The meeting was brought to order by new club president Bill O’Donnell.
... A motion to accept the November secretary’s report as stated in the December 2007 Yankee Flyer was made and seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The treasurer’s report was read by Dave Seale. Since November the big club expense is the grass mowing charge. We split this expense with CRRC. For the months of December and January:

... ... Current Balance: $2299.12... Income: $730.00... Expenses: $1,461.15

A motion to accept the treasurer’s report was made and seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

MMAC members share a laugh during the monthly general raffle.

... Bill O’Donnell thanked Ted Zaborski for making the member cards again this year. Ted has been making and donating the cards to the club for several years. The cards look great, thanks Ted.
... Bill O’Donnell reported on his investigation into renting a porta potty for the flying field during the summer months. He has found a firm that will rent one for $95 per month. The club liability for damage due to vandalism is a concern of some members. Bill said he will ask the firm specifically about this. He will also get a price for a weekend rental and ask CRRC if they would be interested in splitting the rental expense.
... Bill O’Donnell also reported briefly on his investigation into having a tri-club fun fly with the South Shore and Wingbusters clubs. He will try to negotiate a spring time date; preferably in the April / May timeframe.
... Jim McCoy has submitted the application for AMA Leader Club gold level status.
... Bill O’Donnell asked Bill Lloyd if he would take on the role of club safety officer again this year. Bill accepted.
... The annual flying field gate lock key exchange will take place at the club meeting in February. We will use lock #4 this year. Bill will purchase a duplicate lock as a backup in case something happens to the primary lock.
... This is a reminder that the club is raffling a World Models Chipmunk 90-S ARF.  Tickets are 1 for $3 or 2 for $5. Contact Brad Kaye if you want to purchase tickets. The winner will be drawn at Winter Projects Night in April. The model has been generously donated to the club by Joe Candela at Creative Hobbies in Mendon (www.creativehobbies.net ).
... A motion was made and seconded to make Joe Candela and Bob Rice honorary club members for 2008. Joe owns Creative Hobbies in Mendon and Bob owns HobbyTown USA in Ashland. Both have made significant donations to the club from their stores.  Please support our local hobby shops.
... Bill O’Donnell has reserved Plains Park in Milford on October 12, 2008 for the Milford Demo Day event. Mark the date on your calendar.
... The next meeting is February 26, 2008 @7:30 PM at the American Legion Hall in Millis.

Regards,
Roger Gilman
MMAC Secretary

Club Logo Stickers

As you're putting the finishing touches on your Winter Project entry over the next few weeks, don't forget that MMAC offers high quality logo stickers that are perfect to place on your car, flight box, aircraft or spouse. Available in two sizes, the small size (3" x 1.875") is $1 and the large size (4.75" x 3") is $1.50. They can be purchased at club meetings or shipped to you by mail by contacting Jim McCoy at 508-478-6617 or email at mccoygroup@comcast.net.

January Fuel Winner!

Ted Zaborski (left) is captured here during a somber moment at the January meeting as he claims the coveted gallon of fuel from the evening's raffle.
... You'll note that Jack Squier (right) is once again demonstrating his highly-developed sense of decorum and leadership that made him the natural choice for the 2007 Tom Kempf Founder's Award.

Congratulations, Ted!

With the holidays behind us and springtime flying still several calendar flips away, many of us are busy in the shop making repairs or preparing a new ship for Winter Project Night in April. A few intrepid MMAC members continue to make the trip over to Bill Martin occasionally to get in some cold weather flying...and Dave Seale submitted the following report:

An older photo, but it gives you an idea what I meant by "intrepid!"

"We haven't been flying since January 12 primarily because of field access. Now (February 2) with the snow gone, we'll have to check out the access and hopefully we can resume flying. On January 12th everything, including the access road, parking area and the pits, was under a continuous sheet of very thick ice. However, the field itself was generally clear. Jack's Rack got a lot of use that day. As the morning progressed, the sun melted the icy surface just enough to make it doubly slippery. Extreme driving care was required when leaving so as not to slide off into the swamp. So, with extra time on our hands, we're spending time building for the upcoming Winter Projects night."

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Tony Davids, president of the Charles River Club. He clued me into a United States Geological Survey website that monitors the condition of the Charles River from the standpoint of flow, depth and such. If you go to the link below and scroll down just a bit, you'll see the chart marked "Gage Height, Feet." As of today (2/16) the measurement is 4.5 feet...or just 6 inches under flood stage...most likely due to the recent snow and heavy rains.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?format=gif&period=30&site_no=01103500

Tony's experience was that the access road was typically safe to pass as long as the river's level was gauged under the three or five foot level (5 feet is considered flood stage according to the chart). We'll have to monitor this a bit to see how the USGS data relates to the actual condition of the access road...however, my guess is that anything over 4 feet is questionable, and over 5 feet is "canoe conditions."

... Have fun out there...and don't forget to snap a few photos and send them along to me at mccoygroup@comcast.net so I can include the winter field happenings in future columns.