Thursday, November 29, 2007

November 25, 2007 Meeting Minutes

Karsten opened with the pledge.

Some new hardware is in the ARC, including parts for the new heating system and Bud Cole's lathe. Karsten has been cleaning this up. It is an impressive piece of machinery dating from the 1940's and lacks some of the guards and safety features we're used to in newer gadgets. It will be available for chapter members' use, though some training in proper use will be a prerequisite. On a related note we are on the lookout for a 3 jaw chuck.

Gary reports that Shop & Save and Dierberg's coupons are still available. Let him know if you are interested, they can be mailed or picked up at the party on the 8th. On that note, tickets for the party are $15 apiece. Please RSVP to Gary Kasten or Karsten Kessler by the 6th so we'll know how much food we'll need. The menu this year will include turkey, pork, and beef roast with peach or blueberry cobbler for dessert. Our speaker will be Bill Guenon, lead pilot of the POW rescue mission on Son Tay. Also, please bring a gift for the exchange.

We voted for chapter officers, the lineup is as follows:

Karsten Kessler, president
Steve Morse, vice president
Gary Kasten, treasurer
Dave Deweese, secretary

We also agreed on Dave McGougan as the recipient of this year's Bent Prop award.

Leo spoke about drinking water for the ARC. Bob Holmes as vouched to Tracy that running a line for Kilroy's is OK. Leo's alternative plan may prove easier and less expensive. For $1200 to $1300 we can have a water softener and an ultraviolet treatment system to kill bacteria. For disposal purposes this water is of a higher quality than gray water and can be safely drained on the ground. Leo has also gone to the trouble of replacing the labels on the kitchen cabinets. We still do not know who removed the last batch, but if you're caught removing the new ones be forewarned: Leo will find you.

A note on Missouri sales tax exemption certificates: Exemptions are intended for expenses related to charitable functions. Young Eagles expenses, as well as supplies for and repairs to the ARC are allowable. Tools are not. If you are purchasing supplies for EAA32 Gary can supply a certificate.

Briefly discussed was collecting of tax records for 501c3 status. We are also considering broadening our advertisement of the Mustang II project.

The meeting adjourned and the floor was turned over to Bill Jagust for a weight and balance demonstration involving the VP-II and our new scales. Before the demonstration he explained his involvement in EAA's expansion of the Young Eagles program. Part of the "First Logbook Entry" initiative will be an 8-station educational program covering such topics as weather, navigation, and human factors. Mr. Bill is working to document each topic so anyone could present these at a Young Eagles event. Work is proceeding on 4' x 8' posters to accompany the presentations. These will be stored at our own ARC, which may also become a staging point for simulators that will be part of the program. Looks like EAA32 may be getting a bit more attention in 2008.

Special thanks to Karsten for providing lunch at Kilroy's.

- Dave Deweese

Sunday, October 28, 2007

October 28, 2007

Karsten opened the meeting with the Pledge. Corporate flight training schools had evidently declared a holiday is Jim Hann and Mr. Bill were both in attendance.

Leo started off business discussions with a status report on the water situation. We have two options, the first being a $3,100 purification system. He has confirmed that we may drain gray water onto the ground. The second option is to tap into the airport's existing ater supply (run a line to the ARC). We'd need to confirm that there's enough excess capacity to support us and Kilroy's, plus we'll need an official OK from Tracy.

Tracy would like us to move the container to a spot behind the ARC. We need to remove any items that are currently on or around same. Moving the container will be an issue: last time we used a large tractor to drag it, this time our existing sidewalk is in the way. A forklift may be the solution. Once moved we could paint it the same color as the ARC. We may move our kiosk from
the hangar to the spot the container currently sits, once removed from the trailer.

Bud Cole has generously donated a MIG welder to the chapter. It's evidently about ten years old but only has about ten hours of use: Bud's doctor feels that the device may interfere with a pacemaker. The welder comes to us after a mysterious journey. It had disappeared from Bud's tool shed but was returned by a neighbor who tracked it to a party who had "borrowed it without permission". Bob Dooley has since cleaned it up and it is available for loan, provided you let the chapter know its whereabouts.

Bud also has a 12" Atlas lathe, late 1940's vintage, mounted on a sturdy welded table, currently located in Mexico, Missouri. Moving this is a job for a number of strong people and a truck.

Gary addressed some financial issues. We will need to file some papers with the IRS, and Dave McGougan made a motion that we identify a CPA to write this up. We have at least one CPA in the chapter, but he has not returned Karsten's calls so a backup plan is in order. Gary also has extra Shop & Save and Dierberg's coupons.

