• The President's November Letter
 Bill Roy, CMAC President
As we head into Winter, our outdoor flying opportunities become limited. There has already
been snow at the Plymouth Field. Those of us who don’t mind the
cold should have plenty of opportunities to fly. For those who
don’t like the cold - there are several club activities including
building something for our Winter Build Contest to get us thru
till Spring.
Club Officers for 2010
Election of officers for 2010 will take place at the November
20 meeting.
President : Bill Roy
Vice Pres. : Elmer Crouthers
Assist. Vice Pres.: Ken Johnson
Treasurer: Andy Figlar
Secretary: Mike Brunetto
Membership Chairman: Stan Wysocki
It takes members who volunteer and make an effort to get things
accomplished. Thanks to everybody for volunteering again.
Sticking with tradition, we will have pizza and refreshments at
the November meeting when we have elections.
CMAC’s 34th Winter Build Contest
The April 2010 meeting has been selected for the month we will
hold the 34th Annual Winter Build Contest. Everybody has enough
notice to start thinking about what to bring, so start planning
now before it’s too late.
Sunday After The Meeting Fly In October 11
Our Fly In last month had a good turn out with every one having
a good time. Once again lunch was served by master chef Stan Wysocki. The club drawing was won by Jack Tyson receiving a RTF micro P51 Mustang and second place a gift certificate
went to Stan Wysocki.
Club Holiday Party is Dec. 9, Checks Received by Dec. 4
Last year we had the first holiday dinner where members of CMAC,
WHERCC and TILRCC all got together and shared in having a good
time. Everybody had a good time last year so if you didn’t make
it last year here is your opportunity.
This year’s will take place at Bella Vista Restaurant in Shelton on Wednesday December 9th starting at 7:00 PM. Please be sure to RSVP to Wes Wheeler at wesleywheeler@netzero.com as soon as possible. The cost is $25.00 per person. Send in your
payments to Wes Wheeler before December 4th so arrangements can
be made with the restaurant.
Indoor Club Flying
anuary will start the first of three indoor fly in’s at the Shelton
Community Center between CMAC, WHERCC and TILRCC. CMAC is hosting
the first event on January 15th, which is our regular meeting
date so a brief meeting will be held there. In February the White
Hills Eagles RCC will be holding their Second Annual Auction in
conjunction with the indoor Fly-In. Last year all of the three
clubs made some money at this event. This year should be even
better. The March indoor fly in will be hosted by the TILRCC
Meeting Location - We moved to Milford a few months ago
We have had a few meetings at the Margaret Egan Center and being
able to fly in the gym has been pretty popular so far. So if you
have a small electric helicopter or plane, charge it up and bring
it to the meeting.
As usual the Meeting room number will be posted as you come in.
Directions
From Route 1 in Devon
Turn onto Naugatuck Avenue, from Stratford its Right, from Milford
it’s Left.
Turn right on Matthew Street, ( less than 1/4 mile from Route
1 ).
The entrance to the building will be on the right.
There is parking on the side or in the back.
As you enter, there is a board that will have the meeting room
number posted.
Plymouth Field
The field has been the greenest this year from all the rain, unfortunately
all the rain made the bushes grow too. So before the bushes and
the trees that we cut to 6' that are now 10' get too far out of
control they all need to be cut back. The fence also needs a fresh
coat of paint.
The Rangers have been pretty busy besides making more trips in
and out of the area they placed large boulders at many of the
access areas for the bikes and quads.
Winter Gate Rules
WWinter gate rules went into effect after Columbus Day when the
first gate is kept locked at all times. With the first gate locked
cars can’t get locked in, so when we are at the field we can leave
the second gate open while making sure to lock it shut when the
last member leaves.
Make sure that our lock, the rangers lock and small pin is locked
to the large pipe. If not secured it has the chance of getting
taken or lost.
If you come to the field and the First gate is open, then you
have to lock the second gate closed just to be safe.
Following the rules will prevent somebody from driving in and
getting locked in.
