From the Prez:
Chapter Webmaster: You will recall
that Bill Steinbruegge was instrumental in establishing our website early this
year. With his graduation we were left
with no one with the skills to make
changes as well as many desirable improvements and modifications. Fortunately, Austin Moses not only produces our newsletter but learned how
make each months newsletter appear on our website. Beyond that we were in a quandry so I approached Greg Miller and
he felt that with his skills and access to others he could help. As it has turned out his schedule has not
allowed this to happen. Still intent on
achieving my list of improvements and modifications I contacted a professional
website designer. Austin & I met
with him and after reviewing what needed to be done he gave us an estimate but
further suggested that with a software program called Front Page we could very
likely learn to do it ourselves. We are
indeed fortunate that Austin has agreed to take on this
additional task and be our Webmaster. Considering his proven dedication and reliability in producing
the newsletter the outcome is not in doubt.
Young
Eagles:
Another
incredible success story at the Blackfoot Airport yesterday October 11th. Young Eagles Chairman, Gary (Sky King)
Shipley, arrives in his red twin engine Piper Apache at about 1430 Zulu. A myriad of potential
Young Eagles arriving and milling around.
Gary call the troops to order and gets everything lined out. All systems GO and volunteer ground crew and
pilots proceed to give nearly 70 Young eagles their first flight. Hoping Gary will have a more detailed report
herein or, if not, at the next meeting.
Special
Activities: Jerry Phillips is looking for interest in a ‘for food’ fly out to the CALF-A in Dell, Montana before the snow flies. We would look for a good weather day in
November. If interested call Jerry @
523-3981. I already did.
Are you interested in attending the
celebration of the 100th Anniversary of powered flight at Kitty
Hawk? Jerry and Mary Ellen are going
and have room in a beach house, 12th thru the 19th of
December, at a very reasonable rate and in close proximity to the
festivities. If you are interested call
Jerry at the above phone number for more details. Sounds like a great opportunity .
The Mountain Home AFB Air Show
By Bob Hoff
Hal asked me to write a human interest story about our
weekend at the Mountain Home AFB air show.
Here I go:
Actually,
for Jane and I, it started last winter with our meeting Lt. Col. Steve Schwartz
and his wife, Julie, at the Idaho Aviation Festival. They invited us to bring our Beech Staggerwing over to show and
graciously asked us to stay with them.
We accepted and with our son, Tom, departed Saturday morning at daybreak
from Rainbow Ranch.
Choosing
to stay low and with the rising sun on our tail, we enjoyed the view of
southern Idaho’s desert, so unique and beautiful. The AFB’s controllers brought us efficiently and safely in to
that big and long (13,000’) runway and parked us front and center with several
other interesting general aviation aircraft.
Saturday’s
air show was spectacular with both civilian performers and military. Static displays too numerous to see them
all. My favorites were the F-15
demonstration and the “heritage flight”, an F-15 and a P-51 Mustang in
formation.
My
son, Tom, was lucky enough to ride home with Hal Johansen that afternoon. Hal let him fly his Lancair much of the way,
which really made his day.
Toward
the late afternoon, we were treated to the arrival of the Thunderbirds from
Reno. A mini show just excited us that
much more in anticipation of Sunday’s full event. Saturday evening we enjoyed a hangar party complete with a band
and great food. True to their word,
Steve and Julie Schwartz gave us the best quarters in town at their home
including a wonderful breakfast. Lt.
Col. Schwartz is an F-15E pilot but his other airplane is a pretty and recently
recovered Piper Pacer with 135 hp!
Mountain Home Muni to Mountain Home AFB via the Bruneau Dunes was how
Steve and I got back to base that morning.
Sunday’s
show went great, with crowd estimated at 85,000, until… I am still trying to
comprehend what I saw. I was standing
by the Beech, in front of the crowd line with an unobstructed view of #6’s
initial maneuver (climb from takeoff to a split ‘S’). I did not see the pilot’s parachute deploy, but it must have, as
he stood up by it a minute or so later.
Looking at the video on my computer, going from frame to frame, shows
only a split second from ejection to impact.
The remaining Thunderbirds circled for 20 or so minutes and quietly landed,
parking far from public view. An
announcement was made to the effect that the show was over.
A
24 hour notam was issued closing the base so we could not immediately
depart. However some minds apparently
were changed, allowing us to leave at about 7:00 pm.
Heading
back across the desert with the sun setting, at our backs again, Jane and I
sat, with our headsets on contemplating what we had just witnessed. Even with noise attenuating, the rumbling
clatter of the Pratt and Whitney engine was a sound background. Looking at the GPS, a ground speed of 170
KTS was indicated . Not bad for 1939.
Two
things, in reflection, stand out as remarkable to me. One is the F-16 pilot’s ability to make the decision to get out
and do it in such an incredibly short time.
The other was apparent as we took off from the airbase. The aircraft were performing with a pattern
parallel with runway 12-30. The path of
the crash angled away 10-15 degrees. He
had also, in that instant, turned the F-16 away from people.
The
sun was setting as we let down towards home (Rainbow Ranch), and in the
smoothest air made a big 180 back into a concluded sunset for a left downwind
to 07. With the power at 20” and the
Stag slipping along so quietly and smoothly, it was hard to drop the gear and
begin going through the landing procedure.
Flying
carries a risk. Even with the best of
training and equipment, it is a risk.
