September's meeting
September's meeting was held September 2, 2009, 6:30 p.m., outside the Operations Building at Hendricks County Airport, and chaired by Chapter President Dale Gustafson.
In Attendance: John Broyles, Skip Budny, Tom Chapman, Dave Clark, Mark Eminger, Bob Henderson, Dale Gustafson, Chuck Leucht, Jim Lewis, Dirk Melchior, Doug Moncreiff, Michael Mossman, Gary Reynolds, Bryan Ruberson, John Saalwaechter, Jim Snyder, David Stucker and Vern Sullenger. If you were there but we didn't record it, let us know.
Guests: Shawn Edlund and Dave Parks. Edlund is a controller at Indianapolis International Airport and a team leader with the ZID Operation Raincheck. Parks is an instructor at Chautauqua Airlines on the Embraer 170.
Project reports: Chuck Leucht reported that all he had left to do on his RV-9A project is get the paperwork complete for the FAA inspection. He has been working for two years on the airplane. It was a kit that was partially completed, then the original owner gave up on the project. Leucht swapped the plane's Mazda engine for a Lycoming 320, which he had to re-build. Skip Budny reported that his group is still working the H-model Huey, which will fly later this month. The group is accepting memberships at Indy Air Rescue; members will get a ride in the Huey. The group also has two DC-3/C-47 aircraft, which will be flying museums. They are currently in Georgia.
New Business: Shawn Edlund, a controller at Indianapolis International Airport, is a team leader with the ZID Operation Raincheck. The teams are developing programs, which will be up to two hours long and can are presented in a town hall format to pilots underlying the Indianapolis Center's airspace. They will discuss subjects like Aviation Meteorology, operating in the Air Route Traffic Control Center environment, Runway Safety, System Operations, and the FAA Grass Routes Initiave. The safety briefings will qualify for the WINGS program. Edlund says the controllers still want people to come to the new control tower facility and see it. Programs will be given by controllers. For more information contact Edlund at shawn.m.edlund@faa.gov or 317-247-2243, or Tim Travis at timothy.j.travis@faa.gov, 317-247-2243.
President's Remarks: The HCAA's monthly meeting was just held recently, and they discussed looking at a new building or mini barn for storage. They will need to check costs and getting permission to building something on the airport property. Dennis Crawley was instrumental in getting the current one built, so they want to consult with him..
Vice President's Remarks: None given.
Secretary's Report: None given.
Treasurer's Report: Vern Sullenger reports that the chapter has $2,303.88 plus $54 in cash to deposit..
Tool Box Report: Gary Reynolds reported that the second tool box is in service at Vincennes University. The first set needs some sheet metal tools replaced.
Young Eagles Report: None given
50/50 Drawing: Mark Eminger won half of the $34 collected and donated his winnings to the chapter he also won a mug from Oshkosh. After the 50/50 drawing, Jim Snyder won a mug from Oshkosh
Program: The planned program, which was a visit to Paul Vogel's Sonex project, was cancelled.
To get a downloadable PDF membership application see http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/membership_application.pdf
Project Report
The IASAR is accepting memberships and is soliciting volunteers. Memberships are available for individuals and families, which are renewed annually in September, and lifetime memberships are available. Benefits include a scheduled ride in the Huey helicopter every year, Volunteer First opportunities, membership car, invitations to special events, discounts on IASAR merchandise, newsletters and email alerts. Visit their website at http://www.iasar.org. If you are unable to download an application, you may also download an application at http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/IASAR_application.pdf.
Ask Your Tech Counselor
I stopped in at the Warp Drive booth at Oshkosh this year to ask them about the proper procedures for adjusting their propellers. I was told that Warp Drive propellers are flat on the trailing surface, so there should be no problem getting their protractor properly placed on the blade. The solid part of the protractor contacts the rear face of the blade and the flexible part wraps around the front face. Further, the protractor is always located at the tip, never inward. If all blades are the same length (and they should be), then the protractor will be accurate.
The guy at the Warp Drive booth told me that the aircraft owner's manual would have a recommended static RPM for full throttle. Recalling my experience setting my propeller, we tied the aircraft down and ran the engine to full throttle. We wanted to see about 5,200 RPM as a starting point. If the RPM went higher, we added pitch; if it was too low, we took a bit of pitch out. This gave sufficient climb for a safe test flight without risking overspeeding the engine.
