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St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 30 September 2021

From The President - By Steve

Dear Members,

The officers met last week to put together an agenda for our upcoming meeting on October 24th. In addition to the election of officers we anticipate one or more votes on how we deal with the engine on the Cessna as it approaches TBOH. The engine is running great with good compressions and oil analysis and we don't see a replacement in the near future, but with 1900 hours we should have a plan so we can move quickly when the time comes. Keep an eye out for an email prior to the meeting concerning several options for an engine replacement.

A note of thanks to John and Larry for their work to get the RV back in service. I know part of the job involved accurately locating the spinner so it wouldn't wobble when spinning and matching the holes in the spinner with the existing holes in forward bulkhead. This is a complex job and we are lucky to have guys with the skill and desire to do it.

Recently I scheduled an IFR flight and experienced just how quickly the weather can change. Spirit was forecast VFR/MVFR for the duration as I departed in the 172 for KFYG - KJEF and back. I was forced to go missed at Washington and Jeff City and as I headed back to Spirit I saw the weather went deteriorated to 1/4 mile visibility and a 200ft ceiling. As I descended into the clouds on the ILS at Spirit, I could see that Creve Coeur was clear and told STL Approach I intended to go there if I was unable to get into Spirit. That turned out to be the case but in the time it took to get vectored to Creve Coeur the weather had rolled in and taken that option away. On my preflight I had noted that everything was forecast VFR to the South so I wound up napping on the couch at KFAM until everything lifted. The avionics and A/P really took the pressure off (not to mention 6 hours of fuel in the tanks) and I realized how fortunate we are to fly such well equipped airplanes.

The Arrow has been on several trips this month with TJ flying to Omaha Nebraska where his daughter is attending College and Tim flying up to Put In Bay, a small town on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. See Pilot report on Tim's trip to Put in Bay below.

Here’s hoping everyone gets a chance to get out and fly as we move into the Fall. I look forward to seeing all of you at our next meeting.

Safe flying!

Steve

Treasurer's Report - by T.J

General Comments:

• Nothing out of the ordinary in the month; John was able to sell some of our old avionics on eBay, which is reflected in the avionics fund;
• Don’t hesitate to call with questions.

Blue Skies

TJ

BILLING STATEMENT

BALANCE SHEET

Significant Discussions:

• Maintenance Funds - All the maintenance funds are adequate and healthy relative to our spend rate over the past 12 months.
• Overall Cash - Cash is sufficient to operate into the foreseeable future.

DUES

Our current dues allocation is as follows:

Pilot Report on Trip to Put-in-Bay - by Tim

On 1 October, Allison and I flew up to Put in bay (3W2) on South Bass Island in South West Lake Erieis (400nm from KSUS). There are several Islands near by, Middle Bass and North Bass Island as well as Kelleys Island. North Bass Island has a very short strip that I didn’t have the courage to try. The landing strip on the middle bass island is a little longer but it was closed. The strip on Kelly’s island looks fine. Both Put in Bay and Kelleys Island have small towns with Put In Bay being larger. At Put in Bay, you can call ahead for a golf cart and they will come and get you. The rental place is about a quarter-mile south on the road by the airport and its $45 for a golf cart for the day. We were able to drive all over the island in about 40 minutes. Put in Bay Harbor has lots of restaurants and bars and there’s lodging all over the island including campgrounds, cabins, bed-and-breakfasts, and hotels. There are also wineries on all three islands (maybe all four). There was a $12 landing fee to tie down the plane. Cedar Park amusement park in Sandusky Ohio is nearby and a nice place to visit as well. There are also fairies running between all the islands that can take a car.

The Landing strip at put in bay is pretty short, 2900 ft. Perry’s Monument, a water tower, and trees are the obstacles you have to get over. It’s good short field landing practice. The Admiral Perry monument is really cool as well. It’s where sailors from the British and the American side are buried. It’s the largest doric column in the world and you can climb up into it and on top of it. It’s a real hazard on approach to the south facing runway.

   Maintenance - by John

N202CR RV-7A

• Forward Spinner Bulkhead - After a flight on Sept 14th, Steve noticed one of the screws on the spinner was smoking and the washer under the screw head was broken. We went to check it and found that the front spinner bulkhead had a piece broken out of the flange where a spinner fastener attached. We ordered a new forward spinner bulkhead and spinner from Vans aircraft. Vans Aircraft changed their original design which used countersunk screws to attach the spinner to now use protruding head fasteners. The countersunk holes in the old fiberglass spinner were very worn and the spinner with protruding head fasteners should hold up much better. The new spinner and forward spinner bulkhead were located and all the mounting holes drilled. The spinner will get painted on Monday and we hope to have the RV flying by mid next week.

  

• Oil Sump Gasket - While the plane was down for the spinner repair, we decided to replace the engine oil sump gasket as we have seen oil leakage from this area in the past. We removed the sump and old gasket and cleaned the mating surfaces. We reinstalled the sump with a new gasket and Loctite 515 gasket sealant and 37509 Primer.
• Brakes - Both the left and right brake pads and cylinder O-rings were replaced. The brake system was bled and the brakes pads worn in. We need to replace the brake pads every 6 months or 120 hours.

N20843 Cessna 172M

• Oil Change - On 28 September, the oil and filter were changed and the oil filter cut open for inspection. There was nothing in the filter which is excellent. We sent in an oil sample and will provide the results when we receive the results. The spark plugs were removed, cleaned, gapped, rotated and reinstalled.
• Cowl Shock Mount - When reinstalling the lower cowl after the oil change, we found one of the lower cowl shock mounts was broken. We installed a new shock mount on 29 September and the plane was returned to service.

N2242N Piper Arrow IV

• Oil Change - On 29 September, the oil and filter were changed and the oil filter cut open for inspection. There was nothing in the filter which is excellent. We sent in an oil sample and will provide the results when we receive the results.

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