Doug Killibrew reports that our heating system is coming down to the final issues. Some work will have to be done to ensure that radiant heat works correctly with our existing fans. Watch the website for times: volunteers will be needed to help with the actual installation.

Ron Wright has been doing some research for us on a popcorn machine. He is going to identify a few in the $600 to $1,000 range that we can evaluate and vote on in the November meeting.

Ron also brought in some Jerry Geiger memorabilia. There were several plaques and some photographs, we'll be identifying an area in the ARC to display this so that Jerry may join Bill Blake in our EAA32 Hall of Fame.

The Christmas Party, Saturday December 8, is approaching. I have contacted several individuals from a new EAA resource, the "Speakers Bureau", to check availability. Once again Kilroy's will handle the catering, and we'll need a crew for decorating the ARC.

Following the meeting we enjoyed a presentation by Jim Cunningham who has written a book on John Monnett, designer of the Moni motorglider and the Sonex. Jim concentrated on the Monex Racer and shared some anecdotes as well as a number of interesting photographs. Thanks to Greg Issitt for bringing in the laptop projector, and thanks to Ernie for explaining how to lower the screen. Several of us climbed ladders and failed to move the device until Professor Buzard
suggested hooking two wires from the motor into an extension cord. Of course it lowered obediently. Jim, who hails from Normal, IL, said he was glad to see that all EAA chapters work pretty much the same.

Monday, September 24, 2007

September 23, 2007

The meeting begain on time at 2:00 with the Pledge of Allegiance. Before the meeting, we were treated to a fine bbq featuring Doug Killebrew's smoked brisket.

It was reported the chapter made about $1,200.00 from the sale of soda at the County Fair and Airshow. Due to the overall success of the event, news of its demise was premature, and there will probably be another one next year. (could it be the presence of the Blue Angels and the cooler weather were helpful?)

This year we will be electing new officers. As of this meeting, Karsten will re-run for president, Steve Morse will run for Vice President, Dave Deweese will run for Secretary, and Gary Kasten will re-run for Treasurer. More nominations will be taken at the October meeting, with voting in November. If you want to run for a chapter office, please don't hesitate to nominate yourself.

We had several guests and new members. They were recognized.

Ron Burnett announced that he and his son bought a 1946 Luscombe. He proudly showed the picture of the shiny bird. Now all he needs to do is learn to fly it! Ron also talked about food coupons. The people with whom he deals messed up the order, and he was short on the Shop 'n Save coupons. Those folks will be mailed their coupons as soon as possible.

The location of the new scales were pointed out, and some people attested as to their accuracy.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to fund a memorial plaque in Oshkosh for Gerry Geiger. Gale will take care of the paperwork.

The Silver Swallows sent us a check for $200.00 for our participation in their rally a few weeks ago.

There was some discussion (as a follow-on to the online debate) regarding the time and nature of the Christmas party. For this year at least, we will have our party on Saturday, December 8. If we conduct it as per other years, we will have a social hour between 6 and 7, catered dinner by Laurie at 7, followed by a speaker. No speaker was proposed at the meeting.

Ron Burnett brought up the fact that he is technologically challenged with respect to aircraft electronics and electricity. He was wondering if we could conduct some seminars on that subject for the edification of all interested parties. It is true that we haven't been holding many seminars or demos lately, and should be doing so. Jim Bower will contact a few chapter members known to be cognizant of matters electrical and ask them if they would be willing to do a demo or hold a seminar.

As hot as it's been in the past few months, it is not too early to think about how doggone cold it was in the ARC this past winter. To that end, Doug Killebrew has been pursuing a solution to the heating problem. We all voted to fund a heating system (probably radiant infrared heat) to a maximum of $4,000.00. Everybody is looking forward to being toasty warm this winter, even as they sweated in the 90-degree heat of September!

The meeting was adjourned at about 2:50.

Monday, August 27, 2007

August 26, 2007

Steve Morse and Laura Million both returned from Oshkosh with reports of another fun convention.

The meeting began with the Pledge. VP Dave Deweese took the helm as Karsten was in transit.
Visitors included Chris Seto. This young man already appears to be a canard enthusiast, hopefully we'll be seeing more of him.

New members included Jeff McKee and Robin Straub, daughter of our own Fred Inman. Good to have you both on board.

The two-year terms of the current officers will be up at the end of 2007. A volunteer for the officer committee will be needed. If anyone would like to run for office please let any of the current officers know.

The County Fair and Air Show is coming up Labor Day weekend. Silver Swallows reunion is on 9/8 and we'll be flying Young Eagles.

The topic of a memorial for Jerry Geiger was brought up. Over the next few months the chapter will be receiving tools, books, and plaques from his collection. Should be like a trip through history. We'll get some of the plaques up on the wall to keep the Bill Blake memorabilia company.

