If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.
- Bob Hoover
The December meeting of the Monroe County R/C Club was held during our annual Christmas dinner/party at Hoosier Bar & Grill on December 8. Bill Black had our club banner proudly displayed on the wall of our private room. It was an informal business meeting that was conducted by president Mark Sexton while people were getting their dinners. Mark went over some upcoming events and introduced our landlords, John & Phyllis Naylor.
The executive committee decided to replace the most valuable member award with certificates of appreciation for outstanding service to the club. There are so many people doing so much that it’s kinda hard & a little unfair to narrow it all down to one person. Mark presented four awards this year. Matt Fornefeld received one for his duty as the Airshow Chairman. Bob Shireman received his for duties as Club Safety Officer & as an Intro Pilot. Steve Bryant’s duties as Webmaster won him an award and Brian Elliott received a certificate for Intro Pilot & Newsletter Editor duty. There were three other certificates presented at the dinner. They went to Mark Sexton, Bruce Hoffman, & Brent Hoover, for their many years of service as Monroe County R/C Club Officers. They have been railroaded into their positions for several years in a row now, and they have been doing a fine job. There wouldn’t be an AMA chartered club without officers, & these gentlemen have set a high standard for any future nominees.
Randy Byers ran the 50/50 drawing. He sold all the tickets & got more from the owner of Hoosier Bar & Grill. He sold all those tickets & had to fight off people wanting to buy more. Rich Davis’s daughter drew the winning ticket. It was no surprise that it belonged to Dr. Matt Fornefeld, since he bought lots of tickets & is usually pretty lucky in the drawing. It was also no surprise that Matt gave back his winnings for the club’s donation to “Jill’s House”. Thanks Matt!
Randy also ran the “name that plane” contest because Bruce Hoffman was unable to attend. Many contestants studied the pictures for quite some time. Two people split the prize by having a perfect score & following the directions. Lane Jorgensen & Dennis Friesel really know their aircraft. Congratulations to them & thanks to Tim Mellott for putting the prize package together. To those of us who stare at the photos & finally decide that “yep, that’s an airplane”, better luck next year.
One suggestion for next year’s dinner is to have a buffet style table. It takes the staff at Hoosier quite some time to take orders & serve forty people. The buffet thing would make it a lot easier to serve so many people in a timely manner but would require a commitment from the club as to the number of people who would be attending. It would also involve a lengthy debate at a club meeting over what would be on the buffet. We’ve been down that road before but we can go there again.
Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope you can make it again next year. To avoid any conflicts, mark your calendars now for the 2nd Wednesday (14th) in December 2005!
Michael Friesel has developed an interesting way to launch his electric jet. He built a ramp out of plastic pipe with a latch. He stretches out part of a “hi start” & hooks it to his jet, sitting on the ramp. When he releases the latch, the stretched tubing gives the aircraft the needed launch velocity. Very clever.
Vargha Manshadi had plans to attend the Christmas dinner/meeting but they got derailed. He arrived in Southern Indiana just in time for his father to injure his back. He was taken to the hospital & scheduled for surgery the next day. It was good that Vargha was in Indiana to be with his father but he missed the dinner. We hope his father has a speedy recovery & that things go a little smoother next time he returns to Indiana!
Don Scales has a new bright yellow Hangar 9 Funtana S 90. It’s very pretty.
Dennis Friesel is getting big into the pylon racing thing with Tim Sparks. Look for some articles in 2005 from Dennis about his adventures.
Tony Bezzy has his new great big Great Planes Super Stearman ARF flying. Wow, what a nice airplane!
Rich Davis is interested in going to the IMAC judging school in Muncie next Spring. He has purchased an Extra 260 from Mark Sexton , that came over on the Mayflower, & plans to get involved. Anybody else want to do a road trip to Muncie?
Now that it’s Winter & your fuel supply is low, start thinking about the Spring bulk fuel order.
Western Skate Land has renewed their corporate /business sponsorship. Please let them know you saw their ad & tell them thanks for sponsoring the Monroe County R/C Club!
Let’s get some more dates on the event calendar so people can plan early!
Do you have e-mail & still get this newsletter via snail mail? Shame on you!
Flyers for the annual swap meet are now available from the club web page. You can view it, print it, or download it, as a PDF file. Thanks to Steve Bryant for making it available on the internet. If you need a hard copy, contact Brent Hoover. There are still some available.
Joe Rogers is working on a new Hobbico Sukohi 60.
Jimmy Van Vleet is building a big Super Cub from a small box of match sticks.
R.G. Shireman is resurrecting a certain P-51 that earned him the infamous “Dork Award” last Spring.
How far can you fly with your antenna down? Ask Delbert Davis. Haven’t we all done that trick once?
Are you interested in a computer radio programming seminar? Contact Jimmy Vanvleet at jvtopgun40@aol.com.
Don’t forget the annual New Year’s Day Glider Contest. It’s in the IU Stadium parking area. Registration at 9:00 A.M., flying at 10:00. If you don’t have a glider, come out anyway & give some moral support to the contestants. Help pull back the winch lines. It’s good exercise after the big New Year’s Eve party. It’s OK to point & laugh at how the pilots are dressed for the cold. Don’t laugh if they hit a light pole, the loud “clang’ is bad enough.
For more information on the items for sale, contact Mike Habig at 765-342-7874.