COORDINATOR: Ken Shaw

PILOT MEETING: 10:00 AM

LOCATION: Sod Farm

The November club contest was cancelled due to weather and lack of participants, but mostly weather.

ECCO 8 Electric helicopter

Cost $189.00 selling for $100.00

3D Kit — T3D, 35 inch wingspan

For speed 500 or brushless motor

Selling for $40.00

Pilatus Porter — Dumas Kit Park Flyer

45 inch wingspan, elevator, rudder, throttle

Selling for $30.00

Contact Tom Blaszak

313.248.1915 Days

313.585.3351 Evenings

by Jack Frost

Question: What is the most important decision any pilot can make?

Answer: When not to fly…

Explanation: If the pilot isn’t ready, if the equipment isn’t ready, or if the conditions aren’t right—do not fly!

These are good words to go by, no matter what kind of airplanes you fly— whether they are full scale or models.

Are you an RC instructor? How did you get the job? Were you asked by your club president? Were you the only one willing to do it? Do you like the prestige of being a club instructor? Are you the best instructor in your club?

People vary greatly on their ideas of what makes a good instructor. Some think that good instructors are born and possess a kind of charismatic presence that results in highly motivated learners. This view tends to result in instructors that are more likely to credit their own performance as the key to learning instead of the ability of the learner.

Some believe that instructional ability is something acquired, involving training, discipline, and a good deal of patience. They strive for instructional excellence, and assess their effectiveness by how well the learner performs.

Most agree, however, that good instructors share a love for instructing and learning, and that a good instructor must be a learner and must possess strong motives and a positive attitude toward learning. There is a tie between effective instruction and effective learning, but instructors only enhance learning. They set up a situation that provides the student with the opportunity to learn. Effective instructors are often those who look for ways of matching individual learning styles to their own instructional style.

The measurement of an instructor should not be how few hours, or how few flights it took for his/her student to solo, but instead, what skills, what presence of mind, and what judgment that student can demonstrate.

So what things constitute a good instructor?

Besides being a qualified pilot, there are other important attributes that need to be considered. The following list includes various traits that are important in choosing an instructor:

• Good communicator

• Patient and even-tempered

• Reliable

• Consistent

• Dedicated

• Good teaching skills

• Team player

• Thorough knowledge of equipment

• Thorough knowledge of safety issues

• Good preflight skills

• Good piloting skills

• Ability to judge piloting skills

• Good at balancing praise and criticism

This list is not all inclusive, but it is a start.

by Keith Davis

Has there ever been a time when you looked up in the sky to see a bunch of airplanes flying in formation and wondered what type of formation it is and why that particular formation? Well, believe it or not, there are names for these formations and the airplanes are not just flying in some random pattern that looks cool (in most cases).

Hopefully I will be able to explain some of the major types of formations used and some of the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Straight Trail Formation: Aircraft fly in a straight line, nose-to-tail, usually each aircraft flies slightly higher than the one in front of it to avoid turbulence. This is the least desirable formation to fly in because it is difficult for the formation to determine what the lead aircraft is doing.                   

Also in a combat situation, the entire flight may fly directly over ground anti-aircraft weapons and no one can cover the trail aircraft. In addition, this setup is the leading cause of most formation mid-air collisions.

Staggered Right or Left Formation: The first aircraft leads formation. The second aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of lead's wing. The third aircraft flies behind the first aircraft and 30° to 60° off of the second aircraft. The fourth aircraft flies behind the second aircraft 30° to 60° off of the third aircraft.This formation allows everyone to anticipate what the lead is about to do. This is a common formation for U.S. combat transport helicopters. Many helicopters can fit into a small landing zone at one time and adequate fire cover can be provided for each other.

Echelon Right or Left Formation: The first aircraft leads formation. The second aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of the first aircraft. The third aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of the second aircraft. The fourth aircraft flies off of the third aircraft. All aircraft will stay on the same side of each other. This is a common combat formation used by U.S.   ground attack pilots. The lead aircraft would roll onto target and the flight would follow in, one at a time. That just about covers the major formations used by most military and civilian aircraft.

