St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 22 April 2015

From The President - By Charley

Dear Members:

At long last, the Citabria has arrived at SUS, is in Hangar B3 next to the Cessna, and on the line ready for use! You will see from Steve’s note that we have made three additional instructors available as “check” instructors for the Citabria to try to fit a variety of schedules and training needs. As a reminder, these club approved instructors are only required for checkouts, after you are checked out in an airplane you are free to use whatever instructor you like. The plane looks great and we already have at least one member on the schedule to work on a checkout!

Preparing for takeoff from KGFL (Glens Falls, NY) on April 12th

Great visibility from both cockpits

Phil leveling off at 4,500 ft on route to KIPT (Williamsport, PA)

Enjoying the first leg of the trip

Takeoff from runway 09 at KIPT on 13 April. Bald Eagle Mountain on the left, is one of the northernmost ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. The Susquehanna River flows south of the airport through the valley.

On final to runway 8R at Spirit on 14 April

The ferry crew on arrival at Spirit (Tim Volk Photo)

N8746V at home at Spirit (Tim Volk Photo)

Congratulations are in order for Don Hamblen who passed his commercial check ride in the Arrow on April 4th. Great job Don!

The avionics upgrade / annual inspection for the Arrow is underway. The old avionics and associated wiring have been removed and the standby vacuum system is being installed while there is good access behind the panel. If you have not been out to the hangar lately, you should stop by to take a look at the panel setup in the office and the extensive amount of new cable being added to the Arrow, it is an impressive process.

I’m also happy to report that Jim Georgan our next prospective member on the waiting list has been approved for membership and joined the club on 20 April. We still have two memberships open so please feel free to refer anyone you know that you think would be a good addition to the club. Pic has updated our club flyer to include the Citabria and posted it at Creve Coeur Airport and the Spirit Pilot Shop.

Our club meeting has been moved to May 9th at the hangar at 9:00. The Officers met on Saturday, April 18th to compile an agenda, if you have additional items you would like to see discussed or presented please send those to myself or Steve. We will have an agenda published in the next couple of weeks for your review before the meeting.

Safe skies,

Charley

Treasurer's Report - by PIC

Members,

Fuel continues to go down (now at $5.39/gal) reducing the hourly rates to $70 and $93. The Citabria rate has been set at $53 / hr based on the average fuel consumption on the ferry flight, maintenance reserve and overhaul reserve. The monthly dues stay the same at $120 and share value increased to $11,069.

By the May club meeting, I will have a final accounting of the Citabria purchase vs the estimated costs. I will also have am update on the aircraft market values (including the Arrow upgrades).

Pic

   Maintenance - by John

N20843 Cessna 172M

  • Attitude Indicator - After 1,549.4 hours or 1.4 billion gyro revolutions, the attitude indicator failed on April 6th. It failed on the ground and was caught during the preflight check. The attitude indicator was replaced with an overhauled 5000B-9 Attitude Indicator from Nu-Tek on April 8th.
  • Winterization Plate - The oil cooler winterization plate was removed on 15 April.

N2242N Piper Arrow IV

  • Annual Inspection/Upgrade The Annual inspection and upgrade effort started on April 15. The compression test was completed with excellent results 1-77, 2-77, 3-75, and 4-78. The exhaust valves were borescoped (photos below) and look good with no signs of overheating or burning. More to follow on the annual inspection/upgrade in next months newsletter.


Copyright © 2012, St. Louis Flying Club, All rights reserved. Last updated April 2015.
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