The Plane Newsletter

~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~ May 2009 ~

Important Dates -

Executive planning meeting: 5:30 pm on the first Thursday of the month in the clubhouse (Kelso hangar A7). All are welcome!! There will be no executive meeting before the regular May Chapter meeting.

Food will be ready at about 6:30 and the Chapter meeting will follow at about 7:00.

The Grub
Jim and Mary Ann will be bringing pizza.

The Program
A double header for Jim and Mary Ann will have a slide show of the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. There may be some surprise pictures too.  And... there will be a contest as to who can identify the most planes. Jerry Sorrell is exempt and has offered to give a token prize to the winner.

Minutes From Last Executive Meeting
Attending: Dwight Irby, Al Drewry, Jerry Sorrell.
Eric could not make it due to work issues.

Jerry will request Eric to get EAA national membership applications to have on hand.

In addition, to the EAA Chapter 1111 application on the web, Eric will provide hard copies to keep on hand a the clubhouse.

Eric will make 2009 membership cards. Jerry will send him the publisher file.

Exec board agreed to make Patty Irby an honorary member for the donation of the laptop to the chapter. (Honorary membership Article 4.a.III)

Discussed a separate flying club. Let's be discreet until we know all the details and restrictions. Maybe Mike Pearce, new member, may be interested.

Minutes From Last Regular Meeting
We have $2193.55 in checking and $2147.29 in savings (as of the first Thursday in April). WE will have much more when all good people pay their dues!!

In case there is someone out there who has not heard this, the Kelso airport has been renamed the "Southwest Washington Regional Airport". It's time to open a coffee shop in the terminal!! Seriously, this is great news. The Kelso airport is poised to be a MAJOR player in air traffic in Southwest Washington in the future. God Speed!!

Our President, Dwight brought the meeting to order. We did intro's all around. Lots of familiar faces, lots of new faces. Exciting to see!

Al Drewry and Patty Irby put on a Mongolian BBQ that was spectacular.... and delicious! Good job, you two. We will be back for more. What a great idea.

Of course, the pot went around for the drawing. Some were a bit pensive since our BRAND NEW MEMBER - Dennis Miller drew the red chip last month. Some of us are convinced there is a conspiracy brewing. This month was standard - the red chip was not drawn. We then did Happy Bucks. What a great group.

Jim and Mary Ann said they would do the grub next month along with a presentation.

We talked around about any project updates.

Jim M. then promoted a fly-out on Saturday to the Twin Oaks Pancake Feed and then to Hood River.

If I (the editor) have misrepresented anyone or mis-stated any facts, please let me know. Remember, the offer to the non-officers from last night's post still stands. Did anyone catch it?

Current Events - the top three news items from Google at the time this newsletter was created based on experimental aviation

Experimental aircraft to take Vidalia skies today

Airport event about to take off

Sikorsky 'progressing' with X2 helicopter effort

Tech Counselor Minute- from Jerry Sorrell (Tech Counselor)

A SAFETY TOPIC THIS MONTH

I subscribe to a publication called Light Plane Maintenance (LPM). There is something useful to share in every issue.  Whether you own a certified or experimental plane, you are permitted to clean and repack the wheel bearings as owner.

An important safety measure that LPM suggests is to let the air out of the tire once the plane is jacked up for tire removal. THEN.. is it OK to remove the cotter key and back off the castle nut. Their experience has been to find the bolts holding the wheel halves together to sometimes be corroded and fail. This may happen just as the castle nut is removed. Result = exploding wheel forced apart by the air in the tire. A quick calculation shows the separating force to be about 700 pounds. What would a wheel half launched at you with a 700 pound force do?

Kit Planes Article on Oil Coolers
The June 2009 Kit Planes has an excellent article on oil coolers and oil temperature limits.

The ideal operating range  is 180 - 200 degrees. An interesting comment was that while engines such as Lycoming have a red line of 245 degrees, it is still best  not to go beyond  200 degrees for an extended period. Reason given is that the oil does not have the ability to provide the lubrication at the elevated temperature and that engine wear is accelerated. This does not mean catastrophic, but just accelerated and an overall reduction in the time to overhaul.

