THE MASTHEAD PLANE
You say you want a streamlined pane? You say you want another obscure German design? Have I got the reconnaissance bomber for you!
The Heinkel He 119 was designed around the use of two Daimler-Benz inverted V-12’s cou0pled in tandem to a single prop. The engines were buried in the body, with the drive shaft coming forward between the two pilots in the greenhouse nose. There was no radiator as such, with steam being condensed between two layers of wing skin.
Originally designed with no guns, like the British Mosquito, the plane was to carry up to 1000 kg of bombs in an internal bay. The prototype hit 357 mph in 1937, so the Germans immediately tried hanging an external radiator on it, putting in a pair of machine guns, and putting it on floats, for Pete’s sake! Eight airframes were built, with the fastest hitting 370 mph on an outbound leg of a speed test, before crashing on the return leg.
The plane spanned 52 feet, 2 inches, and was 48 ½ feet long. It had a range of just under 2,000 miles. This should be one of the simpler planes for the modeler. The round cross-section body and retracts should be the only moderately difficult design parts. On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about a canopy sticking up in the airstream!
PROPWASH
VOL XXX, No. 6 June, 2007
Arden McConnell president 313-274-3185
Mike Cuba vice-president 734-522-7638
Tim Kirsten secretary 313-565-6093
Terry Kozlowski treasurer 734-354-1928
Dennis Gazdecki safety 734-442-3402
Bobby Harmon field 313-541-4204
Al Zerber membership 734-427-4872
Kathy Kendzior at-large 313-274-1402
Ray Piper at-large 313-532-7286
Mike Cuba editor 734-522-7638
Charlie Thomas swap shop 313-565-2973
Bob Mayhew archivist 313-291-6855
Stephanie Thomas webmaster 313-565-2973
website http://detroitaeromodelers.org
RAFFLE WINNERS
Ken Goodlesky won the Nankin Hardware & Hobby gift certificate door prize at the June meeting. The raffle prize, a three channel radio, will be drawn for at the July meeting.
ADVANTAGE HOBBY ONLINE
Arden McConnell has enrolled the DAM with Advantage Hobby, at advantage hobby.com. When you sign in with the club name and ID code, then purchase something from them, the club gets a kickback that we can then use for the club raffle. The prices are comparable to those you find in a brick and mortar store. The ID code is Q98E7J. I’ve been told that you can’t find out whether or not an item is in stock until after you’ve ordered it. Caveat emptor!
INTRODUCTORY PILOT PROGRAM
The introductory flight program is going well at the field. Let’s keep it up, every Tuesday at 6 p.m.!
SPOTTERS
Andy Pesonen talked about the need for spotter training for the club. For the record, a spotter is NOT supposed to be a second pair of eyes watching the pilot’s plane, and commenting on his or her skill or lack thereof. A spotter is there to keep an eye on the OTHER planes in the air, with the object being to warn the pilot of approaching trouble. The spotter is also there to relay warnings to other pilots and their spotters, such as “Dead stick!”, “Landing”, etc.
CLASSIFIEDS
Arden McConnell is thinning out his collection. Here is what he has for sale:
¼ scale Fly Baby, 80”, w/ 33ccHomelite, $500.
Giant Stik, 73”, 31 cc Ryobi, $400
Beaver, from MAN plans, 94”,OS160 twin, Gemini, $1,500.
1/6 scale Gold Anniversary Cub w/floats & wheels, 78”, Super Tiger 51, $250
Kadet Senior, 78”, OS 70 Surpass, $250.
Smith Mini Bipe, 54”, Super Tiger 75, $250.
Large Glider, 111”, $85
Airtronics Olympic II Glider, 100”, $85.
Glider, Cox .09, 78”, $65.
Glider w/ ailerons, Magnum GP 10, 78”, $65.
AR1 Slope Soarer (white), 74”, $50.
AR1 Slope Soarer (striped), 74”, $50.
Bud Nosen ¼ scale Cub, boned out, 110”, $150.
Balsa USA ¼ scale Pup, boned out, 77”, $195.
