Next Meeting is this Saturday, July 9th, Bookland at 9:30
June 11, 2005 Minutes
Members Present:
Bob
Buxton, Glenn Collins, Rick Hallett, John LeClair, Ken MacDonald, Mark Higgins,
Charlie Kerr, and Mike Farnsworth
Treasures Report:
Treasurer Ken MacDonald reported
that the club kitty is at $751.25
Recent purchases:
chutes
Secretaries Report: Our Club Secretary was not present, so the VP said it for him: no correspondence.
Library: Michael Moore has the new DSC Video produced by John LeClair
Old Business:
DSC Trainer – Glenn
has the second transmitter and receiver. The club trainer needs a new receiver.
Members discussed putting the
receiver from this transmitter into the club trainer. Sumner is rumored to be
heading the DSC Trainer program. We need somebody who has a little time to make
the Wednesday meetings with the club trainer. Editors Note: Our BOT (Bird of Time) has
just been sitting in my cellar collecting dust. I have not had the time to do
anything with it let alone my own stuff. It needs attention and flying time with
some beginners. If nobody is willing to step up, then I feel that the club
should sell the darn thing.
New Chute update- Rick reported that the new chutes work very well.
New Business:
Mark Higgins mentioned a new source
for DLG wings. They are priced at $100.00. Mark says that they are comparable to
wings manufactured by Phil Barns. They are from a new DLG glider being produced
by Scott Lister in conjunction with Isthmus Models. I did not find any mention
of the glider on the Isthmus web site www.isthmusmodels.com . Contact Mark if
you need more information.
Wing Launcher –
Members at the meeting asked where the new wing launcher is. Those present did
not know where it is. Is it at the BAM field?
New DSC DVD –
Thanks to John LeClair for producing a high quality DVD of the 2005 Spring
Thermal Contest. The DVD was played at the meeting for all to see. John shot the
video using his personal camcorder. He provides some great footage in the video.
This is the first video documentary of the Rick Scoring System™ in action (that
we know of). As special bonus, John also shot the bouncing burger incident. What
was the cause of the culinary catastrophe? Was the 5 second rule violated? View
the DVD to decide for yourself. In
addition to the footage, John printed a very nice DVD label and Jacket sleeve
insert. It looks better than other DVD’s that we have purchased. Great job John!
– Michael Moore now has possession of
it.
8/13 Meeting – The date of the
August meeting coincides with two other events. The first event is the BAM fun
fly. The second event is the CRRC Thermal Duration Contest. The General
consensus of the members present is that the meeting will be a bust. Most of the
active members plan on going to the CRRC contest. Others plan on going to the
BAM fun fly. The meeting will be discussed at the July meeting. Most likely it
will be canceled. If we do not intend to have the meeting at Bookland, then
would should tell them and free up the room for the day for other uses. Jim, who
is our contact person?
DSC Handlaunch contest – Members
decided upon July 9th as the best date for the DSC Hand launch
contest. We have been looking for a mowed/hayed field. Some should be hayed by
then. The Hand Launch Contest will be held after our normal meeting in Bookland.
We are tentatively planning to use the field on the
Mark Higgins reported that some
acquaintances of his donated a deep discharge battery to our club. He is using
it with the second winch.
The Flap Zone - editorial by Mike Farnsworth:
Our club has purchased many items
for club use over the years. Only a few seem to be frequently used. Other items
tend to be used as personal items or even not at all.
Our retriever is not used
because it requires almost perfect conditions for it to work correctly. We
seldom fly in the right conditions. It must be used with braided line that is on
the club winch Many of our members prefer to fly off of monofilament. We usually
end up using our members personal winches instead of the
clubs.
When was the last time the Club
Trainer was used? Last year or longer? A problem developed with the radio and it
has not been fixed yet. Most members do not really want to fly it because they
do not want anything to happen to it while they are flying it. It has been a
year and we still do not have a written or active trainer program. We have at
least two radios, at least three airplanes, and none of them are working to
my knowledge. The trainer's box is a nice cozy spot for my cat to sleep
in.
The club trailer seemed like a good
idea. Both Jim and I put our
hearts and souls into the project, Charlie donated the trailer, but it still
flopped. Where is the trailer? I am not sure. I went looking for it when I
needed to use a trailer for my own personal use - not at Jim's: oh well. We did
agree to sell it, but, who has time?
Most of our pictures are taken by
members with their own video and camera equipment. A good example is the latest
DVD produced by John. When was the last video produced with the club camcorder?
Jim does use it to take pictures with for the club. The video capabilities do
not seem to be used. Most members cameras provide better quality though as the
camcorder is now 3 plus years old.
The items on my winner list:
Batteries, Popup shelter, DVD’s. These items have been used quite a bit over the
last year. The winch made it to all of our contests but was never used. It is
good for a backup though. The second winch is being used by Mark. I hope he is
getting some good use out of it. The batteries have been used at every contest
and most flying sessions. They are often used as backup for personal batteries
at contests. Our pop up shelter has been used numerous times. It has been to
contests in
Nobody wants to deal with maintaining the equipment unless it their own. Even if it is maintained, somebody still has to bring it to meetings and contests for it to be used. Some purchases seem like good ideas at the time but later prove ill advised. I feel the club should continue to support buying equipment on listed in my winner list. Items such as cameras, winches, trailers, radios, and airplanes all require maintenance and do not seem to get the use intended at the time of purchase. These items are all good ideas but end up being used more for personal use than club use, if used at all. Voice your opinion at the next meeting or on the forum!
Thats all for now. See
you at next Saturday's meeting and HLG LContest...