February 2016
NEXT MEETING
March 2nd
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
PRESIDENT
DAN DESENA
VICE PRESIDENT
DAVID CYR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BILL REEVE
BILL GROVES
JIM KNIGHT
MIKE FASULO
WEBSITE WEBMASTER
BILL LAIRSEY
SECRETARY
TOM NOONAN
TREASURER
BILL OLIVER
NE WSLETTER EDITOR
Richard Dowzall
ee-mail me at [email protected]
CLUB FIELD MARSHALL
BRUCE RENY
President’s Message
700 years of experience. The other day, I was thinking about the collective experience of our members. How much flying, how much reading, designing, building, painting, repairing have they done?
We have about 70 members. If the average number of years a member has flown RC is about 10,
then collectively our club members have about 700 years of experience! And I’d bet those numbers
are on the low side.
So why is that important? It’s important because this incredible resource is available to every member. No matter what question or problem you might have, a Propsnapper is able and very willing to
help you out. It’s amazing. I was hesitant to ask questions when I first joined the club. But then I remembered something a college professor once said, “The only stupid question is the one you ask
twice.”
Once, I asked a couple of the White Chair Guys - you know, the ones who sit in the white chairs on
the deck on Saturday morning - what was the meaning of the circle around the little “X” next to
something that looks like “CG” on the bottom of each wing. I definitely won’t ask that one again! But
I’ve also asked some good questions and received a lot of excellent help such as how to tweak my
transmitter, how to trim my airframes, and how to land on water. These guys just love to share their
knowledge and it seems like someone in the club knows the answer to every darned question I can
think of. I guess that is what 700 years of experience will do. Thanks for sharing, guys.
Happy 2016,
Dan DeSena
[email protected]
207-671-8953
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
BODMINUTES (page 1)
BOD Minutes
Meeting Called to order 5:37
In attendance:
Dan DeSena – President
Dave Cyr – VP
Tom Noonan – Secretary
Bill Groves - BOD
Bill Reeve – BOD
Jim Knight – BOD
Mike Fasulo – BOD
Discussions:
Numb Thumbs is good to go for Sunday 2/7/16 not much snow on field and it’s predicted to be a good day, maybe some wind.
Verify FAA Registrations – Feb. 19th is deadline for registration. You can register at: RegisterMyUAS.faa.gov A motion was
made that anyone joining the club must register with the FAA and show proof of registration. Motion was seconded and all approved. Current club members will have to show proof of FAA registration to the Club Secretary by Feb. 19th. At which time the
gate combo will be changed. Members who have shown proof of FAA registration by that time will be sent out a new gate
combo via email. Club Brochure needs to be amended with the FAA requirement also.
Youth Officer – Was tabled from last meeting. Tabled indefinitely. Club officers will discuss the possibility with some of the
youth members at the field.
Member Survey – Tabled to next month.
Ballpark Stadium – We were approached by the Ballpark Manager in Old Orchard about having an event. Bringing RC Planes,
Helicopters, cars etc. Mike Fasulo is going to follow up on this event and report back to the BOD.
Float Fly – Dates have been confirmed for Watchic Lake 4/30 – 5/1 more info to follow.
Wings for Wishes – Dave Cyr has put in the paperwork, Dates 6/12 rain 6/26 more info to follow.
Mid Coast Model Fest – Owls Head Transportation Museum Rockland, Sat. Apr. 2 and Sun. Apr. 3. Jim Knight is having tables
to represent Propsnappers. He is requesting help manning the tables. There is also a small indoor fly area. Any help would be
appreciated. Bring your planes, etc.
BOD Meeting Adjourned: 6:33
"Every year, at our banquet, I put together a video with great pictures and videos, our planes, having
fun and yes those mishaps that lead us back to the hobbyshop. I couldn't do that without you, our
members. So please send me your pics and vids to [email protected]".
[email protected]". Thanks , Dave
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
General MINUTES (page 1)
Meeting Called to Order: 6:34
Wing For Wishes – Same as last year. Make A Wish
Members Present:
Present: 20, No Guests
sanctions the event. Date 6/12, rain 6/26. Goal $900.
Secretary’s Report read by Tom Noonan
Suggested landing fee $20 same as last year.
Treasure’s Report read by Dan DeSena
Owls Head Transportation, Mid Coast Model Fest –
So far 41 members have signed up and paid their dues.
4/2, 4/3, Jim Knight is going to man table and bring
Ongoing Business
planes. Anything hobby related can be brought. Jim is
Numb Thumbs set for this Sunday. It was recommend-
looking to help to man the tables.
ed take the skies off no snow. Well put them back on
Float Fly – Dates have been set 4/30, 5/1 and 9/10,
after yesterday’s storm. (It’s New England what do you
9/11 more info to follow Bill Reeve heading up the
expect.)
event.