Goldberg Super Chipmunk w/extra fiberglass cowl from Aeroglass, NIB, 64”, $150.
Midwest Super Stearman, NIB, 65”, $190.
Goldberg Ultimate 10-300 w/ extra fiberglass cowl, NIB, 54”, $155.
OS .46 LA blue (two of them) NIB, $65 each.
Call Arden at 313-274-3185
Larry Berman is selling a Hobbico NexStar, flown once. Comes RTF with an OS .46 engine, Futaba radio with AFS pilot assist system, NexStar flight simulator with radio cord, charger, ½ gallon of fuel, fuel pump w/ extra long line, extra prop, extra glow plug and wrench, electric starter, starter battery & charger, glo plug quick connect & glow battery, and a custom case for all items. $400. Call Larry at 248-615-8525.
MEMBERSHIP
We are now at eighty-five members. Our two newest members are Robert Nill and Eric Joy. Welcome!
Club meetings are at the Redford Community Center,
12121 Hemingway, in Redford
7/6-8 Thunder Over Michigan
7/10 business meeting 7:00 p.m.
7/12 Brookdale air show 11:00 a.m.
7/15 July fun fly 5:00 p.m.
PROPWASH ON THE WEB
The PropWash is the second-largest annual expense the club has. Postage alone runs to about five dollars per member per year, with printing adding another thee dollars. Thanks to the efforts of Stephanie Thomas, the newsletter is now being posted on our club website, detroitaeromodelers.org.
With this in mind, the club voted to allow members to opt out of receiving a printed edition of the newsletter, thus saving the club eight dollars per year per member. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY! If you still wish to receive the printed version, you don’t have to do anything. If you wish to go electronic, contact Mike Cuba at 734-522-7638 or 734-812-0102 to opt out. Mike will also have a current roster at the July meeting, and you can let him know then.
JACK SHELBY DONATION
Jack Shelby donated several planes and other R/C equipment to the club last month. He is moving to Arizona, and his health precludes him taking all his gear with him. With Al Zerber as sales agent, the donation has already netted the club over two thousand dollars! If you’d like to drop Jack a line of personal thanks, his new address is
Jack Shelby
1846 East Buckridge Place
Oro Valley, Ariz. 85737
ROUGE APPRECIATION DAY
We received a large thank-you from Friends of Rouge Park for our participation in the Rouge Appreciation Day. DAM members manned the cook tent, set up the PA system, ran a make-and-take for budding glider pilots, and put on an air show for the entertainment of the crowd. At the June meeting, we voted to renew our membership in this organization.
FIELD DEDICATION
The date has been set! Mark your calendars for June 23rd. The committee of Tim Kirsten, Stan Spieak, and Arden McConnell, along with Larry Milbern from Selfridge have arranged for an honor guard and speaker for the official naming of our field. The sign is already up. Please bring any WWII war birds you have, especially ones finished in the red-tail squadron colors. We need volunteers to help set things up. Be at the field at nine a.m. on the 23rd.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL
HOBBY SHOPS!
NANKIN HARDWARE & HOBBY
35101 Ford Rd. 734-722-5700
RIDER'S HOBBY SHOP OF LIVONIA
30991 Five Mile Rd. 734-425-9720
RIDER’S HOBBY SHOP OF TAYLOR
22789 Northline 734-287-7405
ELECTRODYNAMICS
31091 Schoolcraft 734-422-5420
PROP SHOP
23326 Van Dyke 810-757-7160
JOE'S HOBBY CENTER
Grand River & Drake Rd 248-477-6266
JUNE SHOW AND TELL
Nick Kyriacou brought in an E-25 powered Ultrastick, with a span of 50”. He said he only brought it in so it wouldn’t bake in the car, but I think he likes to show it off!
Ron Wasiliewski brought in an electric ZAP Machine. This electric racer is powered by a Graupner 400 motor, uses a 2200 mAh LiPo battery pack, weighs 22 oz. and spans only 34 inches. It’s all wood, including the control horns (?!) and features a folding prop. We had a rousing discussion about recommended down and side thrust settings.
