Largo Flying Club
General Meeting Minutes of December 3, 2019
Meeting called to order at 7 pm by President Wojciechowski.
There were 35 members present.
Minutes of the November 5, 2019 meeting were read and approved. Motion to accept by Eddy Thomas, seconded by Richard Birchmire. Motion carried.
Reports from officers:
- Vice President Ray Crumrine reported there will be a fun fly this Saturday, weather permitting. Events will be best 3 trick, don’t spill your beans, and musical planes. There will be a tribute flight with war birds. Plan to start at 9:30.
- Secretary Mary Tittle reported she contacted the community center about having a dinner for our members prior to a meeting. It will be difficult to do because of other scheduled events at the community center.
- Safety Officer Art Brown reported no members were grounded or suspended this month.
- Field Maintenance Officer Matt Lombardi reported the tables have been built with help. He reported that new signs are needed.
- Chief Flight Instructor Dave Gearheart was not present. There are several students who have not achieved solo flight.
- Youth Program Director Larry Tittle reported the he made $418.00 at the swap meet for the summer program. He thanked Michael Wanger for making spacers for the goggles that will be used at the summer camp. He had items for sale.
Webmaster Mark Spencer was not present.
Old Business
- Swap meet: The swap meet was successful. A coffee maker was purchased for the field.
- ID badge printer: An ID badge printer was purchased. The new cards will be made with this printer.
- Weather station: No progress on the weather station.
- FPV rules: Larry Tittle reviewed the draft safety rules for FPV flying. These were presented at the October meeting. In rule #4 “who must be a LFC member” was deleted. In rule #7 “fixed wing” was added before the first aircraft. Motion to approve the changes to the safety rules for FPV flying by Art Brown, seconded by Miles Simmons. Motion carried. Rules are attached to the minutes.
New Business:
- New Members/Guests:
- Donation to the city: Motion to send the city $500.00 by Ernie Simmons, seconded by Art Brown. Motion carried
- 2020 Elections: By a show of hands, the following were elected for 2020
- President – Tom Wojciechowski
- Vice President – Ray Crumrine
- Treasurer – Ted Wojciechowski
- Secretary – Mary Tittle
- Board of Directors – Ron Cheshire, Steve Philbin, Ray Smith, Steve Wofsey
Open Floor
- Art Brown asked to keep a member in our thoughts due to a health problem in his family.
- Richard Birchmire lost a small quad in the west slow fly area, if anyone should find it, please let him know.
Motion to adjourn at 8:05 by Kathy White, seconded by Eddy Thomas. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by Mary Tittle
FPV flying
- FPV operations requires an unaided visual line of sight (VLOS) spotter/ or buddy box.
- Both the FPV operator and spotter must be qualified pilots and members of the LFC.
- The spotter must have VLOS of the aircraft at all times.
- If teaching a new FPV operator, the spotter must be a qualified flight instructor.
- The FPV operator and spotter have the responsibility to observe all the club rules and boundaries. For example, FPV operators and spotters must fly from the pilot stations.
- If the FPV operator violates the club rules and boundaries, both the FPV operator and spotter will be grounded and subject to review by the Board.
- At this time, no other fixed wing aircraft may be flown while any aircraft flying FPV is in operation within the main flying area.
- Flying FPV and VLOS in the slow fly area, at the same time, is permitted.
- Multiple FPV may fly, at the same time, in any approved flying area, provided that each have appropriate spotters.
- When powering up any aircraft, with active FPV capability (even if pilot is not flying the aircraft as FPV), operators must check in with any other active FPV operators, on site, before powering up. Video output should not exceed 200mw. Only American frequencies are permitted.
- FPV operators must have a FCC tech license in order to operate video above 200 mw output.
- To reduce the potential for interference between FPV operators, the following 5.8gHz video frequencies are recommended (5658, 5695, 5732, 5769, 5806, 5843, 5880, 5917). These are also designated respectively as R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, and R8 for short. Only one FPV capable aircraft, at a time, shall be powered up on any frequency.
- Care should be taken when powering up any FPV capable aircraft to maintain a safe distance from other pilots currently flying FPV to avoid washing out their video signal(s).