Hitting the Fly-In Circuit
I dropped into the left pattern on left downwind for runway 9 , announcing my intentions. A Cessna was on short final when another Cessna announced that it was departing the same runway, so the Cessna on final had to do a go-around directly over the departing airplane. No harm, no foul, but definitely not cool. There was a gentle breeze wafting down runway 9, so my touchdown consisted of a barely audible "chirp."
New Castle's airport is a quiet little country airport a few miles south east of town with an east-west paved runway. They have some old communal hangars with sliding doors, plus a couple of modern maintenance buildings. The airport abuts a country road, and has some nice shady trees on the property. An old, pretty farm house is directly across the road, giving the field a friendly, serene country setting.
The New Lisbon Lions Club was serving an excellent lunch in the clean maintenance building, consisting of pork chops, cheese potatoes, green beans apple sauce, bread and a choice of desserts (at extra cost), plus iced tea or lemonade. Sodas were available for a buck. They also had a pork chop sandwich or and a few other items available at a lower price. All proceeds were for their Lions Club scholarship fund.
I have to admit that this was the strangest fly-in that I ever attended. Other than the guy who made me move my airplane, no one spoke to me. I sat down to eat and no one came around, except perhaps to take a chair that I didn't appear to be using. The flyer advertising the event claimed to have aircraft on display. There were four twins out on the ramp, including a Beech 18, and also a Piper Cub. Clarian Hospitals had a Lifeline helicopter on static display, but the only airplane that flew in during the hour I was there was mine. I walked up and down the hangar rows, which were almost all closed. A couple of guys had their Quad City Challengers out and were working on an engine. I got the evil eye as I walked past, camera in hand. I said "hello" but no one said a word, not even a nod or a grunt. The only apparent activity was distributed among the two or three airplanes that were hopping rides for the few folks in line.
After a while, I decided that no one was coming to the fly-in so I hopped back in N905KM, fired up and taxied back to runway 9. I announced my "goodbyes" over the UNICOM, departed the pattern and headed home. I climbed up to 3,500 MSL and got a gentle push from the tailwind. The visibility improved to about 20 miles or so and still no clouds in sight. I did a couple touch and goes on the grass at my home field (6I4) then shut down for the day. All-in-all, a great day to go flying, eat some good food and look forward to the fun in the coming weeks.
Coming up: Kokomo's Glenndale Days on September 18-20, Wood Fabric & Tailwheels fly-in on Saturday, September 26, with the season unofficially concluding on Sunday October 11, with the always-delicious fall barbecue at Noblesville. Oh yes, there are a lot more events within an easy flying distance filling in the rest of the weekends. I hope to see you at some of them.
Correspondents Needed
We are looking especially for correspondents for some of the upcoming fly-ins. If you are heading to any fly-ins this year, would you please consider submitting a story and photo or two about the event? The newsletter editor will be out of town on Labor Day weekend and will not be able to cover the Marion fly-in. We'd love to hear about it and hope that one of our members or readers will be there and write about it. Please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net.
Chapter 1311 Builders' Local Resource Directory
Check out our online directory at http://www.eaa1311.org. Click on the link "Homebuilder's Resources" on the left. Note that all resources listed are merely suggestions; as a chapter we do not endorse any of them. Our recommendation: "Caveat Emptor" (let the buyer beware).
Boone County Airport News
Hangar Space: All hangars are now rented. The club will post a waiting list for available hangars and will consider building new ones to accommodate new members. Anyone desiring to base an aircraft at the airport or use the maintenance hangar will be required to join the club.
Young Eagles News
Newsletter continued on Section 2
Web Newsletter in Two Sections
The web newsletter is divided into two sections to take some of the sting out of the download time. If you receive only one section of the newsletter, or if the sections you receive are missing the embedded photo attachments please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net. The PDF version that gets posted on the website will remain as one file. See http://www.eaa1311.org/newsletters.html to download a PDF newsletter.
Welcome New Members
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.
Indiana Air Search and Rescue's H-Model Huey Helicopter
Chapter 1311 member Skip Budny is a member of the Indiana Air Search and Rescue, Inc., and has been heavily involved in the restoration of a H-model Huey helicopter. Budny reports that the Huey will be ready for flight in September 2009.
