I'm starting this monthly column while "babysitting" the airport up at Sheridan, Ind. I've had a hangar here since 1973, so this place is like my second home. The weather is not very good this a.m. The visibility is only two miles or less and the ceiling only 500 feet. The result of early morning fog, which is common this time of the year. All the early morning fly-in breakfasts become drive-in breakfasts, if you live fairly close to the location where they are held.
We have had many guests over the past few months and many people have expressed an interest in our organization. Look around and see if you have any friends, family members or acquaintance that are interested in aviation. Take the time to invite them as a guest to the next meeting. If you see somebody new, introduce yourself, welcome him or her, and invite them to sign up.
From EAA e-Hotline
September 14, 2006 - With mounting concern that some builders-for-hire and commercial providers are performing too much of the aircraft-building tasks when assisting clients, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on September 6 assembled the first meeting of the Amateur-Built Aviation Rulemaking Committee. EAA holds a key leadership position on this committee with one interest in mind: preserving the rights of amateur builders.
"With this much FAA scrutiny, our members' rights to build and fly their own aircraft are at risk. Those individuals and vendors who circumvent the letter and intent of the experimental rules are putting all amateur-building enthusiasts' privileges in jeopardy," said Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of industry and regulatory affairs, whom the FAA appointed as co-chair of the committee. Lawrence shares the committee's leadership with FAA Manager Frank Paskiewicz and Van's Aircraft CEO Richard VanGrunsven.
The meeting included 17 representatives of government, general-aviation groups, and aircraft kit manufacturers.
"Our participation and leadership on this committee provides an effective avenue for protecting the rights of our EAA-member builders, craftsmen, kit-assemblers, and restorers," Lawrence said.
In last week's meeting, the group refined its mission, distilling its broad purpose of examining the letter and intent of the experimental aircraft rules-the federal regulations on amateur building of aircraft-into several objectives:
- Investigate the effects of builder or commercial assistance on compliance with the "51% Rule," the stipulation that an individual must perform the majority of the construction tasks in building an experimental airplane;
- More precisely define the elements of the 51% Rule to ensure more uniform application and adherence across the industry;
- Explore opportunities for creating new amateur-building regulations, directives, advisory materials, and implementation strategies that would advance the represented groups' mutual interests; and
- Document findings and present them to the appropriate policymaking authorities.
The group's focus, then, will lie on the trend of builder or commercial assistance circumventing the intent of the regulations and thereby performing the majority of the construction tasks on behalf of the customer.
"In the meantime," Lawrence said, "we are counting on the amateur-building community to practice good peer-review and self-policing techniques. Cutting corners on the 51% rule is a disservice to the educational and recreational function for which the aircraft-building experience is intended.
"When amateur builders ensure that they perform the majority of the tasks, they are protecting not only their individual rights but also the liberties enjoyed by the entire experimental aircraft movement."
The Committee will take its next steps during a meeting scheduled to take place in November in Washington, D.C.
Aviation on the Web
The photos on this site are of larger-than-normal size (800x600 pixels) and are all arranged on the same page, so beware that visiting this site will take a very long time if you are not on high-speed internet. Because of the quality of the photos and that they are of some country that many of us may never see from a small airplane, we strongly recommend that you take the time to view it. See http://silvairehair2.home.comcast.net/072806/
(Editor's note: Do you know who authored this web site; we would like to contact them. We do not publish stories or photos without prior permission.)
Hitting the Fly-In Circuit
Let's see, what did they have there? How about a DC-3 (military version, C-47?) giving rides, the Boeing Harpoon, plenty of smaller warbirds, rescue helicopters, Sonexes, Zenairs, waves of RVs, an amphibian and an awesome mix of other homebuilt aircraft way too numerous to mention. To top it off, there were more Cessnas, Pipers, and Bonanzas than I could count. Hundreds of airplanes, all in one day, one place.
Gus says that Ray Johnson, the annual event organizer, begins planning the next year's Marion Fly-in/Cruise-in the day after the fly-in is over, and works on it practically every day throughout the year.
