Welcome to the Ponderosa Hawks R/C Club

Letter from the Club President June 30, 2008

We had 8 Club members at the meeting. We discussed the clubs account which was $577.55 after paying the mower bill which was $105.11. Thanks to Mr. Hargreaves for all of his time, Thanks again Ron.

We also talked about putting a Junior Membership on the application for $10.00 for the year. We still have the Family Membership which covers all Family Members. The Junior covers young people who may be a friend of a Member or just wants to learn how to fly but has no family member that belongs to the Club.

We discussed the mowing of the field and so far it has been cut by a couple of Members and looks good. The big question is how to notify the Members that the grass was cut so someone does not make a special trip out to cut it. If you cut it you can send a email to me for now that you cut it. I will send out a email to all the members to let them know it is cut. If you have a better idea about this let me know and I will pass it on to the Members.

We also voted in to get a $25.00 gift certificate for Mel who lives next to the field, for his time in cutting grass, being a Guardian of the field. He has helped us out a lot and even uses his gas to cut the field for us. Bob Prewitt said he would pick up a certificate from a restaurant and I will pick up a card. It is impossible to get all signatures on the card. If it is ok with everyone I will put all of the paid members name on the card with a big Thank YOU.. I want to thank Mr. Bodah for the past 3 years of cutting the field and putting in a lot of hours at the field.. Thank you.

When the meeting adjourned we had a few guys flying and having a good time out there. To the members that came out I want to thank you for coming out.

Jack Turner

Letter from the Club President May 16, 2008

The field looks good, even after a hard winter! We have permission to put another runway at the field and had a good compliment from the Sod Farm(Tom) that our field looks good. Just to let you know the runway we have now is 595 ft. long and approx. 70 ft. wide. We got permission to put a cross runway, North/South, which will be approx 450 ft. long and about 70 ft. wide, which will help with our cross wind. It was brought up that a couple of members would like the pit to move down, west, so it would be easier to land from the east. I agree with them and we will move the pit when we get the runway in, which hopefully will be starting at the end of the month, if I can get the tractor. I will keep working on that.

For the guys that had the big pine tree grab their plane, well you do not have to worry no more, the tree is gone, cut up and waiting for next years winter to save some heating oil. We had a small working party, contacted a couple of members by email, Mr. Bodah, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. G. Nadeau and myself. We cut down trees on the location of the new runway, down the driveway and at the entrance of the driveway. Looks good, I also am going to get my son to redo the sign on a new piece of plywood. I am gong to keep it the same but plan to add our AMA number and our website address.

The mower is being worked on by, Mr. R. Hargreaves. I thank him for his time in fixing the mower. This mower has done a lot for us and it is tired, we do not have enough money to get another one at this time, maybe when all dues are paid we might be able to get one.

Today we finished off the pit area with the PVC pipe and attach the fence to the PVC pipes. . If some members do not like the fence and think it was not worth the cost, I will pay back the money to the club that was spent on piping, which I got at cost, $147.00. It makes the place look a lot neater and safer thanks to Mr. Bodah and Mr. N. Nadeau whom helped putting it up.

We had a little get together over Mothers Day with the members on the email list, I forgot it was Mothers Day and was told that Friday and then I forgot to call, due to other commitments I had Sat. and I apologize to those Members. I did not expect anyone but I was wrong. We had 8 Members show up on Mothers Day! We had a meeting and discussed the runway, a Treasurer, members dues, mower (fix/new one), cutting grass and the sign. Which is explained above and if there is any problem with what we have done out at the field I will take the feedback positive or negative if you have any.

If you have email send it to me (tjcturner@metrocast.net) so I can send you minutes of the meetings or News letter instead by mail. Stamps and ink have a cost and the email is easier and cheaper.

Safety note: Make sure all Pilots check their radio, their trim and batteries before first flight and every flight. Stay behind the fence while you or someone else is flying. Use the Frequency Board!! SAFETY IS FIRST!

