St Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 18 October 1992

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Fall has arrived, the leaves are falling, and it's maintenance time, You'll be happy to hear that Chuck Zimmerman, maintenance officer, has arranged with an independent mechanic to perform our annual without our assistance. He is only going to charge $250 with an agreement that he can work on it throughout the month of October, whenever he has the time. Chuck has called for an oil change on Sunday, October 25 at 9:00. Please come out and lend a hand and see first-hand the aircraft's mechanical condition.

Charlie McMullin had some trouble last week with a crosswind. Charlie had flown over to Illinois and on return to Spirit found there was a 60 degree crosswind at 17 knots gusting to 21 knots. Charlie decided to land even though the crosswind component was pushing the airplane's and Charlie's personal limits. Charlie said it was like riding a cross between a bronco and a porpoise. During the excitement the left wheel locked, flat spotted the tire and blew a hole in the inner tube. Charlie blocked the runway for 3 hours before he got assistance to put the wheel on a dolly and roll the plane to a tiedown spot. I'm going to help Chuck Zimmerman change the tire and tube this afternoon. I've related this story in the hopes we can all learn from it. Know the airplane's and your own limits, practice crosswind landings and be prepared to go around if you sense a problem.

The airplane is now in spot #32. The shade hangars are under construction but I don't know when they will be completed. I put an ad in the paper for an 8th member last weekend but I haven't got alot of response. So far there are only 2 members wanting to move the plane to a shade hanger before an 8th member joins. I believe we should do this as a means of protecting our investment. Please contact me if you would agree to raise the monthly dues from $35 to $40 to cover the additional costs for the shade hangar!

Happy Landings,

Mike Piccirilli

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