Temecula Valley Flyers est 1988

Technical Assistance

Topic: Post Crash Clean Up of the Accident Site

Well, if you’ve been flying for awhile, you’ve seen this picture before. It’s all the stuff that’s left over after crashing that Hanger Queen that was so near and dear to your heart. But wait! There’s still hope. Before you throw the whole thing in the trash can at the field, take a minute or two to figure out what went wrong before you remove it from the crash scene. It’s always helpful to understand why your plane crashed in the first place so you will not make that same mistake again. Keep your radio on and take it with you, especially if you’re looking for a plane you cannot see. You can run the servos or maybe even the motor in an attempt to locate it. Once you find it, gather up all the pieces. For one, you’re going to need those pieces for reassembly, or maybe just for another project. Secondly, we want to reduce our impact on the surrounding areas. (3rd Qrt Newsletter 2011)

Topic: Field Safety when Charging Batteries

Please utilize our battery charging station at the far end of the field. There are six receptacles in which you can plug your chargers into. A real fire issue exists if you charge your batteries off your vehicle battery in the parking area. The club is working on obtaining additional fire extinguishers to place at either end of the pits. When charging, try to use a metal box with your batteries inside. Glass containers are acceptable as long as the lids cannot be easily lifted off by the force of a battery fire or explosion. Do not charge hot batteries. Do no charge damaged batteries at the field or at home. If you are charging batteries at home (and most likely you are), definitely use a metal container. (2nd Qtr Newsletter 2011)

Topic: Cutting Fiberglass Cowlings

Cutting fiber glass cowls for various access, e.g., needle valve, exhaust, glow plug, etc. Use plastic straw over target area to draw-out the target near the inside cowl wall. Turn off workshop lights and let eyes adjust. Use small flash light to illuminate inside the test mounted cowl. From the outside you should be able to see, through the fiberglass, the plastic straw near the inside cowl wall. Drill small pilot hole and cut as needed. This works very well for determining glow plug access. Marc Guerra (1st Qtr Newsletter, 2011)

Members, please submit articles for Technical Assistance. (Updated Oct 1, 2011)

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