July 2004 169
NEWS FROM
COLORADO:
Gayle Jackson of the
Jefco Aeromod’lers
club sent in the
following article. It is
a reminder to always
take weather
seriously.
“It was
approximately 6 p.m.
one evening last
summer. My son
Matthew and I were
at a local park where
we were flying his
School Boy ARF—a
small RC trainer. As
we were fueling up
the airplane for
another flight, you
couldn’t help but
notice that bad
weather was moving
in.
“The sky was dark
and ugly. Breezes
were starting to stir.
On the distant
horizon you could see
little bolts of
lightning shoot down
to the ground;
however, we were not
too concerned
because they were so far away you couldn’t even hear them.
“It was in this setting that Matt took off for the start of another
20-minute flight. Shortly after takeoff, Matt handed me the
transmitter and said, “Here Dad, this flight is yours.”
“Roughly 10 minutes into the flight, the sky was noticeably
darker than it was at takeoff. Those little lightning strikes on the
distant horizon were still too far away to be heard, so I thought it
would be okay to go ahead and continue with the flight. Just as a
precaution, as to to not invite a lightning strike, I held the transmitter
at waist level with the antenna pointing approximately 45° down
toward the ground.
“After approximately 20 minutes of flight time, the Schoolboy
ARF ran out of fuel. Since it was Matt’s airplane, I thought he would
want to make the dead stick landing, so I gave the transmitter back
to him. As Matt brought the model in for a landing, it touched down
roughly 200 feet away.
“Matt and I walked out together to get the model. As we picked it
up, we turned off the receiver and transmitter and headed back for
the car. I was carrying the airplane and Matt was carrying the
transmitter. He was holding the transmitter waist high, with the
antenna pointing upward at approximately a 30° angle.
“Then it happened! There was a flash of light, and an earsplitting,
cracking sound from a much-too-close-for-comfort bolt of
lightning. It was so close that the flash and the sound seemed to
arrive at the same time.
“Now for the scary part. Just a fraction of a second before the
lightning strike, the transmitter’s antenna picked up a charge of
static electricity that gave Matt a nasty zap on his right hand. The
static charge was strong enough that Matt could feel it run up his
arm, down his torso, and down his right leg where it jumped out the
back of his heel on its way to the ground.
“Without delay, we collapsed the antenna and ran for the car.
While we were sitting in the car, we decided that the next thing on
our agenda would be to have dinner at Taco Bell and to not put up
another flight.
“They say that experience is the best teacher, but that’s only if
you live through the experience. We were lucky, and yes, we did
learn something from this.
“As an interesting side note, imagine what could happen to a CL
model flying on steel cables at the top of a wingover in this same set
of circumstances. I’m sure that we have all done dumb things at one
time or another; however, it would definitely be in your best interest
to not let this be one of them.”
The following photos are also from the Jefco Aeromod’lers’ club in
Colorado. Credit goes to The Jefco Aeromod’lers newsletter, its
editor, Michael Peterson, and the photographer, Gayle Jackson.
The partially built Cub trainer, a Kadet Senior, was donated by
Paul Fields. Dennis Butterfield finished building it, covered it, and
installed the radio, engine, etc. Art Baker donated the engine and
Andy Woodward is the airplane’s caretaker.
Cub Scouts have a field day at Chatfield. Pictured here with the
club’s trainer are the Cub Scouts from pack 418, Den 4, known as
the Tiger Cubs. On this day, December 6, 2003, each of the kids
got a chance to experience a little stick time and see what it’s like
to fly an RC airplane. The Scouts (L to R) are Garrett “Bubba”
Woodward, Jared Hodges, Colton Lalich, Devon Sparks, Dakota
Strock, Dustin Strock, Johathon Hughes, and Chase Rose. Adult
leaders (back) are Andy “Woody” Woodward, den leader, and
John Jr., volunteer instructor.
Andy Woodward’s daughter Erin poses with the club’s trainer
airplane just before she successfully flew it.
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, 1909 Wisconsin SW, Huron SD
57350
H. Michael Harrington, 6112 Ashton Ct.,
Ft. Collins CO 80525
Fred Hildebrand, 4015 Somerset Circle, Casper
WY 82609-3161
Nathan Lancaster, 3597 S. Kendall Street, Denver
CO 80235
Troy Lapp, 1619 Wichita Dr., Bismarck ND 58504
Travis McGinnis, 8027 W. 81st Circle, Arvada CO
80005
Don Moden, 410 Hart St., Salina KS 67401
Jim Ricketts, 4921 Fernwood Drive, Sioux Falls
SD 57103-5573
Jack L. Sibert, 3611 Kimberly Circle, Lincoln NE
68506-4524
Mark T. Smith, 14632 W. 50th Street, Shawnee
KS 66216
Frequency Coordinator
Steve Mangles, c/o Radio Service Center, 918 S.
Sheridan, Denver CO 80226
Colorado / Kansas /
Nebraska / North Dakota /
South Dakota / Wyoming
Russ Miller
Vice President
980 N. 3rd St.
Carrington ND 58421
Tel.: (701) 652-2321
Fax: (701) 652-2994
E:mail:
[email protected]
District IX Report
04july.qxd 4/22/04 1:52 pm Page 169
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/07
Page Numbers: 169