An Act Of Kindness

Chris, Hugo, Eric

Since I live just a few minutes away from our Bayview Air Park, I drop by often during the day. One afternoon last month, I saw an older gentleman sitting on a type of wheeled walker with Eric Klepsch standing beside him holding a transmitter. I asked Eric’s dad, Chris, what’s happening?

Well, the gentleman’s man is John Amos and at 82 years of age, he wanted to learn to fly radio control models before he got too old!

Apparently, John does not drive anymore, lives in an apartment; so Eric picks him up with his Apprentice Trainer, then drives him to our field. A commitment well beyond most of our instructors expectations.

Eric has dedicated an enormous amount of time helping, training, and test flying a lot of our models. In fact, he rarely has time to fly his own models because of his willingness to help others. Chris said they have three models to test fly, but Eric becomes too busy helping other members. Eric said with the help of Chris and son Hugo, he has trained close to twenty members in our club. He currently has two students. Eric is no stranger to instructing. He has been an instructor in several clubs from Vancouver’s big RCFCBC Club to clubs in Brampton, Campbellville and Oakville.

In Eric’s words——-“it’s always very satisfying to help others experience the joy of R/C modelling. I’m giving back as aviation began for me with models, leading all the way to a top Captain with Air Canada. Models teach aerodynamics better than books. I can’t say which type of flying I enjoy better.”

So I thank Eric and Chris for the help they have given me and other club members.

Cheers, Ted Pritlove

My Yellow Yak

I had a surprise visit from Wayne Bransfield in August of last year (2021). He wanted to give me a Freewing 70mm Yak-130 with 2-4000mah Lipo batteries. I asked him, why? His answer was –“everyone seems to be flying jets, so I bought one, but I realize EDF jets are not my thing.”
I suggested that he should sell the model and get some return from his purchase. After a lengthy discussion, he told me his real reason for this gift.
Some years ago, when Wayne returned from living in BC, he had all his models and equipment stolen from his van. When I heard his story, I gave him a ready to fly Ultra Sport 1000 complete with a receiver. He said, because of my generosity, he wanted to return the favour.
Brian Harrington had assembled and test flew the model; so all I did was install my receiver and with Peter Krautter’s help, flew the jet a few weeks later with Wayne being present.
During winter, I repainted the model duplicating the Russian Yellow “04” Yak 130. As is my custom, I replaced the “04” with my current age “86”. At present I have had 34 flights on this model.
The Yak is a very fast, smooth, and quiet jet, and has a nice presence in the sky.
Thanks, Wayne, for the gift and Peter for taking the pictures and posting this article on our club’s website.
Cheers, Ted Pritlove

Pilot Briefing – Failsafe and Flyaways

There seems to be a lot of confusion about flyaway and failsafe. In this short briefing, we are going to discuss preventive measures, the proper flyaway emergency procedure, the required failsafe tests for every plane, and BRCM reporting requirements.

Preamble

A flyaway is caused by either loss of signal to the model and/or a loss in effective control leading to the model moving ever distant from the pilot/field. In most cases, a flyaway is created or exacerbated by pilot error.

Failsafe is a safety feature designed into receivers that drives the servo positions to a pre-set location if the signal is lost.

Normally you have complete control of your plane and keep it well within the flying area or zone. However, there are many complications that can cause loss of control, including wind conditions, mechanical failure, loss of signal, perception, orientation, incorrect inputs, pilot error, and so on.

Identification Requirements

Every aircraft should have an identification label. This is not just good sense; it’s hard to get a plane back to the pilot if you don’t know who the pilot is. It is also a MAAC regulation (MPP10). The label must contain your MAAC ID, MAAC email and MAAC phone number.  It is optional to include your name and contact information.

Prevention

To minimize the opportunity for a flyaway we highly recommend the following standard operating procedures:

  1. All BRCM pilots adhere to the failsafe requirements below.
  2. Pilots lacking overall or recent experience fly with a spotter capable of flying the model. This practice should be continued until the pilot can always keep the model within the field boundaries.
  3. Pilots moving to a faster, higher performance model use a spotter until full comfortable with the new operating envelope.

Flyaway Emergency Procedure

If you have attempted to return your plane to the flying zone and cannot do so, then you should perform the flyaway emergency procedure without delay. Do not wait until your plane is no longer visible.

If your plane leaves the dedicated flying zone for any reason:

  1. Immediately reduce the throttle stick to zero.
  2. Watch where your plane is going and call out “Dead stick” or “Flyaway” to ask for assistance.
  3. Turn off your transmitter (to activate failsafe).
  4. Continue to watch your plane looking for helpful direction and distance clues for recovery.

This simple procedure is designed to bring your plane down as quickly and safely as possible. It will keep your plane closer to the flying area to minimize damage or injury and maximize recovery efforts.

