October 2018 Newsletter

Transcription

1 October 2018 Newsletter NMPA IS A GRASS ROOTS ORGANIZATION OF MEMBERS WITH A PASSION FOR AVIATION THAT PROMOTES GENERAL AVIATION, AVIATION SAFETY, PILOT CAMARADERIE, AND PRESERVATION OF AIRFIELDS AND AIRSPACE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT OR CONTACT US AT NMPA@NMPILOTS.ORG 1

2 New Mexico Pilots Association NMPA operates exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes for promoting general aviation, aviation safety and education, and pilot camaraderie; preserving airfields and airspace; and to engage in any activities permissible for nonprofit corporations, organized under the laws of the state of New Mexico. New Mexico Pilots Association Officers President - Joyce Woods (niner3echo@flylonecone.com) VP - Art Tangen (a1tangen@hotmail.com) Treasurer - Ken Summers (kens@gksummers.net) Secretary - Lori Myers (lmyers428@comcast.net) NMPA Newsletter Contributors Editor Lanny Tonning, lt@flyrallye.com VFR on Top Joyce Woods, niner3echo@flylonecone.com Back Country - Larry Filener, lfilener@filnercpa.com Safety and Education - John Lorenz, johnlorenz@geoflight.net Advocacy Joyce Woods, niner3echo@flylonecone.com and Ron Keller, radarpapa182@yahoo.com Day Trips - Lanny Tonning, lt@flyrallye.com Mountain Flying Cliff Chetwin, kestrelair1@gmail.com Tech Corner Will Fox, nmpa@nmpilots.org Table of Contents Editor s Log p. 3 Upcoming Events p. 4 VFR on Top p. 5 Advocacy p 6 USPA Fall Fly-in p. 7 Day Trips p. 8 NMAAA Stem Expo p. 9 Back County - Gila Fly in pp Safety and Education pp 13-14, Mountain Flying pp Obscure and Scenic NM pp Tech Corner pp Summer Fly-in Pix p. 22 October Cover Photo Chile Flight AOPA Regional September

3 The Editor s Log by Lanny Tonning Why We Fly Installment # I ve often thought about this and read many opinions, comments and observations on the matter. There are likely as many answers as there are pilots. For myself, the answer has been peace of mind in addition to all the rest. This has come home forcefully since N60BF has been in hangar purgatory since as of early June when glitter appeared in the oil filter. Hmmm. No compression on #5? Hmmm. Further investigation revealed that the inside of #5 s exhaust manifold was bright yellow. Hmmm. Sodium core valve meltdown without a doubt. That was the hiccup on my preceding flight. So with an overhaul or a new engine just a Powerball away.i have severe AW. Aviation Withdrawal. Which brings me back to the why we fly question. Since early grade school and the two-kid Aiirplane Spotters Club I belonged to in Champaign, Illinois and the subscriptions to Flying Magazine (acquired by selling magazines door-to door) and the building of dozens of model airplanes.i wanted to fly. College ROTC was mandatory in the 60s and I chose Air Force. My vision wasn t USAF pilot grade. Upon being commissioned, I was assigned duties as a tactical controller. Well at least I got to talk to pilots every day over the radio and often after hours in the Stag Bar about things we did involving flying- aerial refueling, coordinating with Forward Air Controllers in Cessna 337s {0-2s) and OV-10s, working with AWAC planes and Airborne Command and Control aircraft, air rescues and so on. After a stint in Viet Nam I joined a base flying club and finally got my wings. Just to fly. For the fun of it. Just daylight VFR. Just for what I have come to believe is the Zen of it. That was enough for me. In preparing for flight and in the sky there came over me what is likely termed in these times mindfulness. There was only one thing to do and it had to be done right. No excuses. And that one thing was the combination of all the things that need to happen to make the number of landings match the number of takeoffs. With privilege came responsibility. With serious consequences for inattention, focus brought me peace of mind that I can only hope is available to others through therapy, meditation or some other tactic. I hope that Powerball comes soon. And while you fly, be advised: Belen Regional has a new identifier KBRG. Be sure to check your GPS. 3

