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Subject:
Submarine (R/C) Squadron Five – Sun ‘N
Fun 2009 Patrol - Report of.
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Recognizing
last year’s stay aboard USS Batfish could
not be topped or duplicated, the focus of this year’s
event became a return to the excellent model submarine
running enjoyed during Sun N Fun’s salad days.
Our initial annual events were distinguished by good
water, access to power, and wonderful fellowship. Sun
N Fun 2009 was held in Houston, Texas on August 22-23
and exceeded all expectations.
Settling on Houston was not an easy decision. I have
been exploring the state for years in search of suitable,
reliable water features. However, my success has been
limited. After repeated investigation and consultation
with SubRon5 members, Hermann Park was chosen as the
running area for 2009. Situated in the museum district
of Houston, it contains the Mary Gibbs and Jesse H.
Jones Reflection Pool. The pool measures 740 feet long
and 80 feet wide. It has sculpted stone edges, a "white
water" cascade on the north end and is flanked
by alleys of mature live oak trees. The water is perfectly
clear and slopes quickly from an 18” depth at
the edge, down to a 3’ depth. From there the
bottom descends gradually to a center depth of 5’.
The natural beauty of the park, water clarity, and
expansive running area made it perfect for submarine
models of all sizes.
Another mark in favor of the park was the friendliness
of its managers. Often a municipality will have a park
with a good running site and no intention of permitting
its use for model boating. The Hermann Park Conservancy
welcomed us with open arms and even went so far as
to repair some broken power outlets so we would be
able to set up a recharging station. While “No
Wading” signs are posted at the pool, we received
permission to set up a navigation course in the water
as well.
Squadron
turnout on the Friday before the event was good. Regulars
Jeff Porteous, Tom & Marsha Kisler,
and Don Baker made the trip in from points north and
west. We also saw the return of three SubRon5 plankowners:
Matt Thor, Carl Dietz, and Wayne Frey. Everyone gathered
for a proper gulf coast seafood dinner at a local restaurant.
We caught up with each other inside while Houston caught
up on her annual rainfall outside.
Saturday morning dawned with the weather bright and
clear. Our group got to the pond early and set up under
the trees next to a small, rectangular fountain on
one side of the pool. It served as a perfect tank for
trimming out boats before going on patrol. Everyone
took advantage of it.
After setting up the navigation course, Jeff, Tom,
and I launched our respective 1/96 scale old reliables: Blueback; Scorpion and Thresher.
All three were in good running shape (Tom’s Scorpion performed
particularly well) and it was fun to be in the water
together again.
Don Baker arrived with part of his growing collection
of kits and operational subs. He set up a nice display
with his DeBoer Seaview kit, and three completed
boats: a Type 127 Seehund, a Marder manned
torpedo, and a ThorDesign Sturgeon. Both German
boats were built from 1/22 scale kits made by RPM Tech.
Don began by running his beautiful new u-boats in turn
and the crowd was very impressed by their performance.
The little Marder dynamic diver could really
scoot and it and the Seehund added a wonderful
European flavor to the fleet.
Wayne hosted Matt for the weekend and brought his Akula project
for all to see. Comrade Wayne is heavily modifying
the boat into a next generation prototype complete
with x-tail and pumpjet propulsor. It will be a stunner.
It was great to have Matt back with his vast experience
in r/c submarining and boundless enthusiasm for the
hobby. Although he too was boatless, he brought the
conning tower molds for his Soviet Pike project
in 1/32 scale. It is going to be a big boat. He was
so impressed with the reflection pool that he vowed
to use it for the boats’ official maiden patrol
a year from now.
While Carl
didn’t have a project he did bring
his warm smile and a digital camera. Following the
event he supplied CDs to everyone with the images he
captured over the weekend. All images attached to the
published article in the SubCommittee
Report were
shot by Carl.
