K-FACTOR
November 2020 Volume 49 Issue 11
Official Publication of the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics
Meet Jennifer Kimball, the USA female member of the USA FAI F3A Team, representing the USA at the FAI F3A World Competition hosted by the AMA at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, IN, July 10-19, 2021
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In This Issue:
2 | K-Factor November 2020
Time to Vote
3
Member Article
5
NSRCA Officers
8
F3P Indoor
11
District News IMAC
12
Contact Us
21
NSRCA Application
22
20
TIME TO VOTE....
Time to Vote
for your NSRCA Executive Officers As of October 15, we have at least one candidate running for the executive positions of President,Treasurer and Secretary. Unfortunately, no one I talked to so far accepted being nominated for the position of Vice President, nor has anyone seriously volunteered to do so. This is why there are no bios in this month’s edition of the KFactor for the Vice President position. Amazingly, after talking to folks that have previously served as Vice President, this position requires the least amount of persistent work compared to any of the executive board positions or even District VP positions! If anyone is interested in having a strong input into NSRCA issues, please consider submitting your name to Sal Piu, or Justin Wells, with a bio, for the Vice President position. December 2020 will be election time for NSRCA executive officers. ~Sal Piu, Executive Committee Nominating Chair
Charlie Barrera Position of President Hello members of the NSRCA. I am running for the position of President of the NSRCA. I’ve been an NSRCA member since 1998, and am an active member of District 6. I’ve served as your Secretary from 2014-2018, and as your Vice President from 2019-2020. I was appointed President this past July, 2020, after the serving President resigned. I am currently serving in that position. I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure. As Secretary, I was instrumental in keeping our membership informed about the happenings of the Board of Directors by publishing BoD Meeting Minutes every month after a BoD meeting. I was also responsible for membership, both new and renewal. As Vice President, I chaired the Bylaws Committee. This committee revised our bylaws and membership voting approved the revision. I also served on the Sequence Development Committee. This committee created the sequences that you are
currently flying. I am very active in pattern, participating regularly in local contests, and have attended the NATS every year since 1999. As interim President, I represented the NSRCA at the recent USA Team Trials/ D4 Championship held in Muncie, IN. My goals for the NSRCA include expanding our ranks through innovative programs designed to generate interest in pattern flying. I hope to do this with the “Grow Pattern” proposal that is being suggested to our members, and future pattern flyers and members. I hope to make it easy for someone that is interested in precision aerobatics, but reluctant to start because of the expense and commitment that might be perceived. I feel that the easier it is to start, the more participation we will get at our local pattern contests. I’ve been in modeling since the early 60’s, when I was in grade school. My dad built and flew control line models and taught me to build and fly models. It has been my passion for over 50 years. I began flying radio control in 1966, my senior year in High School. I started with a Vari-comp rubber band escapement, single channel, push button radio. For those of you that might not be familiar with this system, it consisted of a transmitter with one push button. When you pushed this button, the escapement in the airplane would turn, causing the elevator to deflect UP, then DOWN, then rudder RIGHT, then rudder LEFT. It was a matter of timing, then holding the button until the desired flight attitude was achieved. Needless to say, the airplane had to be very stable and forgiving.
I briefly flew pattern in the mid 70’s, before turn-around pattern started as we know it today. I wasn’t very successful. I didn’t have the time or the resources, for I was busy raising a family and flying for the US Air Force. I again began flying pattern in 1998, after encouragement from members in my local club, the Tri-County Barnstormers, New Waverly, TX. These members were Ollie Sonnier, Don Ramsey, and Luis Rodriguez. With the exception of Ollie Sonnier, who passed away in 2005, Don, Luis, and I continue to fly pattern and are very active in pattern. My first “true” pattern airplane was a Mike Harrison design Odyssey. I have several 2-meter airplanes, which include a Mystic, Acuity, and the Zonda, which is my primary competition airplane. I recently completed build of a ‘60’s vintage Dirty Birdy. I built this model “scratch”, obtaining a short kit from a kit cutter, and completing it after several weeks of work. It was a fun build and reminded me of the attention to detail that is necessary when building models. I currently fly electric in all of my models. I participate at all our local/regional pattern contests and have moved up to Masters Pattern this past pattern season. I have attended and competed at the NATS since 1999. I was the Judging Coordinator for the 2011 World Championships in Muncie, IN. I have judged finals at all the NATS, and was Site Director at the 2019 NATS. My educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University,
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Time to Vote and a Master of Science degree in Counseling and Guidance from Troy State University.
the adventure. Now flying Advanced and Covid19 has really screwed up this year but hopeful for the future. I really enjoy trying to fly with discipline.
My professional background includes 8 years as a pilot in the USAF, 36 years flying for a major airline, retiring in 2013. I have flown all over the world, and ended my career flying the Boeing 767-400. I am soliciting your vote for President of the NSRCA. Having served on the Board of Directors for the past 6 years, I have the experience to continue to make our organization the best it can be. I feel that we must continue to promote our sport, and to go forward with our Special Interest Group.
John Decker Position of Treasurer I am submitting my candidacy for the NSRCATreasurer. As the current treasurer I am familiar with our expenditures and obligations and as a member of the Executive Team of the Board of Directors I have been active in gently guiding policies that ensure the longevity and relevancy of the NSRCA.
