The February chapter meeting included a half hour talk by Mike Perkins from the Havana EAA chapter, who covered the history of Havana airport. Mike has a 1994 Kitfox 1. He also helped Ole Sindberg, a former 727 pilot, finish his Prescott Pusher, which flew in 1996 and has attended one of our EAA fly-ins here at 3MY. He is currently building a Tango, now roughly half complete, which is a fast glass, two seat tri-gear airplane sold as a partial kit.
While the current airfield was formed circa 1985, the buildings go back to a radar astronomy project in the 1950s. At the start of the space program, information was needed on the properties of the upper atmosphere and space. Meteoroids were a concern. These come in at about 40 mi/s (compared to 7 for the Apollo capsules) and can generate mechanical and EMP disturbances as they move through the atmosphere. In the early 1960s, they were to be studied with radar. Harvard University designed the equipment and the Smithsonian Observatory directed the project.
Dark, rural areas were picked to allow photo images of a meteor's descent to be captured, and these were correlated with the radar images, helping to locate where the meteorites landed. Flat terrain with no rocks on the surface was desired to enable the meteorites to be found. The Havana area met both these criteria, part of a region stretching from Illinois west towards the Rockies. A large (100' x 25') fixed radar antenna was built at Havana. At the field today, the building at an angle to the runway was at the head of this fixed antenna and held the electronics. It was manned by 4 or 5 people.
The coax cable to the antenna was about 12" in diameter and carried up to 4 megawatts. An antenna was towed behind airplanes to calibrate the tracking system. When the radar was operating at full power, there was a no-fly zone in effect due to possible damage to airplane electrics.
From 1961 to 1965 studies were made of the sky. Havana characterized about 1500 meteors and meteoroids. There were 8 other such stations around central IL tied by phone lines, and together their signals were used to triangulate meteors based on time. Coverage centered near Decatur to about 70 mi up. After several years of tracking, they were able to recover a meteorite they had watched go by.
The equipment was later moved to Urbana. The farmland the feds owned was given for use as an airport, but no local government wanted it. Instead, Illinois created a "town" to be the field, with no population. The radar building became the FBO until a tornado took out the airplanes tied down at the field. The airport was abandoned, but in the 1990s ultralight flyers began to tend the grass runway again and repair the buildings. Today, the operation is funded by farm land leases and hangar rentals, but the bulk of the funds come from the state and the feds. There is 100LL on the field and a crew car.
Today, their plan is to provide flyers a camping destination. For campers they are building showers, and they already have a kitchen accessible to flyers. A pavilion is also in the works. They have annual events such as migratory bird watching and—in conjunction with the UIUC astronomy club—star gazing nights. One goal is a 4000' paved runway, but they want to retain grass for tailwheel airplanes. New hangars are being built.
He finished the presentation by answering questions, mostly regarding business activities around Havana, as well as their fly-in activities.
At the most recent board meeting, Johnathan Schache and Mark Vandewiele from the Dunlap High School Flight Club were introduced and talked briefly of the work in the club. The club is preparing for the GAMA Challenge which is coming up soon. Their drones are hangared for the season but were described. An r/c airplane is being built after school, and currently they are covering the wings. They requested guest speakers for their weekly meetings, on the technical aspects of aviation in particular. The meetings are Fridays from 10:00 to 10:30. It was suggested Lincoln Land would be willing to come talk about their A&P training program. Lastly, Greg presented them with a gift of an F-4U model r/c airplane kit, which they will have to assemble, and Teri Brandt, who leads the club, thanked the chapter for our continuing support.
The IMC Club meets this Sunday in the hangar.
This month's VFR refresher question has to do with cold weather flying:
During preflight in cold weather, crankcase breather lines should receive special attention because they are susceptible to being clogged by
- Congealed oil from the crankcase
- Moisture from the outside air which has frozen
- Ice from crankcase vapors the have condensed and subsequently frozen
The answer is found below.
This was received from National last Friday:
Robert,
Congratulations! EAA Chapter 563 has been approved for a 2020 Ray Aviation Scholarship! Due to your chapter’s dedication to EAA, youth engagement, and the wonderful application submitted, EAA and the Ray Aviation Scholarship Review Committee is excited to have your chapter onboard in 2020!
The same selection process among the candidates as used last year will again be done this year, with the same committee interviewing the three or four candidates identified so far.
Jayson, our 2019 Ray scholar, has planned his solo cross country, to Carbondale. After that, he'll be ready for his check ride.
