K-FACTOR
December 2020 Volume 49 Issue 12
Official Publication of the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics
T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a... pattern plane??? Happy Holidays from the NSRCA! ~Photo: Charlie Barrera
December 2020 K-Factor | 1
In This Issue:
2 | K-Factor December 2020
Time to Vote
3
NSRCA Contest Expectations
3
F3P Indoor
4
NSRCA Officers
5
Member Article
8
District News Contact Us
9
NSRCA Application
22
21
Time to Vote
It’s time to elect our NSRCA Executive Officers and your vote counts!
VOTE December 1-31, 2020 Head over to www.nsrca.us, login and vote. You must be a NSRCA member to vote. Votes are accepted through December 31, 2020 for the 2021-2022 cycle.
NSRCA Contest Expectations “The National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics is an organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of competitive flying of radio controlled precision aerobatic model airplanes. Our goals are: z To create a national community of competitive pilots that share information on flying and building pattern aircraft through printed, digital and social media z To develop new aerobatic sequences for all AMA based competition classes z To encourage fellow sport flyers to increase their skill level through competition z To work with the Academy of Model Aeronautics Contest Board for R/C Aerobatics to provide counsel on rules changes based on member feedback z To develop and maintain judging criteria” Contest Administration Each year the DVP’s of the NSRCA oversee development of schedules of precision pattern contests within their districts. Contests are set through agreements with AMA clubs for the use of their fields for the contests. As a National organization our contests draw participants from many states and are structured within the provisions of our Mission Statement. It is an NSRCA expectation that all contests be offered in an environment of friendly competition and that the events will be offered free of any bias of religion, gender, sexual orientation or political standing. Agreements with the leadership of specific clubs will include among other items, reserving dates, provisions for field setup, provisions for practice time and appropriate compensation for the event. It is the expectation of the NSRCA that the club leadership will respect the mission and objectives by which our contests are administered.
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F3P Indoor
F3P Indoor Aerobatics by Sal Piu Covid has adversely impacted the F3P winter contest season this year. As of this writing, there are no indoor aerobatics contests scheduled for this winter season, at least that I know of. My local indoor flying sites have yet to resume activity since being adversely impacted by initial Covid-related concerns. No additional news is currently available regarding the tentative F3P USA Team trials event targeted for May 2021. For those that do get a chance to fly F3P indoors, here is the F3P AP-21 sequence to practice: PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE AP-21 (2020-2021) AP-21.01 Knife-Edge Cuban Eight with quarter roll, half roll quarter roll AP-21.02 Crossbox Stall Turn combination with quarter roll, two consecutive quarter rolls, quarter roll AP-21.03 Horizontal Circle with two half rolls opposite integrated AP-21.04 Half Reverse Cuban Eight with half roll, half roll integrated AP-21.05 Three quarter Torque Roll, quarter Torque Roll in opposite direction with quarter rolls integrated into the quarter loops AP-21.06 Half Outside Loop, Loop AP-21.07 Knife-Edge Roll Combination with three quarter roll, half roll opposite, three quarter roll opposite AP-21.08 Figure Nine Crossbox Combination with quarter roll, two consecutive quarter rolls, half roll integrated AP-21.09 Square Loop on Corner with quarter roll, quarter roll AP-21.10 Comet with half roll, half roll AP-21.11 Double Key from Top with ¼ roll, ¼ roll
4 | K-Factor December 2020
I’ve searched the internet for a one-site F3P info, and realize there really isn’t any. The USA F3P community, and overall indoor aerobatic community would greatly benefit by having internet presence to cover information to get more involved in this aspect of flying RC models. I recently proposed to the NSRCA board to consider adding more F3P content within its existing web site. Afterall, indoor RC aerobatics does fall within the mission of the NSRCA. Based on earlier discussions with NSRCA board members, I have assembled a draft proposal on how to blend additional F3P information within the existing NSRCA web site and am proposing this to the NSRCA board for further discussion. Hopefully, with some possible tweaking, I’ll get the board approval. If so, additional basic indoor aerobatics F3P related info will be available on the NSRCA soon. Initial content will basic info to promote indoor aerobatics leading to competition, and then leading to F3P competition.
NSRCA Officers
Hear from Your NSRCA Officers President
Charlie Barrera 2627 Silver Shadow | Conroe, TX. 77304 936.404.0063 charliebarrera@consolidated.net Hello again, everyone. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I’m hoping that you’ve asked Santa for all those special pattern gifts. As this holiday season begins, let’s reflect on this past year. Of course, the biggest event of the year, which continues to this day, is the Corona virus pandemic. We’ve endured social distancing, mask wearing, washing hands for 20 seconds, and the effects this has had on our economy. States have slowly opened up, allowing restaurants and bars to reopen, only to close again as the spike in infections increased. Just this week, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals announced a vaccine that is 90% effective. We’re all hoping and praying that this will be approved by our health care professionals and finally have a solution to the disease. We’ve had many pattern contests cancel because of the pandemic. Those contests that remained on the schedule had minimal participation because of Covid. Our biggest disappointment was the cancelling of the Pattern NATS. This board deliberated for several board meetings, only to conclude that it was in the best interest of our members to not participate. However, in September,
through the leadership of Bill Pritchett and Matt Finley, the D4 Championships hosted the USA Team Trials. It was a big success. Besides providing the venue for the D4 Champions, the D4 Championships allowed a team to be selected to represent the USA at the 2021 World FAI F3A competition. Congratulations to the Team! There were 63 participants at the event. I attended the contest, which was held in Muncie, IN, and had the flavor of the Pattern NATS. I saw old friends that I see every year at the NATS and made new friends, too. Planning for next year’s NATS and the World competition has begun. The World’s will be held in Muncie, and the NATS will immediately follow. I’m hoping that you are making plans to attend both events. At our last board meeting, we agreed that a link and icon should be included on our web site promoting F3P flying. With the weather changing for the winter months, many pattern flyers resign to indoor flying, particularly in the northern climates. Sal Piu, our D1 DVP, has taken on this task of creating links on our web site for F3P flying. You might notice an article in the monthly KFactor about F3P. These articles are interesting, and I am amazed at the size and weight, or lack thereof, of these models. Sal informs me of the different classes of models: Sport Aerobatics, Competitive above 100 grams, and the Ultimate F3P international competitive class. Sport Aerobatics are flown for fun and enjoyment, flown in a “mixed crowd”, and lead toward precision aerobatics competition. Competitive above 100g generally include models around 100g in weight. The Ultimate F3P class are models flown at the international level, where models generally weigh between 40 to 70 grams, and are built up from extremely light-weight materials, motors, props, servos, etc. Forty to 70 grams? Imagine that. Models that weigh less than 3 ounces. Maybe you’ve seen the uTube videos of these models.They perform with such grace and agility, stopping/starting in midflight, reversing direction, spinning, and
