Ww.dec 09.newsletter.01

BRIAN HILLCOX – OBITUARY

The big news stories The recent weeks have been dominated, at least as far as Woodspring is concerned, by three items. As often happens, none of these is particularly good news, but then how many good news stories do you see on News at Ten? Firstly, and most worrying for us, is National Grid’s proposal to run power lines from Hinkley Point to Avonmouth. We have an update on events since the last newsletter. A lot has happened, whether it will bear fruit remains to be seen. Then we have the search for a Show Supremo for 2010. As you know Bruce is stepping down and the search for a replacement has been long and difficult. Have we found a possible solution? Read on to find out. Finally, and although annoying it is less serious than the above two items, comes the break in to the club house and theft of goods from the container. The latest news on each of these stories follows next, but first a few words from our sponsor:-

WE WISH ALL MEMBERS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A BETTER FLYING YEAR IN 2010

400,000 V Power Lines You will all have received my letter on this subject, and many will also have had National Grid’s invitation to meetings/exhibitions on the proposed routes. I went to two of their exhibitions as well as the Save Our Valley meeting at Nailsea. At the exhibitions there were a number of “suits” as some call them, on hand to give us reassuring answers to our questions. Some of these answers don’t stand up to scrutiny, but most of us are not aware of this, me included. The question that is being increasingly asked is of course “Why not run the cables under the Severn?” We got a variety of answers to this one, as National Grid realised they would need something more than “It costs too much”. They are now claiming it is not technically feasible to do this. Many doubt this. John Dudley drafted an extremely good letter to National Grid, setting out our position with regard to Route 2 at least. This is the route that passes over or very close to our field, which would have potentially disastrous consequences for us as a club. I am enclosing a copy of this letter with this newsletter. We issued this as a Press Release to the local press, with good results. At least two papers gave us an article of our own, drawing heavily from John’s letter and my Press Release, and including a photo to attract attention, while another added a couple of paragraphs about us onto another article about the cables. By sending the letter and Press Release by e-mail the press have an electronic copy, which they can very easily cut and paste into an article. It always helps to make their life easy for them! You cannot fail to have noticed the amount of press coverage for this topic in recent weeks, and it shows no signs of going away. Indeed once National Grid have announced their preferred route, probably in January, it will very likely hot up again. There are doubts as to the effect of the various protests on National Grid’s decision, but it certainly can’t do any harm to make sure that our opinions are known. After all we are the ones who are going to be affected by this, so let’s make sure they know what we think.

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I sent copies of our letter to various parties, including Liam Fox, our MP. I received an acknowledgement, together with a copy of a letter he has sent to National Grid, both of which I am attaching. Clearly the acknowledgement is a standard response, but it does show a change of attitude from his initial rather bland press statement on the subject. The meeting at Scotch Horn on Friday 27th November organised by Save Our Valley was very interesting, even though it meant I had to miss the indoor flying at Gordano again. A lot of people attended, indeed even though I arrived 20 minutes before the start time I couldn’t get into the main hall but had to listen to the meeting from the room next door. Save Our Valley claim that almost 1,000 people tried to get in. Liam Fox chaired the meeting, and it started late as he couldn’t find a parking space! He gave National Grid a hard time with his searching questions. He must have a good researcher on this one! National Grid basically ducked the issue of undersea cables, claiming that, apart from the alleged technical difficulties, they were obliged to choose the cheapest option. They said that when they apply for planning permission the relevant body might decide that undersea is justified, despite the cost. And pigs might fly. In consultations of this type numbers count, and although we stated in our letter that we were speaking on behalf of 150+ members, 150+ letters will have more impact. So if you haven’t already done so please write to National Grid stating your opposition to Route 2 at least, if not all overground routes. You might want to say that it would seriously affect and possibly prohibit your leisure/sporting activity. Don’t forget the Save Our Valley website, www.save-our-valley.co.uk, where you can find more details on how to make your views known. Letters can be sent to Freepost RRKX/EBGK/XXHT, Hinkley C Connection Project, PO Box 5689, London, W1A 4FG Or you can respond via their website www.nationalgrid.com/hinkleyconnection. Mike Stanton

