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EAA Chapter 983 Newsletter May 2001Mailing Address: EAA Chapter 983, P.O. Box 903, Granbury, TX. 76049 |
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EAA Chapter 983 Newsletter May 2001Mailing Address: EAA Chapter 983, P.O. Box 903, Granbury, TX. 76049 |
Chapter 983 meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 10:00 A.M. in Ken Housemans hangar - the N.E. corner of Pecan Plantation Airport.
May was a great fly-in month! had great weather, unlike the last two outings. The day started with low clouds and then cleared nicely. There were over 90 planes of all types!
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Gary Bricker was overall Honcho assisted by many. Dave Boldenow had his VP hat on and was everywhere. Our site required lots of sprucing up and Bob Satterwhite, Gary Green and Marty Sidener were more than equal to the task. Bob Satterwhite did yeoman work, mowing the place and donating/setup of picnic chairs/tables. Marv Jensen set up the plastic fence. (Courtesy of Chris Thomas.) Jim Kuchholtz, Bob Benenati, & Bill Steppling were "wand wavers" on parking. Rick Chapman set up the public address system so that we could make announcements and hear music and radio chatter.
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We served food to over 300 people! Jackie Bricker was Major Domo with Gary Green, Rhoudy, Jim and Pam Matlock flipping Dawgs, mustard and rolls; Debbie's Keyt and Scanlan cashing folks out. Many others were helping with miscellaneous food service stuff.
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We had a nice place for little tots to scramble and crash with a Kiddie Corral, coloring books, and tricycles. Toni Anderson was in overall charge; ably assisted by Angie and Sheryl Crumrine, Debbie & Amber Steppling, and Sarah & Samantha Woodward.
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I (we) are also beholden to Roger Bacon & Rick Chapman for the 100 digital photos that were taken, with only a fraction reproduced here.
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If I missed anyone, it was only because there were so many that pitched in to make our May fly-in such a success, thanks a Brazos bunch!
Konnie Sasser was in charge of our "operation airlift" assisted by Kathleen Bales and Barbara Staples. We flew all that wanted a ride. Fifteen pilots donated their aircraft and time to provide rides for some 130 people:
| Ed Askins | Lyndol Askew | Damon Berry | Nathan Capps |
| Gary Green | Peter Coltman | Marvin Jensen | Gene & Dick Keyt |
| Tom & Bonnie Lewis | Ken Morgan | Bill Scanlan | Margaret Siedschlag |
| Bruce Wilson |
No one got sick (to my knowledge) and they all enjoyed it. A great way to introduce folks to our Chapter and the Pecan aviation community.
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The Micco SP20/26's came, along with test pilots and marketing. The Micco is an
outgrowth of the pre-war Meyers 145. It has been updated and has a lot more horsepower. 
I think it may be the only production, two place retract currently being
produced. There was the factory demonstrator, an aircraft on delivery and another
privately owned bird. The Lycoming 540's make a nice throaty sound. The Micco is
manufactured in FL. and has the backing of the Seminole Indian tribe. (Those Casino
profits have to go somewhere.) There were some seldom-seen aircraft like the
Tiger Moth, a Quickie Canard, and a Semme. This powered sailplane is interesting because
the nose of the aircraft is a large spinner for the retractable propeller! There
is no hangar around here that can take that 60 Ft. wing though!
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Four members of the Eagle sky dive team made an impressive entrance promptly at noon with the lowering of "Old Glory" beneath leader Jeff Hughes, with Don Stuart, Bob Grossman and Bobby McCurdy beating him to the ground. Wayne Keese flew the Cessna drop aircraft. Thanks guys! |
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| Barbara Staples helps with passengers | Tiger Moth |
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Jim Erskine has a very nice RV-6 with a 200 horse engine and
a constant speed prop, but is he satisfied? N-o-o-o, because he is working on another one!
You might call him a compulsive (& very good) craftsman. 
He is building an RV-9A. It has a different airfoil that allows for lower
landing speeds (43 MPH!) It has 0.016" control surfaces. (I thought 0.020 was
"oh, too thin" ) The RV-9A will be only a few MPH slower despite having only 160
HP. Jim was a manufacturing engineer at Compaq. He says he is not retired, just unemployed
at present. He and Shelley have 4 children, all grown and gone.
P.I.O. You all have heard of that, I'm sure, the old familiar Pilot Induced Oscillation. Well, I've found a new definition for that old acronym; The Perversity of Inanimate Objects. Have you ever noticed that when you drop something in the innards of your aircraft, the difficulty of retrieving it is directly related to it's cost? You drop a plain old PK screw and it always falls in plain sight. If it is black, it always falls on a white background. On the other hand if it is an expensive, one of a kind part (or the only one in the Western Hemisphere) it will always fall in a location so as to be completely invisible! These perverse objects also have the ability to change their magnetism. (I am not making this up! )You fish around with your magnetic extractor, guaranteed to pull anvils out of the bottom of your bird, to no avail. When you do find that pesky part you find that it's magnetism has been "magically" restored. I am convinced that these Inanimate Objects are in league with the devil. Or take the familiar spray can of LPS with the little red straw to direct it to hard-to-reach bearings? just as you are about to direct that spray to that bearing, the red straw hangs up on a control cable and instantly does a back flip to who-knows-where. ~ Sound familiar?
NOTAMS:
| 1. There is a new, soon-to-be permanent prohibited area down SW of Waco. It is the Bush ranch near Crawford. Specifics: 240 degrees, 15 DME off of Waco VOR , 6 Nmi Diameter and up to 5000 Ft MSL. For those of you that like to set in your own warning areas in GPS or Loran, it is Lat. N.31 Deg ~34.57' and West 097 Deg. 32.37' It is really a little bizarre when you think of it. Here is a "trap" to catch the unwary, but innocent; and yet the Secret Service is giving the coordinates within a 100' CEP of the Bush ranch front porch for anyone who cares to launch a GPS guided Cessna loaded with H.E. Go figure! |
| 2. IFR departures out of Pecan present a problem when ceilings are less than 2500 Ft. or so. Pecan is in the Approach control zone for DFW and so we are supposed to initiate Flight plans with them on 135.975. The difficulty is that the transmitters are all located at DFW and coverage down our way is not so good at low altitudes. Aircraft departing Granbury, on the other hand, are instructed to go direct to FTW, 127.15. If you can't reach 'em on 135.975, go to center 127.15 to get the game started. All you airline types may have known this, I didn't. (Of course if the clouds are right on the deck you will have to call FSS or DFW tracon and get a "briefing void time" type clearance) |
| 3. Mineral Wells has a new frequency. They have changed from 123.05 to 122.725 (so that's why I haven't heard so much chatter on 123.05!) They also have an ASOS which is closer than any other facility for weather. |
| 4. Spinks now has a tower on 124.625 |
| 5. If you are looking for a close-in place of interest for a days jaunt, you might consider Easterwood airport at Bryan/College Station. The Bush Memorial Library is within easy walking distance and is well worth a visit. |
| 6. Gary Green brings up a good point: The Clinton administration was hot on the trail of establishing user fees for various FAA services now provided free. I don't think we can relax with G. Bush in the White House either. John McCain is a strong proponent of aircraft user fees and even though he is not committee chair anymore, the subject will come up again. Stay tuned. |
