Greetings Burnaby Lake Flyers - HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007,

Here is how you can help

If you want to help creation of this newsletter each month please send us few lines, photos videos, etc. regarding our hobby and club activities.
Send emails to admin@hoods-up.com
Here is few ideas for topics that all members can share information on:

* field events and interesting stories from that month
* information about events and competitions (local and world events)
* comments/reviews and information about new RC aircraft models appearing on the market
* info and reviews on new RC equipment. If you got any new equipment
   that you want to recommend drop few lines of text about it
* describe your favorite flight move to club members or reveal a cool trick that you do in
  your flight routine. Share some flight wisdom with club members
* tips on assembling, modeling, matching components for RC aircraft
* photographs and video footage. Check latest videos on Hood's Up
* got anything for sale???? Let us know, we will let everyone know.

This Months Spotlight

In an attempt to better acquaint club members with one another, we decided to put one member under the spot light each month. Here you will learn more about the faces you see at the field very often. How many times has it happened to you that you know a face but you don't know the name of the person at the field? We may help each other if we just get to know each other better.

So this month the Spot Light has landed on Geoff Dryer.
Geoff has been a very active member last year. He built a bunch of planes and just looking at them you'll learn about Geoff. You watch Geoff fly and you learn some more about him.
He keeps his planes neat, he flies nice and like gentleman, he is ready to help others, very friendly and very funny too. Check his story and you'll see for your self..

This time I didn't ask any questions I just let Geoff tell his RC story. Here it goes.

My Return to Radio Control Planes (After a 25 Year Absence)
A New Bout of RC Fever (25 Years After)

A Spark Re-Ignites

In April this year I began idly thinking about my childhood love of RC planes. I hadn't thought much flying in the last 25 years since I hung up my fleet when I discovered girls (another time-consuming hobby). I assumed that my interest in model planes had waned over the decades. With no idea of what I was letting myself in for, I decided to wander into Norburn Hobbies. I was unprepared for the instant excitement that transformed me and revived my interest in flying as if no time had passed at all.

When I walked into Norburn it was like coming home. Who should I see but Al Bowers! I had flown with him in the Kamloops RC Modelers in the late seventies. It really is a small world. As I scanned the shelves I recognized some very familiar names. The Sig Kadet was my first radio controlled plane. I recognized other manufacturers such as OS and Futaba, but there were a lot of new names too, and certainly a greater variety of planes.

When I was in Norburn I asked about local flying clubs and was pointed in the direction of a few fields to check out. I checked out two that fly mostly glow powered (gas) planes. This seemed pretty familiar although the radios were much more capable than I remember. There I also saw a few electric planes, which were completely new to me. Not having forgotten some of the annoying drawbacks of the gas-powered planes, I decided to check out the electric-only Hoods-Up club in Burnaby.

I was absolutely amazed by some of these battery-powered aircraft. I assumed that electric meant small, but the 80-inch wingspan pattern plane was certainly not under-powered. Watching the variety of planes in the air increased my fever to get back into the sport.

Although I was not new to radio control planes, after my long absence it would be like starting over. In the past I had flown control line plane, gliders and gas radio control planes, all of course built from scratch or kits. There was certainly not much in the way of ARF other than plastic control line planes.

A Brief History

At age twelve I bought my first control line plane, a Cox .049 powered PT19. I crashed it many times but persistence paid off and soon I was turning circles without getting dizzy. I then began to build plane from kits. In the photo below (wasn't I a cute kid!) [photo one] I am holding one of my many small control line planes. I recall that this one was built from a kit. After a year I graduated to the big steel lines and planes with .25 size engines.

Eventually I got tired of going in circles and after a conversation with a co-worker of my father, I went to visit the flying site of the Kamloops RC Modelers. Wow! I was amazed and instantly hooked. Now all I had to do was try and fund this obsession (I mean hobby). After working two jobs through the summer and fall I was able to save enough for half of a Kraft 5 channel radio. This cost $350 in 1976 dollars, which was a lot of raking leaves and delivering newspapers. For Christmas I got the other half of the radio, a .40 size glow engine, and a Sig Kadet trainer (kit). After many a cold evening in the basement I managed to complete my first radio control plane by Spring. In the picture below you can see my yet uncovered Kadet and my Kraft radio. Do you like the green shag carpet?

