Looking for a dash plaque from one
of the district races, I thought worse case
I would cut up one of my Nationals
trophy plaques. Finding none in the tool
boxes, I dug through the trailer and
found a couple. I cut them up and used
two pieces on two sides to shim it
perfectly. I was able to get all the nuts
off and only had to replace the shims
once.
As it turned out, we ended up getting
to Eric's house around 10:00 PM. Our
adventure only ended up adding 1.5
hours to the trip. I was able to get home
on time with at least five hours of sleep
before I had to go to work. It certainly
could have been a lot worse.
PROPWASH
October 2011
5
Lohring Miller – NAMBA’S Newest HOF Member
By Jerry Dunlap
District Eight
Each year at the NAMBA Nationals Awards
Banquet a NAMBA member is recognized for his
or her contributions to the organization through
induction into the NAMBA Hall of Fame. This
acknowledgment is based on outstanding
leadership, devotion to model boating, and
promotion of radio control model boating. The
2011 Hall of Fame inductee is Lohring Miller from
Lincoln City, Oregon.
Lohring has been actively involved in model
boating for 20 years. He is an original member of
the Emerald RC Boaters. Lohring has served as
president, secretary, and contest director for the
ERCB. Lohring was District Eight Director and
Overall Contest Director for two NAMBA
Nationals conducted in Springfield, OR. He has contributed numerous technical
articles for the
Propwash.
He is currently the Safety Chairman for NAMBA.
Lohring’s interest in model boating includes nitro, gasoline, and electric power. He
has also partnered with Mike Bontoft to establish both model boat and full scale speed
records. With Lohring assisting with technical and financial support, Mike established
a world record for a full size electric powered outboard hydroplane. In August of
2010, Lohring joined Mike in a full size offshore race in England. That endeavor left
Lohring with severely browsed ribs, a sore back, and an appreciation for standing on
solid ground to operate a model boat.
Whether it’s helping a new model boater, or assisting as a lap counter at a NAMBA
Nationals, Lohring’s enthusiasm and outgoing personality have greatly benefited
model boating. Congratulations, Lohring!
Adventure on the Way Home
By Mike Hughes
District Eight
This year Eric Bourlet and I car pooled to the Nationals. Due to the limited time I
had off work, we decided to drive straight through. Hey what's a little 20 hour road
trip! After an action packed week - including a quick side trip to see my brand new
nephew and the rest of my family, we needed to head back as soon as possible so I
could get back to work on a new project that was just breaking ground.
The plan going home was to leave at 3:00 AM after the banquet. Eric said why wait
till then, let’s just go now. I knew I would never be able to make it without some
sleep. So I set the clock and we headed out at 12:30 AM.
Everything went great all the way through California, but then mid afternoon
somewhere in the middle of the Siskiyou Mountains, I was awakened from my nap by
a loud swish, followed by flop, flop, flop. Yup, you guessed it, Eric and I looked in the
rear view mirror to see that we had a flat tire on the trailer.
Why do things only seem to happen when you're in a hurry? Eric got the truck
slowed down and over to the side of the road. The side wall had blown out. So we
started to get out the jack and tools to fix the tire. It was about this time that we came
to the realization that the tire iron did not fit the nuts on the trailer. A few expletives
exited my mouth.
Let's assess the situation: we are in the middle of nowhere, with no proper tools,
facing the possibility of hours being added to our trip when I need to be at work in the
morning. Now we're forced into emergency "think out of the box mode". I put the nut
in the tire iron and could see that we needed the next size up. Then it hit me. I just
needed to shim the nut. I started digging through the box of tools for something.
The tire iron with inserted shims
Mike Hughes is all smiles after a
successful tire change