating props
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power Hacker motor in it and that it was powered by FlightPower lipo competiton packs. Looked like two 5S 5350mah packs. But that is where it all stopped for me. In the wind the propellors would freely rotate as though they were not connected to anything, depending on the wind (there was plenty of course) the props would rotate alternately or just one would rotate. It obviously only had one motor and was not a dual outrunner setup so I needed to find out more. I figured the only way to get to the bottom of this was to go find the man himself. Mr Rainer Hacker. It was a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. But I finally tracked him down to see if we could delve deeper into the mystery of the counter rotating prop system. Rainer has to be one of the finest people I have ever met in this hobby by the way and he was an open book explaining how the system worked,who designed it, and why. The motor is the standard custom made F3A competition motor but that is where all similarities end. The gearbox is a double planetary free floating arrangement and it was designed and built by Michael Ramel. Now for those in the know, know that Michael Ramel was the first guy to ever fly electrics in the world F3A championships a good few years back. Well it appears Michael has a bit of a skunk works laboratory where he secretly develops the next generation performance products for RC electric planes. But what is so great about counter rotating props. Likely nothing if they work like the rest of them but thats what this setup did not do. Both propellors are floating and rotating opposite to each other. However the one taking the most load will run slower than the one with the least load. The floating planetary system allows the props to vary in speed separately depending on the load each one has. Now counter rotating props make a different noise anyway, but this setup makes a whole new one. If you can imagine a turbine with some sort of variable pitch fan changing speed I suppose that would describe it. I tell you what it will do though, if there is anyone who has a hankering for a true turbo prop sound but does want to fork out the green ones for a true turbo prop, well this ones going to light those guys fires something awesome. You need to hear this setup to believe it. Does it work??? Well Sebastiano took it to 5th place in the competition, it never let him down and he told me it is one really efficient setup. Very controllable, excellent response and it seemed to handle the wind really well. Of course the big thing with it is there is no offset for torque as there is no gyroscopic effect with twin counter rotating props. You mount the motor exactly in line with the center of axis of the fuselage and it will roll round that point with no effect from a motor being setup to produce that side and down thrust that most
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of us build into our plane. This thing is 100% axial. Gents I have to thank Rainer Hacker (Hacker Motor), Micheal Ramel and Colin McGinn (FlightPower) a ton for the help in describing how this system worked. The time and the amount of props Michael made to eventually get this system working sounded like the guy owns shares in a carbon fiber factory. Also a big thanks to Sebastiano for taking the time to unbutton the plane so we could see it in the flesh. In Rainer Hackers own words this was the newest advent in electric powered setups seen at the worlds so keep your eyes and ears open as these may very well be the next goody for those that need to have one. Editor: This article was printed with permission from Allan J Main(KIWI) from Chile. I found it on www.FlyingGiants.com. If you haven’t been there, check it out..
Baggage Ban on Batteries Begins
President
Derek Koopowitz 881 Oxford Way Benicia, CA 94510 (707) 746-1615 derekkoopowitz@gmail.com
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I’m Getting Married In The Morning… 008 will be a great year for me! I’m getting married to a wonderful woman on October 19th 2008. Jill is perfect for me – she keeps me grounded (in a good way), makes me laugh uncontrollably, and fully supports my passion for flying. I’m really looking forward to a wonderful marriage to an incredible and beautiful woman. My flying year may be a little curtailed at times but we’re almost done with the planning for our wedding at the Pasadena Ritz-Carlton – her 1st marriage (my 2nd and last). I proposed to her on a boat cruising down the fjords in Norway last August.
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o help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning Jan. 1, the Transportation Department said Friday. Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carry on baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger. The ban affects shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries, such as those made by Energizer Holdings Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Duracell brand. " Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional short-circuiting and fires " Krista Edwards, deputy administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said in a release. The Federal Aviation Administration has found that fire-protection systems in the cargo hold of passenger planes can't put out fires sparked in lithium batteries. The National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month said it could not rule out lithium batteries as the source of a cargo plane fire at Philadelphia International Airport last year.
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Jill and I Speaking of marriages – a hearty congrats goes out to Mike Dorna and his beautiful bride who got married in early December in Las Vegas – broadcast via video on the internet afterwards! New Officers For 2008-2009 Congratulations to the new District Vice Presidents for 2008 and 2009. There were some extremely close races in a couple of districts (1 vote decided it in two highly contested districts). The new DVP’s are: D1 Ed Alt D2 Ryan Smith (won by 1 vote) D3 Lamar Blair D4 Dave Johnstone D5 John Konneker (our fantastic Ad Manager as well) D6 Mark Hunt (won by 1 vote) D7 Rusty Fried D8 Rex Lesher Canada Dave Reaville
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I look forward to working with the new board and forging great working relationships with everyone. We had a great core of DVP’s last year and I’m sure this new board will be equally as good to work with. New blood brings new enthusiasm and that’s exactly what we need going forward. AMA Convention in Ontario, CA. The AMA Convention was held January 11th through the 13th 2008 in Ontario and the NSRCA had a booth (as it has for the past years). I appreciate the help I received from several people in manning the booth – Bill Wallace, Adrian Wong and Rusty Fried. We had a lot of people stop by the booth to see what we’re all about – about 8 guys said they were planning to fly in their 1st contest this year so I’m hoping we’ll get to see some new blood. We also had a judging seminar at the show – the seminar was held right after our reigning F3A World Champion, Quique Somenzini, and assisted by Andrew Jesky spent 30 minutes of their time talking about their world championships experience and took a number of questions from the members that were present. Where were you Jason? Several of our advertisers were present at the show – Duralite, RCATS and Airborne Models.
Quique and I in the NSRCA booth
The NSRCA booth was also next to my good friends from Fliton – Edson Hong and Sam Kim.
a driver - this has The RCATS glow DZ motors delay for the YS s RCATS for detail contact Mike at
Sam and Edson - the Element 170 is coming - details coming soon!
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February 08
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2008 Nationals I was hoping that Dave Guerin’s Nats article would make it into the January issue (but it didn’t) and I’m hoping it will be in this issue – if not, it will definitely be in the March issue!! Dave is also preparing to have the F3A Team Trials at the 2008 Nationals because the 2009 WC’s in Portugal are in early August and that doesn’t give us enough time to prepare. If you fly FAI/F3A and you are coming to the 2008 Nationals then prepare yourselves to fly in the Team Trials as well. Judging Committee Chairperson I’ve got some leads on a replacement for Don Ramsey – more to come in the weeks/months ahead on this.
The Mode Spot-On 12 ls bo oth - 0 at the Ai 1 NSRC 0% disco rborne A me u mber nt to a l
Rules Proposals Six rules proposals were submitted to the AMA. Please go to the AMA’s website to the following URL to view these proposals: http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/ruleproposals/rcaerobatics.aspx
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I would encourage you to give feedback to your AMA RC Aerobatics Contest Board members with regard to these rules. Do you approve of each one, and if not, why not. The only way the AMA will know is for us to let them know. A couple of issues ago I published the contest board members for each AMA district. This information is also available at: http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/cbmembers.aspx
k n d Ma r a t f e l the i c e on r P k ura lite c D a J m o r Byrne f
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February 08
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Contests Boring? While at contests over the past number of years I’ve managed to catch several people taking advantage of the wait between rounds. Here with some pictures of several District 7 pilots resting up between rounds.
