The St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club

UUhttp://stlouisadmirals.comUU BROADSIDE

Commodore – Jim Schwinkendorf. . (636) 271-8316 Secretary – Bob Keeler (314) 434-8640 HHUUjaschwink@aol.comUUHH CELL.. (314) 409-7604 Vice-Commodore – Dave St. Clair (636) 671-5353 Treasurer – George Kirby (636) 978-6288

Editor – Jane Rivers-Chapman (314) 355-8660 NOTICE:

The next meeting will be held on March 3, 2014 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 33 N. Clay Ave, Ferguson, MO 63135

NOW HEAR THIS

FROM THE BRIDGE Each year the Boat Club participates and displays the RC model boats of the skippers who brave the cold and snow and attend the Toy and Tractor Show at

Westport. Not only do we get a chance to show our craft, but also have time to discuss problems, explain solutions, and just generally have the time to talk to one another about our boats. At this past recent display, an interesting topic came up – why do I build and model the boats that I have? Now looking down the display tables, it was easy to see that there were many different kinds of boats, made of different materials, and from different time periods. I like to build boats from the US Navy, usually from WW II, and my favorites are fleet type submarines. Why? Well, I like to accurately model the details of those boats. I try (within reason) to really duplicate the major details that make my boats say, “WW II vintage, US Navy Gato class.” Also on the tables were TJ’s Vietnamese sampan, a stern wheel river boat, various tugs,

and Jerry Jones’ PT model under construction, the one featured in “McHale’s Navy.” Each of those boats has its own story and reflects the things liked about that particular style of boat by the owner/builder. Dave St Clair said that he did not like to build military ships or boats, because they were detailed to accurately represent the real vessel, leaving him no room to express himself by adding lights, smoke, sound, etc. Almost directly opposite of why I like to build military boats! Interesting. Mike Alligood likes to undertake scratch construction or acquire of several kinds of boats – cabin cruisers, a police boat (with sirens), the boat from a James Bond movie, and so on. His major emphasis is the construction method when he builds one. The McHale Navy PT by Jerry Jones comes closer to my thought process somewhat – a model of a WW II military boat, but with all of the details exhibited by the one used for the TV series. What a variety of boats, built in the same Club, but by different skippers for individual reasons!

TJ’s Vietnamese sampan is a really different boat. Highly detailed, with appropriate music playing from that period (in my life anyway). Obviously, TJ had a “thanks” in mind for Vietnam vets. So whatever you like, not necessarily having to build what you want (a lot of RTR models out there), you can express yourself and readily

display your preferences – whatever floats your boat! The important thing is to have FUN doing it. Maybe someday we’ll again see water (rather than snow and ice) on the pond, and get your favorites out to do some sailing. But have FUN doing it. Happy sailing…….. Commodore Jim

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 5:00 PM Dinner at Applebee’s, 2309 N Highway 67, Florissant, MO 63033, and 7:00 PM meeting at St. Stephens Church Tentative 2014 meeting dates are:

April 7, 2014 May 5, 2014 June 2, 2014 July 7, 2014

August 4, 2014 Sept 8, 2014 (2nd Monday due

to Labor Day) REGATTA Sep 27-28, 2014 Oct 6, 2014

Nov 3, 2014 (Swap Meet) Dec 1, 2014 (Christmas Social) Subject to availability by St. Stephen’s Church

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Membership Dues # # Please take note of the following: # # Dues for new members will be prorated on a per month basis based upon our beginning of May 1st dues. Please make checks (no cash) payable to “St Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club” in the amount of $30.00. Send checks (no cash) to George Kirby 1146 Alyssa Ct O’Fallon, MO 63366 PS If you would like to have your e-mail address included for receipt of the Broadside and other publications please include it on a separate sheet of paper, to my attention. If you have moved since your last renewal, please note change of address, etc. Thank you, George Kirby ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

The St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club

Secretary’s Report for February 3, 2014

Attention:

Commodore Jim Schwinkendorf opened the meeting at 7:06pm at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson, MO. He led the members and guests, of whom 16 were present, in the Pledge of Allegiance. Report from Homeport:

