October 2004 171
I HAVE RECEIVED several requests
regarding instructions for sending material
to be used in this column. If you will check
the District XI Web site, you will find
instructions. The URL is shown above.
I encourage members to send photos
from their past summer’s contests and flyins
as well as community shows to share
them with the rest of us and to publicize
their events.
Keith Varnau sent in this report about the
10th annual A Day in the Hangar,
sponsored by the Boeing Employees’
Aerodynamic Modeling Society (BEAMS).
On June 12, 2004, more than 120
participants—youth and adults—helped
celebrate their interest in aeromodeling by
flying their advanced and novice rubberpowered
aircraft and gliders inside the
largest building in the world for the 10th
year in the Boeing Factory in Everett,
Washington.
Modelers enjoyed the competitive
atmosphere of a sanctioned AMA Category
III Indoor contest and informal flying.
More than 40 students and coaches of the
Science Olympiad and the Technical
Student Association programs attended an
educational clinic which covered such
topics as model repair, tips on the care and
feeding of rubber motors, and model
adjustment. Following the contest, the
clinic participants gathered for “lessons
learned.”
Throughout the day, advanced and
novice modelers flew their models under
the 95-foot beams and enjoyed the
camaraderie of the Northwest modeling
community.
BEAMS is in its 14th year and has the
support of Boeing leaders in engineering
and manufacturing. BEAMS focuses on
ways of inspiring our next generation of
modelers and aerospace professionals by
the use of designing, building, and flying
model airplanes together.
“It’s an awesome experience to fly
indoor models, especially at a Boeing
facility,” wrote Keith Varnau, BEAMS
facilitator. “It’s a wow experience each
time we launch our indoor models into the
seven million cubic feet of space. In light
of the 100th anniversary of the Wright
brothers’ first flight, we were fortunate to
have been able to fly inside the Boeing
hangar in December 2003 and June 2004.”
To find more about BEAMS, see the
club’s Web site at www.beams.ws. If you
have questions about the club, send an Email
to [email protected].
During 2003, the Whidbey Island Radio
Control Society (WIRCS) initiated a
miniature fun-fly during the summer
immediately before its scheduled meetings.
Flying started at 7 p.m. and lasted for 30
minutes. Airplanes flown were GWS Tiger
Moths and other aircraft of similar size and
power.
The site is the recreation area
associated with the Oak Harbor VFW and
located immediately behind the main
building. This is a grassy area surrounded
on three sides by tall coniferous trees that
are more than 100 feet tall. The area is
roughly 100 x 100 yards or slightly
smaller.
Events included a pylon race, a spotlanding
contest, and an all-up last-down. A
small prize was given to the winner of
each event and it had very little to do with
flying proficiency exhibited.
We found that there are some weird
downdrafts in certain locations and that
flying above tree-top height was a whole
different ball game because of the winds.
Only one aircraft was lost and this because
of a collision with the top of one of the
trees although some other people did have
arguments with the trees at one time or
another.
The local hobby shop, Performance
R/C, in Burlington, Washington, was
alerted to carry a few extra Tiger Moths to
keep this popular event going. Our typical
meetings have approximately 25-30 people
in attendance and we had roughly 12
aircraft for each of the fun-fly sessions.
We recently completed our first fly-in
of 2004. The CD, Mike Mosbrooker,
determined what the event would be after
going to the site and trying out the three he
had in mind to see which was most
compatible with the weather conditions
that night.
Mike’s motto is that if he can fly it,
anybody can, so our first event was a pylon
race. It was three laps around a course
marked at each end with a single balloon
tethered approximately three feet off of the
ground and roughly 30 yards apart.
This is a loose event because cuts are
not closely judged and those not flying in a
particular heat judged the winner. We ran
three heats and the three winners flew a
fourth for the club bragging rights.
After the last flight, we had an all-up
session just for fun—and it was fun. Two
airplanes had a midair and both flew on
without damage. Then a few brave souls
elected to try to break the pylon balloons.
They were advised this might not be a
good idea but tried it anyway. Always bet
on the balloons! They don’t break easily
and at the height at which they were
tethered, they can eat an airplane.
The big winner was Chris Barker. The
winner of the new GWS propeller was Dan
Simonsen as he had the shortest flight of
the night. And if winning the prize wasn’t
bad enough, the CD forgot to bring it and
had to present it later.
It was lots of fun but you better focus
on which of those little yellow airplanes is
yours.
Some of the pilots are ready to try their
luck include (L to R) Mike Mosbrooker,
Ken Woblick, Chuck Bower, Jim
Carpenter, Ted Andrews, and Chris
Barker.
The airplanes are launched for the final
race. Pilots are (L to R) Chuck Bower,
Ken Woblick, and Chris Barker.
Associate Vice Presidents
Rick Allison, 26405 SE 160th St., Issaquah WA
98027; E-mail [email protected]
Darrell Anderson, 132 Fifteenth Ave NW, Great
Falls MT 59404
E-mail: [email protected]
Al Culver, Box 86, Wilder ID 83676
E-mail: [email protected]
Jerry Holcomb, 1010 NE 122nd Ave., Vancouver
WA 98684
Reeves Lippincott, 4400 Gray Wolf Dr., Wasilla
AK 99654 E-mail: [email protected]
Gene LaFond, 840 Stevens St., Wenatchee WA.
98801 E-mail: [email protected]
Dave Legard, 3139 Kurt Drive NW, Salem OR
97304 E-mail: [email protected]
Mike Mosbrooker, 533 E. Birch St., Oak Harbor
WA 98277 E-mail: [email protected]
Frequency Coordinator
Phil Tallman, Medical Lake WA (509) 299-5102
District XI Report
Alaska / Idaho / Montana /
Oregon / Washington
Bruce Nelson
Vice President
807 E. Vicksburg St.,
Spokane WA 99208
[email protected]
Tel./Fax: (509) 467-1852
Cell: (509) 953-4418
District XI Web page:
www.yosemiteflash.com/xiama.htm
04oct.qxd 7/26/04 9:24 am Page 171
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/10
Page Numbers: 171