EAA Chapter 492
Ellensburg, Washington
April, 2009 Vol. 16 Issue 4
Jack Dugan, Editor -- Phone: 509 899 2823 -- email: [email protected]
APRIL MEETING
Our April 9 meeting at 7:00 p.m. will be held at the Hogue Tech Building on Central�s Campus. Come upstairs to room 220 (where we have met before.) Parking is available in the lot across the street from Hogue on 14th Avenue. Dr. Craig Johnson will be introducing us to composite construction.
A PERSONAL NOTE
I would like to thank all of you who expressed your concern and gave me your support during my recent kidney and cancer removal. That was very important to help me deal with the sudden realization that my life may be over sooner than I expected. (I planned on living another 20 years enjoying our passion for flying.) At this time, recovery looks good. There is no evidence of cancer in my lymph glands and the surgeon thinks they removed all of the malignant tumor. However, other test may be coming to determine if the bladder has been affected.. Dr. Anderson and I will be discussing what this means for my FAA medical renewal. So remember what an AME told me years ago about flying. �Better do it while you can.�
MARCH MEETING MINUTES � Mike Katz
The March meeting was held on Thursday, March 12, in Jack Dugan�s hangar. The meeting was called to order by Chapter President, Dick Pingrey, at 7:03 PM. There were 26 members present.
REPORTS: Treasurer: Steve Moore reported that the treasury balance was $2174.31, and that $674.40 was designated as scholarship funds. Dick Pingrey added that we should consider a fund-raiser in the future to add to the scholarship fund. Secretary: The February meeting minutes were published in the March newsletter and were not read at the meeting. Cle Elum Airport: Craig Johnson reported on the status of the hearing regarding the housing development at the Cle Elum Airport. He gave a presentation to the Hearing Board with reference to Growth Management Act rules and added that the State Aviation Dept. had commented against the development. Mike Cox reported that he had spoken to the Cle Elum City Manager regarding opening the airport. He said the airport is closed until lighting issues are resolved; an April ribbon -cutting is planned. Dick Pingrey suggested the Chapter participate in the ceremony with a fly-in or fly-by. Airport Advisory Board: Jack Dugan reported that the Advisory Board is looking for IFR approaches for Bowers Field through a data base.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Dick Pingrey announced that the Chapter web page is up and running
NEW BUSINESS: Mike Katz brought up the question of continuing Saturday Coffee and Donuts
this spring and summer. The consensus was that we should do that. Dick Pingrey said that there would be a host sign-up sheet at the April meeting. Also, the annual summer pot luck would be discussed at the April meeting. A possible WPA bus trip to the Museum of Flight was brought up. Ten members indicated and interest in the trip. Other suggested field trips were: The Boeing restoration facility, Hood River Museum, and restorations at the Concrete Washington airport.
Projects: Dick Pingrey reported on the Breezy project. He said that there were 4-5 working on the project on Saturdays, that wings and ailerons were being covered, and control cables were being routed. Dick also said that an Ercoupe club was being set up with the intention of buying an Ercoupe for Light Sport flying.
PROGRAM: The business meeting was adjourned at 7:45PM. Dick Pingrey then gave a very interesting presentation on his soaring experiences in Australia. A hand-out describing those experiences he used as part of the presentation will be published on the Chapter web page for those of you who missed the meeting.
MISCELLANEOUS
�On October 16, 1956 PAA Stratocruiser flight 943 was four miles above the Pacific. At 3:30 a.m. a sudden shrieking squeal drowned the silence. The passengers bolted awake. �Ladies and gentlemen,� over the loudspeaker came: �this is Captain Richard Ogg. We have an emergency Our No. 1 engine is uncontrolled. A ditching at sea is likely. We have a Coast Guard cutter nearby that is able to render assistance. There is no caue for alarm.� Quietly, two stewardesses and a purser went to work, pointed out the escape hatches, explained the ditching procedure. Six minutes after the trouble began, engine-No. 4-choked to a stop. With outboard engines out, Captain Ogg knew now that he could not make the 1,000 miles to SFO � he would have to ditch. Rather than risk a night landing, he decided to wait till daylight while the plane exhausts its fuel load. He notified the CG, that lukily had a cutter, The Pontchartrain, ten miles to the west. Waiting for daylight, he switched the seat-belt sign off, told passengers to light up their cigarettes and relax. Some dozed, a stewardess jokingly offered to pass out the magazines, someone asked when breakfast would be served. Everybody laughed. Daylight came, Ogg announced: ten minutes then one minute. He carefully aimed the plane for a strip of white fire-fighting foam the cutter laid to aid in depth perception. He kissed the plan onto the hard waves, gently at first, then it bounced hard, whipped around violently as an engine caught a wave and tore loose. Coming to a stop the crew inflated the life rafts, the passengers climbed in them. Within minutes after the plane struck water, the cutter small boats picked up everyone � only five slightly injured, snuggled them into blankets and taken aboard. Eleven minutes later, what was left of the plane disappeared in the foam. � (Pan Amigo News, vol. 16 No. 6, November-December 2008)
�There is more than one reason, after all, why they call it soaring.� (Steven Thompson, AOPA Pilot, March, 2009, p. 85)
How do you know that a downed airplane has been identified and reported? The crash site has been marked with a yellow cross. If you do not see this, report the accident. (From AOPA Pilot, March, 2009.)
How long should you wait after refueling to check the tanks for water? Fifteen minutes for every foot of tank depth. . (From AOPA Pilot, March, 2009.)
