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Our next meeting will be Monday, April 21st,
7:30 pm at the chapter hanger at Gundy's.
Come early (6:30 pm) this year's Brat feed.
Snacks: Last names starting with I-L
by Bhrent Waddell
For several years Chapter 10 has the annual Brat feed as a prelude to summer flying and Air Venture in Oshkosh. Last year we rescheduled from April to June due to conflicts with Sun ‘N Fun. There is no conflict this year, so we’ll return the Brat feed to this month’s meeting on April 21. The EAA Chapter 10 Brat feed originated at the transient aircraft campground on row 556 at Oshkosh several years ago. As some of us were enjoying dinner in the North Forty camping area, a friendly visitor suggested that we try his recipe for brats the next night. We tried it and couldn’t get over how good they tasted! We’ve been trying to duplicate the same taste at our Brat feed ever since. The Brats will be $1.25 each with sides and drinks will be included. Please show up at 6:30, an hour before our normal meeting time of 7:30 and see if you enjoy them as much as we did.
Our meeting following the brats will be a recap of events from Sun ‘N Fun. Several of our members have made the trip to Lakeland this year. We’ll look forward to hearing about all the latest aviation products and developments that were presented at the first major fly-in of 2008.
The NBA Bi-Plane Expo will be held in Bartlesville, OK, on June 5-7, 2008. Each year it attracts some of the most colorful and classic bi-planes made. As with all fly-ins, volunteers are essential to a safe and successful event. If you would like to participate this year as a volunteer at the Bi-Plane Expo, give Charles Harris a call at 918-665-0755.
There has been some concern that insurance costs will force some Fly-ins to be cancelled this year. While this is true for some, I want to confirm that the Tulsa Fly-in will be on September 19-20, 2008, at Bartlesville, OK, as planned. The Tulsa Fly-in board held its first meeting of the year, and plans are already being made for this year’s fly-in. If last year’s Tulsa Fly-in wasn’t a record for planes attending, it was certainly one of the largest. Hopefully we can surpass last year’s turnout.
The local aviation calendar will be full of flying events in the next few months. Enjoy as many as you can.
Bhrent
My AirBike is often displayed at air shows where spectators sometimes touch things they shouldn’t. Like many homebuilt aircraft its ignition system uses a toggle switch as its master switch. Now toggle switches are wonderfully versatile. They are easy to install and convenient to use, but they are also vulnerable to the unknowing or the unscrupulous. As anyone who works on aircraft knows, an accidentally “hot” ignition is an invitation to disaster. Being able to lock my master switch in the off position would safety it from both and gives me peace of mind, too
I was unable to find a manufactured switch protector that would lock the Air Bike’s master switch in the off position. Like most homebuilders, I have more time than money so I did what I usually do, I made my own. Obviously, this lock will not stop a thief with a bolt cutter and determination, but it will stop the casual opportunist from starting the plane and flying away with it. The material list for this project:
First make a paper template to suit the switch and accommodate the shaft of the snap ring. Make the holes that will accept the snap ring shaft off center but in line. This will prevent the toggle switch from being locked in the ON position. Not having a sheet metal brake bar I found the blade of my table saw’s protractor head was just the right size to use as a form tool. It is nice when things work out like this! Several well-aimed taps with a hammer brought the sheet metal into shape.
To avoid cracking the metal, provide a bend radius at least equal to its thickness. A few strokes with a file and some 200 grit auto body sandpaper or emery cloth will remove the rough edges. Drill and deburr the two mounting holes, toggle switch attach hole and two inline snap ring shaft holes in the formed sheet metal. Position the locking plate (be sure the off-center holes allow the locking pin to lock the switch in the OFF position), then mark and drill the panel for the toggle switch attach hole and the two mounting holes.
Before committing to installing the formed sheet metal guard on the plan’s panel, test fit everything and adjust if necessary. Mount the guard using the two one way screws, insert the toggle switch and tighten its lock nut then insert the shaft of the snap ring through the holes and flip the loop into the position shown. Snake the bail of the padlock as shown and snap it closed.
April 11 2008 — Manufacturers and owners of aircraft kits that were previously evaluated and approved by the FAA as eligible to be certificated in the Experimental Amateur-Built Category under the FAA’s 51% Rule received welcome news at Sun ’n Fun Friday. The FAA announced that its will not re-evaluate any previously approved aircraft kits under its new policy on amateurbuilt certification.
