So did you find anything under your tree that made you go “Wheeeeee!”?? Under mine, was a UMX Stryker 180. I’ve loved the Stryker since its release in 2004(time flies!), and now I have a micro version with dual rudders that will do boomerang flat spins like nothing else! And yes, I’ve already got the light kit in my hands for it! This leads to your first assignment, send me pics of your R/C gifts this year! I want to compile a post with everyone’s goodies so we can all share what we might see on the field next summer.

The holidays are over, snow is finally on the ground, and that only means one thing – the building season has begun! Whether it was under the tree, or already on the build table, send me pics of what you’re building this winter. If you don’t have anything to build, come help build the new club trainer this winter! We will be building a Tiger 60 (kindly donated by Hobby World) progressively through the winter, which will be an excellent advanced trainer for the club. Mark Schmaltz will be hosting our build nights in Lowell on Wednesday nights, every other week, starting around 6pm. Each session will have a planned focus; fuselage assembly, wing assembly, covering, engine/radio installation, etc. With the ‘elderly statesmen’ supervising and instructing, we will let the new builders in attendance handle the assembly. With the huge growth of ARF’s, our goal this winter is educate everyone so you will be prepared when the inevitable happens. This will also be open to the public, so if you know anyone that might be interested in learning please invite them! Keep an eye on your email, I will send more details with the what/where/when very soon.

KRAM and WMAA got a mention on the AMA youth blog recently, following AMA D7 AVP Tim Jesky’s visit to WMAA. Mr. Jesky and Mr. Pritchett were both very excited to see the interaction between the club and the WMAA students. You can read the blog entry here: http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amayouth/2012/12/18/a-trip-to-western-michigan-aviation-academy/  But wait, there’s more! In the February edition of Model Aviation, there will be a full page article about our very own club and the Tuesday/Thursday morning WMAA R/C club sessions! What great visibility for both of us! Be sure to keep an eye out for it when it comes in the mail. Special thanks to Dan McLaren and Dave Kingma for providing pictures for the article, and to Lee Frederickson for letting AMA know what we’ve been doing!

Have you renewed your club dues? Contact Dan McLaren ASAP to avoid late fees! How about your AMA card? It would be a shame to not be able to fly with us at the Frozen Fun-Fly on Jan 1st just because you forgot to go to modelaircraft.org to renew.

Keep your wings level and altitude positive,

Nikolei

The post Prez Sez – December 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

And just like that, this years’ club events are in the books. We had a FULL house and I just got the financial report from the swap shop; we had a great year! Thanks to everyone for coming early, setting up 100 tables w/ chairs and helping all of the vendors unload. Special thanks go out to Dave Pierce and George Orphan for all of their hard work putting the swap together and keeping it organized, it really paid off. Without their efforts, we couldn’t pay for our field! Next time you see them, be sure to shake their hand and congratulate them on a super show.

A reminder that the November meeting will close nominations for club officer positions. The slot of social director is still seeking a home. Whomever takes this role will have a lot of opportunity to help shape the clubs’ events into bigger and better things. If you have ideas to help improve the club, this may be the position for you! Or, if you have another member in mind, nominate them!

The November meeting also brings a first for the club – indoor flying! The WMAA gym is complete and will be host to us before and after the meetings through the winter. Flying will open at 6pm, pause at 7 for the meeting, and resume afterwards until around 9 (or until George kicks us out!). Meeting night flying will be free and reserved for KRAM members only. Dates are planned for Saturdays starting in December that will be open to anyone for only a $5 fee that will be donated to the WMAA R/C club. Details on those dates will be announced at the meeting.

November is also time to start the renewal process! Don’t forget to bring your dues to Dan, and the AMA renewal in the mail before the end of the year so you can come brave the cold, but fun, New Years Day Fly.

Winter is a time to reflect on the past year and make resolutions to improve and change. Its time to take this club into your hands and mold it into something even better. If you have any comments or suggestions about the club, its up to YOU to bring them forward to us! No matter how big or small, or how brief or long you’ve been in the club, all of your ideas will be considered and could very well be carried out. The result? KRAM becomes more than just a place to fly!

