EAA Chapter 732

Newsletter November 2005

 

Next Meeting:  November 20 – 2pm – Review Rex Stewart’s GlaStar Project – Location: Rex Stewart’s home, 4 Stornoway Lane, Bella Vista, AR.  Pick up general aircraft construction knowledge and GlaStar details in addition to the regular monthly meeting.

 

Here are two route options for getting to the meeting:

 

First Option - Turn west onto Central Avenue(which is Highway 72) one block north of the Wal- Mart on Business-71. Drive 9.2 miles to Hiwasse Road(about one block beyond the Hiwasse Hilton Restaurant), turn north and proceed for 0.9 miles to Highland Boulevard. Turn west (left) on Highland Boulevard and proceed 1.1 miles to Kinross Drive (which is about one block beyond Tiree Park), turn right (northerly) and proceed 1/2 mile to Perth Drive, turn left and proceed 1/2 mile to Kinloch Drive, turn right, proceed for one block and turn right onto Dunbarton Drive and proceed about three blocks to Stornoway Lane.

 

Second Option - Another choice would be to take the Town Center exit off Highway 540/71 and proceed westbound on Highway 340 for 8.6 miles to Kinross Drive (which is about one block beyond Tiree Park), turn right and proceed 1/2 mile to Perth Drive, turn left and proceed 1/2 mile to Kinloch Drive, proceed for one block and turn right onto Dunbarton Drive and proceed about three blocks to Stornoway Lane.

 

Destination - The first brown brick house on the right. Park anywhere except in the middle of the street.

 

Chip has placed a map at the website:  http://www.eaa732.org/eaa_next_meeting.asp?caltoken=88

 

Chapter Calendar:

December 4 (new date) – 2pm – Christmas Party – Wyatt’s Hangar, Huntsville Airport – this is the highlight of the season – don’t miss it – fly in if you can (the Christmas Party may occur before the next newsletter is published):

The large hangar just beyond the end of the “T” hangars on the Northeast side of Runway 12.  There is space for parking cars and airplanes in the vicinity of the Hangar and there is an aircraft parking ramp near the center of the field.  Bring tiedown ropes and a side dish

 
 


 

October Chapter Meeting Report – Barry West - Annual fly-in and BBQ at Weddington Woods.  We had 65 members and guests and 16 airplanes at this annual fall gathering of aviation enthusiasts. All was good, the people, the airplanes, the BBQ and especially the weather. Jim Halbert and Jim Wimberly did an excellent job of setting this up and coming up with the BBQ.  There were a lot of visitor’s, 18 by my count.  I don’t think we have ever had as many airplanes at any activity nor as many visitors.  I took quite a few pictures, mostly of the airplanes, and Chip has put them on the web site at: http://www.eaa732.org/eaa_display_gallery.asp?f=t&token=53&n=October,%202005%20-%20Wedington%20Woods%20Meeting.

 

Jim and Ada Younkin have donated a model of the Wright Flyer to the Chapter and the Board of Directors decided to raffle it off at the December meeting, December 4 at Huntsville, to raise money that will be donated to the Tailwind Foundation, the charity that Chip has put together to help young pilots.  Members will only be eligible to buy a $5 raffle ticket if they have paid their dues for next year.  All of the ticket money will go directly to the Tailwind Foundation.

 

The visitors all introduced themselves.  They were:

Stan and Brenda Johnson

Avery Green

Shay Jones; Shay and Avery want to build a STOL 701

Brian Jones

Kenneth Morlon

Randy and Gerald Resh

David White

Jerry Gardner

David Woodruff; David, David and Jerry are from Fort Smith and, I think, part of the Chapter 99

Brenda Knox; Tom and Ruth Wyatt’s daughter

Molly Saxon who came with Marvin Haught

D. Mark Willis from Harrison

Nicco Snyder

Bill McLean

Horst and Debra Brinker, residents of the Weddington Woods airport with a Champ and a Globe Swift.