4 Upcoming Events Sept 27 NM Aviation Aerospace STEM Expo - Alamogordo White Sands Regional Airport Sept USPA Fall Fly-in Los Alamos Oct 13 Angel Flight Brews and Props fundraiser Albuquerque Oct 13 Fly Hobbs Aviation Day and Fly-In (KHOB) Oct 27 NMPA s Ruidoso Rendezvous - KSRR Oct Bar 10 Fly In: Spend Sunday/Monday at a historic Grand Canyon ranch Nov 10 NMPA Board Meeting location TBD Nov EAA Ford Tri-Motor Tour Double Eagle II, Albuquerque (KAEG) For more details and registration, check our online Upcoming Events Calendar. NMPA booth at AOPA SAF Fly In Joyce Woods, Larry Filener, Rose Longmire, Rol Murrow Photo by Art Tangen FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE EVENTS AND OTHERS, CHECK OUT WHAT S UP AROUND NEW MEXICO ON THE NMPA HOME PAGE AT 2

5 VFR On Top by Joyce Woods President s Report Increasing Our Impact NMPA s Mountain Flying Clinic! AOPA SAF Regional Fly-In! NMPA s Gila Fly- In to Reserve! More amazing gatherings of aviation enthusiasts this past month, providing incredible visibility for us and what we are accomplishing. Fifteen pilots participated in NMPA s Mountain Flying Clinic, coming from California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Thanks to Cliff Chetwin and his dedicated team of instructors! Several participants also joined the Fly Out to Los Alamos and shared stories of the interesting history and people they met along the way. AOPA - SAF turned out to be a super gathering of pilots and planes, bringing $680,000 in economic impact to the area. Thanks to each of you who stepped up to volunteer with AOPA to assure success! We hosted attendees from every surrounding state and as far as Florida, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington! At the close, AOPA was pleased with over 4300 attendees and 328 aircraft. Fantastic! Members commented how fun it was to catch up with pilots they hadn t seen for years, while meeting others new to New Mexico. NMPA was prominent with a professional looking indoor booth (thanks to Jeff Gilkey and Mike Marker) plus Ken Summers truly New Mexico Glastar Sportsman on the ramp. We added >15 members and thanks to Rose Longmire s success at shirt/cap sales, we ll extend our visibility beyond the FlyIn! Ken s plane was a perfect attractor for NMPA! Joyce Woods was introduced to flying by her husband Art, who grew up around aviation. She got her license in 1994 and is multi-engine and instrument rated. Besides NMPA, she flies Young Eagles and actively volunteers with the EAA, 99s, NM Airstrip Network, and was named 2016 SW Region FAASTeam Rep of the Year. Larry Filener presented Flying the New Mexico Backcountry to an audience of about 100, sharing what New Mexico has to offer and addressing safety concerns. We were able to meet with with AOPA s Mark Baker and staff regarding Game & Fish s proposed rule. Thank you to all who helped share what we do, the fun we have, and recent accomplishments! Ken Summers ready to greet visitors at NMPA s aircraft display on the AOPA-SAF ramp. AOPA s Mark Baker and EAA s Jack Pelton stopped by. Photo by Ron Keller.

