NORTHERN YOSEMITE EAA CHAPTER 1337

Transcription

1 NORTHERN YOSEMITE EAA CHAPTER 1337 Volume 2, Issue 4 April 2003 From The Left Seat Chapter 1337 President's Message: By Alan Wallace Pancake Breakfast: Things are coming along well for our first Pancake Breakfast, I have purchased many of the items we need and have a handle on the balance of the food to be picked up just before the Breakfast. I believe we have enough volunteers to help with the Breakfast and will be calling those of you who have volunteered to confirm starting time, etc. I hope the rest of you are planning to bring your family and friends to the Breakfast. Proposed CTAF/Unicom Change: As many of you now know the Airports Committee has recommended that the radio frequency be changed from to at Columbia & Pine Mountain Lake Airports. During the Airports Committee meeting on 3/24 we heard from a number of pilots that were not aware of the proposed change and who disagree with changing to the new frequency. In the future I will work to make sure all pilot groups at both airports are aware of upcoming issues on the Airports Committee agenda. We only have a few frequency choices. We can move to , or or one of the three designated six-digit frequencies, , or (which are far less congested). I have monitored the three available five-digit frequencies and don't believe we would be any better off with any of them. I feel we need to decide to either move to one of the new six-digit frequencies or to stay on There will be a meeting of the Airports Committee on Monday April the 28th at 6:30 PM at the Groveland Community Hall to discuss the frequency change. If you are not able to attend, please me with your opinion at awelectric@mlode.com. People Mover Trailer: Tim Rickard and I have built a trailer to transport people around the airport for events such as the Pancake Breakfast. Tim has been a great help contributing both his time and welding expertise Wright Flyer: Our Chapter has purchased a Model of the Wright Flyer to celebrate the Centennial of Flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17th, Ron Sawyer has volunteered to head up this project and is looking for volunteers to help build this 40" Wood Model. He will be working on it at my hangar. If you would like to help with this Chapter project, please call Name Tags: I have received 26 blank EAA Name Tags and will be taking them to the engraver this week. I will hand them out to our current members at the Pancake Breakfast. How are we doing? Please drop me a line with your comments or suggestions about the Chapter and it s operation. This is your Chapter and we need your thoughts on what we can do to make it better. Hope to see all of you on Saturday April the 12th. Sincerely, Alan Wallace Next Chapter Meeting Our next April meeting is a Pancake Breakfast, which will be held on Saturday, April 12 th from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the Columbia Airport Campground and TCAA Club House. The cost is $6 per person. Tell your friends and fellow pilots to come and enjoy a great breakfast while supporting our EAA Chapter and our Young Eagles Program. Young Eagles By: Tim Deike, Young Eagles Coordinator You know, powered flight is not that old! When our great grand parents were alive they would look at birds and wonder what flying is like. To see birds soar free and high in the sky, come and explore with us what it s like to be up in the sky looking down at your house or school. Are you interested in taking a first hand look at flying? The EAA Young Eagles Program is absolutely FREE! Come and join the Young Eagles of the Northern Yosemite EAA Chapter 1337 at our next Young Eagles Flight on May 10 th at 9:00 a.m. at Columbia Airport. Bring your friends and share an experience, which could be the beginning of a lifetime of wonder and excitement.

