Secretary’s Scratchings

The General Membership meeting of the Delaware R/C Club was held on Tuesday, March 3, 2003. President Mark Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:30

Minutes

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the March newsletter.

Treasurer’s Report

Dick Stewart gave treasurer’s report.

Membership – 2002    233

                        2003    136

The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented.

Member Comments

Tony Albance showed off the new year’s Warbird design for the t-shirt.  It will be available soon and will be sold at Lebanon for $15.00 each.

Tom Leheart reported that Ocean County Modelers hobby shop is going out of business.  Everything is on sale and fuel is being sold for $6.00 a gallon.

Lee has a B&B Laser kit without the wing and another

Laser ARC that he will raffle off at the Two Tonys Fun Fly.

Safety Minute

Not available for this month.

Show and tell

Gene Bass brought a Q-40 “Quarter Midget” powered by a Nelson .40 and everything on the plane is composite.  It’s copied off the Dago Red mustang and costs around 1,000.00 ready to fly.

Jim Schlapfer displayed a cub fuselage that has been being rebuilt. It is being reinforced with Baltic plywood and is coming out vary strong.  It will be powered by a super tiger 2500 and has Tony giving him some assistance on it.

Clark Woodring discussed his Aeromaster biplane that is powered with a Fox .74 engine.  He put ailerons on the bottom wing for more maneuverability and the plane itself is around 30-34 years old.

Dick Slutz showed and, after the meeting, flew a Sig Damasoelle.  It is powered with a GWS-7 motor and is covered with light span covering only on the top of the wing.  The kit went together well and the pilot even came painted.

Mark Weiss brought his P-51 spinner (7 inch), retract covers, air tanks, and wheels.  He said the project is coming along and is still looking for the exact model to do it after.

Quickie 500 Racing:

Quickie 500 races begin April 13^th, the season is coming soon so get out and practice.  The three pylon pole race will be held on May 18^th.

Raffle

The raffle prize was a Great Planes G-2 flight simulator.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:43PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ryan Jamison, Secretary

 

 

 

Note from Mrs. Chess

My husband, Al Chess, was a member of the Delaware R/C Club. He enjoyed his friends and flying his planes. He passed away 11/21/01 of a heart attack.

I met Chris Owens and he said he would take care of everything for me.  He did sell some things and gave me the money. He then took my husband’s plane and was going to sell it.

Well, as the story goes, I received a phone call from one of the Club members who told me that he [Chris Owens] sold the plane for $1,500 and he told the Club member he paid me in cash.

That is not true.

                                    /signed/ Antonette Chess

[The Delaware R/C Club received the above note on March 4, 2003, from the widow of the late Al Chess, a Club member who suffered his fatal heart attack while flying at the Lums Pond R/C Field, as reported in the Club’s December, 2001, newsletter. At it’s March meeting, Club President Mark Weiss, on behalf of the Board and Club membership, expressed sympathy to Mrs. Chess and strongly condemned the dishonesty and lack of values displayed in this tragic situation. Mark asked that all members be vigilant to ensure that such activities never again occur by or to anyone in the Club family.

Despite this unfortunate development, Mrs. Chess has asked the Delaware R/C Club to auction her late husband’s remaining aircraft projects and to donate the proceeds to charity. The Board will announce when the auction will take place.]

 

 

 

Around the Pattern

Welcome To New Member

The officers and members of the Delaware R/C club extend a warm welcome to our recent new member: Raymond Castelletti, Rising Sun MD.

 

News From Matt Chapman

Or, where in the world is . . . . .

That’s certainly the question! The answer almost always promises to include some form of aviation adventure – partial or full scale. At the end of February we received the following information in an e-mail from Matt:

“I do have a new project going together. It's a 35% Pitts Model 12 from Bob Trueworthy. It has a DA-150 for power. I hope to have it ready by late spring (May-ish). Right now I'm in Tucson AZ. Working with the Air Forces solo demo pilots. I am giving them all (6 total: 2 A-10, 2 F16 and 2 F-15) some aerobatic instruction. Some basics of civilian acro and some negative "g" stuff. I picked up an Extra 300-L in Las Vegas this morning and flew it down. The cool side to all this is Saturday I am getting an hour and a half in an F-15 Eagle!!!!! Can't wait to share my experience with everyone.”

Matt expects to have his 2003 air show schedule posted on his website in the near future (mattchapman.com). Be sure to check it out. We understand Matt may soon be making an announcement related to aeromodeling, so stay tuned.

 

Quickie 500 Race Dates Slated

CD Skip Crain has set a schedule of seven races for the 2003 season, which is included in the events calendar on the last page of this newsletter. In addition, Skip and Club member Gene Bass are putting their heads together to develop a proposal that the May racing event be run as a 3-pylon race similar to the Q40 racing format seen at Bowie, Maryland and at other venues across the country. Many of our members may be aware that Gene is a nationally-ranked racer in this highly competitive activity.

 

Park Stickers Will Soon Be “In Season”

May 1 is the magic day! Make sure you have purchased and affixed an annual park sticker to your vehicle. If you have any questions about the park fee system, please contact the Lums Pond State Park office at 302-368-6989.

 

New Club ByLaws

After several months of opportunity for member suggestions, the Club’s ByLaws have been revised to insure that they correspond to the mandatory components required by the AMA and its insurer. You can find a copy on the Club’s website. Copies will be available at the April Club meeting.

 

B-17 Scheduled To Appear At North Philadelphia Airport

The EAA’s restored B-17 bomber, Aluminum Overcast, is scheduled to be at the North Philadelphia Airport as part of its annual tour. The scheduled dates for North Philly are Tuesday and Wednesday, August 12 and 13, 2003. Both ground tours and flights are available. For more information, visit the website at   www.b17.org/schedule.html   or contact the EAA at 1-800-359-6217. Take it from us . . . the flight is AWESOME – and less expensive than a giant-scale ARF!

 

Reality and Insurance

We just heard that the AMA has, with difficulty, been able to continue its insurance (liability insurance policy for AMA members) coverage. The word is that last year's premium more than doubled, to $1,095 ,000.00. Yes, that’s more than $1 Million – it’s not a typo!

 

Help Keep Us Keep You Up To Date

In order to keep all our members informed of all Club news, it is crucial that the Club remain informed of all changes to our members’ contact information. Please send all changes of address and phone number to our Treasurer, Dick Stewart (302-368-2911 or BALTICPLY@aol.com). E-mail address changes should be sent to John Kirchstein (jakirchstein@comcast.net) and Carl Hauger (cewhauger@yahoo.com).