March Meeting Minutes

March 8, 2010 Chapter 704 Meeting Minutes:




Meeting was called to order on March 8 at 7: PM by President Dave Duperron, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Twenty Two members present and guests were Gerald Hoxie and Walt Clausen.



Secretary’s Report given by John Gill and approved by members.



Treasurer’s report was given by Jay Dean. Balance is $908.12. (Approved)



We passed a sign up sheet around for people to volunteer for flying Young Eagles.



Walt discussed an upcoming trip to the Dayton USAF Museum.

The bus trip departs late afternoon on Sept. 24.

We will visit the Museum on the 25th and depart at 5: pm

The cost is around $100.00 per person with double occupancy at the hotel.



Dick Roberts gave an update on future improvements to the Sparta Airport. They will do the taxi way design this year and construction next year.



Cathy Quakenbush is requesting a high school sponsored “airplane wash” to help support their Mission Trip.



Dan Bauman brought his vertical stabilizer from his RV 9A project. He discussed the paint and finish process he used.



Our speaker was Tom Kozura. He spoke on accident investigation by the FAA.



Respectfully submitted by John Gill

Meeting

When coming to a chapter Meeting this is what you will see! Be brave, if you can land a Cessna 172 in a 20kt gusting to 30kt crosswind, you can handle a EAA meeting with ease.


I’ll be at Sun-N-Fun during the April meeting, so take a couple pictures and take a couple notes and send them to me to put in the news letter. Take a couple photo’s of your flight that you take this month. Everyone likes those!



Blue Skies



Ken

Presidents Message

President’s Message


Greetings fellow EAAers. Hey there are signs of spring out there. Man am I ready. I’m even thinking about priming, some RV-10 parts this weekend that I’ve been preparing all winter. Then --- I can start putting pieces together. Will that be fun.



I’d like to thank Paul Zimmer for the great program on “computer weather procurement”. Boy I needed that. Doing most anything on the PC is intimidating for me. I know I’ll never be able to tool around in cyber space as he does but I do feel like I can now get some weather when I need it. Paul also turned me on to “VANS AIRFORCE” which seems to be the GO TO place if you’re building an RV. Thanks Paul.



Tom Kozura will be putting on the program for our next meeting which is this coming Monday. It will be about “investigating aircraft accidents”. If I know Tom It will be very interesting. Hope to see you there.



Coming up, we are still planning a trip to the KAL-AIR Museum and a trip to the WACO factory in Battle Creek. These trips will probably be in the summer or fall, what ever we can work out. In the mean time we can hopefully get out to some of our builders homes and see how their projects are coming. This could be “in addition” to our regular meetings. Any volunteers?



Most importantly please mark your calendars for the third Saturday of August the 21ST, for our Young Eagles Program. In case of rain, or other inclement weather, keep the following Saturday, the 28TH open as well.



I think most everyone is aware of the declining numbers in the aviation community and understand the effects it will have on our freedom to fly in the future. Introducing kids to an exciting, enjoyable first flight can, in the long term, have a positive impact on pilot numbers by instilling in these kids a life long interest in aviation. Good reason that we all make a special effort to make this event in August a Hugh success.



As we have on occasion in the past we are going to combine the “Young Eagles” program with the “Big Brothers - Big Sisters” program called “Pork on the hoof”. The Big Brothers – Big Sisters program is a very worthwhile program in and of itself and deserving of our support. However because it draws large numbers of people it has proved to be a good partner in Chapter 704’s Young Eagles program.

We will have more on this at Mondays Meeting. Hope to see you there. Dave

EAA Workshops

EAA Workshops will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 17 & 18 at the Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti.   The topics will be Composite Construction, Electrical Systems and Avionics, Fabric Covering, and Sheet Metal.  In addition there will be a Saturday evening presentation: "What's Involved in Kit Building."  For costs, scheduling, and signups go to www.eaa.com and follow the links to sportair workshops. 