Jim Brown
il l e M e Mik
r
Jarvis Joh at the nson Nats
Even the author took some time to catch some zees!
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February 08
K-Factor Advertisers Please support our advertisers and mention to them where you saw their ad!!! Until next month‌ Go Nuts!
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Vice President Ron Van Putte 111 Sleepy Oaks Road Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548
Budget - Last year
1/9/2008
Category Description INCOME Dues Income Canada and Mexico Members International USA Members - New USA Members - Renewal Other Dues Income TOTAL Dues Income Judge Program Income Judge Program Certification Video AMA Judging Other Judge Program Income TOTAL Judge Program Income Merchandise Income NSRCA Shirts Other Merchandise Income TOTAL Merchandise Income Miscellaneous Expense Unknown Miscellaneous Income Advertising Bank Interest Donations F3A Team Fund Donation Postage Unknown Other Miscellaneous Income TOTAL Miscellaneous Income Nats Income Auction Banquet NSRCA Share Other Nats Income TOTAL Nats Income TOTAL INCOME
(850) 243 0207 vanputte@cox.net
No Article at Time of Publication Treasurer Ron Davies 10281 Camerino Ct. Sacramento, CA 95829 (916) 682-7902 rjdavies@frontiernet.net
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learned an important lesson the last few days. When it is storming outside make sure you save your work often. Due to a recent storm, power to my house has been intermittent. I had to repeat my efforts on the computer numerous times in the last 5 days. Well, enough of my self made troubles. Hope everybody is ready for the 2008 season. For your review is our 2007 budget vs. actual’s from 1-1-07 through 12-31-07. I want to thank each and every one of you for your efforts in making 2007 successful. Our bank balances are growing due to membership renewals. The December 31, 2007 balance is $13,530.50. Jim Quinn is doing an excellent job sending out reminder notices and processing the renewals. John Konneker continues to do an outstanding job with our Advertisers. The 2008 Proposed budget will be submitted to the board shortly for review and approval. Once the new budget is approved it will be published in the KFactor. I am currently working on our Federal Tax return and hopefully it will be given to the CPA in the next few weeks. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments or suggestions. Promote Pattern
1/1/2007 through 12/31/2007 Using NSRCA 2007 Budget
EXPENSES Judging Program Expenses Manuals Supplies Other Judging Program Expenses TOTAL Judging Program Expenses K-Factor Publication Expense Carton Forwarding Composition Design and Output Fedex Shipped Mail Processing Postage Sales Tax USPS Meter
Secretary
Jim Quinn 211 Airport Road Endicot, NY 13760 (607) 786-0995
I
would like to congratulate each of our new District Vice Presidents. Thanks to all who voted. Some of the elections were very, and I mean very close making each vote count. Renewals are coming along just fine. As of January 1, 2008 we were just shy of the 400
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February 08
1/1/2007 Actual
Budget
12/31/2007 Difference
500.00 180.00 810.00 27,195.00 0.00 28,685.00
1,000.00 720.00 4,000.00 18,000.00 0.00 23,720.00
-500.00 -540.00 -3,190.00 9,195.00 0.00 4,965.00
3,328.50 15.00 0.00 3,343.50
1,300.00 50.00 0.00 1,350.00
2,028.50 -35.00 0.00 1,993.50
87.00 0.00 87.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
87.00 0.00 87.00 0.00
13,425.95 1.26 28.36 230.00 16.00 835.33 0.00 14,536.90
13,000.00 0.00 200.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 13,700.00
425.95 1.26 -171.64 -270.00 16.00 835.33 0.00 836.90
0.00 1,745.00 6,640.48 0.00 8,385.48 55,037.88
0.00 3,000.00 6,050.00 0.00 9,050.00 47,820.00
0.00 -1,255.00 590.48 0.00 -664.52 7,217.88
1,701.97 452.50 0.00 2,154.47
715.00 0.00 0.00 715.00
-986.97 -452.50 0.00 -1,439.47
117.41 4,100.00 18,120.00 222.77 2,275.00 6,217.89 1,774.86 1,042.12
0.00 0.00 19,000.00 0.00 0.00 7,200.00 2,083.20 0.00
-117.41 -4,100.00 880.00 -222.77 -2,275.00 982.11 308.34 -1,042.12
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mark and renewals are coming in droves daily. If you have not yet renewed, or if you know a friend who hasn’t, get current today. Some of our members taught me a new recruiting lesson. When they renewed for 2008 they also gave a membership to a friend or family member. Great idea! I really enjoy being your secretary. It gives me the opportunity to interact with so many of you by email, phone, or best of all in person. Jon Gerber has a motto for his local clubs for 2008, “FLYING PATTERN IS FLYING BETTER.” Jon does a great job every season introducing pilots to the joys of precision aerobatics. I spent some time in Texas over the Christmas holiday. I was hoping to catch some of the great pilots around the Dallas area while
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they were practicing. Since our flying is over in upstate NY for this season I thought my aerobatic juices could get flowing by watching the D 6 guys practicing. NO such luck. It was cold and rainy every day I was there. So the attached picture shows what I did with my nephew, J.P. who is an aerospace engineering student at Texas A&M. Not very aerobatic, but it flew. I also did some self instruction on a helicopter that was one of my Christmas presents while I was there. We had our first hangar session of the “building season” at Bob Noll’s house last week. We welcomed a new member and a renewed, not new, aerobatic pilot, Neil Hunt. Many of you Budget - Last year
1/1/2007 through 12/31/2007 Using NSRCA 2007 Budget
1/9/2008
Category Description
1/9/2008
1/1/2007 Actual
Budget
Other K-Factor Publication Expense 0.00 0.00 TOTAL K-Factor Publication Expense 33,870.05 28,283.20 Merchandise Expense Shirts NSRCA 0.00 0.00 Other Merchandise Expense 4.92 0.00 TOTAL Merchandise Expense 4.92 0.00 Miscellaneous Expense Advertising 0.00 650.00 Annual Corporation Fee 61.25 70.00 Ballots 0.00 450.00 Bank Fees 82.72 75.00 CPA - Tax Preparation 410.00 400.00 Credit Card Charges - Novus 545.38 850.00 Credit Card Charges - Paypal 543.26 180.00 District Champion Shirts 565.49 500.00 District Trophies 310.00 1,600.00 F3A Team 630.00 500.00 FedEx Shipping 0.00 200.00 Miscellaneous Expense 425.86 300.00 Office Expenses 0.00 200.00 Trade Shows 100.00 200.00 Web Expenses 239.73 720.00 Other Miscellaneous Expense 0.00 0.00 TOTAL Miscellaneous Expense 3,913.69 6,895.00 NATS Expenses Awards 0.00 800.00 Banquet 1,810.00 3,500.00 Event Director 600.00 600.00 Impound Personnel 120.00 300.00 Judges 1,050.00 1,000.00 Line Manager Site 1 240.00 240.00 Line Manager Site 3 0.00 240.00 Line Manager Site 4 240.00 240.00 Meeting Expenses 187.25 350.00 NATS Manager 0.00 0.00 NSCRA Award BBQ 1,300.00 1,000.00 Other NATS Expenses 270.00 0.00 Planning Meeting 426.16 450.00 Postage 41.00 80.00 Score Runner 100.00 0.00 Scoring HQ 480.00 300.00 Scoring Site 4 180.00 180.00 Site 1 Site Director 240.00 240.00 Site 3 Site Director 240.00 240.00 Site 4 Site Director 180.00 240.00 Supplies 0.00 250.00 Other NATS Expenses 0.00 0.00 Budget - Last year TOTAL NATS Expenses 7,704.41 10,250.00 1/1/2007 through 12/31/2007 Using NSRCA 2007 Budget Postage Expense District Champtionships 1/1/2007 0.00 - 150.00 Actual556.52 Budget500.00 General Category Description Other Postage Expense TOTAL Postage Expense Utilities Business Telephone Other Utilities Business TOTAL Utilities Business TOTAL EXPENSES OVERALL TOTAL
