Sacramento, California  

SAM 51 Home Page  Newsletter Index

February 2014 Newsletter

SAM 51 Officers 2013

President – Eut Tileston
Vice President – Bill Fausset
Treasurer – Frank Whalen
Editor – Ken Holden
Cookie Chef - Jim Saare
Webmaster - John Eaton


The February Meeting Minutes - 

Meeting 
The SAM51 monthly meeting will be at Eut’s place on Thursday, February 27, AD 2014, and as usual the 7 PM time

  The January Meeting Minutes - 

Pres. Eut Tileston called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM with 9 members in attendance.

Treasury Report - Still $642 in the cigar box.

Old Business – Air Trails CD not yet released by Roland Friestad.

Great Christmas meeting at Wonderful Chinese Restaurant.  Thanks to Bob Grice for handling the details.

New Business – Moved, seconded and passed motion to suspend collection of dues this year.

Move to consider AD 2014 fun fly scheduled tabled for consideration at March meeting.

SAM rules changes discussed.  Consensus that no changes were necessary reached, but responses were left to individuals.

Reports - Eut attended SW Regionals.  RC attendance  was down but FF was well attended.

Show and Tell – nada, sorry.

Adjourn-  Adorned at 8:15 PM PST, and the bull session broke up just before midnight, EST,  OK, before 9 PM PST.

Cookies - by Cookie Chef par excellence, Jim Saare.

Model of the Month – A hang glider by William Grotzinger.  The plan was printed in  the Boy Mechanic, 1914,  HH Winsor editor.  Hey, the editor loves plans for really old flying machines, but highly recommends that you do not try this at home.

Contest Schedule -  We of  SAM 51 need to make some decisions about our schedule at the February meeting.

The following from Bob Angel via email:

Guys, here's a correction to the event calendar. Taft has been closed to organized model contests.
 
The SAM 26 spring opener will be held at Wekerly field, home of the Greenfield Fliers. The field is just South of Bakersfield city limits, in a rural area. We flew the John Pond commemorative there in October and it's an improvement over Taft which worked out well. It's an improved field with huge permanent shade and, more large permanent tables than we need. The host club has been very friendly, generous and receptive to our flying there. I'll have a flier out soon.
 
Bob Angel

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

 P. S.- Ken I see I overlooked adding the John Pond Commemorative for October 25 & 26 scheduled for the same Wekerly field. 
 Please squeeze it in for next time.
 
 Thanks,
Bob Angel

Gossip - Milt Mitchell has run out of space for more models.  He has decided, gasp, to sell his guitar collection of more than four dozen, some of them unused.  So if you know someone hard up for a guitar or three, have them call Milt at 916.342.6515.  Help keep model aircraft in production.

Eut has been in touch with Ken Kullman recently, and he is much as always.

See attachments if you are interested in the model of the month.

From the Boy Mechanic, 1914,  HH Winsor editor.

Note:  SAM 51 makes no warranties, express or implied with respect to the use of this information.

How to Make a Monoplane Glider
By William Grotzinger

 Monoplane Glider in Flight



4

main wing spars, 3/4 by 1-1/4  in. by 17  ft.

2

rudder spars, 3/4 by 1  in. by 8  ft.

8

wing crosspieces, 3/4 by 3/4  in. by 4  ft.

4

rudder crosspieces, 1/2 by 1/2  in. by 2  ft.

1

piece for main-frame crosspieces, 1/2 by 1  in. by 12  ft.

2

arm pieces, 1-1/2 by 2  in. by 3-1/2  ft.

The following list of poplar pieces is required in making the supports for the cloth covering on the wings and rudders.

34

main-wing ribs, 1/4 by 3/4 by 64  in.

8

rudder ribs, 1/4 by 1/2 by 36  in.

5

rudder ribs, 1/4 by 3/4 by 48  in.

The following list of oak pieces is needed:

1

piece, 5/8 by 1-1/4  in. by 12  ft.

 

1

piece, 5/8 by 1-1/4  in. by 6  ft.

 

1

piece, 3/4 by 3/4  in. by 3-1/2  ft.

 

2

pieces, 5/8 by 1-1/2  in. by 5  ft.

 

4

pieces, 3/4 by 1 by 28  in.

 

In addition to the lists given, four pieces of bamboo, 16  ft. long, tapering from 1 or 1-1/4  in. at the large end to 3/4  in. at the small end, are used for the main frame.

 


 


Construction

The first part to make is the main frame A which is constructed of the four bamboo poles. They are made into a rectangular frame with crossbars marked B cut to the right length from the 12-ft. piece of spruce, 1/2  in. by 1  in. The bars C and D are of oak  cut from the 6-ft. piece, 5/8  in. by 1-1/4  in. All of these crossbars are fastened together in rectangular form by means of stove bolts. The bamboo poles are then bolted to the inner corners of the frames with 3/16-in. bolts. Place the bolts through the bamboo close to a joint to prevent splitting. The frame is then rigidly trussed by diagonal wires marked E crossing all rectangles. The wire used for trussing all the parts throughout the glider is piano wire, 16 gauge. The arm pieces are bolted to the sides of the rectangular frames beneath the wings.

 

The framework of the main wings or planes should be put together by bolting the cross struts F at regular intervals on the under side of the main spars G. Brace the frame diagonally with the piano wire. The ribs are nailed to the main spars by using 1-in. brads. The ribs are spaced 1  ft. apart, and curved so that the highest part will be 5  in. from the horizontal. Each rib extends 15  in. back of the rear spar. The rudder is made in the same manner.

The vertical rudder is made to fold. A small pocket arrangement H is made from which the rigs of the vertical rudder diverge.

The covering of the wings and rudders should be a good quality of muslin or some light aeronautical goods. The cloth should be tacked to the front spar, to the ribs, and then sewn to a wire which connects the ends of the ribs.

FIGURE 2

Plan View

FIGURE 3

Side Elevation

FIGURE 4

Front Elevation

FIGURE 5
image missing

Wing Bar

Construct the triangular arrangement marked J to which the wings are braced. The wing bar supports are shown in the illustration. The bottom wires are braced to the crossbar K shown in the front elevation.

The bracing wires are all fastened to a snaphook which can be snapped into the rings at the places marked L. This method will allow one quickly to assemble or take apart the plane and store it in a small place. The vertical rudder should be braced from each rib to the front spar of the horizontal rudder and then braced by the wires M to hold the rudder from falling back. The rudder is then braced to the main frame and the main frame is braced by the wires N to the wings. This will hold the plane rigid. Use snaphooks and eyebolts wherever possible so that the plane can be quickly assembled.

Assembling

The triangular arrangement J is bolted to the wings and the top wires put in place. The wings are then put on the main frame and bolted to the bars marked C and D, after which the bottom wires are fixed in place.

Gliding

Take the glider to the top of a hill, step into the center of the main frame just a little back of the center of the wings. Put your arms around the arm pieces, face the wind and run a few steps. You will be lifted off the ground and carried down the slope. The balancing is done by shifting the legs. The glides should be short at first, but by daily practice, and, as the operator gains skill, glides can be made up to a length of several hundred feet. Do not attempt to fly in a wind having a velocity of more than 15 miles an hour.