"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 22 March 2010

From The President - By Todd Michal

Dear Members,

Thanks to PIC for putting together the Flying Club brochure and distributing it to the local airports and Spirit Pilot Shop. Hopefully with the better weather approaching, we will fill the remaining membership positions shortly.

In case you haven't heard, pilots who have not yet traded in their paper pilot certificates have until March 31, 2010, when the paper certificates expire. If you're still using paper, do not delay. Pilots can no longer exercise the privileges of their paper pilot certificates after the March 31 deadline. Renewing a certificate can be done online or through the mail, and instruction can be found at: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/certificate_replacement/. Requesting a replacement certificate online requires creating an account with Airman Certification Online Services, which only takes a few minutes. Being registered is a good idea since it can help later with future, quicker processing of an address change or a replacement certificate request. New certificates will take seven to ten days for online processing.

Happy Takeoffs!

Todd

Treasurer's Report - by Mike McBride

Fuel prices at TacAir rose slightly this month (retail is $5.48 per gallon), and our flight rates rose as a result; the rate for N20843 is $65 per hour, and N2242N is $87 per hour. Flight hours were at about 12 hours for each aircraft. It is good to see the aircraft flying so much, particularly in the winter! The treasury balance remains at a good level, on target for this point in time (based on desired treasury values for annual). The adjusted treasury is negative, due to credit balances carried by several members, which is not a concern at this point.

The current equity fund balance of $6,750 is about $1,500 below where we would expect it to be based upon Arrow acquisition expenses to date. Remaining budgeted expenses include dues shortfall coverage, the WAAS upgrade and the Use Tax (tax on the purchase of the Arrow), estimated at $8,280. We have used about half of the equity funds allocated for loan interest, which should cover at least two more months of interest payments.

The loan balance has been paid down to $43,135; this balance reflects four open membership spots at $10,783 each.

In the planning for the Arrow expenses, we included funds to cover membership dues shortages for four members for two months ($1,000 total). After this monthly billing statement, the funds associated with that budget will have been exhausted, and full membership dues will need to increase to cover the membership shortage. Dues for 8 full members will rise to $185 per month starting with next month's billing statement. Monthly dues for 9 / 10 / 11 full members would be $165 / $150 / $135, respectively. Full membership (12 full members) will return the monthly dues to the current level of $125.

Fly safely!

Mike

Maintenance - by John

N20843

New light bulbs were installed in the left wing courtesy light and overhead panel. The wing courtesy lights and white overhead panel light are all operated by the slide switch on the overhead panel. A new white bulb was installed in the door post map light but it is still not working. Further troubleshooting of the switch and socket is planned for this weekend. The red post light is working correctly.

N2242N

Master Switch - The master switch was cleaned with contact cleaner and has been working without any problems. A new master switch was ordered and will be installed if there are any future issues with the switch.
Engine Monitor Buttons - I noticed the buttons on the engine monitor are somewhat recessed and difficult to push. I contacted JPI and they will send two button extenders to us at no cost.

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