"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 15 October 2003

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Thanks to the members who were able to make the 30 Sept special meeting to finalize the interior refurbishment details. John Heilmann did a great job comparing and contrasting the materials and qualities of the 3 suppliers. At the meeting, the members voted on Executive Wings in Tennessee as the supplier we would use. Executive Wings selection of materials and fabrics, their quick response to John's questions, and suggestions were the deciding factors. We picked a combo fabric/vinyl for the seats and sidewalls, the tweed fabric for the seating surface with vinyl on the sides and back. The vinyl is a taupe color and John offered to look for a spray paint that would more closely match it then the light brown we had anticipated using. The assessment to cover the refurb will be $350/member and will be assessed in this months bill. Mike Warakomski has gratiously allowed us to use his hangar at St. Charles county for the disassembly/assembly effort. John will include more details in his section of the newsletter. Everyone's help will be appreciated.

At the September meeting, Marlin asked that the relocation of the aircraft to Creve Coeur airport be readdressed. Marlin was asked to get an update on the shadeport and gas fees so we could put a comparison analysis together. Based on my review of our by-laws, there is no language specifically detailing the % of members needed to make a change in base airport decision, therefore I feel a simple majority (4 members) would be needed to decide to relocate the plane. Look for the comparison to be posted in a future newsletter.

We also discussed and voted on sending the number 1 radio in for overhaul.

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

The 0.6 hour error last month was found and corrected. Someone mis-wrote a tach time on the log. This month there's a 0.1 hour discrepency, which I'll track down next time I get to the plane to look at the flight log. We must be giving the new guy the impression we can't add and subtract.

We wrote a check for about half ($1200) of the interior, for the company to get started on the work. Ignoring that check, the Adjusted Treasury had a real nice increase of over $500, to $1435, mainly because of payment for all the flying in the previous month. Since the extra assessment ($350 per member) this month should cover nearly all the interior, this puts us well ahead for this time of year. We should be able to handle any maintenance items that come up and/or have money for some additional improvements.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann

Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin - the flying club received Revised Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin No. CE-03-43R1 that deals with safety concerns on resistance and capacitance type fuel quantity gauging systems. The bulletin is for information only and the recommendations are not mandatory.
Radio Mic - Mike Russell squawked the hand microphone. He said the tower was able to hear him using the number 1 radio from the pattern but that the tower had trouble hearing him when he called in from Lake St. Louis. Mike had both radios on at that time.
Marlin noticed that transmitting on #2 when #1 was turned on sounded horrible in the headset. When Marlin flew last week, he answered the tower on #2 with #1 on, and they said it was unreadable. He turned off the #1 radio and the tower reported he was loud and clear.
With all the problems we have had recently with the #1 radio, we will send it in for servicing when the aircraft is down for the interior upgrade.
Engine Baffling - When the aircraft is down for the interior upgrade, Randy plans to replace some of the engine baffling that is starting to wear.
Interior Upgrade - A club meeting to select the interior upgrade details was held on 30 September. The following members were in attendance; Mike Piccirilli, John Heilmann. Marlin Sipe and Mike Warakomski. The members reviewed the 3 companies and selected Executive Wings. The following colors/material were selected:
- Seat & Side Panel Vinyl = Light Neutral
- Seat & Side Panel Fabric = Toy Store - Chess
- Carpet = Moonstone
- Seat belt webbing = Light Brown (From Southern Safety Inc.)
The order was placed with Executive Wings on 1 October and the downpayment was sent on 13 October. They have received all of the materials and have started fabrication of the interior. We plan to fly the aircraft to Mike's hangar at St. Charles County airport on 24 October and:
- Remove the carpet
- Remove the seat belts and send them to Southern Safety Incorporated to reweb with light brown material.
- Remove all side panels and send the door and fwd side panels to Executive Wings to reupholster with the new materials.
- Remove the seats and send the rear seat back plastic panel to Executive Wings to cover with vinyl material.
- Remove the seat upholstery and paint the seat frames
- Repaint the plastic interior parts, door trim, and any other "green" surfaces with paint that matches the sidepanel vinyl.
If everything goes well, the aircraft should be back in service by 9 November. I blocked off this time period on the calendar. new panel marking

FAA Aviation Safety Program

The FAA's New Field Approval Policy will be explained on Wednesday, October 22 at 6:00 at the Wings of Hope Hangar. The seminar is to inform both the owner/operators and maintenance technicians of the FAA's policy changes and how to make the approval process work. The FAA has redefined the process to obtain a field approval from you local Flight Standards District Office. We recently used this process to approve installation of the 4 place intercom in the aircraft.

Wings of Hope is Sponsoring the event and will be providing a complementary bar-b-que supper starting at 5:00 pm. They will be accepting contributions to further their mission.

BFR/Medicals Due - by Todd Michal

According to the club records,the following Medical and BFR's will expire over the next 6 months.

Mike Piccirilli BFR due in December
Mike Russell Medical due in December
Mike Russell BFR due December 2002
Mike Warakomski BFR & Medical is due now

Please provide me with any updates on your medical or BFR status.

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://www.exams4pilots.org/

PAST NEWSLETTERS - Newsletter Archive

...