Required Failsafe Tests

Before any maiden flight, or whenever receivers are changed or damaged, you should take sixty seconds to perform a failsafe test…

  1. Secure the plane mechanically or have a helper hold your plane.
  2. Be extremely cautious and mindful of the dangerous propeller. Remove the prop for even greater safety.
  3. Run your engine at half throttle. For failsafe control surfaces, also apply aileron and elevator (hold the stick to any corner) .
  4. Shut off your transmitter. Some models may take a few seconds to complete the shutdown process.
  5. Note what happens to your engine speed and control surfaces in failsafe mode.
  6. Reduce the throttle and turn your transmitter back on.

Failsafe Engine Test

If the engine shuts off when your transmitter is off, you have passed. If your engine stayed running (hold/increase/decrease) you have failed.

Failsafe Control Surfaces Test

If the control surfaces center, you have passed. If they held position, you have failed.

Do not fly your plane until failsafe is programmed properly and works as expected. Some receivers only need re-binding (some include flap and landing gear positions), while some transmitters can program failsafe. Consult your receiver instructions to program failsafe as the steps vary by manufacturer and model.

Reporting Requirements

If your plane is within the flying zone and caused property damage or personal injury…

or landed or crashed outside of the flying zone (North or East of King Road, South of the chimney stack, West of the tall trees beyond the runway)…

…immediately contact your Safety Director, your President, or any board member. They will expect model details, direction and distance estimates, and will guide you with any further requirements as per MAAC and/or Transport Canada.

Note that if you followed the Flyaway Emergency Procedure, it is highly unlikely that your incident will require a report.

Hopefully, you can locate your plane, repair any damage, retest your failsafe, and get back to having fun flying.

Corn Roast Fun Fly – Sep 24 – Update

Update:

On behalf of the Board I would like to thank the volunteers, pilots and club members who helped to make our event a success.

The club sold $160 of raffle tickets for the r.c. plane at the event. I would also like to thank the Fish family for the donation of their late father’s plane for the raffle.

Ian Brown

Lights, Cameras,Sound/Action Corn Feast kicks off at 9 am Bayview field 24 September.

Volunteers on set 8.30 am

Aircraft and drones welcome. Prizes for best static and flying photograph.

BRCM Members – Fall and Winter Activities

Tentative Schedule:

Place: St. Matthew on the Plain Church, 126 Plains Road E. (across from Skycraft)

Date: 4th Thursday in the month, Sept 2022 – April 2023

Time:  7:30 — 9:00 PM

2022 Sept – Dec

Sept 22             Charlie Chomas            Flying in the Good(?) Old Days

Films from the early days of BRCM

                          Raffle of one airplane

***** Don’t forget Sept 24 Fly. In, Corn roast and Drone photo contest. *******

Oct 27               Paul Gentile              Building Scales planes and pianos

Nov 24              Rubber band plane contest

Dec 15              Xmas Party

2023. Jan-April

Jan 26               Annual General Meeting

Program highlights (tentative, no particular order)

Nicholas  Jacob –  Specifications of an Electric Power System

Nicholas Jacob –  Positioning the Centre of Gravity

Rich Muller – building giant jets

Spruce Goose: Competition for scale airplanes that have flown < 2 times

Show and tell of projects are welcome at every meeting

Ian Brown and Geoff Norman

Bayview Airpark Update

Special thanks to Doug Pladsen and the City of Burlington for fixing the culvert and road leading to dog park, leveling the damage in the parking lot, and patching the potholes at the entrance with asphalt. It has only taken 3 years or so, but all came together in the past month.

We can also thank Geoff Norman for getting things done, and all the volunteers who contribute and maintain our flying field.

Great work everyone!

Corn Roast Fun Fly – Sep 24

1.Corn Roast Fun Fly has been rescheduled to Saturday 24 September.

2.Hollywood comes to Bayview.

3.Prizes for the best air to air and air to ground still photo’s or short video awarded on the 24.

4.Drone pilots must register for the event to qualify for prizes.

5.This is a FUN FLY so members can fly rc planes helicopters or drones of their choice.

6.Club BBQ’s will be fired up for the event,Friend’s and Family’s are welcome to attend.

As per Ian Brown. Comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Top Gun 2022

Top Gun 2022 was held on Saturday, July 16, a glorious summer day with little wind. Figuring out how many people attended is tricky, as it’s a moving target but on a few occasions we counted over 40. And we began the barbeque with 72 wieners and buns and were left with two. Very few people had more than one, so we likely had close to 70 people. Ages ranged from several toddlers to a few octogenarians.

Ian Brown called things to order about 9:00 , and then flying began with running commentary, as well as slightly dubious music, from John Ham. Flying was continuous, and at times we had half a dozen planes on the taxiway lined up for takeoff. Started to look like Pearson on a very bad day. Around noon, we got a bit more formal and put together a static display for all to see.

Then came prizes. The kids were  given foam gliders, Tim Horton cards, and other treats. The award for best flight was unanimous, going to Daniel from the Mississauga club, who flew an EDF slightly larger than a paper dart at speeds that were estimated as greater than 200 km./hr.  Static winner was more contentious, with Pete Foto’s Viper and Cary Adams’ B-2 bomber as finalists. Cary won a beautiful static trophy of a Top Gun F18.

John Ham’s incredible photos are attached to this article. Huge thanks to Ian Brown and the other volunteers who made this a great fun fly day