Chapter 1311 will try to list the aviation-related events in Indiana and surrounding states, plus the major events across the country. Do you know of an event that isn't listed? Please inform the newsletter editor to get it included.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 6:30 p.m., in the Operations Building at Hendricks County Airport, Danville IL. Program: TBA
Directions from Indianapolis:
Take U.S. 36 (Rockville Road) west past Avon.
Turn left (south) on CR 300 E (84 Lumber is on the SW) corner of the intersection.
At about 1/2 mile turn right (west) into the airport.
The operations building is straight back from the road.
On the Radar:
Classified Ads
BALCONY FOR SALE: Hangar balcony at 2R2 for immediate sale, $300, price includes moving to local site. Dave Clark 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net
AIRCRAFT PROJECT FOR SALE: Nearly complete Fisher Skeeter, ready to cover and assemble. Includes engine and propeller. Debbie Sullivan, 270-293-3515 or 270-759-9451.
ENGINE PARTS FOR SALE: Hartzell 69-inch constant-speed propeller, Woodward prop governor, plus parts for one additional propeller (from Lycoming 320 B3B); aluminum spinner for prop above; oil sump for Lycoming B3B (yellow tag) with intake tubes and new rubber hoses; oil sump for Lycoming O-290, oil sump for Lycoming 0-235. Chuck Leucht 765-481-9661 charlesleucht@sbcglobal.net
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: Cessna 170A, Imron paint, 1-piece windshield, slide out pull handles, hew headliner, door panels, baggage compartment, floor panels, firewall panel. King KLX 135 GPS/com, KT76A, XPDR, Sigtronics 4-place intercom, single channel EGT, vernier throttle and mixture, many new engine parts. AC TT 4465.88, ESMOH 559.22, ESTOH 506.3. Ernie Winters 317-996-3696 pr 317-727-6504, flywithwingsaseagles@yahoo.com
AIRCRAFT KIT FOR SALE: Sonex kit #115. Have everything but the skins. Kit not started so it could be either a tri-gear or taildragger. $8,000. Contact Fred Baldwin 317-354-6200 (cell phone), bladexz2@comcast.net
WANTED TO BUY: Used Rotax 912, Jabiru 2200 or Rotax 582 engine. Contact Mark Rinehart 317-745-2466, capt_riney@yahoo.com.
FOR SALE: Piper jumper cables in excellent condition (round plug type), $50 or make offer. Portable intercom, $20. Contact Larry Rush k9hxt@sbcglobal.net or 272-2153
WANTED TO BUY: Used 4-foot brake and 4-foot shear. Contact Troy Grover, 317-919-6594 (cell phone), rv6grover@sbcglobal.net
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: One-third interest in an RV-7A. Fully equipped for IFR, including autopilot and extended range tanks. Based at Eagle Creek Airport. $35,000. Contact Vern Sullenger at sullenger@iquest.net, cell phone 317-695-7929.
BUILDING PARTNER NEEDED: Partner for RANS S-19 project needed. Contact Mike Laurenzano at mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com, cell phone 317-201-5889
Editorial Section
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. 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 michaelandkatie1@comcast.net.
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Chapter 1311 Board of Directors
Newsletter editor: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
2009 Membership Roster
Did we miss anybody? Please let us know; we'll get it updated right away.
Membership Roster Updates Needed
October's Program
Snow flew to the Midwest about a month before the race to meet Cole. They had about 45 minutes to get acquainted then headed the separate ways. Just before the race, Judy had to fly back to Indiana to pick up Sheryl before departing to Denver, where the race was to begin. Snow didn't have an IFR rating but flew what Cole described as essentially "precision landings" in her Cherokee 140. She flew into Sheridan amid a storm.
