The B-17 is to arrive early in the week of June 10, apparently due to a canceled tour stop preceeding ours. The plane will be shown to local television reporters Thursday and will then be open to the public from Friday June 14 to Sunday June 16, 9:00 to 5:00.
We now have 9 volunteers with TSA escort badges to monitor the fence line around the airplane all the time it is available to the public. Another change requested by EAA for the tour stop is the number of volunteers to assist at the merchandise sales van. They had originally request two all three days but now want only one. In the coming week we will be contacting those who have volunteered for this.
Flights will be held in the mornings, as demand requires. In the afternoons the B-17 will be open for tours.
If you will be visiting a local airport or any place with a public bulletin board, please consider stopping by the hangar and taking along a flier or "table tent" to advertise this event.
The tour has set up insurance to cover the chapter, the Airport Authority, and Byerly.
VMC and IMC Club
The VMC Club meets this Sunday. IMC is next weekend, the 9th, and on the 8th they are planning a fly-out to Mt Vernon (MVN) in coordination with other area IMC Clubs, including one from the St Louis area. Updates will be posted on the calendar on the chapter web site.
Youth Programs
Youth donations have been coming in, including some eligible for Caterpillar matching funds.
At Dunlap High School, chapter members mentored students in the GAMA Challenge, and the school's entry was submitted in May. Five kids from this club are interested in Young Eagles flights, and Kent Lynch plans to organize one for them some Friday evening ahead.
As mentioned last month, we are covering half the expense of Jolene Miller's trip to the Air Academy at OSH. She was able secure a scholarship from national for the other half, so her expenses will be limited to travel.
June 8 is billed as Young Eagles day by national, but we will not be able to host one this day. The chapter's Young Eagle coordinator is to receive by e-mail information on the new, on-line record system for such events.
Bob Pegg has prepared a letter to solicit funds from local businesses in an attempt to start an airplane build project for local youth.
In mid May the chapter treasury received the first installment of $4,000 towards Jayson Presley's Ray Flight Scholarship. We will pay Allmond Aviation directly as Jayson Presley flies his lessons. After he solos we will submit a progress report to EAA to obtain the next $4,000 installment. He will also receive a free noise canceling headset at that time, donated by Lightspeed.
Jayson, this year's Ray scholar at 563
There were not enough volunteers to manage a Flying Start event in May, and it was not put on.
Hangar
At the May chapter meeting a vote gave the board authority to acquire more tools, etc, should they become available from the Lurie estate. It was agreed to acquire paint for the bathroom and kitchen. More lights will be hung around the hangar, used fixtures we had already acquired in previous years.
Donations of old rider mowers are requested. These will be converted to airplane tugs for sale to owners at the airport.
Greg proposed metal plaques be made of the original charter, a list of past officers, and a list of deceased members.
Al Phipps donated a Wheeler Express airplane kit to the chapter, to be sold. A fellow in Denver purchased it and chapter members helped him load his truck in late May.
OSH Volunteers
The "Blue Barn" is a relatively new facility at OSH devoted to local chapters and the Young Eagles organization. National is requesting volunteers to staff this Barn during the airshow. There is a sign-up sheet on their web site.
National is also looking for college age volunteers to work in their Collegiate Volunteer Program:
Now in its fifth year, EAA’s Collegiate Volunteer Program is the perfect opportunity for young people to gain hands-on experience in their specific field of study, meet college students from around the world, and get a behind-the-scenes look at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019. Volunteers will have the opportunity to build their resume through networking in nearly every area of AirVenture operations including aviation, business, flightline operations, food and event management, customer service, and photo and video. Other benefits of the Collegiate Volunteer Program include AirVenture admission wristbands, flexible volunteer hours, a meal and beverage during shifts, opportunities to attend exclusive events and activities, a one-time, free six-month EAA membership, and complimentary camping.
