St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 20 July 2003

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

It was nice seeing you all at the annual meeting.

I did some more research on the exterior paint touch-up but don't have any good news. I went to Color-Match, the business that repaired and sprayed our headliner to get a bid for repainting the cowling, wheel pants, and spinner. They basically "no-bid" it as they want to stick with interior only and aren't interested in exterior work. The best alternative to getting this painting done is through the automotive touch-up specialist that Randy was in touch with a few years back. I remember him coming out to look at the plane, in fact I believe that I took him on a demo flight. I also remember a bid of $400 or so if we supplied the paint. Randy, do you still have this painter's number?

As far as the interior, John has found another website www.tnwings.com, which has some examples of their work. Another option is Color-Match (Don). He has offered to provide a bid for doing the work, to our spec, in his shop off St. Charles Rock Road. He just finished an interior in another aircraft based at Spirit. He would estimate the work at Spirit, but would require us to remove it, drop it as his place, and then reinstall it. I'm looking for a volunteer to meet Don at the Spirit to get an estimate. Please call me by 7/17 Thusday afternoon for the info, as I start vacation and have various trips that won't bring me back in town for about a month.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Club Meeting - by John Heilmann

The annual club meeting was held on Tuesday, July 1 at 7:00 PM at the Jetcorp Terminal building conference room. The minutes of the meeting are as follows:
  1. Mike called the meeting to order
  2. Treasury Report Marlin provided the following treasury report:
    • There is $86.00 remaining in the aircraft improvement fund. Over the past year, the 4-place intercom was installed and the headliner was repaired. A number of the plastic interior trim parts were repaired or replaced and the cargo compartment was repainted with a "Lt. Buckskin" color. The aircraft battery, vacuum pump and attitude indicator were also replaced which unfortunately reduced the improvement fund.
    • The club is now using an AOPA credit card to purchase fuel. The rebate should help reduce the fuel costs. Marlin reported there has been a slight reduction in fuel costs that could reduce the hourly cost from $47 and hour to $46 per hour. The members voted to keep the hourly cost at $47 and put any excess into the improvement fund.
    • There is currently $1,100 in the engine overhaul fund. With about 900 hours to go until overhaul (if it makes it to 2200 hours), we will have about $10,100 in the fund. This will not cover the cost of an overhaul, but it will help reduce the assessment that would be needed at that time.
    Maintenance Issues were discussed. Radio #2 has been working well. Radio #1 seems to need a squelch adjustment. The pilot door lock was fixed but still needs further adjustment to work as it did previously. The pitot cover was replaced. The Pitot-Static and Transponder check will be due in November. Randy plans to have Mueller do the checks as in previous years. The ELT battery is due to be replaced in December. The club decided to replace the battery in December and continue with the existing ELT until the next time the battery needs replacement (Dec 2005). At that time, we will purchace and install a new ELT.
  3. Creve Coeur Airport - Mike Piccirilli discussed the lower costs available at Creve Coeur. A shade port is available for $94.50 per month compared to $110 at Spirit. Fuel cost are also less at $2.65 per gallon vs $2.95 at Spirit. Moving to Creve Coeur would save 2 dollars on monthly dues and drop the hourly cost by about 2-3 dollars. Some of the members indicated that they would be willing to relocate to Creve Coeur but no vote was taken at the meeting.
  4. Interior Upgrade and paint touch-up - Although we have the paint, we have not had a chance to paint the cowling or the leading edge of the right wing or strut. With the replacement of the vacuum pump and attitude indicator, the funds for the carpet, seats and sidewalls is down to $86. Rather than trying to improve the interior in stages, the members took a vote and approved a $300 assessment to complete the interior upgrade at one time. While the aircraft is down for the interior upgrade, we will also take care of the exterior paint touch-up.
  5. Club Officers - The past officers were nominated and reelected for another year

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

With the treasury report provided at the club meeting earlier this month, I have nothing new to report. The billing statement for July should be available on the website by July 23rd.

   Maintenance - by John Heilmann

Oil Change - The oil change is due in about 2 hours. Marlin and John are planning to change it on July 23rd in the evening.

Carb Heat Control - The carb heat control cable disconnected from the linkage on July 12th. Randy reconnected the control cable on July 14th and the aircraft was returned to service

Pilot Door Lock - Randy readjusted the pilot side door lock on July 10th and it now works as smoothly as it did before.

Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin - Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) No. CE-03-43 was issued by the FAA on June 27, 2003 and is shown below.  This is information only.  Recommendations are not mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) informs owners or operators of Cessna model 100, 200, 300, and 400 series airplanes that a safety concern exists regarding resistance and capacitance type fuel gauging

Background

Cessna has expressed concern regarding airworthiness issues with resistance type fuel quantity systems on their general aviation single and multiple engine aircraft products.  They recommend periodic calibration checks of both the empty and full positions of the gauging system.

Cessna released two Service Bulletins, SEB99-18, dated November 1, 1999, and revised April 2001, addressing single engine models and MEB99-21, rev 1, dated May 7, 2001, for multiple engine models, to address fuel quantity indicating concerns on the Stewart Warner resistance type system.  A review of Service Difficulty Reports reveals that inaccurate fuel quantity indications may have caused some accidents and incidents.

FAA has received safety recommendations from Flight Standards concerning the accuracy of fuel quantity indication systems on Cessna single engine airplanes.

Recommendation

Due to similar operational and design characteristics of both the resistance and capacitive type fuel quantity indicating systems installed on both Cessna single and multiple engine airplane products, FAA recommends the following within the next 100 hours of operation or at the next annual inspection:

  • Drain fuel tanks

  • Level the aircraft

  • Add back the appropriate unusable fuel

  • Calibrate fuel quantity gauges for "0" or "empty" indication

Refer to the appropriate Cessna maintenance/service manual or Instructions for Continued Airworthiness for specific instructions on performing each of these procedures.  Owners should make a logbook entry indicating the work performed by FAA certified personnel to return the aircraft to service.  Additional instructions are available in Cessna Service Bulletins SEB99-18 and MEB99-21.

This calibration procedure should be repeated at 5-year intervals or anytime the fuel gauging system components are disturbed or any time accuracy is suspect.

     For Further Information Contact:

Paul Pendleton, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Aircraft Certification Office, 1801 Airport Road, Room 100, Wichita, Kansas 67209; phone: (316) 946-4143; e-mail: paul.pendleton@faa.gov.

Barry Ballenger, Continued Operational Safety, Small Airplane Directorate, 901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; phone: (816) 329-4152; e-mail: barry.ballenger@faa.gov.

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 Russell Medical due in December
  • Mike Russell BFR due December 2002

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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Copyright © 1999, St. Louis Flying Club, All rights reserved. Last updated 20 July 2003.
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