Closely following the joint meeting of six central Illinois EAA chapters in April, there was no official chapter meeting in May. June's meeting was refreshingly brief, shorter than the Chapter Video from HQ which followed it.
Youth Programs
With this note, Zoe Brand in the Flight Club at Dunlap High School thanked the volunteers from our chapter for their time this past school year:
Thank you so much for helping Flight Club with the GAMA competition. Having real world expertise to talk to not only helped our score, but helped our understanding of aviation. We got our feedback a few days ago and did not win, but I think Flight Club has gained so much from the time you all spent with us. I hope we can do this again next year!
As for Flight Club, we are organizing it this summer so we can have various lead positions bring the lowerclassmen up. For example a drone lead, RC lead, and a GAMA lead. With this we hope to have better planning throughout the year and have the club stable for when the seniors leave.
I also want to thank you all for coming in as speakers on Club Days! I had an end of the year survey and everyone really enjoyed you all coming in to talk. There are a lot of students in this club that don't have any other connections to aviation, so maybe we can arrange more for next year.
I can't thank you enough for all the support you all have given this club.
We also received a copy of the GAMA evaluation of their submission. It was disappointingly brief, but better than the nothing received last year.
We have not organized a Young Eagles event yet this year. The few available pilots are not eager to fly the younger kids but would be happy to accommodate high school age kids, and the Flight Club has expressed interest. To pilots interested in joining this, we have a brief manual on operations for Eagles flights.
Hangar
The spot in the hangar which the Gilberts had occupied will be taken by Dave Fox's Zenith Zodiac sometime this month.
While not currently a member, Bill Engel was one of the charter members of this chapter and was active in it for over two decades, at various times serving as an officer, including president. The BD-5 he constructed can be seen in the Wheels O' Time museum north of Peoria. He has graciously donated a drill press, band saw, and sander by Jet, a table saw by Ryobi, and a chop saw with stands by Delta. In addition he has also donated sundry hand tools. These will supplement or replace existing tools the chapter has and form a work area or tool room to be named in his honor.
The new air compressor is installed and quieter than expected, under 80 dB. It is running at about 150 psi, so check your air tool's pressure rating and set the regulator accordingly. The sandblasting cabinet is in place beside it, including various blasting media, but not yet ready for use; talk with Greg LePine before using.
Nick Keith who has the repair and maintenance shop at the Pekin Airport has donated several boxes of unsorted hardware to our chapter, acquired when he bought the assets of the FBO which closed in Lincoln. Recruits to organize these bits will be sought at the upcoming breakfasts.
Treasury
Treasury reports expenses are leading income by about $4000 this year, for various reasons. The heating bills in the long winter ran up expenses greatly. Of $2000 authorized, $1700 was spent on the new air compressor installation. One airplane space in the hangar has been empty recently. Compared to most years, there have been very few donations of cash or items. Most dues for 2018 showed up in the last months of 2017 as did youth donations, but youth expenses ($2000) were paid this year. Meeting their budgeted values, the Vanguard accounts are mostly stable and breakfasts are bringing in the usual, modest income. No major capital expenses are expected for the rest of the year. Rob feels there is no cause for concern.
VMC and IMC Club
The next VMC meeting is this Sunday, and the IMC meets the following Sunday.
Volunteers
The kitchen is fully staffed for the first Saturday of this month but not for the second. July is also staffed. The sign up sheet for the rest of 2018 has space for your name on it. An anonymous donor has offered a $100 bill to be given to the winner of a drawing to be held at this year's December banquet. Each time you work a breakfast this calendar year, another slip of paper with your name on it will be added to the drawing, so the more you work, the better your odds of winning.
Members
Welcome new member Neil Hubert, who provided an overview of his experiences in aviation:
I have been in aviation in one form or another for the last 20 years. Currently, on the professional side I am one of the (hopefully) friendly voices you hear from PIA Tower and Approach. This is my third facility including BHM and CKB. Before that I worked at several FBOs and with a helicopter (powerline) spraying unit out of Columbus, OH. At the same time I was a National Guard member. I started out as Military Police but then joined C Co 1/150th Aviation out of Wheeling, WV and served 5 years as a UH-60 Crew Chief including deploying to Iraq for 1 year in '06-'07. While deployed several pilots mentioned the FAA was hiring and they thought I should apply. A decade later here I am.
