Flying with Fred - Volume IV, No 4
What a tease April is! You get a few tantalizing 65-70
degree days, the birds start making a racket, the lawn
maintenance guy from some Central South American
country knocks at your door, people start sneezing
their heads off, and then, BOOM! Rain and temps in the
40’s for a week or more. What a way to end the month.
Thankfully, it will only get better from here on out,
so welcome to the 2008 Flying Season. First, some club
items to take care of before we begin, however.
I can’t recall a more successful Spring Clean Up Day in recent memory than the one we had last Sunday the 27th. All sorts of people showed up, and the real heroes of the day were Mike G. and his crew, and the Brothers Schupp, who brought in all sorts of equipment (how about a riding roller and “Bobcat” hoe, for starters) and made what normally would have been an all day, “honey where’s the Ben-Gay” saga into almost a Slam-Bang-One-Two-Three affair. Some folks who couldn’t make it until around noon were (pleasantly) surprised that it was all over by then, but who knew? Last year they would have been gratefully received as the Second Shift.
My thanks also to our VP, Dave L, for being General In Command, bringing the hired help, and overall coordination- not to mention the GREAT new tables! No more splinters, thank God. Thanks also to Fred F. for the great Digital Documentation, which you can find on the web site as a new gallery. To everyone who pitched in, my thanks, and a job well done- it was great to see so many of us out there.
Next, we have our NEW BLOG! In an attempt to set up another (and cost effective) communication tool, you can now jump on http://maawblog.blogspot.com and get up to the minute flashes, updates, alerts- you name it. Just one thing- you cannot do any actual posting on the blog, only respond (“comment”) once you’ve signed in. This, along with web site alerts and MAAWMAIL should help to spread the word about future events, rain dates, etc. etc.
One other item- our next meeting on May 20th is going to be held AT THE FIELD. If the weather does not cooperate we will let you know no less than 24 hours in advance, and we’ll shift back to the Church in Valhalla. In addition, watch for the start up of our “Training Tuesdays” commencing the week after our meeting. Anyone in need of basic (or even more advanced) training can show up, and we’ll make every effort to get you in the air and practicing. We hope to have some of the more experienced / talented members of the club in attendance for these evenings- starting at about 5:30 PM- to pitch in and get folks the help they need, along with improving overall flying skills. (Note- this includes Heli pilots, if we have Heli instructors stepping forward).
Last but not least. I was hoping not to have to don the Policeman’s hat that comes with my current Acting Job for the MAAW this early in the game, but it appears I was a bit too optimistic, so here goes. Everyone has to make sure they ENGAGE THE GRAY MATTER inside your skulls before, during and after interaction with fellow club members, AND guests. We touched on this briefly at the last meeting, and I guess we’ll be discussing it some more in the future. Sorry to involve everyone as you read this, instead of just the individuals to whom this message is primarily directed to.
I can’t recall a more successful Spring Clean Up Day in recent memory than the one we had last Sunday the 27th. All sorts of people showed up, and the real heroes of the day were Mike G. and his crew, and the Brothers Schupp, who brought in all sorts of equipment (how about a riding roller and “Bobcat” hoe, for starters) and made what normally would have been an all day, “honey where’s the Ben-Gay” saga into almost a Slam-Bang-One-Two-Three affair. Some folks who couldn’t make it until around noon were (pleasantly) surprised that it was all over by then, but who knew? Last year they would have been gratefully received as the Second Shift.
My thanks also to our VP, Dave L, for being General In Command, bringing the hired help, and overall coordination- not to mention the GREAT new tables! No more splinters, thank God. Thanks also to Fred F. for the great Digital Documentation, which you can find on the web site as a new gallery. To everyone who pitched in, my thanks, and a job well done- it was great to see so many of us out there.
Next, we have our NEW BLOG! In an attempt to set up another (and cost effective) communication tool, you can now jump on http://maawblog.blogspot.com and get up to the minute flashes, updates, alerts- you name it. Just one thing- you cannot do any actual posting on the blog, only respond (“comment”) once you’ve signed in. This, along with web site alerts and MAAWMAIL should help to spread the word about future events, rain dates, etc. etc.
One other item- our next meeting on May 20th is going to be held AT THE FIELD. If the weather does not cooperate we will let you know no less than 24 hours in advance, and we’ll shift back to the Church in Valhalla. In addition, watch for the start up of our “Training Tuesdays” commencing the week after our meeting. Anyone in need of basic (or even more advanced) training can show up, and we’ll make every effort to get you in the air and practicing. We hope to have some of the more experienced / talented members of the club in attendance for these evenings- starting at about 5:30 PM- to pitch in and get folks the help they need, along with improving overall flying skills. (Note- this includes Heli pilots, if we have Heli instructors stepping forward).
