Saturday, April 30, 2011

April 2011 Minutes

Our April meeting began with the Pledge, Dave Doherty presiding.

Due to our YE event in March there was no official meeting, and therefore no minutes to approve. We flew 101 kids at our event, and participating pilots included Ron Hightower who brought his Stearman. We haven't had this much activity in a while and have many more events coming up. Laura reminded us that this year's events take place on the second Saturday of each month, pilot and ground crew briefings start at 8:30 am. April's event flew 71 Young Eagles, so we've flown more in two months of 2011 than in all of 2010.

There were no visitors to recognize at this meeting.

Don gave the Treasurer's report, including savings and checking account balances. We've recently filled the propane tank and emptied the sceptic tank, taking a chunk out of our funds. Since the closing of the Fly Girls' restaurant we've been selling food at our Young Eagles events and this helps defray expenses. We also sold food at our recent Wings presentation. We're signed up, once again, for the July Fourth event in O'Fallon. Taking lessons from last year we'll buy less and sell for a bit more. We'll also sell food at this year's airport open house. Tracy has not yet set a date.

Old Business: water. Tracy reports that the airport intends to supply clean water to all airport users. Although this will take about a year, it negates our own clean water project.

Art Zemon is helping out with our new nametags. These will be printed and laminated, so they can theoretically include whatever you like: a logo or graphic of your aircraft. A sheet was passed around at the meeting asking for specifics.

We have raised $85 of our projected $500 scholarship fund and will be contacting universities soon.

Design for flagpole lighting is in progress. It will have to be weatherproof and hopefully will light the walkway as well.

One of our refrigerators is dead. Since some local utilities will haul away old appliances we'll be checking to see if Ameren will take ours.

With the recent increase in activity at KSET there has also been an increase in reports to the FAA. Some incidents involve the intersection of the two runways, and others are the result of flying odd patterns. The FAA is not looking at imposing new rules as it might cause more confusion. Remember to stay on the radio and make your intentions known.

New Business: We've been invited to tour the CAF after an upcoming meeting and get a look at what our neighbors are up to. Bill mentioned the CAF 'Heritage' program: rides in the B-25 will go for $325. They are looking at including more planes in the program.

The ARC needs paint. Anyone who's up for some scraping and brushing is welcome to volunteer.

Mike Saettel is looking for old charts to donate for educational purposes. Ron Burnett notes that FBO's cut the corners off charts to identify them as expired, and agrees that VFR charts in particular are good to give away.

Ron reminded the group that he had extra food coupons, and Dave reminded new members that the chapters gets 4% from purchases made. Dave is also looking for corporate sponsorship for the chapter, if you're aware of such sources please let him know.

The Ford Trimotor will visit Cahokia this year. There's no news on the B-17 and Dave will contact EAA HQ once more.

A few Chapter 32 members were at Sun-n-Fun this year, though none were at our April meeting. We're waiting for an eyewitness account.

April's movie, on April 30, is 'Pearl'.

Dave Doherty has signed up with Dave Pressy to pursue his sport pilot certificate. He's now looking for a Taylorcraft.

If you find any out of date information in the roster please contact Jim Bower.

As of the April meeting the river is technically in flood stage, but is still about 10 feet from threatening KSET. The magic number is 31 feet of flood stage at Grafton, which puts the water about 6 inches from the floor level of the ARC.

Our by-laws were written in the nineteen sixties and need a review. Our executive committee will review and present changes to the membership. If you'd like to get involved please contact Dave Doherty.

Following the meeting Bill Doherty recognized Ron Burnett for the first flight of his RV-6A. Beginning in 2009, the quick-build kit took 11 years to complete. Ron thanked the chapter at large for assistance, and specifically recognized Jeff McKee, noting that they started Marine flight training together. Jeff was always ahead, even in the construction of his airplane. Ron has several suggestions, including building at home, and waiting to move to the airport only when your project is nearly complete. He also warns against the 'shotgun' approach: moving to a different subproject when you encounter a challenge. It's better to ask questions, get your issue resolved, finish the part you're working on and then move on. Ron's plane has a Subaru engine that burns 5 to 6 gallons per hour, a money saver over time. In retrospect, however, he noted that a Lycoming and a standard prop would have ended up costing about the same and taken less time to install and set up. Ron's thinking about selling his Luscombe, but don't consider making an offer if you plan to paint her.