EAA Chapter 732

Newsletter September 2005

From the President’s Workbench – Doug Stone

Completing a home-built aircraft is a tremendous accomplishment. Not only is it a real test of a person’s patience and persistence, it also usually represents a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for the builder (and his family). Unfortunately, there are a lot more started projects than completed ones. This is so sad, because every partially completed aircraft is someone’s unrealized dream. There are a multitude of reasons why projects don’t get done, but maybe the most critical one is a bad match between the challenges of the project and the aptitude and attitude of the builder. There comes a time when even the best of us will be tested by a difficult part of the build process. If our passion to complete is not strong enough, if we can no longer feel excited about our first flight, if we refuse to seek help when we really need it, then we could become one of those sad statistics. Don’t let that happen to you. Be brutally honest with yourself before you fall in love with someone’s design or kit. Ask the hard questions about why you really want to do this. Talk to people who have been through the process and measure your enthusiasm against the reality of their experience. Take your time to do it right during the selection process, and then have a blast with the adventure of a lifetime.

Next Meeting: September 18 – 2pm – Review Doug Stone’s RV-10 Project This is HOT! It is a chance to see the new 4-place RV-10 kit from Van’s Aircraft in the hands of a builder – Directions: Exit S 71 in Bella Vista at AR 340, also known as Lancashire Blvd., and proceed west on AR 340 for about 4.3 miles, where you get to a four way stop sign (AR 279).  Proceed straight through the four-way stop (you are now on Highlands Blvd.) about 200 yards where you will turn right on Glasgow Road.  Travel on Glasgow Road for 3.5 miles, where you will see a yellow sign saying "Slow School Bus Stop Ahead".  Turn left at the next street, which will be Stoneykirk Drive. (If you pass a yellow blinking light at the fire station you've gone too far).  Proceed .7 mile on Stoneykirk and turn left on Kincardine Dr.  Stay on Kincardine Dr. for 1.0 miles to Banchory Lane.  Turn right on Banchory and we are at the end of the cul-de-sac (No. 6).  Please don't park on my neighbor's new grass.

Chapter Calendar:

October 16 – 2pm – Wedington Woods Fly-in – Wedington Woods Airpark (67AR)

November 20 – 2pm – Review Rex Stewart’s GlaStar Project – Location TBA

December 10 – 2pm – Christmas Party – Wyatt’s Hangar, Huntsville Airport

August Chapter Meeting at the Harris’ – Barry West:

Forty two of us met at Floyd’s and Madelyn’s hanger for the annual BBQ & watermelon feast and a grand time was had by all. It is an event that is marked on our calendar and looked forward to each summer. Only one airplane flew in, Jim and Ada in the RV-9. Storm clouds were threatening but nothing came of it.

It is also the monthly EAA Chapter 732 meeting though it is kept short. Doug opened the meeting and guests were introduced. Two of the guests, Mark Willis and Dale Mitchel, were brought by Bill Wolfe. Bill is effectively spreading the knowledge of the chapter to several aviation enthusiasts. Dave Moore, who has bought the place next to Freeman Williams at Wedington Woods was also introduced although he has been a member for some time. Dave was active in the chapter at Ponca City, Oklahoma before moving here. We also introduced Wally Sitton and Verl Thompson, a couple of old time members but not recently active.

Doug announced that next months meeting has been changed. Instead of being at Rex Stewart’s house it will be at Doug’s and the November meeting will be at Rex’s.

I explained why Cow Face Road, the road that Floyd and Madelyn live on, was named that. There is a point across the lake from there where a rock formation appears as a cow’s face. I am not making this up.

Pulsar Builders Meeting in Lawrence, Kansas – Barry West

This past weekend, August 25 – 28, about 35 of us Pulsar people met in Lawrence to discuss pros and cons of Pulsars. This is almost a religious group worshiping the God, Mark Brown who designed the Pulsar in the early 90’s. We had about 10 airplanes there and people from all over the nation.