6 Advocacy by Joyce Woods The NMPA Advocacy Committee serves as a resource to the NMPA Board, providing proactive leadership to keep abreast of issues and concerns of interest to general aviation pilots statewide. A key priority is preservation of airfields and airspace for general aviation access. No Fly Aug 1 Jan 31? Really? You ve read that we ve been following the New Mexico State Game and Fish Commission as they ve discussed a ban on use of aircraft for locating game for over a year. We ve hoped to work with them, invited them to participate in the New Mexico Airstrip Network, repeatedly requested meetings, attended commission meetings with olive branch in hand all without success. If you haven t submitted comments yet, it s not to late. On Oct 5, the NMG&F Commission expects to confirm a new Manner and Method Rule for publishing, then proceed to approve the final rule Nov 30, making it a misdemeanor to use an aircraft to locate game for hunting purposes from Aug 1 Jan 31. Proposed changes are broad, and thus subject to broad interpretation. Enforcement officers acknowledge we may be questioned if our tail number is turned in, but that s all. Just trust them. They aren t after the casual pilot. Many of you ask, Where? Not defined. What do they mean by for hunting purposes? Not defined. Locating game? Oh, that s restricted to aircraft and drones, OHVs are already restricted to roads. For fun, read about cameras. Although trail cameras are said to be the focus, rule language couldn t be more inclusive, leaving discretion to the officer. When asked at public meetings if these changes will help them enforce rules for use of aircraft, NM G&F enforcement officers explained that with this extension of timeframe, enforcement won t be necessary, since they won t fly! Colonel Griego explained that the 6 month timeframe will eliminate aerial game scouting in New Mexico. Officers noted that other states have had good experience with a full season ban because guides no longer use aircraft for scouting period. The proposed rule surely impacts pilots who make a livelihood of providing outfitters and guides with aerial access to hunting areas. One such participant at the public meeting pointed out the negative impact on sales of Governor s tags which bring in significant dollars, enough to pay 2 officer salaries. And don t forget the economic impact extending well beyond G&F revenue. So we ask, do New Mexicans really want to eliminate out of state hunters and aviation tourism? Meanwhile, we had our 8 th annual September Fly In to the Gila National Forest. If the rule goes through, I wonder if those who are also hunters will participate in future years? Or need they avoid the possibility of being cited? CALL TO ACTION How You Can Help! Comments accepted until October 18, 2018, but best before the Oct 5 Commission meeting. to: DGFfieldopscomments@state.nm.us or mail to: NMDGF; Attn: Field Operations Rule Development; P.O. Box 25112, Santa Fe, NM Identify yourself as a hunter and/or pilot as applicable. Attend the NMDGF Commission meeting on October 5 (Albuquerque) where proposed language will be finalized for publishing to the Registrar, and on November 30 (Roswell) when the final rule is to be approved. See meeting schedule.

7 USPA FALL FLY-IN LOS ALAMOS, NM Sept 2018 This fall USPA members will have the unique opportunity to visit the greatest secret of WW II: the location of the Manhattan Project (the creation of the atomic bomb, which ended the War). The city of Los Alamos with 18,000 residents was a secret Army base of military and civilian scientists and support personnel which began in 1943 from a boys outdoors college preparatory school (the Los Alamos Ranch School). It was so secret that the post office had a Santa Fe address and the driver s license had no real address. The city is home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory owned by the US Dept of Energy s National Security Administration. Optional guided van tour: USPA will provide an optional 90-minute guided, narrated tour in a 6-passenger van (with excellent viewing), developed and operated by a local native. It begins with the geological make-up of the region, follows with information on early inhabitants and visits sites of historical importance to Los Alamos and the National Laboratory. USPA will schedule when you ride the van (it is optional) and provide you with the day and time. All departures will be from the Bradbury Science Museum front entrance. Cost $25/person. Airports: USPA primary airport Santa Fe, NM (SAF): USPA will be using two airports, Santa Fe and for those USPA members who are experienced mountain flying pilots, the airport at Los Alamos (KLAM). Santa Fe Municipal Airport (KSAF): Santa Fe Airport is at an elevation of 6348 ft NSL. It has 3 runways, but one is closed so 4 approaches. It is an IFR airport with ILS, GPS (RNAV), and VOR approaches. USPA FBO: Jet Center at Santa Fe ( (phone ) (ASRI ). Jet Center is located just NE of the center of the field, NE of the tower and on the ramp just opposite taxiway G. It is a fullservice, award winning FBO with Hertz rental cars. USPA members will get a fuel discount. Parking, though, is not controlled by the FBO as the city owns all the ramp parking spaces and the fee is $6/night. Jet Center has arranged to have this fee waived so parking for USPA planes will be free. Make sure the FBO understands you are part of the USPA fly-in. Los Alamos Airport (KLAM): This airport is owned and operated by the county. There is no FBO but a terminal building with rental car counters, a lounge, and restrooms. The airport is at 7171 feet elevation and has a single 6000-foot east-west runway. It is one way in (from the east) and one way out (east). The area is populated with flying hazards with a restricted area right up to the airport running south and two mountains about 4000 feet above the airport immediately to the west and northwest. It has two RNAV IFR approaches. The 100 LL fuel is self-serve and there are rental cars available at or There is a county-mandated tiedown fee of $5/night. 7

