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The
Bean Hill Flyers club is Erie, Pennsylvania's, only organized control line
flying group. It operates under sanction of the Academy of Model Aeronautics
(AMA), charter #4673. Two main flying sites are maintained, one in Albion,
PA, and the other in Millcreek, just west of the Erie city line.
Class: Control Line
AMA Chartered Club #4673 Flying Field Location: Rt. 6N, just east
of Albion, PA (see map) Contact:
Joe Daniels Phone: 814-881-1895
Note: The top of the newsletter says August, but I believe it should
have been September since the newsletter has been published every two months
and the last one was in July.
President: Joe Daniels
Vice President: Dennis Thomas Treasurer: George Towns
Safety Officer: Chris Keller Newsletter Editor: Dalton Hammett
Secretary: Greg Rodney
Just a few thoughts on the July 15th Annual Competition. We had a great
crowd despite the morning rain and threat of thunderstorm activity. The
stunt crowd enjoyed pretty good conditions with an occasional gust of windy
turbulence, (mostly during Denny Thomas' flights), and keen competition
for beginner and intermediate skill levels. Chris Keller flew a repeated
win from his performance at Brodaks, with some smooth flying. Way to go
Chris, I'm sure you'll be moving up a level very soon. The hollow log planes
were great to see and even more fun to watch the flying, proving that 1/2A's
have their own unique set of challenges. The Foxberg was enjoyable to watch,
a combination skills, both from the pilot and pit person required to achieve
success. Not to mention physical endurance from the pit person to chase
down and re-launch the plane. Very entertaining. There is good club interest
in this event, so grab a plane and a partner. We will be seeing more of
this in the future. For the rest of the summer and fall activities,
check the schedule in this flyer. There is still a lot of stuff to participate
in this year. We've gained a few new members and it's good to see them showing
up at the club event. Don't forget to invite anyone who shows an interest
to come out to see what we do. That's how it started for many of us who
enjoy the hobby today. One final thought on competition. In
all competitive events, there are spectators, and there are participants.
Both can be very enjoyable. But few other activities offer so many ways
for anyone to compete at some level. No pressure, or as much as you can
stand, this hobby will give it you, if you choose to take a whack at it.
Maybe whack is the wrong word to use.... or maybe it isn't. Either way,
it's all fun, if you want it to be. Tight Lines, Joe Daniels
Club Schedule
| Sept 8 & 9 |
there is going to be a 2 day event at Joe Maxwell's field in
East Springfield. Saturday the 8th will be a fun fly day starting
about noon and flyers are invited to camp over night to be there
for Sunday's flying. The plan for Sunday the 9th is flying starting
at 9:00 am with a Coxberg Race in the morning and a Foxberg Race
in the afternoon. Let's see if we can get some teams together for
the races. |
| Sept 29 & 30 |
the 12th Annual Cleveland Area Stunt Championships will be in
North Canton, Ohio this year. Please see the page in this newsletter. |
| Oct 6 & 7 |
the Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon 2012 is scheduled for these two days.
This year in an effort to report more Ringmaster flights we will
try to schedule both days. The 6th is a Saturday and we will plan
to fly in Erie behind Champion Ford starting about 10:00 am. The
7th we will fly in Albion at our field starting at 1:00 pm, but
use the school lot if the field is too wet. Bring out a Ringmaster
if you have one or just come to fly what you have. |
"... and this is our cheaper model!"
Bean Hill Safety Column Hello BHF! Well, the Summer
is drawing to a close and before you know it we'll be buried in snow. There.
I said it. Bah Humbug. This summer has been too hot and that's all there
is to it. The heat thankfully wasn't enough to stop us from having a pretty
busy summer. I think we had pretty good turnouts at all the events in the
post couple of months which is good·.:"When there is a cold north wind blowing
a foot of snow on top of us, you don't want to be thinking about the summer
saying "Why didn't I fly more again?" Anyway, a couple points to
reiterate. These airplanes are not toys. Well, yes they are - but they're
dangerous toys! Hard to imagine going to Toys-R-Us and finding something
that would cut off most of your hand, but they are toys nevertheless. Speaking
of hand cutting - it only takes one moment of lost focus to have your day
go very wrong. We just had a gentlemen starting his twin that lost focus
for one split second and had the palm of his hand zippered. That will get
your attention. When asked if got stitches, his response was "No - there
wasn't much left to stitch." I don't know exactly what that means, but it
sure sounds unpleasant. Next point to sum up is check your lines. Every
time you fly. Your lines need to be free from kinks, broken strands, knots,
etc. Your connections need to be smooth so as not to catch on each other.
If you have a plane (most planes) where the lead outs are spaced an inch
or so apart, the connectors can cross and catch on each other during flight.
You need to walk you lines each and every time you fly to ensure that nothing
will go wrong with the lines. I have seen too many times this year models
lost due to line problems. A certain Cardinal was reduced to toothpicks
after doing a figure 9 into the ground during several consecutive loops.
Pilot error was ruled out - a pretty safe assumption as the loops were high
and the plane just dove straight into the ground from about 30' altitude.
All controls were still intact and connected. The only possible physical
explanation was the connections on the lines were sloppy and prone to catching
on one another. All it takes is a split second of hang up and there goes
the plane. The below photo shows non-AMA approved line connectors that should
never be used. This gentlemen said "what's the problem? I doubled them up
for strength?" DO NOT USE ZIP TIES FOR LINE CONNECTORS:
 Chris Keller Safety Officer
These pictures are from
the July 15th meet.
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| Tents started going up early even with the
weather looking bad. |
Joe Maxwell holds his stunter for Chris Keller
to weigh. |
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| Albert Bergener's dusted fan plane in the air. |
Eric Keller signals his wife to launch his Primary Force.
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| New field center marker donated by Shirley Hammett.
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Clint McBeth prepares his Smoothie ARF for his first official
flight in competition with Tom Tucker assisting. Tom was visiting
for the day and was one of the original members of the Albion Area
C/L club years ago. |
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| Kevin Rutsky lauches George Town's Hollow log entry on the new
ramp. The ramp was built and donated to the club by Clint McBeth.
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Andy Hammett (L) and Dalton Hammett with Andy's Foxberg plane.
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12th Annual Cleveland
Area Contest
Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon 2012
2012-2013 Winter Building Challenge The next winter
building challenge plane is anyone of the three Carl Goldberg Goodyear Racers.
These are the Shoestring, the Buster and the Cosmic Wind. They can be built
from original kits, from the Brodak Kits or from scratch. The completed
planes can be powered as you wish but we are hoping to see more Foxberg
Race planes with Fox .35's. The planes must be built over the coming winter.
If you have questions contact Dalton Hammett.
In the May/June issue of Stunt News we noted pictures of Bean Hill
members Bill Hayes, Joe Maxwell, George Towns and Clint McBeth in the District
3 section.
Here is a page featuring other
flying clubs and hobby shops in the Erie, PA, area.
Map for Bean Hill Flyers
AMA Chartered Club #4673
View Larger Map
Posted September 1, 2012
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