I made a presentation similar to the one when we met at my house in June but with PowerPoint slides instead of having the airplane there. Another presentation was on formation flying by one of the builders whose regular occupation is being a flight instructor in F-16s or something like that.

Bill Faught and I started out in the Kitfox but ran into IFR conditions about Neosho and turned back and then drove to Lawrence. This was very disappointing, especially when others started showing up at the Lawrence Airport that had to negotiate some of the same weather, although later.

This was the tenth year of this get together and my third year there. The group is connected through and email system and we learn a lot from each other.

The photos are of part of the group that were at Lawrence and Bill Faught’s very sharp looking Pulsar taken recently at Drake Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Annual Homebuilt Completions Summary – Bob Axsom

Chapter members that have completed homebuilt aircraft that they the built or purchased have been asked to provide feedback for inclusion in the newsletter. This is of general interest and it may provide information to other members that are considering their options. All that are listed in the Chapter website http://www.eaa732.org are included here and additional completions were uncovered by soliciting members directly. Direct owner/builder feedback is included where possible; if other information is available that is provided; and if no information is available, that is stated as well.

CH-701 – Lester & Mickey Ward – Completed in 2005 currently being test flown.

Glasair I FT – Charley Scott - After 5 years in the building process I first flew my Glasair I FT Memorial Day of 1990.  N189CW now has over 1000 hours total time on the airframe.  I usually do most of my up dating at annual inspection time in the winter.  This year I up dated my autopilot with a TruTrak Flight Systems Pictorial Pilot autopilot.  The Pictorial Pilot replaces a Digitrak a/p and my old turn coordinator.  I also changed the transponder antenna, blade type, located behind the metal interference of exhaust, nose gear, engine and related metal parts.  I installed a post style antenna in the left wing tip, getting it as far from the metal parts that were interfering with the signal as I could.  Preliminary flights have been good. Other up grades over the past 15 years have been;  adding extended wing tips,  changing the Loran for a Apollo 360 GPS receiver,  updating the #1 com to a Mark 12 D+ and installing a better com antenna for the #2 com.  Replacing the Century IIB A/P with a digital A/P from TruTrak coupling it to the GPS receiver. The next year I installed one of TruTrak's altitude hold servos.  I have been very pleased with all the TruTrak digital equipment and the company service. Another change to my Glasair was a Skytec starter which helped the hot start problem that comes with an injected Lycoming engine.  

Glasair II RG – Joe Terminella - 1987-1997 built from kit. Flown 450 hours.

Glasair Super IIS-FT – Scott Musgrave – Glasair Super IIS-FT Lycoming IO-360-B1E 180HP 68" Hartzell CS Prop

GlaStar – Floyd Harris – No information available.

Hummelbird – Gary Simmons – No information available.

JT-2 Autogyro – Joe Terminella - Custom scratch built autogyro.  Flown 2 times

Kitfox IV – Barry West - I completed and flew the Kitfox IV in September of 2001. It has 360 hours flying time on it now - August, 2005. I enjoyed the building, learned a lot about basic aircraft construction. I didn’t get any of the fairings and stuff to reduce drag. The plane is very basic. Flying it was so good I sold the Cardinal RG. First flight – it seemed that as soon as the throttle was opened all the way it was flying and at pattern altitude by the time it reached the end of the runway. It’s slow in cruise but gets off the ground quickly, climbs well and is very responsive to controls. However, it is difficult to make smooth landings, the gear is too stiff, the wing is too long and the wheels are too close together. I have learned what “stick and rudder” means. Most of the problems have been associated with the Bing carburetors and the way Skystar mounted them. They are too far outboard and sensitive to startup and shutdown roughness. I like the airplane but it is limited for cross country travel and sensitive to weather. It’s breezy and cold in the winter, not very rain tight and difficult to taxi in winds that approach 20 knots. But the visibility is outstanding and a joy to fly with the door open. The radio and autopilot work great with never a problem, well, a servo went out on me but I found it on preflight. I keep maintaining it and updating. Replaced the windshield in 2004 and recovered the wing trailing edges. I put a heater in it that uses hot water from the engine, it helps a little. I plan to put fairings on the struts someday, then it will be finished.