Keep your wings level & altitude positive,
Nik

The post Prez Sez – October 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

With the Veterans Fly-In completed, another year of successful flying events is completed at KRAM. Great weather, a bus full of vets, 20+ pilots, over 60 aircraft and over 100 people fed made for a great day at the KRAM field. A big thank-you to everyone that came and helped with setup and other volunteer positions needed throughout the day; you are all appreciated! During lunch, we had everyone roll their planes to the middle of the runway and opened it to visitors. This went very well and I think it was impressive to see planes stretched from one end of the runway to the other! We may have to make this a new fly-in tradition at KRAM. Did you attend this or any of the other KRAM fly-ins? If so, we’d like to hear your comments and suggestions! How did we do? What can we improve? How do we attract more pilots and visitors?

Have you been saving your change in a jar? I hope it’s full, because our annual swap shop is drawing close! Oct 28th will be coming up fast, so call Dave Pierce quick to reserve your table! And, if you’re in contact with anyone from other local clubs, please spread the word. Our flyer can be found on the events page of the website. You’ll also notice our ad in Model Aviation for September and October. Your raffle tickets for the P-47 will be in the mail shortly.

Speaking of our website, I’d like to remind our new members (and those that haven’t done it yet), to register an account. An account on the KRAM site will enable you to see the monthly financial reports, post pictures in our galleries, and post in our forums. Once you register, be sure to send me an email with your name & email address so I can change your access rights on the site! In addition to the website, we have a public group on facebook. I encourage anyone with a FB account to join our group and help me make it a bit more active! Post to us when you’re going out flying, or your build progress, or some videos! Check us out here – http://www.facebook.com/groups/kramrc/  I *really* want the forums and our facebook page to become a hub of activity. So, log-on once in awhile and say hey!

I’m very happy to report that KRAM and West Michigan Aviation Academy are joining forces! Several of you have already lent them spare planes to hang in their classrooms (they still want more if you have one to spare!), and have met George Pavey, a new instructor at WMAA. He has been working with the club officers in order to help get a r/c club established at their school. In return, WMAA will be the future host of our winter meetings and even some indoor flying once their gymnasium is finished! We’re also planning on doing a club demo for the students in their new gym this fall, so get those foamies and micros ready. The demo should help attract a lot of attention for both their WMAA club and ours! I’ll email more details when it’s closer, but plan on driving to the airport instead of the High School. Thanks George and WMAA for connecting with us!

Until then…
Keep your wings level and altitude positive,
Nik

The post Prez Sez – September 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

Is it really almost September?! How the flying season…ummm, flies! Does everyone have their winter build list ready? Danny organized a nice casual fun-fly for us a few weekends ago. About 8 of us competed for bragging rights and a small prize on a beautiful Saturday morning. Timed flight, spot landings, limbo, cut the ribbon and of course the deadly doughnut drop were all attempted. For once, the doughnut drop didn’t claim any planes! Unlike the week prior when 6 planes met the corn, all planes from the fun-fly went home in-tact! Yours truly won the day with my foamy bipe, and Danny and Johnathan Covington flying his Sensei trainer tied for 2nd. Johnathan chose a prop-balancer from the box as his prize. Thanks to Danny for organizing it!

As most of you know, our field location has been of some discussion at the last few meetings. Lee Frederickson and I got a chance to talk with Fred Oesch at the Wingeier Breakfast Fly-In this last Saturday. He was happy to see us and generally said, if we’re happy, he’s happy! We also informed him of the unanimous vote at the last meeting to not even consider moving the field. He was busy cooking for the visitors, so we didn’t take up much of his time but we will go over what was discussed with him at the next meeting.

