"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 20 February 2010

From The President - By Todd Michal

Dear Members,

it took a bit longer than planned, but the club has completed the purchase of a second plane, a 1979 Arrow IV. Checkout the pictures of the ferry flight back to St. Louis in the Photo Gallery link! John, Dale and Bob installed the engine heater and also installed a new Alternator Radio Filter. The plane is now in service and ready for flight.

Pic, Dale and I are checked out in the Arrow and are ready to start checking out club members. I expect the plane will be busy over the next few months, with members building hours to meet the insurance requirements, so plan ahead to get your time on the schedule. The 172 has been running great and is seeing plenty of action. With the Spring flying weather fast approaching, it is great to have two planes available for scheduling.

Response to the club expansion has been very good. Over the past two months we have added four new members Chris Tebbe, Mike Piccirilli, Dale Hiltner, and Bob Zbylut and we are in the process of adding a 5th member. That only leaves three remaining shares to bring the club to the planned maximum of 16 members. If you know of anyone that would like to join the club, let them know that the remaining slots will go fast. Happy Takeoffs!.

Happy Takeoffs!

Todd

Treasurer's Report - by Mike McBride

The February billing statement reflects the club expansion to two aircraft and 16 members, with four membership slots currently open. Changes include information for each aircraft (both from an operating and escrow standpoint), and revised calculations of member equity. If you have any questions with the reported numbers, please send me a note and I'll try to clarify.

Flight hours for the month were just over 10 hours in the 172, and 1 hour in the Arrow. Fuel prices remained level, which kept our flight rate at $63 for the 172; Arrow flight rate is $85 per hour.

Major disbursements were made during the past month related to the purchase of the Arrow. We also purchased a revised insurance policy for both aircraft. I've included a summary of the club Equity and Loan balances in this month's statement, and will continue to track those until all shares are sold and the loan is paid in full.

Fly safely!

Mike

Maintenance - by John

N20843

Replacement light bulbs for the wing courtesy light, Map light (white bulb), and overhead panel (white bulb) were ordered and should arrive this week. The Red overhead light and red map light normally used for night flight are still operable.
Reminder for the new members:
- The Cessna 172 has an electronic Tachometer that is turned on after the engine is started by the Avionics Master Switch. This is to prevent the electronics from being damaged with the engine starting voltage fluctuations.
- If the Engine Temp/Voltage light on the annunciator panel comes on, take a look at the JPI Engine monitor screen and it will tell you what the problem is. If it comes on when you are reducing power, it is usually indicating Shock cooling (cylinders cooling faster than 60 degrees F/min). The JPI may also indicate low voltage if the engine RPM is very low and the alternator is not producing full power.

N2242N

The Reiff Engine heater was installed on the cylinders and oil pan and is now working. The plug is located in the pilot side cowl opening (same location as the Cessna). A new LS03-01004 Alternator filter was installed on the alternator. Thanks to Bob and Dale for assisting on the installation.
Since the arrow was previously parked in a hangar, it did not come with cowl plugs and oil cooler inlet plugs. A new set of cowl plugs was ordered so the openings will be covered when the plane is parked in the shadeport or taken on a trip.

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