Aircraft Painting Workshop
The Evergreen Paint Co. in Longview is ready to ouffer a special hands-on-training of paint prep and painting in their shop. This will be on an evening other than the regular meeting. Who is interested?  If it has been a while since you have used any painting materials, processes and products have changed. You better not miss this freebie with factory reps on hand to help one on one.   See Jerry Sorrell if this is for you!

Interesting Stuff

BuildAPlane Announces Teachers’ Day at AirVenture
Los Angeles, CA, March 12, 2009—BuildAPlane, a non-profit aviation education organization in cooperation with GAMA and EAA, will sponsor Teacher’s Day at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture this year in Oshkosh, WI. The event is scheduled for July 28th, 2009, and will exposure teachers to a variety of programs and curricula that allow educators to put aviation in classrooms, from kindergarten through high school grades. Teachers from across the United States are expected to participate.
“We are amazed how many great opportunities are out there to use aviation to engage and motivate kids to learn,” says Lyn Freeman, Build A Plane’s president. “Today’s students respond to real world applications and challenges, and aviation really captures their attention.”
Teachers will be exposed to materials available from private industry, the federal government and aviation organizations that exposure students to all aspects of aviation, from vocation to avocation. Participants will have the opportunity to take part in a number of hands-on presentations and to speak directly to program specialists. Plus, a wide variety of take-home materials will be available for all attendees.
“There are some truly remarkable programs out there for absolutely all grade levels,” says Katrina Bradshaw, BuildAPlane’s Executive Director. “Not only can teachers use aviation to motivate kids to learn science, math, technology and engineering, but this is a chance to allow their students to start a lifelong love affair with aviation!”
Teachers’ Day at AirVenture is made possible by the generous support of EAA and the General Aviation Manufacturer’s Association (GAMA).
Attendees can obtain one graduate credit through Viterbo University, as well as complimentary admission to EAA AirVenture after attending Teachers’ Day.
Registration for the free event is available at www.BuildAPlane.org, and space is limited.
For more information, contact BuildAPlane, 804-843-3321.

A new design from Boeing (taken from the internet so facts are not proven)
This is an actual aircraft. The pictues were taken at Edwards Air Force Base in California in 2007.
This is the real thing and not a Photoshop facsimile.
BWB (Blended-Wing-Body) - Thinking outside the Tube:
Ever since Boeing introduced the 707 in the 1950s, passenger jets have looked pretty much the same: long tubes with tails, engines mounted below the wings. That shape may one day be transformed into the graceful silhouette of a manta ray. In February, 2007 a 400-pound, 21-foot (6.4 m)-wide prototype of just such a bird started practicing unmanned takeoffs, landings, and tricky slow-speed maneuvers at Edwards Air Force Base. Called the X-48B, it's a scaled-down model of a theoretical 500-ton, 240-foot (73 m)-wide blended-wing aircraft. Aeronautical engineers have long known that this design could be much quieter, more fuel efficient, and far roomier than a conventional cylinder. But recent advances such as lightweight composite materials, fly-by-wire controls and sophisticated flight systems have made building one of these planes more feasible. Commercial versions have been proposed with EIGHT aisles (imagine a flying auditorium) but the X-48B is more likely to debut as a US military transport plane circa 2022." The Air Force has designated the vehicles as the 'X-48B' based on its interest in the design's potential as a multi-role, long-range, high-capacity military aircraft. If you'd like more information see: http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/pdf/FS-1997-07-24-LaRC.pdf

Flights

Heard anything good lately? Been anywhere interesting? Let me know. Click here to send me an email!

On the Lighter Side

Here is the challenge- go to www.youtube.com, search on cool aviation or experimental aviation and let me know if you can spend less than a couple hours going from one clip to another.... betcha can't.. has anyone tried? Seen anything cool you would like to share?.

Editor's Comments

If you have any ideas or comments, please let me know. I want your feedback. The chapter and the newsletter are only as good as the input and the energy of the members. I want your pictures, your stories, your thoughts. Don't be shy!! If you get an interesting link or something funny via the web, please don't hesitate to share it with me.

I hope to make this newsletter a place our members look to for vital information, a thing prospective members appreciate and are motivated to join, a link our fellow EAA'ers around the country look at to keep in touch.

Officers and Committee Chairpersons