Heedo Yun Position of Secretary Hi, my name is Heedo Yun. I volunteer to serve as the Secretary in the next 2 years. I’ve been serving as the Secretary since June, 2020, therefore I am familiar with its role and responsibilities. I am applying for this position because I love this hobby and also enjoy serving for NSRCA and its members. To give a brief background of myself, I am a retired engineer residing in Houston, Texas, enjoy flying the Advanced Class pattern at the Fort Bend RC Club in Rosenberg, Texas, and also fly giant aerobatic airplanes during the off-pattern season.
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As for my modeling career I started with rubber band free flight at the age of 8 and progressed to control line and model rockets. Never had much success but sure learned the art of repair. I started flying RC in 1972 at the age of 12 with a Mattel Single Channel and my 1/2A Mini Mambo. I had over 1,000 flights on that plane and genuinely loved flying it every day. I progressed to three channels then four channel and flew well into my high school years. I flew off and on through college and for some years after. In the middle 90’s I meet a gentleman at a local flying field in Jackson, Mississippi that was so smooth it was mesmerizing and flying a 40% Ultimate Biplane with a lot of wow factor slow rolling the length of the field. I asked how he became so good and he attributed his talents to flying Pattern for many years. He took up Pattern again when I became interested and coached me and we traveled the D3 circuit together back in the late 90’s. Life got in the way and I didn’t fly again for 17 years. Got bit by the bug and started flying Pattern again a few years ago after moving to D6. Went to my first NATS in Muncie three years ago and came a close second in Intermediate behind a 13-yearold teenager. Humbling but I sure enjoyed
My past work experience includes a number of executive leadership positions including President of Worldwide Sorbent Products, Chief Operating Officer of Complete Environmental Products, Controller for FRC Corporation, Environmental Packaging Technologies, and Clean Coast Technologies. Most recently I have been the Chief Financial Officer of Neighbors Health System and Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute. I received my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accountancy) from Auburn University and my Master of Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Thank you for your consideration and I appreciate your vote.
Member Article
This Is Not a Build Article – It Is a Rebuild Article {Editor’s note – This article was submitted by Mark Barnett, D5, back in February of 2017. Enjoy!} A few K Factor readers have been critical of some of us district VPs for writing about our latest building project in order to have subject matter to meet the monthly deadline. They want wonderful, insightful and interesting articles about pattern aerobatics. Well let me invite them to write a monthly article about pattern in the frozen north in the winter. Building is just about all there is going on right now around here, but this is not a build article.
You recall in late May that my second Lightning with Spark wings went down hard at the bottom of a figure M maneuver due to an unexplained loss of power and control. I described this to you in my July K Factor article. I resolved to rebuild the Lightning with Spark wings. Following the crash, my first Lightning served out the pattern season with honor and is still flying today with about 1500 total flights. However, the Spark of Lightning flew way
better with no roll coupling in knife edge it had to be rebuilt. After the crash, an autopsy of the wreckage showed the fuselage was splintered to the back of the canopy, but the rudder had only minor damage. The canopy was destroyed, but the latches were reusable and I had the fiberglass canopy mold I had used to make it with. One stab had minor damage to the leading edge and the other was intact. One wing had leading edge damage in 3 spots and the other wing had sheeting and root rib damage including loss of both wing bolts and the adjuster pin. The wing tube, ailerons the majority of both wings and wing tips were undamaged. Therefore, if I built a new fuselage and canopy, the rest could be repaired and the Spark of Lightning could rise like a phoenix from the rubble and fly again. It could probably be ready before our trip to Arizona in February if I got my butt moving. This became my quest.
Competition balsa was purchased at Sig Manufacturing in Montezuma, Iowa where I was allowed to hand weigh each piece to get the lightest weight competition balsa. This is one advantage of living within 2 hours of a balsa supplier. Build tables were cleared of old unfinished projects. The fuselage jig and build board were located and set up. The first jig support piece was modified for the front mount Pletty Advanced motor. A short kit for the Lightning fuselage was ordered from Eureka Hobbies. Some parts were modified or completely rebuilt to make them stronger or slightly different shape from the original design. For example, the ears on former #2 were modified for the Pletty motor. Some formers were laminated with carbon fiber cloth or tissue to strengthen them. The landing gear plate was remade from Dragon board and extended to the next former to help prevent rotation. I also planned to use fiber glass tapes as a sling around these landing gear extensions to bind them to the fuselage sides. Many of
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Member Article these modifications have been developed since building the first Lightning, 3 years ago. The fuselage sides were made from sheeting, ply doublers and stringers and added to the formers on the jig. Stringers were made and added to the top. Turtle deck was made from 3/32” balsa sheeting based on poster board templates. The sheeting was bent over tubes after wetting until it dried, cut to fit exactly and then glued in place using a syringe filled with wood glue and a blunt tipped needle. The sheeting was held in place with external stringers and 1” Coban elastic bandage around the outside at the formers.
The original canopy was built up balsa planks over a frame which took about a month to complete. The new canopy was made in the fiber glass mold. 3 layers of glass cloth totaling about 8 ounces were used with 40 grams of epoxy resin. The canopy build took less than a week to build.
and dents were filled and smoothed out. Fiberglass was applied to each side with 40 grams of epoxy per side. The primer was brushed on as described in my last month’s article. Painting was done with one step polyurethane auto body paint that was mixed to match the covering on the wings. Painting is a skill I have not perfected, but I got it done including my trade mark shark mouth with Oramask 810S mask film and a lot of masking tape. The fuselage weight came in at 897 grams which is 90 grams less than the first lightning which had a final weight of 4676 grams. Not too shabby.The canopy is 20 grams less too. I was happy with this.
