JUNE 2001
Monthly Newsletter -- ONLINE version!
Pullman - Moscow

MEETING NOTICE

June 5 at 7:00pm
Eric's Café Banquet Room, Palouse Empire Mall, Moscow
Call any club officer if you need directions

The MCM is built from an aluminum container of the type commonly used for hair mousse. Other products including processed cheeze is also packaged in this type of container. A MCM is easy to build and set up, and will give you 500-800 more rpm!

I have been using a MCM for a couple of years on my "Funfly Hots", a funfly type plane designed by Dan Santich and published in Model Airplane News. Mine is built from those plans. It's a great little plane. I didn't realize how much I relied on it as my favorite knock-around plane until I made a hard landing and broke the profile fuselage just at the trailing edge of the wing.

When I got the plane home and began preparations for the repair, I noticed that I had lost the tailpipe from the MCM that had been on the plane for at least two years.

It was several days before I could get busy getting the old Monokote stripped from the fuselage. The 1/2 inch balsa sheet was oil soaked from the trailing edge of the wing to the rudder. It was obvious that there had been a crack in the fuselage for some time from the extent of the oil penetration. The tail surface covering material had been coming loose for some time, so these were stripped of covering also.

I used K2R spot remover to pull the oil from the wood. This took several applications. The worst of the oil-soaked wood was cut away and replaced with pieces of 1/2 inch square balsa stick.

The complete resurrection of the "Funfly Hots" included an application of Balsarite to both prevent the oil from penetrating the fuselage material and to give the Monokote a better surface to adhere to. The fuselage and tail surfaces were recovered with Monokote in a couple of hours. The landing gear was straightened, the control horns and pushrods were fixed in place and the project was almost complete.

Only the MCM needed to be repaired. But, before I had time for that project, the weather improved to a point that I couldn't resist taking the old "Funfly Hots" out for a test flight. Since I needed a muffler, I installed the stock one on the well worn Magnum 46XL.

At the flying field, the tank was filled and the engine started. I adjusted the high speed needle valve for maximum engine high speed and then richened it until the rpms dropped a little to ensure that there would be good lubrication. The low speed was adjusted for a decent idle and a good transition to high speed. It wasn't quite as smooth running as I had remembered, nor was the transition as good, but it was ready to go.

The takeoff was uneventful, though the trims had to be adjusted for hands-off flight. This wasn't the same "Funfly Hots" I remembered before the rebuild. The engine ran a bit ragged in the midrange, and the vertical performance was disappointing. Oh well, at least my favorite old plane was in the air again.

A few days later I was able to fix the MCM. I cleaned the aft end of oil residue, drilled several small holes around the tail pipe opening and installed a new tailpipe with a generous amount of JB Weld, a metal filled epoxy material. The JB Weld was forced through the small holes around the tail pipe to lock everything in place. The pressure fitting was reinstalled and the MCM was installed on the old Magnum 46XL. We were ready for another test flight. The next expedition to the field would tell the tale.

A few days later there was another break in the weather. The "Funfly Hots" was prepped as usual, the engine was started. The high and low speed were readjusted. There was an obvious improvement in how the engine ran. It was much smoother in the midrange and there was no hesitation going from low to high speed. There was also an obvious improvement in the high speed rpms. I hadn't checked the rpms with the stock muffler, so I can't exactly quantify the improvement, but I'd say it was at least 500rpms better.

The takeoff was quick, with a short run and a rapid transition to vertical flight that I remembered from before the rebuild. Now, this was the "Funfly Hots" as I remembered it! And all this because of a simple home built muffler!

If you'd like to give a MCM a try, there are web sites with directions on how to build the MCM. I plan to do a demonstration at the June club meeting if I can get everything ready by then. The only pricey part of the project a tuned pipe header. These are available at Hobby Town for several common engines at about $22-$25. If Hobby Town doesn't have what you need, I'm sure they can special order one to meet your needs. The mousse can is either free or you should be able to find one for less than a dollar. You also need a piece of 1/4 o.d. inch aluminum tubing for the exhaust tube.

Until then, Happy Landings!

Reference: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/hobby/mcm.htm

At the Last Meeting

Don Hart put on a foam wing cutting demonstration. This included a description of the equipment required, including a foam cutting bow, power source, wing templates and a foam wing blank. Don set up the foam cutting system and cut one side of a wing core.

The demonstration also included the aftermath of a full power vertical dive on a 60 inch span foam core wing. The wing was from Don's stick-type sport plane known as the "Bippy". It was planted in the field near the runway at John Sawyer Field. The engine and fuselage were totalled. The wing suffered minor damage, mostly to the center section. The wing is constructed with a solid white foam core, 1/16 balsa sheeting from the LE to the high point and from the TE forward about 2 inches. The center section is sheeted with 1/16 balsa and has fiberglass reinforcement at the center section joint. There is no spar in the wing. Don says "the wing will fly again!"

Spring Picnic (Saturday, June 16):

There was a preliminary discussion of the Spring Picnic. Some ideas for funfly events were made, including "Balloon Pop", "Toilet Paper Cut", and events involving rolling dice to determine the type maneuver and number of times it must be performed. There will be a picnic planning session at the June meeting.

Fall Buddy Box Fly In:

Will there be a Fall "Buddy Box Fly In" with Moscow Parks and Rec? Dave Walker will check.