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12/31/2007 Difference
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0.00 -5,586.85 0.00 -4.92 -4.92 650.00 8.75 450.00 -7.72 -10.00 304.62 -363.26 -65.49 1,290.00 -130.00 200.00 -125.86 200.00 100.00 480.27 0.00 2,981.31
know his son, Mark, our new D 6 VP. Mark gave his dad one of his beautiful Pentathlons ready to fly and Neil flew the wheel pants off it this past summer. Bob showed off his new Integral and the fancy engine cowl release he got while in Argentina at the World Championships. Very sweet. As of the middle of January we still have over 200 members who have not renewed for 2008. If you are one of the non-renewed, renew today! Let’s give a great NSRCA welcome to our newest members. This is quite a list with almost every district represented. If you live near any of these new members look them up and spend some time with them. Brice, Kevin David, K. N. “Jack” Evans, Ronald Fan, Michael Field, Larry Fremberg, Dick Grisby, Greg Hoard, Garrett Houck, James Hunt, Neil Lampert, Steve Michael, David Stohr, Russell Troje, Michael
Cedarburg, WI Litchfield Park, AZ Chapel Hill, NC San Jose, CA Santa Fe, NM Surfside Beach, SC Navarre, FL Colierville, TN Austin, TX Hancock, NY Los Angeles, CA Laurel, MD Morrison, CO Rockwall, TX
D5 D7 D2 D7 D6 D2 D3 D3 D6 D1 D7 D1 D6 D6
RENEW TODAY! On Final, Jim Quinn
800.00 1,690.00 0.00 180.00 -50.00 0.00 240.00 0.00 162.75 0.00 -300.00 -270.00 23.84 39.00 -100.00 -180.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 60.00 250.00 0.00 2,545.59 150.00 12/31/2007 Difference -56.52
0.00 556.52
0.00 650.00
0.00 93.48
0.00 0.00 0.00 48,204.06 6,833.82
360.00 0.00 360.00 47,153.20 666.80
360.00 0.00 360.00 -1,050.86 6,167.02
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Advertising
John Konneker 1577 Old Hwy 34 Mt Pleasant, IA 52641 (319) 931-8478 jlkonn@hotmail.com k-factor-advertising@nsrca.org
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o new advertisers to introduce this month so I’ll resume my “Spotlight on the Advertiser” series that I started a few months back to tell a little about some of the folks that support the NSRCA through their ads. This month I’d like to talk about Don’s Hobby Shop in Salina, Kansas owned and operated by Don and Judy Apostolico. They are especially near and dear to me because Don’s was the first advertiser I personally signed up! The store has been in operation for over 40 years starting on an “unofficial” basis around 1965 and then on an incorporated basis beginning
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1989 when Don took over from the business’s founder Don Molden who was a pattern and giant scale flyer just as Don Apostolico is. In fact Don A. was an active pattern competitor from the mid to late 1970’s then after a break from the contest trail he competed again from the mid 1980’s until the early 1990’s. He was a top 3 finisher at the Nats and flew his own designs. So when you call Don’s you will talk to someone very knowledgeable and experienced. One of “us”, not a phone operator. We really are fortunate that so many of our advertisers are or have been pattern flyers! One offering Don’s has is the book “Crosswind Flying”. I highly recommend this book. Chris Moon gave out copies that Don had donated at the St. Charles contest in 2006. When I came back to pattern that yea,r my previous pattern experience was almost exclusively the old AMA pattern. In those days it was kind of wham-bam one maneuver per pass then out for a turnaround that wasn’t judged. Your track drifting because of crosswind was not much of a consideration. Suddenly, even as a Sportsman, it was giving
February 08
me fits! OK…OK…there was a lot more than just that giving me fits, but that sure was/is one of them. The book helped me start to comprehend how to deal with it. So, I guess I’m in good company with people like Don Lowe that say it’s a must read. When I called Don to get material for this column he was very gracious and spent a lot of time answering my questions about the view of the hobby from his perspective. Don spends all day, every day talking on the phone to pattern and IMAC pilots from all over the country so he has his finger on the pulse of the sport. I enjoyed and appreciated his opinions. Thanks Don! That’s all I have for this month. Please support our advertisers. And when you do make sure to tell them you appreciate their support of the NSRCA. Fly all 10’s! JLK
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District 1
Ed Alt 7 Parkview Rd. Randolph, NJ 07869 (973) 895-9255 (973) 270-6922 ed_alt@hotmail.com
CT • DE • ME • MD • MA • NH • NJ • NY • PA • RI • VT
District 1 Column by Ed Alt
H
i everyone, it’s time to perform the 1st maneuver of the 2008 contest season: the District 1 DVP baton pass! I want to truly thank my friend and outgoing DVP Rick Wallace for the great job he has done and especially for the fun and comradery that he has been a huge part of in our district. With the WRAMS show right around the corner, it’s time to get geared up for the new season ahead of us. The dates this year are February 22-24 and as always, we will have our NSRCA booth and will also be holding our annual district meeting on Saturday. Among other things, we will recognize and award our District Champions during the meeting. Check http://www.wram.org/show_details. html for show information. Volunteers to help manning the booth are always needed and very much appreciated! We will be open from the time of the show opening on Friday through closing time on Sunday. We’ll have videos, a stack of K-factors, sequence information, preliminary contest schedule, contest flyers and other info available to give out. I hope to see many of you there to greet visitors to the booth and help tell them about Pattern and the NSRCA. There’s nothing better than having a mix of grizzled veterans and enthusiastic newcomers to the sport to “tell it like it is” to the curious throngs of onlookers! We’ll be signing up new NSRCA members and doing renewals as well. Most of all, please stop by to say hello. If you can help at any time from