The fin was rebuilt and added to the fuselage. The fillet was made with strips of 1/8” balsa and balsa putty and sanded to shape. The fuselage was removed from the jig (this is always a great day in airplane construction). The bottom stringers and turtle deck were added followed by 4 cooling air outlet holes from 3/8” rings of covering tube. Some sanding and shaping of the nose area was required. The pin holes
6 | K-Factor November 2020
Member Article was able to sheet this area the next day.The root rib was repaired. Remember the wing bolts don’t hold all that much. They just keep the wing from slipping off the wing tube in rolls. The old rudder was repaired and replaced. 3D printed parts made by Mark Woytassek were used for the clevis connection to the pull-pull cables due to the increased set back of the control horn from the crash damage. The wing with root rib and sheeting damage was brought out. The sheeting was removed from a small area on the bottom. The top sheeting was intact. The first 1/3 of the root rib was destroyed. Honey comb holes in the foam were exposed making recovering with sheeting difficult. I remembered a trick that Robert Green told me that he learned from Joe Dunnaway. Insulation foam in a can be used to replace the missing foam. I went to Lowes and got some of this stuff. The foam insulation expands over 2 times the initial volume, so don’t use too much. Luckily the open cell foam sands easily after it hardens. This trick really worked well for me and I
am worried that the carbon fiber tissue in the wings may have shielded the receiver long enough to cause the crash. Can’t prove it, but….
Now all that is left to do is to put in the motor, ESC, receiver, rudder servo, and battery tray. Set the CG, program the throws and I’m back in business. By the way, I will be using a receiver with multiple satellite receivers as in my first Lightning. I
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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. Our pattern season is coming to a close. It’s been frustrating this year. Many pattern contests have been canceled due to the Covid pandemic. Some districts have had less than a handful of contests, yet others have had a full season. The virus has affected many parts of the country in different ways. I’m hoping that you have remained healthy during this trying time. I’d like to remind you that 2021 NSRCA membership dues can be paid this month of November and December for renewal into 2021. If you haven’t done so, please log on to our web site, www.nsrca.us, and follow the links. The FAI F3A USA Team has been selected. Congratulations to our USA Team!
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Our 2021 Team members are (left to right) Grayson Pritchett, Jennifer Kimball, Peter Collinson, Jason Shulman, Andrew Jeski (Team Captain), Joseph Szczur and (not pictured) Kal Reifsneider as our Junior Competitor. They will be representing the USA at the FAI F3A World Competition, which will be held in Muncie, IN, at the International Aeromodelling Center. The dates are July 10-19, 2021. I hope that you will have a chance to attend. As a side note, the 2021 NATS will begin July 20-24, 2021. If you are planning on attending the NATS, maybe you can arrive a couple of days early. This will give you an opportunity to watch some world class precision aerobatics. The semi-finals and finals will be during this time. It is amazing how precise these competitors fly. The NSRCA has just convened the Sequence Guideline Committee (SGC), and the Sequence Development Committee (SDC). These committees are tasked with development of sequences for the pattern years of 2022-2023. In spite of our curtailed season, the membership was polled by their respective District Vice President and polling revealed that the sequences should be changed for the new pattern years. With this in mind, the SGC and the SDC were convened. The first order of business for the SGC was to review documents that are used to establish guidelines for sequence development. These documents were previously developed two years ago, and little modification was needed for use this year. These documents include the NSRCA Pattern Sequence Procedure, Catalogue
of Maneuvers, and the KF Calculator. In addition to this, the SGC was also asked to review FAI maneuvers and create AMA maneuvers similar to F3A. New maneuvers were developed, reviewed by the NSRCA Judging Committee, and approved by the NSRCA Board of Directors. The SDC will now begin to design sequences for the new pattern years. The process is simple. Maneuvers are picked from the Catalogue of Maneuvers, K factor calculated and the sequence begins to be formulated. See a sample of maneuvers appearing in the Catalogue of Maneuvers: below. I offer this example as to how the process works. Let’s say the pyramid loop is selected. From the CLASS column, the Advanced maneuver (403) Pyramid Loop From Top with 2/4pt rolls in 45 degree legs, the K would be 7 (base K 3, 2/4pt roll + K2, 2/4pt roll + K2). This might be the first centered maneuver. Next, a turnaround maneuver is picked, the K is added up, and this becomes the turnaround maneuver. Then, another centered maneuver is picked, and so on, until the total K for the sequence is equal to the recommended total K for that class. This total K required for the respective class is found in the Pattern Sequence Procedure. This process takes the guess work out of picking maneuvers and their associated K factors. In years past, before this procedure was developed, on occasion, a lower class maneuver K factor for a similar maneuver in the next higher class was valued greater that in the higher class. This was inequitable. The use of the Catalogue of Maneuvers has eliminated this. Now, maneuvers are classified by
NSRCA Officers class, with appropriate K being assigned. I think you will be pleased with the selection of maneuvers for the 2022-2023 pattern years.
Secretary
Planning for the 2021 FAI F3A World Competition has begun. I have been in contact with Tony Stillman, the Event Director, and he informs me that preparations are coming along smoothly. Many volunteers are needed to run this event. I encourage you to help out in any way possible. If you are interested in helping, please contact your respective DVP. He will forward your name to the World planning committee. Until next time… Fly straight; keep your radiuses constant and stay in the box. Charlie Barrera…OUT!
