I know it doesn't seem like it, but the days actually getting longer.  With no significant snow on the ground this late in January, I figure we only need to hold out another six or so weeks and we'll be able to start getting in those first early spring flights.

My Thunderbird project is moving along pretty well and should be covered about the time you read this. After that I will build a Saito 30 powered Jim Walker Firecat before turning my workshop into a paint shop for the Firecat, Thunderbird, and P-40.  I know through the grapevine that several others are building new toys also.  John Christensen is building (re-engineering) an A.R.F. Nobler, Bob Cheney is finishing a Twister, Sina is finally hanging the paint on his Force and then going to add the finishing touches to his Dolphin, Garret and Todd Johnson are building Challengers, Jeff Lange is working on some kind of mystery ship (when Bob leaves him alone), Wayne Willey has a production line running, Mike Moylan brought over a Veco Chief to show me that will be done shortly (very nice job!) and Jeff Welliver is thrashing away on a Cardinal.  I know there are others and I could go on and on listing them but my point is this, there will be lots of new stuff out this year and the quality keeps getting better.  This will be a great season.

By the way, I should have the 2004 schedule out in February so if there is anything specific you would like to see in it be sure to get in touch with me soon.  Along those lines, remember that dues, both ours and the AMA's need to be paid by the January meeting or the newsletter fairy will miss your house in February.

Coming up at our February meeting is the clubs annual swap meet.  As always I'd expect a good turn out and plenty of merchandise for sale.  Sometime between now and then take a look through your treasures and decide what you really need.  This is one of the few events our club has that helps keep the financial wheels turning and with that in mind, remember that 10% of all sales goes to our club treasury.

Finally I have this building tip to offer; we all know that a wing turns out only as straight and a fuselage only as true as the surface it was build on.  I don't want to destroy my table by gluing any jigs I've made to it so I put down masking tape and draw centerlines, dimensions, angles, etc... on that.  Then I glue my jigs to the tape with CYA.  When I'm finished building whatever I'm building the tape is peeled off and the able (in my case glass) is not damaged from the glue, and is ready for the next project. While I'm on this subject I just through of another tip and a reminder.

Here's the tip; set a realistic goal for yourself every time you go in the workshop.  Maybe it's just to sand an elevator or shape a wingtip, the point is work till you attain your goal and no more.  This seems to limit the amount of mistakes that are made because your focus is limited to the item at hand and as a bonus you don't seem to reach the burnout stage as quickly.  And now here's the reminder.  All of the experienced builders know this so this is more for our newer members and the ones that maybe don't build that often... sandpaper is the most important tool you have.  The amount of time spent with it during the building stage pays dividends in the finishing and flying stages.

See you at the meeting,
Keith Sandberg

Vice President's Column

It's time for some more random thoughts from the Southern Minnesota branch of the Piston Poppers.  It has been a great year, hanging with the club, the Bentfield contest, the Kids Kontest, meetings, events, and The Freeze Fly, dang, we were glad it was a warm day!  Ryan and I are still looking for the toes we left in the parking lot.  Bob, Ryan says thanks for the socks!

We have several things cooking for 2004 flying season.  Our old planes are still flyable and will see more action.  I renewed an old Ringmaster Jr. with a Magnum 15 for Ryan to have a little perkier machine to fly.  There are some profile mostly lacking paint (I have to get a compressor).

I've got to finish breaking in the Neumann/Tower 40 in the Pathfinder.  And then there is etc., etc., etc.  Too many planes, not enough motivation to get them all done.

Over the years, I have gotten certain of one thing.  Once you have the basics of flying under control, you need the best model you can get to fly.  Good planes are just easier to fly because you aren't wrestling with their bad traits all the time. Part of that involves control systems.  A bad control system is like having bad tires on your car.  They're the only thing between you and the road.  So I tried the CF pushrod and ball link method, and I hate to use anything else now.  If you aren't familiar with them, check out Stunt News or call Tom Morris and get his how-to sheet.  Tom has the pushrods and ends, or Central Hobbies has complete kits of the parts you need.  A little spendy, but like a good set of tires, they give me a warm fuzzy feeling when I go flying.

