St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 27 October 2015

From The President - By Charley

Dear Members:

Great to see everyone at our club meeting! The meeting was primarily informative and only involved two votes. One involved the current slate of officers who have agreed to serve for another term which was unanimously approved by members. The other was regarding the Arrow incident and how we handle the deductable. Current by-laws state that the member flying when an incident occurs is responsible for our insurance deductable. Because the Arrow incident appears to have been caused by a mechanical failure the club voted to absorb the $1,000 deductible for this incident.

John also gave a great explanation regarding how he thinks the right main gear failed as well as a description of some upgrades being considered for the Citabria. Details of the meeting can be found in the minutes and meeting presentation in the Secretary's section below.

A huge thanks to everyone who performs work, either formally or informally to keep our club operating efficiently and at the lowest cost possible. During the meeting we also reviewed a list of much lesser known responsibilities that are covered by members at large. The list will be published on the website soon for regular review, please drop myself or Steve a note if you have items you believe need to be added or have interest in helping out with. We added a new item to the list this year which was educational / social chair to organize educational events combined with a bit of social interaction. Tim Volk volunteered the idea and offered to provide leadership as well. Thanks Tim, looking forward to some additional opportunities to get together!

Phill Self has indicated an interest in selling his share. I am in the process of contacting people on our waiting list to give tours of the facility / aircraft to determine their level of interest. I'm anticipating that I will be back in touch with a vote for a new member shortly.

The RH landing gear was installed on the Arrow on 19 October and it was towed to the Air Associates hangar as shown in the photo below for the final part installation, rigging and test gear retractions. If all goes well, we hope to have the plane back by the end of the month.

Safe skies,

Charley

Secretary's Report - by PIC

Minutes - St. Louis Flying Club October 17, 2015 Meeting

16 Attending – Charley Royce, Mike Piccirilli, John Heilmann, TJ Smyka, Steve Heidenreich, Mike Landgraf, John Waddell, Don Hamblen, Tim Volk, Rocky Dollarhide, Phil Self, Chris Tebbe, Kip McCullen, Dale Hofstetter, Dom Bausano, Geoffrey Gallaway.

Charley Royce opened the meeting at 0940.

Old Business – The president reviewed options for renting the maintenance space between hangars B1 and B2 with the decision that he would continue to monitor the availability of the space. The current list of approved club instructors was reviewed and deemed adequate. The club responsibility list was reviewed and a line item was added for “Club Activities” with Tim Volk as responsible party.

New Business – The President gave a brief bio on the 3 applicants on the waiting list for new club members. It was noted that Dom Bausano is handling Handbook updates and all requests for same be directed to him. The current club By-Laws were presented showing changes for membership increase from 16 to 22 and the removal of the aerobatic restriction on club planes that are so approved.

The President reviewed the status of the Arrow after the recent “gear up” incident. Air Associates is handling the repair work with an estimated completion by the end of October. The bid was $22,000 for the repair work and $1,500 for a company to remove the plane from the runway. During the FAA review it was discovered that Mr. Evitts BFR was 2 months out of date. It was an oversight on his part and the Insurance Carrier agreed to cover the incident. It was noted that in Missouri insurance coverage for an accident could be denied if the pilot is not current. The club VP is tracking currency for flight reviews and medicals but it is still an individual responsibility to be certain you are current before flying. The Arrow incident was explained as mechanical with no fault assigned to the pilot. A motion was made by Tim Volk and seconded that the club pay the $1,000 deductible in this incident. Vote was 18 For (14 present, 4 proxy) and 2 Abstain.

The current aircraft valuations for insurance purposes were reviewed and deemed adequate.

VP Report by TJ Smyka – The VP described his process for verifying member status regarding BFR’s, Medicals and checkouts and a request made that members review the information on the Club website for accuracy. There are minimum PIC hours required by the insurance company to fly the Arrow and the Citabria. They are currently 100 for the Arrow and 200 for the Citabria. The VP will check with the insurance carrier about the possibility of reducing the PIC hours for the Citabria. The insurance renewal is in January and club members will be notified of any changes when the new policy is negotiated.

Treasurers Report by Mike Piccirilli – Flight hours for the 3 airplanes were reviewed. There was a review of the Treasury status. Current aircraft values are: Arrow - $78,925, Cessna - $54,716, Citabria - $50,633. Current share value is $10,660. The aircraft maintenance is in line with budgeted amounts and the club is in good fiscal shape.

Maintenance Report by John Heilmann – The Citabria received a new tailwheel tire, tube and leaf springs. Also upgraded Nav lights and a spin on oil filter. He decided to move the annual to November. The Cessna had the nose wheel strut shimmed reduce shimmy and a new Attitude Indicator. The recent annual showed good cylinder compression and the seat rails in spec (recurring AD). The Arrow has a new Attitude Indicator. The Arrow gear operation was reviewed. Upcoming work for the Citabria includes varying thickness seat cushions, removal of the rotating beacon (requires strobe operation during the day), install engine heat, install harnesses, install new vertical card compass, search for parachutes. Explore possibility of replacing the Garmin 496 with the Aera from the Arrow. Explore panel upgrade possibilities to include G Meter, Angle of Attack indicator, Attitude Indicator and engine monitor. Upcoming facility upgrades include overhead lights, circuit breakers and power in B3, a wall cutout between B1 and B3 for access between the hangars and siding the perimeter of the 3 club hangars.

Elections – Officer elections were held with a unanimous vote (16 present and 4 proxy) to retain the current slate of Officers. A motion to adjourn at 1130.

St Louis Flying Club 2015 Annual Meeting Presentation File   |  View  |  Download (2.3 MB)

Treasurer's Report - by PIC

Members,

Fuel crept up to an even $6.00 a gallon raising the hourly rates to $60, $79, and $103 respectively. Dues stayed constant at $120. I adjusted the aircraft valuations as discussed at the meeting. I also raised the Citabria an additional $500 for the pending installation of the GDL-39. The share value was tweaked to $10,644. The Treasurer Report charts from the meeting can be viewed in the 2015 Annual Meeting presentation File in the Secretary's Section above.

Pic

   Maintenance - by John

N8746V Citabria 7ECA

• Window Strut - On Oct 5th, Don H. reported that the LH window strut fastener would not stay attached to the window frame. A new rivnut was installed in the window frame and the strut fastener was reinstalled.
• KX-155 Radio - On Oct 10th, Tim V. reported that the small and large Com frequency knobs would turn together instead of separately when you try to turn one. You had to hold one when turning the other to keep it from moving. I sprayed some contact cleaner between the knobs which allowed the knobs to move independently again as they should. Will continue to check radio to make sure frequency knobs are working correctly.

N20843 Cessna 172M

• Annual Inspection - The annual inspection was started on 14 Oct and was completed on 16 October. There were no modifications or upgrades planned so we were able to complete it in 3 days. The compression check was excellent with all cylinders 77/80 or above. The oil analysis results were also excellent with the Iron and other readings dropping significantly from past readings. Thanks to Steve Heidenreich, Tim Volk, and Mike Landgraf for helping out with the annual Inspection.

  

N2242N Piper Arrow IV

• Maintenance Status - Air Associates installed the RH gear on the Arrow and towed it over to their hangar on 19 October. They have the new flap and aileron and the repainted wingtip and will be installing them this week. After all the parts are installed, they will bleed the brakes and do the gear swing checks. If all goes well, we hope to have the Arrow back in out hangar by the end of this week.

Copyright © 2015, St. Louis Flying Club, All rights reserved. Last updated October 2015.