FAA Rules – Feb. 19th deadline register at Regis-
New Business – FAA registration, field combo will be
terMyUAS.faa.gov To fly at the field after the 19th you
changed on the 19th. New combo will be sent out to
must be registered and show proof to the Club Secre-
members that have registered with the FAA and shown
tary. The gate combo will be changed at that time.
proof to the Club Secretary. All sanctioned evets will
Small Plane Landing Strip – Dave Cyr send an email
require proof of AMA and FAA registration. Both regis-
out to AMA Field Developer. Got use a trap response
tration number must be on all your aircraft.
but that does kill the grass. 2’ d person request never
Bent Prop Award – Geoff Wagner’s Spitfire did a head-
got back to Dave. Push mover will be tried this sum-
er into the ground trying to complete a roll. A Spitfire
mer. We have a reel type push mover that a member
got the award last month so beware of Spitfires.
will loan us to try out. Motion to try hand mowing
passed.
Meeting Adjourned: 7:50
New Members – Mark and William Pierson, Ron Dery
were introduced. Welcome to the club Mark, William
and Ron.
The Club
Needs
Your Help
We are striving to make the Flying, Meetings, Events and Lessons the best they
can be. Please let us know of any ideas,
comments and suggestions to make the
Propsnappers a fun place for all…..
but to do this we need your input.
Send an email with any suggestions,
ideas or comments to Dan:
[email protected] or any of
the board members.
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
SHOW
&TELL
Show and Tell – We are now having 3 categories, ARF, Kit Built, and Scratch Built. Awards will
be giving for each category at year end banquet.
Mike Fasulo – Modified ARF,
ARF Cessna Skymaster, USAF designation O2, Mike stripped the covering and recovered. Matched the
colors using Home Depot paint matching computer. Has twin
electric motors one mounted in the nose one in the aft
section facing rear. It’s originally a Seagull Model Kit. Real
nice job Mike.
Dan DeSena – Scratch Built, FW 190. Foam built, cut wings and trimmed
fuselage with hot wire, sanded to get proper contours. Beefed up the landing gear wells with fiberglass. It’s ready for the first coat of
paint. Dan made templates from a book on WW II aircraft.
Real nice job Dan.
Frank McGuire – Scratch Built, Turner Special which was
around during the period between WW I and WWII. Has Gilmore Oil Co. sponsorship on the plane. Frank
cut out all the decals and did the painting. He
built the plane in 1989. Real nice Frank.
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
The 2016
NUMB THUMBS
Great People
Great Planes
Great Food
Great Times
& Even a Plane
Snowball Fight!!!!
Evasive
Maneuvers
Snowballs
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
Our NEW Classified Section
Send me an email with pictures and a description
for the next Bullsheet [email protected]
Tony Blanchard is making room in his hanger! Take a look at these and contact Tony
via email [email protected]
Seagull ULTIMATE BIPLANE 90
Rx ready
Like new condition, very aerobatic
capable of knife edge loops
Enya 120R GP 4C
Digital servos
never crashed
spare painted un-cut cowl.
Priced to sell $200
Hangar 9 KATANA 50
Rx ready
Like new condition, never crashed
Saito 82 4C
very aerobatic.
Spektrum Digital Servos
2 piece wing, Removable SFG's,
Priced to sell $250
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
This Day in AVIATION HISTORY:
Can You Imagine Being the Tail Gunner!!!!!
1 February 1943: During World War II, the 414th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 97th Bombardment Group
(Heavy), 12th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces, was on a mission to attack the docks at the port of Tunis in order to
cut the supply chain to the German and Italian armies operating in Tunisia.
A single-engine Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter defending the city collided with All American III, a Boeing B-17F-5-BO Flying Fortress, serial number 41-24406, which was
under the command of Lieutenant Kendrick
R. Bragg, Jr., U.S. Army Air Corps. The
fighter cut diagonally through the bomber’s
fuselage, carried away the left horizontal
stabilizer and elevator, and damaged the
flight control cables.
The rugged design and construction that made the Flying Fortress a legend allowed the airplane to fly another 90
minutes to its home base at Biskra Airfield, Algeria. Lieutenant Bragg made a careful landing, holding the tail
off the runway as long as possible. None of the ten men aboard were injured.
All American III was repaired and was returned to service. It was reassigned to the 352nd Bombardment Squadron
(Heavy), 301st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and flew till nearly the end of the war. It was dismantled for salvage at
Lucera Airfield, Italy, 6 March 1945.
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
This Day in AVIATION HISTORY:
The Day The Music Died
3 February 1959: In the late 1950s, “rock and roll” music was becoming increasingly popular in America. Buddy Holly (Charles
Hardin Holley) was among the most famous rock and roll singers. While on a concert tour, Holly, formerly of the band The Crickets, chartered a small airplane from Dwyer Flying Service to fly himself and two other performers to Fargo, North Dakota for the
following night’s event. After the performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, ended, Holly, Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela) and “The Big Bopper,” (Jiles P. Richardson, Jr.) were driven to the nearby Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW),
arriving at 12:40 a.m. They were met by their assigned pilot, Roger Arthur Peterson, and boarded the chartered airplane. They
took off at 12:55 a.m. Richard Steven Valenzuela. During the previous eight hours,
Roger Peterson had telephoned the Air Traffic Communications Service three times for
the weather forecast along his planned route. He was informed that weather was VFR,
with ceilings of 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) or higher and visibility 10 miles (16 kilometers) or more. ATCS did NOT inform Peterson of a “Flash Advisory” of a 100-mile-wide
(160 kilometers) band of snow moving into the area at 25 knots (13 meters per second). After a normal takeoff, the airplane climbed to approximately 800 feet (244 meters) and made a left 180° turn. It passed the airport heading northwest. The charter
service’s owner, Hubert Dwyer, watched the departure from the airport’s tower. He was
able to see the airplane’s navigation lights until it was about five miles (8 kilometers)
away, then it slowly descended out of sight.