For the coming summer, we have plans a-foot to go to Oshkosh.  Ryan will be ten and old enough to deal with the size of Oshkosh and the effort it takes to get around.  I want to get over to the Kid's site and help with the CL flying event for a day.  I hope to break loose for a couple of days in June to attend the Sport Aviation Association annual fly-in in Illinois for a photo shoot.  The SAA was found by Paul Poberezny and dedicated to the older scratch-built homebuilts.  Sort of the SAM for homebuilders. Much smaller, and more laid back than Oshkosh.  More to my taste than the heavy money sponsorship style of Oshkosh.  Either way, we'll have some good photos to share and tales to tell.

Well, there is some more sanding to do before calling it a night.

See y'all at the meeting.
Kelvin Heath

Club Events 2004

February 26, 2004 - Club Swap Night

On our meeting night we will have our annual swap night with 10% of the gross going to the club.  So bring lots of past treasures to sell to make room for all those past treasures of somebody else's to buy.

Next events lets place them here.

Editors Notes

I hope you have read or are reading the design page on color.  This month at our club meeting Norman will connect all three articles and have a presentation on color and graphics, which should help us connect the dots and answer all of our questions.  Should be good.  Plan on being there.

Bob

Norm's Design Page

This is a continuation of previous articles on how we finish our airplanes in terms of color and graphics.

I've heard from a few of our club members that while they appreciate my efforts here, some of the info is getting a bit technical.  Actually, I think it's the terms that add to the complication, but I've only brought them up to clarify the different aspects of color that are important to understand.  Just try to remember that Value is light and dark, Hue is the color, and Intensity is just like it sounds.

In the end, I'm going to tell you that color is essentially subjective, and you can pretty much do whatever looks right to you.  And, interestingly, whenever I've asked various club members what they like or dislike about a particular plane's color scheme, they already know what looks good and what doesn't; which colors clash, and which harmonize.

But, let's get to that color wheel!

[image]

When we're talking about pigments (paint), theoretically you can create all colors from just the 3 Primaries plus Black and White (which are not really colors).  And actually, if you have pure primaries this theory works pretty well for everything except making violet (purple) and its immediate neighbors red-violet and blue-violet.  If you want to try to paint your own color wheel, get yourself a nice purple to use in this area.

Now, several Piston Poppers told me that every time they mix colors they end up with mud.  That's because somehow they are mixing "across the color wheel".  This is a No No, unless you are trying to reduce the intensity of a hue to develop a shade (and it will likely get muddy).  So, here's the simple rule: You can only mix any 2 of the 3 primaries.  And, you would only want to mix any 2 of the primaries in order to arrive at a desired hue anyway.

For example, if you want something in the orange family, you only mix between red and yellow; and please note that red is much more powerful than yellow, so to get a median orange hue, you need a lot of yellow and just a bit of red - trust me!  The same applies to creating green colors - use only pure blue and pure yellow - and yes, the blue is much more powerful than the yellow so be sparing with it.  Now if the yellow dope you happen to have is slightly greenish, that's O.K., it will still yield a nice green since it's headed that way already.  If your yellow is orangish however, watch out; take a look at the color wheel - that means it has some red in it.  If you try to make green, you are essentially mixing in a bit that more colors mean a better looking plane!  Also, tinting these "neutrals" toward one of you chosen hues might make things more interesting.

Hope all this is helpful of red from "across" the wheel, so your green will not be very pure and it will start to look muddy.

Remember, the color wheel is a continuum - it represents a potentially infinite transition through the spectrum - you move around its edge to create colors.  However, you can also move across it in various ways to create color harmonies.  Here are a few traditional examples:

Color Triads - which basically means triangles; and the most common example of these are the primaries themselves: Red, Yellow, and Blue.  You see this combination in children's toys all the time.  You can rotate the "triangle" around the wheel anyway you want so long as there are 3 hues in between each "point".  A more interesting triad would be Red-orange.  Yellow-green, and Blue-Violet.  So your plane could be mostly Blue-violet with graphic accents of Red-orange, and some Yellow-green pin striping - WOW!