with the delicacy of a falling leaf and the precision of our F3A models. They are so light in weight that air conditioning ducts must be either turned off or directed away from the performance area. Another area that I think should be promoted by the NSRCA and included on our web site is EDF ducted fan precision aerobatics. With the introduction of light and powerful electric motors, the EDF category of models has taken off, no pun intended, in popularity. I own two EDF jets – the Avanti S and a Motion RC T-33. Both are 80mm fan jets and fly very well. At recent contests in my district (before the pandemic), EDF competition was included in the venue. The maneuvers are simple and flight times only last about 3 minutes in duration.This short flight time is, of course, because of the high amperage draw of the motors. A typical 6s 4000mah battery flight time is about 4 minutes, with about a minute reserve. I would encourage you to investigate this new aspect of our sport. Here is the link to the EDF Jet aerobatic maneuvers: https://www.jetaerobatics.org/ uploads/1/4/9/3/14935512/2020_f3s_edf_ schedule_w_details_1.pdf. I have reported on precision aerobatics flying of these models in previous KFactor articles. I am soliciting to our membership a call for help. We do not have a Contest Director (CD) for the 2021 Pattern NATS. The event will be held from July 20-24, 2021, at the International Aeromodelling Center in Muncie, IN. It is well attended in past years, with contestants numbering to over 70. If you are interested or know someone that might be interested in CDing this event, please contact your respective DVP or email me directly and volunteer. Your help will be greatly appreciated. The date seems far away now, but time for planning this event hastens as we move into next year. I hope you have a special project in mind for the upcoming pattern season next year. One of the off-season projects that I have is to fully inspect my competition models and repair or replace worn parts that have endured the season. This inspection, repair, and replacement of parts include the
December 2020 K-Factor | 5
NSRCA Officers motor, ESC, servos, linkages, control horns, and the like. I very methodically begin this process from the nose of the model and continue to the tail. The motor, of course, takes the most wear and tear. I visually inspect the condition of the case (electric is what I fly) and look for any discoloration. Discoloration indicates that the motor has been running hot, or, has possibly overheated during flight. I look at the winding through the front (or back) of the motor (out runner) and observe the condition of the copper windings. They should look fresh with no discoloration. Geared in runner motors require disassembly, and lubrication with the recommended silicone grease about every 75 flights. During normal competition through the season, after a flight, I regularly feel the temperature of the back plate of the spinner. If this is warm or hot, I investigate further. I have an IR temperature gauge, that I take temperature readings. I’ve found through experience that temperature over 180 degrees may warrant as a minimum an inspection for any problem that might cause the engine to run hot. Sometimes this might entail changing the bearings. I visually inspect the ESC for overheating. Discoloration of the case could possibly indicate that the ESC is running hot. A simple remedy of might be to properly vent the ESC by directing airflow through the cowl into the fuselage.This might entail fabricating flow deflectors inside the cowl, directing airflow down and onto the ESC. Most electric models have an exhaust port on the underbelly of the fuselage. Inspect this to ensure that it hasn’t become congested. In some models, a larger exhaust port may be needed, so modification of the port might be necessary. A rule of thumb that I’ve learned is that the exhaust port on the bottom on the fuselage should be twice as large (in area) as the cowl vents. I also look at the wiring from the ESC. This should be in good condition. Check the solder joints for integrity. I inspect all the servos for integrity. I check control horns, fasteners, and linkage to be in good condition. I use a pull-pull cable for the rudder, and I ensure that it is in good condition and at the recommended tension.
6 | K-Factor December 2020
An area that is easily neglected is the landing gear and the gear block that it is attached to. This is the part of the model that takes the most abuse. Sometimes landings can be “hard” and even though the gear struts and wheels look normal, the gear block structure can be cracked, or possibly broken. If this is the case, repair as necessary. Another area that is sometimes overlooked is the wing tube, both the shuck that is in the fuselage, and the tube in each wing half. Look for cracks around the glue joints. With the wing tube in the fuselage, gently move it and see that it is firm and not moving. Do this for the fuselage and each wing half. If there is any movement, this may indicate that the wing has been “moving” during flight. If you’ve had some strange trim problems, wing movement can certainly explain this. Inspect the wing adjustors. Inspect the horizontal stabilizer, particularly the stabilizer tube and where it enters each stab half and fuselage. Again, any movement must be repaired. Inspect the anti-rotation pin and socket. Regular maintenance can prevent any surprises when you are flying. You will also have a model that will last for years. Until next time… Fly straight; keep your radiuses constant and stay in the box. Charlie Barrera…OUT!
Vice President
Secretary
Heedo Yun 4610 Willow Pond Ct. \ Sugar Land, Tx 77479 281.512.9163 | Heedo.Yun@gmail.com We are approaching the end of the year - the holiday seasons! Year end is a time when we usually get together with family, friends, and loved ones and enjoy our lives together. I wish you all a memorable holiday season ahead. Next year, we are implementing 2 year terms for the Executive Council officers – President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. To my knowledge, the currently serving officers will continue serving in the next term with the exception of the position of Vice President, which remains vacant. Please let the Executive Council know if you are willing to volunteer as Vice President of our club. Volunteering is fun and rewarding! This year’s pattern contest activities were limited nationwide and in Canada due to the global pandemic. Let us look forward to more activities in 2021, including the local pattern contests, the NATS, and particularly the World Championship event that will be held in the U.S.A.! Happy Holidays, Heedo Yun
Position Open
NSRCA Officers Treasurer
John Decker 2878 Carrera Ct | League City, TX 77573 281-627-9474 | johndecker@sbcglobal.net
and follow the instructions. Using PayPal is really easy too. Your $40 yearly dues support; the design and production of the Kfactor, administering the NATS, supporting the District Championships, supporting the World Championship teams, and a myriad of other expenses mostly related to Website support software. All of your officers, District VP’s, committee members like the currently impaneled Sequence Development Committee are all volunteers and contribute their time to support precision aerobatics. Get some practice time as weather allows this winter and spring and look forward to seeing everyone on the contest trail in 2021. Always land wheels down, John Decker
SAFETY FIRST
❄ Happy Holidays! May you be filled with health and happiness in the New Year! Fly Safe!
