In this issue:
Thursday, March 29, 6:30 - General Membership Meeting at Plymouth Library
Monday, April 16, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Tuesday, April 24, 6:00 - MDOT Safety Seminar at Plymouth Library
Saturday, April 28, 9:00 - Plane Wash / Barbecue at the Hangars
Monday, May 21, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Saturday, June 16, 9:00 - Plane Wash / BBQ & General Membership
Meeting at the Hangars
Monday, July 16, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Saturday, July 28, 9:00 - Plane Wash / Barbecue at the Hangars
Monday, August 20, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Sunday, September 9, 9:00 - Plane Wash / Barbecue at the Hangars
Monday, September 17, 6:30 - General Membership Meeting at Plymouth Library
Monday, October 15, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Monday, November 19, 6:00 - Board Meeting at the Birdcage Pilot Lounge
Saturday, December 1, 6:30 - Holiday Party at a place to be announced
The Plymouth Library is at 223 S. Main St. in downtown Plymouth. Phone 734-453-0750
Plane Washes are scheduled to reserve the planes from 9 AM to 1 PM. This should allow members convenient use of the planes on plane-wash days. Note that all plane washes are on Saturdays except for Sunday, September 9.
Valuable Info in Plane Logbooks
Have you looked at the logbooks in our planes recently? They do more than just hold timesheets that you fill out after a flight. These logbooks also contains a list of all members with phone numbers that Operations Officer Dale Thorsby keeps updated. This can be very important if you find yourself stranded away from Willow Run due to weather, mechanical problems, etc. Call a Board member if you are not sure what to do. If you are unable to return the plane at your scheduled return time, and if you know who has the plane scheduled after you, it is a nice courtesy to call that person to let them know that their plans will be impacted. Dale Thorsby is preparing a new instruction sheet that explains what to do in exceptional circumstances, like when something is damaged. There are also current instructions for fueling procedures at Willow Run, current VOT checks, and squawk sheets. Spend some time looking through this book the next time you hop into one of our planes.
Recently a member reported experiencing a surge in engine RPM during climb-out from Willow Run in the Warrior. According to this member, he heard an increase in RPM and then saw the tachometer jump to 2900 briefly several times. He quickly returned to the airport and landed safely. Once on the ground, the member did a run-up and was unable to reproduce the problem. Subsequently we have had the Warrior examined by Solo Aviation. They could not find any problems with the plane. The tachometer has been checked out and it is now reading accurately. This issue was discussed at length at the last Board meeting. As you might expect, there were a lot of opinions about what could or could not have been going on here. It should be noted that at the time of the flight where the RPM surge was reported, the outside temperature was -10 C. There was some discussion that the "cup-within-a-cup" design of the tachometer could have been affected by the extremely cold weather and caused an erratic reading, however that would not explain a difference in engine sound. The Board has decided that we have done all we reasonably could to investigate this report, so the Warrior will be returned to service.
If you fly the Warrior, be extra vigilant for any problems associated with the engine. Do a careful run-up and make sure the engine oil temperature gauge is in the green before take-off. Allow extra engine warm-up time if the weather is extremely cold. Forward any reports of unusual observations to a Board member.
Also note that the Warrior engine is at 2020 hours, which is slightly beyond the TBO of 2000 hours. This time limit is a general guideline and is not binding. Some engines go bad well before TBO and many are fine well beyond TBO. MANG Aero has a history of getting more than TBO out of our engines (perhaps because we take such good care of them?). For example, the Warrior engine was last replaced at 2500 hours, the Cessna engine at 2200 hours, and the Archer engine at 2700 hours. At the current rate of use, the Warrior engine will be at 2200 hours at the next annual. We will probably replace the engine at that time.
Garmin 430 GPS for the Cessna?
This question was raised in the last newsletter and a few responses were received by the Board. These responses were all positive. At the last Board Meeting this issue was discussed again. We do not have enough money set aside for avionics to pay the full $13,000 that this would probably cost without something like a $170 increase in the member equity, which currently stands at $720 per member. Note that we recently spent over $800 on the #2 NARCO Nav/Com for the Cessna and it is still not working right. The Board decided to postpone the decision until the issue can be discussed at the next General Membership Meeting, which is next month on March 29th. If you would like to contribute to the discussion, please plan on attending that meeting.
Our membership currently stands at 51. We have been joined by new members, Paul Marshall and Mike Larson. Bill Hacket has left the Club.
At the last Board meeting it was decided to raise our insurance deductible from $300 to $1000. This will save the Club about $450 per year in insurance premiums. It also reflects that fact that we probably don't want to submit claims less than $1000 anyway just to keep our rates from going up. If we are not going to use low-deductible coverage, it does not make sense to pay for it. Note that Club regulations state that members are responsible for the cost of damages they cause up to this amount.
MANG-Sponsored MDOT Safety Seminar
Our Club is sponsoring an MDOT Safety Seminar on April 24th at 6:30 at the Plymouth Library. Remember to wear your MANG shirt if you have one, to help non-members know who to talk to about our Club. The seminar itself is on:
Situational Awareness in the Cockpit
If you can come early and help set up chairs and put out the treats, then call John Keck at (734)250-2400 or e-mail him of your availability.
Even though it is the middle of winter and the schedule is fairly empty, please get in the habit of scheduling only when you expect to use a plane and cancelling as soon as you know that you won't use the plane.
Here are the statistics for January 2007:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
January: |
6.7 |
0.0 |
17.9 |
24.6 |