In this issue:
Friday, December 1, 7:00 - Holiday Banquet at Ernesto's Restaurant in Plymouth
Monday, January 15, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Monday, February 19, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Monday, March 29, 6:30 - General Membership Meeting at Plymouth Library
Holiday Banquet - Friday December 1st
The Holiday Banquet will be at Ernesto's of Plymouth in the “Country Room” (41661 Plymouth Road, Plymouth, Michigan, 48170, 734-453-2002). A cash bar will open at 6:30 with dinner to follow at 7:00. Election of Officers for 2007 and a gift raffle will follow the dinner. A map to Ernesto's may be found at www.ernestos1.com.
The nominations are in and these current Officers are nominated and are willing to serve for another year:
Steve Thornburg - President
Bob Scott - Secretary
Joe McEvoy - Treasurer
The current Vice-President, Dino Dinatale, has decided not to run for Vice-President for next year. In his place we have nominations for
Carter Billiu
Kevin Grammes
All members can cast their ballots for these four Officers at the December 1st Holiday Banquet at Ernesto's, as described above. Once a new board is elected, appointments or re-appointments will be made for Operations, Safety, Maintenance Chief, Archer Maintenance, Warrior Maintenance, and Skyhawk maintenance. All officers and appointees receive flying credit as set forth in the club by-laws.
The membership count remains at 51, so we have four openings. If anyone is looking for a flying club, point them our way.
Last month we reported on the cutback in services from ActiveAero due to massive layoffs there. Despite their claims to continue to serve the GA community, it now appears that for all practical purposes, ActiveAero is unavailable to us. You are welcome to try contacting them as described last month, and we do have an account with them, but the experience from those who have tried is that you are unlikely to get service.
Avflight Willow Run (also called Jet Center East or Signature), our old self-service station that has been closed for so long, is supposed to have their self-service pumps up and running in a week or so. Joe McEvoy reports that they are already open for fuel sales from their truck. Supposedly they are selling from their truck at self-service prices until the self-service pumps are operational. We have an account with them, so just tell them you are from MANG.
If for some reason Avflight is unavailable, there is Jet Center West, a full-service fuel supplier on the west side of the field. Their prices are high ($4.65/gal at last check), and you have to taxi all the way over there. We do not have an account there, so you will have to pay for the fuel yourself and get reimbursed later, as usual. If you are planning on using them, tell the tower before you land and they may switch your runway to make it a shorter taxi to Jet Center West. If you are unsure how to find them on the west side of Willow Run, then give them a call on the radio on 130.125, or ask Willow Run Ground Control for advice. Dale Thorsby has placed instructions on using Jet Center West in the time-sheet books for all the planes.
As we said last month, there are plenty of lower-cost fuel options at nearby airports. At the last Board Meetings, favorable reports were voiced for Owasso, Lapeer Dupont, and Ann Arbor. You don't have to leave the plane full of fuel as long as it is not down by more than 1.5 hours of tach time. If you fill up anywhere within 100 miles of Willow Run and then fly straight home, then you don't need to fill up here. So shop around and help your Club save some money.
Exercise Caution - Save on Insurance
Our Club insurance rates are based on our claims history. After a series of incidents giving MANG a less-than-perfect record, MANG has gone more than a year without a claim. We need to establish an excellent safety record to keep our insurance affordable. So be extra careful, even on minor items that may not be life-threatening. Now with cold weather upon us, we might be tempted to hurry through our pre-flight inspections or our moving the planes with the towbar. Fight this temptation and be cautious regardless of the how cold it is. Take your time and do it right!
Speaking of wintertime safety, John Keck, our Safety/Training Officer, wants to know if anyone would like to participate in a little off-season training/entertainment by challenging each other to contests of simulator flying, or emergency procedures. Contact John Keck by e-mail if you are interested.
FAA Audio Review CDs from Joe McEvoy
Joe has donated a set of Gleim Audio CDs that review FAA material. You may borrow them and listen to them in your car for an easy refresher. The CDs will be placed in the MANG library cabinet in the office.
Did you know we have a lost-and-found box in the hangars? It is located next to the computer desk in the office. That's where the Operations and Maintenance Officers put stuff they find in the hangars that looks like it belongs to someone. If you are missing something, take a look.
Here are the statistics for October 2006:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
October: |
15.5 |
20.2 |
17.1 |
52.8 |