Hangar Rash. Prez Sez December 2011

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1 December Newsletter Hangar Rash December 9,2011 PALM SPRINGS WINGS EAA CHAPTER 1116 WE NOW MEET AT THE THERMAL AVIATION PILOTS LOUNGE AT JACQUILINE COCHRAN AIRPORT (TRM) ON THE THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH AT 9:00 AM. OUR NEXT MEETING & PARTY IS December 18. ACCESS TO THERMAL AVIATION: Enter the airport and turn right just before the fire station. Push the call button at the gate, and tell whoever answers, you are going to the EAA meeting. You can also park your vehicle outside the access gate and walk through the pedestrian gate on the opposite side of the Signature access. The pilot s lounge is to the right (north) of the big green hangar, on the south end of the second row of T-hangars. The pilot s lounge has an awning over the door. Prez Sez December 2011 It's the holiday season folks! Time for family gathering and fun! Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is around the corner and new year's eve is knocking at the door! Twenty-twelve will begin soon, as will hopeful fun plans for the chapter! Up to now the chapter has experienced a reasonably favorable year of activities for its members. Growth has been slow; however, plans for membership are in the planning with our new membership chairman, Rafael Sierra. This coming Saturday, the 17th of December our regular meeting day will be replaced with a Christmas gathering in the EAA hangar A4 starting at 10:00 am. All members and guest are welcome to attend, no pot luck required! Tom Rogers famous tri-tips will be the treat with all other goodies. Doug Hay and Dan Branstrom will be buying the provisions necessary for the happy occasion....don't miss the three "f's"... fun, food, and friends!!! In addition to the three "f's", the installation of the newly elected officers will take place as well as the discharge of the current officers. I take this opportunity to fundamentally give my vote of thanks to the current officers that served with me for the past two years of devotion to their responsibilities!. Thanks again! I also say thanks to Rick Bertrand for the newsletter editing as well Dana Drake for the website. The officers to be installed are membership chairman Rafael Sierra, Treas. Marty Davidow, Sec. Walter Hoffmann,, VP Doug Hay and Pres. Tony Terrigno! Dan Branstrom, the most current past president will be the installation administrator of the event! All present and future officers need to be present for the installation effort. Last but not least fellow members, we are planning for a Young Eagles rally in February!!! A planning meeting will take place at the pilots lounge at Thermal airport on Saturday 7 January 2012! The new board members should be present with Dan Branstrom the YE coordinator and Dana Drake., Others that can assist should attend as well for it takes volunteers to have a successful event for the youngsters! I'm wishing each of the members and their families a safe happy holiday season!!! Happy new year too!! President Tony Terrigno

2 Submitted by Marty Davidow DISPLAY OF AIRCRAFT For our meeting, we will be having a display of Classic Aircraft for all to see. This will help in the tax assessment of planes that are over 35 years old. Planes will be displayed from before our meeting until after the barbecue. COMANCHE TALES It s Mr. William T. Piper, his sons and engineers at the Piper Aircraft Corporation, are on the drawing table trying to design a modern airplane that will compete with the expensive Beechcraft 35 Bonanza, but at a lower price. Piper envisioned a four place retractable gear aircraft that would be designed to meet or exceed the speed of the Bonanza. They settled on a four place Monocoque fuselage, a horizontal stabilizer, swept tail, retractable landing gear, and in order to achieve high cruise speeds the airplane would have to have laminar flow wings. Oh my, sounds like a love affair in the air!!! In the 1950 s Al Mooney was already known as a creator of fast and efficient airplanes. About the time that Piper was designing the Comanche, Mooney was on a business trip to Washington, D.C. The Mooneys and the Pipers were family friends. On this particular business trip, the weather was bad and Mr. Mooney stopped in Lockhaven, PA. where his airplane was protected in one of the Piper hangars. The story goes that while Mooney took a train to Washington, the Piper Aircraft engineers took the opportunity to basically disassemble his aircraft and analyze all the tricks that Al Mooney had incorporated. One of the design decisions that came out of this investigation was to run the main spar under the rear seat. This little trick gave a lot of space in the rear seats of what would be the Piper Comanche. Another wonderful thing that Piper designed in the Comanche is that there are no cowl flaps required. The goal was to have a high performance airplane where the pilot would not have to worry about overheating the engine and it would be more user friendly. The nose wheel door only covers the front part of the engine and the aft part is open for unrestricted cooling flow. COMANCHE ENGINES SIMPLY DO NOT OVERHEAT!! The stabilator and the first swept tail fin on a general aviation aircraft gave Piper a sexy looking machine. Compared to most other 1950 aircraft the Comanche looked light years ahead. In my humble opinion, it still looks modern, fast and I conclude that the design is superb!

