Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club

Dear MVRC members,

It is with great sadness that I must inform you that one of our members, Ray Baker, passed away suddenly in January 2008. Ray was a dedicated member of Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club and a close friend to many of us.

Throughout his membership with MVRC, Ray was always helpful and willing to serve our club. Ray was mostly known as a RC helicopter pilot. Ray was a regular attendee at our club meetings and took great pride and seriousness in his responsibility to make sure our Wagoner Field was mowed on a regular basis. We will always remember Ray as an easy going fellow that always had a soft joke or joyful remark to share that earned smiles from his fellow modelers.

On behalf of the Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club, we offer our sympathy and condolences to Ray’s family and the many friends he leaves behind. We will all miss him.

Lowell Carrington
President, Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club

Popularity: 32% [?]

If you’re interested in traveling for your hobby bargains, the Central Penn Aeromodelers Association will hold its 28th Annual Flea Market on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the Fairgrounds in Lebanon, PA. This event ti touted as the Largest RC Flea Market in the USA with 602 tables covering 41,000 square feet indoors! The flyer with detailed information and a selection of photos from past events is available on the CPAA Web site.

Popularity: 41% [?]

I spent the morning configuring the list-serve on our club’s server and I’m minutes away from hitting the “go” button. What’s a list-serv? That’s the Internet geek term for an email distribution list. It’s a simple concept: send a message to one address and everybody gets it. Much more convenient than managing an email header with a bunch of addresses.

Everyone who has given us an email address is being subscribed. I’m going to allow non-members (from nearby clubs) to subscribe by request.

Take a moment to read the guidelines for using the list.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Bill Hempel, creator and distributor of some fine giant scale RC aircraft, started off the year BIG by announcing his new 50% Clipped-wing J3 Cub ARF. That’s right! FIFTY percent! That’s one-half scale. I won’t post any details here, there is a Flying Giants thread covering the announcement with much discussion including numerous posts from Mr. Hempel himself, pricing and specifications. Initial delivery is slated for late February/early March. If you plan on using any yellow Oracote, better order it fast. There will soon be a world wide shortage!

Popularity: 40% [?]

After a couple of frustrating and costly rounds of having the padlocks cut and being locked out by Range Control (and I must admit to being responsible for one instance), I will attempt to redeem myself by posting the Gate locking instructions here. Please review these procedures and make sure you understand the so that we may avoid any further inconvenience.

Popularity: 44% [?]

Hanover RC Club will hold it’s 6th Annual Richmond Swap Meet on March 22 at Fairmount Christian Church in Mechanicsville. More information including directions here.

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We have received our license to use Fort Lee for 2008. Deer season ends after January 5, however, there is a big activity planned for Jan 5 & 6. We cannot use the field on those dates. (as of noon 01/06 Len informed me that the exercise is over - we can fly today!) We are scheduled for full weekends starting Jan 12 through Jan 27. Starting in February we should be able to get back on our regular schedule of weekends and weekdays by calling Range Control at 765-2286 or 2287 in advance. Please observe the locking procedure on the gate. Our lock is interlaced with Fort Lee’s so that removing one lock opens the gate. Be careful and make sure we lock up correctly. The BRAC construction is not seen as a problem for us now. Range Control will let us know if there is a construction issue affecting our flying.

See you at the next meeting or at the flying field.

Popularity: 43% [?]

I couldn’t let a whole month go by without updating…

First off, I’d like to apologize for letting the site languish over the summer. It has been too hot, hot, hot much of the time to stay enthusiastic about standing in the sun to pursue the hobby. But the spin of the big blue marble we call home is about to bless us with a turn in the weather.

This coming weekend marks the start of the fall flying season. Although we’ll be losing Fort Lee on Saturdays for the short term, the crisp September sky is ours seven days a week at Wagner. Let’s take advantage of it! Haul out that hardware and fly slow circles or huck it hard. Fall is for flying.

Popularity: 69% [?]

The majority of our membership have paid their dues for the upcoming year. But there are quite a few that have not. Remember that there IS A $25 initiation fee if you let your membership lapse. If you have not paid by now, you have officially lapsed. C’mon guys, you enjoy some of the best flying facilities in the state! Re-up and take advantage of ‘em.

In other news… The Hobby Corner at 360 West has now reopened under new ownership. I’m working on a story, with photos, to bring you the scoop on the new management and the remodel. The coolest thing is Yvonne is still there, part-time! Watch for the full story coming soon. In the meantime, drop in and check it out. They’re open six days a week and building new inventory all of the time.

I am also working on a pilot training program for the club that will offer 60-days of instructor-supervised flying to interested individuals using their own, or a club-supplied and maintained plane. The plan will require the student pilot do a bit of paperwork to be covered by the AMA liability insurance and qualify for the program, so it’s definitely not a walk-up thing. We will be actively recruiting at least three instructors for this program, so embrace your inner teacher, dig out those nerves of steel and volunteer.

