EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
February 2022
At the January chapter meeting, the service awards from HQ were distributed. HQ recognized the chapter officers, technical counselors, flight advisors, and the program coordinators for Young Eagles, Publications, and the VMC and IMC Clubs. The chapter president recognized Keith Claypool for organizing the chapter library.
From the News From HQ video, a number of topics covered by the EAA president are worth repeating. EAA currently has about 150,000 memberships covering 250,000 people. Membership dues will soon go from $40 to $48 per year, the first increase in over 20 years. The EPA is expected to move before long to ban lead in avgas, and while there is as yet no one replacement for 100LL, research continues. The proposal to increase the scope of LSA remains on track for approval in 2023.
Because one of the leaders of the IMC Club had been exposed to The Virus, the Club meeting was canceled for January. Given the surge in the pandemic and the February conflict with the Super Bowl, it was decided to hold the next meeting on its usual weekend in March.
The snow preceeding the January VMC Club meeting left the ramp slippery near the hangar. However, the FBO area had been shoveled, and the airport opened the FBO lobby for the Sunday evening meeting. The discussions included dealing with a throttle stuck wide open and with allowances for take off from a grass strip. Given its smaller size, the Club will meet this month, spread out in the hangar, on Sunday.
Bob Pegg, who organizes the chapter breakfasts, would like to remind members help is needed setting up, preparing, and cleaning up after the breakfasts. The sign-up sheet is on the tables.
The recent $492 utility bill was the highest ever. Mind the thermostats and lights, please.
The space long occupied by Greg LePine's Corsair project will be the location of the airplane build for teenagers. A suitable table is being constructed there for the project.
Caterpillar Foundation gift matching has generated nearly $5,500 over the past year. Combined with the $3,600 raised from a donated airplane project we sold, the chapter has been able to expand our various youth programs for the year.
We have applied for a 2022 Ray scholarship. Rob Meyer, the coordinator at 563, has 3 possible candidates in mind already. About 270 chapters apply for the 160 available scholarships, so it is not certain we will get one again this year.
We still have the two 2021 scholarships in progress. Logan Turner is scheduled for his check ride the first week of February, and Jolene Miller is still enjoying cross country flying, building time for her mid March check ride. In late January, Jolene gave a presentation on learning to fly at Dunlap High School.
January 22nd, we had a presentation and open house in the hangar to describe this project to teenagers interested. In response, 16 kids have applied, more than we can accommodate. A half dozen, though, school at home and can meet on a weekday afternoon, and we can take another 6 or 8 on the originally planned Saturday build sessions. We expect a few kids will drop out in the coming months, and our remaining applicants can then be asked to take a place.
Accordingly, more practice kits have been ordered from Zenith and Van's. Zenith, the manufacturer of the airplane kit, had already kindly donated eight of their practice kits. The tail section and the complete airplane plans are ready to be picked up in Missouri, and Ron Wright and Andy Plouse plan to fetch the lot as soon as the weather is favorable. Build sessions will be two weeks a month for now but are likely to increase in frequency, especially in the summer. The sessions will be listed on the calendar of the chapter web site.
The mentors aren't exactly spring chickens, and the pandemic is again in high gear. The team has decided to follow the example of the area schools and require masks for now. We expect the current surge in the Plague of Wuhan to burn out before long, allowing masks to be dropped in the spring when the hangar doors are again open.
The Dunlap Flight Club was present at the January chapter meeting. The first of two packages of the radio control airplane kit purchased from HQ was given to them, as well as a $500 check for general club funding. The president of the Club thanked the chapter for its efforts with them this year, and Greg LePine was given a Flight Club tee shirt. The Corsair kit given to them last year is already finished, and the leader of the Club, Mrs. Brandt, said members of the Peoria R/C Modelers will buddy-box all flights.
Having regularly donated scholarship money to Lincoln Land Community College for many years, the chapter has been named a "supporting" contributor to their aviation mechanics program.
The chapter agreed to support a similar program at Lewis University this coming year, but Lewis has a $1,500 minimum for a named scholarship, which is more than the $1,000 we offered. If the minimum is not met, we have no control over where the money goes. The board in January voted to increase the amount to both Lewis and Lincoln Land to $1,500 for this year.