Learning to fly goes a lot slower when your father will only take you to the flying field once a week, but eventually I did manage to get the hang of it, thanks to helpful instructors such as Dave Evans. Dave was an inspiration to me because he was a great pilot and also because he built the most fabulous airplanes. Dave built a Spitfire from scratch that had little globs of glue for all the rivets. This is part of the reason that my current project is a Spitfire although an ARF Spitfire still seems like cheating to me.

After crashing my Kadet and a few others to follow I dabbled in gliders, boats and even robots. Below is a photo of a two-channel plane powered by a Cox engine. This was my first "park flyer". I recall the demise of this plane while attempting to fly between the goal posts at the local school.

Eventually my interest in girls overwhelmed my desire to sequester myself in the basement building planes. By grade 12 I had decommissioned my fleet.

Back to the Future

My decision to go electric was partly based on my memories of the annoying aspects of gas. I had crashed one plane due to an engine quitting for no apparent reason and another plane finally fell apart after becoming oil-soaked. The Burnaby club was also close to home, had a nice big landing area, and most of all, a friendly bunch of flyers.

"I bought a new ESC with a 2 Amp BEC which is compatible with my 4S LIPO that increases the RPM at WOT which will result in a faster ROG."

After hearing a few of those kind of phrases I realized that there was going to be an electric flight learning curve, but this did not dampen my enthusiasm.

Brushed or Brushless?

After some thought, and quite a few hours talking to Hoods-Up club members, I decided to purchase an introductory level Futaba radio and a Hobbico SuperStar EP ARF. I also bought the G3 simulator software. The simulator is another example of the huge change in technology from 25 years ago. It is certainly a lot cheaper to press a reset button than buy a new plane.

The SuperStar EP came with a brushed motor and a NiCad battery. Surely this would be just fine. In mid April I arrived at the field on Saturday morning, charged my battery then proceeded to find someone to take it up. Neil Achilles was nice enough to oblige. I guess I should of taken the fact that the plane did not have enough power to take off from the ground as a sign, but undaunted on the second go, I gave it a solid toss into the air. Neil trimmed it out, then handed the controls to me. I was hooked again! After about five minutes the battery began to fade so I flew a wide circle and managed to land it on my own. Pretty good, considering my last flight was in the seventies. Truthfully, I had spent about 40 hours on the simulator. This helped me immensely.

The weather faded and we were done for the day. The next weekend I was out for more. This time I managed to get it into the air (barely) from a ground takeoff. I had added larger wheels (modification #1). I was no sooner in the air then the battery began to fade, then the wind blew me over the parking lot, then the power lines were closing in. I handed the transmitter to my instructor who managed a soft landing into a tree.

The damage was minor, but I was off to Norburn Hobbies to begin modification #2. After purchasing a brushless motor, brushless speed controller and two Lipo batteries I began to realize that the plane itself was an minor line item in the overall cost of flying. With the new motor and batteries the plane flew like a dream. I made a few other modifications including a steerable tail wheel, but I flew the plane for over 250 successful flights. Yes, I did nose it into the ground on takeoff a few times, and I did plant it in a tree again, but overall I had great success.

Hello My Name is Geoff and it has Been 24 Hours Since My Last Flight…

One week I managed to fly six days in a row. On some days I flew ten flights. First my wife was happy, then concerned, then considered an intervention. There is a fine line between hobby and obsession and I happily crossed it. Seven airplanes and one new radio later and I am still having fun. One of the other benefits of flying is the joy of being around other people who love it as much as I do. What a great group of friendly and incredibly helpful club members!

Since my first flight in April I have lost count of my total number of flights. To give you an idea though, the total model memory on my current radio (total flying time) is over 75 hours. This does not include mire than 250 flights on my SuperStar EP.
Here is my fleet in order of appearance:

Hobbico SuperStar EP (now sold)
Great Planes ElectriCub (little cub)
E-Flite 25 Cub (big Cub)
E-Flite Brio 10
Hyperion CAP 232 25e
GWS Slow Stick (with floats)
Hyperion Spitfire "Grey Nurse" (with retractable landing gear)

The Spitfire is my current project and I have promised myself that I will not buy any new planes until April again. I see that Hyperion is coming out with an 85 inch YAK. Oh No!

In the photo below you can see that I am going to have to expand my shelf.

