The July meeting was originally scheduled for the usual first Thursday of the month, which would have been July 6, but was rescheduled to July 13 because of the proximity of the originally scheduled date to the July 4th holiday. What started out as a heavily overcast day with showers and scattered thunderstorms tuned into a nearly perfect evening for an outdoor meeting. Attendance was quite good and there was a lot of flying by a large number of people with a wide variety of planes. In addition, there were some new planes that did not fly, but which drew a lot of attention.

Francis Sullo was flying his EasyStar. (There was second EasyStar being flown, but, sorry, I didn’t get the pilot’s name.) The EasyStar, sold by Multiplex USA, is a wonderfully stable, slow flying trainer/fun flyer that has some thermalling capabilities. Everyone who flies them, beginner and expert alike, thinks they are terrific.

George Cirish was flying his e-powered TwinStar, also sold by Multiplex USA. This is another terrific foam ARF that several other members have flown and liked very much. One would not suspect it at first glance, but this little twin is quite capable of mild aerobatics.

Jim Dawson was flying a sleek, delta-wing with trike gear called the Mach Racer. It is sold by Model Tech as a nitro ship, but Jim converted it to e-power. It is one speedy and highly maneuverable plane that does aileron rolls just as smoothly and arrow-straight as one could wish. At one point, Tim could not resist and Jim let him take the controls. Then Ray Zisa felt an impulse that he could not suppress and took control of the Club’s trainer that was being flown by a prospective member and took off after Tim and the Mach Racer in mock combat. Without streamers the outcome melee was inconclusive, but it was an entertaining mismatch.

Incidentally, the pilot of the Club’s trainer at the time Ray hijacked it was Tim Walker. Tim has just relocated to Connecticut from Virginia. When Tim first started to fly the trainer he was being assisted by Ray. However, it soon became apparent that Tim was flying the trainer only because his considerable air force had not yet arrived from Virginia. He is quite a good pilot, is very enthusiastic, and it is hope that he will soon become a member of the Club.

Another plane converted from nitro to e-power was Wayne Coulombe’s ARF Kadet Senior. I did not get the details about Wayne’s power train, but this is definitely not your Momma’s trainer. It’s got the grunt and maneuverability of a 60-powered nitro Senior.

Glen Drake had a neat looking plane called the Attitude. This plane was manufactured by Todd’s Models but, according to Glen, is no longer available. From the looks of this little plane, that is unfortunate.

Amongst the planes that stayed in the hanger for the evening were Rich Niezabitowski’s e-powered SR Cutie and a very nice looking, rebuilt 46-powered Somethin’ Xtra. Also in the hanger was Ola Nordell’s brand new, not ready, for prime time, Funtana sporting large tip plates and powered by a 91FX. Ola promised that it would fly by next week. This should be quite a performer.

Of the planes that did fly, one deserves special attention. That plane is Ray Zisa’s veteran big 4-stroke J-3. Ray was having one of his usually graceful and skilled flights, but while making a pass to the west above the E-W runway the plane started to behave erratically. At first it was thought that Ray was simply dreaming up a new maneuver, but, all of a sudden, Ray started shouting, “I’m being hit; I’m being hit.” Apparently all control had not been lost and Ray was able to get it down, albeit pretty awkwardly, in the high grass far past the west end of the runway. A couple of 4-wheelers were dispatched to retrieve it and when it was returned to the pits it was seen that there had been little damage. When the transmitter and receiver were turned back on the controls randomly flopped all over the place. Ray was flying on channel 35, but nobody else who had a channel 35 transmitter could be found. The cause of the mishap, apparently, remains a mystery. So, if you fly on channel 35, be very careful until the cause of Ray’s loss of control is diagnosed. Hopefully Ray will be able to tell us at the next meeting what happened.

At about 7:00 Tim started the formal part of the meeting, promising to keep it short. Minutes of the June meeting were read and approved, as was the Treasurer’s report. Tim introduced Alex Almazan, a new member. Welcome to the Club, Alex!

Tim then discussed some important safety measures. He focused on the need for pilots loudly to announce their intentions when landing (whether powered or dead-stick), making a low pass, doing touch-and-goes, or, especially, when going on the field. The need for others to pass on the announcements and for other pilots to acknowledge them was stressed.

Chris DeConti gave an up-date on preparations for the Labor Day IMAA and said that he still needed volunteers, particularly for set-up on the Friday night before the event and for parking and food booth attendants during the event. Please contact Chris at cdeconti@comcast.net to sign up.

Similarly, Glen Drake described preparations for the Electric Fly-In scheduled for Saturday, July 29, and requested volunteers for that event. Glen displayed some very spiffy directions sign that Chris DeConti made. Please contact Glen at gdrake_49@yahoo.com to sign up to help with this event.

Finally, Jerry Knoblauch and Tim Adams reminded everybody for the absolute need for courtesy and respect toward other members and, especially, toward visitors and potential members. We have a great Club and a bunch of great members. Simple courtesy and respect toward others will keep it that way.

Tim kept his promise to keep the meeting short and flying resumed at about 7:25 for the remainder of what was a nearly perfect evening. We should be so lucky as to have more meetings such as this one.

THINK SAFETY – FLY SAFELY