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(From the 04.22.07 issue of the Richmond Times Dispatch, But certainly appropriate here!):

Fort Lee is reminding the public that military ranges, impact areas and training areas are restricted to authorized personnel only.

Nonauthorized personnel must stay away from danger areas for active ranges, areas known to contain unexploded munitions, also known as “duds,” and comply with range-safety regulations.

The true size and shape of an impact zone and danger areas may change daily, depending upon the training mission and type of weapon being fired.

Entry into any rage, training area or impact zone is prohibited without prior coordination. Also, unexploded ordnance and munitions may be present in areas other than the ranges. Some of the ordnance may be more than 100 years old but can remain dangerous.

If suspected ordnance is found, it should not be touched. Report it immediately to the Fort Lee Provost Marshall Office 24-h our duty desk at 804.734.7400.

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Just North of Ashland at Big Jerry’s RC Airport, an IMAC sanctioned contest was held on June 23 and 24 and was a smashing success! The property owner, Jerry Huntsinger, his son Kent (aka: flyin woodbutcher) Some amazing top-drawer sequence flying was the order of the first day and some breathtaking freestyle performances graced the skys on the second.

Look for this awesome event to be repeated on the weekend of May 31 and June 1, 2008. It’s just a short scoot Noth on I-95. Don’t miss it!

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Few events stand out as spectacular and gratifying as the annual gathering of R/C Modelers at the “Joe Nall”. The event, simply known as “The Nall”, is a weeklong fly-in hosted by Mr. Pat Hartness near Woodruff, South Carolina. Folks come from all over the world just to spend the week at the Triple Tree Aerodrome and fly, and fly, and fly. With over 540 registered pilots and seven flight stations, you are assured of having plenty of time at the sticks no matter what type of IMAA plane you fly.

Flying is only part of what The Nall is about and you will come away with a sore arm from all the handshakes and a sore neck from watching some of the best pilots in the world perform at the daily noontime demos. This year featured several Duo Acts with the first being Mr. Frank Noll flying his 33% CAP alongside Matt Chapman in his full size, Thunderbolt powered, CAP 580! It was truly amazing to watch a model and a full size aerobatic plane perform in perfect synchronization.

Flying starts at dawn and the flight line on Thursday night had about 40 people on it well past midnight, the planes being decked out in strings of multicolored lights. After flying, the campfires and grills are lit and folks start to rail of the glories of the past year and revel in the events of the day. Sleep is something that is put as secondary for fear of missing an important gathering, or a good meal served past midnight.

I hope you can find time in your schedule to attend one of the Nall events. You will never look at modeling the same again. Please visit www.flyinggiants.com for over 2000 pictures from this year’s Joe Nall.

Popularity: 97% [?]

Dear MVRC members,

It is with great sadness that I must inform you that one of our long-term members, William “Bill” Lepley passed away last night after a lengthy illness. Bill was a member of Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club for many many years and a close friend to many of us. Bill valued his family life, his career teaching our children, and as we know, building and flying model airplanes.

Throughout his long history with MVRC, Bill served our club in many ways. We will always remember Bill for making sure we stayed in good standing with Ft. Lee, serving as President of MVRC, Vice President, Website Manager, mowing the grass, and helping fellow modelers improve their building and flying skills. Bill earned a reputation as a devoted and skilled modeler and displayed his immaculate scale models up and down the east coast. Many of his student pilots remain loyal modelers.

On behalf of the Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club, we offer our sympathy and condolences to Bill’s family and the many friends he leaves behind. We will all miss him.

Lowell Carrington
President, Mid-Virginia Radio Control Club

Popularity: 91% [?]

A hot topic at this month’s member meeting (which many members chose NOT to attend) was the disturbing trend of declining ACTIVE members. The consensus was that we, as a club, must become pro-active about growing the membership to reverse this trend. It became a focus during the discussion that we should target one of our best, long-term allies - Fort Lee. We have a great inside contact in the form of our newest (actually an old-timer with MVRCC) member who has stepped up to guide us into the workings of our benefactors planning and decision-making processes, and who’s who.

In the end, I volunteered to be the Chairman of the newly-formed Membership Committee and I’m putting out the call to those of you who concur with the opinion that the membership must grow! I want you! With that goal in mind, I will be setting up some automated mailing lists that will allow us to communicate and share ideas rapidly. The season is upon us and the time is NOW to make this happen.

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They will allow members to issue feedback and opinions on issues that affect the club. You must be a member of the site to vote and you may vote only once.

If you would liked to see a question asked and answered by the membership, either send me an email, use the contact form or leave a comment at the bottom of this page. I’ll create the poll and post it to the site. For now the polls will stay open indefinitley. As they become more popular, I may limit the time frame that they are open.

Popularity: 100% [?]