And finally as a quick reminder, our Veterans Fly-In is coming up on Sept 8th! The bus-load of vets has been confirmed, so lets get a bunch of us out there and show them a good time! Warbirds aren’t required, so just bring something that flies!  Our club meeting on the 4th will go over final details for the fly-in. Until then…

Keep your wings level and altitude positive,
Nik

The post Prez Sez – August 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

Well our first fly-in of the year is successfully in the books and we had a great showing! There were approx 30 pilots registered and a good handful of family and friends out watching the action. The West Michigan Radio Flyers came to visit as well with a good handful of pilots; thanks for coming! It was a warm one, but the winds behaved and I think everyone had a good time. If you didn’t make it, several pilot prizes were given out through the day including 3 t-shirts from RC Pilot Magazine that said “I’m all thumbs, what’s your point? RC Airplane Pilot” on the back. Ed Bradley won one of them, which I thought that was appropriate! We also raffled off a West Michigan Park Flyers McFoamy that was donated by WMPF (Big thanks to WMPF!). The McFoamy was won by Ed Bradley (we think he rigged the tickets), but later decided he didn’t want to get into electrics. So, we now have a McFoamy to raffle off at the club picnic next month! If you want a chance to win one, and honestly..who doesn’t want to win a plane, I suggest you attend!!

Lee Frederickson *may* be awarded the first “poopy plane” trophy, as his AJ Slick(I think?) had a battery ejection mid-flight which ended with his plane nearly unharmed by the swamp, and the canopy floated into the poo. A rescue was successful with a rope lasso. Lets hope he gives it a good bath! The authorities are still on the fence if the entire plane must go in the pond to be awarded the trophy, news at 11.

We had a decent crew in the morning to help setup, but would’ve liked to see more! Setup takes nearly an hour, and more hands would make that quicker and easier. Those that helped setup got an extra pilot prize ticket as a thank you, and I will do similar things in the future to reward those that participate and help with club functions. A big thanks to the group that helped setup in the morning, and I hope to see more of you next time! Also a special thank you goes out to Mark and George for cooking in that HOT sun! Mark spent most of the day setting up, prepping and tearing down the dining area while the rest of us were flying. Make sure you give him your thanks next time you see him!

Your homework for the next meeting (which is July 3rd), is to think of one little thing that we could do to get more pilots and spectators at our events. This is your club, and I want to make our events fun for everyone. So bring your idea(s) to the next meeting! Also if you were at the Memorial Fly-In, I’d like to hear your comments and suggestions on how you think it went!

Keep your wings level and altitude positive,
Nik

The post PreSez – June 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

We had an excellent turnout at the last club meeting and nearly ran out of chairs! It was great to see ya’ll along with the nice models that were brought for show and tell. Keep them coming, we all love seeing your new creations! A big welcome to our newest member, Philip Shea. If you see him around, say hello and introduce yourself.

A field maintenance day is scheduled for TOMORROW, the 12th at 10am. The main goal is fence repair. We also need to check the PA setup and make sure everything else is ready for the flying season. If you’re available, please come out and lend a hand. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can enjoy the nice weather in the sky. In the event of rain, we’ll do it Sunday morning instead.

Our first yearly event is very close, TAG day on May 19th. Setup should be easy-peasy with a couple simulators, generator and a grill. If you have a trainer you don’t mind lending, we may need it depending on turnout. Also remember to bring some other models to show and fly for the public during demo-time. Please keep in mind that open flying should be suspended during this event, unless there is a low turnout, or during lunch/demo times. Bring a stack of your old magazines to pass out to the public. I regretfully won’t be there as I’ll be getting my feet wet in precision flight at an IMAC seminar & practice session near Detroit. So any questions or issues during the event should be directed to an officer at the field.

Please do NOT forget about our fundraiser on the 20th! Come to Buffalo Wild Wings on 28th near Riders with the attached coupon and get 20% back to your club. Take out or dine in, alcohol is included. I’m hoping for a REALLY good turnout, so bring your family out for a bigger and wings and help the club raise some easy money. Tigers are on at 1pm…just sayin!

