The Plane Newsletter

A publication of Chapter 1111 Experimental Aircraft Association

September 2002 - September 2002 - September 2002 - September 2002 - September 2002 - September 2002

From the President

The weather has been great this summer for the various flying events. I hope everyone has had a chance to attend an airshow, a fly in, or just go to the airport to look at planes.

Evergreen Fly In:
Since this was the real, honest, absolute last fly-in at Evergreen Field, it was necessary that I go there on Friday and Saturday. I saw Sam and Sandy’s dream ship on amphibious floats. Also, making its first fly-in showing was Allen Berry’s Europa. It seemed only a few weeks ago I saw it under construction, and now it has 9 hours on it. Allen worked out the fuel flow problem he was experiencing by installing replacement fuel lines rather than using the factory lines which tended to fold closed with any curve put in the line. Allen’s radius for test flights includes Kelso, so I hope he can motor our way for a visit.

Props of All Sizes
One of the old Evergreen old timers is in poor health and his family is selling off the airplane odds and ends. Henry Schmitt has a list of the propellers for sale. Based on the diameter and pitch number Henry quoted, I think these props are fairly common and may be perfect for some of the projects. Details available from Henry at the meeting.

Next Meeting is Australia Night, September 5th!
Come and hear about the biggest fly-out our Chapter has ever had. Pictures, stories, maps and more. We need pop corn! Who has a popper? Bob Taylor, can you arrange this?

Plane Thoughts

"A prospective member, Arnold Norton, visited Oshkosh this year. At the last meeting, I visited with him for a while. By his E mail address, we know he is interested in the Taylor Coot which was designed here in Kelso and test flown at this airport and nearby rivers. (amphib.) The designer was Molt Taylor, who also invented the Aero-car." --Jerry

A Trip to Oshkosh

We started out for our journey to Oshkosh on July 23, with high hopes and great anticipation. After taking the scenic route through the Black Hills of South Dakota and watching airplanes dodge the thunder storms along the way, we arrived in Wisconsin to discover much road construction. This made for much more sightseeing before we reached our destination of Airventure 2002.

There were planes flying loops and trailing smoke over the airfield, but it seemed like there weren't any exits to get there until we saw some signs on the side of the road that had an AM radio station that was broadcasting airshow info. Finally after much discussion and navigation skills we entered the huge grassy parking lot across the street from the airventure museum. The trip through the museum was a quick pass-through to get to the shuttle bus as it was open until 8:00 PM and the show ended earlier than that.That's when the fun began.

After getting off the bus at the airfield, we became overwhelmed at the sight of all the airplanes. We began by looking at homebuilts for about 3 hours and moved on to the vintage planes. They seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. After eating we started exploring the exhibit buildings of things for sale. (4 extremely large buildings) We then moved on to tents with builder workshops and more tents of exhibitors, and then on to more fields of airplanes. But we never made it to the ultralight area or to the seaplane base (There was a bus for that too). The EAA museum is definitely a must see. We took lots of pictures and it was much cooler than outside in the sun. The whole experience was awesome and highly recommended for all to see. Although overwhelming, we know more of what to expect for our next trip there and plan to spend the whole week so we can explore as well as see more of the airshow. If you would like to see any of the pictures, we can send you a floppy. If you have any questions I may be able to answer, feel free to ask.

---Arnold Norton

Lessons Learned

OK you well prepared pilots. You always call 1-800-WX-BRIEF before you fly don't you? RIGHT!! You always get the NOTAMS?!!! Remember, the PIC IS responsible for every part of the flight, right?

It was a beautiful Friday. The weather was severe clear, no need to check weather right? Rhonda Thompson (remember Craig Thompson, Dr. Craig Thompson, his wife) and I have decided to fly to Independence for lunch.