8 Day Trips Lanny Tonning Another Good Excuse to Slip The Surly Bonds Just about any reason to fly is a good reason. Sometimes we don t even need a reason it s just time to fly! But, if you are ever looking for ANOTHER reason to fly, let me suggest LightHawk. LightHawk is a volunteer pilot organization that is dedicated to providing the bird s eye view we all live for on missions to support conservation and ecological activities on the ground. To fly for LightHawk, a pilot must have 1000 hours of pilot-in-command time logged, have a current Third Class Medical at least and have an annual rather than bi-annual proficiency check ride with a CFI. LightHawk must also be added to the aircraft insurance policy as an additional insured. LightHawk receives requests from conservation organizations such as the Wilderness Alliance, Sierra Club, Land Conservancy and many others. The point being to take elected officials, media representatives, photographers and other likely or even unlikely allies up for a more encompassing perspective. LightHawk flights I ve flown include circumnavigating the central Sangre de Christos to show pueblo officials areas being considered for expansion of Pecos Wilderness Roadless Areas, flights around the SW oil patch area where drilling activities are active in areas in watersheds and near wildlife habitats, overflights of SW ranch lands being sought for additions to land conservancy protection and a flight with an artist/photographer to document human impacts on land forms both recent, historic and pre-historic. (I did have to explain WSMR restricted area when he asked to overfly Trinity Site.) In addition to the opportunity to fly often in areas either missed or simply flown over previously without the incentive to take a closer look the fights bring interesting people into your life. Going low and slow at times also forces your attention to flying the plane with a full load and location-focused manuvers in ways that are sure to sharpen your skills. 9

9 NMAAA STEM EXPO Getting the next generation of pilots and aviation careers jump started. New Mexico Aviation & Aerospace Association NM Aviation Aerospace STEM Expo Sept 27th, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Alamogordo White Sands Regional Airport By Bill Shuert, NMAAA President The NMAA STEM Expo is a focused event for mid and high school students. Last year over 3,000 students attended in Alamogordo! This one day event helps exposes students to not only aircraft but industry/career paths into aviation and aerospace. America and the aviation world are heading towards huge manning shortfalls in both the cockpit and on the ground. For the last five years this program has encouraged New Mexico students to consider an aviation/aerospace career path. New Mexico has secondary schools which can get these students prepared for the future. NMAAA encourages you to participate in this influential event to educate and encourage these students. To participate in person or to, visit or contact Bill Shuert at marked the return of the long running New Mexico Pilot Bash - Sponsored by NMAAA 11

10 Backcountry Committee by Ron Keller Gila Regional Fly In 2018 Perfect weather and a warm welcome greeted pilots flying into Reserve Airport for the Gila Regional Fly-in September 21-23, The NMPA sponsored event drew 29 airplanes and over 40 people together for friendship, food, and fireside gatherings. Pilots and guests arrived from Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico. Many took advantage of the conditions to fly out to 5 backcountry airstrips in and near the Gila National Forest. Bull Elk serenaded us through the evenings with their bugle calls. Not to be outdone, coyotes chimed in several times. Several musically talented folks provided songs around the campfire. Local residents came by to look at airplanes and talk to pilots which helps build community support for the airport. In keeping with a goal of the New Mexico Airstrip Network, a significant amount of money was infused into the local economy. Finally, after some great flying and hearty food, it was time to reluctantly head for home on Sunday morning, leaving the airport and the community longing for our return next year. Ron Keller flies a C-182 and has been involved in aviation for the better part of his life. Ron retired from FAA Technical Operations in 2011 and has stayed busy ever since, including working for the New Mexico Aviation Division, and currently serves on the NMPA Board of Directors and as Co-Chair of the NMPA Backcountry Committee. Ron is a Recreational Aviation Foundation Liaison and serves on the New Mexico Airstrip Network Steering Committee.