Of course there are many other types of formations out there, such as the “Vee” formation, diamond formation and the box formation. You can see most of the fancy ones performed at airshows.

So now that you studied these formations, find a few of your flying buddies that you can really trust, and go out and practice a few of these.

from the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club,

Colorado Springs CO

by Cliff Hamilton, president

When it comes to introducing model aviation to newcomers, the biggest question is, “how do you truly welcome them into a club and make it easy for them to get into the hobby?”

In my first year as club president, we implemented a workable answer to this question at Central Arizona Modelers (CAM). We call it the Fledgling Flier Program (FFP). FFP is our way of welcoming prospective RC pilots to the club.

How FPP works: We tell anyone interested in the sport about AMA's $19.95 introductory 90-day membership offer. We waive club dues for 90 days or until the person solos-whichever comes first. We provide a club instructor for him/her and use of a club airplane free for the first 90 days or until he/she buys his/her own model or solo—again whichever comes first.

That means someone can learn to fly RC for just $19.95 (cost of AMA introductory membership). It's pretty hard to find a recreational bargain like that any where else!

Funding the Program: At our annual banquet, we raised funds to buy most of our initial FFP equipment by auctioning off member-donated equipment. Members regularly offer to donate many more items such as trainer airplanes than the program needs. We also give one member a free membership to CAM in exchange for agreeing to repair any FFP models damaged in the training process.

from the Central Arizona Modelers,

Sedona AR

by Ken Anderson

The power switch of your model is a critical aspect of the models electronic system; if it fails you are in trouble! The switch we have designed is much more reliable than a standard mechanical switch because it has no mechanical elements that can fail resulting in a no-power situation, and thus could prevent a major crash.

The switch is based on a silicon-controlled rectifier, or SCR. Basically it is a controlled diode that only allows the electric current to flow in one direction, and it has the be triggered to do so.

There are three leads on an SCR, the gate, anode, and cathode. The anode and cathode are just like a normal diode, but the gate allows it to function as a switch. After it is triggered, it will continue to allow current to flow until the load is removed, at which point it will reset.

We use a standard radio power switch (B1) to control our failsafe switch. The radio switch turns the SCR on; the pushbutton (B2) turns it off.

In Figure 1, your battery's positive input is connected where the input is designated, and the negative end of the battery goes to the ground, represented at the bottom of the schematic. The output (positive switched voltage) to your receiver is connected to the left, and the ground is again connected to the negative output lead.

The switch works quite simply. When B1 is switched on, a current flows to the gate of the SCR, because the closed radio switch creates a circuit delivering voltage to the gate through limiting resistor R1. When the SCR sees this current, it turns on and allows current to flow through the SCR, and the LED will turn on.

The LED circuit is required because it presents a small load on the SCR (-20mA) keeping the SCR activated. The LED also tells you when the circuit is on and delivering power to your model. When B2 is pressed and B1 is no longer closed, the SCR is bypassed and current flow is interrupted through the SCR while the button is down This stops the SCR from conducting current and your model will now be off, and the LED will turn off as well.

This unit should be more than what is needed by even the International Miniature Aerobatic Club model I designed it for (a 27% EXTRA 300S model with six digital servos). Be advised that having a high-current power switch is no longer needed since there is no significant current flowing through the mechanical switch, less than 20 mA or so.

• Turn on the main power switch (radio switch)

• Make sure LED is ON and that radio functions correctly

• Fly normally knowing that even if you turn off the radio switch or it fails into an open condition, the radio equipment will remain on until current is interrupted though the SCR by B2.

• To power down, simply turn off the main radio switch and momentarily press the N.O button (B2) to turn the radio off. The LED should turn off confirming the radio is now off.

We hope that this project proves popular and useful; it is a much more reliable alternative to the outdated mechanical power switch. For more information please visit www.Anderson-Aurand.com.

All circuits presented are designed by Ken Anderson and are 100% original work they may be published and reprinted at any time.

from the Woodland/Davis Aeromodelers, Woodland CA

The schematic for this switch will be published next month. If you need it sooner contact Norm Sorensen at nlsorensen@aol.com