Snow had just purchased a Garmin 496 and had it mounted on the yoke. She didn't even know how to use it when they started, so Cole did much of the hand-flying using the whiskey compass while Judy learned the intricacies of the Garmin and its satellite weather capabilities. There wasn't a lot more for Sheryl to do in the air but the trip generated a lot of paperwork for Judy. Judy showed Sheryl how to organize maps in the air and how to handle the forms for the Derby, making it all look easy.
The pair had to wait out the weather in Sheridan before heading to Centennial Airport in Denver. If they didn't arrive on time they would be disqualified from the race. On their first day, they only made it as far as Hannibal MO, where they stayed overnight. Cole says that everywhere they went they were treated well. She says that they even got assistance with self-serve fuel pumps!
From Hannibal they flew to Salinas KS, where they encountered pop-up thunderstorms. Cole got her first lesson in diverting to alternate airports. They went to one that was closed, and the closing wasn't in the NOTAMs.
They ended up at Forbes, where they checked the weather and estimated the flight time to Denver. While on the ground a cargo plane with 300 troops came in to eat. When they saw the amount of people piling out, they wondered if there would be any food left. They went into the restaurant and found out that they didn't even have a menu; the restaurant only served barbecue, beans and cole slaw. She says it was a nice lunch while waiting for the weather to improve.
On the next leg both yoke-mounted push-to-talk buttons quit working, creating a communication problem. Their next stop was in Colby KS. At 3 p.m. it was getting hot, and they weren't expecting to get to Colby until 5:30; the FBO was listed as closing at 5. They called in and asked if someone could stay and keep it open for them. The FBO reported that they were really open until 6 p.m.
At Colby they had to take off uphill. They were at 8,500 and "climbing" but the VSI said they were losing 200 feet per minute. The leveled off, leaned the mixture and got a bit more speed. They dove to pick up a bit more speed, climbed until it leveled off, and repeated the process. Cole says that it took them 40 minutes to climb 3,000 feet. By that time the sun was coming over the mountains and they couldn't see forward. Denver control dropped them when they were in the vicinity of their destination but they couldn't visually find the airport; Centennial was directly in front of them but they couldn't see it because of the sun. They used Snow's GPS to get as close as possible. Suddenly, an overhead cloud blocked out the sun and they found themselves on final to the runway!
At Denver Centennial they had three days of safety meetings before the race. One of the race rules was that they couldn't change anything on the plane once they were in, but they already had a problem with the push-to-talk switches. They couldn't get a new one delivered until the day of the race, and had to get permission to check the radio and rig up a microphone.
During the days before the race, Snow decided to recalculate the weight and balance. They decided to ship their baggage ahead to save weight, sending 60 pounds of personal belongings via FedEx to Iowa for the first leg.
Cole reports that the race crew exhibited a high level of precision getting 40 planes started and into the air without a mishap.
Before they started, another Cherokee 140 took off in front of them, wobbling over the runway in the thin air. Judy thought they would be OK but they still almost stalled over the runway. Cole reports that they were so low they saw people in the buildings waving to them. They were definitely having trouble climbing in the high density altitude. Compounding the problem, they required to have full fuel on that lef. Once they were at a safe altitude, Judy pulled the flaps and climb improved.
The race's first stop was in Liberal KS. Once again they had trouble taking off, as the air temperature was 110 degrees in June.
The next stop was in Sweetwater TX, where they got goodie bags. The pair continued to have trouble taking off in the oppressive heat. They modified their technique to simulate a short field takeoff, which worked better. Sweetwater was so hot that the asphalt on the ramp was melting, and she reported that they had to pick asphalt out of their shoes. They were drinking a lot of water, even resorting to pouring it over each other to stay cool. Sheryl taped an unused sectional char to the windshield for shade. While on the ground at Sweetwater the yokes got so hot that they couldn't touch them; they had to use paper towels to hold them.
Flying to Lufkin TX, the checked the sectionals for the minimum altitude to save time, as climbing would only slow them down. Even so, they often had to climb to get out of the summer turbulence. Finally arriving at Lufkin in the first day, they got a car and spent the night at a hotel.
