"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 16 March 2003

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Now that the warm weather is returning, I'm sure you're all thinking about flying. This weekend, many of you will be working on the 172 as the oil gets changed, the attitude indicator gets replaced, and the landing light gets changed. I plan on getting out to take digital pictures to get estimates on painting the cowling, wheel pants and spinner while off the plane, during the annual. I'll also refresh my thoughts on what, if anything, to do on sprucing up the interior.

I came across the attached test which I thought was a rather quick, accurate way to judge just how Safe A Pilot an individual is. It takes into account currency, experience, and attitude. Currency is obvious. Experience takes into account a pilot's total hours and time in type (both hours and years). Experience is like a bank account, the size of which allows you a cushion to fall back on when issues arise. Attitude is the intangible which plays an additional role in how safe a pilot is.

The Test (by Aero News Network reader Tony Weissgarber)

Currency or Frequency (Pick one) Points

Flying less than once every three months 0

Average one flight every three months 10

Average one flight every 60 days 20

Average one flight every 30 days 30

Average one flight per week 40

Average two flights or more per week 50

Experience (Pick One) Points

Total pilot hours: 1,000+ 25

Total time piloting your type aircraft: 200+ 20

Two plus years your type aircraft 15

Attitude: (Difficult to measure; be honest.) Points

If you might be compulsive subtract 20

If you are truly level-headed add 20

If you are not sure zero

Scoring:

If you scored 120, consider yourself a safe pilot.
If you scored 90 or more, you are probably a safe pilot.
If you scored 80+, you should be cautious.
If you scored 70+, you should be really careful.
If you scored 60+, be cautious and careful.
If you scored in the 50s or 40s, watch out!
If you scored less than 40, get some instruction, or make sure your insurance is paid up.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

The Treasury took a big hit this month with the cost of the new Attitude indicator ($678) and misc other things. This puts us at $591, a drop of $601 from last month. At this point we should have $825 saved for the Annual, which is due next month. We may come up short, meaning an assessment to cover the difference. If there are no big items at the annual, we won't be short by much.

The 0.2 hour error I mentioned last month turned out to be me... I couldn't subtract. I fixed the Feb. bill and put it back online, since the change only affected me.

The hourly rate has gone up $1 to $47 because of the increased fuel cost. We are now at $2.95/gal at JetCorp. Keep your eyes open for cheaper fuel when you go somewhere.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann

On March 15, Randy, John, and Marlin worked off all the known maintenance issues on the aircraft. The following actions were accomplished:

Removed and replaced the Attitude Indicator with a rebuilt Sigma-Tek AI. The previous AI was installed back in 1981. A few of the instrument panel shock mounts were broken and these were also replaced.
Removed and replaced the Landing Light. We had just replaced it a little over a month ago.
Tightened the copilots control wheel. The control wheel had excess freeplay.
Changed the oil and filter. Also added a can of AvBlend.

We are planning for the annual inspection to start on either the 18th or 25th of April. We will do the Annual at C&D Aviation as in previous years. We are planning to replace the spark plugs and the RH tire. Any help from the members during the annual is greatly appreciated. Additional information will be provided by email as the schedule firms up and in the next newsletter .

BFR/Medicals Due - by Todd Michal

Thanks for keeping me up to date on your medical and BFR changes. According to my records, here are the only items due in the next few months:

Upcoming expirations include:

Todd Michal - Medical in May 2003.
Randy Skyles - Medical in June 2003.
Mike Piccirilli - Medical in June 2003.

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://w3.one.net/~kip/faatest.html

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