Geoff Dryer

....thanks Geoff. As an addition here is Geoff's latest project, a Spitfire. Some specs and photo is below. I'm sure there will be more projects in near future.
(RastaFly)

Hyperion Mk8 Spitfire (ARF with added scale details)

- 1/12th scale Mk8 'Grey Nurse' Spitfire
- 1230 mm, 48 inch wingspan
- 1585 grams, 56 oz (including 3700 3S battery)
- mechanical retractable landing gear
- Hyperion Z3025-08 motor (500 watts) and Hyperion 50A speed controller
- FlightPower EVO 3700-3S battery
- isolated 370 mah battery for the retract servo

New Equipment this months…

AIGHOGS products

This month I decided to point you to a very interesting site http://www.airhogs.com/
It is beautifully crafted in Flash so check it out. There is a lot of information too and numerous videos.
I guess you all remember Airhog Aero Ace small 2 channel plane that we all went crazy about for a while. Almost all the guys that are frequently on the field had one.

Remember?
Go to this site and experience a difference in visiting online stores. Go have fun you don't have to buy anything. : ) From Main Page go to Lounge and look at all their products. You can also play a free simulator game.

Well .......... Airhogs continues with their line of interesting products and now you can find even a Hydrofoam produced by them. It is not fully controlable since it doesn't have ailerons but 2 motors provide ruddr function and there is an elevator at the back that would get you airborn easily.

Airhog products are designed to be used even by kids but even experienced flyers can have a blast flying these models. Airhogs also makes helicopters and other small aircraft

Here is the video of one of our members (Brad Trent) testing out his Airhog hydrofoamie on our field's parking lot. Here is the link to view BRAD'S HYDROFIAM VIDEO (QuickTime 12.2 Mb)

(RastaFly)

Member's Projects

Jeff Franchini's Piko Stick

I never liked any of the Stick models, and I disliked the GWS Slow Stick the most. A GWS Pico Stick-F got me back into the hobby a few years ago, and it turned out to be a great little trainer. After I was done with it, I gave it to my friend Earl Schmidt, and it sucked him back into the hobby as well. Then Dave Scoular let me fly one of his Slow Sticks, and we had a dog fight with ribbons attached to the tail. I had so much fun, I went over to Norburn's and bought one.

That night, I started to assemble the Slow Stick. I didn't want to have the same color as everyone else, so I painted it yellow. I got some fancy wheels for it, as well as a set of floats. I anodized the aluminum tube black. Now that I had this fancy Slow Stick, I didn't want to fly it in combat (which was the original reason I got it). Off to Norburn's again to spend another 27 bucks for Slow Stick number 2.

When I was picking up Slow Stick number 2, I saw the display of aluminum and brass tubing from K&S. The little 3/16" square aluminum tube reminded me of a miniature version of the fuselage tube on the Slow Stick. That's when I got the idea to try and build a micro sized version. I traced all the Slow Stick parts and scanned them. I then imported the scans into AutoCAD, and scaled them down to 40%, and printed them. I now had templates for a 18 inch wingspan Slow Stick.

I had some 3mm Depron sheets, so I cut out all the foam parts from this. Now how to get the under cambered airfoil? I've read about people making creases in the foam on the underside of the wing and then forming the airfoil by hand.
Others have worked the foam on the edge of a table and made the airfoil shape.
I tried both methods, but was not happy with either. You had to over bend the foam and then it would spring back over the next few hours. It seemed impossible to get both wings the same. I decided I had to form the airfoil with heat somehow. It works on meat trays from the grocery store, so it should work for the airfoil shape I wanted. I ended up making a jig out of tin that I formed into the exact shape I wanted. I just hold the Depron on the top of the jig and heat the bottom with a heat gun. Once the jig heats up to the right temperature, the Depron begins to bend. A few more seconds of heat and it forms perfectly over the jig. Both wings have the same airfoil and they are permanently formed into the desired shape.

Next I scanned the Slow Stick decals, and scaled them down 40%. I glued the foam bits together and then onto the aluminum fuselage stick, and that's what you see in the pictures. Power system is a GWS LPS-B2C and a 250mAH lipo. The servos weigh 3.3 grams, and the receiver (Berg 4L) weighs 4 grams. It should come in at about 60 grams when ready to fly. I made a few more and gave them away as Christmas gifts to some friends. Maybe we'll see one or two at the Chilliwack Red Barn indoor fly-in on Jan 20th.