A few months back the newsletter included an appeal for members to bring to OSH any of the kiddy pedal airplanes they may have constructed. The goal is to have the longest ever conga line of such at OSH this summer:
On July 24 of this year, during EAA's AirVenture, a group of pedal plane builders will attempt to establish a new official Guinness World Record for the largest parade of pedal powered toy airplanes, and we need your help. In order to establish this record, we must have a minimum of 50 planes complete the parade route. We are closing in on this number but still need more planes. There are no costs or fees associated with this event, beyond your admission to the airshow. In addition to planes, we are also in need of volunteers to act as independent witnesses, stewards, and videographers. If you or your chapter are able to help in any way, please let me know via email with the subject line PedalVenture. Below is a link with information regarding time and place.
As of mid May there were 63 paid memberships for this year.
Director Andrew Barth will be unavailable for the summer. He has accepted an internship at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The RV-9A project Tim Coverstone's bought last year is for sale, following his recent purchase of a completed example.
Greg LePine has been working on a half scale F4U Corsair since he acquired the wood fuselage on gear in June 2015. This plane is being covered with aluminum instead of foam and fiberglass. He works in the chapter hangar Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 3:30 and welcomes all visitors. His most recent build log follows:
November: Riveted stub wing front-leading cover. Installed fire-proof wheel-well liners. Gear is locked down and clad-plated (one more thing not to worry about in the first flights). All lower sheets fitted and installed along with removable wheel well-cover aluminum sheet.
December: Installed LED off-road light for landing/position lights and they look like oil coolers with oven-formed light covers and screened cabin intake fresh air vents. Installed top wing rib risers.
January – February: Rotated project ninety degrees and the tail is on top of my work table and stub wings are on wing jack stands. The project is rock-hard steady and it's time to work on the wings. After doing some calculations for the forward spar, I decided to increase the bending moment by re-enforcing all edge/corners with 1/8 x 1-1/2 aluminum structural angle. This increased my safety factor tenfold. Plus, by using vertical angle braces to tie the box beam spar together, I have some way to install forward stub and wing ribs. This was done to the rear spar as well.
March: Made wing attachments along with outer and inner support ribs. Attached right wing spars to wing attachment and by using support stands leveled the wing to its proper position and clamped in place. Attached outer rib held in place with clecos.
April: Made outer stub wing ribs by making a large poster board template then outline traced it to a wood form. I made the largest form first and will be cut down to make the next smaller rib form. After transferring the pattern to aluminum sheet, I cut out two rib blanks at a time, then hammer (soft faced mallet) formed the aluminum. Repeated this process until all forward stub ribs for both wings were completed. Next up were the main outer wing bulk head ribs. These will hold the outer wing tip and inner aileron control. The intent is to fold the wing, so a linkage separator is needed. The largest rib form and aluminum were made just like the stub ribs. Largest first then the master was cut down for the next form and rib repeated for all ribs. Bear in mind, this is double tapper wing and I’m making it all aluminum.
May: All ribs are clecoed in place and work continues on the aileron linkage, hinges and ailerons. Aileron spar and ribs formed. Hinges installed as well as aluminum cover sheet. Balancing is in progress.
After sulking the whole winter over the low quality of the airplane kit purchased from RANS last year, Kip and Karl Kleimenhagen are back in the shop, fixing manufacturing defects and swearing up a storm. The seat assemblies are nearly finished and will be fit to the fuselage in the coming week. The word on the forums is RANS has gotten its act together on this kit and the new ones are up to their old standards.
In mid May they visited a relative in Richmond, VA and took a day to visit the Military Aviation Museum's annual WW-II aircraft show near Virginia Beach. I don't know if it was the weather or new FAA or insurance rules, but the fly-bys were at a much higher altitude. While this was no where near as enjoyable as when the fly bys were closer to tree top level, it's still very much worth a visit to the show and the museum. Rarities from the war include the only flying MiG-3 fighter.
Kip and Lenin inspect the MiG-3
Airport
3MY
The airport authority will hold another "open house" at 3MY on Saturday July 13. The Airport Authority will try to have the pads in place for the picnic tables in time for the July Open House at 3MY. The chapter acquired concrete tables for this last year.
Peru
This year's Grumman Avenger fly-in was largely rained out last month.
