Spring 2020

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President: Craig "Ace" Eisentrout Vice President: Ben Jones

Safety Officer: Jim Carter Treasurer: Kevin Krieg

Newsletter Editor: Jerry Biscopink Field Maintenance: Jerry Biscopink

COVID-19 Impact

The situation with new COVID-19 restrictions is a quickly developing one. We will attempt to keep our members informed should this have any impact on the availability of our field for use by club members. As of this writing, the field is open for use at your convenience. Please practice social distancing while at the field, and do not come to the field if you are exhibiting symptoms.

President's Corner

Happy Flying Season to all of my CSF buddies. It may not be starting the way any of us imagined, but I look forward to even more flying once the quarantine and cabin fever is behind us.

At this time, I think we can responsibly use the field assuming we keep a reasonable distance between us. Pretty easy for me as I'm commonly out in the field picking up pieces. Use your common sense and practice social distancing when at the field. And, stay away if you are having suspicious symptoms (fever, new cough etc.).

Once we resume a more normal life, I hope that we can grow our club to a "right size". We have several real advantages but let me mention a few.

First are our wonderful field and facilities. Yes, it is a little tight for some with the trees, but once you can fly at our field then you can fly anywhere. We are indebted to Jerry and his oversight of the field but also to Denny and his efforts to keep the field area mowed and looking good. Denny takes as much pride in our field as our members, so when you see him be sure to thank him for his dedication to our club.

Second is our membership. We have been exceptionally well led by Steve Harness for many years. It is our responsibility to continue his unfailing friendliness to all current members, prospective members, visitors, and guests. I've been to a few other clubs and know that the overall friendly attitude that we show at CSF isn't universal. There isn't a single method to grow a club, but a welcoming attitude opens the door.

CSF has a history of community support, and I want to continue this and expand it if possible. We are not only promoting our club but the hobby in general.

That's all for now. Get those aircraft ready, check them over carefully after a winter of storage. I am looking forward to seeing all those winter projects in the air - and safely back on the runway!

Craig (Ace)

2020 Flight Training

Our Flight Training Program for new RC pilots will being the week of May 4. Hopefully, our lives will have begun to return to normal by then.

As last year, our training will take place on either Monday or Wednesday evenings. The deciding factor will be weather forecasts for that week. We will check on the forecast on Sunday, and send an email to the "CSF Training" and "allmembers" mailing lists.

We are always looking for additional flight instructors and support personnel! It becomes challenging to have 5 or 6 students at the field wanting to take flying lessons, and only 1 or 2 instructors. Ideally, we would like to get each student in the air 3-4 times per session. However, if there's only 2 instructors and 4 or more students, we become limitied in our ability to give the proper time to each one. Even if you are not inclined to train, you can help by trimming the buddy box, pre-flighting planes, or even talking with the students between flights.

We welcome all CSF members to attend training nights. Having our members attend helps students become acquainted with the CSF and gives them a chance to learn from our experiences. If you can, please plan on attending flight training as much as possible this year. Introduce yourself to the students and be willing to answer their questions. Even if you cannot attend, your input is still needed to review our training materials so that we can evaluate and improve our training program each year.

Please also keep in mind that our primary focus is getting new RC pilots in the air with "hands-on" RC flight experience and education. Therefore, the majority of our time on training nights is given to flight instruction in the air! We provide flight training to break the "build, crash, repair and repeat" cycle that so often can happen to someone new to the RC hobby. We also prioritize the education of safe operation of an aircraft. There is nothiing more frustrating than buying a new plane, transmitter, charger and batteries, and watching it end in pieces.

Being able to operate our RC aircraft safely and confidently protects ourselves and assures a positive impact on our hobby and on the surrounding community. With the continuing loss of RC airfields due to land development and other reasons, we constantly strive to maintain a positive impression of the CSF and our hobby.

Steve Harness
CSF Flight Training Coordinator
Harness2017@gmail.com

Treasurer's Report

Just a quick update for everyone. I want to thank all of our members who have paid their dues already this year. Currently, about 75% of last year's members have paid their dues. Also, a special thanks to those members who have contributed to the club beyond the cost of their memberships. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

I encourage any of our members who are still waiting to pay for their 2020 memberships to do so as soon as possible. New gate access codes will be sent out immediately upon receipt of your payment. Don't miss a single chance to fly this year!

Stay well, be safe, and I hope to see you soon,

Kevin Krieg
Treasurer

Field Maintenance Report

Hi Pilots,

I am happy to report that the field has come through the winter in very good shape. With just a little cleanup and some light maintenance, the field is now open and ready to use. There are a few things that I want to bring to your attention that have already been accomplished this year. They are as follows:

The wooded areas at the north and northeast ends of the field have been bush hogged to remove most of the vines and undergrowth that made plane retrieval so difficult and, candidly, a bit hazardous. No trees were removed, but all the tangled growth has been cut down. Now many walking paths are available to those needing to access these areas. We will try to keep this cut back in the future rather than letting it become overgrown again.

