June, 2003 Volume VI, No. 4

Clanking Armor, Page 1

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. ~Stephen Wright~

The Aluminum Overcast By Eric Williams

Its Sunday morning, and as I roll over in bed to look out the window I realize that I cant see the trees in the backyard, not a good sign. Nevertheless I prepared for what I hoped would be the ride of a lifetime. On arriving at the Lincoln airport IT was sitting on the tarmac in front of the Silverhawk Aviation hanger. The plane in ques-tion is the Aluminum Overcast, a vintage B-17G bomber. This particular aircraft was delivered in 1945, too late to see any action in the war but it has had many dut-ies since, even-tually being purchased by an individual for restoration and finding a final home with the Ex-perimental Aircraft Association (EAA) based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The aircraft is painted in the colors of the 398th Bomb Group, commemorating B-17G #42-102516 piloted by Lt. Hal Weekley. It was shot down over Le Manior, France on August 13, 1944. Weekley is an EAA member and believed to be the only currently active pilot in a B-17 who flew them in combat.

The men and women of the 398th Bomb Group Memorial Association raised the funds to repaint and restore the Aluminum Overcast. I can easily state that they have done a wonderful job. From both the exterior and interior the restoration is very good. You can tell a great deal of care and love went into this project. For more information, visit www.b17.org

The fog caused only a 45-minute delay and the first group went through the passenger pre-flight and prepared to depart. As the 1,200 hp Wright Cyclone engines turned over, the typical cloud of smoke came

out of the exhaust and the engines roared to life. Very impressive for someone who is more accustomed to an OS .40! The first group then taxied and roared off into the sky blue, what a sight! A very long 45 minutes later they returned safely and then it was my turn.

After an instruction on how the military seat belts worked we were told that once a positive rate of climb was obtained we would be able to move about the entire plane with the exception of the tail-gunners position.

Take off was loud but actually very smooth, rotation and lift off seemed smoother than the typical 727! Once in the air, movement was deliberate to avoid the head-bangers that seemed to be everywhere. The view from the bombardiers position was especially breathtaking. It lends a new appreciation to what those combat crews went through, especially when you

consider they had people shooting at them! The flight ended all too soon. Touch down was a

little bumpier than lift off, but really not bad at all. As I de-planed Tom Wild was there to see me grinning from ear to ear! I think it took a good hour for that grin to finally disappear. It was truly a flight to remember! (For more on this B-17, see also Another View by Tom Wild, on Page 5 ~editor~)

Clanking Armor, Page 2

May Minutes 2003 President Neal Rohrke called the March Lincoln

Sky Knights meeting to order at 7:30. Bob Schwab gave the Treasurers report, and a motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the report. A motion was made to accept the March minutes as printed in the Clanking Armor, and passed. Rich Boelts presented the VP/CD report. Most event dates for this year have been set. Please see the calendar for event dates. If you would like to CD an event, see Rich.

Old Business: The Lincoln Skyknight clubhouse roof has been repaired. Roof bill, which was covered by insurance, was $1,467. The parking lot has been expanded thanks to some hard work by Bill Davis. The rock bill has not been received yet. Grass Runway Report: There was no report as committee chair John Willman was not present during the meeting.

New Business: There was no new business. New members: Rich and Spencer Kunze, welcome to the club!

Model of the month: Dick Britton and Rob Lyman both brought airplanes. See the article on this page.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:46. LSK Secretary,

Bernie Smith

Model of the Month, May, 2003

Dick Britton brought his Aero Star 40 with Super Tiger .40 to help make the point that ALL models brought to the meeting for model of the month are winners and voting for model of the month is not necessary. This particular aircraft is a duplicate of the type he first learned to fly under the tutelage of his instructor, Ron Vogel.

And in this corner, weighing in at 19 pounds is Rob Lymans freshly built Stinger. With a gas burning engine of 4.2 cubic inches (thats 70 cc for the metric minded, or more than 85 Cox .049s for the simple minded)

supplies a 2.25:1 power to weight ratio. Other modifications included oversized ailerons, passenger side airbag, anti-lock bra-king system and the cutting edge NASA stealth cowling. I notice there are no wheel pants. Rob, didnt anyone tell you its not polite to take a lady out in public without her pants??