RastaFly's Comments on Pico Stick

First of all I want to thank Jeff for preparing a kit for me making me a test pilot for the little thing together with several other Hoods-Up members. He also gave us specifications for all electronic components that we need to get to fly this puppy.
I LOVE THIS THING. This is by far now one of my favorite planes. It flies indoors, outdoors, in my yard and my back lane and I love to land it to my garage driveway.


This thing flies almost like the bigger brother although it feels little "heavier" than its big brother. Nice thing is that it flies slow enough and uses such a small prop that it really poses no threat even if you fly it in a park. Amazing is that this thing takes off the grass on our field. Many times I found a patch with little shorter grass and I managed to take off with no problems. I also landed it on the grass very nicely couple of times and few times I even grabbed it with my hand by the wind when it went by me in the slow pass flight. Once I got a hang of it I started doing loops and some nice nose down roll stunts. Today (31.Jan.2007) I flew it on the field with quite a bit of a wind at my back and it almost did some nice hovering for me. However I was really pushing the little guy and tried flying inverted (very hard or almost impossible with dihedral wings) which resulted in one of the wings snapping off when I tried finishing this stunt with the loop that would bring it down to normal flight. I was really pushing it hard. Two minutes later after few drops of CA and kicker it was back in the air.

Here is few videos from indoors Chilliwack fly in.    VIDEO 01 (QuickTime 8.3Mb)    VIDEO 02 (QuickTime 6.4Mb) 

As conclusion I have to say that JEFF FRANCHINI RULES. : )                (RastaFly)

RC Flight Simulators - REFLEX XTR

Winter time is great for RC Flight simulators so we will continue to present a few in this newsletter.
You can also go to Norburn Hobbies and check some of these simulators in action. Dean has put G3 and few others on a computer dedicated for this purpose so you can try them before you decide to purchase.

Anyway .... this month I'll give you few words about Reflex XTR simulator.
One great thing about Reflex is that you connect it to your real JR or FUTABA radio that you use on the field. You can easily program a model on these radios just to use with Reflex. I find this a great thing since you practice on the radio that you will use on the field.



I bought REFLEX XTR some 8 months after I started flying. I bought it mostly to train on helicopters because I wanted to step to another world of RC modeling.
Reflex proved to be a great RC flight simulator and a great step forward from free FMS. The price was about $250 CDN and I'm glad I paid this much for the sheer fact that it saved me far more money by preventing numerous crashes I could have while learning to fly a helicopter.

Simulations in Reflex are very real and both planes and helicopters feel exactly like real models. Heavy big planes and helicopters feel way different to smaller machines just like in real life. One of the great features in Reflex is that you can set all the parameters for the given aircraft to modify its flight characteristics. My focus was on helicopters so most of my adjustments were done on T-Rex SE 2006 model since I fly one in real life. I managed to modify a model to the point where it felt exactly like my T-REX.



In Reflex you can also change simulation parameters where changing wind parameters is the first thing that comes to mind. Other things that you can change here are location of aircraft, launch altitude (for gliders and foamies with no landing gear), back light simulation, probability of radio or engine failure and many other parameters.

Many models and fields are at your disposal and most of this you can download for free from the internet unlike G3 where you have to buy all the expansion packs that will give you more models and fly fields.



Reflex gives you many models from "real" ones to very exotic ones like this Bat Flyer on the image above. Never tried Banchee in real life?? No problem, ......... try the virtual Banchee (Dave Scoular claims it feels very real and we all know that Dave is a Banchee guy). Never flown a helicopter??
Try flying virtual T-Rex before you buy one and crash it

Pick a different flight site from the extensive library. Many flight sites are available for free if you search the internet.

Note that on the first image for this article you can see our Burnaby Lakes field and Dave Scoular on it as well as my inverted hovering T-REX. One of our members (Nick Ivanov) has taken 360 photo shot of our field that I just placed in Reflex. Downfall is that the collision model doesn't fit this image. I tried contacting the Reflex manufacturer for an advice on how to change this collision model (I am a 3D artist and I could do it easily as long as I can convert a model to fit Reflex) but had no luck . I was pointed to forum where I couldn't find a way to do it. Maybe I didn't spend enough time on the forum.

Anyway this worked well for me since I needed our field photo only for orientation.