AUGUST FLY-IN AND AIRSHOW
Andy Pesonen and Vince Blasky are moving along with their plans for an August Fly-In and Air Show. They asked for, and got, several volunteers at the June meeting to handle aircraft inspection, Friday and Saturday overnight security, Friday setup of tents, fences, and barriers, setting up and controlling parking for spectators and pilots, spotters and a flagman on Joy Road to alert pilots of overlong flights to the north. Contact Andy at 313-422-6389 or Vince at 248-514-8532
if you wish to volunteer.
Of particular concern is the availability of hot food for the pilots and public at the meet. To do this, we need a permit (about $150), and each and every person who handles the prepared food in any way must take a four hour food handler’s seminar. We have some volunteers to do this, but could use more. Tom McNulty or Kathy Kendzior can give you the details. Tim Kirsten will be organizing a group to take the food prep class. There was some discussion at the meeting about providing hot food only for the pilots and workers, or using box lunches, but the club voted to continue the barbecue tradition.
Vince Blasky will be passing out flyers for the air show at the Thunder Over Michigan air show, so we may get a rather larger crowd that we’ve had in the past.
SAFETY REMINDERS
If you are the first one in the air, establish a flight pattern, preferably one where the landing leg is nearest the flight line, and the downwind leg is farthest from the flight line. If you are not the first one up, observe and follow the flight pattern of the first one up. Mid-air collisions are rare, but can become common if we are flying any which way!
Recently, we had a situation where someone with a 72 mHz radio park flyer was tooling around across the street from the field. We invited them onto the field, and talked to them about frequency control. Good solution! Be aware of everything in he air in the neighborhood, not just the planes of DAM members.
RETIREMENT HOME SHOW
Mike Cuba is organizing another static display, glider-building session, and mini-air show for the Brookdale Senior Living Center, 40405 Six Mile Rd. on July 12th at eleven a.m. If you have a plane you want to bring for indoor static display, or a park flyer that you would fly for the gentlemen, please contact Mike. Sharon Hale, the contact at Brookdale, is organizing media publicity for the event, so let’s have a good turnout!
Mike went over to the home the other day, and was able to fly his electric mini Ultra-Stik on their “back 40” safely. There’s plenty of room for a park flyer, or helicopter.
FIELD IMPROVEMENTSB
This past Saturday our Field Marshall Bobby Harmon, ably assisted by Al Zerber, used a portable generator and a belt sander to strip and smooth all the painted benches and tables at the field. They then painted them in forest green, nicely matching the old paint. There is a noticeable difference when you look at them (the benches) or sit on them. Thanks, Bobby and Al!
JUNE FUN FLY
June 17th, Fathers’ Day, was sunny, hotter than the hinges of Hades, and virtually without wind. We had a dozen or so members show up for the barbecue at five, but only three signed up for the fun fly, including the CD! It was decided not to fly the tasks. Since there were only three participants, there was a three-way tie for first place. This is the best placing ever for Mike Cuba, and not a bad showing for Dennis Gazdecki, and Charlie Thomas!
Of course, this did not mean there was no flying done. Among others, Charlie flew his Harrier and his big Mustang. Mike flew his latest iteration of Waggles, and his electric mini-Ultra Stik. Chris Tucker flew a beautiful giant scale Corsair, Don Allen flew his big gas helicopter, Al Zerber flew his veteran Ultimate Biplane, and Bobby Harmon flew his big Mustang.
There was excitement, too! Bobby and Dennis Gazdecki, Jr. were both in the air with giant Mustangs, flying in a more or less loose formation, when the two planes interlocked their wings! They flew that way for what seemed to be forever (probably less than a second!) before Bobby’s plane disintegrated in midair.
Miraculously, Dennis’ plane suffered damage only to one aileron, and was able to land safely! When I found out that Mitch Golem fought the trees to the west earlier in the day with his Four Star 60 (the trees won!), I decided it was time to fold up my tents and steal silently away. A great time was had by all, in spite of the attrition rate.
PROPWASH
31425 Myrna, Livonia, Mi. 48154