We're happily on our way, over Scappose at 3,000 ft. when she casually remarks on whether or not the Thunderbirds might be practicing for the show the next day. She also comments they are stationed at PDX. Your's truly opines that it probably would have been good if I had called the good old 1-800-WX-BRIEF before we left, but I hadn't. Any old fool could see what the weather was. Well, thanks for her insight (it was now 1 PM), I chose to show my ignorance and called PDX tower. Oh yes, they cheerfully replied, Hillsboro airspace would be shut down at 1:45.

You know, Astoria still has a very nice hamburger!!

Yours truly,

The dunce.!!
20KF

---Karen Fenton

Minutes/Notes From Last Meeting

Board Meeting Notes

4 present (Jerry, Al, Mike, Eric). A visitor from Seattle (Tony ??) Chptr 26 stopped in to see Charlie R.
We covered a few topics which are outlined below.

Revisiting Hangar Issue
Who was on the committee? Al D, Bill P, WarrenS
What were the objectives? To have a clubhouse which also generated enough revenue to pay for itself.
Who was the airport board meeting rep? Jim Ylvisaker, does he want to continue to do this?
A very good article about starting your own hangar available on EAA web site.
What caused the issue to drop before? We don't have enough money to pursue anything seriously yet.
How will we raise cash?
-- MikeL to contact SamA @ coffee stop

Fly-out committee
Since Jim wants to step down as the chair, we need to make sure we get someone else in that position.
We have been invited to the Burger Burn @ Pierce County.
Establish names/participants. Make sure everyone knows a fly-out can be instigated by anyone. The fly-out phone list is on the web page. Anyone who would like a hardcopy, let Eric Hoppe know.

Historian
How is this going? Do we need to stir up enthusiasm?
Would the web page be a good venue for the documents?
Does Bev need some help?

Membership
We should work harder getting new members. We need a main PR person to head this up. What are some good ideas to make this happen?

Audit
Harry Blair, Terry Creamer still need to complete the audit of the previous year's books.

Dues Structure
lightly discussed... what are the national standards, what should ours be, should we offer lifetime memberships, etc.

Election Issues
We need to get a nominating committee together asap since nominations need to be made soon in order to have elections by October. There should only be one position up for election this year - Member at Large - currently held by Mike Lewis. We need to check last October's minutes to get a better idea. It's a good thing those minutes are readily accessible on the web page!!

Upcoming program ideas:
Australia flightseeing trip presentation

Club Meeting Minutes

16 present , 3 officers, Tony from Seattle is guest

Review of board meeting topics (see above)
- funds raiser
- burger burn
- a call for historian help
- membership drive... Jerry to try to get a zip code list from national EAA for 'hidden' members in the surrounding area. Hoppe to help with mass mailing
- audit - Harry/Terry to do it
- nominating committee - 1 person (Gary, Charlie, George). They should be talking to Mike soon as to his interest in being nominated for the Member at Large position again.
- Bev to help w/ annual dinner ideas?

Finances
$321.99 in checking, $4430.83 in the building fund, $7181.24 in the CD.

RV-6 for sale by Joe Hennesey. See the Classifieds section.

Aus presentation next month?
Also looking for coast guard presenter to give the talk on the history around Astoria in November.

The Program

Everyone met at Fernando's house to look at his RV-8. As humble as Fernando is, his project looks fantastic!! his workmanship is impeccable. He can see the light at the end of the tunnel and should have it ready to fly very soon.

Calendar of events

Next Meeting: Thursday, September 5th at the FBO in Kelso.

Meetings are usually held the first Thursday of the Month,  7:00 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, they are held at Kelso Flying Service located on the east side of the Kelso airport. Everyone is welcome! Bring a friend!

Board Meeting

The board meeting will be held at the FBO at 6:00 on the same evening as the regular meeting. All are welcome.

Upcoming Program

Next Meeting is Australia Night, September 5th!
Come and hear about the biggest fly-out our Chapter has ever had. Pictures, stories, maps and more.

