President's Message October 2009
from the pen of Bob Wilson
"Well, folks, this flying season has almost come and gone. We saw a rainy summer for a change which helped grow a lot of mold and toad stools. In spite of Mr Algore, we only had to use the air conditioning about 10 times this summer. So much for global warming. Some of you are heading back to your winter residence and the rest of us will plod along flying in colder weather. Frankly, I prefer the colder weather and soon enough, we will be firing up the chiminea and warming our hands on cold days.
Our October Fly-In BBQ was a total success and although we were hoping for more visiting pilots, the early weather forecasts probably caused some to make other plans for the weekend. Our event was AMA sanctioned and we had publicity in three issues of Model Aviation and this helped some.
Since the fly-in, we have had a number of RC pilots from adjoining states visit us and with the publicity we got in Model Aviation, on two occasions this year, pilots appear to be dropping by to see what we are all about.
We will probably go with the late September or early October fly-in date next year because it was much cooler than the other year in August when we got a number of complaints about the heat.
e've had, sorry to say, an unusual number of crashes this year. The reasons are varied and assorted with not much of a common denominator for anyone to study. I know I'll never live this down but I just tried to take off with only one wing bolted down, the other wing free to swing in the breeze. Fortunately, the wing drooped over like a flap and I didn't attempt to take off.
The reason is simple. I usually do things in sequence and today, I failed to follow that procedure and got to talking to someone instead of paying attention to what I was doing.
The lesson here is to establish a sequence to follow each and every time we assemble our birds for flight. Just the same as we do before we take off by checking and double checking our control movements to make sure we have the right airplane in our TX computer. Full scale pilots use a checklist before they take off and we at least need a mental checklist.
One mistake during takeoff that I've noticed were pilots either taking off without enough speed or pulling the nose up immediately after takeoff. Usually resulting in a crash over on the tree line or a snap roll into the ground at the end of the runway. Yes, some of our super powered models can be yanked off quickly and even head vertical but the average and normal airplanes usually have just enough power to fly it, much less go vertical. So here we are, in a climb right after takeoff with very little control because there is very little airflow over the ailerons and possibly adverse controls where the aileron on the left side actually causes more drag than lift and wham, you're in the dirt. The problem is amplified on scale models since their ailerons are smaller.
Torque, or the P factor, cause it to roll off to the left and ailerons, because of the lack of airflow, are useless. There are some high wing trainers where ailerons are useless when moving slow and with a high angle of attack and the only way to turn them is by using rudder because the rudder is still picking up prop blast. There is little or no prop blast over ailerons at very low airspeeds.
There is a simple answer here. Train yourself to lower the nose immediately after takeoff and build up airspeed which then allows your control surfaces to become effective and also build up as much speed on the ground before you even attempt to take off.
I pan-caked by 50 cc Yak 54 a couple of years ago. I had a moment of showing off when I pulled her straight up after takeoff. Problem was, my normally very reliable DA-50 chose to quit.
Here I am, with an airplane at 0 airspeed, starting to fall and the only possible way out of this was to push elevator and head straight down, hoping to build up enough airspeed to pull up and at least glide in for a landing. I don't know how high I was, maybe 200', and heading straight down and could only hope I had enough altitude to get her flying again and making an emergency landing. Well, I didn't have quite enough altitude. If I had had maybe 10' more I might have made it but no such luck, and I wiped out the landing gear and cowling.
The lesson here is that we must always resist the urge, the instinct, to pull back the stick and try and force the airplane to fly before it has enough airspeed because it simply ain't going to happen. It's physically impossible. Airplanes are not tree leaves that simply float to the ground. One must always maintain airspeed and thus some control, even in a dead stick power off situation and sometimes this means you have no choice but to land a long way from the runway. Just keep up that flying speed and try and make as gentle a landing as possible.
Ask me how I know.
"Although mostly trying to reach pilots flying larger aircraft, there is an excellent article in the November issue of Model Aviation about the various causes of crashes and I would encourage each of you to read the article and absorb what you see in it. Although not a problem with electrics, fueled aircraft absorb a lot of vibration and often cause some of the weaker receiver switches to fail and this is just a sample of what the article covers.
That's about it for now, folks. I would like to remind you that this Web Site is no better than the stuff you put into it so get off your duff and submit something for this Site. Jim Alvord, our Web Master, has been getting pretty lonely lately and I thought at one time he was going to cry for lack of loving attention. Reminds me of the Maytag repairman who got no calls.
So come on, folks, give Jim some attention. Send him some pictures of your flying site and airplanes in other states, your latest project, latest engine or whatever. I know Jim will appreciate it and think what a warm and fuzzy feeling you can give Jim by simply taking the time to write a story or make a report. His job is lonely enough as it is."
Bob Wilson
President, Macon Aero Modelers, Inc.
You can contact us easily by sending an email to:
Share our friendly skies!
Copyright © 2006 - 2010 Macon Aero Modelers Club. All Rights Reserved