 

A few commented on their projects.  Jim Halbert has finished the rebuild of his Cub and did a beautiful job.  Bob Harlan has operated the starter on the Rotax engine but is not getting fire at the spark plugs.  Shayne and Phyllis McDaniel reported they are working on the cowling and cooling inlet. Jim Younkin said he is still working on the panel wiring of the RV 10.  Doug Stone has joined his fuselage halves on his RV-10.  Charley Caldwell told us that both props were back at the factory, the front one for a pitch adjustment and the rear for a replacement.   And I reported that I now have two Pulsar caps and a tee shirt.  Jim Wimberly was presented with a first flight award for the first flight of his Rans S12.  Way to go Jim!

 

Mickey and Lester Ward flew their Zenair CH-701 to the meeting having flown off the test time.  They were there Thursday when I took the tables and chairs over, said they wanted to practice the landing. - Barry

 

Flying News:

 

What’s It Like to hurl your self around a Race Course at 200+ MPH at the Reno Air Races – Cris Ferguson

 

For the past 17 years I have raced at the Reno Air Races, which are held every year in September.  I’ve raced in both the Biplane and Formula 1 classes.  Air racing is an unscripted event where the fastest plane wins and it is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on!

 

My first taste of racing was as a crewmember on a friend’s racing team, in the Formula 1 Class.  It soon became apparent to me that the real fun was in the cockpit, not on the ramp.   So I started looking for my own “ride”.  Another Formula 1 racer, Dan Gilbert told me his Pitt’s was for sale and I jumped at the chance.  Although I had never flown a Pitts Special before, I had flown other tail draggers and there is really only one way to get checked out in a one-hole Pitts, buy it, jump in and hold on!  I basically learned how to fly the aircraft on the cross-country flight from Detroit to San Jose, California where I was living at the time.  For the next two years I concentrated on flying my flat wing Pitts and we became fast friends, I soon realized there was flying and then there was flying a Pitts.   It’s a bit like going from a Toyota to a Ferrari!

 

My first year as a full-fledged racer was 1988.  I thought it would be a piece of cake, just fly faster than everyone else and you win, right?  It turned out that there were a heck of a lot of really good pilots at Reno, it was a humbling experience and I found myself using every flying skill I had to keep up with them.  This was the big league.

 

Early morning at the races.  The biplane class waits for the Formula 1 race to finish and the course to clear so they can “pull out.”

 
 

 

Back in those days all eight aircraft started line abreast, four on the runway and four on the ramp, the green flag went down the throttle went full forward and the gloves came off!  In later years the start was switched to all eight aircraft on the runway: three in the front row then two in the second and three in the last row.  The aircraft are staggered to minimize the prop wash from the guy in front of you.  Once all aircraft are airborne they proceed to the first pylon.  From a strategic prospective getting to Pylon #1 first is crucial, aircraft are placed in the Gold, Silver or Bronze classes by their qualifying times so the other aircraft in your race fly at similar speeds.  Strategy has won more races than horsepower.   In the biplane class lap speeds can get up to 240 mph and at those speeds things happen fast.   Traffic gets congested around the pylons where knowing how to fly tight formation is a must.  The distance between you and another aircraft can be as little as ten feet.  You have to watch so you don’t cut the pylon (a 50 foot pole with a 3 foot diameter canister painted red and white on top).  Once you hit the straight always your checking your engine temps, mixture and rpm, the rest of the time you’re too busy.  Surprisingly enough it is difficult to pass on the racecourse.   You will need to have at least 5 miles per hour on him or you won’t catch him in the six-lap race.   One of the strategies I have learned over the years is to fly up the aircraft’s tail on the straight away, roll into the turn on the pylon at the same time they do, then stack high in the turn, wing tip to wing tip, when both airplanes roll out on the straight away I have the altitude advantage and can unload the airplane to reduce the drag and accelerate away from the other airplane.   I used this technique on pylon #6 to take the checkered flag in the Silver Race in 2002 and this year again to finish second in the Silver.

  

Six years ago we moved to Evansville, Arkansas to start an aircraft restoration business, C and H Aircraft Restoration, Inc.  This year at the Reno Races we debuted a racer I designed and have spent the past two years building for fellow racer Jeff Lo. 



