Tuesday, August 08, 2006

A Message From Our Chapter President, John Gill (August '06)

Members,

The excitement of air venture has come and gone. I spent three day's looking at all the new and expensive gadget's and airplanes in all the displays. The Honda display was most impressive with their new jet and all the other toy's.

It was awesome to get a first hand look at the B1 bomber.

On Wednesday evening, Ford hosted the chapter President's with drinks and food. It was a pleasure talking with Caroll Shelby, Jack Rouch, and Edsel Ford.

The program for our meeting is Lincoln Electric demonstrating their welders. If you have any extra pieces of 4130 steel, or any small project, please bring it along and try out the new machines.

Looking forward to seeing all of you.

Your president,

John Gill

July (2006) Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes July 10, 2006

The regular monthly meeting of EAA Chapter 704 was held on July 10 at the Sparta Paul C Miller Airport pilot’s lounge. There were 16 members and 2 guests present. Secretary Kathy Hakeem was absent and Jay Dean was appointed secretary pro tern.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President John Gill. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. In the absence of Treasurer Hakeem there was no treasurers report.

Old business concerned the pending closing of the runway so reconstruction could begin. The proposed closing date is on or about August 1 (2006).

President Gill held a discussion on possible programs for future meeting. Touring some local industries was suggested along with a chapter picnic.

Larry Bauer has been appointed chapter Flight Advisor. The flight Advisor would, amongst other things, assist in preparing students for upcoming check rides. Larry reports having assisted several pilots in achieving their floatplane ratings.

He also described a recent flight where he helped Dan Carlson take delivery of a float plane over in Wisconsin and accompanied him on his flight back to Michigan. He spoke of flying across Lake Michigan staying close to the surface of the water in order to maintain visual awareness of the horizon —there being no artificial horizon in the panel. Having no Wisconsin Flight Chart they flew East from their departure location knowing they would eventually encounter Lake Michigan and then continued East across Lake Michigan knowing that Michigan had to be there somewhere. They made landfall and were able to identify the sand dunes in the Hart/Shelby area.

President Gill brought up the Pancake Fly in to be held this coming Sunday in conjunction with the Sparta Town and Country Days. Chapter 704 along with the Sparta Lion’s Club will provide the breakfast. 704 will do the set up —tables, chairs, etc — and the Lions’ Club will do the cooking.

Again, as in times past, Paramount Aviation is graciously providing their hangar to house the event.. Our thanks goes out to Tom Owens and his organization for this kind gesture as it provides a most pleasant and impressive site for townspeople and visiting pilots to enjoy a nice breakfast.

President Gill also reminded pilots to be aware of local TFR’s that pop up around the area in this season of air shows and special events. He noted that violation of a TFR could result in serio1JS consequences. In this regard the chapter is attempting to notify all local pilots via e-mail whenever a restricted area is created in and around Michigan.

After a break for snacks, a couple of aviation related videos were shown

Meeting adjourned 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jay Dean, See pro tern

Addendum to the minutes of July 10, 2006 meeting of EAA Chapter 704.

Tech Counselor, Dan Bauman, held a discussion and demonstrated the construction of hydraulic hose end fittings showing how to correctly accomplish this at a cost much less than those commercially available. If one is faced with having to do this, Dan is available to assist as needed.

Friday, July 07, 2006

A Message From Our Chapter President, John Gill (July '06)

Members,

Summer and holidays have arrived bringing on a busy season, with air adventure only three weeks away.

Let's plan on a picnic for the chapter on one of these hot summer days. It would be a good chance to get to know the members and their mates, as well as their interests.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at the meeting next Monday.

Your president,
John

Dawn Patrol Pancake Breakfast (2006)


On July 16th from 7:30am til 11:00am in conjunction with Sparta Town & Country Days with tractor pulls, lawn mower races & radio control airplanes airshows during festival days.

Cost: Adults - $5.00
Children - 10 and under $2.50

Sponsored by EAA 704 & Sparta Lions Club. Call 616-887-5744.

June (2006) Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes
June 12, 2006

President Gill was delayed while on a return flight back to our airport, so Vice President Paul Spetosky assumed the leadership for the beginning of the meeting. Secretary Kathy Hakeem was also absent so P.J. Bevelacqua took care of recording the minutes.

The minutes from the last meeting were approved as written in the June newsletter.

Tech. Counselor Dan Bauman stated he was still working on the PA-12 and that he also recently picked up an RV-9A kit that is partially completed.

Airport Manager Vic Johnston stated that he, along with some other pilots, had been on a jaunt over to Hart/Shelby for breakfast the previous weekend. Apparently 6 pilots had started the trek and 3 others joined in and went out over the dunes on Lake Michigan and checked out the shipwreck near there. He also said that they were planning many more “fly-ins” including that upcoming weekend.