On the pilot side of things I am an instrument rated pilot with a complex endorsement. Due to moving around my flying time has been in patches, but I decided recently that I missed it and am now flying from C75 with the flying club, and 3MY renting from Pete. I am looking to build my hours up so if anyone needs a safety pilot let me know. I have also decided (unofficially) to put those hours towards a Commercial ticket. I have a love of Aerospace Engineering and building in general so if anyone needs an extra hand to turn a wrench or twist safety wire get in touch.
My wife, Melinda, is a Respiratory Therapist at OSF and has joined the club with me. She has an interest in aviation, but hasn't decided to get a license yet. To round out our nerdiness I am also a Extra Class Amateur Radio operator and she is a General Class. I also serve as the treasurer of the local radio club so my schedule can be busy at times. We would like to thank everyone for the warm welcome at the pancake breakfast and look forward to meeting you all in the future.
There are currently 59 memberships active this year in EAA 563.
Bill Larson hopes his re-engined Sonex will be flying this month. He's already done a few ground run ups and is currently wiring his new Jabiru 3300 to the panel displays.
Karl and Kip Kleimenhagen's RANS S-20 kit arrived mid May in two rather sizeable crates—the fuselage comes finish welded in this kit.
A former chapter member who attends some of the Thursday coffee meetings, Chris Tate, works in the aviation insurance group at Arlington/Roe. He was able to arrange for insurance on the kit up to the point it is ready for taxi, including shipping operations. Keep in mind many homeowner and driver policies, including those at State Farm, do not cover such belongings. Once that was in place came the search for a shipper.
The factory's shipping quote seemed high, and the factory had no suggestion as to how to remove the half ton crates from the semi-trailer they'd arranged. Alternatives were looked into on the web, and omnipresent google figured out what was afoot and presented an ad by FreightQuote in Kansas City. Sara Salmon there discussed various options, and once the unloading process had been settled upon, she was able to locate within two hours a trailer heading to eastern Iowa and willing to carry the crates to Peoria, at a price 15% below the factory quote. Even better, the run was direct, factory to our house with no intermediate drop offs. If you have a similar freight problem, you might talk with her at (816)949-6663 or via e-mail as user Sara.Salmon through their site.
The trick to unloading such crates was found at the RANS user forums, and Dependable Towing & Recovery in East Peoria was selected to do it. They own a larger, flatbed style of tow truck on a Kenilworth chassis. Their driver Ed has performed similar unloads with this truck. The truck has an extra circuit which allows its bed to be aligned in height with the bed of the semi-trailer, and its 100' steel winch cable can wrap around the crate even at the far end of a 53 ft trailer. I didn't believe him, but Ed was able to deposit both crates directly into my garage. With the bed tilted at a shallow angle, he jiggled the bed extension ciruit to gently shake the crate down the bed and into the garage. Pulling the truck forward slowly, the crate was set on the ground, and then backing up he shoved it all the way inside the door.
Our workshop is nearly complete, including the installation of a window air conditioner. The remaining tools should arrive next week followed by the start of construction. This puts us a month behind schedule but better late than never.
Off it comesIn it goes
Airport
3MY
The Airport Authority's Fish Fry & Potluck on May 11th was well attended. Thanks go to Jenny and the Devries brothers, her volunteer chefs. There were about 50 people present and the selection of potluck side dishes was good.
Bloomington
The Bloomington chapter is hosting the EAA Ford Trimotor June 14-17.
Peru
Once again the Peru airport hosted the superb TBM Reunion. At one point there were 10 TBM Avengers rumbling their Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclones through the air. Joining in the fun was an F4F Wildcat, an F4U Corsair, an A-26, an F-86 and MiG-17, and a few of the smaller twin radial transports. Simply wonderful.
TBM Reunion (Courtesy of Steve MacLeod)
