AUGUST 2000
NEWSLETTER
Watermelon Feed
Presidents Thoughts
The Unforgettable Trip
Poker Run
Cheat the Devil Fly-out
Mowing Schedule
Calendar
For Sale
Oshkosh
Young Eagles
Our meeting this month is watermelon eating.
August is the month we hold our “Annual watermelon feed at the hangar
each year. The Chapter will provide the watermelons so come on out and
enjoy having a few slices. Anyone know how to organize a WATERMELON SEED
SPITTING CONTEST???
Of course, before you get to make a mess with a watermelon you will have to endure blah-blahs from the president and listen to some tall tales from those folks who made the trip to Oshkosh this year.
The Oshkosh pilgrims have returned. I think that we will need to sit down for a few minutes before we cut the watermelon to hear some reports. It sounds to me like they are going for the party rather than the aircraft exposure. A fairly definite schedule of “hosting” has evolved and you should be aware of the “procedures” if you decide to participate. It sounds like there was some dicey weather to navigate, as usual. And it has been rumored that Paul Shireman departed on a reciprocal course and ended up in New York! I don’t know when he recognized what had happened, but it must have shook him, because, at some point he abandoned his plane and took a train. I guess he must have regained his composure and gone back for it, however. The Skyhawk is now back in his hangar. Take heed. Learn to use your GPS proficiently on the ground and check your progress with old-fashioned pilotage! Maybe Paul will share his experience at the meeting.
On the subject of Oshkosh, try not to talk about it around Dale Olson. It seems that his buddy, Keith, couldn’t spare him this year and declined his vacation request. Anyway, he’s been pretty pouty about it. I know he’s really upset because he’s been, well you know.... quiet.
We are slowly completing a slate of officers and chairmen for next year. Expression of interest has been underwhelming but, we have a candidate for every position except Librarian. Somebody volunteer to take this challenge. Leslie Smith has already volunteered to help and she is a professional Librarian. Call or e-mail Al Medley if you are willing to help. Al’s phone number is 664-5965.
The Tulsa Air and Space Museum is having a big open house in September. More details somewhere else in the newsletter. They have invited us to bring experimental and vintage aircraft for static display at the event. Her is your chance to fly into the “Big Airport”. Paul Shireman is our contact man for info on this 272-3571.
The Tulsa Fly-In is coming up in just a few weeks. I think that it will be a good one. Please get your volunteer forms in as soon as possible. We will have a stack of them at the meeting. Remember Sport Aviation Chapter Ten is a co-sponsor of this fly-in and we need to support it well.
See you at the hangar — John
by Jerry Vaughn
When you love to fly, every cross country trip provides time for a few
moments of reflection. A time to consider the awesome wonder of flight,
the sights, the smells, the sounds the total immersion in the experience.
The more hours you build up the less often the moment comes around but
for me it still comes often when the weather is good and the plane is purring
in perfect tune.
One trip however, stands out in my memory
as having no such moment of wonder. Unless you count the “wonder
whether I’ll get back in one piece” type of wonder. The trip was
planned as an inexpensive routine visit with my brother in Austin TX. Weather
was acceptable and the plane and I were in need of airing out. The
Midget Mustang N20JV completed two yrs before with 150+ hours of flawless
flight time was coming up for annual soon and would be down for weeks.
So, a quick trip was planned departing home base in Liberty Missouri, with
one stop at McAlester OK for fuel. This was to be the planes longest
cross-country to date 620 miles about 4 hr flight time with my 165mph cruise.
Take off from the 2300 ft strip in Liberty
was routine even though I was at max weight and aft CG, with the baggage
compartment full and the tanks topped off. The hand made wood prop
was a good climber and we had 135 hp on tap. All was well until entering
Oklahoma air space I noticed an increase in exhaust tone and a different
smell. I reduced power to a minimum and landed at the next airport
to investigate. This was Saturday late morning and few people were
around the Pryor OK airport office. There were no repair services
available at that time. I had a few tools and after removing the
cowl, I found the problem.