A flier was received from Marshall County soliciting candidates for their youth scholarship program, to which our chapter contributes, and its text is transcribed here:
The Charlie Allen Memorial Young Pilot Scholarship
Annually awarding a program of initial flight and ground instruction to eligible 16-19 year old students in Marshall County, IL
Program Benefits:
- $750 towards initial flight training
- 5 hours of Private Pilot ground instruction
- Logbook and certificate
For details on eligibility, selection process, and other rules, please visit this site. To apply, please visit this site. Applications open from 1st Feb to 15th March.
Kids currently in their program are among the candidates for our 2020 Ray scholarship.
At the last chapter meeting, Rob Meyer introduced several teenagers visiting the chapter. Jayson, the Ray Scholar, was cooking for the breakfast. Eliza Fletcher is a senior at Metamora high school and is planning to go to SIU's aviation school. She is currently taking flight training at Marshall Co., and our chapter has partly funded her trip this summer to the OSH camp. Brady Neuhalfen from Henry has received Allen funding (to which we contribute) and is taking lessons under chapter member Barry Logan. Lastly, there was Dillon Marlatt from Pekin. He graduated early from high school and is working at Byerly on the line and taking lesson at BFA.
Eliza sent a handwritten thank you letter:
... I am grateful beyond words how supportive everyone has been. Besides paying for several flight lessons, your generous donation has sincerely encouraged me and has helped me to better focus on why I am learning to fly instead of how much it will cost me. All of the donations and thoughtful encouragement are pushing me towards my goals more than you can imagine... I greatly look forward to meeting and working with you all more.
Dave Pietrzak from Lincoln Land Community College also sent a handwritten note thanking us for our annual donation to fund a scholarship for A&P training there. The note was also signed by six students in the program, and the text follows:
Our students and staff thank you for your generous support over the past few years. Your contribution is helping students to attain a valuable skill and for the industry to be provided with A&P mechanics to meet the demand.
Pros and cons of accepting the new web site service from national were given. It was agreed to use this and if the password protection via PDF files proves tiresome, then switch to acquiring our own site. The current web site will be up through the end of this month.
The chapter received a message from a group hoping to mimic the first trans-continental air mail run of Sept. 8, 1920. They are looking for pilots and other volunteers to fly a leg, carrying a bag of papers in place of actual mail. This mail route passed through Chicago on to Iowa City, so it didn't come through Peoria, but if you're curious, visit their site.
Treasury reports net assets have ballooned due to the stock market run up this past year, and we will increase youth spending. To Lincoln Land we've sent $1000 again this year, and another $1000 to the Allen fund. The Cat Foundation will be sending about $1500 in March, to match gifts given us by employees.
Jayson's Ray scholarship has about one fourth of his $10,000 remaining, to finish by May.
The audit is finished and an overview was given. We need to provide a back-up person for access to the Vanguard accounts, and the board has selected Dan Talbott.
Welcome new member Roger Neuhalfen. He joined EAA at OSH last summer, and his son Brady has received a Charlie Allen scholarship to fund his initial flight training.
Director Andrew Barth is a senior at Bradley and has already landed a job at Scaled Composites in the Mojave, north of LA. He will be missed here at 563.
Have you renewed your membership?
Before the February chapter meeting, Tammy stopped by and again expressed her gratitude for the money raised by the chapter on her behalf. She's working at 3MY again but hasn't yet had plates installed to replace the portions of her skull lost when the tumor was removed, so she's currently sporting a soft helmet.
The Havana chapter's annual fly-in for migratory bird watching is this Saturday:
Depart 9I0 at 9 AM for a guided tour of the migratory bird population at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, lunch provided at Big Horse Restaurant. Pancake breakfast for early arrivals beginning at 8 AM. Registration fee $50 includes lunch. For more information call Mike Purpura of the Recreational Aircraft Foundation at 630-936-3282.
Answer C is correct. (FAA-P-8740-24)
Frozen crankcase breather lines prevent oil from circulating adequately in the engine and may even result in broken oil lines or oil being pumped out of the crankcase. Accordingly, you must always visually inspect to make sure that the crankcase breather lines are free of ice. The ice may have formed as a result of the crankcase vapors freezing in the lines after the engine has been turned off.
Answer A is incorrect. Oil in the crankcase virtually never gets into the breather lines but rather remains in the bottom of the crankcase. Answer B is also incorrect. Very cold outside air has a low moisture content.