Vice President
Position Open
Heedo Yun 4610 Willow Pond Ct. \ Sugar Land, Tx 77479 281.512.9163 | Heedo.Yun@gmail.com It is about that time when we close out the year’s pattern season and prepare for the next one ahead.While we did not have the most active season this year due to the pandemic, I am hopeful that next year’s season and its events will more than make up for it. Since I started flying pattern my piloting skill has improved tremendously and I’ve learned a lot about the hardware also. In this article, I want to share a recent lesson learned that I had with my Etude pattern plane. In an attempt to improve the trimming setup I checked the alignments of the airplane, and noticed that the stab incidences, the wing incidences, and the thrust were all up by about 3 degrees too much in relation to the baseline of the canopy. I incorrectly assumed that the canopy base line was parallel to the fuselage axis, so I made the changes to reduce the incidences of the stabs, wings and the thrust. After these changes, however, I observed no noticeable improvements, but observed instead that the airplane flew at a slightly high pitch and that the propeller made an awkward angle with the nose. Finally, my local FAI friend pointed out my mistake, and also mentioned that a slight fuselage misalignment is not something to concern myself with, and that I could continue flying it as-is. So, I used it as-is during this season and without any issue. Recently, I made changes to go back to the original factory settings, and the plane now flies as it did before.
The lessons learned from this experience are that the canopy baseline is not always designed parallel to the fuselage axis. Secondly, the airplane is insensitive to a small misalignment of the fuselage to the stab incidences - in this case 3 degrees. While the airplane may look and fly a bit awkwardly, the effect to its aerobatic performance is insignificant. Thirdly, I learned the importance of trying something new and learning from it, regardless of the outcome. In this case I made a mistake, but I also learned. That is, we learn more from our mistakes and failures than we do from our successes. And finally, it again proved to me the importance of the friendships, and how we all can learn from one another. Thanks for your help, friends! Wishing you all a well-deserved break from the pattern season and an enjoyable Fall and Winter season ahead, Best Regards, Heedo Yun
Treasurer
John Decker 2878 Carrera Ct | League City, TX 77573 281-627-9474 | johndecker@sbcglobal.net As you will undoubtedly see in other articles in this month’s Kfactor, December is the time to vote for your next Executives of the Board of Directors of the NSRCA. The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer positions are open for you to run for if so inclined. Let your District VP know if you are interested. Currently, the Vice President position is not held by anyone and it would be appreciated if someone would step up and fill that
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Member Article position. The term is for two years and each officer can occupy their office for two terms. If someone wants to be the next Treasurer, I will step aside. If no one comes forward, I will run again for my second term. During my current term we stabilized our expenses and have positioned our finances where we can comfortably support our National and District Championships, begin production of the new digital Kfactor on the Issuu platform, support our World Championship team, maintain all of our software and website infrastructure, and still maintain cash reserves of over $25k for any necessary other expenditures. We have a bright financial future going forward. One of the sometimes-forgotten functions of the NSRCA is the Sequence Committee. This cycle I have been appointed (volunteered?) to be the BoD representative to the committee. This committee of talented NSRCA members meet every two years to develop the next sequences for the AMA classes. Our mandate is to change the AMA Masters sequence every two years and the other three classes at least every four years although they can be changed sooner if deemed appropriate. As most of you may know, the FAI F3A sequences are changed every two years. Both the P and F sequences. The FAI also has a littleknown sequence in the USA at least, called the FAI-Advanced sequence. It is considered the precursor class for flyers in other countries wanting to progress to flying FAI and in degree of difficulty it is somewhere between our AMA Advanced and AMA Masters class. Other countries develop their own sequences for what we call Sportsman and Intermediate like
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we do and then usually use FAI-Advanced (some countries call it the “Expert� class) as the next step. Most countries use four classes versus our five classes with having FAI as their destination class. One of the interesting things the FAI does with their sequences is to position the maneuvers of the FAI-Advanced sequence to mimic the FAI P pattern but with fewer elements in each maneuver. So for instance, if the fourth center maneuver in FAI-Advanced is a triangle loop with half rolls in legs one and three then the FAI P sequence might have a triangle loop as the fourth center maneuver with full rolls in legs one and three with a snap at the top. Similar but with harder elements. The idea is to make the sequence similar and PROGRESSIVE as you move up the classes which seems like a good idea for pilot skill development as well as judging consistency.We are going to try to develop our sequences in the AMA classes with the same type of progression theory. Because we have more steps in classes and some differences in ours and the FAI maneuver catalog, it is not going to be exactly the same progressive sequences but should prove to be helpful to pilots as they move up through the classes.The new sequences should be out in a few months to give pilots time to test fly them and provide comments.
Always land wheels down, John Decker
F3P Indoor
F3P Indoor Aerobatics by Sal Piu Interestingly, I’ve started receiving inquires for additional F3P information. This exasperates the need to have a common web site with information for those interested to get started in indoor RC aerobatic competition. I am seeking to establish a common website for indooraerobatic related information such as F3P competition. I discussed this at the October NSRCA board meeting to consider adding an Indoor Radio Controlled Aerobatics section within the NSRCA web site. The primary reason is that there is no common site for F3P generic info. Second, with some constraints, this type of info does fall within the NSRCA mission statement in several respects. The next step is for me to assemble a detailed proposal on how to integrate this effort within the NSRCA site, so that is what I’ll be focusing on for the next few weeks.