Just this last Tuesday, we had an accident at the field that could’ve ended much worse. Upon taxiing in on the taxiway from his completed flight, the pilot reached for the engine cut-off switch and mistakenly bumped the throttle stick, sending the speeding plane into a poor little electric trainer plane. Luckily, no one was in the way and the only damage was a chopped-up horizontal stab and fuselage. I only bring this up to put that little safety bug in your ear when you’re taxiing in and out from the pits. When your running engine is pointing towards anyone/anything other than the runway, always plan for the inevitable. For example, when walking to/from a station with my engine running, I hold the throttle down with the outside of my thumb…preventing it from being bumped up if I stumble. In Tuesdays case, using this method and using the other hand to flip the kill switch could have prevented the accident. I also encourage you to cut the engine as soon as it crosses the forward fence on the taxiway and carry your plane back to the pit. This was also brought up in Mays Model Aviation where a pilot had recently reinstalled a throttle servo but flipped it around and forgot to update his fail-safe programming. He accidentally switched off the transmitter with the plane running and sent the plane full boar into the safety fence. So, always double check everything after any radio or equipment change and be double safe when your engine is running!

Keep your wings level and altitude positive,
Nik

The post PreSez – May 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

Hi all! Sorry for the tardiness of the monthly memos, I’ve been on vacation since the 16th and forgot to send something out. Our last club meeting was another non-meeting meeting, lacking only 2 people for a quarem. I’ll be sending along some discussion notes from Dan soon. Our flying season is underway and the yearly event schedule has begun! The club has a handful of things for the upcoming month of May.

At the club meeting on May 1st, we will continue our discussion on a couple field rules regarding taxiing to/from the pits. If you have any thoughts on this, please bring them to the meeting! Some lucky fellow won a bottle of CA last month, who knows what’s in the magic box this round! And don’t forget to bring something to show off…we’ve had some very nice models brought in the last couple months! Thanks to everyone who brought something to show.

On the 5th, a club all the way from Ontario is planning on coming over to check out our fabric runway. I’ll be contacting them next week to nail down a time and will let everyone know. Please stop on out if you are able and help answer any questions they might have.

May 19th will hopefully bring a bag-full of new students to the field for TAG day. A signup sheet will be passed around at the club meeting to help cover the various stations. If you are available, please come on out and give us a hand! We’ll have lots of people with lots of questions, so even if you’re not an instructor we still need your help. I’ve got some ideas to help make the process a little smoother and more organized, but it will require a few more hands on board to make it work. If you have any ideas for this event, please let me know now!

On that Sunday the 20th, Buffalo Wild Wings on 28th st will be the location for a club fundraiser. Head out there for lunch or dinner, dine in or take out, with our flier in hand, and help out your club at no extra charge to you! 20% of your order will come back to us…so eat up! Anyone with this flier can help out the club, so hand it out to neighbors, friends, family, coworkers and well…anyone who likes chicken. If you haven’t tried their Parmesan Garlic sauce, I highly recommend it!

On a final but very important note, I received word that someone from the Ionia club mentioned at their club meeting that 3D flying at KRAM has been suspended. I’m not sure how this rumor came about, but I want to assure you that ALL types of flying will always be welcome at the field, so long as it’s done in a safe manner and in accordance with the field rules. If you hear any such rumors, please politely correct them and inform one of our officers ASAP.

That’s all for now, I hope to see you at the club meeting!

Keep your wings level and altitude positive,

Nik

The post Prez Sez – April 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

As the new flying season arrives, I think it’s a good time to remind everyone about being safe at the field. This of course, has been a large discussion topic the last few months with the suggested revision of field rule C, concerning pilots standing at the flight stations. While the revised text that Dan brought to the meeting was ultra-specific, it left little question as to where you should be located when flying. But as Lee mentioned, enforcement would not be possible. One thing that was not mentioned however, is that the field rules are there not only for your safety, but as backup when a members’ actions become a problem. I still believe the rule should be slightly modified to prevent this from happening again, but that’s for another time. There is one rule, that you won’t find on the field rule sheet, that everyone should obey without question…common sense. We aren’t your babysitters, and I’m pretty sure that Ed doesn’t want to be out there slapping your wrists with a ruler because you’re 8″ too far from the flight station, so become your own safety officer and routinely ask yourself “Am I flying safely?” and let your common sense dictate. Beyond that, please talk to a club officer before making up your own rules.