WW2010 Supremo As you will know, Bruce has finally stepped down after some 10 years of organizing the Show. And who can blame him? Despite several requests from the Committee nobody has stepped forward to volunteer to take over from him. Perhaps it would be too much to expect a volunteer to come forward, so the Committee tried to identify likely candidates and I therefore approached a few members to see if they would be willing to take up the position. After all some people might be quite capable of doing the job, and have enough time on their hands, but just be too modest or shy to put themselves forward. Alas it was not to be, none of the members I spoke to has the time available. One or two said they would have been interested had they had the time. I thought I had it cracked when I approached a recently retired member, surely he would be able to help us? But no, it seems his employer still needs him, as he is now back working with them. They have a serious problem at one of their branches and he is holding the fort, probably for several months. At the last Committee meeting it was suggested that we see whether we could run the show jointly with another local club. Accordingly I spoke to a member who is also involved with the Weston club, the result being that I spoke to them last night. Several of them were keen to get involved and, subject to agreement of the details, we should be running next year’s show with the help of several of their members, one or more of whom will be the supremo(s). The majority of the work will still be done by Woodspring members, so we will not be losing control of the show, but rather getting fresh blood involved in the organizing, which can’t be a bad thing. The first 2010 show meeting will be held this coming Thursday, 10th December, at the P of O, at 8:00. Please come along to support us and see how you can help out.

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Break in On Sunday 22nd November it was discovered that the club hut had been broken into, the key for the container lock taken and our generator, strimmer and chain saw stolen, together with the cage they were in. Together with other factors, it was evident that the thieves had inside knowledge; they knew where to look, and more importantly where not to look, for valuable items. It is an unpleasant thought that one of our members might be involved in stealing from his own clubmates, but it is an obvious deduction. The police were very interested in the crime, but discussions with the CSI people led to them deciding they were unable to take any immediate action. Apparently fingerprints wouldn’t show up on the contents of our container, and unfortunately the thieves didn’t leave any blood behind. They do of course have details of the missing items, so it is possible they may be traced later. Fred made the Traders’ gate secure and I replaced the locks on the club hut and container, using the original key barrel for the club hut, so our keys will still fit. The keys to the container are no longer kept in the club hut, Fred and I have them. If you do need access to the container ask Fred or myself for a key, which we will want returned as soon as you have finished with it. Then on Monday 30th November the club hut was discovered to have been broken into again. This time nothing had been taken, and no damage was done, other than to pull the lock off its screws. It has been replaced, this time with bolts right through the door, with lock nuts on the inside. Coincidentally (?) some rubbish had been left at the main gate. Again the police were informed, at the moment I have yet to hear from them as to what action they may be taking.

October Club Meeting Our President, Bob Turner, gave us an interesting talk on his time in the RAF. I didn’t realise how much he had moved around. Like some of us (are you listening, Fred?) he converted from fixed wing to helicopters, which he claimed was not a traumatic experience (how come you heli flyers make such a fuss about it then?). He told us the story of a top brass who he was converting to helicopters, who nearly pranged the heli when doing an approach into a gathering of other top brass. Apparently on those early heli’s if you released the stick it immediately fell into a corner of the gate, with predictably interesting effects on the aircraft! The top brass in question kept letting go of the stick to open the window, very embarrassing. After Bob’s talk we had a discussion on which developments we should pursue, details later on.

November Club Meeting Ian Baston, Graham Stephens’ boss at Flybe, their Chief Pilot, spoke to us about his time in the first Gulf war, including an interesting technical description of the Pave Way laser guided bomb, and its use. He was flying a Buccaneer, shining a laser on the target, while a Tornado dropped the bomb. The first version of the LGB was controlled by a bang-bang guidance system, while later versions used a proportional system, with of course much better accuracy. Interestingly when I asked who present had experience of using bang-bang radio systems, nobody owned up; surely some of them (not me of course) must be old enough to have used single channel, or at the very least reeds. Perhaps they were too old to remember. On the other hand isn’t it short term memory which goes as you get old?