IASAR member Tom Foreman, Jr., reports: "Here we are doing the weight and balance last night. Really pretty straightforward and not difficult. Had to set up a spacer board to pick up on the front cross-tube, but we are right on, a little nose heavy, but well within tolerances, so we can add aft weight (passengers) and be fine.... Basically, for those of you that don't know, we used 3 aircraft jacks with a load cell on each (which is basically an electronic scale that gives a weight, once zeroed) at predetermined distances on hard points of the airframe to get a reading on the gross weight of the aircraft and where the weight is distributed to determine the center of gravity of the aircraft. This is important so we can see how much we can carry in additional load of fuel, people, cargo, etc and where we have to put in inside the aircraft to still be able to safely fly and be balanced."
By Michael Mossman
I received an email from an elderly gentleman who bought a used CGS Hawk ultralight and inquired as to the proper way to set the propeller pitch. I had written an article on setting propeller pitch and "invented" a few tools to assist in setting pitch. He asked if this device could be used on his Warp Drive propeller. The short answer was "yes," it could work, but the aircraft owner would have to do more work than necessary.
If you have a Warp Drive propeller, then the easiest way to set propeller pitch is to use their low-cost protractor and follow their recommendations. Other propellers won't be so easy. If you have a wood propeller, like I have, it will likely have a curved rear face and will take a bit more effort to be sure that you are measuring the pitch of each blade in the same position. Download a reprint of the article that appeared in the June 2006 edition of the Zenith Aircraft newsletter for detailed instructions, photos and drawings at http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/prop_adjustment.pdf.
By Michael Mossman
This month's edition of Hitting the Fly-In Circuit was going to be a bust. The weather had been great for many weekends, and there were lots of events to attend but my family schedule had been booked pretty far in advance. I didn't think that I would hit any of them for an entire month. But someone happened to post a flyer for New Castle IN for Sunday, September 13. It looked like fun so I headed out to the airport later that morning. Since it was a last-minute posting I didn't have time to organize a fly-out or look for a passenger so I headed out solo that bright morning.
I departed at about 11:30, so it was already starting to get warm out. The visibility was about 15 miles at that time, without a cloud in the sky. Predictably, the air was rather rough. I cruised over at about 3,000 MSL into a slight headwind and got bounced around the entire trip.
New Castle's runway 9 has a curious feature: a barn situated smack dead on the extended runway centerline. On final it looks rather intimidating, so I flew off center until I got past it. But it really isn't that high and it's several hundred feet away from the runway. If you approach with a normal glide path you'll be OK. Get too low and you could find yourself on "America's Funniest Videos."
I followed a Cessna to the grass area beside the main hangar, shut down and hopped out. One of the guys there came over and told me that the area was reserved for airplanes that were giving rides and I had to move "over there." Where is over there, I asked. He waved his hand at the runway. I asked specifically, so he said over there by the big pine tree. I hopped back in, fired up and taxied over to the pine tree.
When I got in line at about 12:15, there was no waiting, as only one or two persons were in front of me. By about 12:30 quite a few more people had arrived. The maintenance building's tables were nearly full but the line never got any longer than just a few people. It was a great day for a hungry pilot: beautiful weather, good food and no waiting. The only thing missing were a group of pilots to hang out with and talk to.
Chapter 1311 is always looking for correspondents and contributors to our monthly newsletter. Whenever you have a story or photo that would be of interest to our readers, we would like to publish it.
Start thinking of the places where you locally buy for AN hardware, sheet metal, paint, tools and other items. We'll need an address, phone number and web site, if they have one. Be sure to let us know if you would recommend them to others or not. The idea here is that members should be able to look to suppliers that you trust and would continue to do business with. Please forward your ideas and recommendations to Michael Mossman at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
Transactions: Vern Samuels sold his Cherokee 140/160, which has been moved to its new home. Vern and his father still have a Navion on the field. Greencastle resident and new club member John Dick brought his Stinson 108 to the field on Saturday, August 29.
EAA Young Eagles Update By newsletter publication date more than 1,491,571 Young Eagles have taken their first airplane ride.