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Friday, the 22nd through Sunday, the 24th, please contact me. Speaking of the contest season, I’ve started to contact CDs to get the schedule together. I’ve got a good start, but still need to hear from a few of you. You know who you are! There are at least two Pattern Primers being discussed. Jon Gerber is looking for a one day slot in early June for the SIRCM Primer Sportsman and Intermediate Primer on Staten Island. Jim Quinn is planning for a date in May for a 401, 402 and 403 one day Primer. Also, following on the heels of a very successful one day, all classes season opener at Oasis (Jackson, NJ), Rick Wallace is firming up details for mid-May, most likely the 17th or 18th this year. I expect it to be a full contest calendar again, with the 2nd annual NEVRC contest now going to a full 2 day format, date TBD. The Granite State Precision Aerobatics contest will be back again, and is looking to hold a 2 day contest for all classes prior to the NATS in July. Of course we’ll have AGS and Pattern in Paradise in August, the 2 day Oasis contest in September and more, so stay tuned as we finalize the schedule. Calling All Videographers! We’re working on an idea to make a series of 2008 contest season videos. The idea started when I noticed that RC Universe will host RC related videos up to 100mb each for free. We can get a lot of new exposure by taking advantage of this service! I want to be able to capture the essence of what Pattern competition is really like, so this is envisioned as a mix of what it takes to run a contest (the club help), what it takes to prepare (pit interviews), some flying and other activities. There are all sorts of things that go on at our contests, ranging from AM/PM foamy flying to informal mini e-Pattern events after the main rounds are over for the day. I’ve got a couple of volunteers already who have digital recording equipment and also editing capability. I really want to capture something for each contest, so we’ll need a few cameramen
February 08
District 2
Ryan Smith 5125 Yanceyville Rd Browns Summit, NC 27214 (336) 207.1950 cell (336) 375.8103 home smaragdz@bellsouth.net
DC • NC • SC • VA
District 2 Column by Ryan Smith
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ello District Two and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that all of you are looking forward to the 2008 competition season. This is my first column as your district vice president and I would like to say first and foremost that I am incredibly honored that you have chosen me to become your VP. This opportunity means the world to me and I certainly will not let anyone down. I would like to start off this article with a sincere thank you to Robert Gainey and Carl Zavalney for doing a wonderful job with the district the past two years and I look forward to continuing their job in a quest to better the district. As I said before, I truly believe that we have some of the most talented builders, flyers, and all around nicest people in our district and I certainly believe that we can become the premier district in the country. To assist me in my endeavors for my term, I have enlisted the help of the able bodied Tim Taylor. I am sure that about all of you have met Tim, or if nothing else have read his Notes to Self series posted here in the K-Factor last year. Tim is a true gentleman with a fervent love for pattern, hence my choosing him to be my right-hand man. With that said, I have a laundry list of sorts to begin my tenure as VP and series of columns in the K-Factor. I will follow up my little exposé with an article by Terry Darr on his experiences with getting the 3M 1.70’s to run
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If you compete in Pattern then you already know this fact:
YS = Power to Win Central Hobbies World’s Largest Supplier of YS Engines & YS Engine Parts
YS 170-DZ
w w w. c e n t r a l h o b b i e s . c o m
CENTRAL HOBBIES’ ORIGINAL
CENTRAL HOBBIES
PUSH ROD SETS CHMPRS24T2 CHMPRS24T4 CHMPRS35T2 CHMPRS36T4 CHMPRS36T6 CHMPRS36T8 CHMPRS38T4 CHMPRS38T6 CHMPRS24M3 CHMPRS35M2 CHMPRS36M3 CHMPS24M25 CHMPS36M25
PATENT PENDING
(2 RODS & 4 ENDS)
24x5/32” Rd/ 2-56 End .. $15.95 24x5/32” Rd/ 4-40 End .....15.95 35x1/8” Rd/ 2-56 End .......14.95 36x3/16” Rd/ 4-40 End .....16.95 36x3/16” Rd/ 6-32 End .....16.95 36x3/16” Rd/ 8-32 End .....16.95 38x1/4” Rd/ 4-40 End .......18.85 38x1/4” Rd/ 6-32 End .......18.85 24x5/32” Rd/ 3mm End ...15.95 35x1/8” Rd/ 2mm End .....14.95 36x3/16” Rd/ 3mm End ...16.95 24x5/32” Rd/ 2.5mm End .15.95 36x3/16” Rd/ 2.5mm End .16.95
CARBON FIBER PUSHRODS with TITANIUM ENDS
CENTRAL HOBBIES
TITANIUM PUSH ROD ENDS PATENT PENDING
CENTRAL HOBBIES
CARBON FIBER PUSH RODS (set of 2)
CHMROD24 CHMROD35 CHMROD36 CHMROD38
CF CF CF CF
24” 35” 36” 38”
x x x x
5/32” (2) ......... $6.95 1/8” (2) ............. 7.25 3/16” (2) ........... 8.97 1/4” (2) ............. 9.35
CHMPRE24T2 CHMPRE24T4 CHMPRE35T2 CHMPRE36T4 CHMPRE36T6 CHMPRE36T8 CHMPRE38T4 CHMPRE38T6 CHMPE24M25 CHMPE36M25 CHMPRE24M3 CHMPRE35M2 CHMPRE36M3
(IN SETS OF 4)
2-56 (fits our 5/32" rod).... $8.97 4-40 (fits our 5/32" rod) ..... 8.97 2-56 (fits our 1/8" rod).... 8.75 4-40 (fits our 3/16" rod).... 8.97 6-32 (to fit our 3/16" rod).... 8.97 8-32 (fits our 3/16" rod).... 8.97 4-40 (to fit our .210" rod).... 9.25 6-32 (to fit our .210" rod).... 9.25 2.5mm (fits our .5/32" rod).... 8.97 2.5mm (to fit our 3/16" rod).... 8.97 3mm (fits our 5/32" rod).... 8.97 2mm (fits our 1/8" rod).... 8.75 3mm (fits our 3/16" rod).... 8.97
CH-KF-02.08
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February 08
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reliably. As an aside, I have seen this combo fly quite a bit, and it goes nose to nose power wise with anything else out there I have seen on Bill’s airplane. Even in hot, muggy summer weather, it is very strong. I want everyone to know that I am merely a representative, chosen by you, the district, to be our voice. I am not a one man show, nor do I intend on running this district with an iron fist. I do not intend on that signifying that I will not do anything and everything I can to help our district excel, however, I am here to address YOUR needs and YOUR desires therefore, I require interaction with everyone to perform my duties to the fullest. Anything and everything we achieve is the summation of the effort and the heart put into it, and I would like for everyone to put their whole effort and heart into our district to make it the best it can possibly be. I want these articles and my actions to be a reflection on what you all want and I certainly appreciate your contacting me with comments, suggestions, concerns, etc. to allow me to do my job better. I also am actively soliciting information to put in the K-Factor, be it information on a new project, flying tips, or anything of the sort. While we aren’t in the competition season, I
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won’t have contest results to post, therefore, in lieu of being redundant with my columns, I would like for people to send me things to put in the magazine. I have ideas for articles, naturally, but I would like this to be a reflection of what our members are doing as well. I also encourage everyone to check out the website, as our webmaster, Buff Miller and I are working to make it something to behold. I thought Buff has done an excellent job in the past, and his desire to continue acting as webmaster is very advantageous to all of us. He is a very hardworking person with wonderful ideas, and I encourage everyone to check out his fantastic work. We will be adding a large amount of content there that we simply cannot fit in the monthly columns here, so I know it will be well worth your while to check it out. With that said, I’ll leave it to Terry to finish out my first column. Exiting the box… Running the 3M 1.70 About a year ago, Bill Mitchell purchased some items from Frank Collinson. Among those items were two 3M 1.70 engines. Not being familiar with the engine problems, Bill turned to the internet to see what the best way
