SAM 8 SPEAKS...out of 1/32” thick balsa sheet. This will only add a fraction of a gram of weight to the model. Another idea would be to have a single larger 1/32” thick solid balsa

$Page 1: SAM 8 SPEAKS...out of 1/32” thick balsa sheet. This will only add a fraction of a gram of weight to the model. Another idea would be to have a single larger 1/32” thick solid balsa$
E:\A SAM 8 Newsletter\A DG Newsletter\2019\2019-07.docx Page 1

The Really Great SAM 8 Speaks

LONG TIME FLYERS CLUB NEWS

On the web at http://www.sam8.org

VOLUME 400 ISSUE 7 July 2019

Roster of the old dawgs….

Steve Dona……’The Prez’

Will Tilse…..Vice President

Dave Cassell…..Secretary-Treasurer

Dave Gardner…..Scribe of this rag….

Notice: Next Meeting: July 11th, 2019

Rainbow Café, 112 E. Main St., Auburn, WA, 10:30 am-1 pm..(or thereabouts.) ***********************************************************************************

President’s message …….

Take a deep long breath…. The Tangent contests are going to be here before you know it!

Your President finds himself looking at the model pile, carefully working through the

logistics of yet another contest season. First priority are the Old Timer models.

Unfortunately, many of these look like they have been run hard and put away wet! I need to

rebuild, replace (and probably burn) a surprisingly large number of models. The Pacer is

flying well as shown at our own Spring Opener but the rest of the bunch is not looking so

good. One might find this to be a bit frustrating or even depressing but the thought of some

building, repairing, recovering or even new models brings a smile to my face. I enjoy my

shop time almost as much as the flying time.

So what brought this all on? Well I had a wonderful 4th

of July weekend with my wife and

family and got some much needed rest. But throughout the weekend, I got several emails and

texts from SAM 8 members looking for info, advice etc. as they too are clearly thinking about

the upcoming contests. This is what makes the hobby fun for me; it’s the camaraderie, the

competition and the lifelong friendship that has been an integral part of free flight from the

beginning.

So dust it off, patch the tissue holes, build that new wing, take out the warps, run up the

engine and make your neighbors mad. But get ‘em ready, more fun is just around the corner.

Steve Dona, The Prez

******************************************************************************************************************


SAM 8 minutes for June 13, 2019 (attendance =22)

Current SAM 8 T-Shirt remaining count by size: Medium = 9 Large = 2

With a rap of the gavel and a toot of the whistle the meeting was called to order at 12:02. Picking up on an omission in the news letter our illustrious leader called for kudos and a round of applause for the fantastic job

done by the Contest Directors Chuck Bower and Bob Harper. A recap of the event and the special prizes and fun stuff mostly done by Mr. Bower. A great job thereby assuring a job for Mr. Bower at the next contest.

Steve’s burger cookout was well attended and may even have broke even.

Even with the wind blowing the wrong way, some people were undeterred. Dan Burdick arrived with the back end filled with planes and immediately started flying, wind or no.

Dave Higgins had his catapult glider called a Flip Glider which put in an amazing first flight. Others also bought and flew Flip Gliders to the entertainment of all.

Steve told the Nick Stratis mayonnaise adventure. (Too delicate in the details to tell here).

Moneys for a gift card and certificate for $100 for the field owner were given to Nick on May 9.

The subject of a Fun Fly on Nick’s field was discussed and Nick has instructions to check with the field owner regarding scheduling and field conditions. A weekend day is a must.

The last Finn Hill build and fly session for the year was held on June 8. The next session should start in October this year but specifics aren’t known as yet. Steve and Dave H. are asking for input from the kids as well as club members on ways to change / improve / enhance the Finn Hill program.

