December 2005 Edition Chapter #407

www.eaa407.org
South East Idaho Officers:
Austin Moses, President
Gary Shipley, Vice President
Pete Stewart, Secretary
Harold Mothersill, Treasurer/Website
Dale Cresap, Newsletter
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President's message:
Last Meeting:
My thanks to Pete Stewart for directing the meeting in November. I thought I could get back but it's a long drive from Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday to Idaho on Saturday. Our thanks to Jeanine Lawler for her presentation as well.

We appreciate Jerry Phillips and John Bakken for accepting the nominations for Vice President and Treasurer, respectively. We will vote on those offices at our December 10, 2005 Christmas party. I understand that Pete had to twist John's arm pretty hard so if anyone has a burning desire to handle the finances, I doubt John would be disappointed.

Next meeting:
Our annual EAA Chapter 407 Christmas Party will be held on December 10, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. Festivities will be at Aero Mark in Idaho Falls. Bonnie and I will bring the turkey and look forward to all of your pot-luck offerings for the rest of the main course and desserts

Don't forget to bring pass along gifts for the gift exchange. Please keep them under $10 and mark them for male, female or either. One per person attending.

I would like to send off the calendar order by the time of our December meeting. Please let me know how many you would like.

See you there on the 10th!
Austin Moses

EAA Chapter 407 Minutes November 19, 2005
The chapter met in Pocatello at the ISU Hanger and the meeting as called to order at 10:00 by Pete Stewart filling in for Austin Moses. Twenty four members were present. Minutes from the October meeting were summarized and approved.
Old Business : As outlined in the By-Laws and announced during the October meeting by Austin, the Chapter was supposed to vote on candidates for Vice President and Treasurer during this meeting. However, to date, no candidates have been forthcoming. Pete asked for a vote to approve deferring the vote for candidates for the two vacant positions until the December meeting so that additional candidates could be solicited. The motion was seconded and after discussion, approved. Members present were asked again to volunteer to fill the vacant positions. Jerry Phillips volunteered to be Vice President and John Bakken volunteered to be Treasurer. A vote of approval will be held during the December.
New Business: The Christmas Party will be held as the next meeting in Idaho Falls, at AeroMark on December 10th at 6:00 PM. Jerry Phillips asked if there was any member that is a CFI with a taildragger endorsement. Les Adkins and Tom Lawler were identified.
Meeting was adjourned.
Program: A short film, brought by Hal Johansen, on the first flight of a Hatz Biplane was shown. Hal is building a Hatz and hopes to have it flying next year. The remainder of the meeting was turned over to Jeanine Lawler for a demonstration on rib-lacing. Last year Jeanine made a presentation on fabric covering and this presentation was a follow-on on the final steps doing wing lacing. Jeanine is a distributor for Poly Fiber and can provide all materials and instruction manuals.
Pete Stewart
Secretary

Editor’s Column:
I had a long talk with Errol about what planes are most difficult to fly. At first, he could not think of any that were. Yet we finally settled on underpowered planes as being the most difficult. When I flew a C-150 with a worn out engine, I had to take back all the bad things I said about the Piper Tomahawk. When I flew a 65 hp Aeronca Chief, I had to take back all the bad things I said about the 150. The less power a plane has, the more you have to constantly nurse it to keep it in the air. There is little margin available. If you don’t pull back, you hit the picket fence at the end of the runway. If you do pull back, the already low airspeed plunges.

At the other end of the spectrum, the RV-9 is a blast-off machine. You feel like a stone released from a slingshot as you blast down the runway, and pull back hard to keep from exceeding 100 in the climb. By then all you can see is blue sky over the cowl. I need a technical term to describe this property. It is related to power to weight ratio, but airframe properties also play a part. A light, powerful plane with a draggy airframe has little left for performance. I have settled on ‘friskiness’ as the term of choice.

Any comments on this technical discussion or alternate views about difficult planes? I suppose someone with a short-coupled taildragger with a narrow gear stance may have an alternate view.

Gary’s response is too good not to include:
Dale: For me, the most difficult planes have been transition planes. For example, the first time I flew a turbo 210 from BOI to PIH at night the thing ate me alive. Speed is a good thing most of the time, but the reason many 210s have speed brakes is because you cannot get rid of speed in a turbo 210 on short final. Period.
Another first time lunch eater was an old M-20C Mooney. I tried to fly it like an Piper Arrow and again I was eaten alive. You better start your approach about 10-30 miles out depending on altitude. Our 2 mile long runway here in PIH doesn't help either. We are very spoiled. What’s the dif with 7500 feet to spare. Don't try any of these hair brained deals @ Aberdeen!

I agree with the Tomahawk, C-150, and narrow short tail draggers as the most often mentioned squirrelly aircraft and I believe they deserve their banner. My dad kept a C-150 around for the sole purpose of selling new Pipers. I know it is an unfair comparison, but he sold a lot of Pipers to the formerly terrified C-150 pilots!

One more that I have flown that is the all time people eater. I soloed a Cub when I was 12 or 13 and found them to be very friendly for a tail dragger. My main job as a kid was to move airplanes and I spent a lot of time in Pawnees, Cherokee family (140,180, my favorite six!) so I was used to planes early on. One day we had to go to Billings Montana to pick up the B-26 from the radio shop. I went along because I knew it would be fun, and it was. It was also not pretty. First of all I was not very old. Maybe 13, possibly 14 and not really a pilot yet. Anyhow the big Douglas had fairly poor visibility on the ground. The R-2800s roared to life. I could only see the one on my side and all. This particular model had dual controls, while most did not, according to the old man, and he knew a thing or two about B-26s. Right off let me say that these planes were crotch rockets, especially empty. 4000 horse power and no payload. What fun! Billings is a controlled field and because of that I had a lot of help getting out of the controlled airspace. Dad pointed to some obscure land mark and said "Aim @ Birdseye pass and hold it there". Well I thought I was doing such a great job when he pointedly said "If you keep this up we will be in Sheridan is about 5 minutes!" We were going to Worland which called for a hard right turn to get back on course. All of this did not take long @ 275 - 350 mph. What a plane. Without slowing a bit we did Dutch rolls galore, stall series and other good fun before arriving in Worland a scant 16 minutes after take off. What a plane!

Treasurer's Report:

Balance Sheet as of 12/6/2005
ASSETS
	Cash and Bank Accounts
	EAA 407 Checking Account		1,353.66
	2 Year CD		4,158.06
	ISU Savings		25.00
TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts				5,536.72
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
	LIABILITIES		0.00
	EQUITY		5,536.72
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY				5,536.72

Profit & Loss Statement
INCOME
	Calendar Sales		195.00
	Dues		826.00
	Interest Inc		158.06
	Raffle		54.00
	EAA Rebate		20.00
	TOTAL INCOME			1,267.06
EXPENSES
	Gifts Given		45.45
	Website		147.87
	ISU Scholarship		500.00
	TOTAL EXPENSES			693.32
TOTAL INCOME – EXPENSES				573.74