"St Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 25 October 2010

From The President - By Todd Michal

Dear Members,

With the great weather this month, we logged 51 hours on the Arrow and 37 on the Cessna with a number of cross country trips, instrument training, and check-out flights. Thanks to John, PIC, Bob Z and Mike McBride for helping with the maintenance efforts on the Arrow and Cessna to keep the planes flying.

Our annual meeting is set for this Friday Oct. 29th at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Wings of Hope offices at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. Directions to Wings of Hope are: "When you turn into the airport from Chesterfield Airport Road, the first street to the right (by Budget rental), turn right, Wings of Hope is at the bend in the road (Building has Large sign). Bob Zbylut will be there about 1830 to open the doors and let everyone in.

Draft Agenda:

Welcome and Introduction of Members
2011 Calendar - PP Tax, Insurance Renewal, Aircraft Registration, IRS filing requirements for non-profit organizations
Finances
1. Arrow Equity Fund
2. Limited Member Dues Structure
3. Limited Member Upgrade Time Frame Discussion
Maintenance Status
Upgrade Proposals
Election of 2011 Officers
Adjourn

Following the club meeting, a discussion will be held on options for purchasing an in flight weather system. This discussion is open to all interested members.

Please send me any additions/modifications to the agenda. If you would like to propose an upgrade to either aircraft, please send information on the proposal to myself or John so we can research the cost of implementation before the meting.

If you would like to propose an in flight weather solution, please send information on the initial cost, annual fees and capabilities of your proposed solution so we can collect all of the proposed options into a single package for discussion.

Happy Takeoffs!

Todd

Treasurer's Report - by Mike McBride

Wow, what a month of flying! The club airplanes combined logged over 88 hours of flight time in this past month, owing largely to some significant cross-country travel. It is great to see the planes being used this way, it shows that we really are fulfilling the objectives of the club ... to give members an economical way to spend time in the air.

Retail fuel prices at TACAir declined slightly to $5.42 per gallon; the flight rate for the C172 went down slightly, to $64 per hour; the flight rate for the Arrow remained at $87 per hour. The current treasury balance is just under $4,000; the adjusted treasury is slightly negative at ($338), this due to member credit balances.

The equity funds remain unchanged from last month, with the balance at $1,230. The only remaining equity expense is Use Tax (1Q2010), which is estimated to be around $3,800. I will move this equity balance to an escrow fund, close out the equity fund; as we approach the timing of the payment, we'll re-assess the treasury and escrow balances and determine the appropriate course of action.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the 29th at the club meeting.

Mike

Maintenance - by John

N20843

Nose Wheel Fairing - Prior to Todd's flight on Friday night, he saw that there was damage to the lower front area of the nose wheel fairing. It looks like it was done by an FBO powered tow bar as the damage is too much to be caused by our hand tow bar. The fairing was removed and we will do a fiberglass repair to fix the damage.
Panel Dimmer Light Knobs - The panel light dimmer switch knobs came loose and apparently one of the knobs was lost. The remaining knob was reinstalled and I am working to find a replacement for the missing knob which has been difficult. I sent a request to the Cessna Pilots Org support line to see if they have any suggestions for obtaining one and have also contacted aircraft salvage companies to see if they have any.

N2242N

Oil Change - The oil and filter were changed on 10 Oct and Philips X/C 20W50 oil was added. The spark plugs were also cleaned, gapped and rotated.
Altimeter & Altitude Reporter & Transponder Test - Jim Mueller from Mueller Avionics completed the required bi-annual tests on 23 Oct. The next test is due in Oct 2012.
GPS Signal Dropouts - During my trip to Houston, the GPS dropouts occurred when using the com on frequencies near 121.00. The fix for this is to install a notch filter on the #2 COM antenna line near the COM radio. The older radios did not have filters installed internally to account for GPS frequencies. The Notch Filter arrived today and will be installed on 26 Oct.
Induction Leak - When troubleshooting for the cause of the rough engine at idle, we found an induction air leak. New gaskets were ordered and will be installed on 26 Oct to resolve this issue.
500 Hour Magneto Inspection - The 500 hour magneto inspection was due so we decided to have this done while waiting for the induction gaskets to arrive. The magnetos were sent to Quality Aircraft Accessories in Tulsa on Friday and will be returned on 26 Oct for installation. To help minimize aircraft down time, I asked Jerry Rettinger to assist with the effort during the day.
Vacuum Pump - We received a squawk that the vacuum gauge was reading low and then zero. The Vacuum pump had over 500 hours which is about its expected life and we replaced it with an overhauled pump.
Door Seal - The door seal on the fuselage was removed and a new seal was added to the door. The door will be a little more difficult to close until the seal adapts to the fit with the fuselage. When closing the door from the inside, pull the door closed with the strap and then close the aft latch first and then the upper latch. Thanks to Mike McBride for helping to clean off the old seal from the fuselage.
Nose Wheel Tire - The nose wheel tire and tube were replaced with a new Air Trac 5.00 x 5 tire and tube. The bearings were also cleaned and regressed. Thanks to Bob Z for helping with the tire change.

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