Last but not least. I was hoping not to have to don the Policeman’s hat that comes with my current Acting Job for the MAAW this early in the game, but it appears I was a bit too optimistic, so here goes. Everyone has to make sure they ENGAGE THE GRAY MATTER inside your skulls before, during and after interaction with fellow club members, AND guests. We touched on this briefly at the last meeting, and I guess we’ll be discussing it some more in the future. Sorry to involve everyone as you read this, instead of just the individuals to whom this message is primarily directed to.
I expect all MAAW members to use common sense,
courtesy and respect when dealing with each other,
and any / all situations at the field, and to
COMMUNICATE with one another. When in doubt, take a
deep breath and think things out before doing or saying
something that will fall between plain silly, through
insulting/moronic, or even all the way up to stupid
& dangerous. I’m also having some signs made that
will help members to do, and NOT do, a number of
things. I will expand on the above as necessary at the
next meeting. Re-familiarize yourself with the rules,
and follow them. In the meanwhile, EVERYONE remember-
there is no “We” or “Them”, only “US”.
Now for some fun stuff. When we last spoke, we were going to look into the phenomenon of Adverse Aileron Yaw. The basic concept for all you fixed wing pilots out there is that your ailerons should- in just about every application and configuration- have more travel UP than DOWN. That is, when you apply ailerons to bank and / or turn the plane, the aileron on the side towards which you are turning should deflect from its normal, or “standard” position, more than the aileron on the side of the plane away from the direction you’re turning to. Another way to look at it is that the aileron on the side of the plane AWAY from the direction of the turn should deflect down considerably less than its brother on the other side moves / deflects upward.
The reason for this is that, plainly speaking, the aileron on the wing away from the turn direction actually imparts more DRAG on its (side of the) wing if it presents too much surface area / deflection in the turn. This in turn prevents the wing from “flying” around into the turn fast enough, and may even have the effect (unless the turn is coupled with plenty of rudder input) of actually turning / banking the plane in the OPPOSITE direction from which you’re actually trying to turn to.
Every time I recite the above my head feels like it’s going to explode. The first time I read an explanation of this critical law of aerodynamics and flight I needed to read it through a second time, to make sure I understood the concept. Coupling your turn with TONS of rudder sometimes reduces, or even eliminates (depending on your speed) this effect, but this counteraction is not easy to control, and results in herky-jerky flying and a kind of staggering around the sky, if not out-and-out loss of control of the aircraft.
Coincidentally, the last issue of Model Airplane News had a very comprehensive article on this phenomenon (no, I did not peek, but semi-great minds sometimes think alike) which I recommend you read in its entirety. The bigger your ailerons are, the more likely you be surprised big time unless you set up your plane accordingly (and, no, you don’t need a computer radio to set things up correctly!).
That’s it for now. I will have more news on the Swap Shop at the May meeting, and I may even have some new planes ready to fly by then- alert the press! Until then…
… Fly Safely, But FLY!
Now for some fun stuff. When we last spoke, we were going to look into the phenomenon of Adverse Aileron Yaw. The basic concept for all you fixed wing pilots out there is that your ailerons should- in just about every application and configuration- have more travel UP than DOWN. That is, when you apply ailerons to bank and / or turn the plane, the aileron on the side towards which you are turning should deflect from its normal, or “standard” position, more than the aileron on the side of the plane away from the direction you’re turning to. Another way to look at it is that the aileron on the side of the plane AWAY from the direction of the turn should deflect down considerably less than its brother on the other side moves / deflects upward.
The reason for this is that, plainly speaking, the aileron on the wing away from the turn direction actually imparts more DRAG on its (side of the) wing if it presents too much surface area / deflection in the turn. This in turn prevents the wing from “flying” around into the turn fast enough, and may even have the effect (unless the turn is coupled with plenty of rudder input) of actually turning / banking the plane in the OPPOSITE direction from which you’re actually trying to turn to.
Every time I recite the above my head feels like it’s going to explode. The first time I read an explanation of this critical law of aerodynamics and flight I needed to read it through a second time, to make sure I understood the concept. Coupling your turn with TONS of rudder sometimes reduces, or even eliminates (depending on your speed) this effect, but this counteraction is not easy to control, and results in herky-jerky flying and a kind of staggering around the sky, if not out-and-out loss of control of the aircraft.
Coincidentally, the last issue of Model Airplane News had a very comprehensive article on this phenomenon (no, I did not peek, but semi-great minds sometimes think alike) which I recommend you read in its entirety. The bigger your ailerons are, the more likely you be surprised big time unless you set up your plane accordingly (and, no, you don’t need a computer radio to set things up correctly!).
That’s it for now. I will have more news on the Swap Shop at the May meeting, and I may even have some new planes ready to fly by then- alert the press! Until then…
… Fly Safely, But FLY!