"St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 22 October 2002

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

I read the news about Thunder's flight school being closed down with a lot of interest. I personally am not interested in adding aircraft/members to our club. Though adding a more capable aircraft is attractive, I would not be willing to pay the premium for it or take on the added responsibilities of another aircraft and additional members.

I happened to have a conversation with the St. Louis County Tax Assessor's office and found out that antique aircraft (more than 25 years old) have a Personal Property tax rate that is much lower than our current rate (5% vs 33.3%). Though our 172 meets the antique criteria, another criteria for getting the lower 5% rate is that the aircraft must fly less than 50 hours per year. It's a shame we don't qualify for the lower rate as it would have equated to a savings of $850/yr. Something to keep in mind though.

The cold weather has arrived. Randy, any thought to putting the winterization plate on. My own personal requirements for pre-heat are starting the plane when it is 25 degrees or colder. Without Thunder available, the ability of pre-heating the plane will be much harder.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

The Adjusted Treasury had a nice increase this month, increasing about $330 to $1223. Financially, the club is doing well.

The bill for Personal Property Tax arrived, and is about $9 lower than last year at $995. It's nice to see it actually drop a little.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann

Battery - After flying to St Charles County airport, Marlin could not get the aircraft started for the return trip. The battery did not have enough charge to turn it over. Randy went to Spirit to get the jumper cables and then to St Charles County to jump start the plane. Randy checked the log and the battery was installed almost 5 years ago (Feb 1997). The normal battery life is four years and with cold weather approaching, we will replace the battery (about $112) this week. It should help with the cold weather starts.

Mixture Cable - Marlin reported the mixture control cable came loose after a flight. Randy reconnected it and adjusted it so that the mixture knob does not have as much space between knob and the panel when in the full rich position (all the way forward) as it did before. A possible cause of the problem is that with the large space between the knob and panel, you tended to push the knob as far forward as possible since it didn't have a hard stop. This may have put added strain on the cable and caused the failure. Thanks to Randy for the quick repair that had the plane back in operation only 3 hours after the problem was reported.

Cooling Fan diffuser - One company we contacted said the diffuser part (0570033-1 R/B 1570402-2 PLENUM) was last sold at $593.00USD and they do not have any in stock. We are checking to make sure this is the correct part number and to see if we can get a lower price.

Tips on Winter Flying

Engine Starts-In moderately cold weather, engines are sometimes started without preheat. Particular care is recommended during this type of start. Oil is partially congealed and turning the engines is difficult for the starter or by hand.

There is a tendency to overprime which results in washed-down cylinder walls and possible scouring of the walls. This also results in poor compression and, consequently, harder starting. Sometimes aircraft fires have been started by over-prime, when the engine fires and the exhaust system contains raw fuel. Other fires are caused by backfires through the carburetor. It is good practice to have a fireguard handy during these starts.

Another cold start problem that plagues an unpreheated engine is icing over the sparkplug electrodes. This happens when an engine only fires a few revolutions and then quits. There has been sufficient combustion to cause some water in the cylinders but insufficient combustion to heat them up. This little bit of water condenses on the sparkplug electrodes, freezes to ice, and shorts them out. The only remedy is heat. When no large heat source is available, the plugs can be removed from the engine (fun to do on a cold night) and heated to the point where no more moisture is present.

Engines can quit during prolonged idling because sufficient heat is not produced to keep the plugs from fouling out. Engines which quit under these circumstances are frequently found to have iced-over plugs.

After the engine starts, use of carburetor heat may assist in fuel vaporization until the engine obtains sufficient heat.

If the battery is run down while attempting to start the aircraft, it is essential to get it re-charged to prevent the battery from freezing . A battery that is properly maintained and fully charged will not freeze unless the temperature reaches approximately 80deg F below zero. However, a severely discharged battery will freeze at temperatures as high as 32deg F above zero. To avoid the possibility of damaged plates or a cracked case due to freezing, keep the battery fully charged at all times.

To test your winter flying knowledge, try a short quiz.

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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