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Benchman Well, what a start – I see the local low-life scum have targeted our club premises again and relieved us of more everyday items – fortunately it could have been worse as unbelievably little damage was inflicted this time – one could surmise that surprisingly little damage was done, which makes this cynical old scribe, along with others, suspect strongly that ‘insider- dealing’ had either a direct or indirect part in this act of crime – what a sad state of affairs! Anyway, Mr. Plod seems to have taken a surprisingly high profile interest in the reportage of the theft, so let’s hope that the perpetrator and/or his informant gets his just desserts. Anyway, on to happier shedly gossip; The ‘Spacewalker’ has completed its maiden flight, and lives fully up to expectation – a tad rorty, according to Hon. Safety Officer, so a little work on the exhaust system has now directed the twin outlets to a less obvious position beneath the cowl, thereby hoping that the additional length of the exhaust pipes will tame the ASP 160 twins’ bark to more like the OS Geminis’ original. It is an interesting fact that despite the ASP version being an unashamed ‘clone’ of the OS, it gives almost 1,000 rpm more on the same prop, ignition and fuel combination, and that with only about an hours running so far, I am therefore very pleased with this motor, and when you consider the cost (less than half what you would pay for the Gemini) plus the legendary sales and back-up service of ‘Just Engines’ – bless ‘em – I really do endorse this brand of motor. I am in to fun mode on the Chipmunk – the canopy has been a labour of love, and has introduced me to the new skill of plastic heat-moulding. I do not possess a vac-forming machine, so the plug for the rear side windows was simply carved and sanded from a lamination of 3/8” and ¼” balsa, glued to a bit of ¼” ply, with a close fitting pattern cut to shape onto which some 30.thou clear plastic sheet was attached and heated until ‘medium-rare’ under the grill and pushed down over the plug; It took a few goes, and I wasted a couple of sheets of plastic, but the end result was more than acceptable on a sport-scale model. Tips to pass on – don’t try to mould with the plastic film still in place – I did, because I was trying to be a smartass and save on the masking up, but if you actually do want frosted glass, leave it on – the results would grace any toilet window! Also, the temperature is quite critical – use a lowish grill setting, and put the plastic (on its frame) supported evenly underneath the grill and watch it carefully – it will start to gently deform and rise up like a well proven small loaf, and then it will sort of flop back down into the cut-out – that’s when you hit it and push it down onto the plug – gently, but firmly, and then leave it until it has cooled right down. Incidentally, the rejects have been recycled and make pretty fair seat bases on the Chipmunk, which had a ‘crackle’ finish! Whilst on the subject of the canopy, if you haven’t used ‘Formula 560 Canopy glue’, made by Pacer technology, yet, then hot foot it to Cuffys’ emporium and buy a pot – its a darned sight better than any alternative, although it does need to be clamped in some way for a few hours – the job, not the actual pot, you twits! I have also started on another first for me, which is rib-stitching and taping, to go with the panel lines and rivet detail, which I have done before. Now bear in mind, this is not a proper scale model, only sport scale, which gives me the excuse to play about a bit, and make the occasional cock-up, so it’s all a bit experimental. Suffice to say, the initial effects are promising, and it really does bring the flying surfaces to life – so much so, that the un-taped undersurface looks positively boring – Oh dear, shall I have to do those now? I am still browsing the internet to find out what a proper lacing knot looks like, so if anyone out there actually knows or has a picture, please let me know as I may well have done it wrong. A good site for the simulated method is GlueIt.com and follows the links under aircraft, where there are several articles to help – many thanks to Martin Stirling for this, and also I blame him for getting me hooked with his Comper Swift! As Mr. Editor will be a bit ‘iffy’ if I go on any more, I’ll leave this subject for a future article, which will give me time to see if it really has worked or not – if there is no follow-up, it’s been a failure! In closing, is it only me that is a muppet when it comes to making a good job of soldering? That awfully nice Mr. Dare (Neil) has (rather foolhardily) offered to do a little teach-in on the basic techniques to those lacking in the skills – I suggested a club-meeting would be a possibility, but he would prefer to do it at his place, so if anyone is interested (Please!) get in touch with me and I will twist his arm further! I would still love some feedback, otherwise I might have to get contentious to provoke you all [that’s not like you!] – if there’s room, I have attached a photo or two of the Spacewalker. Sorry Mike, this edition’s pretty full, I’ll keep them until next time.

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Decisions about the Club’s future At the October meeting we discussed the various ideas which had been put forward as contenders worthy of investigation for possible adoption. As expected not all received widespread acclaim, but there was generally a definite yes or no, with no borderline cases. The winners were:A replacement for the boat, to get to Mrs Withers’ field to the south. A priority. Replacing the bridge to John Marshall’s field to the east. In hand. Telemetry to give wind details and a view on the website. In the light of recent events we need to consider security of the equipment. Mains water A roll-out awning for the club hut. A veranda in front of the club hut, to give a more comfortable viewing area. Not deemed necessary were:North South runway. We already have this, look at the map in the members’ handbook to see where it is. Mains electricity Gas heater in club hut Larger club hut It was also agreed that we would ask Peter Sweet to wipe the weeds in the caravan field, as they are taking over and the grass keep is being affected. When we dig out the berm we should use the topsoil to fill hollows. We also need to put some stakes along the edge of the rhyne to stabilize the soil under the runway run-off. We were told that the Weston club buy fuel in bulk, and sell to their members. The Committee considered this, but when raised at the November meeting it gained no support.

