EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
September, 2023
Other responsibilities have led the vice president to decline the position for 2024. Greg LePine, on the nominating committee, is looking for someone to fill this slot. Other board positions may be available for the asking. Please talk to Greg if you have time to work for the chapter.
Broken record: Help is chronically short at the breakfasts. Please consider signing up.
Greg and his wife will take over the job of keeping the kitchen supplied.
The VMC and IMC Clubs meet at their usual times in the hangar this month.
Last month the IMC Club had three speakers from PIA talking about both improvements to the fields and changes in air traffic control. Gene Olsen, the Director of Airports, talked first about plans for the fields.
Trimming and removal of trees is done to maintain FAA minimums for obstructions near airports. At 3MY, this is nearly complete, except where one landowner wants to be paid for an easement to remove tall trees. This is a slow legal process. At PIA, a lidar study has been done to identify obstructions. Removal of some of these is necessary to again permit category 2 IFR approaches on one of the runways.
The increasing number of parking lots around 3MY has created drainage problems. By the rules, funding to assess this must be attached to another funding project. There are plans to increase the runway width to 75 feet, and this will give an opportunity to begin looking at drainage. Unfortunately, unlike in some states, federal airport funding is passed through IDoT here in Illinois, and that department is badly understaffed, greatly slowing all applications. Widening the runways will also require changes in the taxiway. The long term plan has the FBO on the west side of the field which requires land acquisition, and there has been no progress on this.
There have been no recent reports of drones or lasers near 3MY, but there are some problems with lasers for airliners arriving from CLT and ORD.
At PIA, planning for a new tower continues. There were legal problems when a tower is owned locally, such as at PIA, but recent changes in federal funding rules have fixed this. Plans were completed 5 years ago and have had to be re-done, including architectural changes to accommodate the larger elevators now required. Also, there are old mines under the parking lot at PIA that could affect the tower, and some fill work will have to be done. Still, ground breaking is expected for next summer.
Runway 4/22 at PIA has been paved and will be grooved and painted, with work to be completed around November. Interestingly, he said the grooves also make it easier to clear snow completely, by allowing melt water to spread and soften the snow.
Next, Bridget Musto, one of two Supervisors at the Peoria Control Tower, answered questions about air traffic control. She was accompanied by Hawken Matteson, a newly minted tower controller.
The change to having St Louis handle approach control to Peoria has not been without problems. The FAA hopes to cut costs in both staffing and equipment and has been making similar changes with other Class C airports around the country. Controllers generally don't have enough time to train for the unique operations at their newly assigned Class C airports. For PIA, this includes VFR operations and proximity to both 3MY and the hospitals plus the C-130 operations at the Air Guard base. Oddly, written communications between the tower and approach now are reduced due to the software which ties the two together. The tower has seen some problems with approach not correctly routing IFR flights to an approach gate's minimums.
Bridget noted that transit from PIA to 3MY and back does not require the use of approach control services. Only communications with the tower are required. Hawken described the long and unpredictable process to apply for work at the FAA as an air traffic controller. Lastly, Bridget talked briefly about flying into PIA without a functioning ADS-B.
In the monthly Chapter Video, HQ noted several proposed changes in the laws affecting general aviation. Mosaic, which expands the LSA category, is moving forward. Separately, Basic Med is likely to be expanded with regards to the airplanes covered. Changes for flight examiners are also in the works. There may be lowered limits for ramp fees on G.A. airplanes at some airports.
Where, oh where, is the Audit Committee report, Dan?
Weather and other scheduling woes kept Killian Madeley on the ground for two weeks this past month. He is yet hoping to take his checkride in September.
The chapter's second Ray Scholar, Eliza Fletcher, has passed her Commercial Pilot check ride. She is attending Southern Illinois University. At OSH, she met with Rob Meyer and his son Jeff. She does not wish to be an airline pilot and discussed with them other options for employment in aviation.