Cris (in the cockpit) briefs Jeff on how the new aircraft – Race #13 – flew on the race course at Reno.  Cris built this aircraft from scratch for Jeff (standing).  In addition to racing Jeff plans to attempt some time-to-climb records with the aircraft.

 

 

The aircraft is a culmination of 17 years of experience in both the Formula 1 and Biplane classes.   I combined the best of both aircraft’s speed advantages and the result is a very fast plane!   Jeff qualified the aircraft at 237 mph, just 4 mph off the course record!  He did a great job flying the new racer and it looked like he was going to take the Gold from last year’s champion, when he encountered wake turbulence from four slower aircraft he was in the process of passing going into pylon #6.  What followed was the fanciest piece of flying I have ever seen and he almost lost the aircraft.  The fact that he was able to fly out of it and continue the race to finish second is a testament to his flying skills and it is experiences like these that remind us just how dangerous air racing is.  There have been years at Reno when we have lost as many as two pilots in one year and since we all know each other it feels like losing a family member.   Air racing is an exhilarating, fun yet dangerous pastime.  It gets in your blood.   The experience has honed my flying skills and made me a far better pilot than I would have been if I hadn’t started racing.  This next September will be my eighteenth year and I tell my wife I’m going to hang up my spurs at twenty.  For some reason she just doesn’t believe me.

 

AIRFEST 2005 – Rick  McKinneyLast November, as a suggestion from AAM Board member Bill Smith, I pulled up the Snowbird website and sent an email to ask about AIRFEST June 2006. I received a response one week later from one of the team coordinators and he was asking if we could help complete their 2005 show schedule. That one email resulted in the airshow you saw on October 5th. The Canadian's are a friendly and down to earth in nature, they were a pleasure to work with. We had a natural connection, as the Ozark Military Museum's 3NM "Canadian Queen" or "Expeditor" as the Canadian's call it, served from factory to near retirement in the Canadian Forces. It was stationed just 50 miles from Moose Jaw. Many of the team toured both museums and found more common ground with the "Ferret" armored scout car that the OMM has on display It turned out that one pilot had served his first four years on the Canadian Forces driving one of them.

At the Wednesday show, there was an attendance of 2,174 in ticket count. Kids were free and the AR Aviation Technology school donated $2.00 for every child that attended. Both the AAM & OMM boards enjoyed working with the Snowbird team.  OMM President Leonard McCandless and Hoyte Perry opened the show with the American and Canadian flags and National Anthems. Then Cris Ferguson, AAM board member, flew an exciting Pitts aerobatic performance starting with an inverted flat spin with over 12 spins!  Cris said he lost count while watching the altimeter! Then the Snowbirds did their march out. I actually was able to see all of the show and I particularly enjoyed their "lag back cross" maneuver that was dedicated by the team to Bobby Younkin. The pilots and crew stayed out on the line for over an hour signing autographs. They departed Thursday to spend the weekend in Houston before a homecoming show in Moose Jaw.

Both museums would like to have the Snowbird team return in the next few years. It was a profitable fundraiser, but even with just a one day show, many folks put a lot of time and effort into making it happen. We were blessed with a good clear sky by show time and it was a wonderful evening for a fantastic performance.

One final note, Carl Brooks from the tower served as airboss for Wednesday and was on duty the Tuesday the team flew in. He said he could not remember the last time he saw nine landing lights lined up on final!

 

Heritage Flight Photo – Rick McKinney - Reg Urshler sent this Heritage Flight photo from the Midland Air Show. Thought I was quite unique and maybe you would like to include it in the newsletter.  Rick

 

California Flyin’ – Diana Richards - Last month I spent some time in California. Obtained more spin and aerobatic training in a Citabria  (7KCAB so it was nice that the engine didn't quit for a change) and got a freeby ride in a Pitts S-2B with my flight instructor.  Then got flown around CA again in a Mooney.  Took another glider lesson at Tehachapi, which was wonderful.  Other than that, I've been working on spins and hammerheads at the farm.

 

Tail Dragger Flights and work [and Some People to be Proud of – Ed.] – Jimmy Davis  - The last news letter update to the BOD said you had not heard from me regarding my C-140.  It's fine.  Flys great on 4.8 gals/hour.  I did have to remove the fuel drain from the left wing and clean it up a few days ago.  I think dirt daubers had been working on plugging it up for some time.  Additionally, I  repainted the tops of the wings over the summer because they were badly faded from sitting on the VBT ramp during the summer of 2004.