February 08
to set them up was. What he noticed was that nothing was consistent on the set up other than the pipe to use, which is the Aeroslave. Some people had some success with these motors, but even the glow plug type was inconsistent. Bill and I decided to put them on a test stand to try them out. One engine was very strong on the top end but didn’t idle all that well. The other had a perfect idle consistent at 1900 RPM’s but didn’t seem as strong on top end. One of the engines had a phenolic back spacer plate and the other didn’t. The one with the phenolic back plate spacer had been sent back to 3M and modified to updated specifications. Other than the back plate I couldn’t find any differences between the two. I was just finishing my Brio and felt comfortable enough with the reliability of both engines. I installed the factory engine back into my airplane and tried to run it. What I had was idle and full throttle but nothing in the midrange, even at ¾ throttle. The engine would load up and quit. Leaning both top and bottom end only made the motor run hot and powerless, and would still cut off for no reason at any speed. I definitely couldn’t trust that so I changed motors. I tried different glow plugs; two F’s, two #8’s, one F and one #8, two # 5’s. The two F’s seemed to
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be the best but basically I spent 2 days trying, but knowing I couldn’t fly either of the motors. Discouraged and beaten, I went back to my Webra. About four months later, Bill’s Webra went sour and he was left without a running engine. Bill looked at me and said “I wish I had a mixture control carb on those 3Ms.” It went off like a light in my head; being a tool and die maker, I knew I could do something to at least make a mixture control carb work on this motor. After looking at the 3M, the carb has an adapter plate from the case to the carb. Not wanting to ruin a $100 carb just to try this, I decided to make a different adapter plate to hold the mixture carb, which has a much bigger diameter to fit into the case. I took a 1-1/4” square block of aluminum and started milling and drilling until I had the same adapter plate as the 3M but with a bigger hole. I reassembled the motor and installed it in Bill’s airplane. The set up was the same principle as the Webra. I got the fuel flow and the engine fired right up. We kept mixing until all ranges were achieved. We ran three tanks through the motor but it kept running very hot, so we checked plugs. At the time it had two F’s in it. We took those out and put in two #8’s. It was better but still too hot; also the mixture had to be totally reset. We then put two #5’s in and had to totally reset the mixture again from the ground up, but this time the motor was cool to the touch after running. We ran three more tanks, however it became inconsistent again. We took the carb back out of the engine and noticed the ‘O’ ring had squeezed out. To save time, I didn’t put an outer seal for the ‘O’ ring where the carb sits on the spacer. I looked at Bill and said “We can do one of two things, make another adapter or turn the shank on the carb knowing it would never fit back in a Webra.” He chose turning the carb since it had taken 6 hours to make the adapter. I chucked the carb in the lathe and five minutes later, it was ready to put back in the engine. We installed the engine again and this time after resetting the mixture, it was more reliable and very powerful. Bill spent the last two months of the season with this motor and only had two flameouts, both times coming from spitting a
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plug out. Bill has also learned not to twist so hard when removing the ni-starter, which was the problem both times. Later we are going to hone a sleeve out and try that. But for now, use two #A5 glow plugs and a prop of your choice. But remember when changing prop sizes it also changes mixtures. Be aware of this. Use the header and pipe setup from Lance Van Nostrand. If you want to try this, find one of your buddies with a lathe and get them to turn a mixture carb to fit in the spacer of the 3M. It’s just too good of a motor to leave lying around. Good Luck! Terry Darr
Picture showing the difference in the throat size of the adapter
District 3 Lamar Blair
AL • FL • GA • MS • PR • TN
District 3 Column by Lamar Blair
T
hanks for giving me the opportunity to represent all of you for the next 2 years. It will be interesting working with, and for you from the perspective of a DVP. I want to thank Emory for all the work and time he put in over the past two years, and also for putting up with all of us. The District has grown and improved on his watch, and I will be seeking input from all of you on ways to continue the improvements. I am looking for some folks to fill some AVP positions, so anyone who may be interested please contact me. I will be getting with Emory next week to complete our transfer of data and information, so this month is going to be a "short article" month Lamar
Adapter
February 08
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District 4
Dave Johnstone 3205 Royal oak Ct Edgewood, KY 41017 (859) 341-2991 Home (859) 640-7467 Cell djohnstone@fuse.net
IN • KY • MI • OH • WV
District 4 Column by Dave Johnstone
I
f you are a regular reader of the K Factor, you will remember that I already gave you my condensed life story a few months ago, so I won’t bore you with it again. I would just like to say thanks to everyone who has taken on this job before me, most recently Bob Kane, and I hope that I will do as well as they did. I just really enjoy flying pattern and want this organization to remain strong and grow. We had some new guys show up to fly Sportsman last year and I hope that we can get them back this year, along with a few more. I wasn’t quite sure when I was supposed to submit an article for the K Factor, but I think that the first one was late. Hopefully, I will figure out how this works in the near future and be on time from now on. I trust that there are some projects under construction out there in District 4 and we will see some good stuff in the spring. We have a few things going on here at the southern outpost. Ray Morton is working on a fleet of Black Magic’s, three to be exact. He got his new YS 170 not long ago. The fuselages are about done and he is sheeting the wings next. I need to get to his house and see exactly what he is up to. I purchased an Integral in the Fall and managed to get one flight on it before the weather went bad. I was only shooting for two flights, so it wasn’t a major disappointment. Actually, the one flight was nothing short of fantastic. I ran an Axi 5330 F3A with a Jeti 90 speed controller. The energy is coming from Evo F3A batteries. On the first flight, it lifted off effortlessly and flew great. I’m keeping it on ice until spring, but I think that it is going to be fantastic! I put a picture in here, just to prove that it does exist.