Mullicoupe – Jim Younkin – No information available.

Mulligan – Jim Younkin – No information available.

Pitts – Floyd Harris - No information available.

Powered Parachute – Doug Stone - No information available.

Rans S12-XL – Chip Gibbons I've started three airplanes and have completed one.  The two I sold incomplete were an RV6 and an F1 Rocket.  I lost interest in both projects well before the 10% completion mark.  In both cases my flying interest changed before I could come close to getting the airplane flying.  It stands to reason then that the airplane I finished was an easy build kit and was more of an ultralight than a 'real' airplane. My Rans S12XL was started on 3/2/1999 and completed five months later on 8/4/1999 - 370.8 hours of construction time.  Even I can stay interested in a project for five months!  My S12XL was a bit over the top, with a mode C transponder, a CD player, a GPS/Com, a 100 HP Rotax engine, and several add-on features.  My first flight was 8/5/1999 and my last flight was 3/30/2002, and I flew it 97 hours.  Being a computer nerd with a computer based logbook, I can tell you my average flight was 1.3 hours long and my cross country flights averaged 64.9 NM.  That's about 30 hours per year, the least amount of time I've flown any airplane I've ever owned.  Compare that with the Extra 300 which I've flown over 145 hours in 15 months. The Good: The Rans had exceptional climb performance and was a delight to fly turns about a hay bale.  I always enjoyed flying along with my friends and making low passes over the sod farm, or flying the creeks and rivers on eagle spotting trips.  It didn't burn much gas and could land on very, very short strips.  Most important to me, it was easy to build and didn't take very long from crate to hangar. The Bad: The Rans was fun to fly but was a difficult tricycle gear airplane to land.  In the first months I bent the fragile main gear and had to replace it.  The high thrust pusher pitched the nose down with power, exactly opposite to what most of us are used to.  The slow speed (about 80 mph) made it a chore for cross country flights.  I don't care for the wing on the S12XL.  The ailerons are very, very heavy and there is no harmony with the light elevators.  The worst part of the airplane was the Rotax engine.  My first, my last. I sold the airplane in 2002 for what I had in it (in materials).  I think there are other very light aircraft that fly better than the S12XL.  For a little more money, I much prefer a J-3 Cub or even a Champ.

Rans S 12S – Jim Wimberly I built a Rans S 12S from a kit. It is pictured here:

I received the kit in Dec 2003 and started immediately.  It took me a little over 7 months, and about 720 hours to complete the plane and have it ready to fly.  It has a Rotax 912, (81hp).  This was my first experience building an airplane, and being retired, some days I was able to work on it for 8 hours.  I did have several very "experienced advisors", such as Jim Halbert and Freeman Williams, who would check on me quite often.   I now have an "airworthiness certificate", and have a little over 80 hours flying time on this airplane.  I may add, also in the process I was able to get my FAA "sport pilot" license in this airplane.  (Previously, I had a single seat Rans S 17 ultralight which provided about 70 hours flying while building the S 12 S).

I did not encounter any particular or serious problems during construction.  I did talk to the Rans Tech staff several times, and they were most helpful.  Rans supplied a very good "builders manual" with parts list and illustrations.  My local advisors were very helpful with suggestions on the applying the covering material and painting.  I also did all the wiring, including the radio and intercom set up.  The airplane has a ground adjustable prop and I had to made several adjustments to get the rpm's right.  I did my own flight testing, and all controls performed great.  I have not made any adjustments to the controls.  My stall speed is about 40 mph, and cruise is 55 to 85 mph.  Cruising at 75% power, I use 4 to 4.5 gals of auto gas per hour.