After watching the airplanes come and go and admiring the hot rods for a while (I really liked the three-wheeled cars), Chuck, Gus and I headed over to the main hangar for lunch. The folks there were wrapping up their "all you can eat" breakfast and hadn't yet started serving lunch. So we feasted on pancakes and sausage. Since they were trying to clean up for lunch, they practically dumped huge pans of pancakes and sausages onto our plates. Being the good conservationist that I had, I did my best to safely consume the extra food. Yummy!
The following Saturday (September 9), Boone County Airport members, Chuck Leucht, Chuck Long, Charlie Westerfield and I all headed down to McDaniel's Field in Martinsville for their fly-in. Once again, this was another fly-in that I hadn't attended before and it added a twist: McDaniel is listed on the St. Louis Sectional as "Hazardous." I'd never flown in there before, partially because of that warning. I was feeling game, and with my due inquiries, I was confident of the trip.
McDaniel is a 09-27 grass strip about 2,000 feet long carved into a corn field. The east end abuts directly with the southwest corner of Martinsville. It's so close to town that when on short final for 27 you fly directly over a Kmart parking lot and right by the drive-up window at a McDonalds. If your vent is open you can smell the food while descending. There are power lines over the east end of the strip and if goes downhill rather steeply, making touchdown and braking a dicey affair. But what got the "hazardous" on the map was the large white barn on the north side of the field. You'll get pretty close to it and some trees just before you touch down. But if you are in the habit of flying down the center of the runway and watch your airspeed the field is a piece of cake.
Long and Westerfield led the way in, and waited at the west end of the runway while Leucht and I slipped sharply over the power lines to the runway. The runway is too narrow for two airplanes to pass side by side, even if they had narrow wing spans like Zenairs or perhaps RVs.
After we taxied over to the hangars and hopped out, we were greeted by the McDaniels locals. The McDaniels regulars, mostly retired fellows, were still enthusiastic about aviation and loved talking about airplanes. We received the royal tour of the few old, small hangars and airplanes based there.
Now we all love airplanes, but the real draw is the food, and the folks there had it. They were grilling some delicious hamburgers and hot dogs, plus provided tubs of baked beans, potato salad and other delectable picnic foods and coolers of iced soft drinks and bottled water. There could be no excuse for leaving hungry. McDaniels fly-in was advertised as free, and they meant it. No donation jar could be found anywhere.
Alas, the attendance was pretty low while we were there. An RV-8 buzzed the field a few times but would not attempt to land (like I said, short and narrow but "piece of cake"). Just about the time we were ready to depart, Ron Lehrman flew in with this Smith Miniplane "Twitchy." And that's all we saw fly in that day.
Departing on 27 is an exciting affair. The east end of the runway looks like a ski slope. I thought that I might get off the ground in 75 feet, it looked that steep. But at the top of the hill, there's about 50 more feet to the fence that you absolutely do not want to taxi an airplane through; it's a guaranteed prop eater. So with our best short field take off procedure we launched down the ski slope and bounced along the runway to an unglamorous departure.
Our little trip into McDaniels was a bit like bush flying: short field, hazards at one end and sloping runway but it is safe a flyable if you mind your technique. There are some Cessna 150s and Cherokees based there, so most small airplanes can get in and out, no problem. Next year, weather permitting, try to make it to their fly-in; we'll see you there.
COMING UP:
No mention of local fly-ins would be complete without a recommendation to attend Noblesville's EAA Chapter 67 annual barbecue, scheduled for Sunday, October 8. Chapter 67 has hosted one or two successful fly-in pancake breakfasts each year for many years now, and have evolved their aero gourmet offering to the popular Chicken Barbecue that they've had for the past several years. More than just chicken; they'll have way too many food selections for your good. Be careful that your don't exceed your weight and balance for the way home. Once again, Maurice Hobson is leading the grill team. Maurice will be there long before the crack of dawn, firing up the grill and getting ready. Noblesville always attracts a wide assortment of aircraft owners, so be there to see the best and eat the best.