11 NMPA Gila Regional Fly In - continued 40% of the flying Pegazair fleet. Doug Wilson of Emporia, KS and Will Fox of Los Alamos Flying High Paco delivered firewood to Reserve Airport as Ron Keller requested. His daughter Maya accompanied him Friday, complete with pink cowboy boots, yearning to fly. They strolled the ramp, watching airplanes arrive and talking to pilots. Will Fox barely arrived and asked, Maya, do you want to fly? Let s go! Later Maya returned with a Thank You banner for Will. It s complete with Maya with a headset in the red Pegazair, plus tiny people along the bottom. You know, the way they look from up there! - J Woods Aircraft and camp spots on the Reserve Airport Friday evening. 11 more aircraft joined Saturday. Parked at Beaverhead 2

12 NMPA Gila Regional Fly In Did we mention that the FOOD and MUSIC were AMAZING? Ron Keller and Chris Wilson cochaired the event this year. Andrew Rivas biked from Negrito back to Reserve

13 Tailwheel Skills Tailwheel aircraft are difficult to fly! Safety and Education by John Lorenz John Lorenz is a 6000 hour CFII, MEII, glider, and sand-lot acrobatic pilot. He has given over 2000 hours of tailwheel instruction. During the day he is a consulting geologist. No they re not, several generations of pilots flew them successfully! Ha! Those pilots racked up more accidents than today s pilots, you just don t hear about it! Flying a taildragger pilot gives a pilot certain bragging rights, but they must be voiced softly since taildraggers have a knack for humbling even the best pilots eventually, and the limited data suggest that tailwheel airplanes do, in fact, offer more opportunities for accidents. For example, over the years I have ordered the FAA airworthiness records, which list repairs and modifications, for maybe older tailwheel aircraft. Almost all of them include one or more repairs involving damage to a wing, the landing gear, and/or the fuselage where the landing gear and wings attach. The records do not indicate why repairs were necessary, but the characteristics of groundloop damage are not hard to recognize. The records do not include nearly as many repairs of this type for tricycle-gear airplanes of a similar age. The approach and flare are the same as in a tricycle-gear airplane, it s the touchdown where the fun begins. Cap n Chris in his Interstate S1B. Another data point of sorts is that several students have taken me for joy rides out into the rough adjacent to runways in tailwheel airplanes, but none have yet done so in a tricycle-gear airplane. Finally, my insurer definitely charges more to cover tailwheel aircraft than tricycle-gear airplanes of similar value, so unless the underwriter has heard the rumors and is winging it, always a possibility, there s a database somewhere documenting flight in taildraggers as a higher-risk activity. 1

14 So where does the extra risk come from? Consider that a pilot flying a tricycle-gear airplane relaxes at touchdown because the landing is essentially over. In contrast, touchdown in a taildragger is only the beginning of the high-workload balancing act that is a taildragger landing. There are other skills that are required for taildraggers but that are merely nice to know information when piloting a tricycle-gear airplane: an important one involves braking, since a tricycle-gear pilot may flat-spot a tire by over-using the brakes during rollout whereas the tailwheel pilot risks flipping the airplane over onto its back with heavy braking. Crosswind takeoffs and landings are also consistently more exciting in a taildragger. Another is the correct control positions to prevent winds from flipping the airplane on its side or on its nose while taxiing. Nevertheless, just about any pilot can learn the skills and develop the level of precision and heightened attention that are required to fly a taildragger, though it takes about 10 hours of transition training to do so. Training develops the attention to detail that is necessary to note even the most minor of lateral drifts as well as any small deviations from runway alignment during landing. Training develops the precision necessary to be able to correct for that mis-alignment and drift, keeping exactly on the runway centerline with the fuselage exactly parallel to it. The transitioning pilot develops the heightened attention needed to note the difference between being twelve and six inches above the runway during a landing, as well as the precision needed to be able to keep the plane at either of those two levels AGL when making wheel landings. Training develops the skill that allows the pilot to anticipate and correct for a sideways swerve on takeoff or landing almost before it happens, and then to be able to release the rudder correction before the airplane is back aligned with the runway so that it doesn t swerve off in the other direction in a Pilot-Induced Oscillation. Real skill however is in preventing those swerves by maintaining precision alignment throughout the landing. Tricycle-gear airplanes can be flown without the same level of precision and attention demanded by taildraggers, but they should be. They usually aren t because there is no obvious benefit in doing so other than pride in the elevated skill level, and no penalty for not doing so other than extra tire wear and a wince from the instructor at touchdown. These pieces are meant to be short and thought-provoking. They are meant to inspire pilots to go out and practice. They are not meant to discuss all the details and ramifications that could be explored for each topic. What s not to like about a Piper taildragger? Cap n Russ doing a wheel landing next to his PA-12 Piper Cub Super Cruiser. There is no equivalent to a wheel landing in tricycle-gear airplane except perhaps the poor-form, wheelbarrow-inducing flat landing. 2

