To:          Club Members / 2007
From:      Club President
Subject:  Winter Newsletter / 2007

President's Comments:

I would like to thank all of the club members that give their time and energy to make this club so great. A special thanks to the Advisory Board and to my Officers, without your guidance and support this job would be impossible.

In general, this was a very good year for flying at Rocky Hill. We began the season unusually early, flying at our South Field, but then the rains came and our South parking lot, along with the access roads became a flood zone. For our club picnic we were able to move North, to the "higher ground" and established flying at the North Field. Once the roads dried out, we were able to do some serious flying at the North Field very late into the 2006 season. We started the 2007 flying season out with record high temperatures, which allowed some of us to continue to sneak out and enjoy this very unusual warm weather.

Flying Field Problems:

For the first time in many years we are able to use two flying fields, the North and the South. Each field has its own unique set of problems, but I am thrilled to be able to move from one field to the other, depending on the owners work schedule. This will continue to be the case, only if we follow the rules of the land owner. He has made it extremely clear to me, in no uncertain terms, that we are not to spill any fuel on any grass areas, period. Please fill or drain your planes only where you see the fueling signs.

Someone at the North Field accidentally spilled fuel, a lot of fuel, enough to create a three foot circle on his new grass field, which made the owner extremely angry. You just need one incident like this, accident or not, to terminate the use of these fields for flying. Use common sense.

Because of this incident I am asking you to have a return line from your planes vent line to your fueling devise, so that excess fuel will return to the source. When moving your plane use a leash to pull it rather that picking it up by the tail, unless your vent line is plugged, until takeoff. Placing a loop in the vent fuel line between the tank and where it exits the plane will also prevent fuel from leaking out, if the plane is picked up by its tail.

Club Website: (www.wbrcflyingclub.org)

A special thanks to Dick Adamonis for making our Website, second to none. If he is not at the field taking our picture he is at home updating the site. I am not sure when he gets time to build, or fly. Thanks Dick, for keeping the information current, showing a variety of modeling interests, and doing the impossible, with our site, when necessary.

Financial Status:

Our financial position is starting to get better. Through increased dues, initiation, early and late membership fees, selling of club logo items and reduced spending we showed a small profit in 2006, over our expenses for 2005. We did have four major expenses in 2006 which hurt our bottom line, but were necessary. These expenses included our new club badges, portable toilet, purchase of our own web space and changing the payment anniversary date for our field and parking obligations.

We have been flying at the Meadows in Rocky Hill for a very long time, and while I agree that we have been very fortunate in using this land for a relatively small cost, we still have nothing tangible to show for it. Through no fault of our own we could be out of there tomorrow. The present owner could decide we are more of a liability than an asset, or the land could be sold to another turf business that forbids us from using it.

My plan is very simple, to keep our eyes and ears open for any opportunity to purchase or lease a suitable piece of property. This does not happen overnight, but this is my long term goal. The cost, of course, is astronomical both in the purchase and maintenance of a flying field and a strong treasury will be a necessity.

Club Picnic:

The seventh annual club picnic this year will be held on Saturday, August 18, 2007 with a rain date of Sunday, August 19, 2007. This is a slightly different format then previous years. I chose a Saturday for the main day of the picnic because the workers do not usually work on Saturdays. We will have the following day, Sunday as our back up rain day. Please check our web site, as this day approaches, for more details.

Joan and Ron Liska, your officers and a very large group of club volunteers work very hard every year to make this picnic a huge success. Help is needed for setup at 8:00 AM, flight line supervision during the day and clean up at 5:00 PM. Please feel free to bring your favorite side dishes, desserts or appetizers to share, which will add greatly to the home flavor of the festivities. You will receive a separate mailing, as a reminder, as this date approaches. Remember, this picnic is only for club members and their immediate family.

New Club Officer / Related Issues

Jim Cyr is our new Vice President. He is completely in charge of the club membership program. Renewals, inactive and new memberships. He is doing a superb job in his new position. Looks like I have more time to go flying.

Please do not park on the road near our flying fields unless absolutely necessary. Park as far over as possible and be prepared to move your vehicle if the need arises.

Permanent ID Club badges will be issued in May to all members that joined in 2006, if they renew their membership for 2007. If any member needs to replace their permanent club badge, please let me know as soon as possible. Replacement cost is $10.00. Remember, you must wear your club badge when using our flying fields. This alerts the owner and his workers that you belong there. Expect to be challenged, and asked to leave if you are not wearing your club badge, as some of our members found out last year.

Advisory Board Meeting:

The Advisory Board met on January 20, 2007.
Agenda:

          A)  Windingbrook R/C Financial Report for 2006 ( Mo Balboni )
          B)  Meadows Noise and Traffic Issues.
          C)  Proposed IMAA Fun Fly at the Windingbrook R/C Field on June 30, 2007. Clubs involved are Chapters 392, 566 and WRCFC.
          D)  Club logo hats ( Mike LaPierre )

Results:

A)  A detailed financial report for WRCFC was given to the Advisory Board by Mo Balboni. In this newsletter you have a brief summation of this report. The Board accepted the report, as given.

B)  With the approach of winter the noise and traffic has been greatly reduced in the Meadows. It was determined that the DEP has sole jurisdiction over the area and hopefully thing will remain as they were. However, we all must remain vigilant for any proposed changes that might effect us.

C)  Upon Board approval I am going forward with the Fun Fly, at our field, scheduled for June 30, 2007. I am very excited about this event and hope you help make it a success. It will be a learning experience for me and my IMAA Chapter 566 and therefore Chapter 392 will run the event. Members from Windingbrook R/C Flying Club and Chapter 566 will be helping out during the event to gain knowledge and experience, if in the future we wish to run our own event. Please visit our web site for more information on this event as this date approaches.

D)  Mike LaPierre will be in charge of ordering new club logo hats. We are ordering 12 hats as an initial trial run. They will contain our "Eagle" club logo, which can be found on our web site and promise to be extremely well done. Please contact Mike at 3dpilot@cox.net if you have any questions or wish to order a hat. If things work out well other club logo apparel will be made available. Please see our web site for the latest information.

I would like to thank all Board members and Club Officers for the tremendous help and spirit of cooperation they have shown to me. I believe we have made great strides in the management of our Club.

          John Perez,     President WRCFC.