The building and flying experience has been great. (Keep in mind that I did not start till I was 70 years young).

Rans S-6ES II – David Walker – No information available.

Rans S-7 – Jim Halbert – No information available.

RV-6 – Bill Phillips – No information available.

RV-6 John 0. Kinsey – In the summer of 2001, I purchased an RV6 Quick Build kit. John Nyss of Tulsa fit the canopy and that saved a lot of time for me since he has built several R V' s from scratch. Sam Cordrey (of Sam's Aircraft) allowed me to build in his heated hangar, so I could work all winter. He also had valuable advice and Sam and his crew were very helpful. Jim Younkin also advised me and his suggestions were a great help. The plane and kit were excellent and all went together as Van~s said.

Most instruments were purchased from Van’s. The Garman 300XL and Garman transponder were installed in the panel. I used a borrowed punch to make the holes in the panel. I did the panel layout several times until Jim Younkin approved. John Wyatt wired the panel and everything worked great. One year later, the plane was finished and approved.

Our son Don and I flew to Orlando and returned and Don suggested I install a Tru Trak autopilot. This is excellent and really makes cross-country flying easy. I definitely recommend installation of one for cross-country flying. The engine is a LYC 0-320 overhauled by John Gearhart of Sam's Aircraft. The engine is balanced very closely and pumped up a little. John did an excellent job on the engine.

I contacted Bob Lynch of Jefferson, Missouri and received checkout in his RV-6 for insurance approval. Cruise speed, full bore, is 165+ knots/hour and fuel burn is 7-1/2 to 8 gallons per hour. This is, without a doubt, the most delightful plane I Have ever owned. It lands and takes off short and goes fast-has great handling even in slow flight. Our son, Don, flies a lot when he is here and enjoys acrobatics in it. He is based in Orlando, Florida with Southwest Airlines as a first officer.

Building the RV6 was a great experience and Van's Aircraft folks were very helpful.

RV-6 - Steve Chambers RV6 Quickbuild started 13 December 2000, completed 4 September 2003. Full IFR, Garmin 430 and 327 transponder. EXP-2 electrical system. Full interior, canopy cover. As of June 2004 have 70 hours. Engine and aircraft are performing flawlessly. Minor electrical problems largely due to factory connector failures. Overall, I'm both impressed with Van's design and gain great satisfaction and pride flying N99ST.

RV-6 – Wayne Larabee – No information available.