3 The culmination of the single engine Comanches resulted in airplanes such as the Comanche 180, 250, 260 and the 400 with an 8 cylinder engine. Another great tale is that due to the cash flow problems of the times, a new customer would arrive with a Cashier s check ready to purchase the airplane and one of Piper s sons would run to the bank, cash the check, go to Williamsport, PA., pick up an engine, go back to the plant and have it installed.all this while Mr. Piper entertained the customer with a leisurely lunch. Max Conrad, in 1959, flew a Comanche 250 nonstop from Casablanca, Morocco to Los Angeles, Ca. It took him 58 hours and 38 min. to fly 7668 miles. When he landed he still had enough fuel to fly from Los Ange- les to Oakland! In November of 1959, Conrad took the same airframe with a 180 hp engine and flew nonstop 6967 miles from Casablanca to El Paso, Tx. On that record breaking flight he landed with enough fuel for ten more hours of flight.!! Conrad also flew a twin Comanche nonstop from Cape town, South Africa to St. Petersburg, fl. For a record of 7878 miles. He was awarded The Harmon Trophy for the outstanding feat of individual pilotage in The truly amazing thing is that all of Conrad s record flights were in stock Comanches, except for the addition of cabin fuel tanks. Sheila Scott flew a Comanche 400 from Cape town to London ; a Comanche 260 from Johannesburg to London ; a Comanche 260 from Nairobi to London; a Comanche 400 from New York to Copenhagen. She also was awarded the Harmon Trophy. After so many years since the beginning of the venerable Comanche, it is still going strong. The International Comanche Society is the organization that promotes the Comanche and supports the Comanche aircraft owners. My love affair with this little gem of an airplane didn t happen by accident. The Comanche had been my optimum dream since my very early flying years. Of all the airplanes that I have flown from my days as a CFI, the Comanche is the only airplane that makes me smile from the time I fire the engine and reach the wild blue yonder. It is a delight to fly and a formidable little machine. Many articles have been written about the Piper Comanches. This article is based on information gathered from some of those articles and my personal feelings about this particular airplane. Arnoldo Fernandez EAA Chapter 1116 The information for this article has been condensed from an article written in Private Pilot magazine several years ago.

4 I have attached a membership update for everyone to complete dues are now due so please send me the completed update along with your payment ASAP. Rick L. Bertrand Perez Road #4 Cathedral City, CA Business Card Corner: please send me yours for RBertrand@DC.rr.com To remove your name from our mailing list, please call Rick Bertrand at (760) or as below. Questions or comments? us at RBertrand@DC.rr.com or call (760)

5 NEW MAILING ADDRESS: C/O Thermal Aviation, Warhawk Way, Thermal, CA Happy Holidays

6 Membership Application (National Membership Required) New Member Renewal Name: Regular $25 Junior $15 (16-18 yr.) Family $30 Newsletter Only $15 (Non-member) Newsletter by Newsletter by Mail (Preferred) Family Names (if family membership): Mailing Address: Address: Phone: (day) (evening) National E.A.A. Member: (Required) yes no Membership # Birthday: Family Birthdays: Occupation (former if retired): Pilot Ratings Held: SEL MEL SES MES Inst. Heli Glider Student Recreational Private Commercial ATP Other Service Ratings Held: CFI CFII A&P IA EAA T.C. EAA F.A. Other: Year Obtained License: Total Hours Flown: Flying Aircraft Owned (make/model): Projects Owned (% completed): Tools & Skills you would be willing to share with club members: Send Application to: E.A.A. Chapter #1116 Meetings: 3 rd Saturday of every month Rick L. Bertrand Thermal Aviation - Pilot s Lounge Perez Road # Warhawk Way Cathedral City, CA Thermal, CA Sponsorship:

7 EAA Chapter 1116 Newsletter C/O Thermal Aviation Warhawk Way Thermal, CA Next Meeting December 18 Saturday 9:00 a.m. Thermal Aviation Pilot s Lounge Officers President Anthony Terrigno (760) Vice President Tom Rodgers (760) Secretary Rick Bertrand (760) Treasurer Doug Hay (760) Directors/Coordinators Membership Young Eagles VACANT Donations Orman Gilbert Tech Counselors FG/Epoxy Tom Rodgers (760) Metal/System Martin Davidow (760) Fabric/Rigging Anthony Terrigno (760) Corporation EAA Chapter 1116, Inc. California Nonprofit: September 28, 1995 Federal Nonprofit: Yes