Volume 50, Issue 1
The R/C Flyer
Next Meeting-Gathering – January 9th, 2025
CLUB CHIT
by Fitz Walker
Hello members.
We welcome in the new year, hopefully with good cheer. And I hope you all got some new model related goodies under the Christmas Tree.
We enter 2025 with a little bit of trepidation, but a path forward to maintaining flying onsite at JSC. So if anyone tells you JSCRCC is closing down, reply with a stern, “NO” and that rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
In that vein, we plan to have some sort of work day to repair the canopy to it's previous full-size glory. Stay tuned.
I want to thank everyone that helped support the club this past year and I look forward to more flying and fun this year
-Fitz, Prez.
DECEMBER PARTY
by Mike Laible, Fitz Walker
Our minutes this month is a recap of the Christmas Party. The pictures give you a feeling of the good time we had. Food and conversations were plentiful. Thanks for
everyone thaht helped, exspecially the Becks and Courtrights
The room was full. Everyone talking and having a good time.
Once again the Guitar lesson group came in to serinade us with some Christmas Songs. Everyone joined in with the singing.
Glen Persons enjoying his ornament pick. We gave Glen a workout, he had to re-pick several times.
Shonda Valentine picked a B-17. Shonda quickly told Blaine, Nope cant have a biger one!!!
Mark Mendez was so excited to get another airplane. He doesn’t have enough.
Jerry picked an ornament with an old MSC patch, with a sullivan clevis as hanger and dubro clips holding the patch on. Nice.
I picked up a nice B-24 ornament. Though I did have to steal it.
That’s all for the party. It was nice to see everyone and we had enough food.
RC CLUB HISTORY 101
by Mike Laible
This starts the 50th Volume of the RC Flyer. Fifty years of the JSC RC newsletter and 60 years since the club existance This is an article of the MSC space news Roundup. The article says engineers ever Tuesday fly after work. The date is April, 1964. From minutes/RC Flyer it looks like the club was officially started in 1965.
Through the years the RC flyer took on different looks. At first it was just called the “meetin minutes”. As far as I can tell this happened 1975 till 1979.
What is interesting about this is this is called volume 4, isuue 3 when the date is December. So that means volume 1, issue 1 is October 1975.
So this newsletter was just called minutes 1965 to 1975, 1976 to 1985 we adopted the logo with newsletter (as above). In 1986 it was changed to the MSCRCC Newsletter
Then in November 1976 I guess we got a new slate of officers and change was needed. The first version of the RC Flyer.
Then 1987:
Then in January 1979 it was called the “newsletter” with the logo in front. Picture shown below.
December 1998 another change happened.
This one only lasted for two months. Then February 1999 this was adopted:
Then we went through the new logo debate. It was a healthy debate and we ageed to change the logo from LEM center to Shuttle center. The newsletter also changed in July 2000:
Just for yuks, I have documentation that in 1997 I brought forward a motion to start a webpage. I hand coded the page using html at the time. It was on my very first server that I used, Phoenix systems. http://www.phoenix.net/~mlaible/msc.htm
Below is the openning page, the dawn of the MSC webpage. I believe at this time very few club pages utilized the web In fact, I remember to modem sound like it was yesterday. It expanded the reading of the newsletter world wide. For some reason I kept the old logo for background.
Webpage Header:
Then in January 2008 Randy Collier took over the website and newsletter. The newsletter header is shown below. Randy and I worked to get the website revamped and put together a database that members could access and we could it use for the security entrance list. The newsletter was in story book format. It really was nice.
The website was the same until 2021. The newsletter changed back to the old logo of 2000 starting with the October 2010.
As can be noted this is the current newsletter logo. Starting on 15 years with the same newsletter header and logo. However, the webpage has gone through some changes and the new web is now up and running at www.jscrcc.org
Newsletters I do not have are listed below, just in case someone has a box stuffed away with old news letters.