Complementary Contrast - Pick any color on the wheel, then shoot straight across the center to find it's "opposite" or "complement".  This is terrible color mixing, but very dynamic for working two colors against each other.  Also pay attention to the value of each complementary pair; just as black and white contrast, Yellow and Violet are perhaps the most extreme of the hue contrasts.  At the same time, it can be interesting to use a complimentary pair that are very similar in value, like colors, but when the hues and shades are tweaked just right, they will "vibrate" visually, and can be very KOOL.

Split Complementary - A variation of the above; in this case, you work from your chosen color straight across the wheel, but then split at the last moment to choose the hues on either side of the direct complement.  This scheme can be very effective. Let's say you've got some rich red Monokote you want to use on your Ringmaster, but you'd like to play with a couple of trim colors.  Find Red on the color wheel, shoot straight across, then split to find Yellow-green and Blue-green.  You could even do the wings and stabilizer in the Red, then try the Blue-green on the fuselage and rudder (note that the more similar value will keep the contrast down), and finally do some delicate (narrow) graphics in the Yellow0green which will really pop out because of its higher (lighter) value.

Analogous - This is when you work with a group of hues that are next to each other on the wheel - closely related.  This color scheme may have a more subtle and sophisticated effect.  Check the wheel; if you wanted to use up some old Purple dope, you could mix up two related pots of paint - one where you add some blue dope, and another where you add some red dope.  Now you have the main Purple color, and its sister, Violet Blue and Violet Red - these will look great together in almost any combination.  Apply this principle to any sector of the color wheel - EASY!

Monochromatic - Just like it sounds, it means "one color" (one hue); however, you use white and black to adjust this hue into appropriate shades and tins.  Three or four of these tints/shades are probably enough 0 imagine pale green wings, a medium green fuselage and tail, and very dark green graphics on both - very nice!  This color scheme can be a bit tricky though; hues can tend to slip toward one of their neighbors when adding white or black because pure white and black are almost impossible to find.  Consequently, you may have to tweak the hue to keep it true.  Good luck!

Finally, keep in mind that since black and white are technically not colors, you can use them, and any shade of neutral gray, and even silver and chrome, just about anywhere you want, with any color scheme.  That's not to say... I'll have just a few more comments next month.  Until then, think about hose colors, or just have fun and don't worry about it.

Norman Andersen

Frozen Fly 2004

This year was a great success as Jeff, Derek and I hosted the New Year Frozen Fly.  I felt that this was one of our biggest turn outs of all.  Twenty three fliers flew an airplane while we had a number of people that came out as spectators including Herman Fessler and Gary Oakins of the Free Flight group (thanks for the cookies Gary).  They also wished us all a good year with many great flights.

Some of the highlights were Norman Anderson keeping with the spirit of snow and cold.  He put some wings, a canard and a Enya 35 motor on a snow shovel, it made it into the air as all (GOOD) airplanes do.  Al Sandberg was there and he helped a number of kids get in a first flight, Tony Kubes donated some prizes to the drawing pool along with the club purchases the hosts picked up.  Not only do thanks go to these people who make this a success but thanks also go out to Sandy and Lori Lange for another great pot chili.

The weather could have been colder, or it could have even snowed and I'm sure we all would have still been there having fun.  It was a little cool but a great day to be outside to start the year.

To everyone who was there I wish to thank all of you.  I hope all goes great year and you and your families can join us again next New Years Day.

Happy New Year

Bob Cheney

A big THANKS to all who made our January 1st fun fly a success.  Some of the people I would like to give a special thanks to are:

Tony Kubes (extra gifts for the prize pool)
Gary Oakins (tub of cookies)
Sandy and Lori Lange (chili)
Al Sandberg (for helping three guy's from Derek's hockey team get a first flight)
Bob and Derek for helping me to put this even on.

One last thing, as we were picking up we found that we had forgotten to give out a gallon of fuel from the prize pool.  Therefore at the January club meeting, we will have a free raffle drawing for all who attend.

Jeff Lange

I would like to thank those who made it out there and those who could participate.  I would also like to thank Al Sandberg for helping my friends fly,

THANK YOU ALL

Derek Lange

Miscellaneous

Once again, it's that time of the year when we must renew our club and AMA membership and as your Newsletter editor, I need to have you fill out the membership form so I can update an address list with the current changes.  Though my address and phone number doesn't change, my email has.  It is now:

pistonpoppers@msn.com

Bob