The Smilin’Jack |
|
| EAA Chapter 866 monthly newsletter July 2002 |
Chapter Meeting Weds. July 3rd at 7:30 PM at Dunn Airpark Bldg. 10
N. Williams Ave, Titusville
By: Steve Pangborn
Looks as though it would be an excellent time to mount floats on our airplanes! Is it ever going to stop raining? I've registered almost 15 inches of rain, as of this writing {6-22-02}, since going to Kansas City on the 13th.
We had an abbreviated board meeting this month as at least half or more of the board was AWOL {psssst…. I think they forgot!!}. Anyway, our "bookie" tells me we did well on the last pancake breakfast, making expenses and then some.
It was suggested that at the next meeting we do a little maintenance on the "Emu". The tail wheel needs to be re-attached and a little fabric work is in order, so…. wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty and plan to assist Neale and company do the repairs. Who knows, you might have fun and learn something at the same time!
We want to thank Harry Merritt for the transference of a donation to the chapter. It consists of a complete set of Time Life video tapes on various aviation subjects and a nice headset that has Piet N Pol "written" all over it! Harry gave me the gentleman's name that made the donation, but like everyone else in my age bracket, I've forgotten. We'll get his name and thank him. Harry says he wants to join our little group, which should be a wonderful addition!
Well, enough for this month…I need to go bail Lily out! Stay dry, blue {?} sky's, and fly safe!
By: Steve Pangborn
No, I haven't completely lost it! It's just that 3/5 of the "Dunn Patrol" decided to journey to the "Land of OZ"…..Kansas, to join in the exploits of the K.C. Dawn Patrol and their merry band of WWI aficionados at the annual {7th} Gardener, Kansas "Gathering of Eagles, 2002".
Jim Garrison, Gil Jones, and myself departed X-21 early the 13th of June, with beautiful weather. This lasted until just south of Springfield, Missouri, where the buildups started to rear their ugliness. It looked "dicey" initially, but we were able to divert around a couple of rather large "thumpers" and make it uneventfully into the Gardener New Century Airport…just southwest of Kansas City. That Bonanza is the way to go when you want to put distance between two points on a map!
We got the airplane situated and bedded down, then we rented a car and did the same checking in to the Super Eight motel in Gardener. Later that afternoon, we journeyed into town to the highly {?} recommended Gardener Deli where we each lunched on a 1/8" thick, breaded, hard as shoe leather, pork loin sandwich. Reminded us of a rather large potato chip!
After that gourmet delight, we cruised town a bit {9,000 folks strong!}, found the Gardener airport {the small uncontrolled airport hosting the flyin}, and then hit the motel for a nap before supper.
Later, we found the Tumbleweed sports bar and grill and had a decent meal and some refreshment to help us sleep!
Friday morning found us a "Mom's Grill" for a super filling breakfast before heading out for the day. Friday at the airport was setup day for all the participants. Most of the folks trailer their airplanes to these shows and we got watch the antics, especially of the Dawn Patrol bunch. While one guy is struggling to put his airplane together, another one is stealing parts when the other isn't looking. I did a double take when I saw one of them running off with Dick Starkes rudder while he was lying under a wing trying to connect all the important stuff! About 6-7 airplanes showed up Friday that came in on trailers. Supper that evening consisted of a party in one of the locals hangar featuring….you guessed it, a 6 foot sub from the Gardener Deli. After listening to all the banter going on between these folks for a while, we decided to call it quits and give up for the day. Besides, the big day was yet to come, and we wanted to be ready!
Saturday morning found us back at "Moms" for breakfast, after which we headed out to the fun and games.
And fun was had by all. I guess maybe 10-15 airplanes {WWI} showed up. Nieuports were the plane of the day, although there were 2 Siemens-Schukert D-1's, a Fokker Triplane and a gaggle of other non-WWI airplanes….J-3, Champs, Yaks, PT-19, a round-engined StarDuster, a replica Fiesler Storch, and an AirBike!
The Nieuports with the Dawn Patrol the most obvious, flew whenever they could break away from all the question we and other interested folks like us peppered them with. All but two of the replicas were VW powered. One Nieuport 12 used a "V" twin Yamaha motorcycle engine, and the other N-12 used a Continental C-90 for power.
Towards the end of the afternoon, all those flying put on a mini seminar for all us builders answering any questions we still had and pointing out some of the pitfalls they had experienced. It sure was an enlightening experience and should help us complete our airplanes just a bit easier.
We three opted out of the flyin banquet. The entertainment was an accordion player and we figured we could always tune in Lawrence Welk if we needed to! We went to the "Machine Shed" restaurant for supper. It had a farm equipment motif {tractors, farm implements, signage, etc.} Great food {too much!!} and service.