Kim Smith, manager of the FAA’s Small Airplane Directorate, appeared at the “Meet the FAA” session Friday afternoon at Lakeland and made the announcement, which essentially grandfathers those kits that appear on the FAA’s 51% approved list. The FAA suspended making evaluations earlier this year until it finalizes its new policy revisiting amateur-built certification, which was prompted by concerns over excessive commercial assistance and prefabrication that could cause finished aircraft to fall outside the homebuilt certification regulations.
“There was no intent to reevaluate previously evaluated kits,” Smith explained. “An NPRM (notice of proposed rulemaking) will be issued sometime hopefully early next week stating that we will not re-evaluate kits that have already been evaluated.”
Asked by an EAA staffer if the term, “grandfathered” would apply, Smith agreed that it would.
Several manufacturers exhibiting at Lakeland, who served on the amateur-built aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) welcomed the news, saying they had expected the FAA to heed the ARC’s suggestion to not reevaluate previously approved kits.
“This is good news,” said Joe Bartels, president of Lancair, whose new model Evolution was recently evaluated and approved as eligible for A-B certification. “We indeed needed that reassurance, and the FAA has evaluated our new Evolution and found it to meet the requirements.”
Mikael Via of Glasair Aviation added, “That’s what we on the ARC expected, and we’re glad to see it. Our main concern is what the new policy will be regarding new kits, so we’ll have to wait and see about that. We look forward to learning the end result.”
Dick Van Grunsven of Van’s Aircraft also was not surprised at the announcement. “We expected them (approved kits) to be grandfathered,” he said. “But we don’t expect it to be business as usual, either. They (inspectors) may pay closer attention than they used to when inspecting the kits from now on, to make sure they do not exceed what is allowed for commercial assistance.”
EAA President Tom Poberezny, who is at Lakeland this week, added, “We are extremely pleased about the FAA announcement to grandfather kits that have already been approved.”
Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of industry and regulatory affairs and co-chair of the ARC, applauded the announcement. “This shows that EAA advocacy efforts are working and that the FAA is sensitive to the concerns of current amateur-builders,” he said. “But EAA members need to continue to be vigilant, and continue to follow this effort. If you’re an amateur-builder, we encourage you to write the FAA to help ensure that they fully understand from the builder’s perspective how what you are doing is fully within the intent and letter of the regulation. Innovation should not be restricted.”
by Craig Loomiller
At the Tulsa Skyhawks Soaring Club (TSSC), for years the conventional wisdom had it that our soaring season usually ended somewhere around Thanksgiving and then resumed again the following March. We still flew during this period, but most flights were done strictly for training only as available lift was scarce. In fact, one year the TSSC actually closed down operation completely during this three month stretch. It wasn't until Randy Teel joined our club a couple of years ago that a concerted effort was made to find other soarable terrain to fly during the winter that was within reasonable driving distance of Tulsa.
Randy moved here from Pennsylvania, where he was used to flying his glider along the ridge found out on the east coast. Randy asked the Skyhawks if they knew of any ridges in Oklahoma that might be flyable. TSSC member Paul Jennnigs knew of one that might work from seeing it while flying around is his airplane along with scenic drives that he had taken with his wife in that area. Paul recommended the Talihina ridge area located within the Quachita Mountains at the southeast corner of our state as a possible candidate. It is a 165 mile/three hour drive from Tulsa.
It consists of a forty-four mile north-facing ridge, couple with other ridges in the area, creating a ridge line that exceeds over sixty-five miles in length. This ridge line lies on the south side of the ten-mile wide Talihina valley. On the North side lies Buffalo Mountain, a five mile long ridge that has been used by hang glider pilots for many years. Situated in the middle of the valley on the west oend of the ridge is the Talihina airport, a 3,000 foot asphalt runway and ramp area. There are no buildings or any other facilities available at the airport, but there is plenty of space for camping out.
A scouting trip by air was made to the Talihina area by Randy and fellow Skyhawk member Bob Thrasher in his Piper to look everything over, which was then followed by a ground-based trip by Randy and fellow member Grant Cheadle to obtain permissions and take care of other logistics. With the preliminary work done, we made two trips down there last winter to test it out. What we found out was that the winds must be out of the north or south in order for the ridges to work. In spite of the winds being wrong for ridge soaring on those trips, we found the area generated many powerful thermals. On our first trip, several members actually thermaled in light snow showers. The second trip in early spring of 2007 brough out most of our TSSC members for a fine weekend of thermal soaring on Buffalo Mountain. Gerry Keiffer from TSA in Dallas became the first person to soar Buffalo Mountain in a sailplane that weekend. Unfortunately, we were still unable to connect with any ridge lift. Several additional trips were planned during our normal flying season, but non of them came to pass for one reason or another.