On a lighter note, I’m not usually the type to forward random things to my email list…but I suggest you and your wives watch this for a good chuckle.

I tried to convince Erin to run around the yard for me, but no such luck…

Keep your altitude positive and your wings level,
Nik

The post Prez Sez – March 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

We had 4 (YES 4!) airplanes at the last meeting for some show-and-tell. Our newest member, Corey, brought his GP Super Skybolt that he recovered. It’s very sharp! David Pierce brought in his new seaplane covered in a Coast Guard scheme. Al Smith brought in his newly finished Somethin’ Extra which should be great for a fun-fly! And Danny brought in our completed 2012 raffle plane, a Hangar 9 P-47. He said other than some curse words thrown at a poorly designed cowl, the plane went together well. It’s a sharp covering scheme and should draw some attention and tickets! Thanks Danny for putting together yet another club raffle plane! Hobby World donated the plane again this year, and gave us a great deal on the engine and servos, so PLEASE be sure to tell Butch “Thanks!” next time you’re in. If you have a plane, completed or not, that you’d like to show off…please feel free to bring it to the meeting.

And just a quick reminder that the board members, myself included, are available for anyone that needs help, has concerns or suggestions regarding the club, or any issues regarding the club, our rules, or our members. Please feel free to email/call, and we’ll help you with anything we can. I look forward to the year ahead and expect some great flying and clear skies ahead!

Keep your altitude positive and your wings level,
Nik

PS – I’m in the process of doing some changes to our roster online. If you have a picture of you or you and one of your planes, email it to me along with your name so we can have a face to put to the names! (Kingma I’m betting you have a good bunch of them, if you wouldnt mind selecting some…)

The post Prez Sez – February 2012 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.

Hi all,
This month’s letter is actually going to have a theme, something new for me.
Some of you may already know that we have recently lost our social director For the time being, Dan McClaren, Dave Pierce and I will be splitting the social director duties. This position is open for a volunteer. If you are interested in this position, please review the duties in the bylaws so there no questions about the responsibilities of the position. As of Thursday, may 5, Ed Fowler has accepted the position of field maintenance officer recently vacated by Eddie Francisco. Eddie has done a great job for many years & we appreciate his efforts.

Ok, on to the theme.
This club has been around for many years, the exact date is a matter of question, but that has no bearing on the subject. When I joined this club 6 years ago I was a new wide-eyed guy trying to figure out how to keep that infernal thing in the air. The club at that time was, for the most part, being run by the founding members and they were doing a great job as far as I was concerned. I was made to feel welcome and was taught unselfishly by many of the long-time members. In the years that followed, I felt compelled to join in on the day-to-day matters of the club by becoming an officer and was welcomed by the members.

It has been, so far, very enjoyable followed by challenges and personal rewards.
As time goes by, life, business and the whole world must change and evolve, if you will, to keep up with the times. This brings me to the topic of change.

As I mentioned before, the club has been run very well for many years by some of the senior members. As great a job as they did, I feel it is time for some of us younger members to step up, take some officer positions and carry the torch that has been handed to us. This club has a great history of fun flying and great fellowship, it’s time to continue that tradition. What I am getting to is I am asking all members to take a good look at this club and ask yourself. “Where do I want to see this club in the future”? If you feel you have something to contribute, consider being an officer. We have enough positions that the work load is spread out and being an officer is not as difficult or time consuming as some might think. As an officer, you also have a great support network in your fellow officers. For me, it has been, in the long run very rewarding to serve the membership of this club.
So, I ask you, do you want to be a part of the evolution of this fine club? We would love to have you aboard, it’s a great ride.

Keep your wings level,

Mark

The post Presidents Corner – May 2011 appeared first on KRAM - Kent Radio Aero Modelers.