An FAA Safety Seminar will be held at the Plainfield Fire Station,  4343 Plainfield Ave NE(5mi. and Plainfiedl) Tuesday, Mar.9 at 7pm.  The topic is "Where's the 'F' in Airspace" and will be presented by Randy Coller, editor of the Michigan Aeronautical Charts.  It is free.  For more info on this and other free safety programs put on by the FAA go to www.faasafety.gov and follow links.



Thanks,

~Ken Mosley~ 

Feb Meeting Minutes

EAA CHAPTER 704 MINUTES (Feb 8, 2010)




The meeting was called to order by President Dave Duperron at 7PM.



Guests Present: Michael Gill and Linda Kozura.



Minutes of January meeting were approved.



TREASURERS REPORT: The balance of $895.68 was approved.



There was further discussion of possible group camping at Oshkosh.



Scott Richmond gave a talk about Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the need for involvement.

We will again have a “pork on the hoof” and Young Eagles Flights. We are hoping for the third Saturday in August.



Following a coffee break, Paul Zimmer gave a presentation on obtaining aviation weather information via the internet.



Meeting was adjourned about 9:15.



Respectfully submitted,



John Gill

DC3

EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH'S DC-3 75TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION TAKING SHAPE FOR GRAND ENTRANCE

Mass fly-in arrival to highlight July 26 air show at Oshkosh

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wis. - (March 4, 2010) - Possibly the largest gathering of DC-3 aircraft since the 1940s is committed to the aircraft's 75th anniversary commemoration during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, coming July 26-August 1 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

That celebration includes what could be a 40-airplane mass arrival at Oshkosh on Monday, July 26 – the opening day of the 58th annual edition of AirVenture. Aircraft and DC-3 enthusiasts from around the world have already committed to participate in the event, including many aircraft that have never before been seen at Oshkosh. In all, as many as 50 or more DC-3s (or its military counterparts, the C-47 and R4D) could be at the event.

"When we first suggested the DC-3 75th anniversary party, we thought as many as 25 aircraft might make for an outstanding program," said Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chairman. "The response has been far beyond our greatest expectations and now will be one of the greatest aircraft reunions ever seen at Oshkosh, with more surprises to come."

The mass arrival fly-in was capped at 40 aircraft, which will stage at Whiteside County Airport in Sterling/Rock Falls, Ill., beginning on Saturday, July 24, with support provided by M & M Aviation. Following a media day and dinner on July 25, the formation's pilots will have their full safety briefing on Monday morning, July 26, prior to the public departure for Oshkosh. The full group, with a combined 96,000 horsepower, is scheduled to arrive at AirVenture in time to open that day's afternoon air show with an unforgettable flyover.

Hess Lake

Hess Lake


Dave Duperron was nice enough to send me some pictures of the planes on Hess Lake. For the past couple of winters, some of the members of the chapter have flown to Hess Lake and landed. Smugglers Cove is a good place to stop and grab lunch or dinner. There is usually some snowmobiles and ice racing going on also.



Send in pictures from the places you visit. A Picture from a phone camera is good enough!

Thanks Dave!

January 11 Chapter 704 Meeting Minutes

January 11 Chapter 704 Meeting Minutes




Meeting was called to order on January 11 at 7: PM by President Dave Duperron.

December minutes were read and approved.

Treasurer’s report given by Jay Dean. Balance is $849.67. (He says pure speculation).

18 members present. Our visitor was Jeff Ostrander. Jeff is a CFI and flies a Decathlon and a Bonanza.



COMMITTEE REPORTS:



Discussed having a group travel to Kalamazoo Air Museum.

Discussion regarding a general camping area for chapter members at Oshkosh Air Venture.

Chapter now has about 14 members building airplanes.

Dan Bowman explained the duties of Tech. Counselors and inspections he has made on many projects. He also gave an update on his RV 9 project.

Paul Zimmer agreed to be the Young Eagles coordinator again this year and gave us an update.