Indoor flying The last session of this calendar year takes place on Friday 11th December, as usual at Gordano Sports Hall from 7:00 to 9:00. We are not meeting on Christmas Day! Here are next year’s dates, put them in your diary:January 8th & 22nd, February 5th & 19th, March 5th & 19th, April 2nd & 16th. These have again been great fun, with a good turn out (see photo, taken by Tony Ells). I succumbed and bought a Vapor, just like a lot of others. It’s great to fly very slowly (yes, I can fly slowly, and I do fly models with tailplanes), just above the ground. In the photo you can see Mike Healy with his Citabria; Ross Floyd also has one and like so many of these indoor models they are only available in the one colour. You’re probably ahead of me by now, but if you see Mike ask him about the incident; he’ll be only too happy to tell you about it. By the way, he won the coveted Plunge of the Month Trophy for it (I know there’s no water in the Sports Hall, but who cares?)

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December Meeting - Skittles and Buffet Our December meeting is the usual skittles and buffet (FREE!) at the P of O, on Thursday 17 th December. Come along and have a good time.

January Meeting - Auction In January we have the usual auction, so get out all your unwanted goodies and raise some cash for that new model you’ve been wanting for so long. Thursday 21st January at the P of O.

Future of the E-Fly Many of you will be aware that Bob Everitt has decided to hand over the running of this to someone new. Just who that person is we don’t yet know, as nobody has come forward so far. Bob has run this event since its inception many years ago, indeed it was Bob who was the driving force behind it, and many of us have enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at what is a pleasant day out. It would be a great shame if this stopped, so if you would like to know more about what is involved before offering to take over, then talk to Bob or me. Mike Stanton

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Spektrum DSM2 Jim Mitchell and I came across a little quirk of the Spektrum system which should be better known. Normal “Failsafe” Operation If when the system is operating normally you switch off the TX to reproduce a failed signal in flight the servos return to the stick and switch positions on the TX that were stored during the binding process. Normally the primary flight controls are at neutral and the throttle set to idle. This means that when you start up the system the servos give a tiny jump as they spring into life. Simple, so what’s the problem? Switching on in detail ( the advised method) First switch on the TX, wait for 2secs for the TX to find 2 clear frequencies, then switch on the RX. The servos will initially go to the binding position then almost immediately take up the TX commanded position. As I said previously the servos give a tiny jump and spring into life. There is an exception though and that is with the switched outputs. If the binding position of the switches is not the required default position it can be very awkward. How can this be Awkward? Jim bound his latest Spitfire with the u/c in the up position. At first switch on, after carefully ensuring that the TX u/c down switch was selected, with the model resting on the ground with the u/c extended, the u/c servo started seriously complaining. When he lifted the nose to take the weight off the legs, the u/c flashed up then locked down. Rebinding with the u/c in the down position resolved this annoying problem. Footnote I personally like the Spektrum system which appears to be fairly robust but the information given in the instruction manual and with the RX’s is minimal. There is though quite a lot of interesting stuff at: http://www.horizonhobby.com/ under the news and articles tabs (including details of recalls) Tony Ells

For Sale Sarah Frazer has a couple of models for sale:Flair Giles G-202 (120) Mk.II, in very good condition. Though originally flown with an OS91FX it now has an OS 108FSR engine, which has only done six flights. Futaba servos fitted throughout. Includes carbon undercarriage, aluminium spinner, 1700mAH flight battery and remote glow connector. £160 Ripmax Easy Street, complete with: 3 New Ripmax SD200 micro servos (£14.50 each), a new 22T Magnetic Mayhem electric motor (£22.50). Built (95%), requires control surface horns fitting, but not flown, £35.

Contact [email protected] or Tel:0791 458 1095.

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TO CONTACT

Newsletter Delivery

The EDITOR

If you receive this newsletter by snailmail and wish to get it via email, please send a note to the editor.

Write to: Mike Stanton, 2 The Perrings, Nailsea, BS48 4YD

CLUB CALENDAR

Telephone 01275 852644 E-Mail: [email protected]

The COMMITTEE

Chairman Mike Stanton 01275 852644 Secretary Fred Rendell 01275 873931 Membership Secretary John Dudley 01934 838343 Treasurer Martin Wensley 01934 877001 Safety Officer John Menhennet 01275 836696 P.R. Officer Bruce McKay 0117 967 9653 Welfare Officer Mark Pilsworth 01275 791016 Committee Members: Warren Smyth 07970 473717 Pat Groves 0117 9685301 David Hodgson 01275 855054 Martin Stirling 01275 856219 Nigel Gordon 01934 528423

December 10th

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First Woodspring 2010 meeting

December 11th

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Last Indoor Session of 2009

December 17th

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Skittles and Buffet

January 8th

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Indoor flying at Gordano

January 21st

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Club Auction

January 22nd

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Indoor flying at Gordano

February 5th

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Indoor flying at Gordano

February 17th

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Warren Smyth talks about telemetry + demonstration

February 19th

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Indoor flying at Gordano

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