EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
July, 2025
This Saturday is the next chapter meeting, and it follows breakfast in the hangar.
Both clubs meet on their usual dates this month. The VMC is this Sunday and the IMC the following Sunday.
The board approved funds to install a filter hood over the stove. This should cut down on the grime which accumulates in the kitchen area. Also approved was lighting to be fitted to an airplane wing which will hang over the tables near the TV.
The 2022 One Week Wonder, a Sonex Waiex, has been accepted to the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles. HQ also invited chapters to provide a direction sign pointing to their chapter, and Greg LePine and Killian Madeley have prepared one.
The paid Barnstormers ads for the donated Pazmany PL-4 project and the Zenith 601 HDS kit have not produced a buyer in the two months they were up. They've been replaced with Barnstormers' short, freebie ads, and prospective buyers are pointed to the ads stored on the chapter web site.
One "buyer" of the 601 kit sent a fraudulent check. The institutions being scammed as well as an investigator at the post office have been informed. The fraud was recognized immediately by Greg, and the check was not cashed.
On June 28, the Young Eagles team pulled out the stops to host the largest rally of the year. The pilots were Cameron Gleichman, Richard LaHood, Killian Madeley, Dana McNeil, and Erich Smith, and the event was organized by Todd Moore, who provided this description:
We hosted a private Young Eagle Rally for the Bradley University ACE program. We flew 11 Eagle Flights (18 and over) consisting of 4 student advisors and 7 parents of ACE team members, and we flew 12 Young Eagle flights for ACE team members.
I got an email from the program director, Jacqueline Henderson, who stated that this was the first year the ACE program has been able to include flights and it was a huge success. She stated the smiles on the students' faces were only eclipsed by those on the parent's faces. She asked if we could continue this each year for the ACE program.
The first flight loading up as three of the other airplanes stand ready for their passengers
Many of the students also toured the chapter hangar to observe homebuilt airplanes under construction. The ACE program is a summer course to expose high school students to careers in aviation, and Bradley is one of several hosting universities.
Having soloed, HQ has released more of her scholarship funding for use at Bradley Flying. She was invited to write an essay describing how the scholarship affects her goals in aviation, which she has done and so will receive a Lightspeed Zulu 3 headset from the Lightspeed Aviation Foundation.
A couple of chapter members chipped in and bought Hope a Ray Aviation Scholarship tee shirt.
Hope will soon be going to the OSH Academy, and she is also preparing to begin studies at Illinois Central College.
Something of a milestone was reached with the mounting of the wings and their struts. The airplane is now back on its wheels again.
Nick Sturm, a mentor on the project, produced a nifty jig to hold some of the strut parts in alignment while they were drilled to fit. He digitized the cross section of the wing strut and then 3D printed plastic guides for placing the bolt holes while the internal spacers hold the round strut fitting in place.
Wiring will be consuming much of the time ahead this summer. The flaperons will also be fitted.
Last month it was mentioned Ross Hohulin has joined the chapter, and this month he had provided an introduction:
I'm Ross Hohulin. I am 52 and live in Goodfield with my wife, Heather. We have two grown children, Jon & his wife Abbey, and Claire. My wife and I are natives of the Goodfield-Eureka area. I am self-employed and do mechanical 3D CAD design as well as machining and light fabrication work out my of shop next door to the house. BulldogMachineworks.com will tell you more. I believe the EAA is going to be a great educator and a natural extension of my interests.
My father was transferred to Kingston, Tennessee (just west of Knoxville) in the mid 90's by Caterpillar and got his pilot's license soon after getting to know the area. He's been my introduction to general aviation. Dad has owned a Cessna 172, SuperCub, and Onex over the years. About the time local EAA member Morrie Caudill started building his Onex, suddenly my father was building one too! I soon found out that the two were friends and coworkers years ago at Cat. I got to follow along with the building process for both airplanes and even made a few machined parts for them now and then.
Dad thoroughly enjoyed building and flying the Onex, but his experiences in the SuperCub was the kind of flying he really loved; low and slow—with the doors open! So, he sold the Onex and bought a Zenith 701 kit a few years ago so he could go low and slow again (without doors!). He was well into the build when he suffered some health problems about a year ago that will keep him from flying solo anymore. Everyday life was always in my way, so I kept putting aviation off for someday... This winter, we decided now was the right time: Both for me to take over the 701 project and to get my pilot's license. So, I'm diving in headfirst!