Steve brought up two options for and argon tank for the new welder. We decided on a downtown St. Louis firm that is convenient for pickup, saving delivery fees. Our new aircraft scales are here. We decided to make them available for check-out by members so that they can take the scales to the airplane instead of the other way around.

Warm as it was the topic of heating the ARC came up as well, specifically the idea of using two propane furnaces in the loft. Considering that we currently pay an inactivity charge for our propane tank using more over the winter makes sense. The rough estimate is $1000 to $1500, more details will follow.

Our treasurer reported on our current checking and savings balances which will drop a bit when we pay for our new scales. Tracy sent a letter announcing that the hangar rental will increase 1.8% due to a rise in the consumer price index.

Note: Regarding the phone hotline, if you use this for information please listen to the entire message before hanging up. If you hang up prior to this there's no record that anyone called, and currently the hotline shows no usage. If we determine that everyone is using the web to get information we could discontinue the hotline at a savings of $23.50 per month.

We are beginning to get a few nibbles on the Mustang II project. Gale has communicated with two interested parties and was on hand to take some photographs for a potential buyer in Canada.

The meeting adjourned and Ernie enlisted some help to load the trailer for the air show.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

June 24, 2007

Nobody flew into the meeting this time due to some iffy weather. Nevertheless, we had a first rate potluck barbecue thanks to the efforts of cooks Dave McGougan, Leo Lang, and Doug Killebrew, and all the folks who brought in the great side dishes.

The meeting commenced at 2:00 with the Pledge of Allegiance; President Karsten conducting.

New members and visitors were recognized. We were fortunate to gain three (!) new members at the meeting. We urge everyone to be sure and make all our newbies feel at home and help them with any questions they might have.

This will most likely be the last year for the St. Louis County Fair and Airshow. Chapter 32 will be at this year's event, and we are looking for volunteers. Contact Karsten if you are interested.

Dave Domeier rescued a bending brake from the dump, and brought it in. Gale identified it as a light-duty brake, mainly used for guttering, and useles to us. However, Dave thinks he might be able to acquire modifications to it that will enable it to bend heavier material. The jury is still out on this one!

If you have noticed a rather long tubular arrangement lying on the floor near the west wall, it's a flagpole! We need some able-bodied volunteers to help us put it up properly. Contact Karsten.

Our food coupon guru, Ron Burnett, had to be out of town so Vince Morris distributed them at the meeting.

Steve Morse gave a TIG welder report (pricing), and some discussion ensued. Al Lowe has loaned his TIG welder to the chapter, so we can postpone the purchase of our own for a little while. Subsequent to this discussion, we voted to buy a large tank of argon gas. This gas will serve Al's welder, and then ours (once we have it). Steve also did some research on a better set of scales. Evidently, the ones we have are not reliable in that they tend to give different readings every time they are used to weigh the same airplane. Steve found a better set that is in wide use by RV builders. The members voted to purchase those scales and sell our old ones.

Bud Cole offered to teach seminars on aircraft and engine design. Hopefully, there are still some folks out there who are talented and brave enough to build their own design. That's the definition of grassroots aviation.

The meeting was adjourned, and Greg Smith gave a very interesting talk on how he is going to blow his life savings in 5 years (or less?). Greg is retired from Emerson Electric, and instead of kicking back and flying his Pulsar, he is working to develop an improved Pulsar kit. He showed pictures of a fuselage plug, which is used to lay up two fiberglass fuselage halves. There are numerous improvements over the existing Pulsars, including a wider cockpit and the choice of either Rotax or Jabiru engines. Greg expects his prototype to fly to Oshkosh 2008. This appears to be a really fun way to set fire to $100.00 bills, but we all hope Greg succeeds.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Bower,
EAA Chapter 32 secretary

Sunday, May 27, 2007

May 27, 2007

The Memorial Day meeting was well attended. Lots of good food as well. Nobody flew in this time, however, as the weather proved unpredictable. There was a mystery plane down the ramp a ways: the green paint and expanse of windshield seemed to suggest a military observation or liaison plane, though a big nine-cylinder radial on the nose lent an odd shape to the fuselage. Only a few of the wiser and more experienced spotters could identify it as the Stinson-designed, Consolidated-built L-13.

Karsten, back home again, opened the meeting with the Pledge.

One particularly notable visitor today: Cole Hahn made his first appearance at the ARC.
Steve Morse addressed the group regarding the purchase of welding equipment. One possible option is the HTP 201 at approximately $2500. Equivalent equipment from Lincoln Electric would cost around $700 more. Steve's working on contacting the vendor of the HTP machine to see what kind of deal we might get.

