In this issue:
Saturday, August 4, 9:00 - Plane Wash / Barbecue at the
Hangars (was previously July 28th)
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, ext. 217.
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.
New Engine Planned for the Warrior
If you had planned on flying the Warrior during October or November you might want to consider alternate plans. The engine has over 2120 hours since its last major overhaul, which is already over TBO by 120 hours. Even though the engine is running great and still shows superior compression, the consensus at the Board meeting was that we don't want to press our luck and try to stretch this engine until the annuals, so we will problably get either a new engine or have this one rebuilt in October. Paul Fortino is looking into various options from different engine suppliers and rebuilders and we will keep the membership appraised of the plans.
Our Treasurer, Joe McEvoy, normally re-evaluates the operational costs and the flying fees at the beginning of each year. However, due to the recent large increases in fuel prices, Joe will be re-evaluating those flying fees now. We cannot say at this point that the fees will go up, since there are other factors besides fuel prices involved. But the Board just wanted you to know this issue is being looked at.
How to Get Reimbursed for Fuel
Treasurer Joe McEvoy has asked that members try to ensure that the receipts for fuel purchases submitted for reimbursement contain the following information:
Aircraft # (N33149, N54115, N43755)
Number of gallons of fuel purchased
Your name
This will help to get you the credit you deserve. You can submit your receipts (or copies) to Joe along with your montly dues payment.
Don't Raise the Door Above the Red Line
Operations Officer Dale Thorsby wants to remind members to watch the red marks on the side of the hangars when raising the doors. If the bottom of the door is within the red mark region, then you are guaranteed that the tail of the aircraft will not hit the door and there is no reason to go any higher. In fact, things may break if you go much higher. So please just get the bottom of the hangar door into the red zone and stop there.
New Garmin Simulator Available
Now that we have a GNS 430 is every aircraft as our primary NAV/COM, there is more reason than ever to learn this radio as well as you can. While nothing can totally take the place of learning while flying, there are certain advantages to learning this radio with the software simulator. You don't have to divide your attention. You can try things that would be risky during real flight. And it doesn't cost you anything.
There is a new simulator (trainer) from Garmin that you can install in your computer for free. Thanks to Paul Fortino we have CDs of this simulator available for you to borrow in the MANG office at the hangars. You only need to borrow the CD to do the installation, then you can return it to the office for other members to borrow. Look for the box labelled "Garmin Simulator CDs" in the office. Insert the CD into your drive and select "Install Trainer". That's all there is to it.
After the simulator is installed, find the program from your Start menu under Programs, Garmin, 400W-500W series Trainer. When you run the Trainer program, use the menu to initialize the position to around Willow Run and then select GNS 430W under Options, Unit. When you install the Trainer, you also get a PDF file of the complete manual for the radio and help files for the Trainer program. The manuals are accessible from the Programs menu of your computer along with the simulator program.
The reason for picking the GNS 430W as the unit to be simulated is that the 430 that was just installed in the Cessna came with the WAAS option pre-installed. Among other things, this provides some terrain warings and graphics that would be best encountered for the first time in the comfort of your home rather than at 1500 feet in the clouds. Furthermore, the radioes in our Warrior and Archer are due to be upgraded to "430W" as well, so all three radioes will have the WAAS features and terrain warnings eventually.
Your Club Secretary, yours truly, can personally testify to the efficacy of learning on this simulator. I strongly recommend it. If any of you have trouble getting it running on your computer, feel free to drop me an e-mail or give me a call (see Schedulemaster, Users, Robert Scott). And if any of you would like your Club to hold another how-to seminar on the GNS 430, similar to one that Dion Zammitt presented a few years ago, let me know and I will pass on your request to the rest of the Board.
Willow Run does not have the cheapest fuel around. Sure, it is convenient, especially with the self-service cards. But if you have the chance to buy fuel at another airport, see if you can save your Club some money. Here is another resource you might use to find good prices: www.100LL.com. For example, here are some prices that Steve Thornburg found using www.100LL.com:
* KYIP Willow Run $4.65
* KOEB Coldwater $3.64
* K3CM Clements Bay City $3.68
* K4D0 Grand Ledge $2.95(cash), $3.85 Credit
* KONZ Grosse Isle $4.01
* KTTF Monroe $4.25
* KJXN Jackason $4.39
Here are the statistics for June 2007:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
June: |
23.4 |
54.3 |
29.4 |
107.1 |