RV-6A – Bob Axsom The airplane is a Quickbuilt kit purchased in November of 1996 at Van’s old facility in North Plains, Oregon. We rented a Budget 24’ truck in Portland and drove it non-stop to Laguna Hills, California, south of Los Angeles. We completed it to airworthy status over a period of 7.33 years. Jeanine and I built it in our garage up to the point of final assembly then rented a corner of a large hangar at Chino for completion and test flying. I knew this was a one time only, no holds barred, high risk undertaking and I withheld nothing except outside help and job interference to get it done. Others say to use the outside help but I had to do it at my pace and my way to have the control and depth of experience that I wanted to achieve. It has been a very educational and expensive experience that exceeded our expectations in both areas. The first flight was on March 21, 2004. The color scheme was developed independently over a period of seven to eight years while we were building and flying the airplane. The painting was complete by Gray's Aircraft Refinishing in Ozark, AR on March 4, 2005. It was according to a 30 page Power Point description and full size patterns covering every element of the color scheme. The airplane is still not complete in that I learn things that need to be changed and I enter the work description and actual work time for me to accomplish the change in the Builder’s Log. Maintenance is NOT logged. The Builder’s Log is a bound 304 page Record book (S300-3R) purchased from a stationary store. All photographs are documented in the log and they are correlated with the log through a date written on the back of each photograph with a Sharpie pen. Currently 4,222.0 hours are logged and the builder’s photo album contains 1,736 dated photographs. The only known change still required is the installation of an oxygen system. Richard VanGrunsven has said that Quickbuilt RV kits do not make the building easier, they just cut down on the time to build. While this may seem contradictory, I believe his observation is correct. Every new task requires the builder to conceptualize (much think time) exactly how to do the job and maintain the highest level of excellence possible. If the concept is good the implementation is magically straight forward and both the process and the results are very satisfying. Though I consider the airplane perfect, it was judged at Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture but won nothing – winning at these events is very difficult. I have flown the airplane 126.6 hours and the performance is excellent with cruise in the low 170 kt. range. I added two tanks during construction which increased the fuel capacity to 55 gallons. The fuel burn rate is 10 GPH with a Lycoming O-360-A1A and a Hartzell constant speed prop and I like to flight plan for 4 hours per flight. During the test period the timing of the LASAR ignition system set by Lycoming was wrong which caused severe burning of the cowl and significant rework. At 18.3 flight hours, I hand tightened an oil fitting during an oil cooler replacement and forgot to torque it down. This forced an immediate return to the field after takeoff and a steep climb to 2,000 ft. Though no emergency was declared, I notified the tower that I had a problem and the engine seized on the landing rollout. I was later told the plane was trailing smoke in flight. Since the test period the airplane has been very reliable. We have flown the plane between California and Arkansas three times, as well as round trips from Arkansas to Lakeland, Florida, Bowling Green, Kentucky, St. Louis and the Fayetteville-Dayton-Oshkosh-Fayetteville trip. The airplane is not single pilot IFR friendly. Since I have added an Altrak and a Pictorial Pilot from TruTrak for altitude hold and course control, en route IFR operations are reasonable.

Spratt Controlwing Flying Boat– Bill Wolfe – My Controlwing flying boat was only the third one built from Spratt’s 1973 plans and flown so far as I and the late George G. Spratt knew. All three were constructed primarily of wood rather than the all composite construction of the early 60 HP Mercury powered prototype, N910Z. Two of these aircraft used VW engines but I used a modified 85 HP Mercury outboard engine. My flying boat is the only Spratt Controlwing aircraft in the current FAA registry. More than five years of labor and test time went into this project, my first attempt at building an airplane. I was an aerospace design engineer for thirty six years but that helped very little with this project requiring woodworking, metalwork, fiberglass, fabric, machining, welding, engine and instrument installation skills plus flight testing. I taxied my Controlwing flying boat a lot but flew it only on very brief test hops as the FAA flight test plan got underway just as my medical expired. Testing had dragged out a very long time as numerous bugs such as the engine installation, carburetor selection, vee belt tensioner adjustment, exhaust system, cooling system, control linkage revisions and wing panel balance were (eventually) ironed out with little assistance. There were no definite instructions in the Spratt plans regarding control rigging and wing panel balance, this information was gained only from experience. My last brief test flight in October of 2000 is seen in a video showing the takeoff at 50 mph to about 50 feet before outdistancing the chase boat. There were not enough brief liftoffs to record any meaningful data during my thirteen trips to Beaver Lake.

Starduster Too – Jack Macy – (New info - TBS by Jack Macy) The Starduster Too is a bi-wing, two-holer, open cockpit taildragger. The engine is a Lycoming IO540-G1C5, 290 HP with a fixed pitch 88"x68" prop. This airplane is a real fun flying machine. This project was started October 11, 1969 and completed March 26, 1999. I am the forth owner of the project and have put over 2,500 hours in it myself. I have no idea how many more hours other owners have invested. If this aircraft has an Achilles heel, it is the landing gear system. For the shock system it uses a series of shock (bungee) chords. The structure which the chords attach to is under-designed from the standpoint of the diameter and wall thickness called out on the drawings. This has been learned the hard way. On April 29, 2000, my landing gear collapsed during roll-out after a routine landing. The fix will be to incorporate a beefier structure. This is not the first Starduster to suffer this unfortunate fate.

