EAA Chapter 10 May 2001 Newsletter

We usually have a good turn out of people but, sometimes there are not many airplanes to look at or landings to be judged so dust off the old bird and bring it. There is no rain date on this event, we will just eat inside the hangar if it decides to rain.

WORDS FROM THE VP

Last month slipped up on me and before I new it I was too late to get a word in last month's newsletter. I will try to make up for last month.

I have seen many people out enjoying the great flying weather that we have been having. Tony Mac. Has already flown his forty hours off of his RV-8a. I understand that Bob Viet should be back in the air in a month or so, too. I have inspected one new plane and issued new ops specs. on another one that came here from Phoenix.

Tom Mickle has finished his second Pitts S1C and is already flying it. He is not a member of our group but a National member. Dan Gibson brought his Long Eze here from Phoenix on a trailer after having flown it there.

Our last meeting's program was really great. Our "Hats" off to Loren Wilkerson for bringing his beautiful Biplane for show and tell. It was quiet a lot to tell about. If you missed the meeting you really need to check out this beautiful plane. Our meeting this month is the picnic. We will be back to our normal third Monday night for June. You will want to mark your calendars so that you will be able to attend. We will be able to listen to an NTSB crash investigator. It should be very interesting. Please let me know if you have any ideas of programs. Even though I am the program person I want all the input I can get to bring programs that will interest you and everyone else.

DUES DATE

The dues date has expired and if you did not pay your dues yet, you will not be seeing this. If one of your friends says he did not get the newsletter this month, ask him if he paid his dues.

POKER RUN

Well, our treasurer/activity planner has planned a poker run for the next weekend after the picnic. See the flyer included in this newsletter for details. This is getting to be one of the best jokes in the chapter. Craig has planned about 5 or 6 of these poker runs and all but one has been "bad weathered" out. I guess since Tulsa is short on rain this year Craig is trying to help out. Hopefully this year the "rain gods" will cut Craig a little slack and we will be able to have a good run this year.
Saturday May 26 @10:00am

BVO or BUST

Editor's note: This month we continue with Lorin's fine article about his trip from Washington State to Tulsa in his Hatz Biplane. Quite an adventure and a very well written and interesting article. Last month we left off with the end of leg five.

Leg Six

We had planned to press on to Akron, CO and to overnight there but after checking the winds, weather and available daylight it was decided that we could make Goodland, KS for our overnight stop. That would leave us with two relatively easy legs on Sunday. We refueled, had a quick lunch (a coin machine pastry and a soft drink) then climbed aboard for the third leg of the day. We had out run the weather system that had chased us out of the Pacific Northwest and the system that we had been chasing apparently blew itself out over the Rockies. There were clear skies and light winds all the way to the gulf coast. Clean living…and a lotta luck does wonders.
I snuggled down into the front seat and Gary got us underway. We took off to the northwest, made a large climbing turn for a downwind departure to the southeast. It would be downhill all the way to Tulsa. We were flying over slightly rolling ranch land and it seemed different not to see the tall mountains ahead and all around. There were farmers and ranchers out working in the afternoon sun and we became aware that it was pleasantly warm in the cockpits even though we were at 7500' msl.
Microwave towers replaced mountain peaks as hazards to navigation. The fellow in the front seat was in charge of plotting and spotting these and pointing them out to the driver in the control room. We crossed US-6 and 76 and the South Platte River, the one that is a mile wide and an inch deep, just before crossing Akron, CO (4716' msl). The terrain had dropped over 1400' in the first hour and was beginning to take on the appearance of a very large piece of graph paper. The roads and section lines were now running north, south, east and west and made navigation a snap and especially so since our course was a single heading from Cheyenne to Goodland a distance of 206 miles. The terrain gradually changed from browns and tans to green and more green as we went from range land to farming country. Grain elevators began appearing and were marked on the charts as well. It seemed that every little town and village had at least one white, gleaming steeple, usually right in the middle of the town square.
We were now cruising at 5500' and it was definitely warmer and pleasantly so. We crossed over Bonny Reservoir with Goodland in sight and began a gradual decent. We announced our presence and intentions on the Unicom frequency and were greeted by silence. It was late afternoon on a Saturday in mid-western farm country and no one in sight. We hoped that we would be able to refuel before tying down and that we could find transportation into town. We lucked out, there were three fellows in a hangar at Goodland Air Service working on a pickup truck. The hangar was full of Cessna 190 and 195 aircraft and parts, several restorations were in progress. We got fuel, the pick-up was pushed outside to make room for the Hatz, a call was made for a room at a motel and we were provided with a loaner car. We had logged another 206 miles in 2:00, life is good.
In Goodland the main street and most of the side streets are paved with brick. We discovered a small museum that boasted of housing the "World's Oldest Helicopter." It was closed, unfortunately. We found the recommended "watering hole and steak house" that was a museum in itself with all sorts of toys, farm implements, road signs, old neon beer signs, etc. I had a man sized T-bone, it covered the plate. Gary had a pair of pork chops that looked like the two hind quarters off a hog. Life was getting better and better.

