The next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 3, 6:30 p.m., at Hendricks County Airport. Program: Shop visit at Grov-Air
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:
Newsletter Contribution Needed
Classified Ads
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
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
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
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
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: 1964 Cherokee 160/180 3473 TTAF, 2056 TTE, 85 SMOH. STC'd to 180 hp O-360-A1A w/Hartzell C/S prop. Full 4-adult airplane. KX155 w/glide slope, KY97A, KT96A, ARNAV R-20 Loran, ADF, electric compass, encoding altimeter, 4-place intercom. Always hangared, well maintained and cared for, 8+ in/out. Nov 2009 annual. $48,900. Based at 2R2. Jim Snyder, 317-430-7172. See pics on Trade-A-Plane.com.
AIRCRAFT TOOLS FOR SALE: Larry Rush is getting out of aviation and has some tools to sell. Contact at 317-272-2153 or k9hxt@sbcglobal.net for more information.
PARTNERSHIP AVAILABLE: 1966 Mooney M-20C $20,000. For details, Mike Laurenzano 317-201-5889 or mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com
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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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Newsletter editor: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
2010 Membership Roster
Members through December 31, 2009
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Membership Roster Updates Needed
February's program
Sullenger commented that he was a one-third owner of an RV-7A, in partnership with Jon Byrum and Bart Ng. The group needed to do three "first flights," as all three partners needed to test the airplane. Prior to the first flight, they needed to procure insurance for the homebuilt. They finally found a company that would cover them on the first flight, but it did require several hours in type for coverage to be in effect, so they went out of state and flew with another RV owner. Vern recommends that a builder should check out insurability first or very early in the building process. The well-known aircraft built in large numbers are usually insurable while the unknowns or those without a safe documented flight history are much harder to insure.
Jim Winings, a veteran of 11 first flights, says that the test pilot should get experience in type before the first flight. Being qualified for the first flight is critical, as he states that private pilot's licenses and experience in type certificated airplanes don't get the pilot ready for a test flight in a homebuilt. He once tried to help get a flight instructor transitioned to an RV and had a lot of trouble. The instructor was "all over the place" as he was continually overcontrolling. The RVs are much more responsive than the aircraft that private pilots usually fly.
Along the subject of controllability, Sullenger added that he took his wife Lou for a ride many years ago when they were dating, and since then she has always liked to go flying with him. She will occasionally take the controls of their Cherokee while he is looking at chart but she doesn't really care for the way the Cherokee handles. The first time she took the controls of the RV-7A she did well and really likes it. She had no tendency to overcontrol at all. Perhaps experienced pilots have some habits to unlearn.
Leucht didn't have access to an RV for transition training but he did have an opportunity to fly a bunch of different aircraft to get current and ready. He had some time in a Cessna 150, a Piper Cherokee 140, a Piper Colt and others just before his first flight. He didn't have any problems with the control sensitivity has he had flown some other homebuilts but was surprised by the performance and found himself at much higher altitudes than he planned. It also too a lot longer to get the airplane slowed down and configured for landing.
Winings claims that all homebuilts fly different, even the RVs, which are usually very close in their construction and characteristics. So even if you get some experience in type, you will have some adjusting to do to get used to your new homebuilt.
Sullenger guided the discussion to handling in-flight problems or emergencies with the first flight. Bart Ng flew the first "first flight" of their RV and discovered that the air speed indicator didn't work. He flew a nice pattern and brought it in for a safe landing. They fixed the problem then later Vern took it up for his first flight, finally followed by Byrum's first flight.
Winings first flew Norm Patrom's Playboy that had only a 65 H.P. engine. During the first flight the airspeed indicator showed 120 and the airplane stalled at 90 indicated, which he knew had to be way too fast. He knew that the airspeed indicator wasn't even close to being accurate.