Afterwards, it was back to the motel for an early night as we were to depart at 6:00 a.m. That of course didn't work. I think it was closer to 7:30 a.m. before the wheels were in the wells…..but we were off, into partly cloudy skies. Those skies started thickening up just about Springfield again, but we were on an instrument flight plan and there was very little turbulence and little rain. Jim's GPS can call up color-coded weather alerts along the flight path, and it showed some nasty "red painting", but it never materialized. We landed at Birmingham, Alabama {as we did going up} to clear but muggy weather. Off from there in 45 minutes with next stop X-21, but not before we encountered weather {clouds, little rain} just north of Jax and continued on down to Arthur Dunn where we made a visual, uneventful finish to a wonderful, long weekend of great airplanes, great people and wonderful camaraderie.
It was a long trip {around 6+ flying hours each way}, but we had a great time, ready to go again next weekend….yeah, right!
Steve
Chapter 99 based at Vero Beach is moving into new digs and Landis Ketner, the chapter newsletter editor has sent an invitation to their celebration in their hangar at Vero on Saturday July 13. Here's the deal.
Sat. July 13th AM 8:00 - 12:00 Home built, antique, and classic aircraft and automobiles on display - commercial displays by airport tenants - RC model airplane static display - door prizes - complimentary (free) coffee, donuts, Danish, and juice………
To fly in: - Vero Beach Tower 126.3, ATIS 132.5, Ground 127.45 Ask for directions to the South Hangars.
Driving: From Aviation Blvd, head north on Flight Safety Drive. Follow signs to hangar #16.
Need more info? Call 772 567 2506
NOTE: Good idea for some of us to attend this, might be an opportunity to hype our Smilin 'Jack fly-in in Sept. The editor
Been outa town for a while so I didn't get very much flying in this past month. Flew Pan Am commercial flight to Baltimore then commuter (Jetstream 31) plane to Cumberland, MD. On the commuter flight the pilots were friendly and I had a good time chatting with them during the flight. You see, the Jetstream plane is a small plane and there is no cockpit door to isolate the pilots from the pax. At Cumberland my friend and former student picked me up in his Cherokee 180 and we flew to Bedford, Pa. Did a flight review with another former student in a nice Warrior in Pa while I was there. Then there was a two week dry spell and the only flying was on a 717-200 plane as a passenger of Air Tran from Dallas to Orlando. When we got back I wheeled 52L out for a little exercise and xwind practice for me. Two weeks without flying doesn't sound like much but I can certainly tell the difference after being away from flying for even just two weeks.
A little history of our beloved Arthur Dunn Airpark (X21)……
1929 In an August edition the newspaper announces that leases have been signed for 114 acres to be used as an airport. Work began on the clearing of the new site using convict labor supplied by the county. The field opened for emergency use in December. There are no defined runways; landing direction is determined by the windsock. The only other airport open on the east coast of Florida is Opa Locka. More next month
Our new restroom facility was starting to look quite ratty during the first part of June so Loretta cleaned it up and put her name on the list to be responsible for keeping it cleaned for the month of June. No one has signed up for the months from now! When this was built our chapter decided that we would be responsible for keeping it nice and clean and this would take some of the burden off of the airport authority maintenance staff. So far this has worked and the residents of Dunn and even a non chapter member signed the sheet in the room and kept it clean for each month. Hey, we need to keep this going so if you use this facility how bout signing up to keep it clean for a month? Maybe it's time to start the rotation again and the six volunteers who were thoughtful enough to do the job in the first place would be willing to sign again. Larry Gilbert
I found this on the electronic EAA newsletter this month. The Editor
Question For EAA Government and Industry Relations:
I enjoy reading your question and answer on the weekly EAA email bulletin I receive. Now I've got a question:
I am considering the purchase of a Pietenpol powered by a Model-A Ford engine from another area builder. If I buy the aircraft, can he still perform maintenance, especially annual inspections on the aircraft for me? While the aircraft structure is brutally simple, the thought of having an off-the-shelf A&P look at, let alone work on the engine scares me.
Answer: If the person you plan on purchasing the Pietenpol from was the original, primary builder and received the amateur-built aircraft repairman's certificate to do the annual condition inspections on that aircraft, then the answer is yes.
As the owner of an experimental amateur-built aircraft, anybody you designate can perform any and all types of maintenance, including major repairs, modifications, alterations, and/or changes on that aircraft. The FAA only limits who can perform the annual condition inspection - the holder of that aircraft's repairman's certificate, an authorized FAA repair station, or an A&P. These options will be yours as long as you own the Pietenpol.
The little girl, Ms. Mounts flew in with her dad for one of our breakfasts. Photo op w/ Alan Wise's Piet.
|
|
|
|