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St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 31 May 2018

From The President - By Charley

Dear Members:

Tim’s temporary assignment to Switzerland has necessitated that I appoint a secretary to fill his responsibilities between now and our next election. Thanks to those who volunteered, it is nice to see multiple people interested in helping out! I have asked Mike Landgraf to fill in as Club Secretary for Tim until the time of our next election. Thanks Mike! Thanks also to Tim Volk who has faithfully served as our Club Secretary for the past few years. Your work as Secretary and a club officer are much appreciated. Tim will be retaining his membership and plans on flying anytime he can when back in St. Louis. Tim, best of luck during your assignment in Switzerland!

As discussed at our last meeting and in my email containing a survey, we have agreed to take payment for 8746V as a total loss. Although the detail of the decision was outlined in my email, the summary is that there were just too many unknowns to reliably estimate the cost of the repair. Additionally, it seems as if the Citabria might not have been the best fit for our group based at Spirit. The aircraft has been picked up by AIG and will soon be listed for bidding on a salvage aircraft site. Anyone who would like contact information regarding how to bid on the hull may contact Steve Heidenreich who will put you in touch with our adjustor. A huge thanks to Steve and John for coordinating the process with AIG. This involved collecting aircraft information, negotiating storage costs, shipment of the logbook as well as completion of a bill of sale and aircraft registration termination. This was a large undertaking and due to their efforts we should have a check from AIG shortly.

Thanks to everyone who completed the survey I emailed. We had 21 people answer at least some of the questions which I consider a great response rate. Although the survey results give us some definite direction on a couple of questions, we clearly have some work to do regarding next steps. Here are the survey results:

1. Should we get a 3rd aircraft?
   1. This answer was 100% “yes”.
2. Should we reduce the number of members over time through attrition, using Citabria funds to buy back memberships?
   1. This answer was 100% “no”.
3. What is most important to you in a 3rd Aircraft?
   1. Lowest hourly cost to operate– 2
   2. Speed / Cross Country / Fun (RV6/7 Variant) – 10
   3. Heavy Hauling Capacity / Cross Country – 7
4. Question 3 allowed for “other” comments which were:
   1. An aircraft that would allow development of different skills than the C-172 or PA-28
   2. I support replacing the Citabria with another tail wheel aircraft – potentially another Citabria
   3. A technically advanced airplane. (G1000 182, Cirrus, Diamond, etc.)
   4. Next aircraft should not require additional time in type to utilize.
5. We have $70k in Citabria funds. Are you willing to spend more than that to obtain a third aircraft with additional members, an assessment, debt or a combination of these?
   1. Yes – 17
   2. No – 4
6. If we need additional funds to purchase what we want, what do you prefer?
   1. Additional Members - 3
   2. An Assessment - 9
   3. Debt - 0
   4. A Combination of the Above – 9
7. Is there a specific aircraft you would like us to consider bringing into the club? Individual answers:
   1. 182 w/ auto pilot
   2. RV7 or RV-14
   3. Aerobatic Beech Sport / Musketeer
   4. LSA
   5. Citabria or possibly an Aviat Husky
   6. RV6A or RV7A
   7. A good, hard IFR cross-country cruiser. Modern Cessna 182 (glass, full AP, etc) or Cirrus SR20
   8. RV6A
   9. RV6A / 7A
   10. No, but first demonstrate that the utilization of the Arrow and Cessna now goes up enough to warrant a third plane or reduction in members
   11. RV7A
   12. C-182

As you can see, the two faint groupings of aircraft (if you can call it that ) are around some variant of an RV or the 182. The things that seem confirmed are that we should add back a third aircraft and that we do not want to reduce members. It also appears that the group has an appetite to spend more than the $70K that we currently have in the treasury from the Citabria.

Given the huge amount of work that will be required to narrow down an aircraft selection, the Officers are recommending we form a group of 5 members at large to narrow down our selection to something that can be put forward for a vote by members.

Thank you again for you opinions and participation in the survey, please drop me a note if you are interested in serving as a member of the selection committee.

Safe skies,

Charley

Treasurer's Report - by T.J

Fellow Members,

Members,

With the decision to accept the insurance settlement for the Citabria and look for a replacement aircraft, in next months Balance sheet, I will combine the current Citabria funds (maintenance, engine overhaul, fabric replacement, etc.) into a single fund called the "New Plane Fund". At this point, the “New Plane Fund” would have a total of $63,509.11.

Since we were carrying the Citabria on our balance sheet at exactly $50,000 and the insurance payment was for $50,000, there was no impact to the share value amount due to the Citabria settlement.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there are any questions.

Blue Skies

TJ

   Maintenance - by John

N20843 Cessna 172M

• Secondary Seat Stop Larry adjusted the secondary seat stop reel and now operates smoothly without locking up.

N2242N Piper Arrow IV

• Oil Change - On May 14th, the oil and filter were changed and the oil sample submitted for analysis. The Oil analysis results were normal.