15 Why Are Mountain Runways So Short? Mountain Flying by Cliff Chetwin Well, at least it sure seems so at times. One of the most common amazements for pilots new to the mountains is just how much runway is required for normal operations. A number of factors can contribute to this including poor piloting skills, poor leaning technique, failure to follow the POH, less than desirable runway conditions, and sometimes runways that are just flat out short. However, as experienced mountain pilots know the key culprit is density altitude, better known simply as DA. I ll save a more detailed discussion of DA for another time. For now all we need to consider is that in most cases the higher up we are the fewer air molecules there are per volume of air. This means there are fewer molecules of oxygen being ingested into our engine so less power is developed. Combine this with fewer molecules going over and under our lift generating surfaces (remember this includes the propeller!) and voila, much less performance. With a bit of good fortune you might actually be operating with as much as much as 45-50% of your rated horsepower. Mystic Bluffs 2870 of runway may be too short on a hot day So how do we assure the runway is long enough, which is a nicer way of saying how do we know we ll get outa here? Most POHs have takeoff distance charts that try to account for the effects of density altitude. By calculating the required takeoff distance and rate of climb at a particular elevation, and for a specific temperature, you are automatically figuring out your aircraft s expected performance. The manufacturer s tables have two significant problems. First, they are usually generated based upon mathematical models projecting the aircraft s performance as demonstrated by the factory test pilot in a perfectly trimmed pristine test aircraft with a new engine. OK, so how many of our flights replicate these conditions? Obviously the answer is none so our performance is going to be less. Secondly, you probably recall those horrible math exercises as a student pilot when you had to extrapolate both the x and y axis of the performance tables. Most of us weren t all that accurate even then and our math skills generally haven t improved with age. EFB offers a really great improvement over the old manual. 1

16 However, while they can be extremely accurate once configured for your aircraft they are clearly prone to the axiom of garbage in, garbage out and require careful attention to inputs and units of measure. The also have that nasty little habit of running out of electrons a fraction of a second before the output is visible. The also tend to be of little help when you re in your living room and the EFB is in the cockpit. I d like to offer another tool for your consideration. Although complicated in its mathematical construction, It s quick and simple for the average pilot to use, never runs out of power, only requires the ability to use a straight edge and some basic multiplication, and its free. For those of you wanting to still be high tech there are several apps available for both Android and Apple. I am referring to the Koch Chart. The only values you need to know are the current airport temperature in F o, the airport pressure altitude (remember you can read that right off the altimeter by setting it to 29.92) and the POH standard day takeoff distance and rate of climb for your aircraft s loading condition. Draw a straight line between the two values and you immediately have the adjustment factors for both take off distance and rate of climb. It must be remembered that the chart was developed for normally aspirated aircraft and turbocharged or turbine aircraft will not have as large of a penalty, although it would be wise to remember they are not fully immune to the effects of DA. To see how this tool works lets go back to the earlier picture of Mystic Bluffs.. It s an average August day with 85 o F, an actual altitude of 6980, an altimeter of 30.21, and a pressure altitude of Based on the standard day performance table we see that for a fully loaded Cessna 182, our ground roll is calculated to be about 796 and we ll need about 1546 to clear the mythical 50 tree (yes, I rounded things off slightly in the extrapolation). Now to quickly correct for the non standard values at Mystic Bluffs, draw a straight line across and reading the center portion of the chart we see that our takeoff distance will require approximately an additional 220% more than the POH sea level calculation and our rate of climb will be about 75% less. In other words our ground roll can be expected to be about 2547, and to clear the 50 obstacle would require about 4947 ; our rate of climb will be a very anemic 149 fpm. Like many predictive tools the Koch Chart is an approximation, but it provides a quick a relatively easy was to predict how limited your aircraft s performance will be and just how short that runway has really become. The Koch Chart Can we safely depart Mystic Bluffs? Yup, but there sure won t be much runway left ahead when we break ground and fortunately there s a long reasonably obstruction free valley that we can use for our climbout. On the other hand there sure isn t much room for error or poor technique and many prudent pilots might consider delaying the departure until cooler temperatures prevail. And some of that runway magically reappears Until next month, enjoy the mountains and fly safely. 2