The next day they were on to Russellville AR, then Grenada MS and Sparta TN. Sparta's airport was on top of a hill. They planned their altitude according to the sectional but had to go around a mountain, as she claims that the sectional was wrong for the minimum altitude.
Cole reported that every day the routine was flying all day for three days.
The next stop was Jacksonville IL. A prison was located just five miles from runway; Snow and Cole were told that someone from the prison shot at airplanes if they were too low. Believing this joke, they flew into Jacksonville a bit too high then had to sideslip to attempting a landing. The engine quit running while they were in the air. They turned on carb heat, switched tanks, etc., and got the engine restarted. They reported a power issue and had to go a go-around. Once again the engine shut off then restarted. They thought the problem was carb ice due to the high humidity and got a mechanic to look over the engine once they landed. Nothing apparently wrong. Judy then checked the fuel tanks and discovered that both were dry. They calculated their fuel close but the leg took longer than they planned with the diversions around the mountains.
When they had fuel problems over their approach into Jacksonville, another contestant was several miles out and in-bound, then had to divert and lost 5-6 minutes. Judy and Sheryl pleaded to the judges to give them more points but it didn't help. She said that all of the contestants were selfless in helping each other and in the interest of safety.
At Jacksonville they took full fuel to go to Racine. During that leg they had to deal with Chicago control, which was a real lesson in busy airspace procedures. They did a fly-by at Racine, which had a huge quarry by the runway; Sheryl had never flown over water before and now found them flying over Lake Michigan during the maneuver. Over the lake, they checked the weather on the Garmin and decided that they could make it to the last stop of the race, Atlantic IA.
Many times during the race, Cole told Snow that she "had people everywhere." On their way to Iowa, a storm cell moved into their path. They diverted around it and made it to Iowa. They often flew through a lot of turbulence. Finding an opening on the other side of the storm, they pressed on but another cell popped up. They got to the Burlington IA VOR, flew around the cell, flying their route via the needle. By the time they got around the second cell they picked up a strong tailwind, seeing 130 knots ground speed. Most of the trip they only manages 98 knots.
Arriving in Atlanta IA, they placed 20th out of 34 entries. The previous year Snow came in 28th so this was an improvement for her.
Cole says that the participating airplanes are handicapped by no-wind point-to-point timing. If they do better than the handicapping on the flight legs they get points. The top 10 finishers got cash prizes. The highest performing aircraft, and a winner, was a Bonanza. Since every aircraft was handicapped, winning the race was a matter of luck and strategy.
Sheryl says they often had to check which days they would get a tailwind or minimum headwind. Judy's strategy was to avoid climbing or even trying to maintain a precision altitude, She emphasized that they didn't want to waste time climbing.
The race's longest leg was to last one to Atlantic IA. The pair had to fight boredom over longs legs. Cole noticed lots of shiny things over Iowa; when they got closer they saw that they were windmills that were so new they weren't on the sectional. Some race pilots flew at 500 feet to gain time by not climbing. She commented that several times the sectionals didn't agree with what they saw out the window and disagreed with the scud-running strategy.
No experimentals were in the field this year. The least horsepower allowed is 150. No twins were allowed, either. Some of the pilots were WW-II ladies, who went directly from closing ceremony to Obama's presentation for WASPs. The oldest contestant was 92; youngest was 18.
Cole says that she and Snow will race again next year. They may fly Judy's husband's Bonanza. The 2010 race will be an east coast route, starting in Fort Myers FL. It will pass through Elkhart IN on the way to its final destination.
Other than the top finishers who may win some prize money, the contestants have to pay their own way. Cole and Snow were planning on about $2,500 each in expenses; when they completed the tour their shares came out to just $2,200 each.
