Presidents Corner
Eugene R/C
Aeronauts
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, November 10,
2010
Well guys, my term
has come to the end. I'd like to thank all
those members who contributed to keep our club well in the black
during
these tough times. We have increased the treasury balance by
almost
40% since 2008 while at the same time able to make numerous field
improvements. A lot of that was made possible by many
members willing
to roll up their sleeves to help out. We also had generous
donations
from some members and had success with fundraisers. Our
membership has
remained strong, thanks to recruiting efforts from active members to
replace those that were not able to renew. Overall, our club
is in
pretty decent shape for the next group of officers. I'm
confident the
nominated guys will do a good job in 2011. Please show up at
the Nov
club meeting to vote these guys in.
Khoi
Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, October 15,
2010
Hope
you guys are enjoying the lingering sunshine before Oregon weather
arrives. Get out and fly while you still have
a chance, before the fog and rain come. Soon enough, we'll all be
couped up in the garage and do our winter building.
My 2 winter projects will be 1) TopFlite GS P-47 ARF that I will
convert into razorback version and repaint with
forest green finish. This beast will have a 3W 80xi monster for
power, rather the marginal 50cc gasser that is called
for. 2) Yellow Aircraft Starfire kit that I'm looking to
outfit with EDF unit rather than the old school nitro ducted
fan. I'm still researching for an affordable EDF 110mm fan
unit. I will bring the P47 to Show and Tell when it's done.
At
the October meeting, we will take nominations for the 2011
officers. Please remember to talk to your nominees before
putting their names on the ballots. We want to avoid the scenario
of voting for members who ended up not wanting to
take the position. 2011 may be a very critical year for our club
because of uncertainty regarding the flying field. We
need now more than ever officers who not only have the interest, but
the time dedication to help us throughout the year.
So look around for members that want to roll up their sleeves to become
officers. We will have the formal election
at the November meeting. The present officers will then present
the end of year financial numbers to the new officers
and membership. See you then.
Khoi Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, September 23,
2010
Well guys, Labor Day Fun Fly was a great success. We had lots of
pilots and weather was perfect that day. All the flight benches
were taken and people were able to fly until late in the
afternoon. Check our web site for the pics of guys and their
planes. Jenny did a great job of selling raffle tickets to raise
funds for the club. Many thanks again to Doug and the maintenance
crew for keeping the runway green and grass cut low for the
event. Al did solid work at the BBQ as usual.
As you guys have noticed, the rain has arrived in Oregon
and the flying days will be scarce again. It's time to build and
fly every chance you get. Bring your next project for show and
tell at the meeting at EWEB building. At the next meeting, I will
remind people to discuss with prospective members about running for
club officer positions for 2011. We will take nominations at the
Oct meeting and vote at Nov meeting. 2011 may be a challenging
year for the club depending on what Mike Burgess will decide on land
use long term. We will need officers that can devote the time
necessary to keep the club going. We have several members in the
club that I know can do a wonderful job if they're willing to step
forward. Please start discussing among members for some
prospective nominations by October meeting. See you guys next
week.
Khoi
Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, August 7, 2010
At the last meeting, we had a heated discussion regarding the secondary
field in Creswell (Walker Airport). Some members brought up the
issues of cost and Mike was concerned that having 2 fields will break
up the club. In regards to losing membership, that has already
happened. People living in south Lane County have dropped out of
our club because of long distance to reach Alvadore field and the cross
wind problem. During summer months, they say that by the time
they pack up and make the 45 min drive to the field, it's usually
9-9:30 and that does not leave much time to fly before that nasty 15-20
mph cross wind comes up. They can only get 1 flight in and sit
around a while and end up driving home. It can be very
discouraging. These are the people that have approached me to
propose a second field for our club. As I said at the last
meeting, I truly believe we will expand our membership by reaching out
to people that have already dropped out of our club and others that
will join to fly in Creswell. This will unite our membership, not
breaking up as Mike was concerned about. I have asked people from
south Lane County to show up at our next club meeting to show their
support.
