EAA Chapter 732
Newsletter
December 2005
Next Meeting: To be announced in the January newsletter.
Future
Meetings
– To be determined by the Board of Directors in the next week to 10 days. The 2006 meeting schedule will appear in the
January issue of the Chapter Newsletter.
Check the Chapter Website (http://www.eaa732.org
), for the earliest update.
November Chapter Meeting Report – Bob Axsom – As the members and guests arrived
at Rex Stewart’s home in Bella Vista they were guided by signs to Rex’s rear
garage door and as they passed through the door they were confronted with Rex’s
new GlaStar fuselage. It is painted
white with red trim stripes.
President Doug Stone called the meeting to order at 14:10 with 32 people present in Rex Stewart’s garage. New members and guests were introduced: New Member: John Hines – John said he does not have a project yet but he is looking at a Zodiac XL. Gary Simmons was recommended to him as a source of good information about the airplane. Guests:
D.
Mark Willis – Guest (Chapter 669, Harrison)
Mark
Rackly – Guest (Chapter 669, Harrison)
Jim
Jackson – Guest (Bella Vista)
Steve
Chambers - Reported his experience with Customs and DEA as reported in this
newsletter.
Tom
Wyatt - Reported the Freeman Williams is in the hospital. Part of a lung has been removed and lung
Cancer has been diagnosed.
Al.
Smith - Reported that he and Brenda are working with the firewall forward part
of the airplane and some rethinking of the instruments desired has resulted in
the need to rework the panel.
Barry
West - Reported that the firewall forward part of his Pulsar is complete except
for the prop and he is still working with the wing tip lights.
Bill
Wolfe – Reported that both wings of his Spratt Controlwing flying boat are
complete and he is working on the hull.
Doug
Stone – Reported that his RV-10 fuselage has been joined and he is working on
the interior details. He is nearing the
point where he is going to have to move it out of the basement.
Doug
Stone & Steve Chambers – Reported that they have built their new hangar at
Bentonville and completed the landmark event of operating the door for the
first time. They are two happy
owner/builders.
Bill
Wolfe – Is going to visit a man that has a Cassutt airplane that he has no use
for. Bill will assess the parts and
feedback availability information to the Chapter.
Chip
Gibbons – Made a dues announcement and solicited donations for the Tailwinds
Foundation which supports serious 30 year old and under people achieve success
in the field of aviation. The Chapter
732 dues are $15 and the minimum Tailwinds Foundation donation is $5 but larger
donations are welcome. The full story on
the Tailwind Foundation can be found on the web at http://www.tailwindfoundation.org. Make checks payable to “EAA Chapter 732” and
give the check to the Treasurer, Chip Gibbons or mail it to: Chip Gibbons,
Jim
Younkin – Delivered the autopilot instruments to Rex Stewart for his GlaStar
and he described the completion and first flights of his RV-10. He was extremely impressed with the
airplane. He said: aggressive maneuvers
at 60 knots were easy – it flies the pattern like an RV-9 – much easier to fly
than an RV-6 – Van has really come up with an exceptional airplane –
unbelievable airplane – I don’t see how anyone could pick anything over this.
Rex
Stewart – After completing the business portion of the meeting, control was turned
over to Rex Stewart for a technical presentation on his GlaStar. The presentation was exceptional and the
workmanship on the plane is outstanding.
The fuselage has been painted with Imron 2000 and multiple layers of
clearcoat. The wings have been primed
but otherwise not painted. It is
equipped for IFR with an approach approved Garmin 430 and ILS
instrumentation. IFR operation
philosophy was discussed and Rex said his main usage is expected to be for safe
arrival if he gets stuck on top of clouds – he does not intend to routinely fly
in IMC.
The
meeting ended at 15:35.
Flying
News:
Strange Encounter of
the Undesired Kind – Steve Chambers
- Terri and I just returned from a 9.1 hour round robin cross-country. We
flew out of VBT, with two stops (small bladders!!) to Port Isabel, Texas
(PIL). This is an old Navy base from W.W.II with real grass growing up in
the cracks in the runway!! We spent time at timeshare with Terri's
sisters on South Padre fishing and walking the beach.
The return trip
was most spectacular. We filed IFR from PIL to HPY, (
We
were met by five police cars representing the local sheriff, customs and
the DEA!! There were many big guns held by big guys in body armor and
camo garb!! Seems they were most interested in our flight as there was a
Citation that waved off overhead as we pulled in the chocks and a Cessna 210
that landed right behind us!! I met the nice man from US Immigration
and Customs in full body armor and side arm as I opened the canopy.