Vic also stated that the runway expansion will be starting around July 5th, and that the first stage of preparation should not get in the way of the upcoming Pancake Breakfast on July 16th (The runway will be available for fly-ins).

The applications for the new Airport Manager are being reviewed by the Village of Sparta.

Ron Fritz brought his 1938/39 Miss Worlds Fair (rubber powered) model. He gave us some background on his experiences with rubber powered airplane models.

President John Gill arrived and was able to step in and chair the remainder of the meeting. He shared with us how he was able to ride in Tom Kozura’s Skybolt on the previously mentioned Saturday fly-in to Hart/Shelby.

Ken Barnum brought a few pieces of his RV-9A to show his progress (Ken has been working on his project for about 2 years).

The powered-parachutes on the field have had a rough spring due to the weather, but are hoping for better weather soon.

After the break, President Gill brought the meeting to an end and invited the members out to his hanger to look at some airplanes (and stuff).
-P.J. Bevelacqua,
Newsletter & Website
(substituting as Secretary)

Sparta Area Pilots Association BBQ (2006)


VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Please contact Kathy Hakeem at (616) 550-0878 to help out with this event. Your participation in this event would be greatly appreciated. Please tell your friends and family to come on out and enjoy the food and fun...

On July 15th starting at 11:00am (in conjunction with the events of Sparta Town & Country Days).The location for this event will be just outside “hangar D”. The menu includes brats, hotdogs, etc...

Thursday, June 08, 2006

A Message From Our Chapter President, John Gill (June '06)

Members,

It's warm weather flying time. Let's plan on flying to some of the Dawn Patrols as a group.
EAA Airventure is scheduled for July 24 to the 30th. They have printed a booklet on the notams and procedures that start at 6AM July 22 to 6AM July 31. You can order one from www.airventure.com. If you are planning on flying in, be sure to familiarize yourself with these procedures.

Please share any ideas or preferences you may have for future programs.
I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting.

Your president,
John

May (2006) Meeting Minutes

(Disclaimer: The minutes were shortened due to the loss of the paperwork from last month, the following is the simplified version)

The meeting was called to order by chapter president John Gill. The minutes from the previous meeting were accepted as presented. Cliff Maine gave a very informative talk on the need for insurance for both aircraft owners and renters. He also spoke on buying aircraft.
-Kathy Hakeem,
Secretary, Treasurer, & Young Eagles

REGULATIONS


REGULATIONS

For Operation of Aircraft
- Commencing January 1920 -


1. Don’t take the machine into the air unless you are satisfied it will fly.
2. Never leave the ground with the motor leaking.
3. Don’t turn sharply when taxiing. Instead of turning sharp, have someone lift the tail around.
4. In taking off, look at the ground and the air.
5. Never get out of a machine with the motor running until the pilot relieving you can reach the engine controls.
6. Pilots should carry hankies in a handy position to wipe off goggles.
7. Riding on the steps, wings, or tail of a machine is prohibited.
8. In case the engine fails on takeoff, land straight ahead regardless of obstacles.
9. No machine must taxi faster than a man can walk.
10. Never run motor so that blast will blow on other machines.
11. Learn to gauge altitude, especially on landing.
12. If you see another machine near you, get out of the way.
13. No two cadets should ever ride together in the same machine.
14. Do not trust altitude instruments.
15. Before you begin a landing glide, see that no machines are under you.
16. Hedge-hopping will not be tolerated.
17. No spins on back or tail slides will be indulged in as they unnecessarily strain the machines.
18. If flying against the wind and you wish to fly with the wind, don’t make a sharp turn near the ground. You may crash.
19. Motors have been known to stop during a long glide. If pilot wishes to use motor for landing, he should open throttle.
20. Don’t attempt to force machine onto ground with more than flying speed. The result is bouncing and ricocheting.
21. Pilots will not wear spurs while flying.
22. Do not use aeronautical gasoline in cars or motorcycles.
23. You must not take off or land closer than 50 feet to the hanger.
24. Never take a machine into the air until you are familiar with its controls and instruments.
25. If an emergency occurs while flying, land as soon as possible.

More Aircraft on the Lines at Oshkosh

Submitted by John D. Smith

Aeronca C-3


Aeronca C-3 Colegent


The Interceptor 400

Thursday, May 04, 2006

A Message From Our Chapter President, John Gill (May '06)

Members,
I hear a lot of people saying, Thank God it’s Friday and I keep wondering how Friday got here so quickly.

Spring is here and some good flying weather comes with it,. Get out and enjoy, but plan ahead for your flying trips because spring also brings rain, fog, and possible thunder storms.
I made a couple of trips lately that have involved clear weather on part of the flight and storms along the way, so be prepared to divert or delay for a while. The plan is to be safe and have a good trip.

At this coming meeting, let’s discuss what the members would like in the way of programs for the meetings and what activities you are interested in.

Plan on being there Monday night.

Your president,
John

Photos of John Gill’s RV-7 Project