Regarding cost, I'm confident that the unified membership
will offset that cost. The main item will be $1600/year rent to
offset property taxes if pattern guys drop out as expected in
2011. The landowner is not looking to make money off us, only
enough to pay property taxes. The owner Jack says he will build a
second runway next to the main runway if we want, and lay down
sprinkler pipes he already has in the shed for permanent irrigation,
bring in electricity as needed, and loan us lawnmowers/rollers for
field maintenance. We will not find another landowner who has
this much equipment to use and willing to do that much for us. I
will ask Al to compile our maintenance costs at Alvadore for comparison
so you guys can appreciate the savings. This is really a golden
opportunity. I will present the proposal at the august meeting
and then we will have the whole membership vote on whether to add a
second field before I negotiate with Jack Dean the terms of the lease.
Another heated topic at the last meeting is the hostile
atmosphere at Alvadore field. It appears that some members in our
club like to play sheriff at the field, but without a license.
This has created some ugly scenes over nebulous issues. We will
now ask that members direct any field related issues/violations to our
Field Marshall Marty or club officers. This will avoid
confrontations among members. We are all there to enjoy our model
airplanes hobby. It is not the place for grumpy members to play
sheriff.
Khoi
Tran
8-18
President Corner:
At the last meeting, we had a heated
discussion regarding the
secondary field in Creswell (Walker Airport). There were several
members who voiced strong negative feelings toward the idea of a second
field for our club at this point. I took a lot of heat for
presenting
the proposal to our club. Anyway, some suggested that I
approach the
South Lane RC Club instead with this
project. Members from South Lane
RC club in turn invited me to present the Walker airport proposal
to
their club. This meeting took place at this past
monday. The proposal
was very well received. In fact, they had an
immediate motion to
pursue this Walker field as replacement for Mosby Creek
location and it
passed by a unanimous vote. The next step is that South Lane Club
will
analyze the costs and then engage Jack Dean to negotiate Walker field
improvement into the lease as Tenant Improvement. I
will give further
details at our next club meeting. So far, it appears encouraging
that
they will likely succeed to get the field up to par with little if any
cash outlay. Jack is a very generous land owner.
Khoi
Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, July 2010
The Big Bird Fly-In event
last weekend was a success. We had 18
registered pilots and lots of guests. Thank you Al for
feeding the
masses. Doug and the maintenance team did a great job of
getting
the runway to look like a golf course fairway. Please
check the club
web site for pics from the event in case you missed it. Remember
to
check your calender for the Club Fun Fly coming up
in August.
At the June meeting, Mike Burgess gave us an update on
the field
situation. It appears that Mike will make a decision by the
summer of
next year. What happens then is still unclear,
depending a lot on the
agreement between Mike and the Feds. But most of us are skeptical
that
we will last much longer if the Feds do settle into the 70
acres. The
club officers have initiated a search for the replacement vs
secondary
field for the near future. We will have an interesting proposal
to
present at the next club meeting.
See you then.
Khoi
Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, May 2010
Well guys, we had a productive meeting last month, with several issues
voted through. Club membership approved the main runway upgrade
to hopefully do away with the winter puddles for good. We got
such an inexpensive proposal from Rod Madison that we could not turn
down. Please help out by volunteering some sweat equity to help
Rod bring the runway to grade. I'm waiting for Rod to schedule a
date for the work party. Please let Doug, Frank or Brad know if
you're interested in helping. We will all benefit greatly from
the runway brought up to grade. We also got an intriguing
proposal from the engineering firm of McWha and Corbett LLC on how to
roll up the cover of our replacement shelter to protect it from wind
and heavy rain. It is a proven design on long-haul trucks.
Anyway, the club voted it through for a replacement shelter at a cost
of less than 500 bucks. Another bargain thanks to Brad's cost
analysis.
We also had an auction at the meeting.
