EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
May, 2025
The next chapter meeting is Saturday following breakfast in the hangar.
The VMC Club meets this Sunday at 6:30. To avoid a holiday weekend, the IMC Club meets on the third Sunday this month, the 18th at 6:00.
Thanks go to those who took advantage of the Caterpillar Foundation's 10 for 1 gift matching offer. This was on the occasion of the company's centennial.
The donated Pazmany PL-4 is advertised on Barnstormers. The Corvair auto conversion which came with it is also being sold but is not yet on Barnstormers.
After inspection of the one completed wing panel, the teen airplane building group agreed to sell the donated Zenith 601-HDS kit, and it is also on Barnstormers. The early 600 series was very lightly constructed, having been designed to carry aloft two people using only an 1835 cc VW conversion. Its airframe is about as stout as that of an ultralight. This light construction carried through to the tapered wing HDS variant. Most of the mentors on the build project are used to the heavier construction of the Vans and Sonex lines and were not eager to proceed with this airplane.
Joe Troglio is the chapter treasurer, and he also manages the airport at Lacon. He recently forwarded comments from a Bill Lane about bald eagles in the area:
I have seen a couple of Bald Eagles recently, one in my back yard and one as I was driving out of the hangar area. Mentioning this to Chad, he said recently he saw two eagles in a pre-mating spiral, dropping out of the overcast cloud layer at about 2,000 ft. Being in cloud and at that altitude was surprising to me.
I found data from the FAA on bird strikes. The Bald Eagles and Pelicans are the largest of all at 2-4 kg. Pelicans are usually in flocks and just traveling, but Eagles are local and solitary. C75 being near the river and approaching runway 13 at 700 ft over the river might be a zone where we should pay closer attention.
The referenced FAA data shows the bald eagle population in the US increasing a factor of five since 1990, and the number of strikes with civil aircraft increasing even more than that. However, the number of strikes is about 50 per year.
Based on our activities in 2024, HQ has placed the chapter in their Gold category. Originally, HQ's points schedule excluded significant chapter operations such as a tool crib and airplane building for teens, but they have corrected their policy.
Every year, HQ requests volunteers for work parties to prepare the grounds for OSH, and slots remain available. AvWeb reports HQ will need to hire workers for the show this year.
In their monthly Chapter Video, they reported a replica Me-262 and the last flying DC-8 will likely be in the air at OSH this summer.
For HQ's Learn to Fly Week, Todd Moore will be hosting a Flying Start with the chapter on Saturday May 17. These events give adults a free introduction to learning to fly through a presentation and an introductory flight. The flights are similar to Young Eagles flights, and the Learn to Fly Week includes a series of webinars hosted by HQ.
An audit committee "consisting of three persons who are not directors" must be appointed. Please let JJ Hoevelmann, the chapter president, know if you are willing to serve. People who are not chapter members are permitted to serve in this role.
Todd Moore has also started the Young Eagles season, with monthly rallies scheduled for April through October. The April rally was on the rain date, and so only two kids participated.
Volunteer pilots and ground crew are always welcome, the pilots in particular.
Congratulations to Julian Sturm who earned his Private Pilot license on April 26. He is the seventh teenager to earn his license under the Ray program here at Chapter 563.
Rob Meyer administers EAA's Ray Scholarship program at the chapter. He consulted with area flight instructors who identified two strong candidates for this year's grant. Both Tyler Dunker and Hope White were interviewed by the chapter's selection committee in mid April. Both candidates have been active in the chapter's airplane building project, and both were well regarded by the committee. It was Hope who was selected to be our nominee for the grant, and her paperwork has been forwarded to HQ for approval.
Hope and Rob at the interview
Tyler, the runner-up, has been given a $1,000 flight training grant from the chapter, delivered directly to Bradley Flying where he is a student pilot.
Rob and Tyler
Julian Sturm and Charlie McKee, who are both on the Cruzer build, lead the new Flight Club at Notre Dame high school. They have about 15 members already.
The work space has been rearranged in preparation for fitting the wings, and the lower wing strut fittings are ready. Routing of the engine and avionics wiring has begun, and all lights and strobes are in place. The empennage cables are fitted and tensioned.
"Tim Threw's engine rebuild has opened yet another chapter—more next month." So it was reported last month, but it will be at least another month before the continuing story can be told.
Only a handful of members have yet to send in their dues for 2025.
This pretty Cessna 140 out of Naperville popped down for an hour in mid April, perhaps for the proverbial $200 hamburger.
The Marshall County airport now has a Redbird full motion flight simulator for building IFR hours. Time can be purchased by the hour ($65) or in blocks ($550 for 10 hours). Airplane configurations include two C-172 (a six-pack and a glass panel) and a Cirrus SR22-G.
The tenth anniversary TBM Reunion and Airshow is this month at the Peru airport, on Friday the 16th and the following Saturday. The heavy metal flies Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00, and the airshow will include an aerobatic team.
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, Illinois