T-Craft EXP - Joe Terminella - 1995 – 1999  experimental Taylorcraft with O-320 LYC....flown 300 hours.

Zodiac XL – Gary Simmons – The airplane has been flying out of Drake Field for some time now. It is powered by a Jabiru engine. The airplane seems very reliable and efficient though it recently landed off airport because of blockage in the Bing carburetor.

Flying News:

Chapter Newsletter Article in Print in EAA Publication & AirVenture Memories – Diana Richards I revised the article that I wrote for our EAA Chapter Newsletter (April edition) and it was published in the August issue of EAA's Sport Aerobatics Magazine.  I once again thank Chip Gibbons for encouraging me to write the article and for being an outstanding and supportive mentor. It was fun spending time with some of our local members at OSH. Diana

Aerobatic Training Camp – Chip Gibbons Charley Scott’s response when I told him I was going to an aerobatic training camp was, “I didn’t know there was such a thing!” Neither did I until recently, but for those of us who want to get started in aerobatic competition it’s a great way to get a leg up.

John Morrissey and his wife Linda run the camp. Their credentials are impressive: Linda was a member of the Unlimited U.S. Aerobatic Team from 1982 until 1996, a Breitling competitor, and a Fond du Lac Unlimited Champion. She was the first woman to win the Unlimited Championship at Fond du Lac in 1992 and was the woman's Vice World Champion at Yverdon, Switzerland in 1990. She is also a very highly experienced at aerobatic critique and as an aerobatic coach. John been a competitor and instructor in IAC and International competition aerobatics since 1975. In addition to running the training program for the U.S. Aerobatic Team from 1991 to 1996, John was one of the three pilot members of the Gold Medal 1997 U.S. AWAC Team. They run two camps, seven days each, in Ashland, Kansas each year.

Participation in the camps is by invitation or recommendation only. So your next question should be, “How the hell did you get invited?” Ah, good question. John’s son, Matt, has flown with me in the Extra a few times and thought the camp might be a good way for me to determine if I’d like to compete. He gave my name to his dad and the rest, as they say, is history.

I arrived at the Ashland, KS airport on a Thursday, skirting rain showers and scattered thunderstorms. John and Linda live in Kansas City, but choose to hold their camps in Ashland – about 50 miles south of Dodge City. Ashland (population 900) is the perfect setting for the camps. The two runways are both grass. Each is about 3,100 feet long and 300 feet wide. The aerobatic box is at the airport so the environment is perfect for emergency landings. Speaking of which, safety is the number one theme at the camp. No one can fly unless a car is available (keys in the door) for an emergency. A “crash kit”, complete with canopy axe, gloves, first aid kit, etc. is on hand at all times. Pilots are encouraged to do a self evaluation before each flight to ensure they are mentally and physically ready to fly. Each pilot on the ground has a responsibility in the event of an emergency. Teamwork is emphasized and pilots are expected to help each other prepare for flights (assisting with the canopy in high winds, assisting with harnesses, etc.) and after the flight (supplying water, helping with refueling, etc.) If you’re not a team player then this camp isn’t for you.

Other pilots at the camp included Doug Bartlett, a Sukhoi pilot out of Illinois who was training for intermediate and advanced contests, and Debby Rhin-Harvey, a U.S. team member and 23 year unlimited pilot who was training to go to Spain for the world competition. I have to admit to being intimidated that Debby was going to be in camp, but I shouldn’t have been. Both Debby and Doug were perfect camp participants who offered nothing but encouragement and assistance. Debby represented our country well (again) and we should all be proud that she’s on the U.S. team.