Because of dad's passion for safety and training, we decided the best course of action for me was to take my pilot training down in the foothills of the Appalachians. As often as I can arrange it around my work, I head down for a couple weeks at a time. I go there and immerse myself in all things aviation related, where I can't be interrupted by work and social events. Most importantly, I spend time with dad doing the things we both enjoy. I also get to kill 3 birds with one stone, so to speak. We work on finishing the plane around flight lessons. In a well-worn old Cessna 172, out of a grass strip tucked in between the hills (Oliver Springs TN08), with a 7000+ hour CFI that likes windy days, I'm getting every dollars' worth (and then some) of challenge!
Currently the 701 (N7701X) is based at a hangar at Meadowlake (12TN), a few miles from his home. After my last trip down there in May, the 701 is nearing completion. We're ready to hang the prop and test run the engine. A few more trim details and it should be ready to go to the paint shop by mid-July. We're hoping to get the airworthiness certification started by late fall. Someday, after everything checks out, I'll fly it to Illinois where I have a hangar space secured at Tim Well's grass ultralight strip in Deer Creek—just a couple miles from my house.
I got a lot more involved in the 701's build than I did with the Onex, as we made a few "improvements" along the way. This is where I got hooked on the kit building over certified aircraft. One improvement was replacing the manual flap control with an electric actuator tucked in under the seat instead of a bulky floor lever between your legs.
Ease of access to the avionics was a passion dad developed after building the Onex. We turned his idea of the solid instrument panel into a sliding drawer instrument panel. We refined the design on my CAD system over video meetings and then I made whatever parts he couldn't, in my shop.
Engine: Rotax 912 ULS 100 hp
Prop: Sensenich composite 3 blade, ground adjustable pitch
Avionics: GRT Sport EX & Garmin com radio
Long time chapter member Morrie Caudill (who's also built a Onex) worked at Caterpillar with Ross' dad, Stan, for many years, and he added a few comments about Ross' shop: "His machine shop is fantastic. 3D design, CNC machining, computer controlled plasma cutting, and 3D casting, to name a few."
Tim Threw's lengthy repair of his Lycoming continues. Over the past several months, four sets of cylinders have been installed on his rebuilt Lycoming. With the last set, the cylinder supplier nearly got it right. They believe defective rings tore up the first three cylinder sets. Three times the cylinder maker supplied new parts and paid for the A&P time. Sadly, two of the latest cylinders are showing excessive wear even though they've lasted longer than the 5 hours the previous ones did.
The FAA is installing new foundations for the REIL and VASI light systems. These foundations will extend below the frostline to better maintain alignment. The work will begin in late July and may run through late August. Work hours will be 7:00 am to 3:30 pm, and the work will require the runway to be closed at times. Both NOTAMs and signs on the door to the FBO will list the expected closure times. Outside the work day, the contractor expects to leave the field in a condition for operations.
The FAA is also installing a new COM system for the airport. Foundations were prepared and a new 40' radio tower installed as has a shed to house the new electronics. They are next to the fuel pumps.
Dale Lindstrom's cute 1948 Piper Vagabond was seen many times visiting the chapter breakfasts. It was based in Kewanee where this spring it suffered a main gear collapse while taxiing, resulting in a prop strike and damage to a wing. The damage estimate exceeded the value of the airplane, and the airplane was auctioned off for salvage. Dale has since purchased another airplane to replace it, a Jabiru 3300 powered Sonex in which he flew down for the June chapter breakfast.
Dale snapped a photo of a P-51 which made a fuel stop at Lacon. This was passed along by Dave Jackson at the chapter: "It was owned by Jimmy Stewart right after WW-II. It was raced in the Bendix Cross County race, California to Cleveland, Ohio. Dale didn't find out where it was going, but said it headed west."
From 7:00 Monday morning July 7th, runway 13/31 will be closed for resurfacing. A NOTAM has been posted; watch for the re-opening date.
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, Illinois