On the Fly Late-breaking news from Headquarters
Safety Bulletin: Fuel Spill
Although fuel spills in pit areas usually involve small amounts and are not considered a threat, an accumulation of spills may cause environmental and health problems.
Fuel is not environmentally friendly, and an accumulation may contaminate a flying site, spurring health concerns for current and future site users, even after a site has been abandoned by an AMA club.
There is also the potential for the spilled fuel to penetrate the underground water supply or otherwise move off premises.
Environmental law makes all responsible parties legally liable for injury, damage, and cleanup of polluted land. AMA's liability insurance does not cover claims or suits arising from pollution.
All fuel spills should be cleaned up immediately to avoid site contamination. Proper precautions should be taken during cleanup to avoid injury to those involved.
— Carl Maroney Special Services Director
Life Memberships for $1,500
For a contribution of $1,500, you can become an AMA contributing member with Life Membership privileges. As a contributing member of AMA, you advance the purpose of the Academy by financially supporting AMA programs.
Your Life Membership provides automatic annual renewal of AMA membership, which includes:
- A model flier's license
- Publication service (Model Aviation magazine, which includes news and monthly mailing)
- A permanent bronze license card
- A Life Member cloth patch
- Continuing recognition through issuance of a special "L" AMA number (for example, L330)
Your contribution for Life Membership is tax-deductible under Internal Revenue Service guidelines. The estimated value of the benefits received from your Life Membership is not substantial; therefore, the full amount of your payment is a deductible contribution.
A payment plan is available:
- Down payment: $375
- Minimum payments: $375 in each of the next three years
- Invoices for the three annual payments will be sent in October each year and are due by December 31 of that year
For additional information or to sign up as a Life Member, contact Jeannie Houser at [email protected].
— Colleen Pierce Membership Supervisor
On the Fly
New Life Members
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed new Life Members:
- Jeffrey W. Vargo (L229)
- Vitaly Tretyokon (L671313)
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
— Membership Department
Letters
Identifications will become as easy to use as engine displacement is for glow engines.
So now we have a Speed 400, 6-volt–winding motor being operated at 9.6 volts from an eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. My reference to a "12-volt charger" strictly meant that it was capable of operating (input-wise) from a 12-volt car or storage battery while at the flying field.
The particular charger I recommended (Watt-Age PF-12 Park Flyer AC/DC Peak Charger) can also be powered from 115 VAC house current for charging your batteries in your home or shop—an added convenience.
When you power up your charger, the first thing you do is set the charge current. You should be concerned with charge current—not voltage. In this case, the 1100 mAh battery, as explained in the article, requires a charge current of close to 2.2 amps. At full output, this charger can get to 2.0 amps, which is close enough for our purposes. The key point is that the charger may operate from a 12-volt input but is putting a controlled charging current and voltage into the battery pack; the input voltage is not the same as the battery charging specification.
This may still be confusing. The best suggestion is to follow my recommendations for all of the products: motor, propeller, battery, charger, and speed controllers. Assemble the entire power system and then install it in the recommended Pogo ARF model (covered in the August Model Aviation) and go out and learn to fly.
You will be pleasantly surprised at how fast the detailed pieces fall together. But again, a visit to a local flying field—especially one where electric power is employed—is worth a lot more than correspondence or Internet forums. Fly first and then learn all the subtleties later on. Good luck as you proceed!
Bob Aberle
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
