First off, we would like to thank Chuck Murray and Tom Piper for their years of faithful service to the club. Without their efforts the club might have died an early death for lack of participation.
Through their efforts, we have a unique and well laid out flying field. Even though we have a significant section of the club that flies on the lake bed, the flying field secured through their hard work provides a focus for our club. A perfect spot for contests, general flying and hot dog roasts.
Thank you both for your hard work and dedication.
I should note that Chris Butler was interviewing Arlen West about the early years of R/C flying in the valley and the start of the Pahrump Valley Model Aviators. Look for that history on our web page in the near future. That address is: http://pahrumpvalleymodelaviators.com.
At our meeting in November, we elected Larry Chapman as President, Richard Beatty as Vice President, Don Beatty as Treasurer, re-elected Bill Newyear as Secretary and Doug Wittenberg as Safety Officer.
The question was asked by Chuck Murray, “What do you want from your club?” We had several requests from members.
Richard Cantino suggested running an invitation to all R/C fliers in the valley to come out to the field. This invitation could be found in the “In Brief” section of the Pahrump Valley Times on a weekly basis.
I suggested Club business cards available to all members to pass them on to others we might meet out in the community. The business cards would have the names and contact information for club officers that future fliers could contact. A map to the field could be printed on the back of the card.
I would like to note that there are a significant number of members that don’t need or want more members. They don’t mind if the club grows at a normal pace as people find us through our website or word of mouth, but do not want to actively seek new members.
Chuck Murray has already reproduced a club application and information sheet and installed a weatherproof box at the flying field. These sheets can be passed on to prospective members that visit the flying field. Look for it at the field.
Jeff Cagle made a suggestion to hold workshops to help new fliers or even experienced fliers with new technology, or new techniques in building and flying. This suggestion offers a great deal to our club members. If you are unfamiliar with electric systems or are confused by glow engines, 4 stroke engines and 2 stroke engines, this might be the workshop you need to attend. Don’t forget electrical systems, batteries, receivers, satellite receivers, servos both digital and analog. Honestly, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Pick any four members and I’ll bet you’ll be looking at decades of experience in various areas of building and flying.
Our club and other clubs around us have a significant amount of knowledge that needs to be spread around. If you have a specific need, or even need a general explanation let us know and we can set up an open house/workshop at our next meeting or at the flying field.
Larry has suggested we hold a few more meetings throughout the year. These meetings will precede an event at our flying field; events that may or may not involve contests. But, they will always have hot dogs on the barbeque. These events could include fly ins but more likely will include short presentations that help explain different systems to new, intermediate or experienced fliers.
As a result of the destruction at our flying field Bud Swan has donated 3 tables for the flying field.
Bud-Thank You for your generous donation.
In the meantime, Don Beatty is in the process of repairing our field signs. Doug has found several large wire spools. He and Larry hauled them to the field and set them up with cinder blocks to raise them to the right height.
The field will be returned to its former glory in no time at all.
At this point we might discuss why this happened. Several of us don’t believe this was just kids looking for something to do. We believe it was directed at the club.
We recently were visited by an angry member of the community who stated he “wanted to get to the bottom of this noise thing.” He lived close by and was disturbed by the noise at the field and wanted to see what was going on.
He refused to be mollified by anything we stated and went away mad. We are not sure why, but he was disturbed. It’s very possible this individual did not have anything to do with the destruction at the field, but was merely a coincidence.
But, this is where we should discuss noise. First, it has been suggested that gas engines of all types cannot fly until after 9:00AM and whenever possible be equipped with mufflers to reduce noise. To be discussed at our next meeting.
As of this date all repairs have been made to the field.
Don Beatty has repaired the signs to the entrance to the field, spectator warning signs have been replaced as were the broken thermometer and we have more tables than we started with. Larry has a new Info Box to mount with applications and information sheets.
Today Chuck and another club member are dragging the area around the field to make it more presentable.
Someone may have wanted us out but we’re up and better than before.
Your dues, $25 per year, are now due. You can contact Don Beatty or pay your dues at breakfast or our next meeting. It’s a small price to pay for field maintenance, and the occasional hotdog fest.