St Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 20 February 1993

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I'm proud to say that for the first time since I joined the club, back in 1988, everything in the Skyhawk is working. To top that off, the plane even has a roof over its head!

Thanks to C.J. for flying the Skyhawk over to Schafer Field, in Illinois, to have the auto-pilot fixed. It seems that the main problem was the gear from the servo was attached backwards. It's working now. I had the chance to play with it and found it had a tendency to wobble (bank slightly right and left) and tended to gradually turn to the right. I have to read up on it. CAUTION: When preflighting gradually move the ailerons, don't yank them. Also, make sure the auto-pilot is turned off for take-offs and landing.

I moved the plane into shade hanger #2 over the holidays. There is still some construction (t-hangers have not been completed) going on in front of our hanger so use caution. I went out today and noticed that since our hanger faces Northeast the sun does not have a chance to melt snow directly in front of our spot. I recommend you take a shovel with you, when you go to the airplane in the winter, to help clear a path.

In the past 6 months or so I have had inquiries from at least 7 people who were serious enough about joining our club that I sent them the club constitution, billing statements, etc. To date, only one individual has submitted an application form to me. His appllcatlon is enclosed. I've met him and shown him the plane. He declined to give $4,000 to join the club and instead offered that he would pay for the paint Job. He said he had an estimate of $3700 from the paint shop in St. Charles. He has owned planes previously and had one painted by this particular shop. My opinion is that I'll wait for someone willing to pay $4,000 out right. Please let me know your thoughts.

I see that the guy that owned the paint shop at Weiss has moved to Spirit. He joined with an IA to start Aviation Services & Paint Shop. They are located by the Sabreliner hanger. I started to take an inventory of those things needing repair/replacement prior to a paint job; strut fairings (4), front dorsal fin fairing, brake fairings (2), nose bowl repair, windshield, rear windows, replace screws with stainless steel, left wing tip, left elevator tip, and lower rudder fairing. Let me know if I left anything out.

Happy Landings,

Mike Piccirilli

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