The donated Saito 72 4c generated $140 for the club treasury. We
also got membership back up to 83 members, which will allow us now to
meet the budget we set at the beginning of the year. But we're
not taking as many new members at this point as last year. So
please do what you can to recruit and get membership back up to
100. Please give reminders to those that have not renewed
yet. Strong membership will allow the club to do field upgrades
approved for this year budget and have funds to do the cross runway and
electricity project next year. We will give you guys a mid-year
budget review at June meeting BBQ.
Spring has finally arrived. The weekends
are full of flyers now. Last Saturday, we has sunny
sky with high of 68 and hardly any wind. Go ahead and finish that
winter project or dust off that old bird and come out to join us.
The Pylon boys had a ball last weekend. They took off 4 lanes
wide and flew all day long with no incidents. Marty made me a
little antsy when he put on a hard hat and did not have another to give
me in the pits. I eased up when I realized the hard hat was just
a formality for combat flying. Anyway, see you at the May
meeting. Bring that Hangar Queen for Show and Tell.
Regards,
Khoi Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, April 2010
Well guys, a number of club members have talked to me about an
alternative plan for the shelter project. My initial reaction was
that we should go with the design that worked well for years in
Washington. But some members are concerned that it may not hold
up here. Anyway, some trucker members are coming up with a design
that allows 2 guys to roll up the tarp cover the way it's done on those
48' long hall trucks. It apparently involves some kind of hand
crank rig. The advantage is that we can roll it up at any point
when weather gets bad or during hunting season. Doug will present
pics and sketches at the next meeting for discussion.
Rod has the estimates for the runway
upgrade. I will try to get the numbers from him prior to next
club meeting. It appears that Rod can bring the equipment, and
club will only have to purchase loam base for under $500 to bring the
whole main runway to grade. A lot less than I expected.
Hopefully, Rod can help us through this and end up with a very nice and
dry runway next season. We will have to vote on the timing of the
upgrade after we get written estimates. We will also review the
cost for doing the crosswind runway too. Please remember to thank
Rod a bunch when you guys run into him for the goodwill gesture.
Club fundraising is in need now that we will
have to find funding for another shelter that we did not budget for
this year. We can always tap into the reserves. But that is
something I prefer not have to resort to as your club officer.
Club did net $420 for the Futaba 10C radio auction last month. I
will donate a brand new Saito 72 4C for this month auction. Hope
this auction will deliver a nice addition to the reserves. We
could use another fundraising idea to net about 400-500 bucks to fund
the unexpected shelter replacement. Alternative is more active
recruiting to bring in new members. Remember that it takes only
3-4 new members to bring in fresh funds for the shelter replacement
costs. Also, don't forget to nudge those members that are slow to
renew their dues.
See you at the meeting.
Khoi Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, March 2010
Good news, the canopy project is being completed. Craig has
graciously donated a bunch of fencing poles that we needed as posts for
the canopy. Frank and Brad are just waiting for decent weather to
install the 18'x40' cover over the pit area. Please contact
either fellow to help out if you're available this Friday /
Saturday. I will be available Friday afternoon to help
myself. We can use all the muscle power we can get from the
club. I'm excited to see this canopy go up in time for our fun
fly events coming up this year.
Another update is the runway maintenance. Lots of
club members are expressing frustration over the water pooling on the
west end of the runway. Rod Madison and I have been discussing
solutions for that problem. It's no big secret that the west end
is a low lying area that allows rainwater to pool up for days after a
storm. The big question is how to improve drainage to that area
in the most cost effective manner. Rod's expert opinion is that
aeration and sanding alone will not be enough to solve the drainage
problem. We must bring that low lying area up to level, so that
water will spread to the side of the runway and into the farm.
Rod suggests that we add a loam base to the low areas to bring them up
to level, then re-seed the lawn. Hopefully, he can make it to
next club meeting to detail us on the process and give some cost
estimates.