I flew it before I finished painting it, another benefit of electric power. If I use the paint sparingly, it should come in right at or just a little under 11 pounds. I can make a few adjustments to make the weight, so I’m not worried about that. Believe me; I thought out everything that I did to save weight. Marcus Knoerl also bought an Integral and he plans on Hacker power for his. Marcus made his first try at pattern at the district championship in September with an electric Eclipse. I have had a chance to fly his Eclipse some and I really like the electric power on it too. I hope that some of you are flying indoors. We have been a little late getting going but we will be flying in the gym for a few months. Maybe next year we can organize a couple of indoor meets in the district. We’ll have more on that later. Let me know what you are up to and we will try to get it in the K Factor. Keep working on that new project. Spring will be here before you know it! New Contest for 2008 The Weak Signals (aka Toledo Show) have agreed to host a pattern contest next summer. The tentative dates are August 16-17. Field features a brand new clubhouse (with indoor plumbing), paved runway, covered setup benches with AC power, deluxe all the way. We fly facing North so the sun is not an issue. More information to follow. 2008 Event/Contest Schedule NOTE: There is a change in the usual dates, please see below . . . . I have looked at dates for 2008, how does this look? Hebron, KY May 17-18 Dave Johnstone Grove City, OH May 31, June 1 Dowayne Gould Muncie, IN (D4-D5 Shootout) June 7-8 Tom Weedon East River, MI June 21-22 Mike Darr NATS July 21-25 Quincy, OH August 9-10 Bruce Herider LaSalle Township, MI August 16-17 Bob Kane/Tim Jesky St. Clairsville September 6-7 Wes Stafford Cincinnati, OH (D4 Finals) September 20-21 Bob Pannell/ Mark Atwood CD’s, let Dave Johnstone know if these dates are good for you. * Sanction filed
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February 08
District 5
John Konneker 1577 Old Hwy 34 Mt Pleasant, IA 52641 (319) 931-8478 jlkonn@hotmail.com k-factor-advertising@nsrca.org
IL • IA • KS • MN • MO • NE • ND • SD • WI
District 5 Column by John Konneker
F
irst I’d like to introduce the two D5 pilots that have agreed to serve as our AVP’s. Mike Mueller and Vicente Bortone. There are so many great guys in the district, I could have just started down the roster asking almost every member to do the job. And although I know I can count on all of you I had to whittle it down to just two. Since I live pretty much in the middle of the district contest wise, I wanted to pick from geographical opposites. They both have had such colorful RC careers instead of trying to go through each of them, I’ll ask Mike and Vincente to write something for us in a future column. I bet it will be fascinating. I hope I can live up to the high standards of our previous NSRCA board members. As ad manager I was invited by Derek to attend the board meeting at the Nats this past summer. I was so impressed. I can say without hesitation that EVERY officer there had nothing but the best in their hearts for pattern. EVERY officer there was sincere and constructive. There were no hidden agendas. I have NEVER before been exposed to such a positive attitude in any organization I have been involved in…. hobby or otherwise. There is so much to learn and so many things I hope to be able to do while here. The first thing is represent the district in the best possible way I can. To do that I’ll need your help. If you have anything you’d like to bring up please don’t hesitate. If you fly near, or know Mike or Vincente, ask them to pass it on. The NSRCA officers will have a board meeting via call-in late February. Please let me know if you have any ideas or concerns I can pass along to make us better. Please feel free to contact me anytime. I think my contact information will be on the website and on the back page of the K-Factor but I will also have it at the end of this column. I’m going to try to develop emailing lists for the district to pass things on to you all in a timely manner. There are neat things coming on the Associations website that have never been available before. Some great ways to keep up with contest schedules, etc. This column is great but the lead times involved sometimes, means some-
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thing is old news by the time you read it here. Speaking of this column, I’d love to include “how-to” articles, what members are building stories, what it was like to start in pattern this year, how you haul your planes, spotlight on a D5 member…there’s a ton of things that would make better reading than my ramblings! So what the heck else am I supposed to be doing? Well, Derek has given all the VP’s a list of responsibilities. Some of them are administrative type things like keep up the district web page, track the district championship points, order the awards at the end of the season for the district champions, write the column every month, board meetings, voting on proposals …that kind of stuff. But he has a category at the end of the page called “other”. That’s where the hard stuff is. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Organize a booth/table at RC trade shows in your district to promote pattern and NSRCA. Organize/schedule judging seminars. Organize/schedule pattern primers to pro mote interest in pattern and NSRCA membership. Speak to local clubs about pattern.
Numbers 1 and 4 I’m working on. In fact we probably all work on those to some degree all year. Number 2, Vincente has some great ideas. How to improve judging was discussed in our district at several contests last year. Not everyone goes to the Nats and has to be certified. Even if you’re certified it doesn’t mean you have all the answers. Folks like me that have really only been flying pattern as it is today for less than two years would benefit from repetitive training. Vincente’s plan is going to help address some of these issues. If you have any ideas or plans at your club to hold a seminar or clinic please pass it along ‘cause I’d like to attend and support it anyway I can. Number 3 is dear to my heart. I don’t think I would have gotten back in to pattern if it hadn’t been for Rusty Dose’s pattern primer almost 2 years ago. I’m working with Mark Woytassek to hold one this Spring at either his club in Cedar Rapids or mine in Iowa City. If you have plans to hold one please pass that on as well. We’ll get it on the website, not everyone is an NSRCA member and receives the K-Factor. I’d also like to attend yours to get ideas for mine. There’s a saying I was taught when I was a member of the corporate world, probably when I was getting chewed out for something “A goal without a plan is just a dream”. I’m afraid I have some goals that would have to fall in to the “dream” category. I’ve had
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a few people mention the CornFrontation to me. Without exception everyone that I have asked that remembers it was very positive when talking about it. I would love to resurrect a District Championship contest here in Iowa. I promise I’ll do my best but it probably won’t happen this season … we’ll see. But that brings up another question. Do we want to have the district champion determined at a single contest? Or do we want to keep the points champion format? Or do we want to have both? I want to do what the district wants not what John wants … whatever that is. What about an indoor F3P type CornFrontation. What about an indoor F3P type D5/D4 shootout? Or a D5 Amtrak migration to the Toledo show? I better stop before Paula reads some of this! I’ll just finish by saying I’m looking forward to trying to represent D5 to the best of my abilities. I am for all intents and purposes a beginner at ALL of this. If you see me start to stray, please straighten me out! Here’s my contact information. Please feel free at any time. Cell 319-931-8478 Email jlkonn@hotmail.com Til then fly all 10’s!
District 6
Mark Hunt 2031 Westlock Drive Tomball, TX 77377 (281) 290-0327 flyintexan@comcast.net
AR • CO • LA • NM • OK • TX
District 6 Column by Mark Hunt
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Ain’t Democracy Great? our new district VP is Mark Hunt. He and I have been sharing materials so he can hit the ground running. Next month he will pick up this column. If you are not done with your winter project you are running out of time. Look for Mark to set the contest calendar very soon. We will have a new contest at Glen Watson’s club, so stay tuned for details. District Champ Redux I made an awkward mistake announcing the 2007 district champions. It was pointed out to me that the Advanced class winner was not an NSRCA member so a correction is in order.