Leg Seven

The little restaurant in the small airport terminal building was doing a brisk business for a Sunday morning. It seems that many of the locals eat here rather than drive into town. Besides the food was excellent and plentiful.
It was another bright, sunny morning with no wind at all. It was Gary's turn to be microwave spotter and my turn to get us on down to Hutchinson, KS. It was another one of those take-off, turn to a heading and hold it for two hours then land legs. My kind of navigation. Since we were still heading downhill I had planned to cruise fairly low and enjoy the scenery. Not far out of Goodland I had to change the game plan as there was a cluster of microwave towers that were over 1000' ' tall. I leveled off at 5000' msl for a while. Again, the navigation was easy but I soon noticed a bit of drift and a check of the wind indicated it was right out of the south and about 15 mph, a quartering headwind. We also noticed the white steeples, in the small towns below, were surrounded by cars and pick-ups this bright Sunday morning. You could almost hear the singing.
We found that you can spot the grain elevators from a long way off. You can also judge the size of the town by the number of elevators in the vicinity. As we flew over the farms and towns visions of "Waldo Pepper" and "Nothing By Chance" flickered in my mind. I wondered if there were any young boys watching us pass overhead, watching until we were out of sight, and wishing that they too could soar in the sunlit skies. Been there, done that…a long time ago. We cross over Oakley and the Cedar Grove Reservoir just west of Hays, KS. There are occasional farm airstrips on the chart that are very hard to spot among the green fields. We found a few, usually by first spotting the windsock.
We crossed over Rush County Airport (2070' msl) and begin a gradual descent. A check of the ATIS and a call to Hutchinson tower gets us instructions to continue straight in for runway 13. With a south wind at 15, we request runway 17 and are given the O.K. to continue and call 5 out. When we call we are given traffic on final for 13 which turns out to be a Beech Starship and we are cleared to land on 17. After landing and taxiing to the ramp we park a short distance away from the Starship. We are ogling their space age flying machine when we notice that they are ogling our 1920's biplane. It feels good.
This leg covered 225 miles, took 2:18 for a ground speed of 97 mph.

Leg Eight

After another nutritious repast from the vending machines we were eager for the final leg of our odyssey. It was quite warm and pleasant, a day made for open cockpit flying. The only fly in the ointment was the persistent head wind, the first that we have had since leaving home. We can't complain too much. We have dodged all the weather and other than the gusty landing in Pocatello it has been a most pleasant trip over some awesome real estate.
Gary had the honor of the final leg and we departed runway 17 making a straight out departure. Not wanting to become involved with the traffic problems in and around Wichita, KS we held the south heading until well abeam then took up a south easterly heading for direct to Tulsa. The day had warmed considerably and we rose and fell on the thermal swells. I mused that it would have been a perfect day to be in a sailplane just silently floating from thermal to thermal enjoying the view and the quiet ride.
The neat squares and rectangles of the farms continued and we soon crossed Wellington and US-35. The Arkansas River came into view and led us to Arkansas City, KS. We then crossed the state line into Oklahoma. The farms gradually became pastures for cattle and horses and oil rigs dotted the country side. The Arkansas River turned south then after a while turned east again and continued into Keystone Lake and Reservoir. The tall buildings of downtown Tulsa showed on the horizon and the river went straight for them then turned south again. We continued south east until we spotted the towers of the Oral Roberts University, which is a prominent landmark and an aid in locating the Jones Riverside Airport, our destination. We had the ATIS and gave the tower a call. We were told to enter a left downwind for 17 left and call abeam the tower. This we did and we were cleared to land following traffic on final. Jones Riverside is home to Spartan School of Aeronautics, Tulsa Technology Center and numerous FBO's. There is also a large flock of corporate aircraft and antique, classic and warbird aircraft abound. I found out later that Jones Riverside is the highest use airport in Oklahoma. Quite a change from my small, grass airfield in the Pacific Northwest. It will take some getting used to.
We landed and taxied to the rows of private hangars on the east side of the airport then spotted our wives wildly waving small American flags. We grinned widely and waved back at our very welcome welcoming committee. The final leg took 1:30 to cover the 149 miles for a ground speed of 99 mph. The entire trip was 1741 miles over the better part of four days with 16 hours and 36 minutes in-air time averaging 105 mph. We burned 8 gallons per hour and used less than a pint of oil for the trip. Not bad for a 1920's style mail plane with an upside down engine that turns backwards!

