Friday, March 09, 2007

President’s Message (March 2007)

Well, upon my return, I found that I left the care and well being of our chapter in very good hands!....but say, who did I leave in charge of the weather, anyway? Let's thank Paul Spetosky, Doc Dean, PJ (nevermindthelastname), and John Kozal for keeping the meeting "moving forward". I understand we had a real nice attendance.

If anyone has any items they would like to discuss, or have any hard core aircraft projects to show and tell, please let me know, and we will put you on the agenda. This month Paul will be speaking on some of the testing and research projects he was involved in while working at United Technologies on jet engines. I expect it to be a roaring-hot topic.

It will be good to see you all again, and Paul Swett said to say hello to everyone.

-Vic Johnston

February (2007) Meeting Minutes

EAA Chapter 704 held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, February 12, 2007 at the Sparta Paul C. Miller Airport pilot's lounge.

Vice President Paul Spetosky called the meeting to order in the absence of President Vic Johnston. There were about 30 members and guests present.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. The treasurer reported $1621.32 in the check book.

Spetosky read a letter from Vic Johnston addressing some of the issues surrounding a situation that had arisen between one of our members and the owner of a business entity on the field. The details of the issue have been made known amongst the local pilots and do not need to be a part of published records of Chapter 704. Some feelings have been expressed and a desire to resolve the differences was apparent. Several courses of action were proposed but none were pursued with the parties feeling it best to let everything quiet down of its own volition.

Vice President Spetosky handed out several awards given to last year’s officers in appreciation for their service to EAA and Chapter 704 during 2006.

John Gill described the problems he had in installing the sliding canopy on his RV-9. Apparently attaching the sliding rail presented a problem of gaining access to areas in tight surroundings. He showed a special wrench he had designed with a 90 deg angle to facilitate this process.

Glenn Hart agreed to become the Chapter 704 representative to the newly formed Boy Scout troop created under the sponsorship of our chapter. The new Boy Scout troop will carry the same number as our chapter --Troop #704 and will be headed by EAA 704 member, John Kozal. Member Hart's responsibilities will amount to attending some of the troop leadership meetings and relaying information between the two groups.

John Kozal had attended the Light Sport Aviation (LSA) meeting in Sebring, Florida and brought back lots of information concerning LSA which he shared with the group.

Paul Zimmer and Paul Kovalak have both purchased RV-7 kits. Zimmer announced he had done considerable work on the tail assemblies. Kovalak had not actually begun building but was inventorying the kit carefully in anticipation.

Spetosky suggested we give thought to having an American flag in the pilot's lounge saying that some other chapters begin their meeting with the pledge of allegiance to the flag. No action was taken but the idea was received with favor.

There was a discussion prompted by one of the members concerning the reasons why several airplanes have recently gone off the runway while taxiing or on roll out. Were the reasons related to the readjustment of the newly constructed runway direction by 10 degrees? Are the cross winds attacking us slightly different than what we are used to begging more attention given to our crosswind landing techniques? Some factors may involve the fact that the sod off the edge is not yet firmly developed leaving a soft and often uneven surface should we inadvertently exit the runway. One pilot said his airplane did feel a little "squirrelly" at one place on the runway. Caution is advised.

Meeting adjourned

Jay Dean Sec/Treas EAA Chapter 704