A Moment of Silence was held in memory of Alden Clark. A discussion about an appropriate donation in his memory was held. Since no information was available at this time, it was decided to wait until the memorial service is held at 2pm on February 22 at St. John’s Church on Manchester in Ellisville (almost to Clarkson Road) Fleet Information:

Secretary’s Report: January meeting was cancelled due to weather conditions; no report. As one of his last official acts as Secretary, Chris filled out the paperwork for the Club Insurance. This was sent in with a check for $200.00. The Insurance covers the club and City of Florissant for Ferdinand Park. Additionally, the club is covered for meetings at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Forest Park and Westport Plaza on February 9 for the toy show. After being notified by SSMA that the club registration was due, filled out the required form and sent it in along with a check for $30.00. Treasurer’s Report:

Treasurer George Kirby reported providing our bank account balance. He was able to have the account changed from a business account to a personal account, which will save us $15.00 charge per month. George also received a letter from The American Diabetes Association thanking us for the donation made in memory of former member Bob Chapman. Old Business:

Commodore Schwinkendorf presented the Mariner’s Award for 2013 to Father Tom Keller for his efforts to review our club activities, financial situation, and outlook. He researched club history, and provided insight into club strengths and weaknesses, thus giving the club a plan for continuing club activities and maximizing club productivity. Thank you Father Tom for a job well done.

In addition, Commodore Schwinkendorf noted that an article in St. Louis Catholic Magazine mentioned Father Tom in connection with St. Valentine relic which lies under the alter at the Old St. Ferdinand Shrine. New Business:

a) Toy Show at Westport Sheridan Chalet Hotel is this weekend. The club will have a display of model boats on Sunday, February 9, from 9am to 2pm on the lower level. b) The 2014 monthly meeting dates and locations will be posted in the monthly Broadside newsletter. The next meeting will be on March 3. c)As you may have heard, there was a fire at the Boat House in Forest Park. It mainly affected the roof and back area, with water damage throughout. They expect to be up and running shortly. Tentatively, the Regatta is scheduled for September 27 and 28. A Monday float on May 5 has been proposed, with dinner at the Boat House and meeting at St. Stephen’s at 7pm. d) The members present agreed to have a pool float at Melville high school in March with Commodore Schwinkendorf to arrange a date. So far, 5 members were interested in attending and would be charged $10 each to cover pool costs. e) Father Tom had three presentations for the club to consider: 1) The first was a recommendation to adapt our current agenda into sections: 1. Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance 2. “Report from Homeport”- Brief announcements regarding club members 3. “Fleet Information”- Brief announcements or discussions of club events 4. “All Hands on Deck”- Members may bring in models to discuss successes, progress and request advice 5. “Skipper’s Tales”- Members or special guests share some aspect of marine vessels (full size or models) 2) Father Tom handed out two survey sheets requesting information: current project in progress or recently completed and a list of possible presenters for “Skipper’s Tales.” 3) Father Tom showed two potential flyers giving club information to be handed out at public events, one with and one without pictures. All Hands on Deck:

1. In the marine spirit of the current weather, Bob Keeler brought the hull and plans for the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star which recently made news when it went to the aid of the trapped Russian icebreaker in Antarctica. He also had plans for a Wind class icebreaker and a Revell plastic model of the Wind class icebreaker.

2. Paul Kirby had a kit for the Titanic passenger ship that is a paper built up model. He has

previously built two other boats from paper kits. 3. Jane Rivers-Chapman had a kit of the USS Missouri battleship which Bob had purchased in Hawaii. She started construction but needed Luther Disher to finish. It was made from 1/8 inch thick wood laminated to form the ship. 4. Luther Disher showed a wooden plug from the Missouri’s deck and also a flag that flew on the USS Missouri. 5. Dave St Clair, who recently retired from Schaffer’s Hobby Shop, brought a model of the American Beauty Tow Boat which he received from disgruntled former owner. It was in sad shape when Dave got it. He rebuilt it from the hull up and added his usual lights and smoke. Another fine example of Dave’s work.

6. Dave Dickey told about an App for your smart phone that makes your smart phone a speed gun. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Bob Keeler, Secretary ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Memorial Service H. Alden Clark February 22, 2014 - 2 p.m. St. John’s Lutheran Church 15800 Manchester Road Ellisville, MO 63011 In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Heart Association. There will be a short reception following the service.