The camp is run on a strict schedule and John and Linda do an excellent job tailoring the program to the needs of each participant. For me they had to start at ground zero. How to enter the aerobatic box, how to properly fly each maneuver, how to compensate for wind, how to position the maneuvers to the best advantage, what to do when you mess up during a sequence…. and on and on. We were each scheduled to fly three times per day, each flight being 15 minutes. Doesn’t sound like much does it? But long before the camp was over I was happy to see the winds gusting to 37 kts, too high for any of us to feel comfortable flying and a good excuse to take a nap in the FBO.

Walking through the sequence before the next flight

I learned a great deal about flying aerobatics during the week, but more important I got to hang around some very neat people involved in the sport. They were all encouraging and fun to be with. Obviously the coaching was very good as I won my first contest flying the Sportsman category at Seward, NE the first of July. John was at the contest encouraging me and offering advice. My second contest in Weatherford, OK didn’t go as well with two very poor flights out of three. I placed 9^th out of 15 and was lucky to do that well given such a poor performance. My most recent contest was in Claremore, OK where I redeemed myself somewhat by placing second.

The contests are fun, but more important I know I’m a better and a safer pilot as a result of attending the camp. Plus, I met some wonderful people I hope to call my friends for years to come. That has to be considered a successful week in any pilot’s book.

Building Notes:

HX1 – Bob Harlan I haven't any exciting news but I am continuing on the HX1's windscreen, engine enclosure and systems prior to test running the Rotax 582 - hopefully this month.  A sample of ongoing work follows:

Helicopter on order – Joe Terminella - I am partners with my brother and we have a new Bell 407 helicopter on order and should be flying by years end.

Wrong Sensor Instrument Problem – Steve Chambers  Aircraft Spruce actually sent me the wrong oil temp sensor for my oil temp gauge!!  They sent a 120C sensor vs. a 150C sensor back in November of 2004.  Well disguised by other engine problems and winter, it was impossible to clearly detect until hot weather.  I discovered the exact problem by calling Mitchell Instruments, who make the oil temp gauge.  Spruce is sending, at my expense of course, the correct sender.  I've been reading approximately 20-30% high on oil temperatures all along.  The new oil cooler certainly won't hurt, might require a wintertime damper, and may not have been necessary at all!!  Having said that, I did root out the problem on my own and have the satisfaction of knowing it's now "done right".  Experimental aircraft are a learning experience and this problem certainly qualifies!! - Steve

O-200 Core Needed – Monty Roberts. I am looking for a First take off core O-200 for a project. [Does anyone have a lead for Monty? Ed.] Thanks for any help that you can provide in locating an O-200 engine core. Monty Roberts, RMI, 12747 Snake Branch Road, Fayetteville, AR 72701, 479-871-1681

Young Eagles:

Young Eagles in August 13 – Barry West Bad news, good news: The bad news is we didn’t fly any kids. The good news is the shut down system worked. Forecasts were for 20 knot gusts. I didn’t feel this was a good situation for a kid’s first flight but wondered if forecasts were accurate. So many times I’ve received reports of weather worse than what it actually turned out to be. Could I take a chance they were wrong? I felt it not good to fly the kids in less than perfect conditions. It might give them a bad feeling about flying and I couldn’t take a chance the forecasts were wrong and a decision had to be made as soon as possible. So, how to shut it down? First, we have the ability to place a message on the web site and I did that. Then, I had asked those people who planned to fly or help on the ground to let me know so I called all of them I could. This is one of the reasons it is important to have your information on the web site. Several of us went to Rogers to meet the people and tell them we couldn’t fly. I don’t remember any complaints, just disappointments. They seemed to understand.

I want to thank all the members that came and helped and especially Bill Wolfe who stood out by the entrance and told those driving in that it was not going to happen. He also passed out copies of how to learn to fly brochures. The young lady behind the counter at Beaver Lake was also a big help. This rally will not be rescheduled. We have tried rain dates in the past and essentially no one showed up. With school starting, our other activities and weather changing, a successful reschedule is not likely.