I discovered the other day, that without braking, the 140 will easily roll to a stop in about 700' even with my not so great tail wheel technique.  The brakes were fine, it was just one of things that you sometimes do when there aren't many people standing around watching.

Flying has been a little slow for me over the summer.  I went to Bartlesville for the regional fly-in.  I also made a trip to Lawrence, KS for a work related meeting.  The weather was supposed to be CAVU, but I had to land at IXD (Gardner, KS) because of level 1 & 2 TS in the vicinity of Lawrence.  The folks at IXD put my 140 in the hangar overnight (the line supervisor said he liked small airplanes with fabric wings) without a charge, so it missed a little hail.  I chose to go there because they have multiple runways and wasn't sure how good the weather would be when I got there.  The weather and winds were good and there was only 1 runway open as the crossing runway was closed for maintenance.  Good experience there, with the exception of $4.50/gal avgas for transient planes.  Lost a fuel cap on that trip due to a combination of the above mentioned drain problem, cell phone ringing, and lack of attention on my part.  Had planned on going to Omaha (3NO) for the 140 convention, but hurricane Rita dampened those plans.

Family priorities have taken a front seat to flying over the last few months.  We drove to Ft. Bragg, NC once and flew commercial once as my son was preparing to go to Iraq.  He has been there for a few days now.  His family was here the weekend before Labor Day, made several trips around NW Arkansas with them one at a time.  A good time was had by all.  Recently, my wife, who is in the National Guard, has been deployed to New Orleans to help with the hurricane relief. Thanks, Jimmy

 

Our Travels – Shayne & Phillis McDaniel

We recently returned from spending the month of September in England visiting friends.  During our stay we drove to a nearby small airport to see what type of flying was available.  Fairoaks is much the same as many of our small controlled airfields.  We spent some time visiting with the FBO and an instructor at their Flying School to see what it would take to get checked out to fly one of their rental aircraft.  With our flying experience, getting checked out didn't seem to be a problem; but, they were very concerned with spending time explaining the local airspace.  Fairoaks is about 10 miles south of Heathrow airport and within the south edge of its airspace.  Heathrow's airspace goes from the ground to 18,000 feet; but, like our class  B airspace, you can fly within the space with ATC supervision.  You can only fly VFR from Fairoaks via a special corridor below 1500 feet to a navaid about 4 miles south.  Flying VFR in that general area after looking at their equivalent to our sectionals looked like a nightmare unless you could constantly keep track of your location.  We saw several small planes on our travels around England away from the large metropolitan areas.

We scanned the attached data from Fairoaks flight center price list.  You need to realize that you must multiply the prices by approximately 1.8 to convert to US$.  Also, we were told the price of fuel, when converted to US$ is about $8 ($6.50 - $7.00 for auto gas) and landing fees at airports is about $20US.  We might complain, but we really are lucky have so much flying freedom.  How would you like to get a bill every month for landing fees at every airport you visited that month, including your own?

 

One of the highlights of our visit was spending most of a day at Duxford War Museum, about 60 miles north of London.  Duxford was built for WWI but it played a big role as the major Hurricane and Spitfire Fighter Base during WWII.  It is now a wonderful aircraft museum as well as an active airfield.  They have several large hangers devoted to renovation of antique military aircraft.  Many of their warbirds fly on a regular basis. - Shayne & Phylllis McDaniel

 

Walnut Ridge – Charley Scott - My friend Max McGaugh and I met Sheril & Bobbi, friends from Flippin, at
Walnut Ridge for lunch Friday in the newly opened dinning area inside the fuselage of a Southwest 737.  The food and service was great and the dinning area was very comfortable as well as being unique.  The restaurant on the
field at Walnut Ridge has been there for some time.  They are open Tuesday through Friday for lunch and dinner and on Saturday for dinner (supper) only.  Closed Sunday and Monday.  We will try to get a gaggle together to fly over for lunch some time soon.  They have discounted avgas if you can call $3.27 plus .08% tax discounted.
160 nm due east of VBT.  – Charley