�We are up and flying at Cascade Soaring Society this spring. You can add a rating and enjoy the purest flying imaginable at Pangborn Field in Wenatchee. To add a glider rating, you need a minimum of three hours and ten flights, although you probably will want more time and flights in gliders to feel comfortable. For experienced pilots 8-15 flights lead to solo and then at 5-10 more will get you a rating, depending on how comfortable you feel demonstrating maneuvers. If you already have a power ticket, you don't need a written test, but you must pass DPE administered oral and practical exams. (Our DPE is no push over, but he is fair. You will have to learn about gliders!) For $340, you can take six introductory lessons, after which you can decide whether to continue your training. If you decide to continue training, that amount will be applied to club membership. For more details go to the Cascade Soaring Society web site: http://www.nwi.net/~blanikam/css/css_home.htm or e-mail Mike Lundin at [email protected]. Hope to see you there.� (From Mike Lundin.)
In a response to President Obama�s statement about CEOs using tax money to �disappear on private jets,� James Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association, said: ��taxpayers spend over a million dollars per flight hour to give you [Obama] and your family a level of personal aviation that no one else in the world is privileged to experience.� (GA News, March 20, 2009, p. 9) The National Business Aviation Association has launched a campaign to educate the public about the benefits of general aviation. See it at www.NoPlaneNoGain.org
PROJECTS
� Work on the Breezy project is proceeding at a fairly good rate. Most Saturdays we have four or five breezy members working on the project. We will be getting the starter, starter flange and ring gear and alternator for installation very soon. The engine controls, are all hooked up. Most of the work on installing the instruments has been completed. The seats are being made and should be finished around mid April. The rudders are hooked up and the elevators are about ready to be connected. We should be putting fabric on the bottom of the left wing on Saturday and the right wing should be ready for covering soon. One aileron is covered and the second has been rebuilt and is now ready to be covered. The major tasks remaining are finishing up the fuel system, rebuilding the brakes and running the brake lines, making the exhaust system, building and installing a new wing center section, installing baffling on the engine, doing the wiring and doing the final painting of the wings and tail surfaces.� Dick Pingrey
�A new airplane is coming to Yakima and Ellensburg. A group of EAA members from Yakima and Ellensburg, interested in sport pilot flying, has purchased a Ercoupe Model C. Some shares in ownership are still available at $5,000 each. If members are interested they can contact John Bull, Ellensburg EAA member, for additional information.� Dick Pingrey
Bill White is doing the annual on his T-18. As part of that, he is refinishing the wood propeller. Jim Foode is back from helping his son recover his Supercub that he uses for fish spotting. Speaking of annuals, Jerry McCullough is starting the annual on his Cessna 185. We are still waiting for Lee Bates� Thatcher CX-4 to fly. Lee is trying to arrange a tailwheel endorsement before he or anyone else flies the Thatcher. Lee, another approach would to put a nosewheel on the airplane. That would take care of any aft C.G. problems and the tailwheel endorsement. Steve Moore has a new cat which is interfering with work on the RV9 because the garage door is being left open for the cat which keeps his unheated garage workshop cold. But his daughters are happy. Chris Pratz rebuilt the beacon on his 170 and made the mistake of looking behind his instrument panel at the years of wiring. I am sorry to leave out the rest of you who are working on airplanes. Please email me your activities for the May newsletter.
HEADWINDS
You will recall that the TSA has proposed requiring GA aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more to meet similar standards as commercial airlines have. GA News (March 20, 2009, p. 8) reports that the Feds received 4000� comments against the proposal.� How come they only received 4000 comments when there are over 10 times that many pilots? Do we think someone else will do the political work for us. If so, take a lesson from the National Rifle Association and its success in lobbying our government. With regard to the TSA proposal, in the same issue of GA News (p.27) Tom Poberezny is quoted as saying: �If there was ever a need for all of us to band together, it�s today.� Or consider this statement: �I believe aviation is the target of regulations because so few participate or defend it�making it politically possible to impose so many restrictions.� (Earl Lawrence, EAA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs, Sport Aviation, April, 2009, p. 32) With email, it takes a few minutes to register support or disagreement with government proposals. Please!
TAILWINDS
�As for the GPS, it�s poised for a major upgrade. In may 2008, a Lockheed Martin-led team edged out incumbent Boeing for a @1.4 billion contract to develop the next generation of GPS satellites, known as GPSIII. This new satellite constellation will be built to resist jamming, with faster clock update rates providing improved accuracy. These satellites � 32 in all with an initial launch planned for 2014 � are also expected to have 500 times more transmission power than the current the current generation.� (Paul J. Richfield, AOPA Pilot, March, 2009, p. 100)
BOWERS FIELD
Craig Johnson provided the Airport Advisory Board with a very nice powerpoint presentation of the proposed Ariport Heights� development off the end of the departure end of the Cle Elum airport�s one runway. (See Craig if you would like to view the presentation.) The Board refrained from making a recommendation to the County Commissioners until it had reviewed the responses from the FAA and the WSDOT Division of Aeronautics. This development on County land adjacent to the Cle Elum city owned airport raises the question about the role of the Advisory Board with regard to other airports in the County. That issue is under discussion as is a review of the charter and mission of the Advisory Board.
FOR SALE
Bushby Midget Mustang project. All aluminum work is complete and primed Aircraft has been taxied but not flown. It is currently disassembled. Continental C-90 needs re-assembly. Excellent workmanship. $12,500 OBO. Contact Dave Toney 503 680 6750
Champion ignition harness for C145/O300 Bendix type with caps, approximately 100hrs, $50 Chris Pratz 962-6083.
NAPA catalog stand. New. $50. 509 899 2823.
1958 Cessna 175, $65.000 Lycoming 0-360 conversion, 48 hours SMOH Constant speed propeller, 48 hours SMOH 3415 TTAF May, 2008 annual New prop governor New paint New interior Com radio, intercom, Mode C transponder Medical condition forces sale