On October 24th, Randy Teel, Gerry & Sharon Keiffer, and tow-pilot Bob Thrasher made another tripback down to the ridge. This time, the winds were out of the north at 20+ MPH. Randy had borrowed Grant Cheadle's LS4 while Gerry had brought his Discus. Unfortunately, Randy left a valve stem extension on the main wheel that pulled the valve stem out of the tire when they moved the glider. So Gerry offered Randy his Discus to try out the ridge conitions. The release was at 2100 AGL which turned out to be the lowest altitude flown during the entire flight. Highest altitude achieved was 4,700 feet, with a cruise speed between 60-90 knonts. 109 miles were flown with only 3-4 turns in one thermal. The lift was 6 to 8+ knots and big. The flying time was 1.6 hours.
Randy commented afterwards that "I could have flown from sunrise to sunset... It was a very easy and relaxed flight. There was at no time, any convern of not staying aloft. Our soaring season has just been extended for those willing to make the trip to Talihina." This turned out to be the first known ridge flight by a sailplane in Oklahoma. Randy, Gerry, and Bob proved that the ridge worked!
Knowing that the ridge worked well with norht winds, an opportunity came about recently to test it using winds from the south. On the weekend of January 4-6 this year, winds were predicted to be out of the south at 20-25 knots. Bob Thrasher brought our Pawnee tow-plane down from Tulsa battling 50 knot headwinds at 3,000 feet. His ground speed averaged in the mid 40s the whole way.
On Friday, we had Paul Jennings in the club Blanik, Randy Teel (304CZ), Gran & Angela Cheadle (LS4), with Bob Thrasher doing the tow-plane duties, all from the TSSC. As everyone launched, several connected with what initially was thought too weak thermal lift. Paul and Angela worked this 1 knot lift up to about 5,000 feet, where they determined that this wasn't thermal lift at all, but actually was wave. As they shifted over to another part of the wave, they were able to eventually reach an attitude of about 7,600 feet AGL. At this time, they were flying into a 50 knot headwind while indicating a ground speed of 0 MPH. They could still see Lennies above them and further to the south, but were unable to approach them. The rotors coming off the wave caused them to lose over 5,000 feet of altitude in very little time as they flew south, so they had to turn back. No one else was able to reach as high an altitude as Paul and Angela did that day but were able still to make contact with the wave. We had discovered the wave in Oklahoma!
On Saturday, three more TSSC members arrived: Gary Guinn, Pat Turner, and Steve Poindexter. The day started out kind of marginal and the wind wasn't blowing perpindicular to the ridges, but Randy and Steve flying the Blanik discovered wave even though there were no lenticulars present. They were able to climb well above the clouds. Steve commented that "the view was awe inspiring". Pat and Gary also had a good flight and it was alleged that they "gigled like schoolgirls" the entire flight. Angela and Steve then went up, the clouds had dissipated by then but the wave was still going strong. At one point their indicated airspeed was 70 knots but the GPS indicated less than 1! Everyone went over 9,000 for the day with Randy Teel approaching 10,000 in altitude.
Steve Poindexter summed it up best. "I can't express how truly awesome today's flying was. It was one of those days where everything came together perfectly and everyone left the field stoked with a big grin on their faces. Of course this couldn't have happened if it hadn't been for all the hard work that our members put in. Whenever the wind bhlows from the North or South, Talihina is the place to be and hopefully everyone will have the opportunity at some point to experience how great it truly is."
Where do we go from here? Next time we need to explore the limits of the wave as well as learn more about how the ridge works. Randy feels that higher altitudes are possible as there were lenticulars above us. We have found that there is ridge, thermal, and wave lift on sunny south wind days. North wind days open up those 65 miles of ridges for longer flights. With Talihina 220 miles from Dallas, 180 miles from Oklahoma City, 353 miles from Memphis, as well as 165 miles from Tulsa, creating a regional soaring site with scheduled meets or camps is not out of the realm of possibilies. The skies are the limit!