 

Early Customer RV-10 Test Comments – Bob Axsom – Observed on Http://www.vansairforce.net in the Forum section (with some editing):

 

Original Post:  Hey guys! As a pilot test flying number 15, I have a few observations and questions for the open floor. Van’s is aware of all my less than flattering observations, and I am throwing these few things out for consumption and discussion. Flamers who think I am downing the 10, please stay at home quietly with your hands in your lap, or go and drive some more rivets.  I think it is the most awesome, smooth, best flying GA plane I have ever flown. This, coming from a professional pilot with over 12,000 hours of flying time. Nuff said.  First, the tunnel is EXTREMELY hot! We took the rear cabin heat scat tube and blasted the rear cabin heat fresh air directly into the tunnel. I also installed some aluminized insulation on the back of firewall in the tunnel, and under all the fuel lines. All this seemed to accomplish was lower the fuel temp sufficiently so the engine would not vapor lock again.  Before we did all this, the engine quit on me once, started right up when elec. pump turned on (IMHO, ground your 10 if the secondary pump is inop!)
Due to the high fuel flow at the cruise power setting I had set (carbureted engine, MA 4), I had virtually no time to check the engine page after I got the EFIS one alert of low fuel pressure. In fact, the pressure never even went below 1 psi, yet the engine quit (mere seconds, but did in fact quit). The owner and his son, and a fellow pilot, have since put the front scat fresh air tube to the tunnel also, they say it makes a big difference. We now have no cabin heat now until a new cabin heat assembly is installed. But what the heck, we live in Florida!

The highest TAS I am able to obtain is 191 MPH TAS. This is off the EFIS one which appears to be right on. This is far below the Vans advertised number of 201.  And max cruise of 211 - well, just not gonna happen. This plane is 35 lbs lighter than the prototype, and Specs are as follows: Pilot 175 lbs, 20 gallons fuel, no paint, interior - only seats, 8000´feet, 2300 RPM, 21.5 IMAP. TAS 191 MPH. (I have found 2300 gives the best IAS vs 2400.

There is definitely not enough elevator authority. Any more than 1/3 flaps in the above mentioned weight category, one pilot, the plane cannot be trimmed to fly hands off at 85, or even 90 MPH. Aft CG will help this obviously, but, IMHO this plane will not be able to be flown with hands off in the patter and full flaps at any weight or CG (IMHO, I am extrapolating, still testing). The good thing that I love is, the stall speed; flaps up is, 69 IMPH, and full flaps 59 IMPH. Also extreme care must be taken upon landing so as not to crash the nose gear. Loss of elevator authority occurs extremely rapidly. Especially with full flaps selected! The flaps for me any way, are kind of a high lift/high drag device that I actually prefer not to use. I fly the plane 100% of the time now with flaps up, and can easily stop on our grass strip in less than 1500 feet from the end of the runway and not touch the brakes! Even to taxi!

Unbelievable awesome flight characteristics I have observed include: Virtually no stall!  Just a 600 FPM sink, that any passenger with 5 minutes of instruction could learn, land the plane and survive! Just steer with the rudders and hold the stick back!  Accelerated stalls are not stalls, just moderate shaking of the tail, I have yet to make with wing aggressively stall, this would almost have to be an acrobatic/violent maneuver!  I am absolutely 100% NOT worried about anybody EVER spinning this plane inadvertently! Heavy on the controls compared to all other RV´s, but so well balanced, who cares! Can you say stable? Power on "stalls" (remember, basically will not stall) are a climbing event! Just watch those temps! Have a tree coming up at the end of the runway, dangerously close? Well you might not clear the tree, But, you will not stall this plane in!  Awesome!  Barely 2 Fugoids in rudder and undetectable in other two axis at any airspeed! Stable, stable, stable! Rudder almost too effective. Turns are almost a feet on the floor maneuver. Only a VERY anal pilot would notice any adverse yaw during a normal cruise or pattern turn and no coordinated rudder.