Michael Mossman mentioned that on his first flight he didn't have enough pitch in the propeller so the engine would overspeed if he didn't keep his hand on the throttle. The aileron and elevator trims were way out so it was a handful on the first flight. He didn't do any other flight testing other than making one flight in the pattern and bringing it in for a landing to make some adjustments. He also had high oil temperature problems, which were solved with a new oil cooler.
Sullenger brought up the subject of engine break-in: what do you do on a first flight? Many engine manufacturers and rebuilders give a profile for the break-in, which is often full throttle for the first hour or so of operation. Vern's partnership left all of the fairings off of their RV-7A so they could run their engine hard during its first flights without going too fast. Winings stated that he had a high temperature problem on his Rocket during the first flight so he couldn't operate it at full throttle. He said that he was more interested in living than in taking care of the engine at that time. Leucht, who had recently rebuilt his engine with new cylinders and piston prior to installing it in his RV-9A, says that he didn't have the opportunity to run his engine hard in a break-in period but hasn't experienced any problems with it, including excessive oil consumption. One member commented that someone told him they never install a new engine in a homebuilt, as they want to work out the bugs before they have to break in an engine.
Because many engines need to be run at full throttle through the break-in period, Sullenger asked how many did any high-speed taxi tests prior to their first flight. Mossman mentioned that he had several hours of high-speed taxi tests while working out the ground handling problems with this airplane and learning how to control its sensitivity in pitch. He ballasted the airplane with barbell weights to keep it from floating off of the runway. His Rotax 912 engine didn't have the same break-in requirements of the Lycomings and Continentals. Most of the other members present said they didn't do high-speed taxi tests, although Leucht said that he did some.
The discussions eventually came to discussing who should do the first flight. Winings has done 11 for several reasons. He says that many instructors are not very good, and that a pilots should find one who is qualified your airplane. He added that things are different now then when he first started flying homebuilts. He says that years ago people built airplanes with lots of used parts salvaged from a variety of sources but most people built with new these days. Kit planes, especially the fast-build versions, make airplanes much more consistent these days. Mike Laurenzano commented that the local FSDO's Jim Murowski is seeing what he claims are some outstanding homebuilts, which should greatly raise the confidence of the builder in his first flight.
Even so, there are builders out there who are afraid that they will mess up their prized piece of workmanship. Laurenzano stated that the climax of homebuilding is doing the first flight yourself. He believes that the builders should prepare a flight profile to get ready for the first flight. He also challenged builders who do not know if they can handle the airplane they built. He asks, "if you can't handle it, why are you building it?" Finally, he asks, "if you don't think it is safe, why should someone else risk it?" Mike comments were documented in an article appearing the June 2004 chapter newsletter.
Following the discussion of first flights, Chuck Leucht showed a short video of his three first flights. Concluding the program, Winings said that he really enjoyed his experiences in the RVs.
Go back to Section 1
March 3 — Program: Shop visit at Grov-Air
April 7 — Program: Flying in the Civil Air Patrol, by Jim Buist
May 5 — Program: TBA
June 2 — Program: TBA
July 7 — Program: TBA
August 4 — Program: TBA
September 1 — Program: TBA
October 6 — Program: TBA
November 3 — Program: TBA
December 2010 — Christmas party. Date, location and program TBA.
It's once again time for my annual plea to Chapter 1311 members to make your contributions to your newsletter. Chapter 1311 is endowed with many members who have a vast experience in building, maintaining and flying a variety of aircraft. If you are one of these (you ARE, aren't you?) consider an occasional or on-going contribution to the chapter's monthly newsletter. We can always use a story or photo on the following topics:
Do you have an idea on a story that you'd like to write but need some assistance? Contact the newsletter editor. He'll help you get your ideas into words.
ADVERTISING POLICY: Chapter members may advertise their aviation-related products and services free of charge in a text-only classified ad. Ads will run for three months and may be renewed from month-to-month with an email confirmation. Other Indiana EAA members may run an ad for three months for aviation-related products, provided their ad has been forwarded from their chapter newsletter editor or has appeared in another EAA newsletter. Chapter 1311 reserved the right to edit all ads for content and length. Please promptly report any errors.