Upcoming Events

ID 06/09/01 - 06/10/01 Cocolalla, ID (C)Spring Float Fly. Site: Lake. Matt Jacobson CD, 651 N Corbin Rd #21 Post Falls ID 83854 PH:208-773-4222. Sponsor: FARRAGUT FLYERS

WA 06/09/01 Richland, WA (C)TCRM Big Bird Fly In. Site: Orv Park. F. D. Fisher CD, 1769 Boston St Richland WA 99352 PH:509-946-9770. Sponsor: TRI CITIES RC MODELERS

ID 06/14/01 - 06/17/01 Meridian, ID (AA) Northwest IRCHA Jamboree for 431, 432, 433, 434(JSO). Site: The Turf Company. Ford Rollo CD, Box 3310 Kethum ID 83340-3310 PH:208-726-9675. RC helicopter fun fly. AMA & F3C contests. Night flying, sponsored pilot demos. Novice through advanced fun fly events. Sponsor: INTERMOUNTAIN HELICOPTER ASSN

WA 06/16/01 Spokane, WA (C)Baron's Scale Fun Fly. Site: Deer Park Airport. Ray Care CD, 4115 N Belt Spokane WA 99205 PH:509-328-7309. This is a low key fun scale, non competitive event. If your plane looks sorta-scale, come fly with us. Emphasis on biplanes this year. Free pancake breakfast 8:30AM to 9:30AM. Sponsor: BARONS MODEL CLUB

ID 06/22/01 - 06/24/01 Nampa, ID (AA) SW Idaho Scale Masters Qualifier for 511, 512, 520, 522(JSO). Site: Nampa Model Aviators Field. Que Quigley CD, 8730 Oakmont Dr Boise ID 83704 PH:208-375-9047. Beautiful field, grass & hard surface runways. E-mail contact qquigley@msn.com. Sponsor: IDAHO SCALE SQUADRON

ID 06/23/01 - 06/24/01 Athol, ID (C)All Aircraft Fly In. Site: Park. Matt Jacobson CD, 651 N Corbin Rd #21 Post Falls ID 83854 PH:208-773-4222. Sponsor: FARRAGUT FLYERS

WA 07/07/01 - 07/08/01 Pasco, WA (A) 25th Annual Sun Fly. Site: Sod Farm. Kirby Parker CD, 2304 Snohomish Richland WA 99352 PH:509-375-1587 e-mail slvrfox@owt.com.

OR 07/20/01 - 07/22/01 Joseph, OR (C) Alpine Soaring Fun Fly. Site: Airport. Wil Byers CD, 3448 East Lake Dr W Richland, WA 99353 PH:509-627-0456. An event for the aerotow & alpine soaring enthusiasts. A "non-event" with flying for sailplanes & electric airplanes. An event for the whole family. www.semodeler.com. Sponsor: S & E MODELER MAGAZINE

WA 08/18/01 Richland, WA (C)Biplane Fly In. Site: Orv Park. John Hanson CD, 2021 S Fruitland St Kennewick WA 99337 PH:509-586-4843. RV parking available, no hook ups. Sponsor: TRI-CITY RADIO CONTROL MODELERS

WA 08/25/01 - 08/26/01 Yakima, WA (C)Yakima Scale Aerotow Fly In. Site: Glessner's Air Field. Gene Cope CD, 3203 1/2 Main St Union Gap WA 98903-1847 PH:509-457-9017. Scale sailplane aerotow only. 85x1940' grass airstrip. Pre-registration fee $15. e-mail gcope@nwinfo.net. Web page with flyer & maps at www.nwinfo.net/~gcope. Sponsor: THE GREAT AMERICAN RC AIR SHOW

WA 09/01/01 - 09/02/01 Ellensburg, WA (C) Big Bird Fly In. Site: Club Field. Bruce Harlow CD, 3462 McManamy Rd Ellensburg WA 98926 PH:509-962-6396. Grass runway, flying 9AM till dusk, RV parking, no hook ups. Sanitary facilities on site. Landing fee $10.33, roast pig dinner planned. Sponsor: GREAT AMERICAN RC AIRSHOW

WA 09/14/01 - 09/16/01 Zillah, WA (C)Fall Finisher Big Bird. Site: Club Field. Joe Ball CD, 411 Lacey Ave Selah WA 98942 PH:509-697-9245. Sponsor: VALLEY AEROMODELERS

ID 09/15/01 Athol, ID (C)Fall Fun Fly. Site: Park. Matt Jacobson CD, 651 N Corbin Rd #21 Post Falls ID 83854 PH:208-773-4222. Very low impact events. Anyone can fly them. Sponsor: FARRAGUT FLYERS

OR 09/19/01 - 09/23/01 -Hubbard, OR (AAA) US Scale Masters Championships for 512, 522(JSO). Site: Lenhardts Airpark. Earl Aune CD, 21952 Airport Rd Aurora OR 97002 PH:503-678-6036. This annual gathering of the top 30% of all 22 regional qualifier contests across the nation and Canada will be the first time ever in the North West. Be sure and make this event part of your September schedule. Sponsor: SKY KNIGHTS RC CLUB OF PORTLAND/AIRTRONICS/BOB SMITH INDUSTRIES/PROCTOR

WA 09/22/01 - 09/23/01 Spokane, WA (C)Fall Float Fly. Site: Jump Off Joe Lake. Hubert Wendt CD, E1104 Bedivere Dr Spokane WA 99218 PH:509-466-9043. Approx 37 miles north of Spokane on Hwy 395. Nice place to camp, fly, & have fun. No contests, no tasks. Cabins & RV spaces with full hook ups available. Reserve space early PH:509-937-2133. Sponsor: BARONS MODEL CLUB

WA 10/13/01 Zillah, WA (C)Fun Fly. Site: Ben's Strip. Bill Tucker CD, PO Box 228 Zillah WA 98953 PH:509-829-5027. Sponsor: VALLEY AEROMODELERS

CLUB OFFICERS

Comments? prr@erichorn.com