It is that time of year to think about renewing your NSRCA dues. Dozens of members have already renewed, and it is greatly appreciated. It is super easy. Sign into the NSRCA.US website, go to “Join”,
December 2020 K-Factor | 7
Member Article
Reflections of Christmas Past by Scott McNickle {Editors Note: This article was authored by D4 VP Scott McNickle for the January 2017 KFactor. We resubmit it for your pleasure.} Fathers and Sons and What We Leave Behind Because of lead times (these columns are due on the 15th of the month before the cover date) I’m writing this before Christmas, so Christmases past are on my mind.
They taught me to honor my competitors by giving my best effort every time I entered a competition. They’re both gone now, gone wherever model airplane guys go after their flying days here end, and I like to imagine that they’re waiting for me with an airplane in some golden flying field on some perfect afternoon. Until that time they’re with me every time I build or fly. The person you see when you’re with me is what they left behind.
For about as long as I can remember Christmas meant hobby stuff. Kits and tools and engines and supplies for airplanes and any other hobbies I was interested in at the time. For a while that was slot car stuff…I was the unbeatable driver at a couple of our local raceways in 1966 and 1967…but it always came back to airplanes. Hobby time meant time with my dad and my grandfather. They went about as far back in model aviation as you could go, back to the days of Brown Juniors and Comet Clippers. The photo is them in 1948, holding a Contester powered Goldberg Sailplane. Those were the days when model airplanes were THE hobby for boys and young men and they learned about it together. They did free flight before WWII and control line, mostly speed, after my dad came home from serving in the Pacific. They put their heads together and flew as a team with great success. My dad had the fastest control line airplane in the world for about two hours sometime in the late 1940’s with a flight of 151.1 mph. I still have his Dooling .61 engine and a piece of the airplane. Model airplanes and the things those two guys taught me have been part of my life forever. Every time I sit down to build I hear my dad’s voice saying “Take your time. Make good glue joints.” and my grandfather saying “Aw, you can do better than that.” They taught me to take pride in my work and to ‘own’ it, to use the current idiom. They taught that I wouldn’t always be able to do my best…they couldn’t either…but that it was important to try, every time.
8 | K-Factor December 2020
The Guys Who Got Me Started
As a result of my happy introduction to aeromodeling I get a lot of joy seeing fathers and sons competing together at our contests. It’s been fun to see the Finleys, Atwoods, Pritchetts and Sobelewskis enjoying time together and mentoring one another. It goes both ways, in some cases the son is mentor to the father. It’s been fun to see relationships grow from fatherto-son to man-to-man. Something I learned really quickly when I became a dad is that kids don’t just learn what you think you’re teaching them, they pay attention to everything you do. If a dad acts like a jerk at a contest that’s as much a lesson to the son as the part about centering your rolls on a line. If a dad complains about having to judge, or expects special treatment or belittles a competitor or treats someone unfairly or whines about a bad break that’s a lesson too. Contest officials (and in our district that works out to most of us) make mistakes and need to know when they do, but there’s a gentleman’s way of doing that. A private word is much preferred over behind the back sniping. As Crosby, Stills and Nash said, teach your children
well…and teach your parents well. Don’t think you’re off the hook if you don’t have a son in the hobby, either. Newcomers, and guys who have been around a while, too, look to the proficient pilots for clues about how to go about becoming winners. Not just equipment or airplane setup or how to do a snap roll, but how to be a contest flyer. There are many honorable paths to success and some crappy ones, too. Never forget that you’re a teacher and what you teach has a bearing on everyone’s contest experience. You aren’t going to be here forever. Leave something good behind. I guess this column is supposed to be about Pattern….so, be sure your wings are level starting each maneuver, and don’t forget to renew your NSRCA membership. Stay warm. Have something ready to practice with when a nice afternoon comes along. Dream big dreams.
Districts
District News minimal wind. I decided to get my pattern ship out of storage and re-configure my family-transport van for pattern-plane transport mode (which includes removing two rows of massive, non-folding, very heavy bench-seats), for one of those days. I get to my favorite local flying site … and found the pit area full of sport-flying models, at least 20 at one point in time. The picture below does include my model, hidden way in the back by the cross-whitefence.
D1 |Salvatore Piu spiurc@comcast.net CT•ME•MA•NH•NJ•NY•PA•RI•VT
It’s almost mid-November. Northeast, at least New Jersey, is getting a few days of an Indian-like summer of sunshine and 70ish degrees F weather! Lots of outdoor activity going on, including some flying! Several pattern-related pilots got together in late October for some fun and practice flights at the Pemberton, NJ flying site. Even the full-size planes took turns flying that day!