Laura read a note from Janet Kleinheider, the third-grade teacher who works on our Washington Young Eagles event, thanking us for our efforts. Leo reports that he and other pilots have also received letters from the young folks they flew that weekend. Laura also notes that we have a new Young Eagles form. Pilot and parent signatures are now part of the process. Remember that we've got an upcoming event in June. On a related note John updated us on the new EAA program that gives kids their first official logbook entry. He was present at the Midwest Regional Fly-In, and although weather did not permit any flights participants did receive logbook entries. Note that KidVenture will be even bigger this year. Volunteers are welcome.

Ron asked a question of interest to Young Eagles pilots. His accountant told him he needed a receipt in order to write off Young Eagles expenses as a charitable contribution. George suggested providing a fuel or rental receipt. Laura noted that, if further documentation is required, the chapter could provide a note on EAA32 letterhead.

Leo continues to work towards our goal of fresh water. He has recently hit an obstacle: the plumber he was communicating with does not want to do any work at KSET as it is too far away. Please contact Leo if you know of any plumbers in St. Charles.

Karsten brought up the sale of our Mustang II. Gale has set a price of $4500. Steve suggested that we give some thought to a minimum price that we would consider in case of a lower offer. Motion was made to put the Mustang II in the For Sale area of our website.

Laura reminded the group of our annual chapter photo at Oshkosh.

New treasurer Gary reported on balances in our savings and checking accounts. He advised the chapter that we'll need to spend some of this to avoid potential tax issues, which will not be a problem considering we're quickly moving ahead on the purchase of welding equipment. He is also investigating whether or not the chapter could defray some of the expenses incurred by our Young Eagles pilots. Gary notes that he will not be at the June meeting, so if you have reimbursements or other business either contact him directly or wait until the August meeting.

Ron updated us on the food coupon program and asked for a volunteer to act as his new assistant. Gary, of course, has recently vacated this post to act as treasurer. The assistant's duties will include approximately two trips per year to Ellisville to pick up coupons.

If you've been following the e-mail threads you may have read the discussions regarding scales. Steve is going to investigate this tool, but notes that if we purchase new scales we'll also need to fabricate new ramps. Bud Cole has an older set of scales that utilize weights that he is willing to bring in. We will soon have a bending brake for our chapter. It will need a little work but the price is right: Free for the taking. We also now have a set of automotive wheel dollys that should work for moving aircraft around. These were provided by Al Donalsdon. Al has also offered to bring his TIG welder in for those who would like to take it for a spin.

Ernie is willing to tackle setting up the flag pole provided we have a definite location. Per Tracy it must be 35 feet away from buildings and the road.

Submitted by Dave Deweese

Thursday, April 26, 2007

April 22, 2007

The weather was gorgeous, if a bit windy. For sure, it was the wind that kept all the pilots on the ground, because almost nobody flew in to the meeting.

The meeting commenced at 2:00 with the Pledge of Allegiance. VP Dave Deweese led the festivities.

Visitors and guests were recognized.

We thanked Doug Killebrew for the fantastic pork steaks he cooked for us. (The rest of the potluck was great, too.)

George Stephenson and Laura Million reported that 69 kids (and a few adults) were flown on Saturday the 21st.

Leo Lang has been in touch with plumbing contractors in order to provide us with potable water in the ARC. He said that there are several solutions with varying prices. He is going to find out if the least expensive method will work and will also be acceptable to St. Charles County. He will have a more detailed report next month.

Gary Unruh's friend as a large bending brake he will give away to us if we deem it suitable for our purposes. Somebody is going to check it out and determine its suitability.

Steve Morse reported that the price of the TIG welder he favors is about $3,000.00. Check out our website for more details. Steve feels this welder would give us the best bang for the buck and will arrange for giving training to interested people. The vote on this expenditure will be held at the May meeting.

Chuck Koviak mentioned that his recent gear-up landing got him in some hot water that could have been somewhat cooler had he filed a report using the NASA form. Doing so helps you avoid some of the insult that the feds want to add to your injury.

Jim Hann gave a treasurer's report...we have money.

Ron Burnett thanked Gary Kasten for helping him with the food coupons during his recent absence.

After some discussion, Dave McGoogan made a motion to put the Mustang II project up for sale. Gale Derosier will conduct an inventory of the project and will suggest an asking price for it. For those who don't know, we were given the Mustang II by an older gentleman who realized he couldn't finish it. He stipulated that we should complete the project, but there has never been sufficient interest in it and the fuselage has graced the ARC for many years, just gathering dust. It can be a good project for somebody, and we could put the money to better use.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:45.

Jim Bower