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2007 Advanced District Champion Congratulations to Richard Lewis of Tombull, TX for winning D6 Advanced for 2007. Richard’s increased participation and quickly improving skills kept him ahead in the tight race in Advanced this year. Richard flew his Voodoo Express this year and is working on an Aries for next season. As soon as I get a mugshot I’ll post it on the website. Computer Assisted Stab Alignment Keith Black sent me this cool idea for wing/ stab alignment. Here’s Keith’s story: Thanks to Bob Noll’s videos and the help of Lance Van Nostrand I’ve learned some pretty good techniques for aligning stabs and wings to make sure everything is perfectly straight. However, the one thing that always drives me crazy is getting the fuse perfectly perpendicular to the stab/wing. What makes this so hard for me is that normally the rudder post (or rudder if already mounted) has a taper. This means when I set my triangle behind the rudder to see if it’s straight it ends up close at the top and far away at the bottom (or visa versa). To try and make sure it’s square I step back and try to eyeball it but this ends up driving me bonkers, one eye open, two eyes open move to the left move to the right, all of this changes the way it looks. OK, now you know how anal I am. . Anyways, the other day I saw a picture of the rear of a plane on RCU (Mike East’s to be exact), and a lightbulb went on! If you have a picture from exactly behind the plane you can use photo editing software to display a grid and tell very precisely if the wing and/ or stab are perpendicular to the rudder. For that matter, the table doesn’t even have to be level. To get the picture you should put your camera on a tripod behind the plane at about level with the stab. It’s a good idea if you can have a computer or laptop nearby so you can quickly move the picture from the camera to the computer. Once on the computer, open it in Photoshop, Corel Draw, Paint Shop Pro or whatever photo editing software you have. There are even free ones on the internet. Not
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all have the ability to overlay a grid on the image, but most do. Your picture won't initially be exactly straight so you’ll need to use the rotation abilities of your photo software to rotate until the rudder is aligned correctly with the grid lines, then you can check the stab or wing alignment. A variant of this is to position the camera so that you can check that the wing is perfectly parallel to the stab. Obviously this isn’t a replacement for a triangle and eyeballs, but I think it’s a useful tool.
District 7
Rusty Fried 2124 West Pinchot Phoenix, AZ 85015 (602) 255-0635
completemarine02@ sprintpcs.com
AZ • CA • HI • NV • UT
District 7 Column by Rusty Fried
A
s we read this, the first contest of 2008 will be in the books. Lancaster will be first on the calendar, Feb 9 & 10. The CD is Jerry Budd. The NSRCA D-7 web site has a tentative calendar for 2008. The Phoenix contest will be the second for the year, I will be the CD. Some of the items I will be working on for the next two years are: 1. The K factor is a very expensive publication; I would like to see if we could publish on line only. Last year I took a survey of our district and to the member no one objected having the K factor on line. 2. The board has been talking about having a traveling NATS. Every few years the Nats would move around the country.
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Here’s an example of the Brio I’m building: Use superimposed grid to align rudder, wing, and stab One thing that I didn't mention that's important is that, unlike the picture I posted, when you have the full resolution version of the picture you can zoom into extreme detail and line everything up in bigger than life detail. <end> Well if all goes according to plan, next months column will be from the new VP. I have some boxes of stuff and some transition materials so this won’t be too difficult. Since I didn’t
3. I would like to change the method we use to select the district champions. Along with this I would like to see it be uniform throughout all districts. 4. We will be selecting a Pattern Animal for 2008. Anyone who has a nominee please let the committee know. OH I forgot to ask the nominating committee from last year to do it again for 2008. I am sure they will do it again, however I will ask.
receive anything from my predecessor I hope this smooths the transition and gives us something that can be added to and improved in the future. Out of the box….Lance.
For the guy who wants a F3A pattern ship, he can find many good used models, some as low as $450.00 up to a ready to fly models for $3000.00. This will give a new guy some idea of what a great bang for the buck pattern is. ELECTION. Thank all of D-7 for a great election turnout. Thank all of you who voted for me. I will do my best to earn what you voted for.
For comments or questions please email to completemarine02@sprintpcs.com. My cell # 602 540 3991. CHEAP TO FLY! I have been asked by some local club members about how much it costs to get started in pattern. A beginner can get started for less than a Parts and Service grand. We have many arfs available from Great Planes, DZ170 Piedmont, Horizon and others. I am familiar with the • 1st Place at 2005 F3A Focus sport equipped with World Championship a YS 110 sport. At about • Direct injection--higher power 7 ¾ Lb it performs very • Balanced crankshaft will. Troy Newman did an extensive build series for 1370 Porter Drive • Minden, Nevada 89423 RC Universe. My conversawww.YSPartsandService.com tions with Troy confirm it Tel 775-267-9252 • FAX 775-267-9690 is a good flying airplane.
YS
February 08
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District 8
Rex Lesher PO Box 213 Dexter, OR 97431 (541) 554-2569 trexlesh@msn.com
AK • ID • MT • OR • WA • WY
District 8 Column by Rex Lesher
S
eason's Greetings gang! Building season, that is. With the way the weather has been here in Oregon, that's about all a person could do. The weather gods haven't been too polite with their offerings as of late. That is, unless you like water and lots of it! I hope everyone with building projects are well into the project or nearly finished... We might get some flying weather in a couple months, lol. So far, I've heard of, or have carnal knowledge of, around ten or so new planes being built by the D8 folks. Let us know what you are building. Send some pics. If you think you are going to keep it secret, let me
warn you.... "We have ways of making you talk". We are going to see a few new faces at the 2008 contests. From Mollala, I'd like to introduce Mike McGuyer. Until recently, Mike has been flying IMAC, and has decided to grace us with his presence. It's good to have you with us Mike! You know I just had to put this in the article. Call it what you may, but I'm not totally against a little friendly BLACKMAIL... I'm sure Gordon's wife, Meri, will concur. Mike is building a Shinden with a YS 170 for power. I've known Mike for quite a few years, from flying IMAC in the past. He'll make a great addition to the D8 clan. Dave Kephart has built a Mantis for this season and I understand he is going for an Integral. I'm sure the Zeus is happy to be hung up in your hall of fame! We are also going to see a few familiar faces from absentees of the 2007 season. Lyle Laughery is building a new Enigma and is ready to start dishing it out again... Dennis Cone has a new plane that was almost finished last season... Too much work and a new Symphony makes Dennis a RICH MAN!!! It'll be good to have them back in the fray once again. Steve Sterling has his new electric Impact
and I assume he's got it ready to go. Gordon Anderson has nearly completed his electric Shinden, and is getting anxious for a first flight. Carl Green is building an Impact and is powering it with a Mintor 170. Jerry Green is building a Shinden with a YS 140L. Gary and Ray McClellan are both going to have new Shindens. Gary's will run with a YS 170 for go power, and Ray's will use a YS 140L. I won't divulge anything about my project. It's a secret! lol . Now I know why Gordon liked writing these articles... I can put in or leave off anything I like. Actually, I have a Twister that will hopefully be ready to go sometime early in the season. Yeah, it's electric. Go figure! For me it's been all work and no play, but I don't seem to be getting any richer. I don't seem to have much time for building either. There's something wrong with that. So, there we have it... evidence that the D8 population is working diligently towards kicking butt when the season gets under way. Well done! Hopefully, by the time you read this, we should have the 2008 contest schedule finalized and placed on the D8 website. Once again, we are going to have a contest in Redmond, Oregon. We had a great time there last season, and the Redmond club did a wonderful
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February 08
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job of hosting us! So far, we have five contests set in D8. None of the dates conflict with the neighboring Canadian contest dates with the exception of a possibility of Canada holding their Team Trials at the MAAC Nationals on August 30- Sept. 2nd. That's the same weekend that the EAC contest will be held in Creswell. Earlier this fall, I was told that someone in Hood River was asking about holding a contest there, but I don't have the contact info for this person, and haven't heard any more about that. I'm hoping that this person will show up at a contest and we can learn more about the possibility . If anyone would like to host a Pattern Primer, contact me and we will set it up. This is a
good way to attract some of the local folks who might like to give it a try. We can have current pilots come and help out in all aspects. If not a Pattern Primer, possibly a weekend to get together and practice flying the sequences. It's always nice to get some input from your peers to help fix some of the problems or irregularities in our flying. Just shoot me an email and we'll see what we can come up with. We need to have another judging seminar this spring, probably in April. It will more than likely be held at the same place as last year, at the Denny's Restaurant in Portland. All the info will be posted on the website, and the D8 list. FAI has new schedules this year, as well as a few rules changes, so we need to go over
Simply The Best! Electric Soft Motor Mount
it all. It will also allow the folks new to pattern to get current with the standards and rules of judging Pattern. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you for your support in the past and present, and if you have any questions and/or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. That's what I'm here for... At least, that's what Gordon told me! I'm sure that you would like to share with me a "BIG THANKYOU" to Gordon and Meri for all they've done for D8 for the past four years. They have done a wonderful job in representing us. Remember, wheels down when on the ground.