The chapter nominated Killian Madeley for a position at this summer's OSH, and HQ has accepted him. The chapter will cover half his expenses and he can apply for their "campership" to cover the other half.
The Audit Committee with Dick Barthel, Ann Lynch, and Morrie Caudill inspected the chapter's records and found nothing amiss for 2020 and 2021. Once their report is ready, it will be placed on the chapter web site in the Members section.
An educational Illinois non-profit sent the chapter a note pointing to their raffle to win an Ercoupe. All funds from the raffle go to support their work.
Many members are readers of Kitplanes magazine—which for the homebuilder is a far better resource than Sport Aviation—and regularly find there articles by Paul Dye. Chapter 59's recent newsletter pointed out Paul is a former NASA Flight Director, and mentioned a brief video biography on him done by CBS.
HQ rates chapters on a number of criteria, and chapters meeting nearly all receive a "star" rating, between bronze and gold. (Oddly, each criteria receives an equal weighting.) With many chapters on low idle due to the pandemic, HQ has allowed chapters to merge two years activities for their rating and asked chapters to write up recent accomplishments. Our chapter's president, did so, and the list he submitted follows:
In 2021 we started organizing a chapter youth build of a Zenith Cruzer.
2020 we had chapter scholarship awards issued to Brady Neuhalfen, Conner Newnam, as well as Lincoln Land Community College A&P Scholarship Fund.
2021 chapter scholarship awards issued to Tanner Bradshaw and Logan Turner as well as Lincoln Land Community College A&P Scholarship Fund.
Our Tool crib has: Large Air Compressor, a tig welder, four band saws, two belt sanders, Brake, Shear, drill press, very large top and bottom tool box full of tools for aircraft building projects as well as diagnostic and repair. We also do fabric repair to experimental aircraft.
We also have a well-stocked library available of reference books on airplane construction as well as several sets of airplane plans. The books include the complete Bingelis set. Plans from VanGrunsven, Monnett, Bede, Davis, and others are available for inspection.
As Chapter President, I attend the Peoria Airport Authority monthly marketing and board meetings. As 3MY is separate from PIA, we are always on the look-out for the well-being of our airport and for funds appropriated for updates.
Our Chapter was also able to receive in 2020 three concrete picnic tables, which, as a team effort, handled the pick-up, transport, and re-assembly on the grounds adjacent to the FBO for use by the public for airplane watching.
Our Chapter has co-sponsored the Dunlap Flight Club at the high school in Dunlap, IL. The flight club has 30 members (students). The principal instructor is the school's chemistry teacher, Mrs. Teri Brandt, who started this club under the STEM program. Mrs. Brandt has attended Oshkosh with her family for the last 10 years and has always attended youth and aviation seminars at Oshkosh and has brought this information back to our Chapter and to her students in the flight club. We have donated several radio-controlled airplanes, stick build aircraft, model rockets, and have joined with the local American Model Club for model building and guidance. In December, 2021, we ordered an EAA radio-control airplane for the club. We have provided aeronautical information and EAA guidance pertaining to their interests in aviation by way of providing Chapter members making presentations at their club meetings and also by students attending our Chapter breakfasts and meetings. Also, on occasion, some of the students had hands-on training by assisting Chapter members with aircraft construction. Several students of the flight club, after graduating high school, have started flight training at Mt. Hawley and at Illinois universities along with the United States Air Force Academy. We are extremely proud of this partnership with the flight club and have already welcomed some as new EAA members.
Also, for the last ten years, our Chapter members, Kent and Ann Lynch, have donated extensive time at Oshkosh in driving the tractor trams.
The first prompt to send in memebrship renewals was by e-mail, and about 40 members have done so. Paper renewals went out last week to the remaining members.
Dick Barthel is maintaining the Social Flight listings for the chapter, such as the breakfasts.
A correction: It was reported last month that at age 90, Morrie Caudill could no longer get liability insurace for his Onex, so it is for sale. While the Onex is for sale, he does have liability insurance and will continue flying the Onex until it is sold, as well as making flights with other pilots in their airplanes.
We received a bid of $493 per canopy for the 3 picnic tables up by the FBO. The supplier estimates that if the canopies are stored inside during winters, they might last 20 years. At the last board meeting, it was pointed out that doing it ourselves in aluminum will likely take much longer than expected, and we do have the airplane build to concentrate on. The board agreed to buy 3 canopies.