Project Update
Board of Directors Meet
Because the chapter incurs greater administrative expenses than per year than our dues cover, dues for 2007 will be $15 per family. As has been the case since the chapter started, all persons in the household who hold valid EAA memberships will be included in the chapter with your dues. The board also voted that any person who joins the chapter between now and the end of the year, their $15 dues will count for the remainder of 2006 and all of 2007.
The board voted to buy 50 used folding chairs and a rolling rack from Vern Sullenger's church. These chairs will be in need of a coat of paint. Volunteers are needed for a sanding and painting session, date and location to be announced.
To download a PDF copy of the board of directors minutes, see http://www.eaa1311.org/minutes.html
Members With the 'Right Stuff'
Support Our Servicemen
SERVICEMAN UPDATE NEEDED: In December of 2002 Jim Griffin joined Chapter 1311. Shortly before the war with Iraq started Jim signed back up as a Major with the Marines and has been serving in Iraq. He had been receiving the newsletter via email but this past couple of months the emails to him have come back as undeliverable. If anyone knows how to contact Jim, or knows of his whereabouts or of any way to track him down, please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie@tds.net.
Newsletter Publication Schedule
Get back editions of the newsletter at http://www.eaa1311.org. Click on the link "Members Only" at the left (no passwords required) then when the members Only page comes up click on the link "Newsletters."
Hendricks County Airport News
HCAA has a cookout scheduled for Saturday, September 23 at 5:30 p.m. Pork medallions are on the menu.
Boone County Airport News
Hangar Space: There are several hangar vacancies available. Anyone desiring to base an aircraft at the airport or use the maintenance hangar will be required to join the association. For more information contact Michael Mossman, association secretary, or see the website http://www.booneairport.org.
Young Eagles
Editorial Comments Sought
September 2006 newsletter continued onto Section 2
Larry Rush sends this link to a web site where the unnamed author documented his 2006 trip with another companion from central California to Oshkosh. Consisting of 50 excellent photographs and short captions, it is a fantastic chronicle of his journey in a taildragger Maule across the desert to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming then across Nebraska, Iowa and into Wisconsin, arriving at Oshkosh. After their stay at Oshkosh the pair headed northerly over Minnesota and across South Dakota, then back through Wyoming, up through Montana and southern Idaho and Oregon, and finally returning home to California. According to the captions, the flight home took six days.
By Michael Mossman
On Saturday, September 2, Chuck Long and I flew up to Marion IN in my Zenair for their annual Fly-in/Cruise-in. I hadn't been to their fly-in before so I didn't know what to expect, other than maybe a dozen or so airplanes and perhaps some of the locals with their cars. It was a very pretty day for flying so perhaps they'd have a good turnout. Good turnout became a huge understatement.
Chapter 1311 member Bryan Ruberson flew up earlier in his beautiful Aeronca Chief and parked in an honored position among the other Champs and Chiefs. There we met up with our fearless leader, Gus Gustafson, and talked about what makes a fly-in like this so successful.
One of the things that often makes fly-ins a risky proposition is weather; when the weather is bad you don't see many airplanes. Marion has figured that out and found another attraction for both good and bad weather: cars. I thought that the "Cruise-In" part was for people to just drive in. Wrong! They had a huge mix of antique automobiles, hot rods, trick trucks, custom motorcycles, three-wheeled vehicles, and even some antique tractors on display. If you were willing to step outside there was something interesting, beautiful or unusual no matter which way you looked. Fortunately this year, the weather was beautiful, too, so the attendance was high.
I could have stayed all day to photograph airplanes, autos and the myriad of motorcycles, and I talk all night to the builders and owners there. But the time came to head home, so Chuck and I climbed back into the "Zodie Rocket" (we like to pretend that it's really fast) and headed for home.
I give the folks at Marion an "A" for the great event. It was well organized, well attended and they had plenty of reasons for anyone to go there. The grounds were immaculate and the food was pretty good. Next year I'll be sure to come back.
