October 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:

Next Meeting:

CHANGE OF LOCATION! Our meeting this month (October 15, 2005) will be changed from Pocatello to Idaho Falls to accommodate the speaker. In a change on the schedule we will hear from Eldon Corry of Flight Management Services, LLC about the LetsFly organization. He will tell us about the LSA Boom and Cooperative/Fractional Ownerships that their organization is promoting. We will meet at 10:00 a.m. at Aeromark in Idaho Falls .

Congratulations and our thanks go to Roger Johnston of American Falls who put together a most successful Young Eagles program on September 24, 2005. There were 54 Young Eagles flown courtesy of a number of pilots and ground crew. Look further in the newsletter for Dale Cresap's most excellent report.

Thanks to Pete Stewart for directing last month's meeting in Idaho Falls during my absence. I understand it was a good program even though attendance was down.

See you on Saturday!

Austin

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EAA CHAPTER 407 – September Meeting Minutes

Well, September was a full month for Chapter 407. Out monthly meeting was held on September 17th at AeroMark in Idaho Falls . Nine members were present; Pete Stewart chaired the meeting. The meeting was called to order, the minutes were read from the August fly-in in Driggs. For old business, members were reminded about the Young Eagles Fly-In at American Falls on September 24th at 9:00. Under the topic of new business, Jim Baker raised the question about what the EAA in general and Chapter 407 specifically were doing to promote education about the new Light Sport Aircraft certification. Pete Stewart said that he would bring this up with the board for future discussion. (As an aside, be sure to come to the next meeting on October 15th. It has been rescheduled to AeroMark at Idaho Falls . Eldon Corry from Let'sFly.Org will give a presentation on Light Sport Aircraft and what his company is doing to promote fractional ownership of Light Sport Aircraft.) Harold Mothersill shared our financial status that is posted separately on our web site.

The remainder of the meeting was devoted to watching 2 videos, one on the Vans RV series of aircraft and the other brought by Terry Bergiven on the Sonex. Both showed the world of homebuilt fast flight. There was flying lust in the hearts of everyone present. The meeting adjourned at 12:30.

September 24th dawned cold and wet for the Young Eagles Fly-In. Frantic phone calls revealed that the weather would clear by mid-morning, so the fly-in was a Go, with a delayed start time of 10:00. The weather did cooperate for those pilots situated from Blackfoot south. Idaho Falls was weathered in until about noon. Pilots were: Roger Johnston, Pete Stewart, Kenny Smith, Dale Cresap, Austin Moses and Hal Johansen. Roger and his wife Dana did a great job of setting up and coordinating the whole event; a hearty thanks to them and to Frank Prickett, Andy Stewart, Stan Bearup and others that helped on the ground. A post-flying barbeque was hosted by several American Falls Airport individuals.

Pete Stewart

American Falls EAA Young Eagles Rally 9-24-5 – editor’s report

This rally is the rescheduled date from 2 weeks ago. The forecast is for partly cloudy, and Sophie is up for another attempt, so I plan to pick her up before 0700. She is with a new host family, so I ask for the address, and she gives me a street name and number. Later I realize that more precise directions will be necessary, so I call back and talk to her host mom, which was a good idea. They are in a new development south of the construction on Sunnyside, and there is no number on the house yet. I would never have found it otherwise. On the freeway south to Pocatello my wipers have trouble keeping up with the ‘partly cloudy’.

It quits raining there just after we arrive, and I get the keys for 6555J. It is not quite full of fuel, so I have them top it off, then I notice the oil reads 4.5, so I have the fuel guy add a quart. A phone call to ASOS says 1200 scattered, 3900 overcast, so we are good to go, and scud run to American Falls. Roger Johnston hears my radio call on approach, and tells me where to park, so that is welcome, but I arrive to find he is the only one there. Déjà vu all over again? The rally has been delayed an hour because of the weather. I am the only one not to know this. The bad weather in IDA prevents or delays our pilots from leaving there. Roger asks our assistance in setting up chairs, and helping him get his plane out of a hangar. It is behind another plane, a cute little trainer. This is a 1970 Mooney Cadet. It turns out to be an updated Ercoupe, but with a single tail and rudder pedals, 90 honest horsepower. The clearances are really tight in the hangar, and I hold the two planes apart to keep them from making contact.