Tech Visits / Project Updates

Classifieds

Please Note!!! All classifieds will start to bear a date. After they have been in the newsletter for 3 publications, they will be moved to the classifieds section of the EAA 1111 web page. Thank you in advance for alerting the editor when and if your ad can be removed.

Buy, Sell, and Swap your stuff here!!! Please keep your editor informed of any status changes for the following listings.

Joe Hennessey's RV-6 For Sale: click here for pictures

Thank you for inquiring about my airplane project!

All the metal work is complete, engine is mounted, and sliding canopy and windshield are installed. The following is a list of misc. parts that will be sold with the plane. I will forward pictures with this e-mail.

Price $29,500

Thanks,
Joe Hennessey
If interested call 360-578-9573

George Robertson is wanting to sell his Davis
Built by Harmon Lange. George has about $6k invested in the engine rebuild and is interested really in recouping those costs. He would be interested in making a deal with someone from the chapter. More info to come from Jerry. "I will call George Robertson about his plane. I know he wants to sell it and I think it could be easily flown out of Scapoose with only a weekend of engine installation and run up check. If I am able to talk to him soon, I will sumarize the sales pitch in the newsletter. --Jerry"

"I talked to George on May 27th about the sale of his plane. He would make a good deal to someone in the chapter. The engine is fresh majored and a new prop is provided. If a prospective buyer can acquire the services of an A&P, the engine and nosegear could be re-installed by the buyer, the plane given a complete condition inspection by the A&P, and flown to its new home. NOTE, this means the A&P has determined the aircraft to be airworthy, not just looked at! FYI, only the original builder with a repairman's certificate or an A&P or higher rated inspector can perform the condition inspection for the life of the aircraft. --Jerry" posted 01JUN02

Monthly Funny

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by US Air Force pilots and the replies from the maintenance crews. "Squawks" are problem listings that pilots generally leave for maintenance crews.

Problem: "Left inside main tire almost needs replacement."
Solution: "Almost replaced left inside main tire."

Problem: "Test flight OK, except autoland very rough."
Solution: "Autoland not installed on this aircraft."

Problem #1: "#2 Propeller seeping prop fluid."
Solution #1: "#2 Propeller seepage normal."
Problem #2: "#1, #3, and #4 propellers lack normal seepage."

Problem: "The autopilot doesn't."
Solution: "IT DOES NOW."

Problem: "Something loose in cockpit."
Solution: "Something tightened in cockpit."

Problem: "Evidence of hydraulic leak on right main landing gear."
Solution: "Evidence removed."

Problem: "DME volume unbelievably loud."
Solution: "Volume set to more believable level."

Problem: "Dead bugs on windshield."
Solution: "Live bugs on order."

Problem: "Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces a 200 fpm descent."
Solution: "Cannot reproduce problem on ground."

Problem: "IFF inoperative."
Solution: "IFF inoperative in OFF mode."

Problem: "Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick."
Solution: "That's what they're there for."

Problem: "Number three engine missing."
Solution: "Engine found on right wing after brief search."

Officers and Committee Chairpersons

Dues

January is the month to make sure you renew your everlasting support to the club!!! Please take care when writing out your checks and lets not have everyone rush Mr. Drewry at once! Dues are $24.00 per year. If you join midyear, they are pro-rated $2.00 per month. Send dues to treasurer Al Drewry. Include your National EAA number, as the Chapter 1111 bylaws require it for membership.

From the Editor

Now that we have our own domain on the web www.eaa1111.com,we have lots of room for pictures and such. Please don't be shy and let's get some pictures of projects published!!! If anyone has anything they would like to share, (a nice trip, lessons learned from flying or building, project status, or whatever) please don’t be shy. I would love to work with you to get your thoughts and ideas published. Your contributions make the editor’s job much easier and it makes for a better newsletter.

Although we will send the newsletter to you via ‘snail mail’, please seriously consider receiving it electronically via email as it saves the chapter significant amounts of money.