A fatigue crack in a Y connector had allowed
exhaust gas and noise to escape and heat up a fire sleeve protector guarding
an oil line. A well dressed man who had taken an interest offered
assistance. I needed a welding torch and filler rod to repair the
mild steel exhaust tube before I could continue my trip. He said his shop
was a few miles away and he thought he had the equipment I needed.
This was the president and founder of HEM Saw manufacturing and he indeed
did have the required equipment. I fixed the Y tube, replaced the
part, added fuel and was again on my way in 2 hours thanks to a fellow
aviator. After regaining cruise altitude and setting the trim and speed
for the last leg, something was still not right. After 150 hours
in a plane you develop a sense of normal, a level of sound, air speed,
vibration, and odor that are expected. When something
doesn’t feel right its time to investigate. After 10 –15 minutes
of investigation, a mag check showed a bad right mag. Over
half way to Austin, where help, tools and parts would be more easily obtained,
I elected to continue on one mag.
Landing Saturday afternoon and
greeting my brother, I announced the immediate need for a replacement mag
and we spent the rest of the day locating the parts needed and a place
to work in the shade. Sunday morning found us replacing the mag.
Little attention was paid to the weather until midday Sunday when the sky
clouded up and visibility started dropping. A quick check with flight service
put me on alert that a low pressure area in the gulf had intensified and
was coming ashore south of Austin. I moved my departure time up eager
to head north away from bad weather. Mother nature can sometimes
move faster than a Midget Mustang. I started out with 25 mph head
winds in Austin but they steadily increased to an estimated 45mph in light
rain cutting my ground speed to 120mph and forcing an early landing for
fuel. Atoka OK was within reach and the runway was aligned with the
strong wind. My anxiety with the wind, rain and strange airport made
me over aggressive on the brakes. I slid a tire on the wet pavement
and burned a flat spot on the already thin tires. The left tire blew
out as I was taxing back to the gas pump. Instinctively hitting the
right brake to keep things straight the tail dragger tipped up and splintered
the tips of my hand made wood prop. The day's journey in N20JV came
to an end at that point. A phone call placed on the pay phone brought
help to get the crippled bird bedded down in a safe spot while I made plans
to get to Liberty MO. from Atoka OK on Sunday afternoon. A taxi cab
ride with a retired New York cabbie who moved to Atoka to be near his daughter
got me to the McAlester airport where I caught a commuter flight to Oklahoma
City where I found it quicker to rent a car and drive to Liberty than to
wait for the next flight to Kansas City.
Arriving home at midnight, my long weekend
was finally over. The trip was not complete however because my pride
and joy N20JV was sitting in a cow pasture with a broken prop and a flat
tire. I didn’t sleep much that night with all the weekend events running
through my head. How could so much have gone so wrong in one trip.
Little did I know it was not yet over as I made plans the next week to
retrieve my broken bird..
The next weekend I could be found with
two friends in a Bonanza flying south. I borrowed a prop, bought
a tire and tube, acquired a ferry permit, and gathered the required
tools. The propeller was too long with not enough pitch but it could
be made to work if I took care and did only three point landings.
With help, the repairs were made quickly. A short test flight proved the
serviceability of the borrowed prop. We added a few gallons
of fuel at Atoka but decided to fly to McAlester to regroup and top
off the fuel due to the longer runway. After filling the tanks and
checking the oil (I needed to add a quart) a small crowd gathered to look
the Mustang over. This usually occurred at airports not use to homebuilts
visiting every day. I felt uneasy and rushed to answer all the questions
and get back in the air without offending any on lookers and holding up
my chase plane. My uneasiness was justified by a fluctuating oil
pressure needle within 10 minutes of departure. The nearest
airport was found on the map and I announced my intentions to land.