1976: Jan-Nov
1977: nove dec
1978: jan-dec
1979: jan-dec
1981: feb-april, june-oct,dec
1982:jan, feb, april-oct
1985: jan-dec
We don’t know and cannot predict the future of JSC RCC. We’ve come a long way from
the time of carting our models from building 14 to the canopy (of course that was after we put the canopy up, one pole at a time). We then got permission to drive out. Through some work of JSC employee members, and a miracle, in 2008 we got the perminant canopy and a blacktop reseal job. This helped with the rock problem for a while. Then in 2011 manna from heaven gave us a new runway with no rocks, 4” asphalt. Our current condition.
However, change happens. We have had several great meetings and JSC is interested in helping us relocate We are just discussing options at the moment but center ops is wanting to help Its just of matter where is a suitable site. However, one thing may be inevitable, the large scale warbird probably is history. This hobby is awesome do to the multiple directions you can go. Personnaly, the availability of a field so close to fly my large scale warbirds has been one of a kind. I have maidened a big bird Moraine, SPAD, F6F, F8F, P-40, P-47, P-51, F4, B-25, and finally, the B-24. What a list, I am blessed. However, I have several more to go. I plan on getting out after this cold spell to maiden another B-25 I get will get my P51 done and fly it at this original site. Also, looks like we will be at the same location for WOJSC 2025.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Please read past my writing skills and just try to take in what I’m saying. This club has history – lots – non other has the pool of expertise that this club has.
I remember when I first attended a meeting in 1987. I just started work for the Shuttle program. I was like WOW these guys put us on the moon and they are like normal Joes flying model airplanes – and the knowledge. I never looked back.
Godspeed, Mike
WHAT’S UP AROUND THE CLUB
by Mike Laible
Whats up around the club. The pic below is of me finally getting the 1/7 scale P-47 flying. It had a rough landing because I thought the throttle off was retract switch. Ooops. Didn’t end how I wanted. Easy fix but ever since been having various interference problems. Changed a lot to try and fix it. The one thing I forgot about is the DLE ignition cap, if it was securely on, no gaps on cap. There was a gap. Fixed it and flys like its on rails.
The pic below is the Decathlon I won at Texas City. Got several flights on it and I love it. Need to get the vibration down. Added vibro mount and that helped a lot.
First of the year my giant scale P-47 had several flights. It was nice to once again fly a giant warbird at JSC.
Next few pics are from the Pearl Habor event at Space City, December 7. This is Bret Bowling with giant scale B-17. He got several flights on it.
I took my L4, P-47, and B-25. The B-25 I took just to run up the engines. Everything worked great and she is ready. Maybe soon at JSC.
I got numeroius flights on the L4 and P-47. Great day on Friday but Saturday was tough, winds and rain. I did fly on Saturday but it was a roller coaster.
The B-24 is in restoration. The tail is complete and working on the nose gear. After this need to fix the left main gear mount.
Last item is a book I just finished. Really was a Bomber Mafia in the early 40’s This group was formed to develop bombing strategy. Excellent book with things I did not know. Also, makes you think about the bombing campaign.
Until we meet again, Godspeed, Mike
Upcoming Events
12/7 Space City Pearl Habor
12-31 Hockley - NWHRCC – Night Fly
Club Officers
President:
Fitz Walker 817-797-9192 (Cell) flying_fitz@yahoo.com
Vice-President: Mike Laible 713-542-0987 (Cell) mrlaible@sbcglobal.net
Treasurer: Bill Courtright 713-253-0895 (Cell) b2crtrt@comcast.net
Secretary: Rex Beck
Committees
832-628-9473 (Cell)
Membership: Walt Lueke 281-788-6461(Cell)
Safety Officer: Joe Schmidt 281-300-1211(Cell)
Instructors
Fixed:
Tom Altmyer: 713 591 2859
Mike Laible: 713-542-0987
James Lemon: 832-385-4779
Fitz Walker 817-797-9192
Larry Ammons 832-385-3374
Gary Wilkerson
Heli& Fixed:
Brian Campopiano: 832-524-9590 (Cell) Russell Bear: 281-757-3251
The R/C Flyer
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