First, a very appreciative thank-you to Daniel Bradley, who stepped up to the plate as Newsletter Editor in May when I was unable to. Since I am a relatively rare visitor at the field (something that I hope will change as the summer progresses), Daniel will be helping me in regards to reporting club news and other miscellaneous happenings around the field. If you're an instructor and a student has soloed, or if you want to relate the story of an interesting... uhmm... ``unexpected ground-encountering event'' or any fun club news, please pass it on to Daniel and me. It's hard writing a newsletter in the dark...
Looking for a little safety redundancy for your ``best'' airplane? Here's a nifty, simple electronic circuit that nearly anyone can build that may be invaluable to you, especially if you have an expensive large RC model and don't already have a computer radio with low receiver power warning systems. It's a battery backup system that will kick in if your primary receiver battery fails for any reason.
You will need a 1N4004 or 1N4007 Diode, nearly any general purpose pnp transistor (like the one shown in the diagram), and a switch harness, 3 volt buzzer, and a small circuit board to build on. These can generally be purchased from Radio Shack or most electronics shops for a total cost of well less than 10 dollars.
Here's how you use it:
Next month... how to make your own glow plug driver. Mind you, I've never tested this one. :)