On Saturday, September 30, Chapter 1311 members Ginger and Rich Davidson are hosing their tenth annual Wood, Fabric & Tailwheel Fly-in at Lee Bottom Flying Field (64I), located just outside of Hanover, Ind. If you like old airplanes, taildraggers, or any other airplanes for that matter, this is THE event to attend. It's grown every year to the point that the Davidsons were concerned that they wouldn't have the room to park any more airplanes. This year they've bought more property and have expanded the airplane so they should have plenty of room for aircraft. For more information contact Ginger or Rich Davidson at 812-866-3211 or e-mail at info@LeeBottom.com . Also, be sure to check out their website at http://www.leebottom.com/
In the March, 2004, edition of the Chapter 1311 newsletter, we reported on a custom BD-4 aircraft built by John Steere of Martinsville, Ind. Steere departed from Jim Bede's original design in a few novel and thoughtful ways. Most radical of those was his decision to use a supercharged Ford Thunderbird V-6 engine. Steere wrote an extensive article for Contact! Magazine on his engine conversion, and has since followed it up with a new article with more detail and updates on the modifications to keep the engine "in the green." Too lengthy to publish in this newsletter, Steere has allowed us to post a PDF copy of the article on the chapter website. Go to http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/steere_bd-4_update.pdf to download the file. Note that it is a 1.1 MB file. It's really worth the wait regardless of the download time.
Gus Gustafson led five of the board of directors in a meeting on Wednesday, September 6, just before the general members meeting. Among the items discussed were the upcoming chapter elections. Dave Helton, Glen Matejcek and Paul Vogel will be serving as the election committee. Also, Gus suggested changing the chapter bylaws so that elected officials serve two-year staggered terms. The idea is that with fewer positions being opened at any given year, it will be easier to recruit new officers. No action was taken on this discussion.
Recently, Chapter 1311 has had several new members join who have expressed an interest in learning to fly, building an aircraft, partnering in an existing aircraft, or were looking for a Tech Counselor or other aviation-related service or skill. While the newsletter editor knows most of you he doesn't know all about you. We'd like to offer to our members to opportunity for more of you to network with the new members and make your skills known.
Be sure let the newsletter editor know if any of our members or their families has someone in the service, especially if they have been called up for active duty. We'd like to recognize them and thank them for representing us so honorably.
In order to report on the monthly meetings and programs, and give adequate notice of the next month's schedule, the EAA Chapter 1311 newsletter is published by email notice on the 15th of each month. A PDF will be available on the chapter web site on or around the 20th of each month. Newsletter contributors: Please email your material to the newsletter editor by the 14th of the month.
Hendricks County Airport News
Dennis Crawley reported on the recent HCAA meeting and discussion of UL approval for 2R2. A letter of proposed operations requirements and procedures has been written by HCAA and is being reviewed by the various powers that be. The current controversy seems to center on the potential for conflict between the UL community that wants to operate at 2R2 and the turboprop A/C that BAA wants to utilize 2R2. Also, they would like the UL to use a grass runway adjacent to the pavement, but the new hangar construction is a higher financial priority than smoothing and grooming the turf. There is no news on the availability of Jet-A at 2R2 to support turboprop operations, and no news on an instrument approach procedure.
New member Phil Kingery crashed his ultralight "trike" aircraft while taxiing it late in August. The wind lifted the aircraft from the runway, and Kingery lost control trying to put it back on the ground. Kingery was pinned in the wreckage and had to be extricated by paramedics. Although he spent some time in the hospital, he is now recuperating and back to work. The trike was a total loss.
EAA Young Eagles Update: By newsletter publication date more than 1,261,899 Young Eagles have taken their first airplane ride.
If you have an opinion on any story that appears in the newsletter, or any other aviation-related issue, we want to read about it. We will make editorial space available for your responsible comment. Please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie@tds.net then send it to the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie@tds.net. Or just write what you wish and send it as an email.