He asked if my point of departure was Corpus Christie. I explained
that we'd departed South Padre, come up the beach low level and had filed the
entire plan prior to departure. I told him he was welcome to search
the airplane, even the wrapped birthday presents if he had to!! About
this time my daughter and three grandsons appeared on the scene. Boy were
they impressed!! The customs agent was very apologetic, but
wanted copies of the aircraft registration and my licenses. I
was quick to cooperate as I was seriously out gunned!! Once the computer
check of the airplane and my personals were run the big guns departed
and the customs guy was more interested in the RV6 than anything else.
The moral is that there is no moral. I ask what I should have done differently or what I could do in the future to avoid a similar incident. The answer was "Nothing!!". I had basically flown a profile that fit that of the drug runners, trying to "disguise" a drug run for a legitimate flight. Everyone involved on the ground could not have been more professional or friendly. I complimented them on their actions, but only after I was convinced that jail was not in my immediate future!! Next time, I think I'll make my low level run into Port Isabel and file a full IFR plan on the return leg.
Rest assured that the DEA and
Customs bring out the big toys in a hurry when they see something
interesting. The Citation was following from overhead almost the entire
trip and the Cessna 210 was flying formation directly behind and below me all
the way from Corpus to
Nashville,
Tennessee Grand Ole Opry Memories and a Reality Check – Bob Axsom – Jeanine and I flew to
Nashville on November 10 to fulfill a life long desire of mine based on an old
radio program. At night the lower AM
broadcast band frequencies cover great distances because the sky wave becomes
effective. The signal travels out from
the transmitting antenna to the ionized layers of the ionosphere, which reflect
the signal back to Earth much farther away than airwave or ground wave can
reach and then they are reflected back out again. Thus, they skip around the world until the
signal is attenuated. At night well over
50 years ago in San Diego, I used to carefully turn the variable air capacitor
common to every home radio and try to pick up far away stations. One of them was radio station WSM
broadcasting on a carrier frequency of 650,000 cycles per second (650 kHz) from
Building Notes:
Installing the first Ballistic Parachute
System in a Zodiac XL – Gary Simmons - Since me and my Zodiac XL were spared
any significant damage in a engine failure which resulted in having
to make an emergency landing last July in a Goshen hay field, I have
been in the process of installing a ballistic parachute system. The project has
entailed a modification of the BRS system design to accommodate the XL
model and my plane will be the first to host this last ditch safety
system.
BRS has actually designed a system for the Zenith 601 airplane,
which has a slightly different airframe. It was necessary for the BRS engineer
to examine my pictures and plans to make installation recommendations because
of the unique design differences between the XL model and the 601. It was left
up to me to take their design recommendations and make them work on my plane.
This entailed several conversations back and forth with the engineer to insure
my work would be honoring the design parameters of the system. It was entirely
up to me to determine how to interpret their recommendations. I have taken
pictures for their review and they have basically agreed with how I have
proceeded with the installation. Since there has been no significant design
changes to the airframe and since the installation will not affect the
airworthiness of the plane, it is my responsibility to sign off on the project.
While the installation will increase the aircraft weight by 25 lbs, the baggage
compartment has a 35 lb capacity depending on fuel load. I will recalculate
weight and balance numbers, but have a strong feeling that the extra aft weight
will improve single occupant flight characteristics. The center of gravity was
more forward than I liked (but within limits). Now it should be comfortably in
center range.
BRS did give me the system at dealer's cost in exchange for my
photos and installation comments. The cost will be about $4000.00 when it is
all completed. I suspect that if I did
not receive a discount, it would have cost more like $5000.
For the past two months, I have been installing bridle attach
brackets and fuselage reinforcements for the parachute system which will
necessitate relinquishing baggage compartment space for the solid
propellant rocket and chute pack. A blast hole was cut in the
baggage compartment and fiberglass molding fabricated to cover bridle
straps. I expect to be complete with the installation this month and be
flying again soon.
Should circumstances require that the
system be deployed, while the entire plane and occupants will be lowered gently
to the ground, the deployment will irreparably deform the airframe seeing as
how its design was never intended to be yanked from 135 mph to 20 mph in
seconds. A small consolation considering the consequences of a
catastrophic encounter with planet earth. -
Progress on my Anderson Greenwood AG-14 – Dave Powell - The plane is 90% mechanically complete, (the last 10% may take the rest of my lifetime and checking account!). I have taxied the plane now so engine, controls and systems have passed their first rough checks.
