EAA Current Newsletter

Chapter 983 meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM. in Ken
houseman's hangar. N.E. corner of Pecan Plantation Airport. No meeting in October

October 19th "2nd Best Fly-In in The World" Chapter 983, Pecan Plantation!
In place of the October meeting, we will be hosting our Fall Fly-In. The next regular meeting will be on November 9th.

Meeting Minutes

* Our VP, Dick Jones, called the meeting to order.
* Our chapter president and secretary, Gary and Jackie Bricker, have had a rough month. Within a couple of days of seeing a doctor because of discomfort, Gary was having triple bypass surgery! He is doing well and is recuperating at home. Stop by and say, "Howdy," and remind him to take it easy for a while. He loves showing off his scar!
* Visitors: Ian Martin (visiting from England!), Hal Johanson (Idaho Falls!), Jason and Guinn? Hutchinson (new members), Mike Sutherland, Pat and Ken Keefer.
* Karen Jensen, our treasurer, stated the chapter had about $4,000 in the kitty, with no major expenses to report.
* Volunteers needed for Fall Fly-in!! With our president out of service, we are in dire need of volunteers to help organize and work the fly-in on October 19th. Dick Jones stepped up to the plate and volunteered to be the Co-Chair. Please contact him, soon!
* Chris King made a brief presentation about his trip to the EAA Air Academy, which was partially sponsored by our EAA chapter. Andy Shane flew him up in his Skywagon, and Chris drove back with his grandparents. During his weeklong stay at Oshkosh, he constructed composite and fabric flight controls (which he displayed proudly), and flew around the area in an RV. There were 42 kids in his class, 16 - 18 years old, and he said he had a "blast!" Seeing a young guy that motivated about aviation is a true pleasure.
* Congrats to Jerry Knapp on the first flight of his Lancair 360. Details in the next NL.
* Thanks! Ken and Jean Houseman once again for the use of their hangar. Also, Dave Moore and Dave Boldenow for the refreshments.

Pat Keefer entertained the chapter with her account of how she and her mother, Mariam Jayne, won the 1994 Round the World Air Race. Mariam has a long history of air racing, both participating and organizing, of which Pat has inherited U.S. Air Race, Inc. This company organizes two cross-country air races a year, and can be found at http://www.us-airrace.org .

Pat was inspired by her mother to take this adventure in their stock PA-30 Comanche, with twin 160 hp Lycoming's. Mariam had over 30 years of flying experience, an Air Transport Pilot rating, and is a member of the Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame, so she was the PIC for most of the trip. Pat was a VFR pilot with a degree in physics and a masters in Business Administration, so she became the navigator, communicator, fuel manager, and negotiator for their racing attempt. Capitalizing on their individual strengths played an important role in their win.

The only modifications made to the Twin Comanche were Lo Presti cowlings, and extra fuel tanks. The aircraft carried 9 tanks in total. The original four tanks, two tip tanks, two wing aux tanks, and a 72 gallon ferry tank in the place of the 3rd and 4th seat. In total the aircraft carried 254 gallons of fuel, taking off at 127% of max gross weight (yep, they had a waiver). Now, if that doesn't sound complicated enough, imagine trying to manage your CG while burning out of these tanks to maximize the performance of the aircraft. Fortunately, Pat's husband, Ken, developed a nifty fuel/CG management spreadsheet that would have made Lindberg proud.

The race was speed handicapped, based on the aircraft, and began on the east coast of Canada, working its way through Europe, Asia, and then across North America. They flew over and into garden spots such as Iran, Russia, India, and Vietnam. The Comanche logged just over 105 hours, averaging 170.5 knots at 9,000 - 11,000 feet. There were 12 legs and 14 stops, with the longest leg being 11 hours and 19 minutes. Pat said she was carrying over 40 pounds in charts alone! Problems, such as weather, icing, and diplomatic issues between countries were expected. What was not expected was food poisoning, landing gear failure, and stuck fuel transfer valves!

Pat emphasized the freedoms that we enjoy in the USA, especially when it comes to flying. The cost and coordination to fly in many countries is oppressive. By the way, if you're thinking about entering the next race, you might consider the entry fee: $30,000 + $10,000 per person. That fee only included the race coordination, and room and board. It did not include fuel, oil, maintenance, or ATC usage fees which are charged in other countries (that's what happens when you privatize ATC!). What does 250 gallons of fuel cost at $12 a gallon? Yikes! Pat said that mom doesn't even want to know. I think I'll stick to Oshkosh as my annual aviation adventure.

It was an exciting adventure, evidenced by Pat's intensity and enthusiasm 8 years later. Aviation is a precious privilege, which we enjoy in this country. Pat's experiences bring into perspective how fortunate we are in the USA. Thanks Pat!