You can check out the web site for the Army Corps of Engineers
Hancock Brook Lake at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/hnk/hnkhome.htm and if you go to recreation you can select model airplane club
and you can get to our web site.
The current weather and wind is also available from their site
at http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Plymouth&state=CT&site=ALY&textField1=41.6526&textField2=-73.0406&e=0
Monroe Field
The field is in great shape and getting up the road should not
cause a problem to anyone. The extension has been mowed also.
Monday thru Friday flying is 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and Saturday’s
are for electrics only from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Remember to fly safely, don’t fly alone, follow the rules and
have a good time.
Bill
• Gerald J. Pedrosa Sr.
PEDROSA Gerald J. Pedrosa, Sr. ("Jerry"), age 66, beloved husband of Mary Pedrosa for 43 years,
died suddenly on Monday, October 5, 2009 at Bridgeport Hospital.
His passion for aviation began at age four when he put together
a model Corsair airplane in the back room of his parent's store.
He built and flew many different kinds of radio-controlled airplanes
and had an extraordinary ability to take a paper bag full of discarded
broken balsa wood and airplane parts and restore them into a beautiful
flying machine. He was a member of CMAC ("Bulsa Bugs") and enjoyed
flying his models at the field in Stratford.
CMAC Secretary Mike Brunetto noted in the club minutes, "His long time devotion to this club
will be greatly missed. I for one will miss his humor, funny wit
and that silly expression we all came to know as Jerry Pedrosa.
Friday, November 20, 2009, 7:30 PM - CMAC General Membership Meeting
- Election of 2010 Offiicers >>> Margaret Egan Center, Milford, CT
Holiday Dinner
An opportunity for a get together of the three clubs, WHERCC,
CMAC and TILRCC club members and Wives, Friends and Guests
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 — Starts at 7:00 PM
At Bella Vista Restaurant, 94 River Road, Shelton, CT
Directions: From Route 15 Exit 53 for Route 110, Take R110 North
towards Shelton for 4.4 miles. The restaurant is on the right.
Cost: $25.00 per person - (checks should be made out to WHERCC)
RSVP: As soon as possible to Wes Wheeler wesleywheeler@netzero.com
All checks need to be received by December 4th
Mail your payment to: Wes Wheeler, 203 Fox Run, Huntington, CT
06484-2866
• NEW PHOTOS: CMAC's "Fall Fly-In " October 11, 2009
• TILRCC's "Float Fly" September 26, 2009
• PHOTOS: CMAC's "After The Meeting" Fly-In August 23, 2009
• CMAC web page is now linked from US Army Corps of Engineers
Site
The Plymouth Field of CMAC is featured as part of the Hop Brook
Lake site administered by The US Army Corps of Engineers at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/hnk/hnkhome.htm
• CMAC's Newest Members
Welcome to John Messeder who lives in Cheshire, CT and David Richards who lives in Thomaston, CT.
John tells us that he last flew about 1992 and is now getting
back into flying. He is currently working on a Hangar 9 Toledo
Special powered by a Saito .72. He has kept up to date with a
Great Planes Real Flight simulator that should help him getting
back into the air.
Be sure to say hello to John and David when you see them at the
field.
AL’S HOBBIES • NORWALK, CT • (203) 846-9932
"I’m only a phone call away... and with next day service
I can mail out most small items like hardware, props, radios,
engines etc.
"Plus we have many new items daily. Our prices are magazine competitive."
Please mention you saw this notice here on the web at www.ccmacbb.org
4th Annual CMAC Fun Fly and Picnic photos by Bill Roy
Thank you to all the members who came to the club fun fly and
cook out on June 28th.
All eighteen of us had a great time ,and with Stan Wysocki flying the grill we had a great picnic. It's too bad more of
you don't come out to fly with us.
I'd to thank Bill Roy, Stan Wysocki, SteveKozikowski for their help. Especially Bill Jennings who was not feeling well and still pitched in with the stopwatch.