If you have any pictures of last year of planes and members, yes crashes, send them to gerard.nadeau@comcast.net or to me and I will forward them. Happy Flying

> Jack Turner
207-324-6590/207-608-5380
tjcturner@metrocast.net Bill Bodah
603-332-5458

Field Work 19 May 2008

Letter from the Club President August 21, 2007

I all agree I would like to put the old Pondrosa RC hawks sign at the entry of the road for better ID for the club and also weed wack around the road entrance to make it look a little better, hope to do that Tuesday morning if the weather holds up.. Let me know if anyone will be able to come out and help. It is easier to ask email members first. Thanks and thanks to Ken, Bob, Gerry(new Member), Kevin(new member) and Mr. Hargreaves and I was there!!!! Take care, Jack

Meeting minutes August 5, 2007

We also discussed Helicopters which were voted in on a past meeting. It was brought up at the meeting that we are a fixed wing club and to change it we would have to change our bylaws which I did not have. The bylaws I have are dated 1987 and 1991. I have made contact with the AMA Friday and they would not talk to me because not being on the roster as President to the Club. I informed the members at the meeting that I was told the woman I should talk would be back from vacation Monday. We tabled the issue until I can get a copy of the bylaws and also talk with AMA to see if we are allow to fly Helicopters and be insured through the AMA even though our bylaws say we are a fix wing club. I will get info and let everyone know what is gong on with the Helicopters issue as soon as I get the word from AMA.

At the meeting we collect some dues and had a couple of donations from Norm Nadeau and Bill Bodah and I want to think them for their generosity. We collected $210.00 at the meeting for membership and donations. That was a good DAY! I got the statement from the bank, Monday, for the month of July and it was good news, it has a balance of $733.46 add the 210.00 we collected Sunday gives a balance of $943.46. I forgot about two deposits that I put in when I gave the balance at the meeting, which showed up on the statement for July. It was a good boo-boo!

We also have a date of Sunday August 12 at 0900 hrs to have all volunteers to show up at the the field to help put up the Safety Fence and Frequency Board. If you come out, bring a sledge hammer and some muscle power. The more, the faster it will go and then maybe we can do some flying. I will get some water for all. I will bring out my RV if hot weather to help cool off if needed… I brought up at the meeting that my neighbor has a Boys Scout Club and that they though it would be a nice lesson for the Boy Scouts to come out in Sept for a day of watching some of out members fly our planes. I will let you know if it goes through and would like 4-5 volunteers to talk to the Scouts and to put on a show, elec., gas and Quarter Scale War Planes. I think the Scouts would like the show I did forget to bring up a suggestion at the meeting. My suggestion is to have anyone coming into the field, if the cable is down just before they get off the gravel blow their horn to let the Flyers know you are coming in. They can stop a take off that may go bad. Just a suggestion and if you think it is a good idea we will get a sign made and put up saying BLOW HORN HERE. Let me know.

Monday Aug. 6, I got in touch with AMA and asked about our bylaws and flying helicopters. I asked the Rep. that if we can fly Helicopters if our bylaws states a Fix Wing Club. The lady Lois said, they can fly anything they like as long as it was a R/C. They are covered by them with insurance. This should Table the issue of Helicopters.

If you get this letter and you do not want to be a member at the club please let me know and I will stop sending you letters. My email is tjcturner@metrocast.net or call 207-324-6590 leave message. We can open up your membership to someone else.

Respectfully

Jack E. Turner

Letter from the Club President July 3, 2007

This year has been a hard year for our club and all Members that have been in the club for a few years.  First we moved two years ago from our nice area and got a spot that was not the best landing field but it worked and had a good time flying.  Now this year we got hit with the EPA, and I know everyone knows this group of fine people.  They were a little upset with us because we were in their area that had to be tested and it was part of the wet lands..  So we now have only the runway, as you drive in it faces you head on.  Some of out great flyers call it east/west runway and they are right on.  The runway has a few craters which were pretty deep and hard to land on.  It made for a rough day of flying and no one liked flying on it.  I also feel that with the EPA having to monitor the area we should be here for a while, no promises.

Now our President Jim Medeiros is moving to Mass for another job and we wish him and his Family well and hope things go good for them in their new Home and Job.  I was asked to take the Presidents job at the last meeting. I said I would give it a try and was voted in. 

So, I am Jack Turner live in Springvale , Maine and like to fly planes, love the club and will do what ever it takes to keep it going and keep our members happy.  No I do not do windows.  I am trying to get AMA to help us out on our moving expenses, this may not happen, but it is the AMA’s duty to help out Clubs with our problem.   All suggestions will be appreciated and will get our attention.  

Our new Vice President is William (Bill) Bodah and he will do a good job and has done a good job cutting the grass and trees with the mower.  Great Job Bill and we appreciate it.

Now I am also doing the duties of Sec/Tres for now until we get a volunteer to take the duties and hope someone will take the job.  We also need a Safety Officer and one that will learn the rules that AMA has put out there to keep us safe and alive.  Would like to have a volunteer asap.  We have to get out club up to par asap and under guidelines of the AMA.