Epilog

Every place we visited the Hatz drew curious, interested admirers. This was especially true on the flight line at Biplane Expo 2000. On Thursday, 1 June, I flew the Hatz north to Bartlesville, OK. By evening there were a couple dozen assorted biplanes on the field including one other Hatz owned and flown by Del Burnett from Ohio. Friday saw many more arrivals including the Texas Hatz Nutz led by Billy Dawson. We spent the day showing off our new Hatz, especially the LOM engine installation. There aren't many 4 cylinder, inline, inverted engines around anymore and it sure attracted the curious engine nuts.
The red and silver, 1920's Western Air Express, paint scheme complete with the authentic Indian and Arrow logo down the side of the fuselage was also a magnet. Saturday morning we attended the Hatz Forum and then began giving rides in "The Snooty Hatz" as the members had dubbed my machine.
Early on during the building, I had discovered that the camaraderie among Hatz Nutz is outstanding. They are the most fun loving, dedicated and helpful gaggle of aviation enthusiasts that you will ever meet. This was evidenced on Saturday afternoon when I discovered that my Stearman type fuel gauge was leaking. The Texas bunch helped drain the fuel tank, produced the proper tools then helped me to remove and replace the faulty gauge. All the while continuing to give rides in two of their Hatz'.
Saturday evening at the Awards Banquet we were presented with the award for the "greatest distance flown in an open cockpit biplane" for our 1741 mile odyssey. The flight was a satisfying accomplishment and the award made it all the more worthwhile. The frosting was heaped upon our cake when we were also awarded the Grand Champion Experimental Biplane trophy for Biplane Expo 2000. It doesn't get any better than that!
Have a Hatzy Day!

WH0 BRINGS SNACKS????

Below is a list of who brings snacks for each meeting. Because this month is the picnic the M's get another month to come up with something really great for the June meeting.

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

CALENDAR

FOR SALE

Fun , economical Bi-Plane
½ partnership -- $6500.
Hangared at Harvey Young Airport
742-7143 Jack Woodward

Great Home at Gundy's: Immaculate 2300 sqft 2 story, 4bedrms, 2&1/2 baths, game room, 1&1/4 acres. Nice hangar with a full bath.
Call Sallie -- 272-7255

Sandridge - 2280 sq ft home with Airport Access.
Nice Cul-de-sac.
Call Sallie - 272-7255

WEB PAGE NEWSLETTER

Mark will email a notice to each member who chooses to use the WEB version of the newsletter a note stating that the newsletter is ready and on line. Of course those who do not opt for the WEB version will continue to get a hard copy.

The chapter encourages everyone to opt for the WEB version rather than the hard copy.

Please send me an email to scoltharp@aol.com stating that you want to use the WEB version of the newsletter if you opt for it.

One advantage of the web page based newsletter is that we can finally have good quality color pictures of airplanes and activities.

BIPLANE EXPO POSTPONED

Due to airport taxiway work at the Bartlesville airport this year it has been decided to combine the Biplane Expo with the Tulsa Fly-In in the fall this year

WORK DAY AT THE HANGAR

Well I missed the workday at the hangar this year. I haven't even gotten a report about how it went. I trust all the worker bees showed up and got the hangar all spruced up for the summer. The clean up must have gone real well and I don't mind missing that part but, I sure do miss the hamburgers after the work.

FLYING IN AUSTRALIA

Donald Keith gave me an excellent article about his experiences doing a little "down under flying" in Australia. It is quite informative and interesting reading. The article is several pages long and would not fit in this month's newsletter without cutting it short so I decided to postpone it until next month. So look forward to Donald's tales next month about flying in Australia.

Young Eagles

Gentlemen,
We have three upcoming opportunities to fly Young Eagles . OU Flight Academy has invited us to help in their program on May 31st and June 21 in Bartlesville. There is another OU Flight Academy in Okmulgee on May 31st. At present we need pilots, planes, ground crews and recorders for all locations. If you can help with either, both or all, please let me know as soon as possible. I need to let the lady in charge know what we can do to help.

EMERGENCY DITCHING, TEXTBOOK STYLE:

After pilot Dana Lake lost first one engine, then the other, in a Piper Navajo en route from Nantucket to Beverly, Mass., Sunday night, he radioed the nearest control tower and brought the plane down in the 50-degree waters of Massachusetts Bay. As the plane filled with water, Lake climbed out, inflated the life raft and helped the eight pax, five of them children, to safety. That's a skill test most of us would rather talk about than execute.

2001 EAA MOWING SCHEDULE

MAY
19	LOOMILLER
26	COLTHARP
JUNE
02	MCNEIL
09	PEARSALL
16	FORISTER
23	COLTHARP
30	WILLIAMS
JULY
07	DALTON
14	LARIMORE
16	SHIREMAN
21	MCNEIL
28	GALLAWAY
AUGUST
04	KLOKER
11	LARIMORE
18	FORISTER
25	LARSON
SEPT
01	PEARSALL
08	SCHWARTZ
15	WILLIAMS
22	DALTON
29	SHIREMAN
OCT
06	GALLAWAY

IF YOUR NAME APPEARS ON THIS LIST AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO HELP CALL - LYNN COLTHARP 272-7255 OR IF YOU LIVE AT GUNDY'S AND WANT TO BE INCLUDED. IF YOU HAVE A CONFLICT CALL ONE OF THE OTHER MOWERS AND MAKE A TRADE OF DATES

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.

EAA TULSA CHAPTER 10

MAY 2001

NEWSLETTER