So, New Jersey, and over-all northeast general area, had several back-toback fantastic weather days of 70+ F temperatures, sunny, minimal clouds, and
Most of the time, when I practice with one of my pattern competition model, there aren’t too many flyers and taking turns flying is relatively easy to do. Not on that weather-perfect day! I want to describe all the influencing factors on attempting to practice in this situation. First, be aware of all the type of models and as many pilots as possible. Plan to be ready to take off after a group of planes flying at the same time land. Observe if other sport flyers are preparing to fly at the same time. Consider the type of model they will be flying. Small foamy models will most likely fly close to the runway and low too, all properties that keep those models away from the general pattern box, so pattern flying may be possible. But that also depends on the pilot’s ability to do so. I know some pilots that still fly high and far out even with little foamies: I generally wait for those pilots to enjoy their full flight before taking off. If the model is scale model, or an aerobatic
sport model, like a giant Extra 300, those models and pilots generally need a lot of airspace, so I wait for them to complete their flight before taking off. There are a few skilled pilots that do sport aerobatics but consistently keep their model close to the runway: this only presents an issue for taking off and landing, but can easily be mitigated by loudly calling takeoff and landing. I have taken off and started my sequence, followed by another model taking off. Flying the pattern sequence is still possible, depending on the type of model and pilot skills of the other model(s) flying, but most definitely not with 100% concentration on my own maneuvers as I am constantly monitoring other flying models at the same time for their location relative to my plane and upcoming maneuver. Sometimes I’ll shift my imaginary-limited flight box to one side, or further back, or higher in order to provide additional clearance to other sport flying models. The plus side of flying at a crowded site: get other pilots interested in aerobatics. Some sport flyers complement me on my flying skills, other complement the model I fly. I also coached another pilot to fly one of the easier class sequences using a model designed for 3D aerobatics. His last flight did show improvement over his first flight, so I deem that effort as a success! I can still get several practice flights done on days like this, and simply need to either allot more time to use up all my precharged batteries, or simply not attempt to get to fly all of my pre-battery-charged flights. Bottom line, a pattern-practicing pilot needs patience and be observant of other models and pilots while flying in a crowded sport-flying-environment. This year, 2020, D1 has decided not hold district championship selection due to Covid-19 creating a year of very limited contest opportunities and few pilots participating in only one or two contest events at most. Hopefully, our situation will vastly improve in 2021! I’m planning to hold a video meeting with known D1 CD’s soon to discuss the potential contest schedule for the 2021 season.
December 2020 K-Factor | 9
Districts Here are a bunch of reminders. First, the NSRCA board has been working on a new media format of the k-factor, using ISSUU. Demo versions are accessible on the web. Here is a link to the November 2020 demo issue: https://issuu.com/nsrca/ docs/kfactor202011hd. The September 2020 demo issue, https://issuu.com/nsrca/ docs/sep2020hd also includes an imbedded video of the sportsman sequence: check it out! A link to the new media version will be added to the web site, and included in monthly email announcement of the monthly k-factor publication. Since there is a small monthly fee involved, the board is interested to get feedback from members if we should continue with this format, which can be saved in pdf format, or go back to pdf – only format. D1 members need to review this and send me feedback on keeping or ditching this new media format. Second, if you have not yet done so, please renew your NSRCA membership. The NSRCA web site should provide links to join/renew online. Third, please vote for the NSRCA executive officers. Voting time is from December 1st to December 31st, and votes will be done on line within the NSRCA site.
NSRCA link:
NSRCA D1 link
Maneuver complete, Sal Piu
10 | K-Factor December 2020
D2 | Tim Pritchett 1417 Deer Forest Drive Fort Mill, SC 29707 | tjpritchett@aol.com DC•DE•MD•NC•SC•VA
Can it be that 2020 is finally over?? Oh Lord, let it be so!! …I’ll try not to be too cavalier about it, since many of you have suffered great loss; families, homes, jobs, elections, any yes, airplanes. But, you’re all still here, reading this little note that will hopefully encourage you a bit. And being ‘still here’, you have the marvelous benefit of being able to look back on a very tough year indeed. I don’t know about ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, but I know a lot of difficulty looks a lot more endurable in the rear view mirror. Think about some of the most trying times in your life; challenges or adversities that you’ve overcome. Doesn’t the fact that you can reflect on them provide a sense of ease and comfort? The death of my father in 1991 was such an event for me. My dad was the patriarch; the strongest man in the room on every occasion, at least to me. His death at 54 (my current age) was untimely and unexpected. He developed a blod clot, and died at work one day. Being from a relatively small family, that was, well not devastating, but life altering…a shift in trajectory that led me to a path I never anticipated. I won’t go into anymore detail, but it was many years before I could reflect on that great loss with any comfort. Becoming thankful for the man he was, and the man he made me. In 2008, we moved back to SC from PA, and bought an old farmhouse built in 1904. The family that built it had settled there on a land grant from the King of England in the early 1700’s, and spent
numerous generations farming the area. The plantation has since dwindled to a few hundred acres around the house that is now tenant farmed, greatly affected by the great depression. Jean, the lady across the street was one of the family, and used to tell us stories of her life, and upbringing in that house, having been born there, literally in the house, herself. She knew all of the changes that had been made to the house and property, and people that had lived there, and was a good story teller. One of those that stuck was that the original builder had intended a second story to the patio-style home. He built a switchback staircase, with an elegant banister, and roomy landing. When you opened the door, there was ~700sq.ft. of open space with a 13’ ceiling, stud walls and yellow-pine t.i.g. flooring. But it was completely unfinished. The builder had died unexpectedly in the Spanish Influenza in 1918, and it remained virtually untouched until we moved in, well, except for the girls and boys in the family that used it as their personal roller-skating rink! It took me 4 years to finish the room out, all the while remembering my predecessor who had left the project, and this world 90 years earlier. Shortly after it was completed, some of the remaining family members in the area were invited to come and have a look. They were thrilled, and told so many neat old stories about what they had done around the house in their day. Some love, some tragedy, some loss. But all with a fondness and affection for their lives lived. A year or so later, Jean also passed away, and another chapter of life was closed. 2020 may be one of those times for you. I lost an aunt to covid; the last remaining relative of the generation preceding mine. But my perspective has changed. She was elderly, loved by many outside her immediate family, and had lived a good life. And I thought, beyond the loss, that generations ahead would remember or know her as the family member that died of covid that year. Kind of a unique distinction, almost noble, with something distinguished about it. I’m glad for her memory. In all that’s happened, losing a couple of airplanes, or contests, or whatever our sport has suffered by it, seems pretty small. But I’ll wager that in a year or two, the war stories about how chaotic this year has
Districts been will be woven up and down the flight line, with a pride and distinction worthy of our time. I know many of you have suffered, and I don’t mean to diminish your grief at all. But I hope the encouragement can be that, here you are, reading this little note, coming off a really tough year, but with much to be thankful for. Not the least of which is, well, just another year lived. All in all, we had a great contest at Aynor SC this year; our last of 2020. An appropriate year I suppose to have made a change from our oldest and dearest standing venue of Green Sea SC. But, I’m glad we had it, and I think all had a good time at a beautiful new site. Our 2020 District Champions were decided, and our 2020 Fellowship Award was given to Pete Collinson (Officially, a son of District 2!) Thanks all for coming!
