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BUILDERS CORNER:

Budd Inziello's "Bent" P-51:

Larry King prepares to take a swing, with his 10# maul, at Budd's slightly broke P-51 after it made a less than perfect landing, while some mourners look on.  The wing will require some major rebuilding, so it has been moved to the repair hanger for the time being.  P.S. Larry missed with his first swing and Budd took the maul away from Larry before he could make the second swing.  Photo by Larry Honigman.

Dave Albury Enjoys The "Warm" South Florida Sun:

Newcomer Homer Grainger Goes Gas:

Homer Grainger started out flying RC electric helicopters.  With no one around to show him how to fly, he bought a simulator and taught himself.  After one trip to our flying field, he got bit by the fixed wing flying bug, and while he still flies the flex wing birds, he moved quickly into electric fixed wing airplanes. He soloed after only a couple of flights and quickly became a regular fixture at the field with his black and yellow electric Yak 54.  But, since most of his flying comrades in the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday  gang fly gas or glow, he thought it time to move into something more challenging.  His new 72" Yak 54 is an ARF from AeroWorks.  It sports a new DLE 30 gas engine w/electronic ignition.  Homer uses Futaba servos all around, a Futaba 9 channel receiver and a  Futaba 2.4 Mhz  12 channel transmitter.  Not trusting himself to fly his first new gas model on it's maiden flight, he asked Budd Inziello to fly the first flight and trim it out for him.  The flight went very smoothly, requiring only minor trim changes.  The second flight was repeat of the first.  The new Yak proved to be very nimble with plenty of power.  Congratulations Homer.

Airplane Graphics and Decals:

Joe Obermeyer says he has found a great place to buy fuel proof airplane graphics and decals.  Go to www.military-graphics.com and check it out.

Len Bechtold's New Twin Engine Cessna 421C:

The Cessna 421 C is a Nitro Planes ARF priced @ only $199 and is quite a bargain.  This is a review airplane for FLY RC magazine. The fuselage and engine nacelles are very good quality fiberglass.  I installed the Robart retract system with struts.  The gear slides right in and trimming the leg lengths is about the most work to do on the system.  I got the larger than usual air tank that gives me unlimited retract cycles per flight.  I used 2 Evolution .46 engines.  These are the trainer versions from Horizon that comes with a 3 blade prop, spinner and flywheel for good idle.  Just the right size for the 421.  The engines are the best 46s I've ever used in terms of reliability and ease of set up - - most important on a twin!  These are the same engines used on the PTS Mustang.  There were lots of servos and Y connectors to put in along with the air system, but it is all straight forward.  The airplane flies very well, especially for a relatively high wing loading, typical of a twin.  It weighs about 14 pounds so keeping speed up on final is important, as once it develops a high rate of sink, power and some time is needed to flair for a landing.  My next one should be better!  I'm looking forward to getting the review flight photos so I can just go out and sport fly it.  Photos by Jay Smullen.
 

Brandon Payne, Our Newest Solo Pilot:

AFTER 3 YEARS OF OFF AND ON TRAINING BRANDON PAYNE OF STUART.FLORIDA, SOLOED TODAY (11-29-09). THE AIR CRAFT IS A SIG KADET WITH FUTABA RADIO AND O.S. FOUR STROKE MOTOR. THE TRAINING AIRCRAFT WAS A GIFT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE TREASURE COAST AERO-MODELERS MATT PANCARI. BRANDON IS THE SON OF SAFETY OFFICER CHARLES (CHUCK) PAYNE AND GRANDSON OF BOARD MEMBER COURTNEY PAYNE. HIS UNCLE,BRIAN PAYNE IS, ALSO A CLUB MEMBER.
THE SOLO FLIGHT CONSISTED OF 5 TAKE OFFS AND FIVE LANDINGS ALL BY HIMSELF. ALL LANDINGS BEING ON THE CENTER LINE OF THE RUNWAY. GREAT JOB BRANDON AND CONGRATULATIONS.