Brady Neuhalfen was a runner up for the Scholarship, and the chapter awarded him a grant to continue his flight training. Now, he's finishing his commercial rating and plans to get his CFI and become an instructor.
The coordinator at HQ for the Air Academy sent a note to the chapter:
On behalf of the EAA Air Academy we would like to say thank you for helping young people from around the United States and the world attend the EAA Air Academy 2023 camps. This summer over 250 young people were able to experience one of our EAA Air Academy camps. Your constant support and generosity is truly appreciated. We appreciate your involvement in the Young Eagles program as it helps young people experience the world of flight.
Included was a copy of the note the recipient of our sponsorship sent:
Dear EAA chapter 563,
I am thankful that you guys were able to send me here. It taught me all the different corners of aviation, and I think I learned the most about composites. This was very interesting to me, and I would love to help more with composites from fellow members working on them. It also taught me a lot about aircraft maintenance which also inspires me to help where I can around the chapter. The composites also inspire me to start a new branch of my robotics team to make high stress composite parts. I hope I can teach them what they taught me. All and all I am very thankful for this opportunity to be here.
Sincerely,
Paxson Wooden
Todd Moore has flown a few Young Eagles flights recently, and one of those kids has joined the airplane building project.
The twice delayed Young Eagles rally for the Flight Club at Dunlap High School should be possible some time this fall.
Former chapter member Jim Hinrichsen, from Congerville, is moving homes and needed to sell his Zenith 601-HDS project, which is perhaps 10% completed. After a couple of buyers backed out, he called his friend Sam Sisk here at 563 who suggested he donate it to the chapter for kids to build. Sam also pointed out the chapter is a 501(c)3 tax deductible organization. Those two factors led Jim to donate the kit to the chapter. It includes a Corvair conversion engine kit as well.
Jim handing ownership of the kit off to the chapter
The 601-HDS is an older, low wing design by the late Chris Heintz. It was derived from his 1835 cc VW powered airplane, the CH-600. The HDS was the last variant developed and has shorter, tapered wings and uses larger engines. It's roughly the size of a Sonex, but the fuselage is draggy and its performance is below the Sonex. Kits have not been available for many years, but the factory still sells the plans and gives phone support.
The engine kit is from William Wynne. It's on the heavy end for engines used in the early 601 series, but that series is noted as being light on the nose. If nothing else, it could be sold for use on a Pietenpol or the like and replaced with a Jabiru or a Rotax, the latter being the factory's choice for this design. Greg LePine will supervise the building of this engine, and at least one of the teens on the Cruzer build is eager to assist.
Several chapter members—including Jim Augustine and Andy Plouse who both brought trailers—helped move the project to the chapter hangar this past Tuesday.
Work on this airplane will not begin until after this group of teens has finished the Cruzer.
On the Zenith Cruzer build, the teens are ready to begin riveting the front of the cabin floor and fasten down the rudder pedals. After that, the cabin roll cage will be placed followed by the firewall. On the wing, the top skins are ready to deburr and can be riveted down after the fuel tanks and wiring runs are in place.
As a reminder, we are actively soliciting the final donations for the Cruzer project. With another $300 or so in donations, the Ray Foundation will provide a matching grant of $15,000 to the project. At that point, there will be funds for the teens to build a complete airplane, with engine and avionics.
Jim Augustine's RV build is still pending information on Van's problems with laser cut rivet holes. Holes have been cracking when dimpled. Van's will return to using punched holes.
The fundraising event for the LifeLine Pilots is coming up later this month. They are looking for volunteers to usher at various stations around the field and to help set up and take down the displays and tables.
The Airport Authority is holding an open house titled Flightpath for the Future which includes bus tours around the field. This will be on 9/21, but the 9/1 deadline for RSVP is approaching fast, this coming Friday.
The Commemorative Air Force's tour of WW-II aircraft returned to Peoria in late August and was in the local news.
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, Illinois