Monday, November 08, 2010

Other Projects

Tom Kosura showed the Chapter one of his more current projects. While Tom was in Saugatuck he saw a gentleman riding around on a bike that he added a motor too. Tom found out where to get the engine kit from (Battle Creek) and ordered a bike with fat tire and a Springer front suspension.


Added a carbide front light, created a gas tank front the sheetmetal of the bike. Really a nice job and attention to detail. Words don’t describe the bike very well, Tom has done another great job on a project!

April Minutes

April 12 Chapter 704 Meeting Minutes:




The meeting was called to order on April 12 at 7PM by Vice President Paul Gill.



March minutes were read and approved:



The treasurer’s report given by Jay Dean shows a balance of $858.13. (It was approved by members).



Present were 16 members and Tim Wasco was our guest.



Pete Jeppeson is looking for pilots to fly Young Eagles on May 22nd at Greenville.



Pork on the Hoof for Aug. 21 was discussed, and a sign up sheet was passed around for volunteers and Young Eagle pilots.



Tom Kozura suggested a 2535 military request form should be filed to get U.S. airplanes at the event.



Paul Zimmerman and Paul Kovolac gave reports on their RV7 projects.

They hope to take delivery of their engines soon. Tom gave an update on his Sopwith Camel project.



A short movie clip was shown on “War Birds”, a film to be produced in Michigan.



Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.



Respectfully submitted by Sec. John Gill

Sun-n-Fun

The annual EAA Spring Beak for Pilots, was this past month. Traveling to Florida while the end of winter is still in Michigan, always makes the trip down fast and the trip back slow. There were hundreds of informational forums, vast amount of planes, and a ton of wind for the first 4 days.



The Volunteers are the heart of any EAA event, weather the Young Eagle events or Oshkosh there are enough opportunities for everyone to help out and talk to pilots and people involved with aviation. My wife and I drove down, (she cannot travel light), and camped at the airport. If you can travel light there is areas just like Oshkosh that you can camp with your homebuilt or with your certified plane. Dan Bauman beat us down by a couple of days and was there helping out when we arrived. He helped move a trailer for one of the exhibitors of floats. I ran into him several times during the event, he volunteers at the corn roast.



I seen John Gill but missed seeing Dave Duperron but chatted with him on the phone after we got back from Florida. I try to keep pretty busy going to forums and walking the grounds. I started going for a run in the mornings down the flightline to the helicopter base and then back. I quickly found out that my run was a popular idea. Every morning I would see 20 people doing the some thing. But there was this young lady that would pass us all and wave at us old folks as she sped away, the guy I was running with vowed to trip her the next day we went out. (she was elusive)



The wind was the story for the first 4 days, all day all night. The wind let up on Friday and it was great. The evening airshow was good to see. I talked with some pilots that landed that said that they almost went around because of the wind being more than they thought.



Sun-N-Fun as a good time and I look forward to going again next year.



Blue Skies



Ken



Presidents Message

Greetings fellow builders, pilots and aviation enthusiasts,


Well, except for the last few days, we’ve had a great late winter and early spring with lots of sunshine, which for me is the yardstick by which I judge the weather.

Next week is ‘Sun & Fun’ and it appears quite a few members are going to attend. Dan Bauman, Ken Barnum and John Gill that I know of though there is probably more. My wife and I are going as well. My visit will be a work/discovery session to learn all I can about the RV-10s. I’m at the stage in building where decisions need to be made regards interior and exterior finish, panel design, firewall forward considerations, etc. and I’m taking my notebook and hopefully will get some questions answered.

We are leaving early though so we can visit Pat’s parents for a few days while were down there so I will not be at Mondays meeting, however the meeting will be chaired by the very capable Vice President Paul Gill. We had a meeting Tuesday and he’s raring to go. I suspect it will be a FUN meeting given Paul’s penchant for doing fun things. Thanks a lot Paul for stepping up. And of course I’ll have a report directly from Sun & Fun when I get back as I’m sure will the others.

For chitchat sake, I wanted to let you know that I’m planning to join the Sparta airport 140 club “if they’ll have me” in the near future. I need to get flying again and this seems to be the best way to get me back in the sky without pulling me away from the 10 project. I made an offer for a share in the172 that was accepted and all that remains is to get the deal done. I know if I bought a “beater”, as Tom would say, I would be at the hanger working on it all the time and not on the RV. I’m looking forward to getting and staying current.



See you at the Airport. Dave

Road Trip

Walt Clausen came to the meeting to see if there is any interest in joining with another EAA Chapter to go to the Dayton USAF Museum. They basically want to fill the bus with people to keep the cost down. Walt stopped by to judge the interest and to get a preliminary head count. So if you want to go see the planes at the Dayton Museum (who doesn't) stay tuned to this station for further information.

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!