2 EAA Chapter 1337 April, 2003 Newsletter Page 2 O22 & Q68 Frequency Change Meeting The Airport s Committee will hold their next meeting at the Groveland Community Hall on Monday April 28 th at 6:30 PM. One of the main topics to be discussed is the proposed frequency change at both Columbia and Pine Mountain Lake from to If you have a concern regarding this proposed frequency change, then make sure you attend this meeting and voice your opinion. Chapter Logo Contest There is only one month left to submit your design for the Chapter 1337 logo. The following are the contest rules: Submittals must be on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper 10 copies must be submitted for distribution and voting Logos should be at least 6 diameter or wide to facilitate making it into a higher resolution smaller image. Each chapter member may submit up to 3 designs Black & white or color will be allowed, however no more than 5 colors should be used to allow us to produce badges and embroideries All logos must include one of the following wordings EAA Chapter 1337 Northern Yosemite EAA Chapter 1337 The entries should be submitted by May 1 st and the members will select the winning logo at our May 10 th meeting by general discussion and elimination voting Entries can be submitted to any Chapter officer The winner will receive a fly-out lunch for 3 people at the Auburn Airport provided by our president Alan Wallace and his newly painted Cessna 205. Contact Jim Thomas if you want more information on the contest. Fun Flying A nose dragger pilot was taking some tail wheel instruction in a Citabria during a Southern California fullblown Santa Ana. Winds were approximately 45 degrees to the runway, blowing 20 knots, gusting to 35+ knots. After about 20 attempts, with about 20 saves from the instructor (lots of crow-hopping, bounces, you name it, using all of a 150-foot-wide runway), they decided they had enough: Citabria 123: Tower, we've had enough. Citabria 123 requests northbound departure. Tower: Citabria 123, northbound departure approved. Sorry to see you boys leave -- sure has been entertaining! Call for Newsletter Articles You can contribute to our newsletter by sending your input to Jim Thomas via at mypa12@yahoo.com or mailing it to Jim at Woodside Way, Groveland March Issue of Sport Aviation By Jim Thomas The March issue of Sport Aviation contains two articles that may be of interest to our Chapter members. One is a review of the Bearhawk, the plane that our member Tim Rickard is building. The Bearhawk is a four-place tail wheel plane with the performance of a Cessna Skywagon. Check out this article to see what Tim s plane will someday look like. Another article in the March issue is a performance report on the Lancair Legacy flown by the CAFE Foundation. If you want to get an idea of what the Legacy is all about, this article will give you the full picture. After reading the article you may want to visit my hangar and see my Legacy project. If all goes well, I will have my Legacy flying by this fall. Sumping, Dumping & Overfilling By Jim Thomas (Based on Mark Twombly s commentary in the February 2003 AOPA Magazine) Habits can be difficult to break, but there s one that we all have to work on. It is sumping our fuel tanks to check for water and debris and then dumping the fuel on the ramp. I know we all are taught to check our fuel sumps prior to flying our planes to make sure there is no water lingering in the tanks. This is important and history shows that water in the fuel tanks continues to occur and cause engine loss of power. What is at issue here is the dumping of the sampled fuel on the ramp after the fuel sample has been scrutinized for contamination. The problem is that fuel is toxic, flammable, and corrosive, and pouring even a small sump sample on the ground constitutes illegal disposal of a hazardous waste. Most, but not all, of a dumped avgas sample evaporates - dissipating, not disappearing, into thin air. The pollutants left on the ramp, including the tetraethyl lead additive, are subject to runoff into the soil and surface water. Acceptable practice is to pour all clean fuel samples back into the fuel tank. If a contaminated sample is found, it can be dumped in the waste fuel container located at most public airports. An alternative to dumping all

3 EAA Chapter 1337 April, 2003 Newsletter Page 3 contaminated fuel is to use a GATS jar (gasoline analysis test separator) available from Sporty s for only $16.50 that will separate fuel contaminates allowing you to pour clean filtered fuel back into your fuel tank. Another aspect of this problem is when we top off our fuel tanks with avgas that is stored in a large bulk tank. The fuel pumped into our aircraft tanks is generally cooler than the ambient air temperature. As the wing heats up in the sunshine the fuel expands and may flow out the fuel tank vents spilling onto the ramp. A good practice to prevent this from happening is to fill the tanks nearly full leaving a little room in the tanks for fuel expansion or to place a catch pan under the fuel vents to collect any spilled fuel. Similarly, when we park on a slope and one wing is lower than another, full fuel tanks can spill fuel out the lower vent especially if the airplane s fuel selector is placed in the both position. Repositioning the airplane to a more level attitude or placing the fuel selector valve in a position that would prevent cross-flow would help eliminate spilling fuel on the ground. As pilots and airplane owners we have to be responsible for many aspects of our airplane operations. Keeping our airport environment clean is one of these responsibilities. Please help do your part. Aviation News Briefs High winds damaged several airplanes at Anchorage Alaska s Lake Hood airport last March. Remember that an airplane is a wind machine, that is, they use wind to create lift. The Piper Cub pictured here routinely saw winds in excess of 80 mph, but always with the wind pointed straight at the nose. When high winds are expected, make sure your plane is pointed into the wind and that it is securely anchored. Often the high winds do not come from the direction of the prevailing wind and it might be wise to carefully reposition your plane. Reminder Join National All of our Chapter members must join the National EAA Organization. The reason for this is that our Chapter insurance comes through the National organization. For our Chapter members to be covered under our insurance you must be a member of the National EAA. Membership forms are available at our Chapter meetings or from other National members. Last Chance For those Chapter members that have not paid their 2003 dues yet, this will be your last newsletter. Please send in your dues so we can continue to send you this newsletter and information on Chapter activities. Support our local EAA Chapter Frequency Congestion For the past several years there has been discussion about changing the CTAF at both Columbia and Pine Mountain Lake Airports. The driving concern for the change is that the current mhz is very congested at times making it difficult to broadcast your position and intentions. Regardless whether our local CTAF is changed or not, we all need to do our part to keep the CTAF chatter to a minimum, especially during peak flying times. The following practices are things we all can do to help reduce frequency congestion: Keep position reports short and concise. Don t use your full call sign. Cub right downwind two-seven Pine Mountain (7 words) is preferred over Piper Cub November-three-eight-one-six-Mike is turning right downwind for runway two-seven at Pine Mountain Lake (20 words). Don t broadcast your ground maneuvering intentions unless it is necessary to communicate your movement to another aircraft on the ground in your immediate proximity. 99.9% of the aircraft in the pattern don t care if Skylane November-one-two-three-four-bravo is taxiing from the gas pumps to the run-up area for runway one-seven at Columbia. Don t broadcast the obvious. The pilots on final will be able to see that Bonanza November-nine-eightseven-six-hotel is clear of the active. Don t clutter the radio frequency by telling your friend the details of the great lunch you just had at Harris Ranch. Help do your part to keep CTAF broadcasts to a minimum for the safety of all aircraft in the area. Jim Thomas (JT), EAA Chapter 1337 Newsletter Editor