INSTRUCTOR & PROUD PAPA, CHUCK PAYNE
 

Jerry Wickline flies his new Cessna L-19 Bird Dog:

Jerry put two successful flights on his new Cessna L-19 Bird Dog today (12-09-09).  Built from Roy Vaillancourt plans, this big Bird Dog sports a wing span of 108" (9 feet), is powered by a Zenoah G-62 engine and weighs a whopping 26 pounds.  The first take off was a non-event.  The airplane tracked straight and true and was airborne in less than 10', using only barely above half throttle.  It was in near perfect trim, only requiring a couple of clicks of down elevator and a couple of clicks of right aileron. Aileron "only" turns resulted in the airplane skidding around the turns and required some rudder input along with the aileron to make a coordinated turn.  This was corrected on the second flight by automatically adding rudder input when the ailerons were displaced.  Also, before the 3rd flight, I plan to add a differential aileron setup which will also aid in making a more coordinated turn. The big Zenoah G-62 proves to have plenty of punch for this big airplane, only requiring about 1/3 throttle to maintain level flight.  After about five minutes of flight I set up for landing with a gentle descent on final approach.  About two feet above the runway I broke the descent with a little up elevator and the big Bird Dog settled in very nicely with just a slight bounce.  The second flight was much smoother that the first with the automatic rudder input allowing much smoother coordinated turns.  A good breeze had sprung up and I aborted the first landing attempt when things didn't look good on final and made a go around for another try.  The second attempt looked better, but I was little late in starting the flare which resulted in a good bounce on touchdown, but the big Bird Dog recovered nicely and settled in with no damage. I am happy and very pleased after the first two flights on my biggest airplane.   

Here is the real L-19 Bird Dog at Oshkosh:

Homer Grainger is our newest club member and pilot:

Homer Grainger became our newest solo pilot after only four flights with his instructor Jerry Wickline and lost a good shirt to the traditional "shirt cutting" ceremony for new pilots, after their first solo flight. Also a new club member, Homer like a few other pilots before him, started his RC experience by flying helicopters first, and then transitioned into fixed wing airplanes, thus his very short instructional period before his first solo flight. Only some of the control inputs are different from helicopters to fixed wing airplanes. Homer so far has restricted his flying to electric flight only, but is already eyeing the glow and gas models.  Congratulations Homer on a job well done, and a big welcome to the Treasure Coast Aero Modelers.

John Gaspari's New Wild Thing:

Here is John's newest creation.  It is the regular Wild Thing but with a new twist.  This one is powered by an electric motor.  John reports it has near unlimited vertical capability and will accelerate going straight up. For information on the electric setup, call John.

How To Determine Your Planes CG:

Aircraft weight & balance:
Place the airplane on a level surface
Level the airplane on a set of scales and record the weight
Don't forget to account for the tare weight!
Trike gear:
Multiply the net weight of the nose gear by the distance between the gear center lines
Divide that product by the total weight of the airplane
This product is the CG measured in inches forward of the main gear
Example: Nose 10# - Main 30# - Distance 20" - CG is 5" fwd of main C/L
TW Airplane:
Level and record as above
Multiply the net weight of the tail wheel by the distance between the gear center lines
Divide that product by the total weight of the airplane
This product is the CG measured in inches aft of the main gear
Example: Tail wheel 7# - Main 45# - Distance 80" CG is 10.77" aft of Main gear
Note that I did not use a datum because we are not going to add/sub weight
It is easy to just add/sub weight to get desired CG and can also substitute
Numbers in equation to get desired CG
Call Larry if any questions (561) 575-6933
Submitted By Larry  King

Larry King's Robinhood Drops Jerry Wickline's New Jumper:

Earlier in the year, Jerry lost his radio control parachute jumper (Charley) when he got caught in a thermal and sailed off to never-land without even so much as a farewell, but his new jumper "Woody" is going through flight testing at this time.  A few "bugs" still need to be worked out after four marginal drops, but there is high hopes that Woody will perform as well as Charley did.  The parachute has opened on each drop but the shroud lines are coming out of the pack in twist causing Woody to spin uncontrollably during descent.  A fix is in the works. Larry flying his Robinhood with Woody suspended under the fuselage, maneuvers to the drop point where Jerry takes control of Woody after his release and directs him to a safe landing, hopefully close to where he is standing. Larry and Jerry have made many successful parachutes drops at numerous flying events throughout Florida and is always the hit of the show. Good luck Woody. Pictures by Jacque Mittendorf.

Lets Welcome Clay Charles, New Pilot, New Member:

Instructor Chuck Wise reports that new TCRCAM member Clay Charles, successfully competed his first solo flight the other day.  Clay built and flew his Hangar 9 P-51 PTS into the "wild blue yonder" and made a successful landing without any help from his instructor Chuck Wise, thereby qualifying him for the traditional "Shirt Cutting Ceremony" bestowed upon all new pilots after their first solo flight.  Congratulations Clay.

