EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
May, 2023
Lindsey Kerr from the LifeLine Pilots described their public benefit event to be held September 23 here at 3MY. There were about 1,200 people at their first event last fall. LifeLine provides charity flights to people traveling to specialist hospitals within 1,000 miles of Peoria. They were founded in 1981 in Champaign, IL and receive no government funding. Pilots volunteer the cost of their airplane and fuel but can use that as a tax deduction. They work with similar organizations to make relays to form the longer trips. Legs in the routes are about 300 miles each, and a pilot will take one or two legs of the trip.
They hope 563 might provide kids' activities and ground volunteers. Pilots are needed for rides for kids, but for their insurance, there is a 500 hour minimum for pilots. She requested ideas from the chapter and left fliers for pilots to drop at area airports. The board feels we might provide displays at the event, such as the Zenith Cruzer under construction, to advertise our chapter.
The current crew has been working unassisted for many months. Separate sign up sheets are kept in the hangar for set-up, cooking, and clean-up. If at any given breakfast, there are not enough volunteers signed up for the next breakfast, that breakfast will be canceled. Checklists can be provided to assist new volunteers.
The VMC Club meets this coming Sunday at 6:30 in the hangar. This past Monday, the IMC Club met, and the Club coordinator, Dana McNeil, describes the evening:
The IMC club had 13 folks visit the National Weather Service office in Lincoln IL on Monday May 1st. Everybody traveled by car due to the high winds that day. Chuck Schaffer spent some time with us explaining the work that they do in Lincoln along with answering lots of our questions about their work, weather balloons, aviation weather, and their specific work in creating TAF's and the accompanying weather discussions that we see on ForeFlight. We then had a tour of the facility which included watching an evening weather balloon launch.
After the launch, we were able to see the data from the sensor plot on a Skew-T diagram in real time. The data the balloon gathers is temperature and dew point along with GPS data that is used to calculate pressure and wind speeds. The balloons start off about 5 feet in diameter and grow to over 20 feet before they burst at about 120,000 feet. We were able to still see the balloon at approximately 10,000 feet due to it increasing in size. Chuck said that in the right conditions they have seen the balloon with binoculars all the way up till they burst. The sensor then falls by parachute.
We greatly appreciate the work that the Weather Service does to get us the information we need to fly safely. After our field trip we headed to Jack's Cafe in Tremont for a nice meal and fellowship.
The 10 inch bandsaw was located and is ready for service again.
Tim Threw's RV-7 is in the hangar for a few more weeks after which Jim Augustine's RV-14 project will take it's place in the hangar. Jim's quick build kit has recently arrived from Van's and is currently stored in another hangar on the field.
Work to tidy up the hangar and rearrange the supply cabinets has begun.
Greg LePine has inventoried the AN bolts in the cabinets along the north wall. If you take a bolt, you are supposed to replace it with another new bolt. This is to provide quick access, not freebies. Do not put your used bolts in these boxes. This is storage for new bolts only.
Greg plans to consolidate the tools which were donated by him with those donated by Bill Engel.
The Audit Committee met in April, and their report will be placed on the chapter web site when finished. Dan Talbott and Morrie Caudill served on the committee.
Not yet ready at HQ, the revenue sharing program for Lightspeed headsets, via advertising on the chapter web site, is on hold.
Some of the chapter assets are stored in longer term investments, and these have declined of late. Flight and school scholarships this year have been several thousand dollars beyond what was budgeted. Combined, chapter assets are down about 15% from this time last year. The funds for the Zenith Cruzer project and for the Ray Scholarship program are, however, kept separate from the general fund.
The scholarship nominating committee selected Killian Madeley as our candidate for this year's Ray scholarship program. HQ soon approved, and the first check from the Ray Foundation has been received. Killian has worked in the chapter for several years, and this no doubt weighed in his favor. He's taking lessons at Bradley Flying.
The weather was not favorable April 29, so the Young Eagles flights for the students from the Dunlap High School Flight Club has been rescheduled for May 13. Two additional pilots stepped up when Todd Moore's airplane had to go in for servicing before the original date.
Last month, your editor forgot to note that Terry Moushon provided a Young Eagles flight in February:
On February 11, 2023, 16 year old Tyler Holland took his first Young Eagle flight. With his dad in the back seat, Tyler followed the river north to Lacon, maintaining 3500 MSL. Over Lacon, he turned the plane to a heading of 270. After holding that assigned heading, 3500 MSL, and 125 KTS for about two minutes, Tyler performed a 360 (two minute turn) to the left followed by a 360 turn to the right while holding +/- 150 MSL.
After the second turn, he was assigned a heading of 300 toward Kewanee (KEZI). After aligning the aircraft to 300, he found a landmark and headed toward it maintaining altitude and airspeed. Over KEZI, it was a beautifully executed left turn for this aspiring young pilot and a short flight back home to 3MY. This was a fun day.
Towing Andy Plouse's trailer, Dave Jackson drove to the Zenith factory in Mexico, MO to pick up the wings kit for the Cruzer, with Karl Kleimenhagen riding along to help with the loading and unloading. The following day the teens completed the inventory of the kit (only one part was missing), and then set up shop. The fuselage was moved to sawhorses, and assembly of the flaperons began on the big table. Progress on the cabin continues to be slow due to a mistake in the assembly sequence.
HQ wants each chapter to participate in a nation wide Flying Start this month, and Todd Moore has scheduled ours for May 20. HQ provides the curriculum and this year is also providing webinars as part of what they are calling the Learn to Fly Week, which is being sponsored by Sporty's pilot shop.
A few years back, someone created a Facebook page for the chapter and then lost the log-in. The last post on the page directs people to the chapter web site, so we'll not bother struggling with Facebook over control of the page.
Anniversaries of several homebuilt types are on this year, and HQ would like you to register if you are planning to fly one of those airplanes to the OSH fly-in this summer.
Via the monthly Chapter Video, HQ reports the FAA has approved a "task based" program as an alternative to the current 40 hours of flight for a new experimental. Once the tasks are done, you are finished regardless of the hours required. EAA will update their flight test manual to include the new program, and the manual will also guide builders in making a performance handbook for the airplane.
Former chapter member Ron Vice passed away on the 25th. Among the airplanes he had owned was a Stits Sky Coupe experimental he stored in the chapter hangar for some time. He had served in the Navy during the Vietnam war.
John Schuler's Carbon Cub has been assembled, and his Super Cub is for sale. He documents his adventures on a nicely done YouTube channel.
Doug Horton and his son have rejoined the chapter.
The secretary has been tardy in mailing out the dues notices, although most members have already mailed theirs in.
Tammy Smallwood's brain tumor has begun to grow again. Another benefit for her is being held Saturday, June 17. There is a flier on the bulletin board in the hangar, and a copy can be found on the chapter web site, via the calendar section of the home page.
Unusual visitors to the field in April included a Bell 206B JetRanger II based in Illinois and a Beech 200 Super King Air from Jet Air in Galesburg.
The annual TBM Reunion runs for two days starting on Friday the 19th, at the Peru, IL airport. There will be several WW-II airplanes in the air, weather permitting.
Those same two days, EAA Chapter 129 in Bloomington has a fly-in at Thacker Field, a private strip in the countryside, about 3 miles SW of Chenoa. There is a cook-out and movie Friday night, overnight camping on the field, and a breakfast Saturday morning to be followed by their VMC Club meeting. They ask you RSVP; please see the flier accessible via the chapter calendar page.
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, IL
