Fahrvergnugen

Vanquishing volks vie for volksplane victory at St Vincents

We finally held our peanut Volksplane contest!
Amid a swirl of media attention and hounded by hordes of paparazzi, five contestants faced off before a small but fanatical group of spectators on Sunday July 25, 2010. When the props stopped and the dust settled one man emerged to bask in the glow of victory.

Mike L, with his exquisite model - decorated to perfectly mimic a real Volkspane - emerged head and shoulders above the rest, and not just because he is a lot taller.

Mike won all 4 categories as follows

BEST THREE TIMES OUT OF FIVE

Mike L 169.5 secs
Ed S 112.6
Tom W 80
George B 72.1

LONGEST SINGLE FLIGHT

MIKE 1 minute 02 secs
Ed 40.4 secs
Tom 28 secs
George 24.1 secs

CONCOURS (a totally subjective scoring method by myself)

Mike 85 points
George 84
Jim 77
Ed 76
Tom 65

MASS LAUNCH (IF YOU CAN CALL FIVE MODELS A MASS)

Mike (still going after the rest of us had gone home)

So first prize of a Gizmo Geezer went to Mike, and Ed as the runner up received a packet of rubber bands - both provided by George.

Jim broke his prop during a final trimming session and was unable to compete in the main section)

Models from top right clockwise - Ed, Mike, George, Tom and Jim.



Thanks to everyone for a great session and lots of laughs. We invite anyone to email us with times and photos of their peanut Volkspanes.

6-27-2010 Indoor flying

Sunday's session saw many versions of the peanut scale Volksplane being readied for the upcoming event.



Jerry concentrates on trimming his VP, in Luftwaffe livery.



George's VP is a real lightweight.

Much attention is paid to keeping the weight to a minimum.
Tom knows the importance of this, and he shows us how its done.

Part of Jim's air force.

Mike's Sparrow & VP.



Dave K's Fokker returned to base with battle damage.

Jim pauses to answer questions, in midst of winding.

George's Bostonian-sized VP suffered major damage after encountering an immovable object.

More of Mike's handiwork, an Aeronca L.

Additionally, heres some pics from the previous indoor session that didn't get posted...( better late than never!).

Volksplane Cookup

Here it comes! Marin Aero Club's 2010 Volksplane cookup is about to begin.

George and Tom suggested the Evans VP-1 Volksplane because the model is simple to build, a well-documented scale subject, and... what's the other reason? It's always good to have three reasons. Oh, I know! George already built one, so he can proceed directly to the next project. But seriously, I'm sure there are many other good reasons to build this model.

The VP-1 model pictured here belongs to Jerry Long. He flies it both indoors and outdoors. The WW1 German markings accurately represent a specific full scale Volksplane whimsically decorated in this way.

Some of us are building Volksplane models from plans prepared by Tom, based on David Aronstein's excellent peanut scale design. Tom has cleaned it up, added templates for all the 'print wood', and provided an option to build the fuselage with a saddle allowing a one-piece wing.

There are at least two other peanut scale plans for the Volksplane: an all-sheet design by Walt Mooney and a box-frame fuselage design by Stephen Hales.

This cookup is open to anyone who wants to join in. You don't have to fly with MAC, but if you build a Volksplane we'd like to see a picture and post it here. If you need plans, send us an email.

Season Opener

It's a good thing we scheduled both of our April meetings inside the gym, because it was pouring rain yesterday in Marin County. We normally alternate outdoor (2nd Sunday of the month) and indoor (4th Sunday) throughout our flying season.


George is always working on something interesting. Here are the bones of a B.A. Swallow he started building after seeing an article about the plane in this month's issue of Flight Journal magazine. The outlines of George's model are based on David Aronstein's plan. George enlarged it from 16-inch wing span to 30 inches and redesigned the structure to provide a more robust airframe.



Mike built a balsa sheet profile BD-8 in a few hours on Saturday night. He didn't have to build the motor stick and prop assembly. He already has one that fits a series of models that he's scratch-built.



While we're on the subject of balsa sheet profile models... Jim built a pair of feather planes (a biplane and a monoplane) from a Japanese kit he found on eBay.



I like the minimalist design of these little airplanes.



And now for the feature you've all been waiting for! A video of Dave K's twin-rubber peanut scale He-219. I started recording this only a moment after launching my Little Richard (which you'll see at the end) and once again I found myself spinning around in the middle of the circular flight path. When will I ever learn?



For some reason, most of the pictures I took yesterday didn't turn out very well. Maybe because I was dizzy from making that video. Tom also had his camera and perhaps he'll post a few more pics. In any case, we'll be flying again in two weeks and will have more to report then.

2009 Flying Season Closes

Marin Aero Club's final meeting of 2009 was on November 22 at St. Vincent's gym. For some reason the meeting was not very well attended, but we had fun and several newcomers dropped by to learn more about the club. We look forward to seeing you guys next year!

Our 2010 meeting schedule will be posted here as soon as we've determined the dates. In addition to scheduled meetings, we have impromptu flying sessions fairly often. Anyone who wants to fly with us should get on our email list. Send us an email here to be notified of club events.

Anyway, here are some photos from Sunday...


Brian showed us his newest model, a No-Cal MiG-3 built from Lidberg plans. Brian created the graphics himself.


MAC usually organizes one or two group building projects each year. How about a No-Cal Cookup for 2010?


FAC No-Cal Profile Scale emphasizes duration. No maximum flight time in this category. This could get interesting.


Speaking of cookups, here is my Little Richard, built in 2007 and repaired after crashing hard into the rafters two months ago. Good as new, just a little heavier.


Ed has a number of models that belonged to Earl Hoffman, our senior member who passed away early this year at age 96. This canard was not quite airworthy when Ed got it, but he restored it to good flying condition.


Ed also restored this EZ-B from Earl's collection. This model belongs to the lightest class of EZ-Bs, 0.5 grams.


Ed explained how Earl built the propeller, covering a balsa frame (outline and ribs) with very thin balsa shavings, just 0.002 inches thick, effectively using balsa in lieu of microfilm.


Dave K brought a couple of Bill Hurley's pistachio biplanes. The incomplete models were framed but not covered or assembled when Dave got them from the retired modeler a year ago. Dave finished the delicate models and is now flight trimming. At this point the planes fly erratically, but they fly.


Dave K's peanut Fokker Dr.I turns in tight circles above the hardwood floor. Curse you, Red Baron!