April 2005 181
Frank Murray (L) of the
Sierra Sagebrush
Flyers in Gardnerville,
Nevada, sent in this
photo of his .91-
powered Uproar taken after a miraculous
“broken wing” recovery. Bob Heitkamp (R)
made a sensational landing after the Uproar
lost its empennage because of flutter.
FROM FRANK MURRAY comes a report
about a most unusual incident.
“Greetings from what is now the frozen
northlands of Nevada. I’m a member and the
safety officer of the Sierra Sagebrush Flyers,
an AMA-sanctioned club in Gardnerville,
Nevada. I have a most unusual tale to tell of
an in-flight incident that occurred last fall.
“I was flying my Tower Hobbies .60-size
Uproar, powered with an O.S. .91. This
airplane has been flown many times with a
.60 and the .91. On the incident flight, I was
doing a ‘split S’ at roughly half throttle
when I experienced a phenomenon known as
‘flutter.’ The entire tail section disintegrated
and separated from the airplane at
approximately 100 feet above ground level.
The photo shows a few pieces of the tail
feathers that floated down.
“The airplane somehow recovered to
level flight--albeit inverted. Had I rolled the
airplane upright, it most likely would have
tucked and the rest would have been history.
I regained control of the aircraft and flew it
inverted a while using power to control
pitch.
“A fellow club member, Bob Heitkamp,
offered to help and made the landing. Bob is
a much better stick and rudder man.
Amazingly, he managed to land the Uproar
on the runway.
“The damage to the Uproar was confined
to the lost tail feathers, a few scrapes on the
top of the wing tips, and the glow plug was
worn off on the inverted landing. The engine
mount was also broken beyond further use
and a bit of the top wing Monokote was
split. Other than that it survived to fly
another day—a fight to remember!”
Scott Toomey ([email protected]),
president of the West Valley Helicopter
Club, sent in the following update on the
status of the club in Peoria, Arizona.
“We formed our club in September 2003
with only three members. Now in 2005, we
are at 11 members and almost 17
helicopters. We fly mainly Thunder Tiger
Raptor 30s and 50s, but we do have one
Excel Gasser. We filmed a commercial for
the ‘Big Boys and their Toys’ show in 2004
and got the chance to see Jason Krause fly.
“Unfortunately, we just lost our field in
Peoria. (The club photo was taken the day
we vacated the flying site.) Nevertheless, we
do have a sector of State Trust Land in the
works. It’s roughly 1,000 acres and is on the
northeast corner of Bell Road and El
Mirage, in Sun City, Arizona.
“On behalf of the members of the West
Valley Helicopter Club, I’d like to invite
everyone to come out and join us, learn to
fly, or just watch and enjoy the day. We’re
planning a fun-fly as soon as our use permit
for the new site arrives.
“Fly safe.”
Members of the West Valley Helicopter
Club include Todd Wallin (L); Claud
Aragon, safety officer; Scott Wukuk; Mike
Lamb, vice president; Scott Toomey,
president; Bill Conroy, field marshal; and
Manuel Camacho.
December 12, 2004: Santa came early this
year and was spotted at the Orange Coast
RC Club’s (OCRCC) annual Christmas
party.
Santa’s helper, Betty Bliss, helped pass
out goodies to all the good little and notso-
little OCRCC boys and girls.
Larry Wolfe (L) and John Elliot were two
of the more than 60 OCRCC members who
enjoyed the marvelous Christmas meal,
thanks in large part to the efforts and hard
work of Joni Whitsitt.
Club president Fred Browns and his wife
Jackie were gracious hosts for the annual
OCRCC get-together. Later in the evening
Fred presented District X Vice President
Rich Hanson with the annual Harry Apoian
Memorial Award for his contributions to
the hobby.
It was the “Year of the Chicken.” An
OCRCC tradition of passing on a chicken
during the gift exchange at the annual
Christmas party has now grown from one
to nine chickens. Pictured are all of the
2004 proud recipients.
Till next time ... Keep ’em safe and Keep
’em fly’n.
Associate Vice Presidents
Darwin Barrie Scottsdale AZ (480) 946-8955
Don Goeschl Lancaster CA (661) 940-6066
Don Gulihur Santee CA (619) 449-8397
Marc Karpowich Logan UT (435) 752-3639
Dave Pinjuv Las Vegas NV (702) 656-1772
Frequency Coordinators
Eloy Marez Santa Ana CA (714) 540-4935
(See last month’s column for additional AVPs and
Coordinators)
Arizona / California / Hawaii /
Guam / Nevada / Utah
Richard Hanson
Vice President
PO Box 3312
Scottsdale AZ 85271
Voice/Fax: (888) 899-3548
E-mail: [email protected]
District X Web page:
Web site: www.ama10.org
District X Report
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/04
Page Numbers: 181