17 Obscure and Scenic New Mexico by Jeff Gilkey Jeff Gilkey has been flying his Aerotrike Cobra (ELSA, weight shift control) since He has logged over 1700 hours on cross country adventures into nearly every corner of New Mexico with many extending into Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Texas. For more information, visit his website at Cerro Nuestra Senora The. Rio Puerco Valley near Albuquerque contains dozens of volcanic throats. Halfway between I-40 and Cabezon is the slender. tower of Cerro Nuestra Senora. This peak rises about 1000ft from the surroundings plains to a height of 7135 ft. It is not very well known. Most of my non-flying friends have never heard of it, but if you fly up the Rio Puerco Valley it is inescapable. Nearby Cabezon Peak is impossible to miss on the drive along NM550 between Bernalillo and Cuba, but Nuestra Senora seems to disappear against the Mt Taylor Plateau. I was strongly drawn to Nuestra Senora on my first flights through the valley. I wondered, What was hidden on the summit? Could anyone climb up there? The peak seems impossible to climb with steep sides and crumbling basaltic rock. I have searched internet peak climbing webpages and found no record of anyone making it the summit. It took me a while to work up the courage to fly over the top for a look. I found a circle of rocks, obviously put there by someone. The circle of rocks pictured to the right might be the remains of an eagle trap. Native Americans would build a circle of rocks and cover it with sticks and brush to conceal themselves. They would tie a small animal like a rabbit or prairie dog to the covering as bait, and then wait beneath to trap the eagles. Just Google eagle trap for more details. There is a similar circle of rocks on top of Cabezon, but this one has been augmented over the years by thousands of hikers scrambling to the top over the years. The one on Nuestra Senora is in a more pristine state. Approaching Cerro Nuestra Senora from the north 19

18 Above, a view of the eagle trap from a flight this summer. I created a YouTube video of Cerro Nuestra Senora, and a chain of other volcanic throats (Cerro de Jacobo, Cerro de Santa Rosa, Cerro Chato, and Cerro Vacio) in the Rio Puerco Valley. It can be found at Here are the coordinates for Nuestra Senora, it s definitely worth a flight to check out. Lat , Lon

19 Tech Corner by Will Fox The Gascolator Part I Back when men were men, airplanes were airplanes, and avgas was full of dirt and water, real airplanes had gascolators. Nowadays we are seeing a lot of homebuilts without this marvelous device. Why the change? Let s see if we can answer that question by taking a look at what a gascolator is and how it is used in an aircraft fuel system. A little history on the subject might be useful. At the beginning of the industrial age, when you bought fuel for your car or tractor from a drug or hardware store, it often contained impurities that included sediment and water. These impurities needed to be filtered out before the fuel could be used or you would end up with a plugged up carburetor and an engine that wouldn't run. Early cars were sold with a chamois so you could properly filter your fuel. If you happened to own an airplane, you also used a chamois to filter your fuel (a practice that is still quite common in many third world countries and Alaska). The problem was that the fuel could still be contaminated even after you filtered it, because of a hole in the chamois, leaky gas caps, or even condensation in the fuel tanks. Needless to say, early pilots faced many an engine failure due to contaminants in their fuel. About this time someone came up with the idea of collecting the fuel in a small sump prior to it entering the engine and letting gravity help to separate the water from the fuel. The addition of a fine wire screen filter on top of the sump to separate out the dirt and bugs before the fuel left the sump and headed to the engine, improved the situation immensely. Making the sump out of glass so the fuel and associated contaminants could be readily seen prior to flight, and adding a drain on the bottom of the sump to dump all the bad stuff out resulted in the device known today as the fuel strainer or gascolator. Modern aircraft gascolators typically don't have a glass sump bowl for reasons associated with crash survivability and fire safety, but all the other elements are present and Figure 1. Examples of various types of gascolators. 1