We landed at Oswego city airport with no living thing within miles if you
don’t count cows. With oil, dripping from the belly and no dip stick
to be found it was obvious I had been distracted and forgot to replace
it when adding the oil at McAlester. The chase plane was sent
to Fort Scott for oil and a dip stick. The oil was replaced
upon their return and the fill tube taped shut with duck tape since a new
dip stick was not found. We made it home before dark.
The dip stick arrived a week later after a call to the McAlester FBO. They
found it on the taxi way. A new custom made prop arrived in
about 6 weeks and the little Mustang was made whole two months after the
fateful decision to make a casual visit to Austin and see what my brother
was up to. A trip expected to cost less than $100 ended up costing
3 lost weekends in labor and $1256.40. A wise old sage once said,
“if you have time and money to spare go by air”.
Craig Loomiller and Dale Olson made plans to have a Poker Run on June 24th after the pancake breakfast. It turns out that Craig has amazing control over the weather. Every time he plans one of these events the weather goes bad. We were able to have the pancake breakfast in the hangar but, flying was out of the question.
Now it is mid August and we need some rain... how about it Craig?
As scheduled, we had the Annual Cheat the Devil Fly-Out on Saturday July the 15th at the Tenkiller Airpark. At the venture this year were Jerry McNeil, Paul Shireman, John Kurt, Larry Brooks and Lynn Coltharp. It was a pretty hot day(just as hoped). It was actually pretty nice compared to the “Original” CTD fly-out but then, almost any day would be pleasant compared to that one. I guess we will never be able to equal the “original”! We set up our tents and then began the daunting task of refreshing ourselves and telling lies. Even some of the folks who live on the runway came over and helped us. They were actually very gracious and even brought over a jug of ice-water for us.
It turns out that was the weekend of the Cookson Jubilee and they were having a “shindig” at the grounds next to the airport. We were able to go over there and eat and watch some people get up on stage and make fools of themselves. We enjoyed listening to the music for a while then returned to our tents and resumed telling lies. It wasn’t long before some of the folks who live on the runway joined us and it somehow came out that they and Jerry McNeil were from the same home town. For the next two hours the lies got extremely “drug out”. Some of us finally had to go on to bed..
If you have never been to one of the CTD Fly-outs you have really missed out. Next year we will try to coincide with the Cookson Jubilee again.
EDITOR’S NOTE (PLEA!!!)
As I said in the May newsletter Randy Harris is unable to contribute his monthly article that he has been giving me for the last several years. So, I need some more folks to step up and be “reporters/writers” for our monthly newsletter. Articles by our members contribute greatly to the success and enjoyment of our chapter. When we get together there is never any shortage of tales about flying episodes, building/repairing discussions and all sorts of flying talk. Tell us all about that trip to get a burger, the experiences of building or rebuilding you encountered so on and so forth.
August 20 Williams
August 27 Dalton
September 03 Shireman
September 10 Gallaway
Below is a list of who brings snacks for each meeting. The pressure is really on the N-P’s for June because the M’s brought really good stuff for the June meeting. Note: August is the annual watermelon feed at the meeting so the “snack” is provided by the Chapter.
January A-C
February D-F
March G-H
APRIL I-L
June M
July N-P
September Q-S
October T-V
November W
1st Monday Each month Board Meeting at the chapter hangar at Gundy’s 7:00pm
2nd Monday each month Newsletter Folding at the hangar - Gundy’s Airport 6:30pm
3rd Monday each month Chapter 10 EAA meeting at the hangar - Gundy’s Airport
1st Saturday each month Ponca City Aviation Booster club Breakfast Fly-In.