Dont Miss the June Fun Fly! Friday & Saturday, June 21-22. Flying will start both days at 9:00 am. On Saturday

evening there will be a potluck meal, bring side dishes and desserts, the entre will be supplied!

New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move. ~David Letterman~

Clanking Armor, Page 3

Weight Lifting Takes To The Air By A.J. Seaholm

(Editors Note: Due to space limitations in the Clanking Armor we had to heavily edit A.Js interesting article on the competition. Should anyone like to read his full play-by-play, feel free to e-mail the editors, and well provide the complete, un-edited original text)

SAE, the Society of Automotive Engineers, sponsors an aero design weight-lifting contest for college students. One of these students competing this year was Brian Seaholm , a member of the Kansas State University team which placed 3rd out of 44 teams at the national competition in Dayton Ohio this spring. Those of you in the combat circle, or who read the coverage in the Clanking Armor know Brian as the younger brother to A.J. and son of Earl Seaholm, both very active on a national level in RC Combat.

Brian has attended if not competed at many of our LSK combat events. For a detailed description of this design contest, and rules, check out the SAE web site http://www.sae.org/students/aeroeast.htm.

Scoring in this cargo contest was not based solely on the amount of weight lifted, but also how accurately the team is able to predict their aircrafts performance in advance of actual flight testing. This is prepared in advance of he competition and is called the Design Report.

At the competition, the planes are examined by the judging panel to make sure they are within the specified rules, and also, importantly, if they are adequately and safely constructed. The team then answers a 10-minute oral examination by the panel, and receives a score for that. The Design Report and Oral Presentation scores are combined in the Design

Score. The Design Score determines the order of flight, with the highest score flying in the desirable last position.

On Saturday at the competition, K-State lifted 12.0 pounds on their first attempt, passed on the second round due to bad winds, and lifted 16.7 pounds on their final attempt of the day, to put them

in a solid 3rd place (out of 40 teams), behind the University of Kansas, and Cedarville University of Ohio.

On Sunday, there was some jockeying for position among the top teams, and it was determined to go to a fly-off, since the top 4 teams were so close. When the dust settled, the top 3 were the University of Kansas, the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, and Kansas State University. While KSU was somewhat dismayed at losing to their perennial enemy KU, they were still proud of their accomplishment. 3rd out of 44 teams from around the world is certainly nothing to cry about! Congratulations to Brian, keep up the good work! This big brother was very proud.

Air Show!! On June 14th and 15th, there will be an air show celebrating the 100th year of aviation at the historic Fairmont Air Base, one of 11 former Army Air Corps WW II airfields in Nebraska. Among the aircraft scheduled to be on display and flying are an AC-47, Pietenpol Air Camper, BT-13a, B-17, PBY Catalina, B-25, F2G Super Corsair, a P-51, a Lockheed Constellation, and others too numerous to mention. For more information, and a complete schedule, go to http://www.fillmorecounty.org/Tourism/fairmontairbase/Schedule/index.html.

Clanking Armor, Page 4

Midwest Slope Challenge May 15-18, 2003, by Loren Blinde

Doesnt seem possible, but the biggest slope soaring event in our part of the world has been going on for 10 years so far. What started as a dozen guys getting together to race sailplanes has turned into a four-day, 60 entry national- media covered event. And yours truly, along with the members of the Lincoln Area Soaring Society, are the inmates in charge of the asylum.

Slope soaring is absolutely the most weather dependent kind of flying you will find in the RC hobby. Not only does the wind have to blow, it has to blow the right direction or things dont happen.

Imagine a power club with 8 different one-way runways, each for a different wind direction, scattered over a 20-mile area. Now imagine running a contest and the dilemma of choosing the right runway and the logistics of moving that many people when conditions change. Thats what an inland slope contest is like. The guys on the coasts have it too easy

When things are right, there is n