"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 18 December 2003

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The aircraft is now back at Spirit and on flying status. The interior looks fantastic! I really appreciate the work the various members (Mike providing the hangar, Randy, Marlin, and John working the interior and ELT replacement details) did to make it happen, especially John. Besides the work in the cold hangar over the past month on the week-ends and some additional day's off, John did all the seat recovering at home on the week nights and getting the instrument panel lettering redone. Randy Skyles suggested that the club do something special for John's efforts. His suggestion was that John be provided 3 "free" flight hours in recognition for his efforts and all the members wholeheartdly agreed. Thanks again John, the interior looks great! Enjoy the free light hours!

As mentioned above, the ELT has been replaced and there is now a remote ELT switch located on the instrument panel.

The nose wheel pant was removed so it can be repaired (the upper attachment point is cracked on both sides) and repainted. I was planning on trying the repairs and repainting it myself but John has found an experienced fiberglass and paint person to work on it. We plan on having it ready to put back on at the annual. I had thought we would remove the main wheel pants also but Randy pointed out the the inner fairings would have to be removed and they would probably crack in half if we did. We decided to leave them on for now and perhaps touch them up at the annual.

Being the end of the year, plus with the new interior, I have performed an update to the aircraft valuation. Using AOPA's VRef appraiser tool, the value with the new interior and current times is $49,639. I had to make adjustments for the damage history (-$3,000) and about $1,000 for the newer radios (+$969). This makes the new value $47,600, or $6,800 each.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

The Adjusted Treasury took a hit this month, because of the final expenses related to the interior, and the pitot-static and transponder checks, and because of the lack of flying lately. But at $728, we are still ahead of what we want saved for Annual at this time ($600).

The Personal Property Tax was paid. The actual cost was $1013.01, compared to the estimate of $1008. I may raise the estimate slightly for next year, but it will not be enough to change the monthly dues.

I'll include the new aircraft valuation that Pic just completed in the Billing Statement next month. The club website homepage was updated to show the current share value at $7,084.00, an increase of approximately $370.

Just a note on my part of the bill. Once we're flying again, I think that my credits (mostly for fuel) will exceed my charges. In the meantime, I'm letting my balance float, expecting the credits to catch up and pass it. Any time the balance starts to grow too big (either credit or balance due), I'll take care of it.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann

Interior Upgrade - The interior upgrade was completed on 5 December, 6 weeks after starting the interior upgrade on October 24th. It took a little longer than expected but I think the results are well worth the additional time. The ELT remote panel is now located where the High Voltage Light used to be (just above the copilot control wheel). If the ELT Remote panel red light is on, the ELT is transmitting. If this ever occurs, hit the reset button. The High Voltage light was moved to a new location under the ammeter.
The photos below show the before and after condition of the aircraft.
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Radio #1 - TKM returned the radio and said there was no problem with it. They tested it and said it met all factory new specifications. We reinstalled the radio in the number 1 position and it seems to be working fine when using the intercom. Will have to do further testing with the hand mic to see if there are any problems when not using the intercom.
Weight & Balance - With the new interior and ELT installation, the aircraft empty weight increased by 14.3 lbs to 1472 lbs as follows:
Weight Delta
- ELT: +0.74 lbs
- Seats: +4.71 lbs
- Side Panels: +4.25 Lbs
- Carpet: +4.63 Lbs
We have temporarily removed the nose wheel fairing for repair which reduces the aircraft weight by 4 lbs. Until the nose wheel fairing is reinstalled during the annual, the aircraft weights 1468 lbs with an arm of 40.01 and a moment of 58,733. The weight and balance page on the website has been updated to reflect this information.

New FAA Pilots License

You can get a new pilots license (plastic card) from the FAA by printing the following form and mailing it into the FAA. There is no charge for the new license if you change your certificate number from your social secuity number.

License Application Form

BFR/Medicals Due - by Todd Michal

According to the club records,the following Medical and BFR's will expire over the next 6 months.

Mike Piccirilli BFR due in December
Mike Warakomski BFR & Medical is due now

Please provide me with any updates on your medical or BFR status.

FAA Private and Instrument Test Questions

See how much you remember from your FAA Private Pilot and Instrument Rating Written Test by taking a quick 10 question test. Submit your answers and you will receive the correct answers and your score. (Don't worry, only you see the test results and your score.) This is a quick and easy way to keep familiar with the FARs. Use the links below and try to get a 100%:

The links above take you to Kip's FAA written Test Preparation Site. This site can be found directly at: http://www.exams4pilots.org/

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