Bob Benjamin came forward with a suggestion for another flying site in the Chehalis area. He extended an invitation to the SAM8 members to come down and try the (new) field on for free flight use. Proposed dates suggested are July 20-21 and/or August 10-11.The resident field using club is Faro Field Flyers

Show and Tell is a progress report on Nick’s beautiful Super Solution

A small auction of magazines and carved props

Mtg. adjourned: 1:44p ( ? )

Submitted by David Cassell

**********************************************************************************

************************************************************************************ ….and….an update on model projects, from David Higgins:

Hi Everyone,

Neil Knutson and I have been redesigning the Starved Pussycat to make it quicker to build and to fly

longer. We have achieved both, but we have some more ideas that we need to try before we finalize the

design for the Finn Hill Students. The design as it currently exists is plenty good for anyone with 4

hours to spare (due to glue drying times – more about that later), but we need to get the build time down

to 2.5 to 3 hours. I have attached a pdf file containing the plan for this new version of the S.P., which

we call the Student Cruiser.

So far we have had 5 people, all experienced builders, build this new model. It took around 3 hours to

build, but mine took even longer because the glue stick pen that I used did not work (more about that

fiasco later). To speed up construction, all the wing and stabilizer ribs are cut to the correct angle and

length and have three coats of Duco brushed onto both ends of each rib. That end grain really soaks up

the glue! Right now the big problem with this new design, and the old design, is the length of time it

takes for the glue to dry before covering can be done, especially for the last parts being built, which in

our case were the two vertical fins. It took about a minimum of a half hour for the glue joints to dry

well enough for covering. Neil thinks that my Duco cement is too old and has gone bad. I don’t buy that


argument. I have never had any problems with solvent based adhesives, such as Duco, Testors, Ambroid,

etc., ever going bad. Besides, my Duco cement is only 1 year old, and I still use Ambroid that is 25 years

old and it still works perfectly. Anyway, we were building in a fairly cold and damp environment, so

naturally the drying times went way up.

When I covered my new Student Cruiser model, I tried a new type of glue stick pen made by Zig, which

Neil highly recommended (it comes in a light blue plastic cylinder about ¾” Ø by 6 “ long). It does have a

nice chisel point applicator and it applies very nicely. However, I had no luck at all with this Zig glue pen

as it only stuck the tissue to the balsa half the time! So, I ripped off the old covering, got some new

tissue and took out my trusty 20 year old Uhu glue stick, and it worked perfectly. I’ve used a lot of glue

sticks over the years, such as Avery, Elmer’s, Uhu, etc., and there is no question in my mind that Uhu

works the best, so I am going to order some new Uhu glue sticks for the Finn Hill program.

To further speed up construction of the Student Cruiser, we are thinking of making the two vertical fins

out of 1/32” thick balsa sheet. This will only add a fraction of a gram of weight to the model. Another

idea would be to have a single larger 1/32” thick solid balsa vertical fin mounted on top of or on the side

of the motor stick. Should the engineers be executed so that production can go ahead? Stay tuned.

Regards, David Higgins *******************************************************************************************************************

Following are the Prez’s review and general notes:

Ok, my 2 cents.... I NEVER double glue anything! I don't thin my glue either except for a few

circumstances. With this method I don't have glue failures and there is not actually much glue on the

joint since the thicker glue is much easier to control. I don't agree with pre-cutting the ribs.... I think

that this is a fun and important part of learning to build. A few poor glue joints will be a better teacher

than any of the SAM 8 members can ever be. These models are pretty forgiving of poor joints anyway.

How about gluing up the frame and then taking a break and doing some flying??? then return after an

hour or so to complete the model. Seems like this will achieve many goals. Keep the "short attention

kids" focused better by breaking up the build. Keeping it fun by having some flying time in the middle of

the session. And the glue will be dry when we get back to building too!

I do not advise a sheet balsa rudder.... having a fully covered model "looks a lot cooler" and it will fly

better too. (but it DOES take more time!)

Let's not underestimate the students. They come to us with little to no skill and very poor hand-eye

coordination but I am constantly amazed at how quickly they learn. They quickly develop skills with balsa

cutting, gluing and trimming that rivals the experts. We need to set the bar and show them the skills

and let them develop these skills themselves.