The F3P USA Team trials event, originally scheduled for October 10th, 2020, in Indiana, was cancelled. This event is currently tentatively scheduled for some time in May 2021 at the same location, the Sparta Dome in Indiana. This new tentative date still provides plenty of advance time to support the world F3P championship event now scheduled for late 2021. I have not had an opportunity to fly indoors since the Covid-19 impacted access to my usual indoor flying sites. I suspect many indoor rc pilots have encountered similar issues. This is probably the reason why I currently do not know of any F3P contests scheduled for this winter season. If you have resumed access to your local indoor flying site, I’m curious to know if there was anything unusual encountered other than
the need to wear masks more frequently and keep social distanced while flying. Here is an interesting video to a new link I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ OMPL4ujsY. This video shows the flying pace needed to conduct the highest-class F3P sequence maneuvers, with a contraprop setup. It also shows how indoor obstacles can still be contacted even at this slow flying pace.
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Districts
District News
D1 |Salvatore Piu spiurc@comcast.net CT•ME•MA•NH•NJ•NY•PA•RI•VT
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 ! As for me, thanks to a good friend finishing off the build project that I started with a handicap of not receiving a fully regularequipped kit, I finally got my Shinden flying this year. I had a few initial start-up issues that needed to be corrected to make the model consistently flight-worthy, that are now resolved, allowing me to fly it at each opportunity. Even though I found photos of this design being around since 2004, even with flying on a single prop, this model is still a highly competitive design: it’s all about pilot skills now! So far, this model flies great, and that is with minimal tweaking conducted so far.
I suspect everyone in D1 is hoping for a better 2021 pattern-event season, as I know I am. I suggest our regular annual contest schedule from 2019 be used as guide to start planning events for 2021. I recognize that the beginning of 2021 may have similar covid-19 impacts that occurred in 2020: this should not be a reason to at least start tentative plans. In my opinion, 2021 scheduled events can be cancelled as the contest events approach their respective dates based on whatever the covid-19 situation is at that time. I’ll be soliciting D1 CD’s to plan for 2021 events soon, and may try to hold a video conference on this subject before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. One thing covid-19 did not impact: the need for pilots to renew their AMA, NSRCA, and local club memberships. Renewing the NSRCA membership can easily be done on line somewhere within the NSCRA web site, and keep a copy of the payment for your records. The NSRCA board has been working on a new media format of the k-factor, using ISSUU. Demo versions are accessible on the web for the September 2020 https:// issuu.com/nsrca/docs/sep2020hd. This September 2020 edition also includes an imbedded video of the sportsman sequence: check it out! A link to the ISSUU 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. Maneuver complete, Sal Piu
D2 | Tim Pritchett 1417 Deer Forest Drive Fort Mill, SC 29707 | tjpritchett@aol.com DC•DE•MD•NC•SC•VA
I’ll try and keep this brief this month; I tend to write more volumetrically when I have less to say, it would seem. The KF article this month is being posted on Facebook, to avoid publication missing our last contest. If you like it there let me know, and I’ll keep posting them. I’ll also load up the last couple of years’ worth of articles in the ‘Files’ section for archiving purposes. The second order of business is to announce a sabbatical I’ll be taking from the NSRCA BoD for a few months. No harm intended, but serving there has become wearisome, and burnout is beginning to set in. Plus, in full disclosure, the battles I’ve fought (and lost) don’t seem to align with everyone in D2, so I need some time to let the gear down, and make sure I’m not fighting windmills in my own mind. This announcement was made at the Charlotte Aeromodelers contest, and further discussions were had with active members privately, such that I don’t sense any imminent need to rethink my intention. I plan to rejoin in early 2021, certainly before we begin flying. Everything else, including KF articles, quarterly D2LT meetings, and certainly flying will continue as normal. On the “New” front, I’ve been working with the US F3A Team a lot to get them in front of their supporters; that’s us. The
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Districts new F3A Team USA facebook group has been created, and if you haven’t joined, do so. h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / groups/977608459405940 Here will be all of the content we and the team can muster, mostly in photo and video format. The Team has agreed to be alert and responsive to questions and inquiries that come up there, as well as to post updates on their progress toward the WC. It should be an amazing event, and we hope that you can come. The NATS are the week after the WC’s so we hope to continue to cover that event as well. 2021 will be a banner year for Pattern Flying in the US.
D4 | Scott McNickle P.O. Box 163 | Mt. Pleasant, OH 43939 nelson_jett@comcast.net | 740.769.7882
Our last district event will be at our new venue in Aynor SC; Marvin M. will be hosting us. Green Sea has been a staple contest for many, many years and we’re sorry to see it go. But the club has dwindled to ~5 helicopter pilots, and they only clear the runway for our events. It’s with significant regret that we leave this legacy site, but we remain in good friendship with the guys there. As the LT decided, this will be a winner take all Championship contest…No points this year; the highest placing NSRCA members will win the Championship for the year in their respective classes, and get the shirt! I’ll leave you with a few pics from Braxton to encourage you to come out and fly with us! Incidentally, Braxton has served another term on the NSRCA Sequence Guidelines Committee, and is now serving on the Sequence Development Committee. Please thank him for his diligent efforts to keep us flying for the next couple of years!