Some modification have been made to the drainage pipe that runs under the runway thanks to the efforts of Steve Harness. This work began last year and is intended to mitigate the erosion from rainwater runoff that we had been experiencing. Thanks, Steve, for your efforts.

A new windsock has been installed to better capture the true wind conditions at our field. This windsock is several feet higher than the previous one and gives a much better indication of wind conditions at higher elevations above the runway.

The runway itself is still in great shape but may need to be seal coated again next year. We will do some crack sealing this summer and make a decision later this year on the larger seal coating project.

And finally, with lower activity expected at the field early this flying season due to the pandemic, it is even more important to make sure that you secure the field if you are the last person leaving the site.

As always, thanks for your fantastic support to keep our facility in first class condition.

Jerry "Field Boss" Biscopink

Club Safety Update

As we begin a new flying season, here are a few important safety reminders for our members.

First, refresh your knowledge of all the safety rules for our field. These rules are clearly posted by the sidewalk at the entrance to the battery charging shelter. Make sure that you understand them and abide by them. If you see someone who isn't following them, a gentle reminder may be needed.

Second, never fly your aircraft over the pit areas on the west side of the runway (shelter side). This is unsafe and can result in striking another member or damaging a vehicle. Fly over the runway or on the east side of the runway at all times.

Have fun and enjoy the facility, but always keep safety first!

Steve Harness hard at work modifying a pipe connection for the field drainage project. Thanks Steve!

Looking north at the newly cleared area at the end of the field. Access to this heavily wooded area on the "rare" occasion of a plane retrieval is easier and (more importantly) safer now.

Whatcha Been Building?

We recently asked our members to send us photos of their "winter" builds and/or new additions to their hangars for this year. Below are a few examples that you can expect to see at the field later this year. If you are working on building a new aircraft, send us a picture and we will include it in our next issue!

Craig Eisentrout's new Eclipson Model Z. This beauty is all 3D printed! Great job Ace!

The "Bud Weiser" Green foamie was built by former CSF member Warren Williamson for Jerry Biscopink. Warren's art work is fantastic!

Another beauty is Richard Schmidt's Andreas RES glider. This was built from a balsa kit from Hoellein. It has a 2m wingspan and a 4.4:1 gear reduction coupled to a Hacker motor. Great job Richard!

Jerry built another Stephen's Aeromodel micro kit over the winter. This is the SE5.a. These very scale balsa kits are inexpensive and really fun to build. This one is set up with servos and a 3 channel receiver.

This is the business end of Richard Schmidt's Olympic II RES glider. Richard "re-powered" this glider which required replacing the engine mount and fabricating a 3D-printed nacelle. Really great workmanship!

Santa brought the field boss a new foamie kit from Twisted Hobbies - the 35 inch Crack Camel. This is a totally cool airplane that will get a lot of flight time this season at CSF. Check out Twisted Hobbies web site if you are interested in seeing a full array of unique foam airplane kits.

CSF Sponsors EAA's "Young Eagles" Program

by

Bob Dombeck

(Editor's note: Bob is a long time member of the Silent Flyers. He is also a private pilot, an EAA member, and a full-scale aircraft builder)

The Experimental Aircraft Association headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin has a long-standing program known as Young Eagles. Stated simply, the program's goal is to introduce young people to aviation by sharing pilots' love of flying by giving free airplane rides. Hopefully this will encourage youth to choose aviation as a career. Now the AMA has gradually entered the picture. Each year at the EAA's annual convention in Oshkosh, known as Airventure, I've seen AMA more and more strongly represented.

Last year, while visiting the EAA's chapter headquarters, the Blue Barn (see pictures below article), I discovered a new program—The Young Eagles RC Build and Fly Program. It is a partnership between The AMA and The EAA. It takes the Young Eagles program beyond just giving airplane rides by giving kids hands-on lessons in aviation theory and aircraft construction. It requires an EAA chapter partner with an AMA club to conduct building sessions and give radio control flight instruction. I thought this would be a good fit for the EAA chapter that I belong to, Chapter 974, due to my memberships in AMA, EAA and CSF.

By partnering with a local AMA club, an EAA chapter would be eligible to purchase a complete radio control airplane build kit and flight package worth about $1500 for only $500. Over this past winter I did some gentle coaxing of my EAA chapter board, and they agreed to participate in the Build and Fly Program.

With Steve Harness agreeing to be the AMA club representative, and with CSF president and executive committee support, EAA Chapter 974 approved the purchase of the Build and Fly package.

The major components of the package are a Sig Kadet LT-40, a complete Spektrum DX6e radio system, a Real Flight 9 simulator, and absolutely everything needed to finish and fly the plane.There's even a Night Vapor in the package. I'm thrilled with the idea of seeing this come to fruition with the Silent Flyers and EAA Chapter 974 working together to introduce kids to aviation.

Thank you, Silent Flyers, for being partners in this. Now all we have to do is get past the COVID-19 pandemic. Better things are ahead!

Best Regards,

Bob Dombek

Questions and comments can be directed to Jerry Biscopink, Newsletter Editor.

Please visit https://silentflyers.com for more membership information on CSF.

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