Ken Mosley will do a 2011 calendar with pictures of member’s airplanes.

Ken Barnum is requesting pictures and descriptions of projects for the newsletter.

Vic Johnston talked about private airport membership in the M.P.O.A. His son Jeremy is a flight commander for the Flying Tiger Sharks, and is training to be a flight instructor in the T38.

President Dave presented awards to last years officers and committee members.

John Gill showed the video of a “special” class field trip to his hanger.



Respectfully submitted by John Gill.

AWOS

Paul C. Miller-Sparta Aiport


Notice

As of 1/9/2010 the Sparta Airport AWOS has a new discrete frequency. Pilots can hear the airport weather advisory on frequency 132.95 . Two Mic clicks on 132.95 activate the AWOS

February Meeting Program

February Meeting Program:




For this up coming meeting we are going to get some information on the sources of getting weather information. There are many different sources that everyone uses, and all input is valuable information for us as pilots. If you have a source that you find is accurate for Michigan weather, we would appreciate your input at the meeting Monday night.

January Meeting 2010

January Meeting (What you missed)


A new year for the chapter started with several presentations on projects and some speakers from the chapter sharing their building experience.



Paul Kovalak started us off with the research he had done with L.E.D lights for wing tip lighting. An excellent presentation with a informative question and answer session too.

Great job Paul!



Second up Tom Kozura.



Tom’s project is a Sopwith Camel, He brought in some of the Historical Parts to an original Sopwith Camel. They are very rare, Tom’s presentation was with some engine cylinders and a gun sight. Very informative and the amount of research that Tom has done is amazing.



The last presentation was on a great day that John and Paul Gill had with special needs children. John and Paul had the day video taped and they shared that video with the chapter. They opened up the hanger to the kids and let them climb in and out of the planes and had a great time. Thanks for sharing that with the chapter, It was great.



The January meeting was Great thanks to all that presented and helped. :)

Featured Project!

New to the Newsletter and blog,

EAA Chapter 704 Jan. 07, 2010






I always wanted to build an RV and was leaning toward a 7A at first but later the RV-9A seemed to offer more of what I wanted and this fall was very close to making the purchase. In September I saw an AD on Barnstormers for an RV-10. It was a standard kit that the builder had finished to about the “quick build” stage, and what a beautiful job he had done. I couldn’t stop looking and went back to that ad numerous times in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I was talking with the guys at vans trying to decide if I should get the 7A or the 9A. The fellow I was talking to suggested that it all boils down to one question: WHAT IS YOUR MISSION.

I thought about that a lot over the next few weeks and my wife and I had several discussions about our mission. I figure it will take at least a couple of years to build a plane and by that time my wife will be near retirement-I’m already retired. We wanted a plane to tour the country after retirement, find a warm spot to accommodate the winter months, be able to transport kids and friends, have plenty of baggage space and an IFR certified machine. The more we thought about it the more the RV-10 seemed to fit the mission. Though considerably more expensive to buy, equip, insure and operate we decided to take the plunge and buy the plane best suited for the mission.

Of course seeing that beautiful RV-10 project on Barnstormers helped push me in that direction. Brian Raeder who started the project was determined to win “Grand Champion” with this plane at Oshkosh and then sell it for more money than had ever been received for an RV-10 on the market. This was to be an income-producing project to fill time while his business was slow. I have no doubt in his ability to have accomplished both goals, you see, he had already won Grand Champion for a lite sport plane he built a few years back. I saw it and it was marvelous in beauty and workmanship.

Well Brian’s business is restoring war-birds, which he did out in Idaho for many years. He worked for people that demanded perfection and every project was meant to be a grand champion many of which were. For family reasons he moved back to Ohio and started his own war-bird restoration business. It was slow getting started hence the RV-10 project. About a year ago his business took off and the 10 project was pushed aside for later. Well, about august he recognized he would probably not get back to it for a long time and decided to put it up for sale.

The following pictures are some that he sent me while I was in the market. Check them out. Dave