This plane is awesome and worth every penny! (PS ..Congratulations Jim!!) Glen

One Response: OK, let me see if I can help. That's what all of us are here for. Right now I could have, but don't know for sure, more hours on my 10 than the factory. I just crossed 126 yesterday.
The tunnel is extremely hot. I think I might have addressed this in an earlier post. I disconnected the scat tube to the heater boxes completely. I mentioned it to Van while at the factory last week and they agreed that there is a problem. I don't know what their intended fix is yet, but for those who are still building, I would recommend that you not directly attach the heater boxes to the firewall, as they and the firewall are just acting as heat sinks for the hot air. Stand them off with spacers, maybe phenolic, and I think that should help.


As for the CG loading, I'm assuming you have the metal prop, but you didn't mention it. I have the MT prop, which is supposedly lighter. Whatever the reason, I do not appear to have the cg issues. I have flown it solo with full fuel, and at gross with 4 adults, and have enough elevator authority to trim it hands off on final. I also went with the heavier pc 925 battery. I'd rather carry something useful rather than ballast.
There's lots of ways to fix these problems.


As for the speed, I seem to true out at those same airspeeds, 162-167 kts. We did a side by side comparison with the factory airplane last week at 8500' and FT and 2500 rpm. If anything, the factory plane was 1 mph faster. However, If I have the horsepower that I am supposed to have, Van seems to think mine is about 12 mph slower. Who really knows without taking a hartzell prop and putting it on my airplane, or putting the MT on the factory.

Please don't hesitate to give me a call. I'm in Georgia, and might even have time to come down and help. You are certainly welcome to come here, GA04, and fly mine.
Vic

 

Young Eagles – Bob Axsom – I received a letter from EAA Young Eagle Headquarters saying I had flown eight young Eagles and they encouraged me to fly two more for the yearly target of ten.  I wrote a letter to the parents in the neighborhood and I got two responses from two, two boy families.  The result was I flew Blake R. Abrecht,

Evan D. Abrecht, Eric A. Jacobs and Zachary Jacobs out of Drake Field on October 27, 2005 and I have my ten for 2005.  I did OK but the tower asked me to turn out of my first departure at mid field because of opposite direction landing traffic and the abrupt turnout diminished the enjoyment for a seven year old boy.  He did fine but I could have done a better job.  The other boys all flew the plane very well for first timers.  The rapid development of youngsters’ manual skills over the span of nine short years from 7 to 15 for these boys is striking but by the age of 10 you could see the necessary skills to control the airplane were there.  The older boys were not only able to fly the airplane but some ground recognition skills for pilotage navigation were also present.  I gave each Young Eagle a sectional chart and one of the little yellow AOPA navigation plotters.  A very brief description of the charts, their contents and purpose was also provided.

 

RV Fly-in at Santa Teresa, New Mexico – Bob Axsom – WOW! What a great fly-in if you are an RV builder.

 

 

Jeanine and I flew our RV-6A down there on Friday the 14th of October.  115 RVs of all categories except the RV-3 participated, according to the organizers at the banquet Saturday night.  The organization was so good, it can’t be described in a way that does it justice without causing disbelief.  The people were so friendly and helpful that you knew they felt it was really important for you to be there for the event.  Once again we did not win anything but the Blue Bird is fantastic.  We saw the TruTrak RV-9 there but I didn’t know any of the people with it.  Sunday, October 16, we took off from the Santa Teresa Airport (west of El Paso) on the return flight at 1635Z and landed at Drake field at 20:38Z – non-stop.  I planned to fly over the Chapter meeting site but heard Barry West calling the tower at Drake so we knew it was over.  We plan to go back to the Land of Enchantment RV Fly-in next year.  One downer on the way there – Fuel at Hobbs, NM $5.19/gal. even with a 20 cent AOPA discount.  $182 fuel stop.

 

Building Notes:

 

BD-5 Status and Other Concerns – Jack Hollingworth - My BD 5 is awaiting precision drilling of the main spar by a BD 5 co. in Oregon. Hope to have it back with some main gear retracting parts that require precision machining of the AL  alloy slugs.  My wife and I were in the area of the Spruce Goose last month when she had a relapse of Breast cancer an we made a mad dash home.....Soooo we have other concerns at the present.   BOY !!!! wasn't OSHKOSH a HOOT!!!! Jack H.