Newsletter Feedback from Eric Whyte – Bob Axsom I sent a copy of the July EAA Chapter 732 Newsletter to the 2005 AirVenture Cup Race Manager/Coordinator Eric Whyte. Here is his response which I found interesting:

Great newsletter! Our Chapter (18 – Milwaukee, WI) just switched over to an electronic version to save on postage. We also do a printed copy for the few guys that don’t have computers. I got a couple good ideas from yours though! I like the project up-date section. I might have to “borrow” that idea.

Fareed – The guy that flew the King Air in the Race this year is our newsletter editor. I am the Chapter President, Craig Henry, another one of the race staff guys is on the board. Our Vice President and two of the other board members work the turn pylons! So it is nice to see another active chapter. I chuckled at the Defiant project we have one just like it. 10,000 hours of labor over 20 years. It is a beautiful airplane but still not done! He keeps plugging away at it though. I think it might fly buy Oshkosh 2006. We’ll see. We also just had an airplane in a field, only ours was a VW powered Sonex. Minor damage, some injuries, but he is ok now.

U.S. Air Race Inc. National Air Races – BobAxsom – The race is a big event much larger than the AirVenture Cup dash but the entries are way down. All racers have a handicap so any plane that can fly 300 miles without refueling is competitive and your participation is desired. Check the website at http://www.us-airrace.org hope to see you there.

Hell’s Angels – Bob Axsom If you have seen the movie “The Aviator” (with some disappointment perhaps) then you know that Howard Hughes made a movie about World War I aviation back in the days of silent films but completely redid it before release because of the emergence of sound with movies. When it was released in 1929 it was the most expensive film ever produced. I was born in 1936 and I have heard of this movie off and on all my life but I had never seen it. Imagine my surprise to see it on DVD in Blockbuster this week in the “Classics” section. Well, I had some doubts because old movies just haven’t lived up to my expectations in recent years but I rented it. It is magnificent! It was directed by Howard Hughes himself, and something like 127 pilots were employed to make the film. The special effects are amazing even without realizing that electronic computes were still decades in the future when it was made, the Zeppelin is awesome and the basic story is very good.

Aviation Literature – Dawn over Kitty Hawk – Bob Axsom I was in Walmart Friday August 5, 21005 and I stopped by the book section to see if I could find a suitable book to give my wife as an added little present for her Birthday that evening. That was marginally successful but I saw another book that I had never heard of before called “Dawn over Kitty Hawk” written by Walter J. Boyne. It is paperback and it is on sale for $5.97. It is a novel but Mr. Boyne was the Director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and is a retired USAF Officer so it is deeply rooted in fact. It contains acknowledgements of research by many others in gaining the historic depth. This story includes all of the principle aviation pioneers and gives a contemporary human perspective to their lives. 418 pages and I’m like’n it! Bill Wolfe may like it as well – on page 105 the brothers have returned from the first trip to Kitty Hawk and Wilbur is reflecting on the visit of Chanute and two of his friends. He tells his sister Katharine “… The other, George Spratt, was a treat – he was lots of fun, did his share of the work, never complained, always had funny stories to tell. He has some good ideas too.” The interactions with George Spratt continue through the book.

New Membership – If you are reading this newsletter and you are not a member but would like to be, please apply through the website http://www.eaa732.org or contact Chip Gibbons at the address listed below. Annual dues are $15. Make checks payable to “EAA Chapter 732” and give the check to the Treasurer, Chip Gibbons at the next Chapter Meeting or mail them to: Chip Gibbons, 15480 See St., Rogers, AR 72756.

Chapter Website and Data Maintenance - Our website Http://www.eaa732.org is definitely one of the key features of our Chapter and can be a powerful tool for communicating with the membership and the public.  We depend on you to maintain your information (photograph of yourself, projects, completions, other aircraft, address, phone number, e-mail address, etc.). If you have problems call Barry West, 479-267-5545) he is a wizard.