Reflex always shows the photorealistic environment unlike G3 that practically has two modes of which one is "Photo Fields". Reflex only has "photo fields" and collision with objects happens an all the fields with pretty good accuracy so Reflex really doesn't need the other mode like G3 where collision and other simulation parameters are emphasized.

One of the great features in Reflex is ability to record a flight and play it back later. Bad side of this is that there is no transmitter stick movement shown in the corner of the window like G3 has. Never the less you can slow down the recording and see some details of the flight which I found useful while learning to perform some stunts on the helicopter.

All in all Reflex is a great simulator that is worth the money spent on it.
If you want to download a demo of Reflex go to their web site
http://www.reflex-sim.de
Look on the left navigation bar and find "Demo Versions"
This will lead you to the page where they'll want you to purchase it for 0.00 EUR
Don't worry about it. Just follow the links to put this in your "shopping cart". Again no worries you won't be charged anything and you won't have to give your credit card details or anything alike. It is just a system to download the demo.

Next time I'll get someone to put few words about G3 simulator. If you have G3 and feel like writing an article about it please contact me at admin@hoods-up.com

I am also aware that last time around I promised to add more models for free FMS and I will but it will have to happen in next issue of the Newsletter. I'll also add some of my flights in Reflex that could be played back in Demo version.

Friendly Advice for flying at the field…

The club executive is preparing set of rules and recommendations that we will let you know about as soon as they are available. Meanwhile PLEASE use common sense and follow these general rules:
* Never fly over the cricket pitch if cricket players are using it.
  In general never fly over people on the field.
* Make sure your aircraft is always in front of you. In other words never go behind the flight line.
  Do not ever attempt any maneuvers that will get your aircraft behind the flight line.
* If you see three pilots on the flight line and you intend to be the fourth one,
  make sure you have a spotter with you.
  This way you can focus on the aircraft and do "your thing" while the spotter makes sure
  that other air traffic will not be in your way. It's like having a private butler, hehehehhe
* If there are five pilots on the flight line make sure you WAIT until one of them lands.
  Remember there can be only 5 pilots on the flight line.
* If you are flying a helicopter make sure you are located at the upwind end of the field.
  This means you will be first or the last guy on the flight line depending on the wind direction
* If you are flying a helicopter consider your flight style and adjust it to the given situation.
  If you are not flying the circuit (like planes) but rather performing some 3D moves, make sure you
  are on the far end of the field and that all other pilots are aware where you are and what you are doing.
* If you are flying a 3D plane follow the same rules applicable to helicopters
* NEVER turn your radio ON unless you make sure your frequency is free.
  Go to the board, put your pin on the board, and turn your radio ON.
  After your flight take the pin off the board and turn OFF your radio.
* DON'T DO ANYTHING ON THE FIELD THAT YOU WOULDN'T LIKE
  ANYONE ELSE TO DO WHILE YOU ARE FLYING

Fall/Winter Flying Schedule

These are our official, (scheduled) allotted times. No one else may use the fields during these times other than flyers and your executive worked hard to get these days for you, make sure that they’re used!!!

Wednesdays: the whole day until Dark
Saturdays: the whole day until Dark
Sundays: the whole day until Dark

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are casual times.

This usually works on "first come first served" basis. If no one is using the field, we should be able to use it as long as we put the signs up and take them down once we are done. If lawn mower man is working on the field go and talk to him. They are usually fine with either taking a break (they like to sit and watch us fly) or quickly finishing that side of the field.

Coming Events:

Fraser Valley Indoor Fly-in

For those that are interested,

Fraser Valley Indoor Fly-in
Heritage Park Chilliwack (Red Barn)
Jan 20th, 2007 9AM to 10PM

Flying Fee $10.00

For any more info contact:
Jim Copley 604 824-0944 jc1112@telus.net

Happy Holidays
Richard J. Mrazek

Fun Stuff - NEW GALLERIES

What is this guy doing. Advertising his school in a funny way or displaying his teaching skills?
Decide your self.

And here is a couple of interesting links. A crazy Frenchman Yves Rossy becomes a first jet wing flyer.
Look at the amazing videos on his web site.

JET MAN - first human to fly with Jet wing attached to his back CRAZY STUFF must see
MICRO PLANES - site dedicated to modeling small RC aircraft

Yours truly
Dejan Stanisavljevic (RastaFly)
Burnaby Lake Flyers