In addition
to catching up with old friends, several new ones were
made. Throughout the weekend we chatted with people
who heard about the event online and made the trip
over to check out what r/c submarines are all about.
The first to arrive was Neal Stevens,
a local heavily involved with the Cavalla Historical
Foundation which preserves USS Cavalla (SSK-244)
in Galveston. He also owns SubSim.com, the world’s
#1 submarine and naval game website. Neal and I had
communicated over the years via email and it was a
pleasure to finally meet him in person. I turned the
helm of Thresher over
to him so he could get some hands-on experience. We
gave Neal, and others, copies of the SCR to take home.
We also shared the park with two other characters that
set up camp on the opposite side of the pool. The first
was a fellow with some obvious emotional issues. He
removed most of his clothes and went through a routine
of martial arts moves, then swung violently from the
branches of a nearby tree. He then commenced an extended
diatribe which was only intelligible by the endless
string of vulgarities he continued to shout. After
some time he sat down on a bench, appeared to fall
asleep, then ultimately moved on. Another young man
took his place armed with a guitar and a radically
different outlook on life. He spent the better part
of the afternoon serenading the park with folk music.
Around noon, everyone took a break to have a sandwich
lunch which my wife brought up for us. The food, cold
drinks, and time in the shade were most welcome. Marsha
Kisler came over following her visit to the Houston
Zoo which is located to the south of the pool. After
lunch she headed to the Houston Museum of Natural History
which is located a block to the north from the park.
Events such as these always work best when there is
a true master modeler there to lend advice and a helping
hand when issues arise. Matt filled those shoes ably,
and spent quite a bit of time after lunch working with
Don to get his Sturgeon fine tuned for running.
He tweaked the hull to free trapped air and juggled
weight and foam until her trim was perfect. By the
end of the afternoon Don’s boat, which had run
pretty well previously, was now dialed in.
During the afternoon, Tom tried his Kilo and
had to immediately turn back with internal difficulties.
I exchanged Thresher for my 688i and ran her
until the battery went flat.
As the sun began to fade, a father and son showed up
and we downloaded as much information as possible.
The boy even ran his model PT boat with Thresher until
my submarine lost her lower rudder. I entered the pool
to retrieve the nav course buoys and Tom vectored me
to the missing red rudder which only he could see lying
on the bottom.
Following dinner we went over to a backup venue, Discovery
Green. This downtown park features a purpose built
model boat basin which is connected to a large pond.
On weekends, r/c sailboats are offered for rental.
That night it served as the perfect place for Jeff
to unveil his updated lighting scheme on Blueback.
Over the summer, Jeff installed one of Kevin McLeod’s
LED sets which includes a submarine identification
beacon. Jeff mounted the beacon in its scale position:
the top of the snorkel mast. After a few minutes of
prep, a larger crowd of passers-by gathered to watch
the boat get underway. With everything rigged, Jeff
launched his boat and the crowd immediately erupted
into applause. With a huge satisfied grin on his face,
Jeff conned Blueback around the dark basin,
her ID beacon blinking in its properly timed sequence.
On Sunday we returned to Hermann Park and enjoyed another
morning of running. We dispensed with the navigation
course in favor of free ops. Following a short repair
session, Thresher’s lower rudder was
back in place and both she and Blueback ran
great.
Two additional local modeling enthusiasts showed up
to check out the boats that morning. They were given
turns at the helm as well and copies of the SCR to
try to set the hook. By noon it was time to pack up
in order to get those who were traveling back on the
road.
Throughout the weekend I experimented with the social
networking site Twitter. Using a SubRon5 account I
posted regular tweets via cell phone about the current
happenings. It served as a great way to enable absent
members to participate vicariously.
Overall,
Sun N Fun 2009 was a tremendous success. My thanks
go out to everyone who came. Special appreciation is
extended to Daniel Tighe and the rest of the staff
of the Hermann Park Conservancy whose support was essential
to the event we enjoyed.
Respectfully,
P.H. Crozier |