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: Vern Sullenger, 1-317-839-8728, sullenger@iquest.net
Vice President: Doug Hatfield, 317-745-6691, hatfielddoug@hotmail.com
Secretary: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
Treasurer: Doug Moncreiff, 317-280-1621, cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net
Director: Mark Eminger, 765-528-2146, tjemee@yahoo.com
Director: Dale "Gus" Gustafson, 1-317-293-4430, dalefaye@msn.com
Director: Mike Laurenzano, mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com, 317-201-5889
Director: Chuck Long, 317-892-3146, LoneEagleHDS@aol.com
Director: Gary Reynolds, 317-745-6223, n98gr@att.net
Director: Bryan Ruberson, 1- 317-272-0642, bruberson@aol.com
Director: David Stucker, DESTucker@TDS.net, 317-627-4829
Current as of January 24, 2010
NAME EMAIL ADDRESS PROJECT(S) BEETHAM, John jabeetham@earthlink.net Fokker D7 BERG, Paul ppberg@bluemarble.net RV-8 BROYLES, John broylkesjohn@sbcglobal.net none yet BUDNY, Skip skbudny@tds.net Mini 500 helicopter BUIST, Jim jimbuist@yahoo.com — CLARK, David davecpd@att.net 1946 Aeronca Chief EMINGER, Mark tjemee@yahoo.com Christavia Mk1 GRIFFIN, Jim jimg@netcapade.net Questar Venture GUSTAFSON, Dale DALEFAYE@msn.com Piper J-4 HATFIELD, Doug hatfielddoug@hotmail.com Zenair 640 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 MATEJCEK, Glen aerobubba@earthlink.net RV-8 MELCHIOR, Dirk dirkmelchior@att.net F1 Rocket MONCREIFF, Doug cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net JDT Hi-Max MORTON, David djamorton@sbcglobal.net — MOSSMAN, Michael michaelandkatie1@comcast.net Zenair 601 HDS 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 SNYDER, Jim jim.snyder1@comcast.net Cherokee 180 SAALWAECHTER, John saalwaechter01@frontiernet.net V-tail Bonanza STUCKER, David DEStucker@TDS.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 WININGS, Jim winingsj@aol.com Rocket
See our chapter roster online at http://www.eaa1311.org/memberroster.html
NAME EMAIL ADDRESS PROJECT(S) BYRUM, Jon jbyrum@byrumarchitects.net RV-7A CHAPMAN, Jeff PoP6756@aol.com Piper Tri-Pacer CHAPMAN, Tom chapman.t@comcast.net 1957 Cessna 172 CRAWLEY, Dennis Crawley27@comcast.net Grumman Tiger CULLISON, Lowell flysew@yahoo.com Zenith STOL CH701 GROVER, Troy rv6grover@sbcglobal.net RV-10 HENDERSON, Robert robert_10215@msn.com Christavia MK2 HOWARD, Bob rhoward@comcastnet Looking at LSA JACOBS, Thomas lowdrag@criticalqracing.com Still looking 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 MATEJCEK, Robin aerobubba@earthlink.net RV-8 PARKER, David hoosierwingsfilm@live.com Pietenpol Air Camper PRINCELL, Rick GRPContracting@comcast.net GP-4 RAHM, Kenneth riptide757@aol.com — RUSH, Larry k9hst@sbcglobal.net RV-6A SHUMAKER, Kim kkrv-9a@sbcglobal.net RV-9A WEATHERS, Steve indy.pilot@hotmail.com Wag Aero Sport Trainer
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
Vern Sullenger led the chapter in a round table discussion about first flights for homebuilt aircraft. Several members present have performed the first flights of their aircraft. Most recently, chapter member Chuck Leucht first flew his RV-9A on November 13, 2009. By the meeting date he had accumulated 20.5 hours of his required 40 hours of Phase 1 test flying.