Thank you to all. Rich Roberts CD
The winners are as follows:
Timed flight 1:30 to the second --- Mike Brunetto
Loops & rolls --- Julius Greenberger
Climb & glide --- Rich Roberts
Fast & slow --- Ken Johnson
Spot landing --- Jim Jenkins
Overall winner --- Tim Blade
Plymouth Field Flying photos by Al Morris and Ken Johnson
TILRC Float Fly photos by Ken Johnson
Boy Scouts Conn Jam09 photos by Bill Roy, Ken Johnson and Richard Doer.
CMAC’s 33rd Annual Winter Build Contest RESULTS
Held during our regular meeting Friday April 17th 2009
This Year’s Winners
• Scale - Bill Roy - S.E. 5a
• Stand off scale - Bill Jennings - Corsair F4U
• Sport - John Pavlick - Black Magic
• Trainer - Steve Kozikowski - Sea Kadet
• Electric - Ron Faanes - Katana
• Best in Show - Faye Stilley - UPS Jalopaplane
Judging headed by Rich Roberts with assistance from Fred Yankkocy and Carmen Luciano
WOW. Bill Jennings at 81 years old — now owns a computer.
The funniest thing ever was to see him tinkering with
the one thing he said he would never own — a computer.
What is THAT program on the screen? Forget the keyboard!
"You CAN teach an old dog new tricks," says his good friend Mike
Brunetto!
Spring Training
Well it looks like spring is finally here, actually it was pretty
hot today. So everybody is ready to grab their plane and run to
the field. Everything thing was fine when you put it away 6 months
ago, what could change?
How about your batteries? The transmitter and receiver pack are
usually NiCads. Did you store your Lipos at 50% charge? It’s pretty
easy to cycle them once to see if the capacity is at least 75%
of it’s rating.
Wood expands and contracts with the changes in temperature and
humidity. That’s why you need to get out the heat gun to remove
the wrinkles in the covering. What about engines that are bolted
to hardwood mounts or the composite mounts that are bolted to
a wood firewall? They should be checked for tightness. Using a
wood prop? Pull off the spinner and check to make sure the prop
nut is tight.
The fuel tank, how many times have you pulled off the tubing to
fuel it up? Every time you pull off the line and put it on effects
the sealing area. How hard is it to change a couple of lines and
while you’re at it check the fuel filter. To be really thorough
you could pull the tank, check the clunk, lines and brass tubing,
but that doesn’t usually get done until there is an unexplained
engine problem.
If you use the good old #64 rubber bands to hold on your wing
on you probably change them often, but those ? -20 nylon wing
hold down bolts don’t last forever either.
Using a rubber band to keep your antenna tight?
Taking some time and maybe spending a few bucks is a whole lot
better than saying I wish I checked that, while your putting the
pieces in the bag.
Bill Roy
• Photos from the WHERC Auction Fundraiser
Photos above are by Jon Sinish from CMAC.
Additional WHERCC photos by John Roy may be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnroy/sets/72157613008083517/
• Photos from the Christmas Dinner Party
The combined Christmas Dinner Meeting of three clubs, CMAC, WHERC
and TILRC, was a resounding success on December 9, 2008 as shown
in these photos by Ken Johnson and Jon Sinish.
Photos 1 and 2: Overviews of the tables.
Photo 3: The three winners show their gifts. From left, John Nowell (Pearl Harbor Poster); Rene Yankocy (Ladies Gift Bag) and Richard Dore (Grand Prize).
Photo 4: Joe Acosta jokes with Carmen Luciano.
Photo 5: Fred Yankocy and Bill Jennings compare their identically colored sweaters and similar, but not
identical, red stripes.
Photo 6: Janet Wheeler leads the group in a round table rendition of "The Twelve Days
of Christmas".
Photo 7: What's a model airplace club holiday dinner without some hastily
crafted paper airplanes? Moe Pitorie gave his to Christine Pimer to launch.
Photo 8: Len Levi, president of the TILRC adds his comments.
Photo 9: Rich Roberts looks on as CMAC president Bill Roy and WHERC president Carmen Luciano talk about the fun and fellowship enjoyed by all.
