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TOC REPORT
Just returned from the TOC at Las Vegas, and I can
report that it was the best one yet. The weather could not
have improved, the wind was non-existent and the temperatures were
mild and pleasant.
The field facilities for the spectators have been improved
with more bleachers and sturdier food concession tents (previous
years they had been knocked down by wind).
I can not tell you who won since I had to come home a day early,
at the time I left, Chip Hyde was leading the pack with Quique
Somenzini (Argentina) in second place followed closely by Chris
Paysant Laroux from France and Sean Mc Murtry (I believe
from New Zealand). There were competitors this year also from Italy,
Taiwan, Lichtenstein and Australia.
You will surely see a report in the model publications so I won’t
go into details; I only can tell you that the Free Style
was terrific; the usual hovering flight close to the ground has
turned into a game of chicken with some of the competitors
so close to the ground that they could have swatted a golf ball
with their rudder!
The dominant model was the CAP 232, then came quite a few
Extras, one Ultimate biplane (flown by Hyde) then
one Staudacher, a couple of G-202 and one Dalotel.
On the flying, it is interesting to note the slow down lines.
I timed them and found the fastest to be about four seconds
and the slowest (and best) were up to seven seconds;
that, made me check on the props being used and found that
they mostly were using 10" pitch and as big a diameter as
the engine could stand.This combination gave them a good braking
disk to slow down the airplane on the vertical down lines as cited
above.
As for the engines, where in past years the 3W had
been almost the exclusive, this time we saw quite a few DA-150
engines (US made, probably with some European parts?).
On th radio equipment, the JR seemed to be dominant and
Futaba second. Speaking of radios, I had heard the rumor
that Futaba is being taken over by Great Planes (Tower) and
was able to confirm this at TOC. Sure sad to see a most convenient
Orange County maintenance facility disappear and head towards
Illinois! Saw several JMRC friends at the meet and everyone
seemed to be enjoying!
Jose Tellez
(Not wishing to leave our readers hanging in suspense, your
editor consulted Buck Faure who kindly furnished the following
final results of the Tournament of Champions, which he extracted
from an Internet website.)
TOC FINAL RESULTS:
1. Quique Somenzini- 9873.647
2. Chip Hyde- 9832.114
3. Christophe Le Roux- 9504.02
4. Frazer Briggs- 9369.729
5. Sean McMurtry- 9306.603
6. Mike McConville- 8991.754
7. Kirk Gray- 8480.370
QSAA Gone With The
Wind - Las
Vegas
Thursday, 14 October was a bright and sunny day with warm
temperatures. We gathered at Sam’s Town Hotel on Boulder
Highway in Las Vegas with great expectations for a great weekend
of flying fun. The first thing to be noticed was a significant reduction
in the number of models on display in the parking garage which had
been converted into a display area.
About twenty-five or thirty manufacturers and organizations
were also present, with many hobby items being offered
for sale. The atmosphere was quite pleasant, as many enthusiasts
met and renewed old friendships.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny with calm winds, and the
crowd all departed to the enormous alkali flats outside of Vegas
where two days of flying and fun were supposed to take place.
Some drove there in cars, but many of us were comfortably camped
out in our RVs, and a wonderful day of flying we did have that Friday.
That afternoon at the conclusion of flying activities, the winds
came up quite strongly, and those of us in RVs scurried to
roll up our canopies and stow away everything that could blow away.
During the night the
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winds continued, and to make matters worse, just before 3:00
AM we were severely shaken up by the big earthquake.
Morning dawned with even stronger winds and dust storms,
making further flying impossible. We all folded our tents and left
the alkali flats to remain bleak and deserted until next year. Oh,
well, perhaps it will be better next time!
Y2K ELECTION ISSUE
This issue of the CORSAIR is the most important to be published
this year, because it contains the mail-in election ballot
for the year 2000 slate of club officers.
Rather than hold the annual election at a club meeting
with only a minority of the members present to vote,
this year every member will have an opportunity to
cast a ballot by mail. Every member is encouraged
to vote in this election, and to insure a maximum voting turnout,
the ballots are pre-stamped and addressed postcards.
This year the club is fortunate to have four outstanding candidates
competing for the offices of President and Vice President,
all of whom appear willing and anxious to serve. This is a far cry
from the usual election, when candidates have to be persuaded and
cajoled to accept a position as a club officer. Not only do we have
volunteer candidates, each and every one of them has a wealth of
experience and ability which can translate into fine leadership
for our group.
The JMRC Flyers now stand poised to enter the new century
in a strong position to continue as one of the most admired RC
flying groups of its kind. Only your participation by exercising
your vote can help to assure our bright future. Please vote!!!
CORSAIR EDITOR STEPS
DOWN, EIGSTI TAKES OVER
The time has come for your newsletter editor to take a well
deserved rest from the duties of meeting one deadline after another.
It is a job which I have enjoyed greatly all the years that I have
been getting the news out to our members, but for some time I have
been searching for a competent individual to take my place
and allow me to turn my attention to other pursuits.
