District News

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 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.

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.

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

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

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!

Enjoy your day at the field!

PRECISION MODEL PRODUCTS

100 West First Street, Deer Park, Texas 77536 281-479-9600 • www.tru-turn.com

D3 | Position Open

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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 St Clairsville with twelve. We also had contests with 26, 24 and 22 participants making official flights.

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.

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.

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.

I’m incredibly thankful for friends like you. See you soon.

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.

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… No plans -- just pictures off the internet. They say a picture is worth… several puzzle clues in this case.

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…).

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.

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. 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). 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.

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

Get to practicing, April isn’t that far away!

‘Till Next Time, Justin

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.

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 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.

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!

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

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. 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. 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!

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

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. 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.

SAFETY FIRST ❄ Happy Holidays! May you be filled with health and happiness in the New Year! Fly Safe!

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.

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.

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. To quote the line from Hill Street Blues “Let’s be careful out there”.

Contest Schedule

Nothing scheduled yet.

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

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In the Box

Welcome to our Q&A section of the KFactor. We like to keep this an ongoing column where you can ask anything you may want to know about precision aerobatics flying, equipment, philosophy, the meaning of precision, etc.... Our panel will try and provide helpful answers (Please email your questions to NSRCAD7DVP@gmail.com)