Because
of some faulty prior restoration work on the right wing, the rear spar is not
aligning well and the wing will need to be reworked some. After this (I hope to
be complete here by the end of the year), I will be able to bring the plane
back to focus on interior and paint. Pictures are attached for the plane and
panel. I am still looking for a vintage, 1950's, 3 1/8" panel mount
compass and a 2 1/4" oil temperature gauge (Oil temp gauge was also used
in the Stinsin 108's if anyone has any leads.)
Aircraft Items for
Directional Gyro & Vacuum gage
Ball bank indicator
3400 rpm Tachometer
Pair of standard wing tip lights
6x6 Wheels with Hydraulic brakes, mounted on landing gear
Universal Cessna untrimmed nose cone
Trim jack screw
Misc AN fittings
Military seat belts
Plus
other possible items not mentioned or shown to me when he came by my
home. Bob is asking only about $450.00
for all of the above. I am considering
the items listed below for $165.00. Bob brought them to show me but I have not
bought them yet. Probably will in a few days when extra money is available. I
am considering the following items. Please advise if you have better ideas or instruments
on hand. Bob was asking only $600.00 for all! A friend suggested E-bay offering
but not yet.
Airspeed up to 200 or more but I need only 90 - 100 mph range
Altimeter up to 20,000 ft but I need only minimum altitude say 5,000 ft+/-
Panel mounted magnetic compass
New primer
New Cessna combination switch
Panel mounted clock
I will look at the miscellaneous AN fittings
Formica
Instrument Panel Surface – Bob Axsom - The subject of instrument panel finish comes up
fairly regularly as each new builder reaches this stage in the airplane
building process. It is seen on website
forums like http://www.vansairforce.net
in the form of requests for help. The
answers come back with everything from paint to anodize. I did not take either of these popular routes
but instead chose an approach that I was confident would give me a durable and
good-looking surface. My confidence was
deep rooted in a kitchen table we have used two or three times a day for meals
over the past 38 years as well as a work surface for every thing from building
numerous Heathkits to overhauling carburetors.
It still looks great! Ah, the
wonder of Formica. The instrument panel
in this case is for an RV-6A and it started out as a flat sheet of aluminum
with a stiffener flange bent on one end.
The photograph shows it after I cut the notches for the longerons and
drilled it to provide attach points to the three upper panel supports/formers:
There is a lot of very detailed work from this point to the fully populated instrument panel but this article is about
the front surface of the instrument panel. The instruments, radios, switches, circuit breakers and everything that penetrated the instrument panel was accurately modeled in two dimensions and located on a full-sized model of the panel, which had all rear side obstructions clearly marked on the front side. Once an acceptable configuration was achieved with the modeling effort, the precise locations were marked on the aluminum panel with a Sharpie marking pin (blue works best and it is easily removed with alcohol). Then the holes were cut, punched, drilled, hack sawed and filed as required into the aluminum panel.
The aluminum panel was then used as a template to make the Formica facing. Formica is very easy to work with. Basically, I drilled starting holes then used whatever tools worked best to enlarge them to precisely match the holes in the aluminum panel. When the Formica panel exactly matched the aluminum panel I bonded them together with Pliobond Industrial Adhesive. I used clecos in the instrument mounting holes and every clamp I had plus clothes pins to hold them together while the adhesive cured.
The
proof of the pudding is in the eating and the proof of the instrument panel is
in the installation and using.
Everything fit perfectly and subsequent upgrades of the panel proved to be very easy without panel removal from the aircraft. In use the panel has lived up to my expectations for appearance and durability.
High,
Wide and Frightened by Louise Thaden – Bob Axsom – We are getting some
furniture reupholstered and in the process of locating a good source we ended
up in Rogers at a place called Belton’s.
I had my “N” number on my sweatshirt and the company representative,
Randy, asked if I was a pilot. Randy is
not a licensed pilot but he once owned and flew a powered weight shift
controlled ultralight. In the course of
conversation he asked if I had read “High, Wide and Frightened”. I told him that I had not and he was off like
a shot to his house to get his copy to loan me.
What could I do, you never aggravate a barber or dentist and I suspected
an upholsterer so I took the book. Now I
can understand his enthusiasm – it is a wonderful book covering a very special
pilot and her well known associates at a very special time in aviation. It was originally written and published in
1938, then reprinted in 1973 and finally the borrowed version I have was
published by the
EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh, 2005 DVD – Bob Axsom – I bought the DVD for this year’s big
event. There is a tribute to Bobby
Younkin and Jimmy Franklin in the bonus section of the DVD, which makes it
worth having. Otherwise it is OK.
EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh, 2005 DVD Omission of Race Coverage – Bob Axsom There is no coverage (ZERO)
of the AirVenture Cup Race in the 2005 AirVenture Oshkosh DVD but there is an
abundance of coverage of SpaceShipOne, aerobatics and warbirds, etc. I followed up on this deficiency with this
e-mail to EAA Headquarters:
“I just viewed my copy of the EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2005 DVD.
Zero coverage of the AirVenture Cup Race - why is that? Bob Axsom EAA 370326”
Response: Thank you for your
question. There are two reasons that there was no AirVenture Cup Race coverage
in this year's video. First, we try to
even out the time we relegate to each event during AirVenture, and each year
try to give extra time to two or three divisions or events. Some years
Homebuilts get more coverage than Ultralights, sometimes we give areas such as
KidVenture a larger feature. Sometimes, when we cover something for several
years in a row, we "give it a rest" for a year, to give time to
something else. Secondly, and more
importantly, the AirVenture Cup is very difficult for us to cover from a video
standpoint. We don't have the resources (time, money, or volunteers) to send
crews to the start of the race, and to shoot footage of the planes en route,
and install point-of-view cameras in the aircraft. For every year except the
first, we have covered only the finish of the race, and frankly, we've wondered
if people have been frustrated that they are only getting the climax of the
story, and not the entire story. If we get enough responses such as yours, we
will probably cover it more thoroughly next year. In any case, we will probably
at least give it a paragraph or two in the future. I hope that answered your question. --Robb McAllister Producer/Writer EAA-TV
Maybe I'm living in a different dimension than everyone else but I
don't think so. I flew in the AirVenture Cup Race from
I have researched this further and I can assure you that the
support for the race itself in EAA Headquarters is very shaky. Someone with authority has prevailed in
recent years to keep it going but some support from the EAA membership at large
is needed. The Sun ‘n’ Fun races were
cancelled in 2005 because the “maintain arms length from any risk mentality”
prevailed, to the dismay of the sponsor/organizer Aircraft Spruce who refunded
my entry fee with an apology. If you
have any interest in preserving the AirVenture Cup race for your own
participation or just following up on the results, it would be a good idea I
think, to let the EAA HQ folks know about your interest.
Newsletter
Feedback from Jack Cox – Bob Axsom – [A nice
way to go out as editor] Thanks very much
for the October issue of the Chapter 732 newsletter. I especially enjoyed
the reports on your members' airplanes and projects. Golda and I belong to EAA/VAA Chapter 3,
which covers the states of
I also enjoyed reading about your encounters with Dick Rutan. Dick has
been a friend of ours since the early 1970s when he left the Air Force and went
to work for Burt. I wrote articles on all his record flights over the
years, including the flight of the Voyager - the longest article ever printed
in Sport Aviation. We ran into him at
One
Six Right Video Now Available – Bob Axsom – This is the feature length video featuring
the main runway at the Van Nuys Airport.
The previously viewable promotional video for this show was the highest
quality of anything remotely like this (I don’t think there is anything like it
actually) that I have ever experienced.
The music and the cinematography are spell binding. I reserved a copy immediately and I just
received the following announcement and place my firm order: ONE SIX
RIGHT is NOW on sale! Thank you for your
early support and pre-reserving your DVD.
To purchase the DVD, you must now place an order through the
online store since we collected no payment or shipping information with your
reservation. Please visit the website
at:
Enjoy
the film and special features! Please
plan on ordering early since your coupon will expire on December 5th,
2005. Blue Skies, Brian J. Terwilliger,
Producer/Director, www.onesixright.com P.S. Be sure to check out the CD
Soundtrack, 3 versions of the Movie Poster and our New Release Specials!
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,
Thank
You – Bob Axsom – Being the Chapter Newsletter editor for most of 2005 has been a very
satisfying job. Thank you all for your
support by writing articles. That’s what
breaths life into the monthly communication.
I am sure you will keep it up to help Diana Richards in the coming year
in her term as editor but it is not just a 9.5 page filler task. We need to know what each other is doing and
the telling sometimes inspires the writer as much as the readers. The two big areas of interest are
building/restoring and flying – tell us about your activities in the months
ahead. I plan to tell you about
mine. – Thanks again,
Bob
Axsom