Our chapter having been awarded again this year a Ray Scholarship for flight training, the selection committee interviewed three candidates. They chose to nominate Eliza Fletcher, and she has already been awarded that scholarship by National. She has committed to finishing her private pilot before starting at SIU (in aviation) this fall, so she has much to do, especially considering the start of her flight training will be delayed due to the pandemic. Under the Ray program, she has 12 months to finish, and HQ has indicated she might continue at SIU if necessary.
Dillon Marlatt and Brady Neuhalfen, who were the other two candidates considered by the committee, have both been given $1,000 credit at their flight school to help them continue with the training they've already begun. If HQ permits, any Ray monies left over in the future will be so spent. Brady sent the selection committee a handwritten note of thanks, and excerpts follow:
I would like to thank all of you for your time... While I was not nominated as this year's Ray Scholar, I am tremendously grateful to the selection committee and to Peoria EAA. Just being selected as a candidate for the scholarship and having the opportunity to be interviewed is an absolute honor.
I am also very thankful for the overwhelming support I have already received from Peoria EAA. I was given 500 dollars a few months ago in support for my flight training, and I couldn't believe it when I learned I would receive 1000 dollars from Peoria EAA for applying for the Ray Scholarship... In addition to financial help, I have been offered a great deal in the form of moral support, such as help in preparation for my written exam...
... I do not view this as a loss or set back at all... This will get me much closer to receiving my license, and I still plan on obtaining it by the end of the summer.
Jayson, the 2019 Ray scholar, has completed his first solo cross country. Due to the pandemic, National has granted all scholars an extra month to complete their work.
It has been proposed we set up a ground school committee to help a Ray scholar or other young flyer in studying for their written exam. Let us know if you'd like to help.
We are accepting cash donations for youth flight training. In addition to the Allen fund at Marshall County, we'd like to continue to offer those Ray Scholarship candidates who do not receive the nomination a consolation prize of $1,000 or more towards flight training, such as we've done this year. With your donation to the chapter, just mention you'd like to earmark it for this program, if you desire.
Caterpillar employees should note that through the end of April, the Caterpillar Foundation is doubling their matching gift for employees and retirees. Give $100, and the Foundation will send us another $200 in your name next spring.
The IMC Club visit to Chicago Center is off, for the FAA doesn't want to risk infecting the air traffic controllers there.
The VMC Club web site at National was reviewed at the last chapter meeting. We will continue using instead the commercial material we have been buying from Pilot Workshops. The IMC Club agreed the material from National is weak. Due to the pandemic, neither club is meeting this month, of course.
This month's VFR refresher question has to do with batteries:
When are non-rechargeable batteries in an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) required to be replaced?
- Every 24 months.
- When 50 percent of their useful life expires.
- At the time of each 100 hour or annual inspection.
The answer is found below.
On April 1, National ended support for the free chapter web sites which had been hosted at webs.com for many years. Their new, free chapter web sites are to be hosted on EAA's own servers, but as of April 6 were not yet fully configured. The new service is limited in its ability to present the files, such as the newsletters, which had been prepared for the old site. I've chosen to retain the old service at webs.com for now, and it is up and running as eaa563.org.
At the new site supplied by National, there will be a link posted to allow people to jump to our main web site. It's currently visible at its temporary address, but the final address will be 563.EAAchapter.org, and a similar address and site is to be available for all chapters.
All file links were broken in the transfer of ownership of the old site, but all except those for the meeting minutes prior to 2019 have been fixed. When I have more time later this spring, I'll set up a new eaa563.org hosted on an independent service. At that time, all broken links will be fixed up, and back-up copies of the newsletters, which were (incorrectly) altered by the old hosting service, will be in place.
Unfortunately, e-mail forwarding was lost when we took over the old web site. For instance, info@eaa563.org no longer works, but our direct @gmail address still does, and the chapter web site was updated to reflect this.
National has offered chapters a chance to earn all the profits from one of the pancake breakfasts held at OSH this year. Chapters must supply 10 members to work the breakfast, and chapters will be selected by lot from among those who apply. Contact the chapter's breakfasts manager, Bob Pegg, if you plan to be at OSH and would be willing to help.
The Caterpillar Foundation sent word $2,100 would be coming to us in gift matching. It was Anne Lynch who helped set up this for the chapter, and she was thanked for her efforts at the March chapter meeting.
Welcome new member Nicole Garber and her family (which includes our new Ray scholar):
Hello! My name is Nicole Garber, and I'm pleased to introduce myself and my family as new members of Chapter 563 of the EAA. My husband, Doug, and I live in Metamora, where we were both born and raised. Doug is Assistant General Manager at MTCO and I am a self-employed licensed massage therapist. We have three children. Noah, our eldest, is Delivery Coordinator at the Washington Menard's. Our middle child, Eliza, is a Senior at Metamora High School. She is the inspiration for our involvement in EAA, as she will be attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale this fall to study Aviation Flight and Management with plans of becoming a commercial pilot. Will, our thirteen-year-old, is into mountain biking, fishing, and, most recently, track and field. We love traveling, especially to the National Parks, and spending as much time as possible outdoors: camping, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking and canoeing, orienteering, and geocaching. We are grateful for the warm welcome we've received from Chapter 563, and we look forward to walking alongside Eliza as we all make ourselves familiar with what the EAA has to offer and what we, in turn, can offer the EAA.
Long time member Bill Hounshell is moving from the area and sent along a few notes:
My wife and I decided to move to North Carolina, and I decided to quit flying. As a result, I'm selling N6WH... I hate doing this, but it was inevitable. I should be satisfied that I was able to maintain annual physicals and flight reviews and Instrument check rides. I have stayed Instrument-current and just flew home from Florida in IMC after Nashville. Rain was light to moderate with moderate turbulence. Moderate rain and turbulence at C15 with a 15kt gusting to 24kt direct crosswind. That's a bit tough for a tailwheel. I best quit while I'm ahead.
I wish I could extend my flying years for another 2 or 3, but it makes no sense to move my airplane. Insurance and other costs are prohibitive for the number of hours I fly each year. AVEMCO, and any other insurance company, is reluctant (spelled expensive) to insure a pilot over 80. No hangars are available in NC in any case. I can't complain; it's been a great run!
We are moving to Lincolnton, NC. It's near Charlotte, just northwest. Lincolnton has a nice airport. Our daughter lives in Huntersville, and I had to get my wife settled near her. Tearing up 54+ years of roots is agonizing. I'll miss Peoria, but I won't miss Illinois.
It was Bill who donated the large collection of aviation books found along the east wall of the hangar. Borrow one today; there are many good titles there.
Answer B is correct (14CFR 91.207). Non-rechargeable batteries of an ELT must be replaced when 50% of their useful life expires or after the Transmitter has been in use for more than 1 cumulative hour.
Answer A is incorrect. Every 24 months is the requirement for the transponder to be tested and inspected, not when non-rechargeable ELT batteries are to be replaced. Answer C is incorrect. Changing batteries is not required at the time of each 100 hour or annual inspection.
However, as Morrie notes, this begs the question: How do you determine when the batteries are at 50%?