SWAP RC meeting 2-19-07

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Doug Young.

The meeting had a good turnout with 24 people signing in.

The financial report was presented by Rodney. We have a total of $7,348.82 in the 
treasury at this time. The report was voted on and accepted.

Minutes of the last meeting were presented by Terry, voted on and accepted.

Doug thanked everyone for their help while he was president and passed the orb of 
power, turning the meeting over to the new president Greg Gee.  Greg thanked Doug for 
his service to the club and let him know the club will miss him on his move to Delaware.

OLD BUSINESS

Greg brought up the sealing of the runway; Rodney said they could not get up to the field 
to assess what needs to be done. When the weather clears up, he and his contact will look 
at the field, advise what needs done and present an estimate. We will check again next 
month to see if this was accomplished.

Wayne brought up a question about the sign for the new building. Art stated he has been 
unable to get a hold of the woman who does the signs but will keep trying and should 
have something by next meeting.

Greg brought up that next month Mike Crum will be going to Alabama to compete with 
his helicopters in an XFC event. He has two ninety size machines and he is very excited 
about going. I can see why and we are sure he will make a good showing and will 
represent us very well.

Fun fly dates are posted on the web site and we will need help for all of them, Greg will 
be handling all but the September 15/16 fly-in and Art will handle that. Make your plans 
to come out and fly/help. Support for these fun flies is important as the club does raise 
some money from these. 

It was brought up about having a defibrillator at the field to be kept in the new building 
and everyone having a key for access. After a lengthy discussion the members voted not 
to acquire a defibrillator. Reasons for not acquiring one include that the cold/heat would 
deteriorate the battery, an EMS team is only a few blocks away and almost everyone has 
a cell phone that can be used in an emergency. Also the price is between $3500 and 
$4000 for a unit which is somewhat prohibitive; and the liability if used incorrectly was 
another small factor.

As far as access to the new building goes, it is still in discussion as what will be kept in 
the building. Most of the items that Art has been so graciously storing at his office will 
probably be stored in there. These are the coolers, grills, cooking and serving supplies 
and everything used at the fun flies. The discussion is on-going and access has not been 
decided. For now a close hold on access will be followed. There is a big worry about 
accountability of the stored items when the club material goes into the building. 
Separating the inside into two areas was discussed and other ideas are still being floated. 
Also, technically at this time the building belongs to the Baltimore Recreation Council.

Wayne brought up about a first aid kit and cell phone being needed. It was hashed over 
for a while and was decided that we are going to look into getting a box mounted to the 
outside with a combo lock like on the gate so everyone will have access to a first aid kit. 
Rob Lisle, a paramedic, stated he would look into getting a kit put together for us. Again 
it was decided the cell phone was not needed as almost everyone has one with them at the 
field. Charlie Haupt said he would check with his electrician and see if they could come 
up with a stainless NEMA approved container that is rain tight and can be mounted to the 
building and locked. It was voted on and approved to get the first aid kit and mount to the 
building in the next month or two.

As a safety issue, Neil brought up about helping other pilots, holding planes while they 
start them, etc. He has seen several pilots starting their planes from in front of the plane 
by flipping the prop without the plane being secured. If the throttle gets bumped or signal 
loss occurs, the engine may run up and the plane (propeller) could hit the pilot and cause 
serious injury.  It’s a good idea, and courtesy to help out or fellow pilots and keep them 
around longer.  Thanks Neil!

NEW BUSINESS

Bob brought up a news article about a guy who lost part of his finger flipping a model 
airplane propeller. The article was about the use of extract of pig bladder to help his 
finger grow back. This is not a permit to stick your finger in a prop, we all still need to be 
careful out there :)

Art brought up that the raffle plane is now hanging in the hobby shop for people to drool 
over (as I did). Tom did another excellent job and had to perform major modifications to 
improve the plane and get the G26 engine in place. Thanks again Tom for donating your 
excellent building skills. It is a classic WACO bipe, and the raffle tickets will be 
available soon. This will be the big raffle for the September fun fly.

It was brought up that the Web Site needs updated and improved. Greg and Doug have 
access to that now and improvements are in the process.

SHOW AND TELL

Jesse Mitchell, a member of the club, gave a fascinating talk on his 60 plus years of 
flying both military and civilian planes. He has flown 38 different types of planes 
including biplanes, fighters and cargo aircraft. He not only flew prop planes but also jets.  
He kept the audience spell bound with his war stories and escapades. He flew with an 
aerobatic group, the original Guardian Angels. He bailed out of a Mustang at 27,000 feet, 
broke the sound barrier in the F-86 and the F-100. He is a great speaker and has a lot of 
stories to share with us. His favorite planes are the A-37 and the F-86H. He has logged 
8500-9000 flying time and of that 3300 has been in jets. We have invited him back to tell 
us more of his escapades and he has agreed.  Thanks Jesse, it was very informative and 
entertaining.

A raffle was held for a gift certificate to Hobby Town which was won by a guest, Mark 
Davis.

The meeting closed at 9:15 pm.