Still, $2,200 is a lot of money for a postal worked. Cole tried to raise money for the flight. Since she worked at the Nora post office, she knew a lot of the customers there and went looking for contributions. While knocking on doors she found out that some businesses can't give cash but can give "things." She went to hotels, Subway restaurants, etc., for sponsors, and found out that there were a lot of legalities that prevented sponsorship. She got creative and held raffles for donated gifts contributed by restaurants and other business. Some of her postal customers asked what she was doing over the summer and she told them "air race." One customer who came in for a passport gave her a $100 bill. While Judy paid for her entire share out of her pocket, Sheryl only needed $400 of her own money. She says that she dropped postcards to everyone who contributed to her race.
Cole had no conflicts whatsoever with her partner. Snow always flew left seat; Cole flew right seat. That pattern even carried over when they would get to the hotel. Judy took the left towel and Sheryl took the right one without even thinking about it. The pair got along beautifully but not every team had such bliss. Some teams had people who were driving each other crazy, she says.
However the other teams got along, the caliber of people participating in the race was very high. Some of the contestants were scientists, one was an astronaut until NASA decided many years ago that it wouldn't let women fly in the space program. Another contestant had two Emmys for soap opera writing.
Although Cole's whole adventure took two weeks, she planned a three-week vacation for it. When she got home she had four days left and needed them for the break. The race has been quite an adventure for someone who claims to never have been out of her back yard.
Cole is getting ready to retire from the postal service at end of month. She'd like to work on her commercial pilot's license but hasn't had an opportunity to practice the maneuvers yet. Not knowing if she could continue to afford to fly on a retired postal worker's pension, she's begun looking for a job. Even in today's economic climate she's had three solid job offers, one expecting her to start even before she was finished at the post office. They've since counter offered, asking her to report to work on November 2!
Even though she'll have a new job next year, she still plans on flying in the Powder Puff Derby and she'll be looking for contributions again. Not certain if she'll have a computer and her current email address next year, she asks that potential contributors contact her by cell phone, 317-502-0202. She'll also be spending more time at Sheridan Airport. Stop in to wish her good luck on her next adventure.
Go back to Section 1
November 4, 2009 — TBA
December 1, 2009 — Holiday Party with HCAA
January 6, 2010 — TBA
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: Harmening High Flyer's Powered Parachute (owner deceased). Two place. 5 hours total time, 503 Rotax engine, includes skis, price negotiable based on fair market value appraisal. Chuck Long 317-417-1604 LoneEagleHDS@aol.com
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 1-765-483-9533 or send it as an email to michaelandkatie1@comcast.net.
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.
EAA Chapter 1311's newsletter is published by email notice on the 15th of each month, with a PDF version available on the chapter web site around the 20th. Newsletter contributors: Please email your material to the newsletter editor by the 14th of the month.
President: Dale "Gus" Gustafson, 1-317-293-4430, dalefaye@msn.com
Vice President: Doug Hatfield, 317-745-6691, hatfielddoug@hotmail.com
Secretary: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
Treasurer: Vern Sullenger, 1-317-839-8728, sullenger@iquest.net
Director: Dave Clark, 317-839-4500, davecpd@att.net