I have some good news.  We have the field level and some comments were that it really looked good thanks to a few of our members which were Bill Bodah, Bob Prewitt, and Mike Ducharme.  They helped out a lot and I want to thank them for their help.  First the field was Bush hogged, hope it is spelled right, and we rented it at the place up the road which cost about 129.00 for the four days we had it.  Then it was decided to try and get a tractor from somewhere and we found one which was Charlie Plante in Springvale who loan the tractor, the Harley rake, the packer and the leader no charge for running his truck/trailer out to the field.  No charge for diesel for the tractor and gave us his discount for all the material.  Plus no rental fee for his equipment.  We got the seed for 62.00 per bag which were 75lb bags.  We got 4 bags and got a good discount on the fertilizer which came to 68.40.  I work for Charlie Plante and asked him if we could use this equipment and he let me.  We started Saturday afternoon around 1630hrs and went until 2045 hrs and worked the humps down and filled craters.  We up rooted 90 % of the old turf.  We worked it Sunday 0730hrs to 1500 hrs and got a lot accomplished with making it level the best I could, total tractor hours was 18.  Today, 3 July 2007 we put the seed all 4 bags, 8 bags of fertilizer and some tender loving care then we rolled it 100 %.  It is COMPLETE and now it is up to Mother Nature to give us a slow rain to get the grass growing.  Quick total:

Completed field total: $525.00 equipment, seed and fertilizer                                                                 129.00  Dr Cutter from rental on Route 202                                                               $654.00  

Break Down:                                                                                                           4 bags of seed @$62.00 + $12.40 tax = $260.40                                                          8 bags of starter fertilizer @ 7.55 =        60.40(not paid)                                                                      -129.00 for the DR cutter(already paid)       Total for everything needed is           $320.80

I gave Mr. Plante $525.00(includes fuel) which gave him $204.20 for the use of his equipment.

Estimated cost if done by someone:

$120.00 x 18 tractor hours = $2160.00                                                                                 Labor @ $60.00 x 18 hrs =      1080.00                                                                                   Grand total of =                  $3240.00

$585.40(includes fertilizer) which saved the club $2654.60.  This was a cheap token, so we can keep a good relation with Mr. Plante for the future...  Money well spent, Pray for slow rain…..

It will take 7-10 days to have the grass up enough to fly on so I am asking ALL not to fly on the field and be patience give it a chance and I think you will like the out come.  We can lose some areas with a heavy rain but I think we can repair the areas.

I would like to have a meeting but would like to hear from everyone on when they would like to have it.  A lot of our members have to work on Saturdays and some have a long Honey DO list for Saturdays, which we know the do list will oversee the meeting.  I would like to try and have it late Sundays around 1500 hrs, please give me a your suggestion if you do not like Sundays.  To keep out club going we have to have people come to the meetings, everyone. Also we need more volunteers to cut grass and maintain the field.  We need help now putting up the fence to keep everyone from getting hit by a run away airplane.   Bought fence today 6 july 2007 for $72.62.  Put it up next week around Pit..

We also will take any type of donations including:  Picnic tables 3, plastic orange fence (pit protection) 150 ft., money to help out expensives.  The club will have about $440.00 to the good. 

In closing, we have a good spot for the future at this field but it is going to take some more work and corporation from everyone to keep it up and running.  Hope everyone will be able to fly soon at the field and enjoy the new runway for a long time.   Good luck and will try getting letters out once a month

Respectfully,

                                                   Jack Turner

June 2007 News

We had a meeting at the end of June which we had to reelect Officers. The new President is Jack Turner, Vice-President Bill Bodah and the Sec/Tres. failed because of other commitments. We are now seeking a person who can do the duties of Sec/Tres. If you want the duties please call me asap. Looking for a Safety Officer, this is going to be a tough job to keep all safe out at the field. If the field is not up to regulations, AMA is going to hit us hard, if we are not by the book. Hope someone will volunteer for this position which we all can work on the safety part.

Jim Medeiros had to step down as President due to getting a New Job in MA. We wish him and his Family well and from the Ponderosa Family Good Luck.

The field has been redone and smoothed out a lot. It is all explained in the News letter sent out Today7 July. In the letter it will tell you what we spent and best of all what we saved!!! It was a big saving...

Hope we can get a meeting at the end of July to hopefully get a Sec/Tres, Safety officer and establish a cookout or a Fun fly for the Club. We bought fence and need a small working party to put up post for the fence. Bring a big hammer. This has to be done before we start flying.

We need all members that have not paid their dues to send them in, we have spent some money t o get our club back in good flying condition. It was a lot of work and hope all enjoy it

Thanks,

Jack Turner