========= “From the Pits” Field Activities, Oct.
17 & 18, ‘09 =========
…………... All photos and videos by Frits Jetten
unless otherwise indicated …………....
Saturday – The scheduled work party day turned out great weather-wise!
It was a little cool, but dry. A total of 24 people showed up. President
Enzo Finizola had worked up a pretty long list that included tearing
down a section of chain link fence, repairing an underground water
pipe leak, and several maintenance chores…
Here’s the full list of items: 1. Remove fence to extend parking,
2. Fill holes from fence posts, 3. Add Formica to food serving table,
4. Powerwash pavilion area, 5. Clean under picnic tables & counters,
6. Replace small windsock, 7. Add additional cleat for flag, 8. Repair
public benches and paint, 9. Patch runway, 10. Remove fascia board,
11. Clean gutters and downspouts, 12. Clean out kitchen and storage
area and reorganize, 13. Check and repair lighting, 14. Ant Patrol
and treatment, 15. Fix large windsock, 16. Clean gas grill and charcoal
grill, 17. Repair underground drinking water supply line leak.
It should be noted that several club members had let me know that
they had to work or had other commitments. Here are the ones who showed
up: Andy Anderson & his dad, Mr. Anderson, Al
Ayler, Rob Baker & daughter Audrey, Wayne
Boudreaux, Mike Callen (he came out on Friday and removed the
first section of fence single-handedly), Edward Callen, Lee Carroll,
Sam Chest, David Etheredge, Tony
Farmer, Enzo & Susan
Finizola, Rod
Gilbert, Frits Jetten, Jon Koppisch, Wayne
Miller, William Moore (who’s not a club member), Alvin Reed,
Dean Ritola, Larry Rogers, Tommy Shields, Ken Tow, Henry Waltman and
Russell Ward.
Removing the fence was the most labor intensive, of
course. But with the help of Tommy’s truck and Al’s
four-wheeler the fence finally came
down. Several people got involved with this project.
Several posts came out fairly easily. But others had to be sawed
off. The holes were all filled and then Al dragged a piece of
fence over them to smooth that
area. It was a job well-done!
All the junk, including those old broken chairs, was hauled
away. The area looked
great!
Wayne Miller repaired the seating benches and did other wood
repairs. The benches got a new coat of paint and now are hard
to miss… Tony, Rob and his daughter Audrey pressure washed
the tables and concrete
floor. They even did some carpet
cleaning. The shed got a long-overdue cleaning and reorganizing.
You can now actually walk around in it!... Oh, and Russell could be
seen grieving a bit after two of his little furry friends were found…
Dead…
David Etheredge dug down to the underground water leak very quickly.
It was a broken PVC 90° elbow.
David replaced it. He knows his stuff, as he does this sort of thing
for a living…
Dean Ritola and Jon Koppisch did the electrical
work… Lee Carroll was the ant
patrol… Non-member William Moore helped out and provided
close-talking lip
service… A cleat was added to the flag
pole line…
After Henry got tired of digging in the dirt he pretended to be a
super hero.
That AMA flag looked good on
him… And that small windsock was taken down from the flagpole.
Good! That windsock, which I believe was Alvin’s ill-conceived
brainchild, never served a good purpose anyway. It always stayed —
well, stubby, stiff and non-functional.
Enzo and Tony were making fun of it and I cannot repeat here what
they said…
Al liked riding that mower so much that he continued cutting grass,
since official mower Jeff Foster was not
present. If Jeff should ever resign…
Frits even spent some time on the mower…
After the work was done, Alvin cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for
everybody.
Thanks to everyone who contributed their time, effort, sweat, shovels
and power tools!
Sunday — Several people showed up, but not many flew…
Billy Frost showed up with his new Suzuki V-Strom motorcycle, but
no plane…
This was the third Sunday of the month — Combat Day. And Combat
General Andrew Smith was absent, celebrating his first wedding anniversary
with Amber.
Mike McLaughlin showed up with girlfriend Dawn. Not sure if he even
took his combat plane out of his vehicle… Robert Sanderson had
just crashed his Tiger 2 earlier that morning, but that was because
he had tied a kite to the plane. The Tiger had taken off just fine,
I was told, but after the first turn, the kite turned on the plane
and dragged it down into the ground!... Robert, Robert...
Jon Koppisch snapped this picture of Robert’s carnage.
Well, the pile was really made up of the Tiger 2 remains, the Fokker
triple-winger that he had crashed in Texas a week or so ago, and a
nondescript wing thrown in for good measure. Frits is very certain
that most of that stuff — like the Phoenix — will be revived
soon and once again become airborne.
As Robert’s primary test pilot Frits may actually get to fly
it…
Mike Callen was the only pilort air-ready to do combat.
But he had no takers.
So, does Mike get the $20 cash prize? What’s the rule on that,
Andrew?... An update on Tony’s L-4 Cub. This was taken in the
Golden Corral parking lot after the last club
meeting…
Billy Ray Krebs had a couple of planes that he turned over to William
to sell at the upcoming Scale Fly-in. They looked like tailless
designs. Frits — who prefers to fly unusual planes —
looked at them and he was tempted, but he didn’t cave in and
quickly walked away from them…
Okay, time for a bonus video! Anyone who has ever dealt with solving
computer problems for new computer users should see this. I can relate
to it as I was part of a computer help desk for about 12 years before
I retired. And in dealing with about 1,200 computer users on a daily
basis I have heard and seen it all! In the video the guy with the
problem reminds me of a manager I once worked
for...
Don’t forget! Our Azalea City Model Aeronautics Annual Fall
Scale Fly-in is scheduled for Saturday Oct. 24 & Sunday 25. This
weekend! Blow the dust off of your scale planes, helicopters and jets,
charge your batteries and plan to be
there! This coming weekend!
That’s all for now. I’ll see you at the field. Be safe!
========== Advertising Your For Sale Stuff in the Swap Shop/Flea
Market===========
You know that you can advertise your For Sale items in the Mobile
Area RC Model Aviation Forum’s Swap Shop/Flea Market. You can
even include photos, which is always helpful when you try to sell
RC stuff.
To use this feature, go to the main menu
shown on the left of this report and select Swap Shop.
First-timers must register with a username and password, but that’s
free and it is very easy.
New rule! - Inactive topics will be pruned when 160 days old. Listings
will be displayed for about five months before being pruned. Please
edit your topic to reflect any changes, if the item(s) sold, or if
they are no longer for sale.
======== If You Have Any Comments About These Pits Reports…
=====
I welcome any comments regarding these Pits Reports — good
or bad.
E-mail me > fjetten@aol.com.
Azalea City Model Aeronautics Website > http://www.acma-rc.com/index.html
Frits Goes Hollywood - Click For Details
