February's meeting began with The Pledge, Dave Doherty presiding. First we recognized new members and visitors. Pat Rebert is thinking about learning to fly and building an aircraft. Jon Thayer is considering joining our chapter.
Don Doherty gave the Treasurer's report. Our official chapter paperwork is in to Oshkosh along with associated fees. He reported our current checking and savings account fees; we are still solvent. Our propane tank is at about 40% so we'll have to refill that before long. Since we did not hold our Christmas party at the ARC we are better off than in previous years. Don noticed that the office furnace needs a look as well. He also mentioned the 7.2% hangar rental fee, it's
going from $80 to $85.
Old Business. Now that Spring is approacing we can start thinking about clean water again. Mike Saettel may have a friend with a trenching machine that the chapter can borrow. The old soda machine and copier are out of the ARC. Last month's 50/50 drawing added $56 to our scholarship fund, we're holding another drawing after the meeting.
Dave Doherty's looking at a name tag machine in the $300 range that we could keep at the ARC. This would be a laminating type, so the new badges will look different than the older ones.
Additional old business includes lighting for the flag pole and the kiosk and kiddie ride in the chapter hangar.
New Business: first flights! Recently Gale Derosier flew his Rans Super 6S Coyote and Tim Finley flew his Zodiac 601 XLB. Gale reports that his project took around 30 months, versus five and a half years for his prior plane. He highly recommends Rans kits, noting the level of completion compared to his Mustang II. Because of his custom striping the paint job was more difficult. In terms of hours Gale says he spent 1,035, compared to the 700 suggested by Rans.
Because of the weather Gale had to wait for his first flight. After our big snowstorm Dave Domeier plowed the runway, and then made a track directly to Gale's hangar. The initial flight lasted about an hour, took place at three to four thousand feet, and consisted mostly of low speed maneuvers. The second flight took place the day before this meeting. The Coyote was off the ground in 300 feet with one notch of flaps. Gale's bird is powered by a Rotax 912UL, and he noted that during his previous flight it appeared to run cold. The next flight, at higher airspeed and RPM, produced normal temperatures. The only issue Gale noted had to do with fuel delivery: the airplane has two tanks, and one appears to empty at a higher rate than the other.
Tim Finley began his Zodiac on June 19, 2000, with the rudder workshop at the Zenith factory in Mexico, Missouri. He completed it on October 31, 2009, but by then the FAA required an upgrade before issuing an airworthiness certificate. This involved dissassembly of the wings and center fuselage, and the project lasted from December of 2009 to March of 2010. Tim notes that the modification adds 10 to 15 pounds to the airframe. His paper work was all done on February 5 of this year and he flew six days later.
The plane lives at Parks Downtown airport. The long runway, with open ground to the east, was plowed. This was Tim's runway choice for his first flight, the open space being part of his contingency plan. On the initial flight he tested low speed performance, including stall speed, and noticed that one wing felt heavy. This can be caused by different washout between two wings. After landing he made appropriate changes then flew again last Sunday. Tim flew his plane in for today's meeting and it now has about 1.4 hours in the air. He reports that it is a nice flying plane, sensitive in pitch. It's powered by a Jabiru 3300.
Other new business includes our need for a flood contingency plan. Flooding is predicted for this year and we need to assure that our equipment does not get destroyed. Initial ideas include a phone list that will result in a call to every chapter member, ideally resulting in enough available hands to move our tools to higher ground.
Jeff Skiles, of United Flight 1549 fame, will be flying a Cessna 162 to Sun-n-Fun, and will be stopping here. We are hosting him with a Young Eagles event and hope to fly around 125 kids. We plan to get media outlets and other local aviation groups involved. Jeff will give a talk around 8 a.m., and will then fly kids. We need pilots, and already have a few Troy members who plan to show up. We'll also have a BBQ.
Don Doherty reports that we have a safety event coming up on April 2 tied in with other groups such as the county airport and St. Charles Flying Service. Dave Pressy will speak regarding sport pilot. Al Gorthy from the FAA will talk about runway safety. This event, in part, results from increased activity here at KSET. Folks involved with the last, similar event report attendance at around 100 people. We'll provide a lunch of brats and burgers and will need help with setup. The event will last from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fred Immen addressed the group next. Per Rod Hightower the FAA is considering new regulations on amateur-build aircraft. A 2009 report by AOPA and the NTSB documented the chance of injury and death in various classes of aircraft, Fred's offering his guidance in crafting regulations that will not destroy our hobby.
Ron Burnett still has Dierbergs and Shop & Save cards.
With a new bulb for our projector movie night will begin again in March with "Pearl."
Frank McGhee donated a 4-hour aviation history DVD to the chapter. He also brought in a book, "The Procedural Handbook of Welding," published by Lincoln Electric. He describes it as the bible of welding, and notes that, while Amazon charges $45 for a copy, you can get it from the Lincoln site for $25.
The business portion of the meeting adjourned. After a break we returned and toasted Gale and Tim.
Bob and Donna Crandall of the Missouri Pilots Association then gave a presentation.
They noted several upcoming events: March 16 is their next meeting, at the Maryland Heights center, at which the speaker will be Joe Pesca, The Missouri Department of Transportation Aviation Director. March 29 is State Aviation Day, and the group will be in Jefferson City to meet with legislators. A state-wide event will take place in June at Lake of the Ozarks.
Both Bob and Donna stressed the importance of group memberships, as this gives the aviation community a bigger voice when it comes to influencing laws and regulations. Donna noted that Dennis Bampton met with the MPA and will be offering various discounts to individuals who belong to, and hold a membership card for such organizations as MPA, EAA, CAF, 99's, and others.