One of the things that we should plan on for future sessions is an "experts corner" where our SAM 8

(and BEAMS) members bring in models that they are working on to show off. Finished models are fine

too but for example we never showed Ian how to properly cover a model (and he never did either). A

half finished prop, peanut scale or similar model would be really interesting to our students. Might be

interesting to the other members too.

Ed Note: ….and DO REMEMBER that there’s more than one method which may work and more than one way to skin a ‘Starved Pussycat’…!.....just sayin’……and there’s a time frame in play here, to get models built and flyable….

Steve Dona, President SAM 8






T h e N o r t h w e s t S k y r a i d e r s ’

2 0 1 9 A N N U A L S u m m e r

C L U B S W A P M E E T

The Best Control Line Model Swap Meet of the Northwest!

Engines, Planes, Parts and Bits !

Saturday, July 27th: 9 AM - 1 PM

SETUP: Saturday Morning: 8:00 am – 9 am W H E R E ?

D e n n y ’ s B a n q u e t R o o m 1 2 4 6 N . C e n t r a l

K e n t , W a s h i n g t o n 9 8 0 3 1

To get to Denny’s, take Hwy 167 to the 84th Avenue Exit. From Southbound, turn left (South) on to N. Central then crosss under 167 and turn left at the left turn signal into

Denny’s. Park in the back lot and come in the side door.

From Northbound, right on to N. Central, then a quick left into the Denny’s parking lot. Drive around to the back, then walk up the North side of the building to the side door.

NO ENTRY FEE FOR BUYERS / SPECTATORS!

Table charge is FREE because Denny’s has tables, but plan to be limited to

ONE of their tables. If you choose, you can BRING YOUR OWN TABLES!

No reserved tables: first come, first served, piled higher and deeper!

Bring your stuff, lots of money and the usual BS to fill the morning!

for information, contact:

Steve Holt, [email protected] (425-757-7542)

Dave Gardner, [email protected] (425-793-1937)

mailto:[email protected]


2018-2019 Old Time, Free Flight, Control Line and Club Modeling Event Schedule

Date Event / Time / Location Activity/Location Contact

July 27th NW Skyraiders’ Summer Swap Meet Denny’s, Kent, WA NWSR

August 16-18 NWFFC at Parker’s Field Tangent, OR WMC

Sept 6-8 Annual SPOT Meet at Parker’s Field Tangent, OR WMC

Sept 27-29 Fall Annual FF Contest at Parker’s Field Tangent, OR WMC

****************************************************************************************************************************************

For additional Northwest FF and CL activity, see the following websites for more detail.

For SAM 8 activities, look on the SAM 8 Website, http://www.SAM8.org

For SAM National activities, look on the SAM Website, http://www.antiquemodeler.org/

For WMC activities, check on their website, WillametteModelersclub.weebly.com, or contact Bob Stalick at [email protected].

For NW Skyraiders’ activities, check on http://flyinglines.org, or [email protected].

For Museum of Flight, check on their website, www.museumofflight.org. Each first Thursday of the month is free admission.

Really Great SAM 8 meets every second Thursday each month the Rainbow Café in Auburn at 11:30 AM. Come join us for lunch!

*************************************************************************************************

Bob Hunt gets an ‘official’ Greg Davis & Quaker Harper photo

Mark Sexton Harper photo

http://flyinglines.org/

http://www.museumofflight.org/


Really Great SAM 8

LONG TIME FLYERS CLUB

On the web at http://www.sam8.org

MEMBERSHIP FORM

Use this form to subscribe or renew your membership. Just fill in and mail to Dave Cassell. Adult Membership ($15 per year)___ ($25) for two years____. (Electronic copy only)

Student/Junior (Under 21). FREE…..just sign up!

Name____________________________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

City___________________________________State__________ZIP__________

AMA No.______________________ SAM No._________________________

Phone No.________________ E-Mail___________________________________

Date:_________________________Signature:____________________________

Return to: Dave Cassell

P.O.Box 1367

Snohomish, WA 98291-1367

Documents

SAM 8 SPEAKS...out of 1/32” thick balsa sheet. This will only add a fraction of a gram of weight to the model. Another idea would be to have a single larger 1/32” thick solid balsa