4 EAA Chapter 1337 April, 2003 Newsletter Page 4 Fly Market Want Ads in our newsletter are for aviation related items and are free to all our Chapter members. Commercial Ads must be in business card format and cost $25 for 6 months and $50 for one year. Contact Jim Thomas to place an ad at mypa12@yahoo.com or FOR SALE: 24 volt 100 amp alternator for Continental IO-550, 24 volt Weldon boost pump, propeller for Questair Venture. Jim Thomas FOR SALE: 59 Cessna 150 project. Flap gap seals, new upholstery, and partial new paint. Lycoming O-320- E2A, 160 hp, 3100 hrs on first run, good condition, compression in the 70 s, all accessories. $6,000 for the plane, $5,500 for the engine. Rich McGlashan WANTED: 2.25 diameter electric attitude indicator. Jim Thomas Collier Aviation Specializing in Experimental Aircraft Modifications and Parts Fabrication Located on Pine Mountain Lake Airport Q Calaveras County Airport Air Fair 2003 Saturday, April 26th 8AM to 5PM Aircraft Displays, RC Airplanes and Lots of Food Fly-In Schedule April 2-8 Sun n Fun, Lakeland, Florida April 26 Calaveras Airport Air Fair 2003 May 3 Oakdale Airport Appreciation Day May Watsonville Fly-In May 31 Westover Field Airport Appreciation Day June 7-8 Merced West Coast Antique Fly-In June 8 Apple Valley Airport Air Fair June Columbia Airport s 37 th Annual Father s Day Fly-In June Golden West EAA Regional Fly-in, Yuba County Airport July 4 Grass Valley Air Show July 19 Colusa County Airport Old Time Fly-in July 29-Aug 4 EAA AirVenture Aug 23 Lake Tahoe Air Fest Aug Camarillo Airport Annual Fly-In and Airshow Sept Reno National Championship Air Races Sept West Coast Seaplane Splash-In, Lakeport on Clear Lake This is a really fun event just a short distance away. They still need pilots to fly scenic rides (four rides per pilot). Shane and I will be attending and helping with the rides. If you would like more info or would like to help at the Air Fair call or Alan Wallace

5 EAA Chapter 1337 April, 2003 Newsletter Page 5 Aircraft Run on Avgas, but Pilots Run on Pancakes, Ham, Eggs, Juice and Coffee. Come and Fill Up! Pancake Breakfast Saturday, April 12 th 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM Columbia Airport Campground Adjacent to Runway Sponsored by the Northern Yosemite Chapter of the EAA Open to All Pilots and the General Public Proceeds of this event help support Chapter 1337 and the Young Eagles Program

6 EAA Chapter 1337 April, 2003 Newsletter Page 6 Chapter 1337 Officers President: Alan Wallace awelectric@mlode.com Vice President: Jim Thomas mypa12@yahoo.com Secretary: Ron Sawyer rosemanor-thornybend@juno.com Treasure: Shane Wallace flyboy@mlode.com Young Eagle's: Tim Deike tdeike@co.tuolumne.ca.us Newsletter Editor: Jim Thomas mypa12@yahoo.com Technical Advisor: Vacant 2003 Annual Chapter Dues Even though we all volunteer our time to make our chapter successful, we do need some money to keep us going dues are $20 for an individual membership and $25 for a family membership. Make checks payable to EAA Chapter 1337 and mail to: EAA Chapter 1337, Knox Rd. Twain Harte, Ca You can also pay your dues at our monthly meeting. Chapter Meeting Schedule Apr 12 8:00 am Pancake Breakfast, TCAA Clubhouse, Columbia Apt. May 10 10:00 am Young Eagle s Rides Columbia Aiport May 17 12:00 pm Open House & BBQ Columbia Airport Jun 14 Father s Day Fly-In Columbia Airport Jul 19 10:00 am Young Eagles Rides Pine Mt. Lake Airport Aug 16 10:00 am Builder s Workshop Jim Thomas s Hangar Pine Mt. Lake Airport Sept 20 10:00 am Chapter Fly-out, TBA Oct 11 8:00 am Pancake Breakfast, TCAA Clubhouse, Columbia Apt. Nov 8 10:00 am Young Eagle s Rides, Columbia Airport Dec 13 Chapter Christmas Party, TBA TBA = To Be Announced Our Chapter Activities Schedule is now available on the world wide web courtesy of Kirk Wallace at EAA Chapter Knox Rd. Twain Harte, CA US POSTAGE