When Peterson did not file his flight plan by radio after taking off, as was expected,
Dwyer asked the ATCS to try to contact him. No contact was established. The airplane
and its passengers never arrived at the destination.
The “FIRST” Crossing
4 February 1902: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Brigadier General, United States Air Force, Medal of Honor, was born at Detroit, Michigan. Certainly one of the world’s best known pilots, Lindbergh began flight training at the age of 20. In 1924 he was
sent to San Antonio, Texas for a year of training at the United States Army flight schools at Brooks and Kelly Fields. He graduated at the top of his class, 5 March 1925, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in
the U.S. Air Reserve Service. He became an Air Mail pilot and gained valuable flight experience.
On 20 May 1927, Lindbergh departed New York in his custom-built Ryan NYP monoplane,Spirit
of St. Louis, and 33 hours, 30 minutes later, he landed at Paris, France, becoming the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. When he returned to the United States, he was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Coolidge. On 14 December 1927, by Act of
Congress, Lindbergh was awarded the Medal of Honor: “For displaying heroic courage and skill
as a navigator, at the risk of his life, by his nonstop flight in his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis,
from New York City to Paris, France, 20–21 May 1927, by which Capt. Lindbergh not only
achieved the greatest individual triumph of any American citizen but demonstrated that travel
across the ocean by aircraft was possible.”
PROPSNAPPERS RC CLUB
PORTLAND PROPSNAPPERS Charter #871
This Day in AVIATION HISTORY:
A Wee Bit Disturbing
On the night of 4/5 February 1958, two Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombers from MacDill Air
Force Base, Florida, were flying a simulated
bombing mission. The second bomber, B47B-50-BW serial number 51-2349, was under the commander of Major Howard Richardson, USAF, with co-pilot 1st Lieutenant
Bob Lagerstrom and radar navigator Captain
Leland Woolard. Their call sign was “Ivory Two.” Carried in the bomb bay of Ivory Two was a 7,600-pound (3,448 kilogram)
Mark 15 Mod. 0 two-stage radiation-implosion thermonuclear bomb, serial number 47782. The bomb had an explosive yield
of 1.69–3.8 megatons. After completing their simulated bombing mission, the B-47s were returning to their base in Florida.
On the same night pilots of South Carolina Air National Guard were on alert at Charleston Air Force Base with their North
American Aviation F-86L Sabre interceptors. The fighters were fully armed with twenty-four 2.75-inch (70 mm) rockets. At
00:09 a.m., the pilots were alerted for a training interception of the southbound B-47s. Within five minutes three F-86Ls were
airborne and climbing, with air defense radar sites directing them. In of of the F-86Ls, 52-10108, an upgraded F-86D Sabre,
was 1st Lieutenant Clarence A. Stewart, call sign Pug Gold Two.
The flight of interceptors came in behind the bombers at about 35,000 feet
(10,668 meters). Tracking their targets with radar, they closed on the lead B47, Ivory One, from behind. Ivory Two was about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in
trail of Ivory One, but the airborne radars of the Sabres did not detect it, nor
did the ground-based radar controllers.
At 00:33:30, 5 February, Lieutenant Stewart’s fighter collided with the left wing
of Major Richardson’s bomber. The Sabre lost both wings. Lieutenant Stewart
fired his ejection seat. His descent from the stratosphere took twenty-two
minutes and his hands were frostbitten from the cold. He spent five weeks in
an Air Force hospital. Pug Gold Two crashed in a farm filed about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Sylvania, Georgia.
The B-47 was heavily damaged. The outboard engine had been dislodged from its mount on the wing and hung at about a
45° angle. The wing’s main spar was broken, the aileron was damaged, and the airplane and its crew were in immediate
jeopardy. If the number six engine fell free, the loss of it’s weight would upset the airplane’s delicate balance and cause it to
go out of control. The damaged wing might itself fail, and the damage to the flight controls made it difficult to fly.
Major Richardson didn’t think they could make it back to MacDill, and the nearest suitable airfield, Hunter Air Force Base, Savannah, Georgia, advised that the main runway was under repair. A crash on landing was a likely outcome.
With this in mind, Richardson flew Ivory Two out over Wassaw Sound, and at an altitude of 7,200 feet (2,195 meters) the hydrogen bomb was jettisoned. It landed in about 40 feet (12 meters) of water near Tybee Island. No explosion occurred.
The B-47 safely landed at Hunter AFB, but was so badly damaged that it never flew again. Major Richardson was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross for his handling of the incident.
The missing Mark 15 has never been found and is considered to be “irretrievably lost.” It is known as “The Tybee Bomb.”