St Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 14 December 1998

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Happy Holidays! I have had the pleasure to do more flying recently. I am flying my son's cub scout troop members for Young Eagle flights. I take up a couple scouts with one of their parents and land at Washington or St. Charles, have them switch seats, and then have the other scout fly back. Both the scouts and I are having a lot of fun with it. Phillips 66 has been picking up $1.00/gallon of the fuel cost which is great! I suggest you look into the Young Eagle program if you have like seeing kids smile!

Just a reminder Mike, please prepare a new membership certificate for Jerry, sign it, and then send it to me. I will sign it and mail it on to Jerry. Also could you update the club roster?

I wish you and your family the best wishes for a happy holiday and may 1999 be a prosperous year for each of you!

Happy Landings,

Mike Piccirilli

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

Mercantile Bank has now imposed a minimum balance on their checking accounts. As long as we stay above $750, there will be no service charge. Below $750, there's a $3 monthly fee, with even higher fees at lower balances. I took a look, and I think we will be ok except in the spring when the annual and insurance are due. The escrow balance after paying insurance is less than $750 at that time, so it will depend on how the treasury is doing. If we aren't falling way short, I'll just pay a little extra to avoid the fee, giving me a credit towards the next month(s). The $3 isn't much, but it's the principle of the thing.

The Personal Property Tax has been paid. As a starting estimate of the tax for next year, I will increase it by about the same percentage that it went up this year. That will put it at about $940 It should at least be close.

   Maintenance Corner - from Marlin Sipe with info from Randy Skyles

If you looked at the oil analysis last month, you may have noticed that the chrome content is a little high. Our engine has cermi-chrome cylinders. Randy talked to the analysis folks, and they recommended opening the oil filter, because they would expect to see metal in the filter with this chrome content. The filter had been opened, and nothing was found. This is something we need to keep a close eye on, because if there is a problem developing, it could be a safety issue. It could be an indication of a top overhaul coming sometime in the future. Randy is considering changing & analyzing the oil every 25 hours, instead of every 50 hours, to keep a close eye on what's happening. We already have about 15 hours on it since the last oil change. Sometime over the holidays, he would like to take a look in the cylinders with a borescope to check for scoring, and to do a compression check. Compression was good at the annual last spring. If you have some free time, call Randy... I'm sure he'd appreciate a hand out there. Unfortunately, I'll be out of town for over 2 weeks over Christmas and New Years.

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