IN•KY•MI•OH•WV
Changes This started out as a D4 season wrap-up but it was turning out dull, over long, turgid and stupid. So I hit ‘delete’ and started over. Sometimes you have to make changes. The combined D4 Championships/Team USA Trials was the event of the year in D4, maybe in the whole country. It was a big change for us, going from the already exciting Finals to sharing the venue with the elite Pattern flyers in the country. I was feeling a little intimidated at first, but as the event drew near the excitement built.
D3 | Position Open AL•FL•GA•MS•PR•TN
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Feeling put out by having to fly on Site 3 and practice at Site 4 changed to a feeling that this was going to be a big deal. Not only would we be around the best pilots in the US, the D4 contest would host some flyers from other parts of the country, anxious to compete after having many of their home district contests cancelled. Bill Pritchett stepped up to organize the Team Trials and coordinated with Matt Finley to put a big event together in a relatively short time. We went from a twenty-something contestant District finale to a nearly 60 person event which went through changes several times a week leading up to the late September event.
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Districts The contest was one last chance to get the D4 group together. This barbed wire hula hoop of a year has kept the whole core group of D4 from being together all at once, and Mike and Joy Murphy were the last of the group to make an appearance. When we pulled into Site 4 on Friday and saw them there it felt like the Gang was back together. Those of you who know the Murphys know they’re good people and steady supporters of our hobby. I liked Mike from the first time I met him because, despite being only a couple of years older than me, he reminded me of my grandfather…if my grandfather had been Black, that is. A stocky little guy, bald, glasses, white facial hair, good natured and a model airplane guy. The combination of moving and virusinduced caution had kept them from contests until the Championships, but here they were! When the contest started we all struggled with the wind and struggled with long stints in the judges chair. In between we caught up with friends and generally enjoyed doing what we do. On Saturday Joy’s niece Anna and her husband Matthew made the drive from their home in Tipton to visit and watch Mike fly. Turned out they got to watch Mike judge a lot, but by all accounts they enjoyed the afternoon. We had our banquet in a big tent on Site 3, and at some point we noticed Mike and Joy were gone. It turned out that after leaving the contest site, Matthew and Anna were stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Muncie Bypass and McGalliard and were hit by a pickup truck whose driver apparently didn’t notice the light, or their car. Matthew was killed instantly, Anna somehow survived. After we finished flying and judging and before the banquet on Saturday, a group of D4 people were gathered around Dave Johnstone’s tailgate having a beer. Laughing and telling stories on ourselves and feeling the glow of good friends doing
14 | K-Factor November 2020
something they love together, not knowing something terrible had happened just a few miles away. When the group heard about it we did what you always do when someone you love has been stricken by tragedy and there’s nothing to be done. We had a moment of silence. We took up a collection to help with expenses. We sent condolences. And we went on. It reminded me of a James Taylor song from when I was in college called “Soldiers” A short little song that I can’t forget. From memory: “It was just after sunrise and down by the sea Out on the sand flats where nothing will grow Came drumming and footsteps like out of a dream Where the golden green waters come in. Just nine lucky soldiers had come through the night Half of them wounded and barely alive Just nine out of twenty was a headed for home With eleven sad stories to tell. I remember quite clearly when I got out of bed I said Oh, good morning what a beautiful day” You never know when everything will change. You don’t get advance notice of huge changes. The world turns over in an instant, without warning. Be kind. Appreciate people. Be thankful for them. Love
D5 | Vicente Bortone vincebrc@gmail.com IL•IA•KS•MN•MO•NE•ND•SD•WI
There are not more D5 contests this season. I got the following contest report from Joe Burzinski. Please read with detail because there is an important historic event in his report. Results of this contest can be viewed in the following link: h t t p s : / / w w w. p a t t e r n s c o r i n g . com/1a42d4bf-48d5-4a4b-be005984c79a1405 Tamarack Challenge 2020 The Flying Electrons hosted the 23rd annual Tamarack Challenge pattern contest on September 19th and 20th. We had 11 registered pilots from five states, including an 85 year old gentleman from Ohio and a young lady from Wisconsin who was flying in her very first pattern contest.Yes, that’s right…. her first contest. It’s hard to remember a recent pattern contest that wasn’t presented with some challenging weather conditions; however, it was the days leading up to the contest that were the most challenging. Several days of heavy rain made practice difficult, not to mention finding time to get the grass cut. Fortunately, we had a small break in the weather, the field was cut, and lines were painted just in time for the contest. Once contest day rolled around, we were rewarded with fair skies and 5-10 mph winds. Fortunately, there were no mishaps and all planes made it home safely. George Gordon, our octogenarian pilot from Ohio, has been flying RC since 1956
Districts and flew in his first pattern contest in Dallas, Texas in 1961. It’s hard to imagine with today’s advanced radios systems, but back when George was flying his first contest, control was limited to the rudder and throttle only. He must have been very good at it, considering he amassed more than 250 trophies over the years. Even at 85, George doesn’t appear to be slowing down. He flew in 14 contests last year. Wow!
fantastic idea because it will help to expand the possibilities. Art just text me pictures and very brief explanation of each picture. The very first two photos show the basic installation and the built-out section for the nose ring.