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February 08
19
Canada
Dave Reaville 1087 Holly Park Rd. Brentwood Bay BC, Canada V8M 1E6 patternwestnews@shaw.ca
Canada
Canada Column by Dave Reaville
H
i folks,
Well the holiday season is now past us as we turn our attention to the upcoming summer flying season. We usually kick things off with a pattern primer and this year will be no exception. Please spread the word that we will hold the BC primer on April 19th & 20th, 2008 at the Mission Wings field starting at 10 a.m. each day. Everyone is welcome and there is no fee. Contact Simon Durkin at simondurk@shaw.ca for more details. A BBQ lunch & drinks will be available to all flyers on both days. Hey there is a “free” lunch after all! Several of our Alberta flyers will make their way down to the Sun Valley event in Phoenix this February. Others had hoped to go (myself
20
included) but we will have to leave it to these three to carry the colors. Canadian Team Trails Although not official, the team trials are slated for the last weekend in August from the 30th through to the 2nd of September in Ontario. I’ll post and publish additional data when it becomes available. Looks to be a great contest as the top three flyers will be representing Canada at the 2009 Worlds in Portugal. The Americans will probably hold their trials in conjunction with the AMA Nationals as they did in 2007. 2011 Worlds It appears the NSRCA executive is looking hard at getting people in place to host the 2011 World F3A Championships in the USA (Muncie). The possible proposal is being worked on as I type so look for news from on this developing story. It may happen near the AMA Nats so this would require a change in the way they do team selection… unless of course they do it at the 2010 Nats.
ules”. These presentations give a very clear and concise explanation of the elements. For those folks jumping across the border for some “international” competition, the US Schedules can be downloaded from the NSRCA site. Also the Canadian Team’s “Worlds Technical Report” is also available for those interested. It’s at http://www.canadaf3a.org/Documents/ worldstechreport2007.pdf As I wrote the report I just want to apologize for the misspelling Sebastiano’s name… hey I am human er… I mean my spellchecker failed! That’s a wrap for this month so safe building, flying and charging! Dave
Schedules Numerous power point and PDF versions of the Canadian schedules are available through the MAAC Precision Aerobatics website http://www.canadaf3a.org/ or through links on the Pattern West News site under “Sched-
February 08
K FACTOR
Editor Krishlan Fitzsimmons 1424 Shearwater Drive Patterson, CA 95363 (209) 740-9495 kfactoreditor@gmail.com k-factor-articles@nsrca.org
I
had to dig into the very small archive I have for a cover pic this month.. I didn’t receive any last month so the choices are very limited. Please submit some for us. This month while I was on Flying Giants I found the article that you read at the front on the counter rotating props.. I found it to be interesting and something that could be the next “fad” in our future.. So I pm’d Alann and asked him if I could print it... We’ve all seen the pics of it I’m sure, but I thought I would share it with those of you who might not know about the Flying Giants website.. I received no new cover pics this month.. I ask again for you to please send pics and articles in.. How is your building season going? I have been waiting for UPS to deliver a “nondamaged” 74" Extreme Flight Yak.. I’m not sure if I can get it under weight for pattern as an electric, but I’m going to try to show some of the Imac or 3d guys that with a plane they love, they can come over and have some fun with us.. Maybe I’ll do a small writeup or build article and add it to the magazine.. My build season has consisted of finishing up a Hangar 9 33% extra that I’ve had nearly ready to go for the past 3 years.. Well, Santa brought me the parts I needed, so I got to work and had it finished up quickly.. My first gasser, should be interesting.. I also took on a project repairing a friends fuse damage on an Abbra caused by an ESC fire I believe.. Got the body work done, just waiting on the paint now..
K FACTOR
EF Yak Don’t forget to send in your pics for the cover, or even pics of your new completed planes.. And if you run across any articles that are interesting, give me a link to where they are.. Maybe I can get permission to print them from their author..
February 08
21
District 7
District VP’s District 1
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Canada District
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Ads should be submitted in the following formats:
District 6
Treasurer
Dave Reaville 1087 Hollypark Rd, Brentwood Bay BC, Canada V8M 1E6 patternwestnews@shaw.ca
District 3
NSRCA Board
District 4
Derek Koopowitz 881 Oxford Way, Benicia, CA. 94510 (707) 746-1615 derekkoopowitz@gmail.com
Lamar Blair Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Tennessee. Dave Johnstone 3205 Royal oak Ct., Edgewood, KY 41017 (859) 341-2991 • (859) 640-7467 djohnstone@fuse.net Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia.
District 5
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President
Vice President
Jim Quinn 211 Airport Road, Endicot, NY 13760 (607) 786-0995 jaqfly@prodigy.net
Ron Davies 10281 Camerino Ct., Sacramento, CA. 95829 (916) 682-7902 rjdavies@frontiernet.net
Advertising Guidelines • Adobe Illustrator files • Adobe PDF’s • Adobe Indesign files • Quark Express • Adobe Pagemaker files We also accept PSD, EPS, Tiff, and Jpeg formats although these formats are not recommended for ads. We recommend using PDF format. All artwork and photographs submitted should be at a resolution of at least 200 dpi for grayscale and 266 dpi for color. 300 dpi for all is preferred to maintain the highest quality printing possible. Submit Advertisements to: k-factor-advertising@nsrca.org
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Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________ City:_ _________________________________________ State:__________ Country: _______________________ Zip/Postal Code:________________ Phone (Opt.):________________________Fax:______________________ Email:_______________________________________________________________________________________ Class Presently Flying: o Sportsman o Intermediate o Advanced o Masters o F3A o Judge o Other: 2005 Dues: USA $40 Can/Mex $50 Overseas $60 $10 for each additional family member who wishes to fly with NSRCA. Memberships are calendar year based. Applications received after October 1st of each year will be valid for the remainder of that year and all of the following year. U.S. Funds Only Make checks payable to: NSRCA Fill out & mail to: o Visa o MasterCard o Discover Jim Quinn Card # _ ____________________________________________ 211 Airport Road Exp. Date ___/___ Amt Authorized: $___________________ Endicot, NY 13760 Signature:_ _________________________________________
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February 08
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February 08
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