"St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 22 October 2002

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

John has installed the new radio in the #1 position and moved the original digital radio to the #2 position. He told me that the new radio is fantastic both from audio quality and range. I suggest we send the #2 radio back for repair in January, when the flying tails off (the old NARCO can be installed as the backup during the repairs). John also has some news on the status of the cooling fan (return it or make use of it) which he will share elsewhere in the newsletter.

Touching the paint up is still a big issue for me. The pride of ownership is diminished by the blemishes on the cowling, wheels pants, spinner and wing leading edges. I saw an ad for touchup aircraft paint in Trade-A-Plane called Kwik-Kit available at http://www.alliancecoatings.com/index2.html Each individual Kwik Kit is $26.95. Though we've spent allot of money for the White and Dark Green paint and hardeners already. This might be the way to go for the Light Green and Gold. The issue is still getting someone to do the painting.

Randy, is the painter you found still available or should we find someone else?
Should we remove the cowl, wheel pants, and spinner and take them somewhere to get touched up? Color Match, who did the headliner, would be willing to repaint these items that we would drop off to them. The wing and strut leading edges we could at minimum touch up with a Kwik-Kit.

Please let me know your thoughts, especially if you are willing to help get this accomplished.

I have not done much on the other interior items as it looks like we will wait until annual time to address it. I will update the status in a future newsletter.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

We had a nice increase in the Adjusted Treasury, up about $158, to about $893. We are looking good on the money for maintenance and improvements, and for the annual next year. I think we've been doing a lot of flying, and that's helping the Treasury.

The charge for bank checks is because I ordered new checks. The bank name has changed twice since the old checks were printed. I got the smallest quantity and least expensive that I could.

Club History - by John Heilmann

On September 28th, the St. Louis Flying club had its 60 year anniversary as a corporation (1942-2002). The Club may actually have been in operation much longer than this as there is a newspaper article from 1923 that mentions the St. Louis Flying Club. For more information on the history of the club, there is a new "Club History" button on the left side of the screen. We will be adding more information as it is obtained. If you have any information on the history of the club, please contact us.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann & Marlin Sipe

Beacon Light - Marlin reported that the Beacon light was inoperative. Trouble shooting indicated the blinker unit located in the tail of the aircraft had failed. The blinker unit was replaced and the beacon light is now operational.

MX-11 Com - The new MX-11R radio was installed in the No. 1 radio position and the existing No. 1 radio was moved to the No. 2 radio position. Checkout on the ground and in the air show very good reception and transmittion.

Cooling Fan - Randy found a part number (057033-1) for a cooling diffuser that mounts to the side of the radio stack. It has ports on it to attach the hoses from the cooling fan. We are looking to find out where we can get the part and what the cost will be.

The following Cessna Service Newsletter (SNL02-6) was issued on September 16, 2002

TITLE

ETHANOL BASED FUEL NOT APPROVED FOR USE IN CESSNA AIRPLANES

Cessna Distributors and Single Engine Service Stations and Owners of affected airplanes

MODELS AFFECTED

The following airplanes using Ethanol Based fuel in accordance with Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) (Most single engine models are listed including ours)

1975 C-172M Serial No. 17263853

DISCUSSION

Cessna has been evaluating unleaded aviation piston engine fuels as part of an industry-wide effort to develop an alternative or alternatives to leaded 100LL Avgas. Our evaluations have included Ethanol based fuels that have recently been approved for use in some single engine airplanes under provisions of FAA Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs).

To date, Cessna's tests and evaluations have demonstrated that Ethanol based fuels such as AGE-85 cannot be considered as an alternative to 100LL Avgas.

WARNING: THESE TESTS AND EVALUATIONS ALSO SUGGEST THAT OPERATIONAL SAFETY MAY BE COMPROMISED BY THE USE OF ETHANOL BASED FUELS.

The following results have been observed in our testing of AGE-85 fuels:

To match detonation characteristics at high power settings, the utilization of ethanol-based fuels requires fuel flow volume increases of nearly forty percent (40%) as compared to 100LL fuel. This means that the current published airplane performance information is not accurate when using ethanol-based fuels.
Ethanol-based fuels are not compatible with some fuel system components. We have seen examples of extreme corrosion of ferrous components, the formation of salt deposits, jelly-like deposits on fuel strainer screens, and internal separation of portions of rubber fuel tanks.
The use of ethanol-based fuels can negatively affect electric fuel pumps by increasing internal wear and undesirable spark generation.
AGE-85 is not compatible with capacitance fuel quantity gauging systems and may cause erroneous fuel quantity indications.
AGE-85 is capable of dissolving large amounts of water at conditions down to minus 77¼F, thereby impeding the detection and removal of water from the fuel system.
AGE-85 may block fuel filters thereby affecting fuel flow.
AGE-85 experiences heavy evaporation losses.

Consequently, the use of Ethanol based fuels in any Cessna manufactured piston engine powered airplane is not approved by Cessna.

OWNER NOTIFICATION

On September 16, 2002 a copy of this Service Newsletter will be sent to applicable owners of record.

FAA Private and Instrument Test Questions

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