 

Wings Complete – Bill Wolfe - I have completed my second wing panel for my Spratt Controlwing flying boat and have started the hull construction.

 

Ultra Flight Radio – Bill Wolfe - I finally noticed the announcement for www.UltraFlightRadio.com on the inside back cover of Wicks catalog.  This is a general aviation program discussing topics such as ultralights, light sport aircraft, powered paraglider, trike, gyros, safety, engines, events, training and government issues.  Listen in live every Tuesday morning from 10:00 AM to noon, Eastern time or Archives are available 24/7.

 

The 2004 Update of  Sport Aviation CD ROM – Bob Axsom – I got the complete set when it came out as I’m sure many other Chapter Members did and each year I look forward to getting the update.  The 2004 update is now available (F06267) for $19.99 and I have placed my order (www.eaa.org or 1-800-843-3612).  They also have the complete set available, including the 2002, 2003 and 2004 updates (F31936) for $159.   I use it for research but Jeanine uses it to justify throwing away another year’s worth of magazines so we both get something out of the deal.

 

Our Plane, RV-6A N710BJ, is on theCover of The RVator, Vans Aircraft Factory Magazine – Bob AxsomThis is a rarity.  I called the Company and ordered 10 extra copies.

 

Great Website Opened for Air Venture Cup 2006 – Bob Axsom – This is the classiest website I have seen period!  All of the deep stories, current events, information and background are provided in a very satisfying form. You can keep up with the development of the 2006 race at http://www.airventurecup.com.  If you have a homebuilt airplane that will go fast for 500 miles and you enjoy the thrill of racing, this is a site you should checkout.

 

One Six Right – Bob Axsom – [from an e-mail to people that have the DVD on order] The long awaited DVD release of "One Six Right" is now just around the corner - it will be available for purchase at the end of November and will ship the first week of December in time for the holidays.  In addition to the DVD, two other items will be available: the Motion Picture Soundtrack with 65 minutes of music from the film and the official 27" x 40" movie poster.  They all make great holiday gifts, and there will be discounts for quantity orders (these discounts will be posted on the website before purchasing).  The only way to buy the DVD, CD, and/or Poster will be on the www.onesixright.com website unless you are local to the Van Nuys Airport, in which case it will be available at Hollywood Aviators.  The website has been refined over the last few weeks with new features and updated content.  You can listen to the movie's theme song, download screenshots from the film as wallpaper, preview new photos, and check out what the press is saying about the film.  If you haven't seen it in awhile, stop by and visit: www.onesixright.com

EAA Offering of 2003 Centennial of Flight Oral History Sessions by Society Of Experimental Test Pilots – Bob Axsom – I ordered on of these $40, six DVD sets based on the content description.  I expected to hear people talk about the historical events in aviation over the first 100 years in a scripted form.  It is NOT that!  It is a set of presentations and panel discussions for a gathering sponsored by the SETP.  I have only seen 1.5 discs so far and for me it is worth the money but it you are considering buying it for your kids to give the history of aviation from December 17, 1903 to December 17, 2003 it is not going to get the job done.  It is a lot of famous pilots talking plain about planes.  It is sometimes fairly crude and shallow but good information is there from the horse’s mouth.   Even though it is called an oral history is a video package and within the sessions there are in-flight videos that are rare if a private individual can even get them.  Onboard flight film made during a Wright Brother flight, and Chuck Yeager rolling the Bell X-1 for example.  The six DVDs  cover: 1- testing and preparing to fly the Whithead No. 21 and the 1903 Wright Flyer; 2 – Sound Barrier, X-15 and Lifting Bodies; 3 – Vertical Flight and General/Commercial Aviation; 4 – Modern Fighters; 5 – Fast and Heavy Iron and Black World; and finally 6 – Mercury/Gemini/Apollo Astronauts and Space Shuttle.  If you order it be prepared to sit down as if you were attending a seminar, enjoy it for what it has to offer and don’t expect anything like a comprehensive history of the first 100 years of powered flight.

 

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.