Director: Mark Eminger, 765-528-2146, tjemee@yahoo.com
Director: Dave Helton, 1-317-745-7916, davehelton@heltonssoc.com
Director: Chuck Long, 317-892-3146, LoneEagleHDS@aol.com
Director: Doug Moncreiff, 317-280-1621, cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net
Director: Gary Reynolds, 317-745-6223, n98gr@att.net
Director: Paul Vogel, 1-317-272-2106, p_vogel@sbcglobal.net
Current as of October 7, 2009
See our chapter roster online at http://www.eaa1311.org/memberroster.html
NAME EMAIL ADDRESS PROJECT(S) BERG, Paul ppberg@bluemarble.net RV-8 BRAAF, Bob bbraaf@msn.com Cessna 210-5 BUDNY, Skip skbudny@tds.net Mini 500 helicopter BUIST, Jim jimbuist@yahoo.com — BYRUM, Jon jbyrum@byrumarchitects.net RV-7A CHAPMAN, Jeff PoP6756@aol.com Piper Tri-Pacer CHAPMAN, Tom chapman.t@comcast.net 1957 Cessna 172 CLARK, David davecpd@att.net 1946 Aeronca Chief CRAWLEY, Dennis Crawley27@comcast.net Grumman Tiger CULLISON, Lowell flysew@yahoo.com Zenith STOL CH701 EMINGER, Mark tjemee@yahoo.com Christavia Mk1 GRIFFIN, Jim jimg@netcapade.net Questar Venture GROVER, Troy rv6grover@sbcglobal.net RV-10 GUSTAFSON, Dale DALEFAYE@msn.com Piper J-4 HATFIELD, Doug hatfielddoug@hotmail.com Zenair 640 HENDERSON, Robert robert_10215@msn.com Christavia MK2 HOWARD, Bob rhoward@comcastnet Looking at LSA JACOBS, Thomas lowdrag@criticalqracing.com Still looking KOPESCHKA, Dave iedvk@iquest.net Little Wing Autogyro KOPESCHKA, Steve stephen.j.kopeschka@rolls-royce.com Little Wing Autogyro LAURENZANO, Mike mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com RANS S-19 LeBARON, Tim tjlebaron@sbcglobal.net RV-4, Ercoupe LEUCHT, Chuck charlesleucht@sbcglobal.net RV-9A LEWIS, Jim jimlewis102@att.net RV-7A LONG, Chuck charles.long@allisontransmission.com Zenair 601 HDS MACKENZIE, Mark treetopflyer2506@yahoo.com RV-4 MELCHIOR, Dirk d-r-melchior@msn.com F1 Rocket MONCREIFF, Doug cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net JDT Hi-Max MOSSMAN, Michael michaelandkatie1@comcast.net Zenair 601 HDS PRINCELL, Rick GRPContracting@comcast.net GP-4 RAHM, Kenneth riptide757@aol.com — REYNOLDS, Gary n98gr@att.net RV-6A RINEHART, Mark capt_riney@yahoo.com Kolb Mark III Classic RUBERSON, Bryan bruberson@aol.com Aeronca Chief RULEY, Paul pbrmgr@comcast.net RV-7A SAALWAECHTER, John saalwaechter01@frontiernet.net V-tail Bonanza SNYDER, Jim jim.snyder1@comcast.net Cherokee 180 STUCKER, David DEStucker@TDS.net — SULLENGER, Vern sullenger@iquest.net Cherokee 140, RV-7A VOGEL, Paul p_vogel@sbcglobal.net Sonex VONDERSAAR, Bob rvondersaar@austin.rr.com Steen Skybolt VONDERSAAR, Teresa tvondersaar@ausin.rr.com Steen Skybolt WININGS, Jim winingsj@aol.com Rocket
If you changed your email address or internet service provider, please be sure to let the newsletter editor know of the new address. If you know of a chapter member who's changed their email address or is no longer getting the newsletter, please let us know. Contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
By Michael Mossman
Cicero IN resident Sheryl Cole, who is a postal worker in Indianapolis's Nora northside post office, got into flying a few years ago, taking her lessons at Sheridan Airport. She got her license then started working on an instrument rating last summer. She postponed the rating training when she got the bug to enter the historic Powder Puff Derby.
Cole reported that the Powder Puff Derby started in 1929 with Bobbie Trout, Amelia Earhart and others vying for honors; she says that nothing has changed since 1929 in the annual race. One of her fellow pilots heard about it and got her interested. Both were working on their IFR ratings at the time. Sheryl decided to go on-line and research the race. Sheryl started looking for a partner and got three responses. Judy Snow, from Massachusetts, was the only one that had the rights answers on her response. Besides, she spelled everything correctly, which told Sheryl that she paid attention to details.