I get some winks in the plane while waiting for the kids to arrive, replace the batteries in my camera and GPS which die at the same time, and figure out why the seat would not go back the last time I flew this plane. There is a secondary latch I didn’t see before. Now I can get in on the pilot’s side. The weather clears here, but the rally is slow to start because the weather to the north delays the arrival of our pilots. Eventually Austin arrives in his Pulsar, and Pete in his Pacer. Ken arrives from Malad in a red and white Cessna, and we get started. Sophie helps with the paperwork while I fly kids. There is a large turnout with few planes, so I fly 5 missions, more than I have flown at other rallies. The whole operation runs like clockwork. My flights range from 21 to 24 minutes, with an average overall cycle time of 33 minutes.

The wind is steady and right down the runway, so it is our friend. Pilots select their own destinations, and I choose Aberdeen , doing a touch and go there before coming back. We discussed traffic and reporting points before the flight, and on my first return to American Falls I report for a mid-field crossing, but this puts me on a converging path with another plane, so I give way and go behind him. It turns out that the water tower is an ideal reporting point for entering the pattern, so everyone uses it from then on. This works really well. On a later flight, another pilot says, ‘I went first last time, so go ahead’. I say ‘negative, I will follow you’. So in Biblical terms our method is ‘in honor preferring one another’.

All of my flights involve 3 kids except for one with 2 girls, Madai and Kaylee. I ask which one will be copilot. They reply that Madai won the rock-scissors-paper contest to decide this. I offer her the controls in flight, but she only wants to fly for a minute, which is typical of kids. With their consent I do a roller-coaster maneuver on the way back, once they are used to the motion of the plane. I don’t want to declare a ‘priority approach’ (sick kid), but some kids want me to do the same thing in the pattern, which I decline. Madai wants to send a message to her friend over the radio. Is she a passenger in another plane? Yes, so I think about how to do this. ‘55J over the reservoir, inbound for the water tower, passenger has a message for another passenger’ Another pilot replies: ‘55J, what is your message?’ I tell Madai to key the mike, and she chats with her friend. My next passengers are 3 rowdy boys, really wired, and I have to keep telling the one up front not to grab the controls.

Sophie has a flight with Austin , which is quite satisfactory. She wanted to fly in a low-wing plane with a stick, and Austin ’s Pulsar qualifies. I wouldn’t mind a flight with Austin myself. Now I wonder if Sophie is too spoiled to go back to Pocatello with me in the 172.

I am in a hurry to get back, and decline to stay for burgers, but call ahead to have the fuel truck waiting for me, and get 14 gallons as fast as a NASCAR pit stop. My parents are arriving today and I will be over an hour later than when I told them I would be home. I fly 14 kids and make 12 landings, putting 2.7 hours on the plane. All 54 kids that showed up got rides, plus a few adults who were young at heart.

Balance Sheet as of 10/11/2005
ASSETS
	Cash and Bank Accounts
	EAA 407 Checking Account	1,065.66
	2 Year CD	4,158.06
	ISU Savings	25.00
TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts			5,346.72
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
	LIABILITIES	0.00
	EQUITY	5,346.72
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY			5,346.72

Profit & Loss Statement
INCOME
	Calendar Sales	195.00
	Dues	658.00
	Interest Inc	158.06
	Raffle	46.00
	EAA Rebate	20.00
	TOTAL INCOME		1,077.06
EXPENSES
	Gifts Given	45.45
	Website	147.87
	ISU Scholarship	500.00
	TOTAL EXPENSES		693.32
TOTAL INCOME – EXPENSES			383.74