KENT RADIO AEROMODELERS, INC.
Minutes of the October 6, 2015 Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 by President Lee Frederickson
There were 12 voting Members present
Guests present were Dale Slobe and Ed Buck
Review of the Minutes of the August 4, 2015 meeting produced no changes.
Motion to approve by: Lee Lubbers
Seconded by: Jim Grant
Vote: carried
The Financial Report was reviewed by Dan McLaren. No questions were asked.
Motion to accept by: Jim Grant
Seconded by: Danny Osborn
Vote: carried
There were no New Members in August or September. Eric (and son Alex) Damm informed me they have moved and will not be rejoining the club in 2016.
Membership details consist of 57 regular members, 4 lifetime members, 2 associate members, and 15 youth members which totals 78 members
Old Business
Lee – review of any ideas for field improvements and methods for funding them. The following ideas were presented but no funding ideas were forthcoming.
Mike Murphy brought a diagram of a narrower and longer runway to the Sept. meeting (which did not have a quorum). Lee has begun cutting the grass in compliance with the proposal (grass cut short from the end of the runway to the access road to the east and the corn to the west – allows for a good roll out for bigger planes or hot landings. Also, pilot stations next to the mat will be discussed in the future. This would put the pilots closer to the point of landing. The existing fence would remain with portable plastic safety barriers next to the runway. Taxiing would be done from the existing locations and not through the fence. Likewise, start up stands would not be placed in front of the shelter.
Jeff Wolfson asked about the runway and possible leveling. Lee responded that he is paying close attention to our sister club that is trying to get their runway down. They have quotes of thousands of dollars to level, pee gravel, sand etc. the area so the ground will not heave with the annual frost. Once he sees how that installation goes, he will bring back a proposal for our runway.
Lee Lubbers pointed out that our window of opportunity to do work is relatively short due to the type of soil and water retention in the area.
Mark Schmaltz / Mark Roddy reported that 10 competitors participated in the IMAC event with one from KRAM. Mark Schmaltz thanked the KRAM members who helped out at the event. Mark Roddy thanked our members who helped set up, tear down, and feed the folks. There were proceeds of $198 that went to the club.
Lee – Vets Fly-In had 36 folks enjoy the day.
New Business
Dan proposed to carry over the current dues structure for 2016. A motion was made by Lee Lubbers and seconded by George Orphan and carried unanimously. Dues will be $75 for regular members and $50 for
Associate members.
Lee opened nominations for officers for 2016. The following were nominated and accepted the following positions:
PresidentLee Frederickson
Vice PresidentDanny Osborn
Vice PresidentGeorge Orphan
Secretary /TreasurerDan McLaren
Director 1 Lead Safety OfficerMike Murphy
Director 2 Field Maintenance Officer Lee Frederickson
Director 3 Social DirectorMark Roddy
Director 4 WebmasterBrian Thomas
The following volunteered to assist Mark Roddy at the big events:
Memorial Fly In Jim Grant Dale Slobe
Vet’s Fly InJim Grant Dan McLaren
Club PicnicLee Frederickson
Nominations will remain open at the November Meeting with elections taking place at the December meeting.
Dave Pierce gave the following information concerning the Swap Shop:
Set up is at 8:00am. All Help is appreciated.
Help is also appreciated with clean up after the auction.
82 tables are sold.
There will be a club table which could use someone to monitor.
We will leave a deposit for the 2016 Swap Shop (Oct. 30, 2016)
Lee looked for approval of the “infield and outfield” mowing process that he has employed this summer. The “infield”, or area around the pits and mat, has been kept short. The “outfield”, or area to the north of the runway and the parking lot, has been mowed just once or twice a month based on growth rate. Membership gave an approval of the process…
Lee Lubbers suggested combining our TAG day with the Full Scale Fly In and pancake breakfast that takes place at the Wingeire Airport. He is now the Chair person to follow through on this idea.
Lee Frederickson admitted he was wrong on a couple of issues concerning the club. First, the generator gets very little use other than when we have events. Electricity at the field is not the issue he thought it was. Second, the club members do not want to go to other locations to fly. They are happy to fly at their field with the friends they have here.
Lee Lubbers suggested guest speakers were a draw for members to come to meetings in the winter. Lee Frederickson agreed and asked for suggestions. The following were offered:
Steve Barr with FPV
Electro Dynamics Rep
Tim Jesky
Dennis (Mike) Grady (club member who competes in national scale events)
Field trips to Kzoo air zoo or the Waco factory at Battle Creek
(Editor’s note – Dennis (Mike) Grady will be speaking at the November meeting)
Lee Frederickson asked why we have such low participation at events, be they fun flys or picnics. Some of the responses were:
Do not like to compete
Do not like to fly in front of strangers.
Busy with family and other things.
Do not like to fly at strange fields.
Lee Lubbers observed there was next to no club participation in the IMAC event that closes the club for a couple of days and requires a number of volunteers to support. After some discussion, Lee made a motion not to have an IMAC event at KRAM in 2016. George Orphan seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
Lee – coming events
SWAP SHOP – SUNDAY OCTOBER 25
Indoor Flying schedule at the High school to be announced next month
Lee – Warren French, a club member for a number of years, has left the hobby in favor of full scale. He has donated all his RC equipment to the club for sale to members with proceeds going to the club. Thank you for the generous donation!
Show and Tell – none
50/50 won by Matt Slobe ($8)
Next meeting: November 3, 2015 at 7:00pm at West Michigan Aviation Academy.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15
Motion by: Lee Frederickson
Seconded by: All
Respectfully Submitted,
Dan McLaren
KRAM Secretary / Treasurer
