In this issue:
Tues. April 12, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
Thurs. April 21 7:00 - MDOT Safety Seminar "Aeronautical Charts"
at Plymouth Library (*)
Sat. April 23, 9:00 - Plane Wash & Barbecue
Tues. May 10, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
Sat. June 11, 9:00 - Plane Wash & Barbecue & General
Membership Meeting
Tues. July 12, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
Sat. July 23, 9:00 - Plane Wash & Barbecue
Tues. Aug. 9, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
Sat. Sep. 10, 9:00 - Plane Wash & Barbecue
Thurs. Sep. 22, 6:30 - General Membership Meeting at Plymouth Library (*)
Tues. Oct 11, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
Tues. Nov. 8, 7:00 - Board Meeting at the Hangar or Birdcage Lounge
(?) Sun. Dec. 4, 5:30 - Holiday Party at Atlantis(?) in Livonia
* The Plymouth District Library is located in downtown Plymouth, one block North of Ann Arbor Trail, at
223 South Main Street
Plymouth, Michigan 48170
(734) 453-0750
We will probably have the meeting room that is on your left on the main floor just as you come in from the East entrance.
Garmin 430 for the Warrior too!
The long-range plan for our aircraft avionics developed last year was to eventually put Garmin 430s in as NAV/COM1 and use KX-155s as NAV/COM2 in all three planes. We started this process last fall by buying a Garmin 430 for the Archer. Because of the resulting increase of value of our assets (the planes) and because we needed to fund the purchase somehow, we raised the equity that every member has in the club from $600 to $720. This resulted in an additional assessment that has been appearing on your monthly bills. Then, in January, the Board began discussing the possibility of moving forward with the plan by getting a Garmin 430 for the Warrior too.
We had an opportunity to get a good deal on a 430 with installation, so there was a special Board of Directors meeting held on March 3rd. At that meeting it was decided unanimously by all present that we should have the Garmin 430 installed in the Warrior as part of its annual this year. Doing so now not only allows us to take advantage of the good deal, but it also minimizes the impact on the flying schedule, as opposed to doing the upgrade and incurring downtime during more favorable flying weather.
Since the Archer was upgraded, the increase in scheduling for the Archer shows that Club members have been eager to experience the upgraded avionics. We hope that by upgrading the Warrior too, members will find this plane just as attractive and increase the flying hours on the Warrior. The more our planes fly, the more we can keep the rates low.
Unlike the case with the Archer, it was decided that the Warrior upgrade did not justify an increase in members' equity at this time. (We can always do so later if needed.) Furthermore, the Board decided not to change either the hourly flying rates or the monthly dues. Instead, we used the Warrior avionics reserve fund, which covered all but about $3k of the cost. The final $3k we funded by borrowing from our MANG savings account, which was first increased by redistributing a Certificate of Deposit that just happened to be maturing about this same time.
By comparison, the C-172 avionics reserve fund is nearly zero because we had just performed a major upgrade of the C-172 avionics panel last year. The Warrior was determined to be the most in need of an avionics upgrade of our three planes, so that's why we decided to upgrade that one before the Cessna.
To learn more about the Garmin 430, see Garmin 430 Training below.
Rod Lelental says "best ever!"
The MDOT Safety Seminar that MANG will be hosting on April 21st was also given at Ann Arbor recently. MANG member Rod Lelental was in attendance, and he says it was the best he's seen from MDOT. The topic will be "Aeronautical Charts". So don't miss this opportunity to see a great presentation, and to participate in the Wings program.
The annual for the Warrior is underway, but it will probably take a little longer than expected because we are waiting for parts. A cylinder needs repair of an exhaust valve and the carburetor shaft is worn and needs repair.
Last December, Dion Zammit held a training session on the Garmin 430 at the Plymouth Library. Of course, not all Club members attended, so we want to know what, if anything, Club members may want in the way of additional training. One possibility is to re-run the session that Dion gave last December. The use of the software simulator gave a very faithful representation of the real thing, and Dion did a great job is covering all the basics and a few of the finer points. Another possibility is to pair up Club members who have some Garmin experience with those who don't and do some one-on-one training, either with the software simulator or in the planes themselves. We have made the CDs of the software simulator available in our MANG office at the hangar (in the library cabinet), or you can download the simulator over the Internet. As we observed previously, many members have been scheduling the Archer now that it has a Garmin 430 in it, so apparently many members are not dissuaded by unfamiliarity with the new radio. But if there are any Club members out there who do feel reluctant to use the Garmin 430, we want to make every effort to provide training opportunities so that no one feels left out.
If you have any comments on the training situation, please e-mail anyone on the board:
(See the Officer List in the January Newsletter for Board e-mail addresses.)
New Barbecue and Plymouth Library Donation
At the last Board meeting, the following expenditures were approved:
$100 for a new gas grill.
If you come to the plane washes, you may have seen the old grill that Joe McEvoy uses to grill hamburgers and hot dogs. That grill was savaged from someone's discards on Beck road, and it's overdue for retirement. The Board approved the purchase of a new grill (on sale, of course) for about $100.
$100 donation to the Plymouth Library.
Although the use of the Plymouth Library meeting room is free to organizations such as ours, it is also customary for frequent users of the facilities to make a small donation to the Library, which we have now done.
Here are the prices that were in effect on March 22nd:
$3.07 at Jet Center East self-service
$2.75 from Active Aero (delivery truck) during the week
$2.50 from Active Aero (delivery truck) on the weekends
We have accounts at both places, so this is what MANG Aero is billed. If you can, try to save your Club money by getting the cheaper gas. The trouble with Active Aero is that they often do not come when called, or they don’t answer their radio. Contact info for Active Aero is on the boards in the hangars.
Here are the statistics for February 2005:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
February 2005: |
5.9 |
19.3 |
9.6 |
34.8 |