E n jo y yo ur d a y at t h e f i e ld !
PRECISION MODEL PRODUCTS
100 West First Street, Deer Park, Texas 77536 281-479-9600 • www.tru-turn.com
December 2020 K-Factor | 11
Districts St Clairsville with twelve. We also had contests with 26, 24 and 22 participants making official flights.
D3 | Position Open AL•FL•GA•MS•PR•TN
No Article Submitted
Despite the near universal outcry that Pattern is dying we’ve had several new pilots in D4 over the last couple of seasons. Just off the top of my head we’ve gained Jon Dieringer, Jeff Reighard, Greg Hladky, Toby Silhavy, Scott Campbell, Anthony Avalone, Jeff Strauss, Randy Brunette, Joe Winterowd and Lou Matustik. We managed to hold on to most of our veteran crew with just a few notable exceptions. Verne Koester Lynn Morgan, Teo Terry and Bob Mairs either didn’t fly or made only brief appearances due to caution over virus concerns, but indications are they’ll be back when things feel safer. The ‘Move Ins’ taught us something. Many came to us with previous IMAC experience. The general attitude in out community has long been “If Pattern is Formula 1, then IMAC is NASCAR”, spoken with a sense of superiority. Well, that may be true, but it overlooks the fact that NASCAR drivers are darn good racers, and IMAC guys are darn good pilots. Different disciplines require different techniques, but if you’re good you’re good, and our IMAC move-ins have showed us that. Most can step into Advanced and be successful from the start.
D4 | Scott McNickle P.O. Box 163 | Mt. Pleasant, OH 43939 nelson_jett@comcast.net | 740.769.7882 IN•KY•MI•OH•WV
Moving In, Moving Up, Moving Down and Moving On 2020 was in interesting year. I’ll wait here a while for your “Well, duh!” Interesting not for the obvious challenges, but for the way it all shook out. Despite all the fear and uncertainty we managed to have seven contests in the district, and we had an average of 21 pilots flying. The D4 Championships were the largest with 30 pilots (not counting the Team Trials pilots) and the smallest was
12 | K-Factor December 2020
We had a couple of new Sportsman pilots come in with the intention of moving to Intermediate next year. Scott Campbell and Anthony Avalone took us all back to our early days when we came in as competent R/C pilots learning the ins and outs of Pattern. Both are showing promise and a willingness to accept coaching. They will succeed. Moving up is always an adventure. There comes a time when the maneuvers in your class are no longer hard to fly, but still challenging to fly perfectly and you consider moving up just to see if you can do it. In the past we’ve seen pilots like Brandon, Greyson, and Forrest, and before that Robert Caglia, come in and march quickly through the classes, but that doesn’t happen for everyone. This year Jon Dieringer, who had been dominating Advanced, move to Masters because of some ‘externalities’ and he struggled a bit. Something similar occurred with Wild Bill
a couple of years ago. The fact is, even lower level pilots in the class above you have some pretty serious skills. I have no doubt that perennial Masters spear carrier Bob Kane would ride roughshod over Advanced should he drop down. I suggest you try an experiment. If you’ve been in your current class a couple of years go back and fly your previous class a time or two. It will seem dead simple and you’ll wonder how it was ever a problem for you. This summer, when I was really struggling and thinking maybe my skills had left me I did that…flew a couple of flights of Intermediate. That terrifying outside loop on the double Immelmann no longer caused any fear, the absence of snaps, point rolls and spins eliminated chances for errors there and the general simplicity of the shapes was surprising. Which brings us to the topic of moving down. This is a hobby, and it’s supposed to be fun. Our sequences are designed to teach a progression of skills, with new ones appearing with every class advancement. We go through just flying basic shapes in front of judges through more complicated shapes in the full box environment, through snaps, spins, slow rolls and inverted exits to Masters with complex maneuvers, multiple point rolls and, recently, rollers. The sequences are designed to take a young pilot up the ladder in a series of logical steps. But, you may have noticed we’re not all young pilots. Some started late, and others have been flying long enough for (let’s face it) physical decline to take its toll. Everyone isn’t going to continue to advance, and at some point it may make sense to move down. Mark Atwood, who we all know to be a superior pilot, dropped down to Masters for the last couple of contests this season. He said it put the fun back in his flying by taking away the apprehension at flying rolling circles a half mile out. He said he can fly the maneuvers almost without thinking and concentrate on wind corrections and perfecting shapes, centering and roll rates. We’ve all probably had the occasional flight like that, and if feels good.
Districts No plans -- just pictures off the internet. They say a picture is worth… several puzzle clues in this case.
Moving between F3A and Masters has always been a possibility, but the rules have changed in the last few years to allow dropping down a class at the beginning of each season. You have the option to move back up at any time, but once you do you can’t drop back down until the beginning of the next season. If you are at the point where your current class is feeling beyond your current abilities or beyond your current practice budget I’d encourage you to try dropping back a class. It may put the joy back in your flying and keep you coming to contests. One caveat, however…if you find yourself winning too easily or becoming bored with what you’re doing don’t be afraid to call an end to your vacation in the lower class and move back up. You may find that the break did good things for your perspective on the whole thing. So, this is the December column. Seems like a good place for some encouraging words. Most cultures have some sort of celebration around now, at the darkest time of the year. We celebrate the good things from the past year and the possibilities for happiness in the coming year as the world comes alive again. As I write this we’re being told once again to be very afraid, that life is about to become more awful. Only time will tell if that’s good advice or merely the last gasp of those who feed off our fear. I think we have a very good chance of next year being much, much better than this one. I think we will benefit by having weathered the storm, and by coming to appreciate what good friends we have, what a good hobby we have and how fortunate we are to be with such a fine group of people, in model aviation in general and in D4 in particular.
So, I started the rebuild. Sorted the small pieces (read broken pieces). With those I could make a part, then trace it and make a new one. Looking at the covering I could tell were the nose /firewall started. It’s amazing how many clues the carcass can give us if we listen and observe (and sometimes throw in some experienced ad libs…).