But we are blessed to have the freedom to take that risk. The rewards still far outweigh the
alternative.
BLACKFOOT SPECIAL YOUNG EAGLES RALLY
October 11, 2003
Chapter
407 completed another incredible mission by flying 67 Young Eagles in
Blackfoot. Near perfect weather
complimented the enthusiastic volunteers who tirelessly worked until the job
was finished.
Pilots
and crew included the following: Harold Turvey, Pete & Andy Stewart (Linda
for a while),
Bill
Smith, Tyler Van Heule, Joe Grover, Earl Preston, Jake Pfisterer, Shay Jensen,
Hal Johansen and his LC-360, Steve Hildreth and his C-172, Richard Neves and his
C-182 (Welcome aboard!), Frank Prickett and the Avcenter (PIH) C-172, John
Bakken and George Merrill’s PA-140, and Jerry Phillips and the Avcenter (IDA)
C-172.
This
group of volunteers is to be commended for their hard work and dedication. I had visions of a rain check when the bulk
of the kids and parents flooded the Blackfoot facility. Hats off to the kids and their parents. They were very well behaved and incredibly
patient.
We
have one last mission this year here in Pocatello, and the date is
forthcoming. Anyone who is interested
in helping can contact me @ shipgary@isu.edu
or call 232-8485 during the day and 232-9117 and leave a message.
Get
well to Steve Henderson who was the contact person for this special mission and
was very ill over the weekend. We did
our best without you Steve.
Thanks again to everyone involved. We are on our way to 300 Young Eagles this
year, more than triple our chapter goal!
Special thanks to the Avcenter for their support as well as Western
Aviation in Blackfoot for their cooperation and support.
Gary
In PIH
Minutes of September 20, 2003
Pocatello,
Idaho, I. S. U. Hangar
The meeting was called to order at 11:06 a.m. by
President Hal Johansen. There were 22 souls in attendance, including visitors
Steven Platt & Jonathan Batchelor.
The minutes of August 16, 2003, were approved.
Gary Shipley was asked to give a report on the Young
Eagles program, and stated that about 60 youth in Blackfoot want to fly, and
there should still be a flight for Young Eagles in Pocatello. A motion was made with a second, to have a
Young Eagles flight in both Blackfoot and Pocatello, with the Blackfoot flight
scheduled for October 11th.
In accordance with the Chapter Bylaws, a nominating
committee has been formed, and includes Steve Hildreth, Frank Prickett and Pete
Stewart. There has been interest shown by Harold Mothersill for the position of
Treasurer, and John Bakken for the position of Vice-President. The committee
will announce these choices for the positions at the October meeting, along
with open nominations that may be made by the membership. Notification of
nominations will also be made by newsletter and e-mail, and the voting will
take place at the November meeting. Absentee ballots will be available from
Harold Turvey for any members that will be absent from the November election
meeting.
Bob Hoff will be writing an article on the air show
at Mountain Home, to be included in the next newsletter.
According to the new Flight Guide, an automated
weather system called DigiWx, broadcasts a report on voice command, and can be obtained in flight. Voice recognition software monitors radio
transmissions and responds to an activation code, which is presently
“digi–bravo”, the dash indicating a short pause in the transmission. Driggs, ID (U59) is reported to have the
system in operation.
The
Bring-A-Buck drawing was won by Mac Asher, and the meeting adjourned at 11:50
a.m., at which time the members celebrated the 62nd birthday of John
Bakken, by indulging in ice cream and other goodies. The group then had available different types of “hands on”
demonstrations available, including fabric work and welding.
RADIO RODEO #3
This is my final installation on the radio installation in
N64M. I had quite a bit of help on and
off, but the bulk of the work was done this summer after the 337 was in
hand. Ralph C. from the SLC FSDO
approved this installation because it did not include any interface with other
equipment, and was not a part 135 aircraft.
Getting approval in today’s aircraft environment of the
paperwork is always the challenge. The
folks @ the radio shops in the valley (IDA, TWF, BOI) are Certified Repair
Stations and can do the paper work in-house under their authorization from the
FAA. These facilities do this kind of
work every day and they have the advantage of years of experience, excellent
manuals, and factory resources. If I
could have afforded to have this work done at a Radio shop I would have.
Home builders do some very fine installations of radio
equipment. They are the manufacturers,
and can do what is needed. Certificated
aircraft, on the other hand, require some kind of data for return to service. If one has approved data any A & P with
Inspection Authorization can return the aircraft to service. If one has acceptable data, then the FSDO
has to provide field approval. This
process is very frustrating. The work
is never the question, though diligence concerning the instructions is
encouraged, the real challenge is the wording in the text of the 337. Without more technical jargon suffice it to
say, be prepared for some phone-fax tag before the end product is received.
One largely ignored part of the FARs is appendix A. In appendix A is a list of routine
maintenance that an owner-operator may perform. It does not include changing cylinders, radios, removing flight
control surfaces and other complicated mechanical tasks. In addition to the list limiting maintenance
to routine maintenance the “Owner Operator” is required by FAR 43.9 to make the
appropriate log book entry.
Question about these and other matters concerning
certificated aircraft can be directed to your local mechanic or the SLC FSDO
maintenance inspectors. Remember, they
are “here to help!”
Thanks, Gary in PIH
Next
month: Technical Councilor’s report on
testing of welded components. by Paul Tremblay.
Thanks
to all for your submissions.
Austin
October, 2003 Edition