Current as of February 14, 2007
| NAME | EMAIL ADDRESS | PROJECT(S) |
| BROYLES, John | JohnC-DELTA@worldnet.att.net | -- |
| BUDNY, Skip | skbudny@tds.net | Mini 500 helicopter |
| BYRUM, Jon | jbyrum@byrumarchitects.net | RV-7A |
| CLARK, David | davecpd@iquest.net 1946 | Aeronca Chief |
| CRAWLEY, Dennis | Crawley27@comcast.net | Grumman Tiger |
| GUSTAFSON, Dale | DALEFAYE@msn.com | Piper J-4 |
| HELTON, Dave | dhelton@iquest.net | Piper Tri-Pacer |
| HENDERSON, Robert | robert_10215@msn.com | Christavia MK2 |
| LATHROP, Steve | lathropdad@worldnet.att.net | BearHawk |
| LAURENZANO, Mike | mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com | Bushby Mustang II |
| LeBARON, Tim | tjlebaron@sbcglobal.net | RV-4, RV8, Breezy, Ercoupe |
| LEWIS, Jimmy | rudder4@aol.com | RV-7A |
| MATEJCEK, Glen | aerobubba@earthlink.net | RV8 |
| MATEJCEK, Robin | aerobubba@earthlink.net | RV8 |
| MONCREIFF, Doug | cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net | JDT Hi-Max |
| MOSSMAN, Michael | mmossman@fujifilmgs.com | Zenair 601 HDS |
| NG, Bart | bng@math.iupui.edu | RV-7A |
| SNYDER, Jim | jim.snyder1@comcast.net | Cherokee 180 |
| SHUMAKER, Kim | kkrv-9a@sbcglobal.net | RV-9A |
| STUCKER, David | d.j.stucker@worldnet.att.net | -- |
| SULLENGER, Vern | sullenger@iquest.net | Cherokee 140, RV-7A |
| VONDERSAAR, Bob | rvondersaar@austin.rr.com | Steen Skybolt |
| VONDERSAAR, Teresa | tvondersaar@ausin.rr.com | Steen Skybolt |
From December 31, 2006
| NAME | EMAIL ADDRESS | PROJECT(S) |
| BEETHAM, John | jabeetham@earthlink.net | Fokker D VII, Piper Dakota |
| CHAPMAN, Jeff | PoP6756@aol.com | Piper Tri-Pacer |
| CHAPMAN, Tom | tschapman1@aol.com | 1957 Cessna 172 |
| DAVIDSON, Ginger | planecrazy13@att.net | RV3 |
| DAVIDSON, Rich | ifitsoldillflyit@msn.com | RV3 |
| GRIFFIN, Jim | jimg@netcapade.net | Questar Venture |
| GROVER, Troy | rv6grover@sbcglobal.net | RV10 |
| HILL, Ken | khill5@indy.rr.com | RV-9A |
| KOPESCHKA, Dave | iedvk@iquest.net | Little Wing Autogyro |
| KOPESCHKA, Steve | stephen.j.kopeschka@rolls-royce.com | Little Wing Autogyro |
| LONG, Chuck | charles.long@GM.com | Zenair 601 HDS |
| MCCORD, PAUL | pfmccord@gmail.com | RV-4, Kolb FireStar LSA |
| MELCHIOR, Dirk | d-r-melchior@msn.com | F1 Rocket |
| NOLAN, Bill | -- | -- |
| REYNOLDS, Gary | n98gr@aol.com | RV6A |
| RINEHART, Mark | capt_riney@yahoo.com | Kolb Mark III Classic |
| ROBBINS, Will | werobbins@flightline.com | -- |
| ROEVER, Doug | dmroever@iquest.net | RV-7 Tail kit |
| ROLDAN, Erick | Phone 765-482-7287 | Ducted fan research |
| ROTTLER, Mark | mark@rottler.org | -- |
| RUBERSON, Bryan | bruberson@aol.com | Aeronca Chief |
| RUSH, Larry | k9hxt@sbcglobal.net | RV6A, RV-8 |
| SHULL, Kenny | Phone 317-539-5542 | Helping Others |
| UTLEY, Ted | ted.utley@in.ngb.army.mil | -- |
| UTTERBACK, Tom | Phone 317-839-2505 | -- |
| VOGEL, Paul | pvogel@indy.rr.com | Sonex |
See our chapter roster online at http://www.eaa1311.org/memberroster.html
Did we miss anybody? Please let us know; we'll get it updated right away.
Aviation Humor
Airplane Spotter
The original Cri Cri ("cricket") aircraft was designed to be powered by two chainsaw-style engines turning direct drive propellers.
Interesting topic for debate: It's too fast to be an ultralight, so do you need a twin rating to fly it? How about a turbine rating, since it has jet engines?
Quote of the Month
February's Program: Aviation Art
The first step is to open the photo in a photo processing program. I use Adobe Photoshop for Macintosh. I will crop the photo to bring the aircraft into the foreground, then clip out all of the background so that only the subject remains. Sometimes I have to flip the photo over so that the airplane points in the direction that I want.
After the photo is prepared, I use a computer illustration program called Freehand, which is for Macintosh. I start a new file, then place the photo on a layer that I name "scan layer." On top of scan layer I start a new layer called "drawing layer." I do all of my illustrations over the scan layer, which helps me to get the proportions correctly.
The drawings are PostScript vector-based art, which is a lot like a legal description of a piece of real estate. The vector defines the perimeter of the object: start at a point, go in an intended direction so many units, turn x-number of degrees, follow a curve, etc., back to the point of beginning. Once the vector is fully defined, I can assign a thickness and color to the vector, and add fills and textures to the object.