Karla and I departed Fort Collins/Loveland airport, elevation 5500'msl at 0530 Wednesday enroute to Limon, Colorado, 110s.m. our first stop. We did see ground speeds as high as 100 mph on this leg at 6500msl which would not be at all typical. Most of the first hour was spent circumnavigating the Denver Class B. Limon was at around 5300'msl. Limon is a clean well kept unattended airport with self-serve fuel. We shed our flight suits there in anticipation of a warm day ahead.
   We had a hard time starting the airplane in Limon as we had not established a sequence that the engine liked. It took us a couple of weeks after getting it home to break the code on starting. The airplane has a full electrical system to include a mode C transponder but no starter. The reason it has no starter is to keep the cowl lines typical of the 1930's vintage airplanes which it is patterned after. Now you know why Karla was along on the trip!
Truthfully, Karla did 100% of the navigating primarily with GPS, and a close watch on predicted fuel burn and groundspeeds over some very desolate and inhospitable terrain. She also did about half or more of the enroute stick and rudder work which was a real chore in the moderate turbulence.
   By the way, with an empty weight of slightly less than 900 pounds the 115 hp Lycoming did okay at 5500 plus msl, and fuel burn was typically 7gph including climb and descent. We kept legs to around 115 s.m. and typically and hour and a half because we had conflicting specs as to the fuel tank capacity. That alone is a nice conservative approach, but to find an airport of any kind every 115 s.m. or so in southeast Colorado and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles is in itself difficult. One of the first things we did when we got the machine home was to drain all the usable fuel out of it, replenish it a gallon at a time, while making a fuel dip stick. We found the tank holds 21 gallons of useable fuel, good for at least three hours. Had we known we had three hours endurance on the trip home we would still have kept the legs to an hour and a half or so because turbulence, wind, noise and overall creature comfort.
   The next stop was Lamar, CO. Lamar felt like sea level at only 3700'msl. It is all down hill from there to Texas. Lamar had a 6300' runway and some jet traffic, a nice FBO, gas and go.
   From Lamar we proceeded to Guymon, OK. Enroute to Guymon the outside air temps were approaching 100*F and needless to say at only two or three thousand agl we were getting beat up pretty badly. Enroute to Guymon we decided to hang it up for the day as the turbulence and fun factor were on opposing scales and it was only noon. To add insult to near injury the handheld GPS was now indicating ground speeds as low as 55mph. We think this Hatz is an 85 mph machine and therefore we were bucking 30mph headwinds as predicted by the weather guy.
   After cooling down in the air conditioning and rehydrating we felt a lot better and decided to head out for Pampa, TX only 80 s.m. away. More heat and turbulence convinced us to stop for the better part of the afternoon and attempt a leg from Pampa to Altus, OK later in the afternoon just an hour or so before sunset. So, we borrowed the courtesy car and spent the afternoon "cruising" Pampa, fine dining at Subway(!) and strolling the local WalMart and sucking up the air-conditioning. As the sun started heading decisively west we went east to Altus. A nicer ride, a close encounter with a C-5, a courteous airport staff, a locked hangar and most of all greetings by good friends Greg and Pat Camp. The end of a very long day. Around 500 miles in 5 legs behind us, mostly at less than 80 mph ground speeds. We had departed at first light and landed at sunset. The airplane had performed perfectly; fuel burn was predictable and oil consumption negligible.
   The next day saw us airborne around 8 a.m. and landing at Pecan around 11a.m. after a brief fuel stop in Olney, TX after another close encounter. This encounter with an Ag Cat doing a right hand pattern to the same runway that we were doing a proper left hand pattern to. We passed within about 50' of each other on the turn from base to final. He may have never seen us. I persuaded Karla not to have the meaningful conversation with the guy that she was wanting to have!
   Fuel costs around $100.00, a real leather helmet kinda aviation adventure totaling 700 s.m. in two days, 7 legs, and 11 hours vintage open cockpit biplane time with your best buddy, Priceless!

Where?:	Pecan Plantation Airstrip, Texas. Identifier: 0TX1 ("zero" TX1) 45NM on the 217 radial from DFW (TTT, Maverick VOR, 113.1) Coordinates: N32 21 W097 40 CTAF: 123.05
When?:	10am, on October 19, 2002.
What?:	Hamburgers, Soft Drinks, Flying Machines, Fly-Mart, EAA Adventure Cup participants Dick Keyt and Don Saint, Kiddy play area, and a lot of "There I Was!"

What we need: Volunteers!
We are scrambling to organize our fly-in. We need a chairman and volunteers for the following:

Parking/Marshalling
Radio Monitor
Cooks/Food Prep
Cashier
Setup/Cleanup
Play Area
Fly-Mart

Please contact Dick Jones immediately. You can reach him at 817-573-0818, esnj@granbury.com

Fly Safe:    If the weather is good, the pattern will be really busy. Please use good pattern procedures and efficient radio calls. Also, formation flying is encouraged, but avoid any rejoins or formations that are not briefed. We don't wanna give the anti-formites any ammunition.

Fly -Mart:    One pilot's junk is another pilot's treasure! Clean out your hangar, and bring to Jimmy Cash's hangar, at 9632 Airpark Dr., everything you want to sell. This is the red brick hangar on the south side of the parking area. We hope to get better visibility and participation at the Fly-Mart, this year. We will set up the morning of the fly-in. If you have tables, please bring them.
    Label your items with removable stickers, indicating your price and your initials. The paper "dots" that you can buy at WalMart work well (we will have some at the Fly-Mart just in case). This way, when your item sells, we can keep track of it by placing your sticker in the sales log.
The Fly-Mart is a chapter fundraiser, and we ask that 10% of your sales go to the chapter. The Fly-Mart will open at 10am, and close at 2pm. We need 4 volunteers to sit 1 hour shifts (great view of the Fly In, by the way). Call Jimmy Cash at 817-573-7766, or email at jcash@granbury.com

Fly-In Locations: Should we consider alternating Fly-In locations between Granbury Airport and Pecan Plantation?

Formation Training: With all the formation experience in our chapter, could we organize an informal formation training class for those that are interested?

Hurricane Avoidance: If a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, can it cause a hurricane in the Caribbean?

Remember, you have to suffer through Jimmy Cash editing one more newsletter, so send any info to jcash@granbury.com or call 817-573-7766.