• Keep Your Membership Information Up To Date
Please send any changes in your address, phone number or E mail
address to:
Stan Wysocki at swysocki@snet.net or 203/378-0088
If you don’t receive the E Mail reminder that Jon Sinish sends
out on the up and coming meeting, then we don’t have your current
E Mail address ,so please update it with Stan.
• CMAC-Pilots Group on Yahoo
Many of you will recall that we started an email group on Yahoo
over a year ago. Several CMAC members have joined since that time
and it has been a useful tool to coordinate with other CMAC members
for flying together at our fields.
If you are a CMAC member and have not already signed up, I would
like to encourage you to join. Only CMAC members that join the
group will be able to use the features of the group. Not only
will you know when others a planning to fly, the group makes it
easy to tap into the knowledge and experience of the other folks
in the club when you have a question about a model your working
on. Items of interest are also passed along which may not be timely
to get in the newsletter.
I hope to see you at the field. If you have any questions, please
contact me.
Ken Johnson Phone (530) 689-6805 fly@rc-aircraft.info
REMEMBER, You Can Join CMAC Anytime...
You can join CMAC anytime and get your own subscription to the
print version of Balsa Chips which has more information than the
web version.
Dues can be mailed to: Stan Wysocki, 135 Spring Street, Stratford,
CT 06614. Make checks out to "CMAC". Please note any changes in
address, phone number, E-Mail or AMA number. If possible include
a copy of your current AMA card.
Better yet, come to the meeting.
* Regular membership $65.00 * Senior membership $50.00 * Junior
Membership $6.00
Rules for The CMAC Plymouth Field, a big field worth flying
How often have you heard someone say:
Don’t fly over the house
Don’t fly over the road
Don’t fly over the barn
The park is too crowded to fly today
Field is being cut
Planes too noisy
Field’s flooded
Can’t fly before 10
Can’t fly after 1
Can’t fly on Sundays
At Plymouth You Only Hear 1 Thing >>> Always lock the gate!
DIRECTIONS AND RULES FOR THE PLYMOUTH FIELD
<<Area Lodging and Campgrounds are at end of rules section below>>
GPS Field Co-ordinates are: N 41 8.800, W 73 01.863
Directions: Take Route 8 to exit 39. If you are coming from the South turn
right at the end of exit. If you are coming from the North, turn
left at end of exit. This is Route 6 going towards Plymouth.
Turn right at the first traffic light (about 7/10 mile up winding
hill from exit) if coming from Route 8. (Second traffic light
if coming from the North.) This is route 262. Take your second
left off of Rt. 262 (about 6/10 mile). This is Keegan road. Follow
Keegan Rd. to the end (about 1.1 miles) and then sharp right to
the first gate.
The Rules:
Winter Gate Rules In Effect Now!
Winter gate rules go into effect after Columbus Day when the first
gate is kept locked at all times. With the first gate locked cars
can’t get locked in, so when we are at the field we can leave
the second gate open while making sure to lock it shut when the
last member leaves.
Make sure that our lock, the Rangers' lock and small pin is locked
to the large pipe. If not secured, it has the chance of getting
taken or lost.
If you come to the field and the First gate is open, then you
have to lock the second gate closed just to be safe.
Following the rules will prevent somebody from driving in and
getting locked in.
You can check out the web site for the Army Corps of Engineers
Hancock Brook Lake at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/hnk/hnkhome.htm and if you go to recreation you can select model airplane club
and you can get to our web site.
The current Plymouth, CT weather and wind is also available from
their site OR directly at http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Plymouth&state=CT&site=ALY&textField1=41.6526&textField2=-73.0406&e=0.
Spring and Summer: Gate 1: The first gate is open all Spring and Summer and is locked up
on President's day. If you find the first gate open, leave it
open. If you find the first gate locked, open with your key. Close
the gate behind you and put the bar in and lock it.
When you lock the gate, CMAC's lock is on one side of the pin
and the Army Corp' s lock is on the other side of the pin. This
allows the police department, rangers and fire department to enter.
Please do not put CMAC's lock thru the bar restricting their access.