***************************************************************************************************************** The Ugly Duckling By Dave StClair It all began as an American Beauty. About six months ago, when I was still working as a clerk in the local hobby shop, and there were few customers in the store, a man came in carrying something, walked up to the counter and put it down, none too gently I might add. He turned on his heel and started out. By then, I had seen that it was a model boat. I hollered after him, “What am I supposed to do with this?” To which he replied, something like,” I don’t care. Keep it!” And he was gone. I looked at it but I did not want to touch it because it was filthy. The grime was thick

enough to scrape off. So, I left it there for a while, quite a while, as I thought about what I should do about it. In the past I have encountered situations of a similar nature. This one did not really show much promise. Never-the-less, I eventually lifted the superstructure away from the hull and discovered that the boat was an “American Beauty”, kit purchased from Dumas Products in Tucson AZ. It contained the running hardware, servos for rudders but no electronics such as radio or ESC. There were no lights or other embellishments. Eventually, I loaded it into my car and at the end of the day; I took it home with me. After all, he said, “Keep it!” Once there though, I put it on a remote shelf in my basement and there it stayed for several weeks, until I could finish other projects on which I was already working.

Once I did actually begin working on it, I cleaned and cleaned, at least until I no longer had to wear gloves to touch it. I even wiped it down with alcohol just in case. Boy was it dirty. But that was just the beginning. Before long, I realized that I would have to completely replace the superstructure. So, because I had built one of these some months earlier, I got out the plans and determined what I would need in the way of replacement parts. The next day I contacted Dumas and ordered everything. While waiting for them to arrive, I began reworking the rudders and drives. For those who are not familiar with this type of river push boat, a little explanation is in order. These are the type of boats seen on the river pushing a load of barges up or down. They have very powerful engines and a special arrangement of rudders. There is a normal rudder just behind each propeller, of which there are two. In addition, each propeller also has two more rudders placed just ahead of each propeller so that when the boat is moving in reverse, these rudders come into play like the regular rudders would when the boat is going forward. This is because regular rudders are ineffective for boats moving in reverse. So, they build extra rudders that make the boat go where you want it to when you drive in reverse. These extra rudders are called “FLANKING” rudders. I won’t go into detail about every little thing that needed attention but I did make some additions of interest. First, I added lights, lots and lots of lights. I even went so far as to use the appropriate scale and type of lighting as on the real boats. This included companionway lights, spot lights, navigation lights, and interior lights. The one concession I made to something I had not done before was to add something they could put on the big boats and it would help immensely. I mounted two laser lights on the bow, aimed at a 45 degree angle toward the center of the bow, and intersecting exactly at the point of contact. With each laser pointing inward that way, it becomes possible to run up against a barge or something and know precisely when contact will be made. In operation, if you were the skipper, you would see two red laser lights reflecting off the object you are about to hit. As you came closer and closer to that object, the two red lights would appear to come together. At the exact point in time that contact was made, the two lights would appear to become one only. In addition to the lighting, I also added smoke. But, it isn’t the standard kind of thing you normally see on an R/C boat. Since this model has four “stacks”, I decided to make all of them active. The total amount of smoke remains the same but now it comes out of four places on the boat. Again, I won’t go into detail but what it amounts to is to send one-fourth of the smoke to each stack. This took a little math to figure out the sizing. It was easy. Now, it really looks like the boat is working hard when the smoke is on. Based upon the manner that the boat responded to during the float tests, it turns inside its’ own radius, but it doesn’t go very fast at all. This boat may become our future rescue boat, who knows? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Special Thank you to Roy Baker, who invited us again to be part of the Toy Show. In attendance were Jim Schwinkendorf Dave St Clair Kerk Kerkman Emil Wolfshoeffer T J Mueller Jerry Jones also present Jane Rivers-Chapman, Editor

Luther Disher Mike Alligood (hiding) Geneva Disher

Maybe a future “Admiral”, he was very intrigued by Dave’s model, which lit-up and smoked.

Jim provided slide show of our fleet which was enjoyed by the visitors.

Great time had by all at the Toy Show, West Port Plaza, although the weather wasn’t great.

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