This type of drawing technique uses palettes, which can be added to at any time, and modified at any time. So if I define a color for something and find out later that it doesn't match, I can edit the palette, which makes the colors in the drawing update automatically.
Once the drawing is complete, I print it on a color ink jet printer or a color laser printer and compare it to the photo and often to the original aircraft. I often have to make adjustments to the colors, and occasionally need to take extra photos for details that weren't apparent in the photos that I started with.
When I am satisfied that the illustration meets my standards, I like to make little animations of them. The first step is to make three copies of the propeller in various positions. Next, I delete the propellers and take a screen shot of the drawing. I put the propellers back, remove the airframe, then take screen shots of the propeller in each of the three positions. Now I have four screen shots: one of the airframe, and three of the propellers. I open the airframe screen shot, which is really a digital photo taken by the computer's graphics card, into a program called Adobe ImageReady. Next, I open each of the propeller screen shots in ImageReady and paste them onto the airframe photo into separate layers. Each propeller screen shot is moved into its proper position. Finally, I make a three-step animation, which has the bottom layer turned on in all cells, and in each of the cells only one propeller position is shown. Set the program to "continuous," and the animation comes to life. From there I export an optimized GIF file, which can be imported into an email or web document.
Roy Dawes did an incredible amount of work on my airplane. I could never get Roy to tell me how much I owned him for the many things that he did or provided. I couldn't repay him with work on his projects, so I did a drawing of his beautifully-restored Piper Apache. Later, he and his father bought a Piper Colt and a Piper Cherokee that they also restored, so I drew them, too.
At Boone County Airport, Bill Wilson recommended that we have photographs on the office wall of all of the based airplanes on the field. I started with photos, but decided that I liked the drawings better so I started do few of them as time allowed. We've got about 20 of them on the wall in the Operations Building at Boone County Airport. We call it the "Wall of Shame." Many of those airplanes are no longer based on the field.
Over the past several years, I've done between 30 and 40 drawings. They seem to get harder and harder each time I try one, as I am looking for more details, and am working more to make the drawings look more photo realistic.
I like to do drawings of homebuilt aircraft, and have done many RVs, Zenairs, and other home builts. I've done a few ultralights; there's just an incredible amount of detail work to do on an ultralight, so I'm not too enthusiastic about starting another.
Many of the drawings are gifts. I did the drawing of my Zenair for my uncle, who has been one of my biggest supporters over the years. I took a photo of my Zenair and did the drawing, then added the exploded drawings from the plans to the background. I had to flip my original drawing, then fix a few flopped details, such as the N-number and cowling flames. I printed the drawing, framed it and gave it as a Christmas present.
Go back to February 2007 newsletter Section 1
"Lady, you want me to answer you if this old airplane is safe to fly? Just how in the world do you think it got to be this old?" - Jim Tavenner (from Columbus IN EAA Chapter 729 newsletter)
Chuck Long offers this Aircraft Spotter information: "Thought you would be interested in taking a look at this. Chris Heinz offered the Cri Cri design in the United States and Canada for a number of years. He must have known the French Designer personally. I followed the Cri Cri design in the Zenith Aircraft Company newsletters since I have the whole newsletter collection. This design died very suddenly when they were unsuccessful at solving the aileron flutter problems. I haven't heard anything about it since, except for these new pictures with the jet engines. Have you seen any at the fly ins? It was fully aerobatic and I'm sure the jet engines would make it a hoot to fly."
"Don't give me a P-39, With an engine that's mounted behind. It will tumble and roll, And dig a big hole. Don't give me a P-39." From a song quoted in Amelia Earhart' Daughters, by Leslie Haynsworth and David Toomey
By Michael Mossman
I got my start doing aviation art a few years ago while trying to design a flyer for a Chapter 1311 event. I wanted to use a photo of a chapter member aircraft but I didn't like the way that the photo turned out in the flyer. So I started drawing Gary Reynolds' RV-6A. Once I had the drawing completed I pasted it into a flyer that I had in progress.
I start my illustrations with a photo of an airplane that I like. It can be either from a digital camera or I can scan an analog photo. I prefer to use my own photos as starting points, and try to stay away from copyrighted material.
When I was building my airplane, I had many friends step up and help me complete it. They wouldn't take any compensation for their efforts so I needed a way to thank them. My first was recognizing my tech counselor, Glen David. I started with a drawing of his Sonerai.
Wayne Deckard also contributed an awesome amount of time helping me with the systems on my airplane. I decided to take on his Twin Commander next.
One funny story was about the Cessna 170s that were on the field for many years. I drew Maurice Hobson's 170. Later, I wanted to do this other one. Every time the owner had it out for me to take a photo, his wife had other ideas of how she wanted things to be done, so I never could get it right. So I ended up taking the drawing of Maurice's airplane, flipping it left to right, and recoloring it. I had a few details to fix, but otherwise it turned out acceptable.
Sometimes the drawings have some practical purposes. I did the drawing of Troy Grover's RV-6 for his web site, and did a couple of animations from the drawing.
My last drawing was one that I've wanted to do for quite some time, and it was also my biggest challenge. I wanted a Lake Central DC-3 for Gus's newsletter column so I knew that I was going to have to draw one. I emailed Faye and asked her to find me a color photo of a Lake Central DC-3. I knew that Gus would never check the email. Their daughter found this photo and gave it to me. Since it came from the web it wasn't clear enough for a drawing but it did help me figure out where on the aircraft the trim paint went. I found this DC-3 photo in an aircraft spotter's book so I drew this airplane using the paint scheme from the web photo. To get the real details, I went to this exploded drawing from a book. Since this drawing got to be a lot of work I decided to print it and use it for something to prompt Gus into a program at the Christmas party.