Officers in attendance: Dave Redman, Roland Harmon, Dave Beach, and John Hayes

Secretary's and Treasurer's reports were read and accepted.

Dave announced that he had a call from a woman who is trying to dissolve a deceased modelers items. Maurice mentioned that in the past members have helped out in these situations to sort and either bring to a meeting or hold for an auction.

Old Business:

Dave Redman thanked Harry Peters for the road and fence repairs. Ray Breton was also thanked for the fertilizing the field.

May 22nd will be the Construction Derby. Shawn McCarthy has 5 kits made up for 5 teams. There is no limit the number of team members. The building will commence at 9:30 and go till 12:00. After 12:00 points will begin being deducted. Following the build all the creations will be flown for points.

Bring your own food.

Dave Redman announced the forum change officially to YAHOO. This forum will be the main means of communication for members to exchange questions, seek advise or get late breaking news about meetings and events. The forum located on the website has been removed in lieu of the YAHOO forum. The link below will take you to the Yahoo/Group. All SNHRCC members are encouraged to become members so that you are not left out of the communications loop for the club.

New Business:

Robert Dionne mentioned that prior to the meeting that both gates were wide open. Harry Peters said after 4PM the outer gate should be closed.

Ray Breton asked about a current roster so members could be contacted and new members could be known.

Remember to join the forum, it is the clubs communication tool as well as a means of member communication. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNHRCC/

Construction Derby - May 22, 2005

Construction Derby

The Construction Derby was finally held on May 22, 2005.  So what if it was cold.  So what if it was raining.  So what if I was wearing shorts…I figured it would be cancelled and I could go back home!  Several of us hearty souls huddled in Darrel’s truck watching the rain come down and finally figured – what the heck – if we don’t have it now we never will.  And so the construction Derby was launched.

We started out with only two teams, but Dave Redman and I were quickly coerced, I mean convinced, to form another team.  Here are the teams that signed in:

• Team Bewildered – Shawn McCarthy and Dave Redman (the name fit well!)
• Granite Flyers – Darrell Wagner and John Hayes
• Pink Peril – Clarence White, Ralph Dionne and Bobby Dionne

Since Team Bewildered came with absolutely no equipment, tools or anything else we set up our table between the other teams.  That way it would be easier to “borrow” what we needed.  The instructions said you could bring anything you wanted, and John and Darrell didn’t hold back.  I was able to borrow their foam wing cutter and table saw among other things…I’m not kidding either.  They had more equipment than I have in my shop!  Pink Peril also provided the engine and radio for team Bewildered.  Thanks guys, we could not have done it without all your help and generosity.

The contest was based on building time and flying performance.  Teams started with two and a half hours as a target time to complete their plane.  Any time under the 2-1/2 hours was given bonus points and any time over was penalty time.  Unfortunately, since teams had fewer members than expected the building portion took longer than expected.  Frozen fingers tend to make things go slower too!  After the dust settled (more like pink snow) the standings were:

• Team Bewildered – (135) points
• Granite Flyers – (45) points
• Pink Peril – (150) points

The flying portion came next.  Hey – they all flew!  Team Bewildered’s strategy of building a plane with no landing gear sacrificed some flight points, but helped lessen the building penalty.  Besides, we were at a loss as to how to make the coat-hanger landing gear work.  We were able to do the 360 horizontal circuit around the field, and the three loops.  Rolls were another matter.  Multiple tries always resulted in a screaming dive towards the ground.  Inverted flight had about the same results.

Team Pink Peril was able to recover from an aborted first attempt and also finally get into the air.  Their first attempt resulted in the coat-hanger gear being ripped off the plane, so a hand launch was in order.  They also were able to get points for the 360 degree circuit around the field and the loops.

Last up was the Granite Flyers plane.  John managed to coax his plane to do an ROG takeoff, 360 circuit of the field, 3 loops and inverted flight for 10 seconds.  Outstanding!  You may have noticed no one got points for doing a touch and go.  Once these crates hit the ground it was pretty much over.

Final flight points:

• Team Bewildered – 55 points
• Granite Flyers – 80 points
• Pink Peril – 35 points

 The final standings were

Had the weather been more cooperative I bet we would have had a better turn out.  I hope everyone who came had a good time, and didn’t take too long to thaw out. 

I’m starting to think about next year’s Construction Derby.  Hmmm, different kit materials, a different points system…we’ll see what I can come up with.  Hope to see you there next time.