D5 | Vicente Bortone vincebrc@gmail.com IL•IA•KS•MN•MO•NE•ND•SD•WI
I got the following article from Mark Woy. I have been requesting to pattern friends to write articles that could be of interest. If you have something that you consider useful in our hobby please let me know. You don’t need to write a complete article. You could call me, email me or text me with the idea and I will put it together. Here the article. Tom Gilkey helped Mark in putting it together: The Puzzle Plane by Mike Woytassek I needed a smaller practice plane that I could keep out in South Dakota. The smaller Osiris would help as I would not need to haul a bigger plane out west and it could be left there. Then it came to light that Mark Barrett had a wreck that he no longer needed -- the bigger Osiris. The plane had a “few problems” -- the nose had been replaced with many small sticks.
The second picture of the puzzle shows the new landing gear mounts and new fire wall. There was about 20 hours of work for those parts. There were no parts to trace for these parts, did have the landing gear mounting plate. Once again looking at the covering showed where the parts should set.
The bottom new sheeting spliced in to the old section, new stringers installed for the fire wall, and the landing gear plate is in rough position. The canopy helped in firewall position.
I picked it up and hauled it home – I think Mark was glad to make room. Some good news is the wreckage pile: the pile had a new canopy and cowl! I just needed to fill in the blank area from the cowl back to the undamaged part of the fuselage. See the first picture for more details…
I’m incredibly thankful for friends like you. See you soon.
December 2020 K-Factor | 13
Districts Battery tray will be bottom of motor box and go to the fire wall. Some balsa sheeting, sanding, reverse engineering, some structure. I can see the completion soon. It needs to ready to take out west before the holiday season.
A few more clamps and fixtures and of course blue tape (I don’t think it is possible to have too many clamps, fixtures, or too much blue tape – and don’t forget the shot bags!). The part shown with big hole is new it spans the landing gear structure to the fire wall. The new puzzle plane will not have all of the light weight box structure inside so this is going to carry some load.
Above is the left side before installing some of the forward sheeting. The bags are 5 lbs. shot bags. Box’s of 12 gauge make good hold down/ aliment fixtures. The plane is on a center line. From the rear of the plane a cross laser squared the plane up.
So pick up all of the parts from a woops. Get good pictures of all of the plane. And -- the wreck is not that bad. There must a plane in this pile… Mark I got the final product pictures after Mark wrote the article. He said that plane is flying OK and tracks well. As usual trimming requires time and flights. He is very happy with the results and said it was worth it. He was also happy to have the opportunity to report his experience by sharing in this article. He also sent me the following two pictures after the plane was completed.
D6 |Justin Wells 20811 Surrey Creek Ct. | Katy, TX 77450 832-356-6408 | justin@jtwells.com AR•CO•LA•NM•OK•TX
All is quiet in D6 after one of the most interesting contest seasons I think we have experienced. I for one am proud of what we accomplished. I corresponded with our contest directors over email and our 2021 season looks very promising, with 10 or more strong contests. I’m not ready to publish the dates just yet as some are still awaiting club approval. I know you will be pleased with the efforts. If you get a chance, jump on over to the D6 Facebook page, there are a few nice planes for sale that can be had cheap for next season. D6 Champions We managed to salvage enough of our season to end 2020 on a high note and present our 2020 D6 District Champions. If you are on the list below, Congratulations, and be on the look out for an email from me getting your shirt size. Sportsman: John Blum of Broomfield CO Intermediate: Bill Bancroft of Broomfield CO Advanced: Michael Johncock of Houston TX Masters: Don Ramsey of Conroe TX FAI: Mark Hunt of Tomball TX
Here the plane is “blue tape” assembled for a reward. Still a lot of work left: more inside structure, wing hold down and alignment, motor box. Looking at some pictures, the box is angled, the motor is off set (there were enough parts to tack the fire wall together).
14 | K-Factor December 2020
Get to practicing, April isn’t that far away! ‘Till Next Time, Justin
Districts thought?! Fast forward 27 years to 2015, where I’m now flying again after 25 years off…. All’s good right!? Fast forward again to 2020, but now the flying life variables have changed, and have little to do with rain or bad margaritas.
D7 - Dan Lipton nsrcad7dvp@gmail.com AZ•CA•HI•NV•UT
Hello District 7 By the time you all read this Thanksgiving will be behind us as will our last event of the highly limited 2020 season, which was held in Riverside CA last weekend. Look for the 2021 contest schedule to start materializing over the next couple of months. Our friend Derek attended the team trials in Muncie in September, here is his perspective: The F3A Team Trials During a Pandemic By: Derek Emmett Hey Gang, first off I hope all of you are healthy and well! We are all going through many of life’s challenges, but also trying to find peace, fun, and meaning in everything we do.
With all the crazy exchanges that happened between the NSRCA and AMA, for the proposed 2020 Pattern Nationals; the drama, the politics… I honestly really did not think the Nationals and TT were going to happen. Two friends contacted me and asked “are you going to the Nationals?” Our collective response was “no, it is too dangerous!” I personally was not prepared, and my club had closed for months due to the Corona. And honestly I was not thinking it was the smartest thing to do, to get on an airplane to Indianapolis from California in the time of raging Covid. Well, that was the thinking in July for the Nationals and Team Trials that were ultimately canceled. So I tuned out and figured 2020 flying season was a non-starter! At some point new life was breathed into a Team Selection contest to be held at Muncie in September. Mentally I had totally passed on it, as I had no local contest season, and months of missing preparation. Embracing the impacts of Covid is very real for me, and I knew of at least 15 people in my network circle that were now dead. Flying was taking on a different meaning for sure. However, at this point I’ve been working from home since March, and a serious form of cabin fever had taken hold. I really needed to get out and do something, so I went BIG and went to the September TT!