As I mentioned earlier, we had a pattern newbie at our contest, 25-year old Jennifer Kimball from Delavan,WI. Jennifer is a fullscale pilot who dabbled in RC for a couple years and then decided she’d like to give pattern a try. Most people would test the pattern waters by flying in the Club or Sportsman classes, but not Jennifer. She jumped right into the top class (FAI),… the one flown at the world championships. Not only did she finish second in our contest, it was by a mere 28 points. That equates to about one score-able point on one maneuver across six flights… against one of the top pattern pilots in the US. Oh, and did I mention that she only had about 40 flights on a 2-meter pattern plane in preparation for the contest. Jennifer is probably the closest thing to a precision aerobatic savant as you can get. So much for the rest of us who toil for years trying to perfect our craft. Be sure to keep an eye on this gal as she competes on the world stage. This contest would not have been possible without the help and cooperation of the Flying Electrons Board, my co-CD Mike Dorna, and several club volunteers. The flying field was in prime shape thanks to Bob Scrip, plus Steve Huelsbeck and Tom Jacobs took some awesome shots of the action.
The engine is an OS 140, Karl Mueller header and two stroke ES pipe. The engine uses a Hyde soft mount.
A good side view of the extended nose ring section is shown here.
If you have questions or need more detail let me know. I could put you in contact with Art.
Thanks guys – I couldn’t have done it without your help. Joe Burzinski This month I decide to call well know pattern pilots that I know since long ago. The idea is to ask them to give me an idea or technique that has been working well in for them in our hobby. This month, I am delighted to introduce Mr. Art Wagner article. Art modified the Accuity from electric to glow power. I think this is
The following photos shows the balsa/ monokote pipe floor. Everything in the tunnel was fuel proofed with resin and monokote.
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Districts quickly Allan Smith worked with Chuck Hochhalter and salvaged the dates for a quick contest in Crosby, Texas. With 20 pilots the contest showed 2020 that it can be defeated! Here are the results (1-3) Sportsman: 1. Brian Lewis 2. Joel Garza Advanced: 1. Michael Johncock 2. Todd Nolte 3. Justin Wells
D6 |Justin Wells 20811 Surrey Creek Ct. | Katy, TX 77450 832-356-6408 | justin@jtwells.com AR•CO•LA•NM•OK•TX
I’m glad to report D6 cranked out 2 more successful contests for the month of October. It’s been a trying year for all of us, I’m thankful for all those that supported these contests! Brazos Valley Fall Pattern Classic – Our 7th annual College Station contest hosted by Scott McHarg turned into a 1 day contest with big success, the weather was absolutely perfect and 10 pilots threw down for a day of pattern. A big thanks to Scott for hosting everyone! Here are the results (1-3) Intermediate: 1. Matt Baccari Advanced: 1. Michael Johncock 2. Todd Nolte 3. Heedo Yun Masters: 1. Don Ramsey 2. Keven O’Connor 3. Gary Kropat F3A / FAI: 1. Mark Hunt 2. Chuck Hochhalter 3. John Decker Prop Nuts Pattern Contest – Unfortunately hurricane Delta took its toll on our southern Louisiana friends which cancelled the Cajun NATS. Working
Masters: 1. Allan Smith 2. Keven O’ Connor 3. Don Ramsey
D7 - Dan Lipton
F3A/FAI: 1. Mark Hunt 2. Paul Villarubia 3. Mark Mendoca
Hello District 7
nsrcad7dvp@gmail.com AZ•CA•HI•NV•UT
That’s it for the month of November, I look forward to working on our contest calendar for 2021 and hoping for a more successful season. ‘ Till Next Time, Justin
Well, what little 2020 “season” we had is ending. All in all, by the time you read this, we will have one event remaining, in Riverside, CA, (on 11/21, 11/22) and 2 successful events at the Bear Mountain Flyers field in Arvin, and as well as a pattern “fly-in”. Kudos to Tony F. for making the September and October events happen under less than ideal circumstances to say the least. The season opened, back in February and March (seems like an eternity ago) with two great events in Arizona before all of the shelter-in-place orders went into effect. I am optimistic that 2021 will be better. To all of our contest directors out there, it is time to start planning for that. As always, I will assume the same events as we had on the books for 2020, for the same weekends as a starting point for the planning. (I will be communicating with the CDs on this subject in the coming weeks) If anybody has any ideas for anything different for 2021, that’d be great, too. There was some talk about perhaps a contest in Visalia, so if anybody is interested in making that happen, let me know. FAI/F3A USA team trials: A district 7 perspective. 3 of our district 7 members travelled to Muncie for the team trials. 2 to compete for a spot on the team, Derek E. and Kirt C. , and our own Jon C to lead the judging effort while Jerry B. flew in Masters as part of the D4 Championship of the Muncie event. Derek took a some wonderful
November 2020 K-Factor | 17
Districts pictures of the “D7 perspective”, and hopefully will provide a more detailed account for next month’s issue. Photo credits: Derek Emmett
A beautiful venue.
or we began scrolling through websites for that special bird that would start ringing up 10’s in the 2020 season.
The Planes arrive safely.
And the winners.
And who bumps into each other at the Muncie Airport? One last note. Please do not forget to renew your membership for 2021 on the NSRCA website. Thank you. That’s all I have for this month. Wishing you all a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Holiday! Smooth flying, Dan. And some post flying relaxation and celebration.