Club Auction at the next club meeting. Remember that
Wayne graciously donated the Futaba 10C FASST radio that he won from
the raffle last month. We will hold a special auction for the
radio at the meeting next week. Wayne would like to see the
proceeds go to field upgrades. He also requests that only club
members in good standing can participate in the auction. Anyway,
bring your checkbook or cash to the meeting and make it a lively get
together. Pat will be the Auctioneer.
A final note. Wayne's spirit of giving has become
contagious. I have a brand new Saito 72 4c laying around that I
don't have any uses for. It should be perfect power for your next
40 size sport plane. I will donate the motor to the club to put
up for auction at the April meeting. Hope this will trigger
another good turn out and add some cash to the coffers.
See you then,
Khoi Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, February 2010
Well guys, the winter is in full swing and flying days are pretty
limited. Hope you guys have cool winter projects to share at the
club's Show and Tell each month. I was out of town on vacation
last month and could not make it to the meeting. Brad filled in
and got the club's agenda taken care of nicely.
Here's my recap: the club approved the 2010 Budget
Proposal as presented. The pit area canopy project got approved
again with the change in roof design and material. The only issue
is that Mike Burgess expects the canopy cover to be taken down during
the geese season, dec to feb. I hope Mike might change his mind
in the future and let us leave it on for rain cover if fowl season goes
south. Brad will engage Frank to stake out and prep the ground
for canopy installation next month. Please volunteer to help them
with the installation.
We also had a brief discussion about the power project for
the field. It appears that we can get a generator on loan so we
can set up power strips for both DC and AC power needs. I will
donate $200 of gift certificates from Home Depot to help with start up
costs. We will monitor power use over next few months. At
mid year, we will discuss usage and review the budget and see if we can
expense for a more permanent power generator vs solar panels
installation. I'm confident that members will find it valuable to
have electricity at the field.
Regarding the Futaba radio raffle, my understanding is
that we will try to sell off the remaining tickets at the pizza meeting
so we can proceed with the raffle event. If we have a good turn
out, each member will only have to buy a couple tickets to meet the
quota. Please attend and show your support. You just might
win this nice Futaba 10C 2.4gHz radio.
See you there,
Khoi Tran
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER, January 2010
Welcome back, fellas. Last year was actually a good year for the
club, despite the economic downturn. This was in large part due
to many members rolling up their sleeves to help out. We lost 20
members not renewing as I predicted, but gained 18 new members.
We ended the year with 105 members and had a balanced budget.
This is quite remarkable. In recap, we successfully engaged Oak
Ridge Airport to hold our annual Big Bird Fly-In. We made
numerous field improvements including: painting the old shed, building
a new shed for field equipment, compacted gravel/sand in pit area,
building an elevated pilot station, and in process of putting up a
rain/sun canopy for pit area. These are expensive ticket items
made possible by new members' dues, fundraisers, and pure labor of
love. I'd like to extend special thanks to Doug, Wayne, Jeff,
Brad, Frank, Jim, Marty for helping with field improvement and
maintenance. They went well beyond being just club members who
paid their dues. We can now argue to have the best flying field
in the state.
Special recognition should go to our Treasurer
Al who kept awesome bookkeeping and maintained a complete spreadsheet
to keep track of our income and expenses. Al, Brad and I met up
last week to comb over the 2010 Budget Proposal to present for approval
at the Jan club meeting. Please attend and present your ideas for
club activities. I look forward to another exciting year as your
President and hopefully can keep the momentum going in 2010.
I'd like to announce that we recently received a
generous donation of RC stuff from Mike Duncan. He was an avid
builder/flyer many years ago, now lost interest in the hobby. But
he wanted to give away some of his RC supplies for newbies and
builders. The donated stuff now resides at Frank's shop.
I've asked Frank to put the stuff into our shed at the field and let
members look through them for anything they might use. Mike also
is selling his RTF planes for good prices as posted on our web
site. Please contact him for further details.
Regards, Khoi Tran
ERCA President 2010
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