My DVP Dan Lipton asked me to do an Op Ed of the Muncie Team Trials, so here we go: The Team Trials was a funny thing for me. My last attended Team Trials was in Pensacola, Florida, back in 1988! Back then it was just rain, in fact 12 inches of rain on one of the days. I also remember a group dinner one night where we had a crappy prime rib that was cooked to the point of leather, with a bouillon cube on top, and margaritas that tasted like Scope! Funny how I remember these things from the past. The 1988 USA World team was picked from just three flights! Back then the 1988 Pensacola TT was somewhat a surreal experience for me, or so I
Derek and Kirt run into each other in Phoenix
I literally did not decide to go until a few days before! Crazy really. I was the last guy registered, #622. My loving girlfriend Nicole must have thought I had gone nuts to decide a few days before, but she let me go, and sent me off with a Covid Safety Kit! When I booked my flight from California to Indy, the flight was only 30% full, so I thought there will be plenty of space between folks. However, when I stepped on my plane my heart skipped when I saw the plane nearly full, and everyone looking at me like masked bandits! Sitting on a plane full of people, during this pandemic, was very difficult, and honestly took a large amount of denial to sit there. At one point I could hear myself questioning “has flying model airplanes become more important than living?!” Did I mention the denial one has to have? The airports were full, as if there was no Covid crisis. Also, it was very interesting to people watch and note the folks that apparently believe there’s a pandemic, and those that don’t. My local buddy’s postal carrier got Covid and she had to be put into a medical coma from the illness. She survived after 6 weeks in the hospital, but her lungs are ruined for life, and she now wheels an oxygen tank to breath! She is the same age as me, thus Covid is a real thing to me for sure.
Safety Kit from my loving girlfriend Nicole My Boxed airplane getting loaded up
December 2020 K-Factor | 15
16 | K-Factor December 2020
Districts
Last guy to register #622
Arriving Indy then Muncie was uneventful and went well. The next day I got out to site #1 and the conditions were beautiful and practice went well. Folks seemed relaxed and in good spirits, and perhaps being outside at the contest in beautiful conditions had something to do with it. There were more than a few D7 folks that made it:We had Jerry Budd flying in the D4 contest, Kirt Campbell and I flew the Team Trials, and Jon Carter was the Chief Judge!
Derek arriving Site #1
The Allure and Alchemy Bipes poised to go!
Despite my lack of preparation my goal was to finish in the top 10. I felt if I flew well that seemed like a reasonable goal. However, I had some bad luck, and frankly did not fly well. On my first P-21 I was first up at 8:30am, and I read the wind incorrectly. It was relatively calm on the ground, but blowing pretty good up above, so things were ugly. It never looks good to see a spin come back into the middle of the box on a 45 when it’s a turn around maneuver! And of course everyone else went to school on me. I had four different callers on my P flights that day, which honestly was very distracting. Everyone calls a little bit differently. However, of course I was thankful for their help! When I practice at home I never have a caller because I’m alone most of the time. Adding a caller should not be something you do at a contest like the TT or Nationals, it should be part of your practice, so it seems natural to hear your caller.
trip. This gave me a chance to see how others were doing things very closely. I will have to somehow change some of the things I’m doing. For example; having a caller more in practice. Learning to improve despite not having consistent feedback available. Performing more consistently under pressure. I know I can’t do this alone, and improvement at this level comes in small steps. I will be calling on some of you to help me improve from afar, and I hope you will share your knowledge in any way you can if asked. The folks that won their 2020 Team Selection position deserved to win, and their flying was excellent! I want to congratulate Team USA. I believe we are well represented and fully expect Team USA will do very well! With the Worlds planned for Muncie July 2021 + Covid + international travel, this will be really interesting to see how it all will play out! I sure hope the team’s hard work is allowed to shine in a 2021 Worlds!
Morning pilots meeting
After the first day I was honestly hoping to throw away my P’s and have two good F’s. However, day two we had bad weather and I only got to fly one F! In this case I felt a bit unlucky again, as I was last up and had to wait from 8am to 4pm to fly my one flight! When I finally got up, after essentially watching 21 pilots, to improve my position there was a lot riding on one flight. We had a heavy cross wind for us that day. I like the challenge of a heavy wind, and my flight was going well. However.................. I screwed up the “Loop with Consecutive Two Rolls in Opposite Direction”, which was going fine until I somehow used the wrong rudder in a transition area. The error was almost like I was going to do rolling eight? The flight and contest was over at that point to zero a K5. I was devastated to travel 5,000 miles, to zero a maneuver I’ve never zeroed, and to perform so poorly. I spent the third day judging the finals, and that in some ways was the best part of the
2020 USA F3A World Team!
2020 USA F3A World Team!
Best Regards Derek Emmett… Contest Report from Jerry Budd: On October 24, a dozen pilots showed up to compete in the inaugural California Pattern Championships held at the Bear Mountain Flyers flying site in Arvin, California. As the Contest Director for the event, Tony Frackowiak, was unable to run the contest, he asked me to take over the CD’s duties for the weekend. Fortunately, Tony had done a great job of organizing and
December 2020 K-Factor | 17
Districts have a problem” my colleagues chided me because my response was always “no, we have an opportunity.” A trite and well-worn expression, but I believed it then and still do in my gray-hair-years. It’s too easy to say that we’ve tried this, that and the other thing before. But there are always new prospective pilots and new approaches. It’s time to use our imaginations to find those opportunities and launch 2021 with excitement.
setting up the event, so there was minimal disruption. The weather was perfect with daytime highs in the high 70s, with little to no wind, no clouds on Saturday, and moderate overcast on Sunday. Don Brown from Lodi California competed in Sportsman, Tac Takayama and Greg Meierhoff competed in Advanced, five pilots competed in Masters, two in F3A Silver, and 2 in F3A. Also, two pilots, William Wallace and Robert Fish, opted to fly in the Electric Ducted Fan class. Four rounds were flown on Saturday, with the remaining two rounds flown on Sunday. Winners in the classes were Don Brown in Sportsman, Tak Takayama in Advanced, Kris Fitzsimmons in Masters, William Wallace in F3 Silver, and Jim Woodward in FAI. William Wallace took first place in EDF. There was some excitement on Sunday in the last round of EDF when Bill Wallace and Robert Fish made competing low passes down the runway after finishing their sequences, highlighted by Robert Fish landing his jet at full throttle, inverted (not intentionally), in the dirt off the edge of the runway. It was quite spectacular and was a fitting end to the successful weekend (surprisingly, there was minimal damage to the jet). I’d like to thank Leon Robison for purchasing the first place awards for all of the classes, the Bear Mountain Flyers Club for providing the site and hosting the contest for the weekend, and all of the people who stepped up to help the event run smoothly with nary a complaint, or issue. It was a fun weekend! Jerry Budd —Wishing you all a happy and healthy Holiday Season and a wonderful 2021 to all of us! Smooth flying, Dan.