Logan Werner Is Our Newest Pilot: 

Instructor Jay Smullen cuts Logan Werner's shirt while father John Werner looks on.  Logan successfully piloted his Parkzone T-28 Trojan from takeoff to landing without any help from his instructor.  Jay reports that Logan was a quick learner and soloed after only a few flights.  Logan is on summer break from his studies at UCF.  For those of you not familiar with the shirt cutting ceremony; all new pilots have their shirt cut by their instructor after their first solo flight. This has long been a tradition in full scale airplanes since the beginning of aerial flight and has carried over into Radio Control.  The next time you see Logan at the field-----give him a big high five.  Well done, Logan, congratulations.

John Cox's Newest:

Matt's New BVM Electric Jet:

Matt Fehling stopped by the other day to test fly his new "Electric Jet" from Bob Violett Models.  This is his own airplane, not one of the demonstrators owned by Bob.  Matt in his spare time from college in Orlando, works for Bob Violett as a demonstrator pilot for the electric jet and other BVM airplanes. The electric jet features an EFV-5212 BVM VioFan unit that is powered by a 520 watt electric motor and runs on a 12 cell lipo battery pack.  This airplane is capable of speeds over 200 MPH and gets about 10 minutes of flight time from single charge.  After his successful first flight of the electric jet, Matt showed he hasn't lost his 3D touch, by putting on a spectacular air show with his big 44% Jtec Extra 300.  Sporting a huge wing span of 126" (that is over 10 feet), and powered by a Desert Aircraft, DA-170, Matt showed he is still able to "wow" the crowd with his low altitude 3D routine.  Matt uses all JR electronics in his airplanes and a 12channel JR transmitter for guidance. Look for Matt and Bob Violett Models at the Florida Jets, Top Gun, and the huge Joe Nall RC fly-in in Woodruff, SC.  Congratulations to Matt Fehling.  The kid has grown up.

Budd Inziello's New P-40 Warhawk Flys:

Budd put his new P-40 Warhawk into the air for the first time today, 4-18-09, but it was not the perfect flight he was looking for.  Large control surface deflections required every bit of Budd's skill to maintain control and get back on the ground safely.  To add to his troubles, the canopy blew off in the first few seconds of the flight which probably didn't add too much to the stability.  The big P-40, with a weight of about 35 #, is the newest offering from TBM (Troy Built Models) of Sarasota and sports a huge wing span of 106".  Power comes from a new DA-85 from Desert Aircraft.  With this engine, the prototype shows unlimited vertical climb and an amazing 3D capability.  Retractable landing gear by Sierra, including a retractable tail wheel comes already installed.  Within a few minutes after take off, Budd had pretty well trimmed out the big bird, and things were going much smoother, but a fairly strong wind had developed and several "bumpy" approaches ended in go-rounds.  But, when the engine quit and the prop stopped turning, with no more choices left, Budd showed his expert flying skills by bringing the big Warhawk in for a safe landing right in front of us.  Congratulations to Budd, on a job well done. 

Jerry Wickline's New 4 Engine B-17 Electric:

One motor is good, two motors are better and 4 motors are "more better".  Jerry Wickline has the first two flights on his new electric four engine Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.  The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic campaign of World War II against German industrial, civilian and military targets.  Jerry's airplane is a Nitro Models ARF (Almost Ready To Fly), has a 65" inch wing span and weighs 4 1/2 pounds (including batteries).  It has a fiberglass fuselage and balsa built up wings and tail feathers.  It is powered by four 260 watt electric motors with each motor controlled by it's own 30 amp electronic speed controller.  Two 11.1 volt, 2800 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer batteries provide flights times of up to 10 minutes.  The first flight only lasted about two minutes, as the recommended flight control throws were way too large resulting in a barely controllable airplane.  After reducing the control throws to a more manageable level, the second flight was more successful.  Since no flaps are installed on this model, the landings were quite fast resulting in a long roll-out after landing.  The airplane appeared quite stable, but required constant attention during flight because it is very fast and hard to keep proper orientation.  As with all Nitro models, the instructions are nearly useless and full of errors, but also like most Nitro models ARF's, they are excellent flyers and this one is no exception.  Since the first few flights, different motors have been installed and electric/mechanical retractable landing gear has been added. At the present time I have logged over 35 flights.

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