Indoor News and Views

Lakehurst Labor Day Report – 2019

Brett Sanborn

After a four-month delay, the East Coast Indoor Modelers (ECIM) regained base access and resumed flying in Hangar 1. The main tenant of the hangar decided to forestall our license and access when it came up for renewal in April. According ECIM club president Horace Hagen, there was a misunderstanding and the primary tenant believed we were flying large gas powered outdoor aircraft and was worried about damaging stored equipment. After much explanation and many meetings, Horace was able to obtain a new license for this year. Along with the new license, a few new rules were put into effect, but they were minor. Though a full list was provided by Horace, some highlights include that we are no longer allowed to close any doors that are open and now must park at the west end of the hangar. Being able to close the large door at the east end of the hangar would be nice, but overall it didn’t have a huge effect. Other than that, it was business as usual at Lakehurst. We did get a couple visits from the base police, but it was due to their interest in seeing the models rather than for monitoring our conduct. Nonetheless, we must be on our best behavior while flying to ensure future access.

Conditions over Labor Day weekend were good. Saturday was probably the best weather-wise, closely followed by Sunday. Temperatures inside the hangar were about 80 degrees and 40% humidity. On Sunday, we experienced some drift toward the west end of the hangar especially when models were up high. Though it may have been exacerbated by the open end-door, this pattern is normal. We had scattered thunderstorms on Monday. The air was still flyable in general, but we were dodging drips during flights. I had a flight that began stalling around unexpectedly, and indeed when it landed I found some large water droplets on the stab. Luckily none of the film is damaged by falling water droplets. The storms cleared up around 1 hour before sunset, so we were able to make a few final flights before it got dark.

The lack of availability due to the national helium shortage had an impact on our flying. The Party Fair in Toms River will no longer rent the club a helium tank. I called several places in New Jersey and Ohio and was told ‘no’ by all but one. Though this store was willing to rent a tank, they wanted to charge $650 for 300 cubic feet. We were forced to drive to the store and fill up a single balloon (for a whopping $20) and drive it back to the hangar. Steve Fujikawa and John Kagan filled their mylar balloons at the store which are advantageous in that they do not need to be topped off daily to be useable. The balloons lasted the entire weekend.

The contest was attended by Steve Brown, John Kagan, Andrew Welter and his dad Ron, Mike Coplan, Steve Fujikawa, Dave Campbell, and me. Andrew practiced and qualified for the Junior F1D team selection contest which will be held at Lakehurst over Columbus Day weekend.

Results

F1D

Brett Sanborn:  31:24 + 31:08 = 62:32

Andrew Welter: 21:25 + 19:15 = 40:40

Steve Brown: 26:08

F1L

John Kagan: 20:13

Mike Coplan: 20:00

A6

Mike Coplan: 6:25

LPP

Mike Coplan: 7:06