20 include an inlet and outlet for the fuel, a removable sump or sediment bowl to collect contaminants, a drain located on the bottom of the sump to drain the water and any other contaminants, a medium size fuel screen (approximately 100 micron) to separate solid contaminants from the fuel, and a small port to provide fuel for a mechanical primer if required. Figure 1 shows a variety of common aircraft gascolators available for use in today's aircraft. Let s discuss the installation of a gascolator in modern aircraft. Figure 2, to the immediate right, shows a schematic of a simple aircraft fuel system courtesy of Tony Bingellis. As you can see the gascolator is located between the fuel selector and the carburetor at the lowest point in the fuel system. This location is important because, water being heavier than fuel, ends up finding its way to the lowest point in the fuel system, in this case the gascolator, where it settles out and thus is not introduced to the carburetor. If this were not the case, the water would end up in the carburetor float bowl where it could cause corrosion or a misfiring engine, or in a fuel line where it could freeze and block the flow of fuel. Figure 3, to the far right, shows a fuel system layout for the Cirrus SR20 with a fuel injected engine. You can see the gascolator is located after the fuel selector valve and between the electric and mechanical fuel pump. Once again it is located at the lowest point in the fuel system to best collect water. Since the mechanical fuel pump is mounted to the engine at a higher location, the gascolator must be located upstream from it to properly do its job. While gascolators are commonly associated with carbureted engines, they are also used on many certificated aircraft using fuel injected engines. Figure 2. A simple aircraft fuel system illustrated by Tony Bingelis from his book, The Sportplane Builder. Figure 3. SR20 Aircraft fuel system schematic courtesy of Cirrus Aircraft, Pilot Operating Handbook. 2

21 In order for the gascolator to be mounted at the lowest point in the fuel system and close to the engine at the same time, it is usually located on the lower part of the firewall. Often times the gascolator on a fuel injected engine is located upstream of the firewall to minimize fuel vaporization problems. We will cover this in more detail later. Figure 4 shows a typical firewall installation in a homebuilt aircraft. The drain for the gascolator is on the bottom of the sump and is usually located such that it is parallel with the bottom of the cowl or protrudes slightly below it so that a fuel sample can be easily taken during the preflight of the aircraft. A gascolator can be mounted either before or after the electric fuel pump in a fuel injected engine, but if it is mounted after the electric fuel pump it must be rated for the nominal fuel injection system pressure, typically between 20 psi to 30 psi. Mounting the gascolator after the electric fuel pump can reduce the likelihood of vapor lock but it also exposes the electric fuel pump to contaminants that would normally be separated out by the gascolator. So why doesn't everyone want to use a gascolator in their homebuilt? I think it has to do with several different things. First, most homebuilder don't live in third world countries or Alaska, so they are used to getting clean fuel just about wherever they go in good ol America. Second, most of them hangar their aircraft so they don't have to worry much about getting water in their fuel due to leaky gas caps. Third, the increase in high speed homebuilts with tightly cowled engines has resulted in higher temperatures in front of the firewall. This combined with, low wing aircraft and fuel injected aircraft engines, leads to one of the problems associated with gascolators and that is vaporization of the fuel prior to reaching the engine, leading to a rough running engine. You see, the gascolator has a lot of surface area exposed to the high temperatures in the engine compartment and so the fuel in it can get hot. Combine this with a mechanical or electric fuel pump sucking on it, and no appreciable pressure head provided by a low wing aircraft, and you can see how vaporization can occur. This is most likely to occur on climb out at low speed, or at cruise at high altitude where cooling demands are the highest and so are engine compartment temperatures. It also commonly happens during prolonged ground operations on hot days. Yet, many certified piston powered aircraft, fuel injected or not, have a gascolator and they seem to work fine, so like they say on TV, "How Do They Do It"? We will cover exactly that topic in The Gascolator Part II. Stay tuned. Figure 4. A blue gascolator is shown mounted to the bottom of the firewall at the lowest point in the fuel system. Also note the sump valve located on the bottom of the gascolator. Will Fox is an active flight instructor and homebuilder. He also serves as a Technical Counselor and Flight Advisor for the EAA. In his spare time he enjoys working on and flying his two homebuilt aircraft, a Pegazair P-180 and a Questair Venture. He is also fascinated with solar power and electric vehicles, so his next airplane will be electric. 3

22 Summer 2018 Fly In Heaven From Ramah to Santa Fe to Reserve This summer was an NMPA dream 23