St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 25 May 2002

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Thanks to Marlin, Randy, Jeff, Todd and John for your help with the annual. The club is indebted for your efforts.

The recent rains are bringing memories back of the 1993 flood. I don't remember if any of you were members back then so let me provide these memories. Here are some excerpts from the 1993 newsletters:

• May 1993 - "Not much new to report this month. The rain hasn't let up very much. It's bound to, sooner or later!"
• July 1993 - "This has not been a good month for the 172. This past Tuesday night, July 13, a front came through with a lot of convective activity and damaged the plane. Apparently the plane lifted off the ground, because of the intensity of the headwinds, jumped over the wheel chocks, weathervaned to the left, and the left aileron smashed into the beam supporting the hangar roof. I am working with Spirit Aviation Services to repair the plane. They provided an estimate of $600 to replace the aileron, check out the controls and rig them. There is a $100 deductible. I have taken pictures and am sending a letter off to the insurance company to get things moving. Hopefully the plane will be up by July 27. "While I was checking the status of the plane with Aviation Services, the owner told me that he was preparing for flooding at Spirit. Apparently, management is alerting companies based on the field that there exists the potential for the river crest to be over the levees or for the levees to fail. Not much we can do at the present. The 3 options are: find an aileron fast and slap it on so we can fly it out; pound out the damage, get a ferry permit, and fly it out, or place bets that the water won't reach anything vital or if it does, cash in on the insurance. Right now my thoughts are to go with the last option. Stay tuned!"
• August 1993 - "We must all be living right! When the last newsletter went out, the 172 was awaiting the insurance paperwork to be processed to get the aileron replaced. As we were waiting, the flood waters kept inching up. The insurance claim adjusters wanted pictures, copies of the logbook and registration. But the long pole was getting an estimate. The threat of the levies breaking was causing the repair shop to put us on the back burner so he could get the planes in his shop repaired. I finally bugged him enough to get the estimate and mail it off to the claims adjuster. Instead of waiting for the official OK from the adjuster, I told the repair shop to get an aileron, based on my authorization, so the 172 would be fIyable. The aileron arrived Thursday, 29 July. The repair shop promised to put it on the next day. At 7:00 Friday, the 30th, Spirit Airport called me at home and stated they were issuing a precautionary evacuation order. At 12:00, I got a call at work that the airplane was ready to go. C.J. offered to drive me to Spirit so I could fly the plane to Weiss. C.J. then went to Weiss, helped me tie it down and drove me back to work. 10:00 Friday night the levy broke!"

Keep your eyes on the water. We don't even have the Weiss option available anymore!

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

The Annual cost less than expected, which is good. After the Annual, intercom, cooling fan, and paint, we now have $1687 for maintenance and improvements. Looking good.

I see on the latest fuel receipts that the fuel dropped a nickel to $2.75.

   Insurance - by Todd Michal

I received a quote from AVEMCO for renewing our insurance policy. Last year our premium was $2530 per year. The premium for this year is $2755, an increase of $225. If we increase our deductible we can reduce our premium slightly. Our current deductible is $200. If we increase the deductible to $500 the premium becomes $2690, if we increase the deductible to $1000 the premium is $2641.

I am checking with a few other insurance companies, but so far AVEMCO is the lowest cost option.

Payment to AVEMCO is due by June 13. If I don't find any lower cost options, I will have Marlin write a check to AVEMCO and we will renew by the 13th. Inputs from the members received so far do not think the reduction in premium is enough to justify increasing our deductible.

   Upcoming Medical and BFR Expirations - by Todd Michal

The following Medicals and BFR's will expire in the next few months. Please let me know when you have them renewed.

• John - Medical due in July
• Randy - BFR due in June
• Marlin - BFR due in July
• Todd - BFR due in July

   Maintenance - by John Heilmann

  

Todd removing the left main and John removing the propeller to replace the alternator belt.

Annual Inspection - The total for the Annual was $764.48 which for the first time in many years is less than the budgeted $800.00. In addition to the annual inspection, we also accomplished the following:

1. Replaced the left main and nose gear tires.
2. Rotated the right hand main tire and replaced the inner tube.
3. Cleaned and greased wheel bearings.
4. Serviced Nose Gear strut.
5. Replaced the alternator belt.
6. Changed the oil and oil filter

Aircraft Improvements - During the annual, measurements were taken to plan the installation of the intercom and avionics cooling fan. Marlin is preparing the intercom harness and John is preparing the intercom mounting panel. We hope to do the final installation in late June.

Oil Analysis The last analysis shows the dirt level (silicon) has dropped significantly. Some of the other values have increased but are still in the acceptable range.

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%:

• Private Pilot Questions
• FAA Instrument Test Questions

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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