Getting ready to fly the next round (photo credit: Ronald Brodersen)
During my career when I was told “we have a problem” my colleagues chided me because my response was always “no, we have an opportunity.” A trite and wellworn 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 pilot and new approaches. It’s time to use our imaginations to find those opportunities and launch 2021 with excitement.
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 all began to go over our aircraft for flaws (it wasn’t my thumbs)
18 | K-Factor November 2020
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.
Districts don’t forget to renew by the first of the year. Now that we can renew for 3 years at a time it can sometimes be hard to remember if this is the year so pull out your MAAC card and check the expiry date. This month’s article is short due to a severe lack of material. Any contributions are gratefully accepted. Contest Schedule Nothing scheduled yet.
Canada | Paul Brine 25 Robertson St. | Fergus Ontario N1M3P7 519.787.5144 | pbrine@uoguelph.ca The 2020 contest season is now finished and the outdoor flying season is drawing to a close as well. There will still be some nice days for flying yet although in this part of the country they are getting fewer and fewer.
Check the event listings on the MAAC website and the F3A Canada website for the latest information. That’s all for now. Flight complete. Paul
Normally at this time of year we would be looking forward to flying in the great indoors for the next few months. At this point there is no information on whether or not any of the usual venues will be open and available for flying this fall and winter. No F3P contest dates have been confirmed for yet. In Ontario the ability to hold events is limited at the moment. With a fall resurgence of covid19 case numbers, gathering sizes were capped province wide at 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. This limitation does not affect businesses that are “staffed” so restaurants and banquet halls are not affected for now and continue to operate under the previous limits of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. As of mid October Toronto and Ottawa were further limited with closure of movie theatres, indoor dining, gyms and performance venues. Capacity limits are reduced to 10 people indoors for tours, real estate open houses and meeting and event spaces. These additional limits for Toronto and Ottawa will be in place for at least 28 days. NSRCA membership renewals are now open for 2021 so don’t forget to renew. Also, if your MAAC membership is due
November 2020 K-Factor | 19
IMAC
IMAC - In the Box I hope everyone was able to make at least a couple contests this year. Some hopefully were even lucky enough to make more. But, whatever your situation, let’s look forward to next year! It’s gonna be great. Nats and World’s in the US. It don’t get better than that! But before we can begin next year, we must get through the wintertime. This means it will be time to do some annual maintenance, so that your airframe and components will be reliable for you the next season and for many years to come. Here in the Deep South, we have weather that allows for flying just about year-round. That’s great, but sometimes it makes for putting off that annual maintenance, because there isn’t that natural break. We have to make ourselves do this. We can get away with it for a while, but eventually something will bite us, that we could have caught in a maintenance review. In IMAC we do not see as many electricpowered aircraft, due to the typical sizes of the aircraft we fly. There are some and they do benefit from the reduction in vibration from a good electric. That helps a lot. Not only with longevity, but with building techniques that allow the airframe to be lighter. So, most of our airframes are gas powered. Plenty of vibration throughout the entire airframe. The engines are usually hard mounted to the frame. So twin and quad powered engines become desirable to help reduce that vibration. So, on a gas-powered airplane I would suggest that you start at the front on the outside and work your way back. Check the cowling for cracks. You don’t have to replace it, but you should get out some epoxy and cloth and support it on the inside to prevent it from getting worse. Also, do the same with the canopy. Look at the any alignment items, locking items, and wood structure that may be coming loose. One thing I have learned over the years is that the Canopy can be an indication of other issues on an airframe. The canopy is a relatively delicate item that does not have a whole lot of strength. So, if there are some loose braces and the fuselage
20 | K-Factor November 2020
begins to twist, then the canopy can take the brunt of the noticeable damage. It can also create alignment issues with the canopy screws and mechanisms. So, note that when you continue your inspections.
Next, look at the remaining areas of the fuselage for covering issues. Also, use your hands to put some pressure on the structure and look for loose glue joints. If you find something, you must determine if you can make the repair from the inside or if you need to remove some covering. Just make sure you get a good fix on the joint. I also take this time to remove any tape fixes that I have applied through the season and fix with covering. Now we want to move to the inside of the fuselage. Look at all the glue joint and put your hands on anything you can reach. Look for loose joints and cracks. Fix them. This is not an area for “good enough” maintenance. This is why we see videos of tail sections braking off and twisting in high-G maneuvers. It’s worth your time. Don’t forget your blind thread nuts. Make sure they are all still secure. Nothing like trying to remove a screw and the blind nut turns with it!
Check your wings. Still straight? Covering still good? Servos secured? Ailerons still straight? All need to come back to original shape! Also, Some year I will send off my engine to DA for a service. Some years I will just change the plugs. Inspect your fuel tubing. If it is getting hard, change it. Nothing worse than getting a small crack and dripping fuel on the foam inside these planes. Speaking of which, if you find some fuel-soaked wood, cut it out and replace it. Long-term you will be happy you did. Lastly, look at all the little stuff. Had your flight batteries a while…change them. Servos fluttering a little, fix them or change them. All the little stuff you do will pay back dividends over the year. Just Do It! (credit Nike) Next article will probably be in two months. Looks like with my schedule, every two months will be as much as I can get out. (I still have to get out the IMAC Newsletter) https://www.mini-iac.org/ downloads. I want to talk about the IMAC Organization. We are just in elections, so this will be a good time to do that. I hope you found this information at least useful, if not interesting.
Rich Whitlow IMAC SC Regional Director.
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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.
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24 | K-Factor November 2020
