St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 25 August 2010

From The President - By Todd Michal

Dear Members,

The summer months are rapidly drawing to a close. Usage for both the C-172 and Arrow continues to be strong and I expect it will continue as we move into the Fall.

Our long wait for a second hanger is over. A hanger is available for us to move into immediately once we get the hanger key. The hanger is located in the county T's in the row just West of ours. It is the end hanger on the southwest side (number 23). I signed the lease today and we plan to move in over the weekend. Once we are moved in, we plan to approach our neighbors to see if one is willing to trade hangers so we can get the planes closer together.

The former owner accepted our offer for the Power-Tow tug. We will need to make or purchase adapters for it to fit the Arrow nose gear. Extension arms would be required for it to fit around the Cessna Nose wheel fairing so we will initially configure it to work only with the Arrow. As this would be an Arrow only purchase, the cost would be split among the full members (< $50 per full member).

Jeffrey Evitts has officially joined the club and is our 15th member. We have a couple of prospects for the 16th and final slot and with any luck we will be adding our last member over the next month.

Happy Takeoffs!

Todd

"Line up and wait"

Current FAA terminology for an air traffic controller’s instruction for a pilot to taxi onto the runway and await takeoff clearance is “position and hold." However, this will change on September 30 to “line up and wait,” which is the standard terminology under International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines.

Here’s an example of the phrase in use: Spirit Tower: “Cessna 20843, Runway Two Six Left, line up and wait.” Pilot: “Spirit Tower, Cessna 20843, Runway Two Six Left, line up and wait.”

Additional details will be communicated via updates to the Aeronautical Informational Manual (AIM) and Pilot/Controller Glossary, both located under the Air Traffic section of www.faa.gov.

Treasurer's Report - by Mike McBride

Fuel prices remained stable at $5.45 per gallon at TACAir; that kept the flying rates level at $65 and $87 for the C172 and Arrow, respectively. Fuel prices remained stable at TACAir over the past month, so hourly rates remained at $65 and $87 for the Skyhawk and Arrow, respectively. Flight hours were strong, with the Skyhawk logging over 13 hours, and the Arrow flying for almost 35.5 hours. This month's bill includes an assessment for the gift the club approved for John Heilmann. Due to some missing member payments, the treasury and adjusted treasury balances remain negative. Please remember to pay your bill via PayPal prior to the 15th of the month.

The final financial summary of the Skyhawk engine overhaul and annual is included at the bottom of this month's billing statement. We ended up spending just over $19,100; of that amount, approximately $8,800 was covered through available funds, and another $9,650 was funded through recent assessments and new member equity. Unfortunately, that still leaves us $660 short on funds to cover the expenses, so one final assessment of $45 will be included on next month's billing statement for all members. We had considered recovery of this shortfall through the monthly contributions to the improvement fund, but when we expanded the club membership we dropped the improvement fund contribution to $5 per member per month; it would take 9 months to recover the treasury shortfall. The new member buy-in is now $11,465.

With the addition of Jeffrey Evitts as our 15th member, we have one more open membership position. Our Arrow equity fund balance is at just over $1,900; we should have about $3,800 available, so at this point in time we have a $1,900 shortfall, which represents a liability of $156 per Full member. Our remaining expected expenses against budget will drive that member liability to around $185, which will need to be assessed prior to payment of Use Tax early next year. Our balance on the Arrow loan from Mike and Mary Piccirilli is down to $10,786, and will be paid off when the final member is added to the club.

Finally, please remember to record your flight times, fuel purchases (including both gallons purchased and tach time at purchase), and additions of oil to the calendar in the "Popup Text" panel. In particular, fuel purchase information is very important to capture, so that we can accurately compute average hourly fuel consumption on the club aircraft.

Fly safely!

Mike

Maintenance - by John

N20843

Oil Analysis Results - We received the oil analysis results from the first oil change since the engine was overhauled. There was no abnormal wear detected for oil/overhaul times. We will start the trend analysis with the next oil change. The engine looks to be breaking in smoothly and oil consumption has stabilized. The engine is only using about a 1/2 qt per 10 hours.

Oil Contaminants

Sample Date Hours Alum Iron Copper Nickel Chromium Silver

1 18 July 2010 9 3 24 14.5 1 2 <1

N2242N

Fuel Pump - The electric fuel pump was replaced on 7 Aug with an overhauled pump, P/N 8120G, S/N 86957.
GPS Antenna Wire - The new single piece RG-400 antenna cable was installed on 20 August and the power wire to the starter circuit breaker was reinstalled.

Oil Analysis Results - We received the oil analysis results from the first oil change since we purchased the Arrow. There was no abnormal wear detected for oil/overhaul times. We will start the trend analysis with the next oil change. The Oil change is due at 5002 hours.

Oil Contaminants

Sample Date Hours Alum Iron Copper Nickel Chromium Silver

1 16 May 2010 47 9 30.10 14.7 2 4 <1

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