In this issue:
Tuesday, November 6, 6:30 - Movie Night at the Birdcage (see Movie
Night below)
Monday, November 19, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Friday, November 30, 6:30 at Atlantis (in Livonia)
Proposed Calendar for 2008:
Monday, January 21st, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Monday, February 18th, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Monday, March 17th, 6:00 PM General membership Meeting @ Plymouth Library
Monday, April 7th, 6:00 PM MANG-MDOT Safety Seminar @ Plymouth Library
Monday, April 21st, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Saturday, May 3rd 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangers
Monday, May 19th 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Saturday, June 21st 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ &
General Membership Meeting
Monday, July 21st 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Saturday, August 2nd 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangers
Monday, August 18th 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Monday, September 15th 6:00 PM General membership Meeting @ Plymouth Library
Saturday, October 4th 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangers
Monday, October 20th 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Monday, November 17th 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
Friday, December 5th 6:00 PM Holiday Party @ TBD
This year for our Holiday Party we are returning to Atlantis in Livonia where we were two years ago. But we could not get the date we had proposed, so it is now on Friday, November 30th at 6:30 PM. Atlantis is at 39500 Ann Arbor Rd., just East of I-275.
The Garmin Pilot III VFR GPS radios that were removed from our planes are still available for sale to Club members. The price has been reduced to $250 each. These units come with the yoke mount! Contact any Board member if you are interested in purchasing one. The next stop for these beauties may be eBay!
Movie Night at the Birdcage was a big hit. We had 13 people show up. There were steaks on the grill and John Keck gave a brief overview of night flying principles and practices. Then the fun continued with the showing of an old movie with lots of flying while several of the members took to the skies for real to polish their nighttime skills.
Another Movie Night is being planned for Tuesday, Nov 6 at 6:30PM. Movie and Topic to be announced. Suggestions are welcome. Forward them to John Keck at John@ComputerGeeks.cc. The Archer and the Skyhawk will be available for those want to do a little night flight.
As you may know, the Warrior is in the middle of getting an engine rebuild. The rebuilder has found an unexpected problem with the case that will take more work and more time. As a result, the Warrior may not be back in service until the first week in November. On the plus side, it seems that the camshaft and the lifters do not need to be replaced, just reworked a little. So we may save some money there. Also there is this late-breaking news from Paul Fortino:
There is a problem with the vacuum pump; there are none avavailable until mid November. My solution is to put the old pump on (which is working just fine) and make the aircraft VFR untill the new pump comes in. It is also a very good idea to run the engine a few weeks VFR only it will them be taken back to Michigan [the rebuilder] who will change the pump at no charge and look the engine over, before we go charging off into the clouds with it.
Dale Thorsby received a report that a hangar door would not move. By the time he got there to check it out, the doors were are working again. But Dale wants everyone to know that there are circuit breakers for these doors. This might be nice to know if you do experience trouble with the doors. These breakers are located in an electrical box outside the hangars on the South side. If a breaker trips, then you might want to try to reset it. As always, proceed with care when resetting tripped breakers.
There has been a debate over the past several weeks concerning what to do about the high fuel prices at AvFlight East where we have our open account. At the last Board meeting, this issue was discussed to great length. Although no action was taken by the Board, you might like to know the essence of the discussion.
It all started when Solo Aviation at Ann Arbor offered us a good deal on fuel provided we made them our exclusive open account. That means we would have to close the account at Willow Run and buy fuel from Ann Arbor. Members could still buy fuel from AvFlight East using their own credit card and then get reimbursed from the Club. But the reimbursement rate would only be for what the fuel would have cost at Ann Arbor. This proposal generated strong objections from most of those at the meeting. The feeling was that we should be able to fuel at our home field without paying a penalty. Stopping at Ann Arbor at the end of a long trip might add 0.2 hours of tach time, and some may consider it an unreasonable hassle to have to stop there first.
In the end, the consensus was that we will continue to encourage voluntary efforts to save on fuel. But we will not offer any financial incentives (i.e. coercion) to get you to do so. Dale Thorsby reports that voluntary efforts are already working, as many members are already fueling elsewhere when they can. He has made it a little easier to shop around by placing fuel price sheets in the books and in the hangars. Also, you can find out about fuel prices on the web by going to www.100LL.com. Steve Thornburg has calculated that fuel costs make up 60% to 70% of our flying hour rates. These rates are evaluated by the Treasurer at least once a year. So you can expect our flying hour rates to eventually reflect whatever we pay in fuel.
Here are the statistics for September 2007:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
September: |
29.5 |
38.3 |
32.2 |
100.0 |