1st Saturday after 3rd Monday - each month Pancake Breakfast - Gundy’s Airport
August 21 Watermelon Feed - Gundy’s
Sept 07 Newsletter deadline
Sept 22-23 Tulsa Fly-In at Bartlesville
Sept 30 Bean dinner - Airman Acres
Oct 08 Wing Ding - Gundy’s
Oct 27-28 Reklaw Flying M Fly-In
Nov 20 Pie Auction - Gundy’s
Dec 09 Christmas Party - Gundy’s
Annual Inspections - $200 on non complex aircraft. Complex aircraft
higher. You open and close up, etc. This is a limited time offer. Call
for details. 10% discount to EAA members
Edgar Hellyer 918 834-7215
1984 Pientenpol (GN1) Aircamper, A-65 Continental TT 760, SMOH 100, 100 TT Airframe, Metal Prop
$7900
David Cash 274-9909 or Phil Hart 272-1064
Vacuum Pump for a Lycoming 0320
new still in box.
William Harris 274-3719
. I would like to have your articles or information by Thursday after the first Monday. We always fold the newsletters on the second Monday. That means that I have to get all the editing done and get it to the printers. Sometimes I procrastinate and don’t get it printed until Sunday or Monday but my goal is to get it printed by Friday after the first Monday.
Several members from the chapter made the trip to Oshkosh this year. Last year some of the members started something that made the stay at Oshkosh very enjoyable and we continued it this year. The procedure is: all EAA Tulsa Chapter 10 and friends park on row 56(Northwest corner of the field) pitch the tents and gather each evening for a camp meal and comradery. This year we had five planes and one that arrived on Saturday after most of us had left. This area of the field is just across the street from a couple of places to eat and drink. There is also a “Qu;ik Trip” type of place to get ice and other necessary items. It is not too bad of a walk to a Piggly Wiggly where we can buy our grub for the evening meal. Each plane takes turns at supplying the grub and preparing the evening meal. As it turns out we seem to have a good supply of grub chefs in the bunch, The meal each evening was REALLY GREAT.
The Menu at Oshkosh:
The airplane part of Oshkosh was also great. It just seems I can’t get my mind off the eating and good times at our camp site. There were many excellent forums on a multitude of subjects and I took in quite a few of them. My feet won’t let me stand and stare at airplanes all day so I broke up each day with some forum times and some airplane drooling. The most popular homebuilt is, by far, the RV’s I did not count them but they had a great number more than any other homebuilt. Of course one can spend an entire day at the exhibitor area. It seems like everyone involved in aviation had a booth there. I was able to pick up a new database for the GPS at a substantial “show discount”.
The trip up there was just about as pleasant as it can get. I flew along with Bill Grandstaff’s mall and Lonnie rode with Bill. We started out at 7500 ft with severe clear and Bill suggested that we might pick up a tail wind at 5500ft. Sure enough, we picked up about 20mph. We planned to fuel at Iowa County because it showed cheap fuel on the internet. They, however, had raised the price before we got there. This was kind of a bummer but, we fueled up and made the last leg on into Oshkosh. We had just about perfect weather the whole trip up. On the way back we had a fairly unpleasant low ceiling and poor visibility situation the entire route but, we were able to get back without any real delays.
Bill saying “now just what kind of meat is that anyway”??
Aug 19 at Tahlequah
Sept 21 at Bartlesville
TULSA FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
8299 Owasso Expressway
Owasso, Ok 74055
Call 274-1099 for membership information
Contact our chapter officers by e-mail
President: Bhrent Waddell bwaddell@tulsa.oklahoma.com
Vice President: Bart Dalton Planenutts@Worldnet.att.net
Treasurer: Craig Loomiller ccaloom@webzone.net
Secretary: Jerry Vaughn GVAUGHAN48@AOL.COM
EAA Chapter 10 Home Page
E-mail:mailto:rv6_flyer@yahoo.com
URL:http://www.eaa10.org/newsletter/2000_08/index.htm
Contents of the EAA Chapter 10 newsletter and these web pages are the viewpoints of the authors. No claim is made and no liability is assumed, expressed or implied as to the technical accuracy or safety of the material presented. The viewpoints expressed are not necessarily those of Chapter 10 or the Experimental Aircraft Association.