If you are the last person out, put the pin in and lock the gate
behind you. Again, only if you found the first gate locked. Proceed
to the second gate (about 2/10 mile). Unlock this gate or pull
the pin, go through and close the gate behind you and put the
pin in.
Spring and Summer: Gate 2: Proceed to the second gate. Unlock this gate, go through and
close the gate behind you and LOCK IT. The second gate is ALWAYS
KEPT LOCKED.
When you lock the gate, CMAC's lock is on one side of the pin
and the Army Corp' s lock is on the other side of the pin. Please
do not put CMAC's lock thru the bar restricting access to the
rangers, police and fire departments.
Never fly alone. Plymouth is in the woods. If you got in trouble,
people may not find you for days.
The Frequency Board: The frequency board is first come, first served except that if
there are more than four flyers present you can only fly once
an hour or once a rotation.
Maximum flying time is 15 minutes, timed from the moment you commit
to your frequency and when you land.
If you are using a frequency for engine test, you may do so for
no more than 15 minutes at a time.
There will be five flight stations. Four aircraft and one helicopter.
Four aircraft and one helicopter can be in the air at the same
time.
The frequency board will have the usual 44 frequencies and 9 HAM
frequencies. The 72M are numbered. The HAM frequencies are the
letters A-I.
RULES OF USE — MONROE FLYING SITE
1. No more than 9 pilots allowed up on the field at one time;
2. At the dirt road entrance (adjacent to the caretaker's house)
Flip Over Number Cards ( 1 to 9) Will Give You Access to the field.
Only 9 people can have access at any one time. Flip the number
over when you arrive and when you leave. If you intend to wait
for a spot, you cannot park on the property. Any disturbance to
the caretaker will not be tolerated. He sleeps until 12:00 Noon
and has asked us to respect his quiet and rest time.
3. DO NOT drive or park on the uncut hay area. Drive on the mowed
airstrip to your extreme left as you enter the field;
4. Always fly with your back to Fan Hill Road at the pits. No
flying from the other side of the airstrip.
5. Flying begins at 10:00AM, no earlier, and ends at 1:00 PM.
Electric's are OK from 9:00-10:00AM;
6. Engines MUST have a muffler that works and falls within the
96dB range per AMA regulations. 90 size planes and below are appropriate
for this flying site.
Do enjoy the privilege (to use and fly our models) the property
owner and the caretaker has given us. After all they control the
acreage—we are their guests and they make the rules.
Do thank the guys who mow and care for the field every week.
The Connecticut Model Airplane Club is a registered non-profit
organization dedicated to members mutual support for model aviation.
CMAC members exchange their ideas and opinions though a newsletter,
a monthly meeting held on the third Friday of every month (7:30
p.m. Sikorsky Airport, Stratford, as of January 19, 2001) and
other activities. Monthly CMAC meetings are open to the public.
The CMAC is chartered (#1311) by the Academy of Model Aeronautics
(AMA) national organization. http://www.modelaircraft.org
2009 Connecticut Model Airplane Club OFFICERS
President BILL ROY Phone (203) 876-9885 broy304@aol.com
Vice President ELMER CROUTHERS Phone (203) 378-2222
Recodding Secretary MIKE BRUNETTO Extra3000@aol.com
Treasurer KEN JOHNSON Phone (530) 689-6805 fly@rc-aircraft.info
Membership Chairman STAN WYSOCKI Phone (203) 378-0088 swysocki@snet.net
Newsletter Editor RAY HINDS Phone (203) 334-7207 rchinds@optonline.net
Newsletter Distribution BILL ROY Phone (203) 876-9885 broy304@aol.com
Webmaster JON SINISH Phone (203) 375-1919 sincom@optonline.net
This site has been on the web since March 7, 1998
and moved to cmacbb.org in the late summer of 2008
Thank YOU For Visiting!
May Your Flying Days Be Happy Days!
This page is frequently updated. Please e-mail any comments or
suggestions to C.M.A.C. Webmaster Jon Sinish — sincom@optonline.net
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