"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 26 February 2007

From The President - By Todd Michal

Dear Members,

The winter weather over the last few weeks has put a damper on our flying activities. Hopefully this month will bring some warmer temperatures and a chance to get N20843 up in the air before it goes into the shop for the annual and paint job.

Please join me in thanking Marlin for many years of great service as the club treasurer. Mike McBride has agreed to take over the treasury duties and did a great job pulling together the first statement for this year.

Thank you all for your inputs on the paint scheme. The paint scheme from the 2006 C-172 SP was selected (see picture below) and John has everything arranged with the paint shop. The dates are not firm yet, but it looks like we will get into the paint shop sometime in May.

Mike Warakomski has prepared the minutes from the annual meeting in January and they included below.

Happy Takeoffs!

Todd

Treasurer's Report - by Mike McBride

Marlin and I have successfully transitioned the club treasurer responsibilities over the past several weeks. Many thanks to Marlin for his support, both in handing things off and in his role as treasurer over the past years.

The fuel price at JetCorp has risen from $4.20 to $4.40. As forecasted in the prior newsletter, we had a significant increase in the adjusted treasury this month, from $447.60 to $1,353.98, reflecting the high flight time in December.

The monthly bill button is now on the same button as the newsletter. When you press the "Bill" link, it will take you to the bill archive and you can select the bill you are interested in.

Maintenance - by John

Exterior Paint - Based on the inputs received, we are going with the 2006 C-172 SP scheme and colors shown below.
Rate Gyro - The Rate Gyro was removed and sent back to Century Instrument Co for warranty repair. I received the overhauled unit back today and will install it this weekend. They did not say what was wrong with it but they overhauled it and tested it under warranty at no charge. Until the Rate Gyro is reinstalled, the aircraft can not be used for IFR flight, only VFR day or night.
EDM-700 Engine Monitor with Fuel Flow computer - After the annual meeting, a number of members asked if it would be possible to reconsider adding the engine monitor and fuel flow indicator as soon as possible. WIth the engine nearing TBO, an engine monitor would provide us much better insight as to how the engine is performing. Take a look at this EDM-700 article to see some of the benefits of the this engine monitor and fuel flow indicator. With fuel costs as high as they are, more accurate leaning can reduce fuel costs significantly. A conservative 10% reduction in fuel consumption can lower the hourly cost by $3.30. The cost of a 3 1/8 dia unit including installation hardware will be approximately $2,120 or $265 per member. The AOPA online appraisal shows the value of the aircraft will increase by $2,600 with the installation of an engine monitor and fuel flow indicator (a 22% return on investment). As maintenance officer, I am highly in favor of adding this instrument in order to better monitor our engine health and performance and save some money on fuel costs as well. We would install the indicator where the TACH is currently located and move the TACH back to where it originally was (one hole to the left). We can have a vote by email to see if we want to install one this Spring/Summer.
WAAS Upgrade - Nothing new on the WAAS upgrade. We are on the waiting list to get the WAAAS upgrade and will be notified when an upgrade kit is available.

Minutes of Annual Meeting - by Mike Warakomski

St Louis Flying Club Meeting on 7 Jan 2007

All members were present for the meeting held in the JetCorp conference room at Spirit Airport.

Todd called the meeting to order
Review of Minutes from last Meeting
1. A motion was made and approved to suspend reading of the last meetings minutes
Treasury Report
1. Current balances
  1. Improvement Fund - $560
  2. Treasury adjusted for maintenance, annual, etc - $956
  3. Engine Fund - $3424
2. Summary of current fees
  1. Monthly Dues: - $75.00
    1. Shade Port - $13.75
    2. Insurance - $33.38
    3. PP Tax - $11.38
    4. GPS Updates - $2.88
    5. Improvements - $13.61
  2. Hourly Rate - $57.00
    1. Fuel (7.6 gal/Hr) - $32.00 at $4.20/gal
    2. Oil/Maintenance - $15.00
    3. Engine Fund - $10.00
Maintenance Report
1. Compression seemed to be holding at acceptable levels since John started using his new compression gage.
2. Oil Analysis shows no problems
3. Significant maintenance items performed in 2006 include
  1. Replaced Landing Light quick disconnects
  2. Replaced Turn Coordinator
  3. Avionics Upgrade/Annual inspection
  4. Garmin Stack, Digital Clock, Cooling Fan w/new Breakers
  5. Replaced LH Main Tire and inner tube
  6. Rewired antennas with RG-400
  7. Replaced Alternator wiring
  8. Installed NAV-200A autopilot - Smoother but needs additional evaluation
  9. Installed new placards/markings for avionics installation
  10. Fixed wire termination at Alternator
  11. Checked intermittent Turn Coordinator operation
Last years avionics upgrade cost was summarized. The cost was $14641 and sales of replaced items stands at $1890.21 for a net cost of $12750.79
Upgrade Discussion
1. Discussion was held on painting of the aircraft. A motion was made and passed authorizing the aircraft to be painted in 2007 with a special assessment made to pay for it. John Heilmann is to provide more details on design, cost, and schedule.
2. A decision was approved to buy the WAAS upgrade for the GPS.
3. Discussion was held regarding procurement of engine heater, engine monitor, standby vacuum system, inlet covers and fuel strainer. The engine heater, fuel strainer, and inlet covers were approved.
4. In summary,
  1. The painting will be paid for with a special assessment of approximately $900 each with the final value to be determined after getting final quotes.
  2. WAAS upgrade, and engine heater payment by assessment or out of improvement funds will be made when the procurement time is closer.
  3. The inlet covers and fuel strainer will be paid for out of improvement funds
Other Business
1. It was reported that 10 people are on the waiting list for membership. Discussion was held about the procurement of a 2nd aircraft. The membership felt that we like the club the size it is.
The current officers were renominated and approved by acclimation.
The meeting was adjourned after approximately 2 hours.

Practical Risk Management Seminar - by John

On Saturday, March 10th, 9:00-11:00 AM, there will be a Risk Management seminar at the Skyline Aeronautics Hangar. The program is sponsored by the FAA Safety Program and is designed to help develop the skill sets that allow us to detect deviations from the norm before they can lead to an accident. The seminar is free and qualifies for ground training credit toward the FAA Pilot Proficiency Program. Refreshments will be provided.

SkyVector.com Aeronautical Charts - by John

Flight Planning
Sectional Chart of SUS Here is a great new site to review current Sectional, Terminal Area charts, and airport data. There are other websites that have this capability but this is the first site that I have found that you can click on the chart and move it around like the maps on Google. It is much better than clicking on an arrow and waiting for the next section of chart to download. The charts also have little colored dots on the airports with weather reporting capability that show if the airport is VFR, IFR or MVFR. If you move the curser over the dot, the current weather data for the airport is shown. Click on the map to the left to try it out. You can also reach this site by clicking "Spirit of St Louis" on our home page. I hope they add the capability to plan trips and add a route line to the charts in the future.

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