D8 | Art Kelly 367 Golf View Drive | Medford, OR. 97504 541.905.2954 | afkelly25@gmail.com AK•ID•MT•OR•WA•WY
At about this time last year we were wrapping up our 2019 season. The championships had been completed and five worthy pilots were elevated to the esteemed positions of District Champions. Within a few weeks we were all began to go over our aircraft for flaws (it wasn’t my thumbs) or we began scrolling through websites for that special bird that would start ringing up 10’s in the 2020 season. Where did that season go? In District 8 we managed to pull off two contests. The district contest was cancelled. Self quarantine became the newest expression in our vocabularies. It is gratifying to see that some districts were able to sustain fairly robust contests. But others were as challenged as were we in the Northwest.As we look around the country at countless fields of activity and hobbies there has been a significant decline in participation. We all need to recognize that this is a critical time for our hobby. Assuming that by next spring/summer we will be seeing a glimmer at the end of the tunnel, all our districts should be examining the questions “How can we reenergize this hobby that we enjoy so passionately? What can be done over the winter months to generate curiosity and an interest in r/c pilots to give this a try? It will not happen with a passive response. We all need to be proactive with ideas. Winter is the germination season. This is the season for cultivation. During my career when I was told “we
18 | K-Factor December 2020
SAFETY FIRST
❄ Happy Holidays! May you be filled with health and happiness in the New Year! Fly Safe!
Districts
Canada | Paul Brine 25 Robertson St. | Fergus Ontario N1M3P7 519.787.5144 | pbrine@uoguelph.ca Welcome to December and the end of 2020. I know I am looking forward to 2021 as it can’t be any worse than 2020. COVID case numbers have continued to rise with new case numbers being reported daily in what appears to be record numbers. Increasingly strict restrictions are being introduced regularly to combat the ever increasing numbers of cases. There is not much to report as we have come to the end of the outdoor flying season. The suitable flying days in this part of the country are going to be rare for the next few weeks and months. Not all clubs in this area have all weather access so their fields are mostly closed until spring once the access road gets muddy or covered by snow. I am fortunate to belong to a club that has all weather access and a heated club house so have the opportunity to fly all winter if I were willing to brave the cold and snow. We were able to get some flying in during the last couple of weeks due to unseasonably warm weather. Locally in the first 2 weeks of November we have had both snow and late summer, early fall temperatures. Clubs will be starting to plan their contest events for next year although there is a lot of uncertainty about what form the next season will take. I expect the usual winter season events of swap meets and club meetings will be severely impacted by the restrictions on gatherings. All of the clubs that I belong to have either completely canceled meetings
or gone to virtual meetings. Events have been canceled to date and I have not seen any of the usual indoor events scheduled for the winter and spring.
To quote the line from Hill Street Blues “Let’s be careful out there”.
Normally at this time of year I would be starting to fly in the great indoors. As of the middle of November there still is no word if our regular venues will be available for indoor flying. At this point it is beginning to look like I will have to pull out the micro heli and quads and ask permission from SWMBO to fly in the living room.
Nothing scheduled yet.
Contest Schedule
Check the event listings on the MAAC website and the F3A Canada website for the latest information. That’s all for now. Stay safe. Flight complete. Paul
Membership Renewals Now that we are to the end of the year it is membership renewal season again. NSRCA membership renewals are now open for 2021 so don’t forget to renew. Memberships in most organizations in the hobby run on a calendar basis so don’t forget to check and renew your club memberships for the coming year as well. We can renew our MAAC memberships for 3 years at a time and it can sometimes be hard to remember if this is the year. Don’t forget to pull out your MAAC card and check the expiry and renew. It can be done online and is essential if you plan to make the club’s New Year’s Day funfly. If your MAAC membership is expired you have no insurance coverage. Safety A regular feature in the K-Factor over the last year or so has been the “Safety First” tip that appears somewhere every month. One thing we can do to help stay safe is never fly alone if at all possible. Having someone else at the field could be a lifesaver if something goes wrong. Over the 35+ years I have been in the hobby I have been at the field when there have been incidents that could have gone very badly if there had not been someone else there to assist. These, fortunately rare incidents, have all been about body parts in props or heat/sun stroke and all ended well. Besides having other pilots at the field in the case of an emergency, other pilots can help you with practice by calling or coaching.
December 2020 K-Factor | 19
Classifieds
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20 | K-Factor December 2020
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December 2020 K-Factor | 21
Contact District VP’s
District 6
Justin Wells 20811 Surrey Creek Ct. Katy, TX 77450 832-356-6408
District 1
Salvatore Piu spiurc@comcast.net
Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont.
justin@jtwells.com Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
District 2
Tim Pritchett 1417 Deer Forest Drive Fort Mill, South Carolina 29707 864.871.1902 tjpritchett@aol.com
Dan Lipton nsrcad7dvp@gmail.com
Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah.
District 3
Position Open
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Tennessee.
District 8
Art Kelly 367 Golf View Drive Medford, OR. 97504 541.905.2954 afkelly25@gmail.com
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming.
District 4
Scott McNickle P.O. Box 163 Mt. Pleasant, OH 43939 740.769.7882 nelson_jett@comcast.net
Canada District
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia.
President
Charlie Barrera 2627 Silver Shadow Conroe, TX 77304 936.494.0063 charliebarrera@consolidated.net
Vice President
District 7
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.
NSRCA Executive Board
Paul Brine 25 Robertson St. Fergus Ontario N1M3P7 519.787.5144 pbrine@uoguelph.ca
District 5
Vicente Bortone vincebrc@gmail.com
Position open
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Heedo Yun 4610 Willow Pond Ct. Sugar Land, Tx 77479 281.512.9163 Heedo.Yun@gmail.com
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22 | K-Factor December 2020
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December 2020 K-Factor | 23
24 | K-Factor December 2020