Craig
FOR SALE 5 acres (2 lots) on Airman Acres, Collinsville, OK. 2650' grass strip. Private lot with trees. Utilities available. $110,000 Contact Darren @ 857-2728 (Keller Williams Reality)
FOR SALE BY OWNER Glasair I/II RG 300 hrs TTAF Lycoming O-320 70 hrs SMOH Lightspeed electronic ignition High compression pistons Large rudder Dual sliding canopys Panel mount GPS, xponder, intercom and more New 3 blade MT propeller New custom interior Extended wing tips 80% completed Ready for your paint $55,000 See at Gundy's (O38), Owasso, OK Contact Mark Fridley @ 918-274-3574 or 9rmfridley@cox.net (NOTE: remove the leading 9 to make email work)
Franklin Aircraft Engine Model 4AC171 60 HP 37/8 bore x 33/8 stroke 6/2 C.R. s/n 2052 17/32 venturi Eisenman magnetos complete No log book $1000 Contact Ken Smith 698-4129.
Lycoming O-235-0 T.C. 223, 100 HP, 2600 RPM, SM 1571-15 Two magnetos, no carburetor, otherwise complete. No logbook $1,000 Contact Ken Smith 698-4129.
Lycoming O-290-D2 135 HP, T.C. 229, no magnetos, has vacuum pump engine damaged at L/H magneto mount area L/H crankcase broken out accessory case broken out data plate is titled Lycoming Aviation Engine No logbook $1,000 Contact Ken Smith 698-4129
Waco UMF-5 Biplane Waco UMF-5 218 hours TTAE 240 HP W-670 Radial Radio, intercom, and ELT 40 gal fuel 350 mi range 110 lbs baggage 3 place 25 awards: Grand Champion @ Bilplane Expo AAA Blakesburg, TX, Nebraska & Kansas, Oshkosh & Hondo, TX
This stunning beauty is built to Waco prints from
the Smithsonian and flies better than it looks.
9500 hour build time over 12 years.
Finished 2004.
$200,000.
Contact John Hudec, 918-371-5029.
To list your aviation items for sale, contact newsletter editor Craig Loomiller.
| Day of Week | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | April 21st | Chapter meeting @ Gundy's 7:30pm |
| Saturday | April 26th | Pancake breakfast @ Gundy's 7:00 - 9:30am |
| Saturday | May 3rd | Ponca City Breakfast Fly-In |
| Saturday | May 10th | Granbury, TX Fly-in @ Pecan Plantation Airport (0TX1) |
| Thursday - Saturday | June 5th - 7th | Biplane Expo @ Bartlesville ( BVO) |
| Monday - Sunday | July 28th - August 3rd | Airventure 2008 @ OSH |
| Saturday | December 13th 2008 | Christmas Dinner Party @ Gundy's |
To add an item to our calendar, get the information to the newsletter editor Craig Loomiller. See the contact info on the home page for e-mail, phone, and mail addresses.
| Day of Month | What | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Monday | Board meeting | Chapter hangar | 7:00pm |
| 2nd Monday | Newsletter Folding | Chapter hangar | 7:00pm |
| 3rd Monday | Chapter meeting | Chapter hangar | 7:30pm |
| 1st Saturday | Ponca City Breakfast Fly-In | Ponca City | |
| 1st Saturday after 3rd Monday | Pancake breakfast & Fly-Market | Chapter hangar | 7:00-9:30am |
If your last name starts with I, J, K, or L then April is your month to bring a snack for the meeting.
| Month | Initial letter(s) of last name |
|---|---|
| January | A-C |
| February | D-F |
| March | G-H |
| April | I-L (Brat feed) |
| May | Annual Picnic |
| June | M |
| July | N-P |
| August | watermelon provided |
| September | Q-S |
| October | T-V |
| November | W-Z |
| December | Christmas party (no Monday meeting) |
If you would like to receive the newsletter electronically off of the chapter web site (www.eaa10.org) every month, just send Secretary Bob Thrasher or our web editor Bob Minich an e-mail. This action saves the chapter money on printing and mailing costs, which in turn, helps keep your dues low. It's really simple to do. We send you a monthly e-mail notice when the latest newsletter is posted online. Just click on the provided link and you are there!
If you haven't taken a look at our web page lately, you should check it out! Bob has started putting a picture of the author along side the articles, which really adds a lot to the newsletter. Many organizations have gone to an all-online newsletter which really reduces costs. Hopefully, we can get our own chapter moving in that same direction. We are supposed to be a progressive-thinking organization, after all.
