EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
September, 2022
J.J. Hoevelmann, the chapter president, has appointed Greg LePine, Killian Madeley, and Ethan Hoevelmann as the nominating committee to seek candidates for the chapter election in November. Greg has found the current board members are willing to serve again, but newcomers are encouraged to apply for any of the positions.
A poll of the membership indicates there is sufficient interest to hold in early December a supper party at the Lariat Steakhouse here in Peoria. Please let us know if you plan to attend so that sufficient space might be reserved. The Lariat usually offers three meal choices for such events.
Chase Ehlers has passed his written exam and finished his required flights. His check ride is scheduled for September 16. The final check from the Ray Foundation towards his flight training has been received.
At the mid month breakfast, Killian Madeley discussed his work at the OSH Air Academy. The chapter covered half his entry fee for this event, as we have done for other teens in recent years. Killian received basic instruction in riveting, deburring, welding, fiberglass, hot wiring of foam, weight & balance calculations, etc.
Killian currently is taking flight training and plans to increase his pace after he gets a driver's license. He will be taking dual enrollment classes with Embry-Riddle during his junior and senior years in high school and hopes to have an Associate's degree upon graduating from high school. One goal he's considering is to become a corporate pilot.
The chapter received a thank you note from HQ for participating this year. They've also invited us to reserve a spot for next summer. Killian also sent a note, handwritten:
Members of Chapter 563,
Throughout the past week I've had the opportunity to become acquainted with a variety of useful skills relating to aircraft maintenance and operation. My favorite workshop so far has been Aviation Science, where I was taught of the intricacies involved with performing a weight and balance check.
I've made friends during the activities held and I enjoy the perspective they bring, coming from all over the U.S. I'd like to take this chance to thank you for sponsoring me to go to this once in a lifetime experience at the Air Academy Advanced Camp.
One of the homebuilts at OSH which caught Killian's attention.
With school now started, build sessions are on Saturday mornings, and we have about a half dozen builders attending these. The teens are currently assembling the fuselage's tail cone and will soon move on to the baggage bay and cabin.
The Ray Foundation has sent a matching grant of $30,000 towards this build, and the mentors have begun considering engine and instrumentation options. The Continental O-200 is the engine shown in the plans for the Cruzer, but the factory currently supports fully only the two 100 hp Rotax engines and one from UL Power. Support for the O-200 and the Lycoming O-235 are limited to an engine mount and cowl. The Jabiru 3300 is supported by the US distributor with a somewhat more complete kit than is available for the Lycoming and Continental.
Continental's price for a new engine was out of the question on this budget. The Lycoming O-235 is the preferred choice, but they have not presented a quote for the engine as yet. The Rotax and Jabiru are the next choices.
A basic VFR package using Dynon components will likely form the panel, but further investigation is required here also.
If someone wants to claim this airplane, you're welcome to select the engine and instrumentation.
It's been pointed out that further contributions to this project by Caterpillar employees and retirees will be matched twice, once by the Caterpillar Foundation and once by the Ray Foundation.
Despite it being a holiday weekend, the VMC Club will meet in the hangar at its usual time, this coming Sunday at 6:30. The IMC Club meets the following Sunday at 6:00.
Kent Lynch has been leading the IMC Club since it was formed in the chapter. As of January 1, he is resigning this role. Current members of the Club are asked to consider taking his place.
Chapter member Jim Adams is to receive the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award, and he has asked this be done at the September 17 breakfast. Members from the FAA will make the presentation.
This project has been sold:
Last summer, we tried Kip, who's now 6'8" tall, in the seat of our airplane and found he no longer had sufficient headroom in what had been intended to be his airplane. His interest in the project soon evaporated, and this summer I finally decided to sell it. It hadn't been my first choice for a project, and our particular kit had numerous errors in manufacture. An ad placed in Barnstormers brought within four hours a call from an ideal purchaser. The fellow is a machinist who's worked at Gulfstream and currently works at Anheuser-Busch near St. Louis. He's built a RANS before and had tried unsuccessfully to convince RANS to make for him one more copy of the model which I owned but is no longer cataloged. Better yet, a friend of his built an early S-21 (same wings), and so he was fully aware of the defects found in the early wing kits.
Away it goes.
My limited exposure to the kit airplane industry has not been favorable. Supplying fully formed, finished drilled parts is difficult, and RANS certainly botched it with our kit. The Zenith Cruzer currently going together at the chapter is far better, yet alignment of the finish drilled rivet holes is sometimes wanting. Another gripe with such complete kits is they allow the manufacturer to make complicated airplanes, one for which you can't readily build replacement parts. I'll stick with old school in the future, say those Zenith 601 HD plans that've been in my closet for several years.
A board member of the LifeLine Pilots wrote the chapter to ask for help with their charity event to be hosted here on the last Saturday of the month:
We are hosting an event on Saturday, September 25th 11-3 called Just Plane Fun Day that we would love to invite EAA Members and friends to attend and to volunteer! It is a family friendly event at Mt. Hawley Airport that will include airplanes, bounce houses and games, paper airplane making, balloons and face painting. We'll also have opportunities for people to ride in a plane in exchange for a donation to LifeLine Pilots. Lots of fun for the whole family! This is designed to be a fundraiser and awareness builder for LLP.
We are in need of volunteers for this event that we hope will get people excited about flying, and would love to have your group’s participation.
There are four shifts available for volunteers. From 9 to 11 is set up. Helping with activities is 11 to 1 and 1 to 3. Finally, clean up will be from 3 to 5.
If you're willing to help out, you can contact LLP directly or through the chapter. All money raised supports this organization "which coordinates free air transportation, through volunteer pilots, for people with medical or humanitarian needs far from home."
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, IL