This is final newsletter for 2017. Again as last November, I'd like to thank all who contributed material for this year's newsletters. Special mention goes to Greg LePine and Kent Lynch who provided material each month.
Meetings and Presentations
A representative from ATC at PIA will give a presentation at the November chapter meeting, this Saturday morning. His topic is what pilots can do to help controllers.
There is no chapter meeting in December. Instead, there is the annual banquet held 12/09 from 6 to 8 PM at Bernardi's Pub on north Knoxville in the Lake of the Woods Plaza. This is the same location as last year.
Youth Programs
At the last chapter meeting, three members from the Dunlap High School Flight Club reprised their presentation given at the previous board meeting (and described in last month's issue). Including that from 563, they have $2000 donations so far to pursue their aviation experiments.
The Flight Club is interested in applying for a free airplane kit from the Bede Foundation. While the board feels space can be made available for this in our hangar, there is concern we may not be able to muster enough mentors to guide the students in this build. If you have have worked on aluminum airplane construction and would be willing to guide the Flight Club in a build, please contact a board member. The workload would, of course, be highest at start of the project, as the kids learn the basics of working in aluminum.
Donations from members towards Youth activities now total $1300 plus another $800 for the Lincoln Land Community College aviation scholarship we fund.
Treasury
Net worth rose some due to recent donations for Youth and Scholarship. There are 57 paid memberships. Breakfasts have cleared $700. The value of the Vanguard accounts has risen again. Donations for the year total about $3300 including $1200 not earmarked for Youth and Scholarship. Spending and expenditures are nearly in balance for the year.
Supplies have been purchased for the TIG welder. Members using the welder will be expected to provide a suitable donation to cover supplies consumed.
Elections
The slate of board candidates for 2018 are:
President: Greg LePine
V.P.: Kent Lynch
Secretary: Karl Kleimenhagen
Treasurer: Rob Meyer
Directors: Andrew Barth, Ron Dorn, Dewey Fitch, Bob Pegg, Ron Wright
Further nominations will be accepted from the floor at this Saturday's meeting, on 11/4. The election will be held this day as well.
IMC Club
Attendance is running 5 to 7 people each month. The next meeting is 11/12 at 6 PM in the hangar.
Volunteers
As always, kitchen help for the breakfasts is needed. The sign up sheet for 2018 is available in the hangar.
Plans for sale
Janet Snyder is selling plans her late husband Guy had accumulated. Available are two sets of Pober Pixie plans (same serial number), a Pietenpol, and a Davis DA-2A. Aluminum and steel for the Davis are also available. Contact Karl at 692-2076.
Members
Don Berrier and Sam Sisk have received the FAA's Master Pilot award. These are granted to pilots and mechanics with at least 50 years in aviation. The award is by nomination from the community; it is not from a simple record search. On Sunday 10/28 an awards banquet sponsored by local pilots was held for them and three other local aviators receiving the award: Jean McLoughlin and Don Cramer as Master Pilots and Ray Gepford as Master Mechanic. About 400 people attended this event held in the operations hangar at 3MY. Of note: Don soloed in 1945 and accumulated over 22,000 hours in the air. (Jean soloed about 15 years later and also has over 20,000 hours.)
The renewal notices for 2018 will be going out next week. So far 9 members have already renewed. As a reminder, if you have a 3MY gate card based on EAA membership, the Airport Authority plans to suspend in early January all cards for which membership has lapsed, so renew soon and avoid the hassle.
Dan Talbott will soon be bringing a project to the hangar, taking the space of one of Ron Wright's projects up for sale.
Greg LePine's Corsair
Greg has been working on a W.A.R. Corsair project since June 2015 and has provided this update:
May: Side and belly sheets were clecoed on but that was only the start. Next, all the access points had to be made in the belly, turtle deck, and rear tail section. There are two under the floor board for brake lines, done. Next up, or down, is the center control stick, along with cables and gear for the tail wheel. Then there is an access hole between the back of the seat half-way to the tail for the elevator control Z rod where I also installed the transponder aerial. I also installed a large access rectangle for an optional battery behind the seat. So that was five access holes in the belly.
June: If you see a real Corsair, look at the area just in front of the horizontal elevator. There is a pass-thru hole for lifting and chaining down on a carrier deck. Yup, got one too. At least I can use it for tying it down and can install a lifting rod to help turn for parking.
July: The turtle deck also needed an access hole because the rudder cable passes over bushings. I also laid out the canopy pass-thru attachment fastener holes. This was a back alley trick, by using 36" long .25" drill bit a level and square, and it worked. Time for Oshkosh—saw way too much to remember. Good thing I took lots of pictures.
August: Fuel tank time. I use Autodesk Autocad and as long as your dimensions are good, the designing is easy. I also have to remind everyone that my radios sit just forward of the main spar so a mock-up was made. This whole process took over a month from design to foam, to 3003 Aluminum. Sheets were cut, formed over plywood, clecoed then riveted. Installed, checked for clearance then off to the weld shop. There was 24 feet of weld and this unit will hold about 16 gallons of gas.
September: Radios—I used Terra for Com and Transponder because they are small. They work and I didn’t break the bank buying them. I also formed up the radio stack mount. I acquired manuals for each and just followed the wiring schematics to wire them; push to talk button in the control stick, head set plug-ins, mode C encoding transponder and all aerials. Of course, I tested them and had to adjust modulation but everything works. Weld shop called—tank is done.
October: Wind screen was made, installed, and removed—what a job. Final fit of fuel tank. It fits and doesn’t leak. Now I will plumb it in. Final flap handle lock plate installed. Are we just plane nuts or what? What a labor of love and I just wanted a easy project. 90% done, 110% to go.
Airport
Need an Annual?
Those who've had Terry Kelly do their annuals in years past will want to keep in mind he will be in Peoria in early November and available for such work from the 3rd through the 11th. You can phone him at (309)368-0015. You can also contact him as user tdkkas via the aol.com mail system.
3MY
Construction on the apron and runway has been completed in far less time than the estimated "55 days" reported last month. That "55" in the blurb sent out by the Airport Authority was surely a keyboard double strike (which I failed to catch).
Havana
A joint meeting of the local EAA chapters fell through this year, but Havana has set a tentative date of Saturday April 28, 2018 for the first one. It will be preceded by an overnight camp out on their field. Their camping activities made one of the newsletters from national this month.