At last a likely candidate has stepped forward and volunteered
to take over the left hand seat and run the show. His name is Paul
Eigsti, one of the more active members of JMRC, and presently
serving as a Field Marshal.
Paul is going to need a lot of help in getting accustomed
to his new job, so anyone who would like to get in touch with him
to offer their services can do so via e-mail at the following address:
helipaul@home.com or by phone at (949) 448-9269.
It has been the goal of your present editor to improve
the quality of the newsletter, but being the product of an older
generation, my limited skills in desktop publishing have been somewhat
of a drawback.
However, Paul has much more talent in this regard, and it
is expected that readers will see a significant improvement in the
Corsair. With any luck, we hope to see much better graphics
and photos included in the future. I look forward with great
anticipation to his first issue, due out in January, 2000.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my hard working
assistant editor, Harold Hall, who has been invaluable in
publishing the Corsair. He is responsible for the entire
production of the publication, from obtaining advertising, getting
it printed, and seeing that it is mailed out in a timely fashion.
I hope that the new editor appreciates his services and will make
the most of his talents, as he has a great deal to offer.
And lastly, I would like to thank the membership for tolerating
my often amateurish efforts, and being so kind as to give me an
occasional pat on the back. My thanks to you all for making my job
such a pleasant one.
Art Steinberg
Chief Field Marshal’s
Report
The JMRC activity has been rather low at Horno over
the past couple of months. We have had some Marine Corps
activity occupying the Landing Zone, also a broken down helicopter
over a weekend and there have been several outside model shows and
contests like the Quarter Scale meet, the Tournament of
Champions in Las Vegas and the races at Jean, Nevada
in addition to a couple of Society of Antique Modelers (SAM)
contests also
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during this period. The club might have saved the extravagant pay
of Field Marshals since things were quite peaceful at the
flying field. In addition, the weather has played a part in lowering
the flying population, with some strong cross winds driving
off our flyers over a couple of weekends. This past Saturday
(October 30) a nasty wind developed and by 10:30 had
driven out all the flyers.
The edge of the runway was left with a fair amount of trash
which could in some cases have been attributed to Marines,
as in the case of pop cans and bottles, but we also
found paper towels with distinct nitro smell, broken props,
a rather new Thermos coffee mug with still remnants of coffee within
etc. all of which we can assume came from us JMRC flyers.
Please be neat and pick up before you leave! (#15)
The only other request we have for our members is to always
wear your badge. There are a high number of flyers who still
are not displaying their membership card visibly. If we would
all wear our badges it would greatly simplify the task of
the Marshals by making it obvious when we have unauthorized
flyers. (#12).
My feeling is that each and everyone of us should be a Marshal
and see that your flight line neighbor is not forgetting to
comply with one of our own regulations. This will ensure that we
stay in the good graces of the Marine Corps and that we will
continue to enjoy this premier flying facility in Southern
California.
If you have missed the display of fine giant scale models and excellent
flying for which Jon Vance is well known, it is because he
has undergone a very serious eye operation and still has
more to come prior to recovery of his eyesight to flying condition.
We all wish Jon a total and speedy return to this hobby we
all love.
If any member has a comment or suggestion for our Field Marshals,
please don't hesitate to communicate with us either at the field
or, our phone numbers are shown on the front of any Corsair
issue; this is your club and we would like it to run the way you
want !
Jose Tellez
TIME TO RENEW!
The next meeting will be the last meeting of the year,
and membership cards are now ready to be issued. For those of you
who have wisely exercised foresight and already have their AMA
2000 cards in hand, you can renew your memberships at
the coming 23 November meeting.
Members are advised to make every effort to attend
this meeting and renew their JMRC memberships on that date,
as the deadline is December 31st, and there will be no further
meetings this year.
If you cannot attend, you may send your AMA card
with a friend who can renew for you. Otherwise, after that
date you can only renew by mail, and that will require submitting
a photocopy of your AMA card to the Secretary/Treasurer,
a method which is not always reliable. Civilian members
are required to submit payment of $50 for the renewal, but
military and DOD members are not charged.
INSTALLATION BANQUET
SET FOR
22 JANUARY
The long awaited yearly installation banquet of the Joint
Military RC Flyers Club of Camp Pendleton has been set for Saturday
evening, 22 January.
Once again the location will be at the beautiful South Mesa
NCO club, located near the main gate of the base. As usual,
it promises to be a gala affair, one worthy of kicking off
club operations in a brand new century.
This is where you will have an opportunity to listen to your new
club officers, to dine in fine style, to listen to the toe tapping
tunes of Richard Ramirez, and to get in on some of the outstanding
door prizes to be awarded to lucky ticket holders.
In order to attend, it is absolutely necessary that a reservation
be made, and this can be done by attending the next meeting and
signing up in person on the official banquet roster. The
second best way to make a reservation is to telephone the
banquet organizer, Pete Zenquis at (760) 732-3167,
or our Secretary/Treasurer at (760) 439-5354.
Don’t be left out, make your reservation as soon as possible.
You don’t want to miss this one!
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