Buzzard Droppings August 2004

and 8 of those did not renew this year, that meant that we had 17 new members in 2004.  That means that 20% of our current membership is new and at least half of the new members are also new pilots to RC. 

Bob added these personal comments: Although we have not had to wait to fly with our current membership limit, that possibility could happen.  If all the current membership showed up and brought a guest with them we could have 120 flyers at the field. Again, this probably would not happen, but it could.  With us dealing with recent complaints from a few of our neighbors, increasing the membership limit could lead to more complaints.  He stated that he knew of 5 people who currently wanted to join the club and we most likely would not get many other requests since the peak of the flying season is here and most flyers have already established membership for this year. Karl Schaefer suggested that we allow an increase of membership above the current limit of 60 on a case-by-case approval of the membership. During the ensuing discussion,  one of the visitors stated that he was really excited about flying with the club and he had in the past been flying just on open fields wherever he could find one.  He wants to be able to fly on an AMA sanctioned field, and contribute and be a part of the club’s activities.  If we did not increase the membership he would have to continue being a backyard flyer.  Bob Martin stated that he was just the kind of member our club wants, but even if we increased the club’s membership limit to 500 we would still have the problem of backyard flyers and stray RC frequency signals.

Bob restated Karl’s suggestion, making a motion to continue the current club’s membership limit at 60, but allow addition members to join on an application-by-application basis subject to approval by majority vote during the regular business meetings. Also, since we currently have 5 individuals requesting membership, that we allow those 5 to join as members. The two motions were seconded. Karl Schaefer stated that this would maintain our goal membership at 60, but would allow a small increase with club’s membership approval and allow some flexibility.  There was some additional discussion and a vote was taken and the motion passed by a large majority approving the two motions. 

Doug Hoff is currently taking orders for club jackets.  For him to place an order, he needs at least 5 wanting a jacket.  If you are interested, please contact Doug.

Dave Bell’s presentation on Gliders and Launching will not be re-scheduled, since the topic seems to attract heavy rain. We will have an informal  demo at one of our future meetings.

August’s discussion will be about Electric Flight.

Two models were discussed in the Show & Tell portion of our meeting, Brian Richardson showed his kit bashed tail dragger version of the Hobbistar 60 and Ron Swift showed his new FunAir 40 with the Morris Hobbies 53 two stroke engine. Some general discussion followed and the meeting was concluded at 8:50 PM        

 

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Bob Martin 7/12/2004

(Continued from page 2)

runway is laid out east and west and that is how the planes should take off and not cross-field.  It was also stated that a take off should not put others in fear for their lives.  Take offs of steep angles should be done beyond the pit area and not in front of other flyers standing at the pilot stations.   Also, the first turn after take off must always be away from the pits.  It was then mentioned that we do not need to fly so near the pits.  It has been observed that many have been flying very near to the pits and even overhead of the flyers.  Please remember that you can lose control of your plane at anytime and flying near the pits and parking area is very dangerous.  Do your maneuvers near the center of the flying field.   Bob Martin apologized for some of his take offs and promised to more considerate in the future.  He also stated that we all should be open to constructive safety criticism and not be offended if one suggests that we change some of our flying habits.  It was then mentioned that flyers are not using the pilot stations and are standing in the fence opening while flying.  Please use the marked flying stations. Rick Hanners brought up that pilot stations two and three are too close together and all 4 stations should be equally spaced.  Ron stated that he would add the item to the field improvement list.

Committee Reports:

Field Improvements: Also in field improvements, Ron stated that a new second wind sock had been donated to the club.  He has asked Dale about adding the wind sock to the north, where the pilots can more easily see it. Dale agreed to the addition. The new wind sock will be installed as time allows. The new butt cans on the fences were discussed. It has been noticed that the cans are being used for both butts and trash and a fire had been started with a fuel soaked rag in the cans.  A motion was made that the cans be removed. The motion was seconded and passed.  [After the meeting the cans were removed.]  Remember, according to the field rules we agreed to, we are all responsible to take our trash (including butts) away with us when leaving the field.

Pilot Training: Rick Hanners reported that the club’s trainer program currently has 6 pilots.  The club’s trainer plane was discussed.  It has been decided that a new pilot would not be allowed to take off and land the club’s trainer plane.  The instructor should do this and then allow the trainee to fly the trainer in open level flight on a buddy box.  We want the club’s trainer to be in one piece and available to as many members for as long as possible.  To let a trainee land or take off may put the plane in undue repair situations.

Old Business

The recently club imposed membership limit was discussed.  It was brought up that several people wanted to join the club now. With the current membership cap, they would not be able to join until the end of March of next year and then only if some of the current members did not renew.  A motion was made to raise the new limit to 76. There was no second. As a point of information,  Bob Martin reported that last year we had 54 members