afac january 2015 brief sheet · number of seemingly inexplicable electrical anomalies will develop...
TRANSCRIPT
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Thank you for visiting the
Armed Forces Aero Club Web
site. This monthly brief sheet
is intended to provide the
current status of the club.
Each member of the board
provides input pertaining to
their positions.
Please feel free to contact any
of them if you have any
questions.
Members are encouraged to
submit articles for inclusion to
this monthly brief sheet.
Ed Christensen
President
Contents
President’s
Comments 1
Vice President’s
Comments 3
Treasurer’s
Report 5
HangarTalk 6
Training Day 7
Operations &
Safety 8
Secretary Notes 10
Member articles 11
Board of Directors
Contact Info 12
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President’s Comments
Hello. I wanted to say thanks again to those who funded the refurbished seats for 216AF:
Joseph Stevenson, Bill Sandke, Ron Shipley, Earl Wederbrook, Ed Christensen, Wes Weesner, Dave Piontek, Ray Lemque, Roger Wagner, Steven Howell, CJ Prescott, Chris Plum, Genevieve Lavin, Robert Katchadorian, Bill Wright, Jean Jaques, Jim Mackay and our high donor ...... Mark Walker!
The seats turned out beautifully and Jaime blasted all the frames down and painted them a complimentary color. Newly webbed seat belts are on order as well. I’ve refurbished the instrument panel cover with some light sanding and fresh paint and will get a set of placards for the 172. We’ve also worked on cleaning and patching as much of the vinyl as possible and generally working on a deep clean for the interior. The carpets have all been pulled, cleaned, and treated for spots.
The engine from Penn Yan has been ordered and paid for. In addition to the engine itself we’ll need new baffling to support proper cooling and a refurbished oil cooler. The rudder pedals have all been pulled and are being worked on with shims or new parts to tighten up movement. Jason has been addressing any and all wiring issues he comes across behind the panel and we’ll be installing a new LED landing light to reduce the electrical demand in the system.
At the end of this process we should have a nicer looking, comfortable, and great flying 172 back on our line! And with a record high flight time month in June we can use another airplane out there. So where are we going from here?
After settling debt following the sale of the Cardinal, we will have a second loan that was needed to fund the shortfall of the major engine purchase. So our hope is that our maintenance bills stay low and our flight time remains relatively high. We will need to pay down the loan while also building up engine reserve funds and avionics fund for the ADS-B equipment we’ll need. And I believe this will be possible with the momentum AFAC has going. I was energized by the positive feedback we
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got for voluntary donations to help fix up the seats in 216. That is investing in your club!
I finally want to acknowledge Wes Weesner and say thank you for offering another loan to the club as well as being our go to sign up guy and excellent Training Officer.
Keep up the good work AFAC!
Ed Christensen
(720)299-2747
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Vice President’s Comments
Members,
I wanted to take a minute of your time this month to explain the work I am performing on
216AF, and give you a little history on the electrical problems it has had. For those who have been flying
that airplane for some time this first part will be a refresher. For those new members that never have, it
is a lesson in history… hopefully.
Several years ago 216AF started to be grounded for intermittent electrical problems of varying
degree and scope. Most of the squawk history seems to center around the landing light circuit breaker.
During some flights, the breaker would “pop,” sometimes it was reset with a good result, sometimes it
was not. This was most commonly associated with a circuit breaker panel that was hot to the touch.
The second most common write up was the alternator going offline (and subsequently the illumination
of the ‘low/high voltage’ indicator light next to the master switch). Sometimes this was noticed,
sometimes not. The alternator getting kicked offline is a function of the solid state voltage regulator and
it results in everything electrical being run from the battery alone. If flight in this state is sustained a
number of seemingly inexplicable electrical anomalies will develop including (but not limited to) radio
transmit and receive problems, squirrely VOR readings, noise heard in overhead speaker, loss of
electrical instruments, etc.
While I don’t intend on going into electrical systems theory here I will touch on the subject.
Electrical systems boil down to just a few things, and our airplanes are an example of a simple electrical
system. You have a power producer (alternator), consumers (everything that runs off electricity), and
storage (battery). While electricity is fairly efficient and safe, it can cause heat when the current is too
much for the line it’s on. This is analogous to a river that has overrun its banks due to the volume of
water from a flooding rain. Another cause of this heat is a backup of electrical energy. For a circuit to
be complete it must run in a circle from power to ground. If these grounds are loose, corroded, worn, or
inadequate it can cause heat in the form of backed up electrical energy. Now for the laundry list of
gripes I have found so far…
I pulled the instrument panel completely out and was able to gain excellent access to the
electrical system with the rudder pedals out for re-work. I found a few old chaffed and bare wires in the
main bundle that have been repaired, multiple loose bus bar connections. A couple of wire-to-terminal
connections that were hanging on by one strand, loose grounds, signs of heat, and more wire splices
than you can shake a stick at. In short, the electrical system in this airplane in particular is worse than
most which is why I’m not surprised it has gremlins. What it really needs is a new wiring harness nose-
to-tail, but that is beyond the scope of my expertise and is most definitely beyond the financial
capabilities of this club to have done professionally. I will repair what I can find, and hope everything
else behaves as it’s supposed to.
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I am confident the problem will be solved by a combination of my repair work and three other items I
am replacing preemptively. I have ordered an LED landing light to reduce the 250W draw the
incandescent bulb was straining the system with. I am also replacing both the master battery contactor,
and starter contactor (you know these better as solenoids) as they have aged poorly and are causing a
spike in voltage upon use that is also straining the voltage regulator.
When 216AF comes out of this overhaul in early August be extra vigilant to keep an eye on the
ammeter, and notice any electrical anomalies you come across. I will be keeping a log of electrical
gripes going forward so they should be directed at me through Scott Lowe.
Jason Schoger
(619)565-4807
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Treasurer’s Report
Hobbs and TACH Time
May
Aircraft Hobbs Hrs TACH Total
213AF 1721.6-1705.5=16.1/0.1 9695.9-9682.7=13.2
215AF 4333.2-4294.3=38.9/2.8 389.2-361.4=27.8
216AF 4012.4-4012.4=0 6139.4-6139.4=0
217AF 749.7-749.3=0.4/0.4 3556.6-3556.4=0.2
Totals 55.4/3.3 41.2
June
Aircraft Hobbs Hrs TACH Total
213AF 1745.4-1721.6=23.8/0 9715.1-9695.9=19.2
215AF 4408.3-4333.2=75.1/1.1 449.5-389.2=60.3
216AF 4012.4-4012.4=0 6139.4-6139.4=0
217AF 751.6-749.7=1.9/0.8 3558.8-3556.6=2.2
Totals 100.8/1.9 81.7
Notes: Hours in red are overhead/non-income hours (Maintenance/BMFT/Missing). There was no missing flight time in June 2015. Current aircraft fuel rates are consistent with the club fuel ladder rates. Current fuel prices at Gibbs average $5.65/gl. Aircraft rates are 3AF-$82/hr; 5AF-$114/hr; 6AF-$104/Hr IAW Mar 2015 AFAC Fuel Rate Ladder. Welcome: Farewell: High Flight Time Achievements: B. Drinkwine D. Skurow K. Lallut 34.1 C. Morin C. Plume 14.9 N. Schiazza S. Howell 8.4 Plan for the worst, pray for the best!
Dave Billings
(619)670-5383
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Hangar Talk
Airplane status as follows:
213AF – Flyer.
215AF – Flyer.
216AF – Down for annual inspection, seat reupholstery, electrical wiring work by Jason, and engine change.
Scott Lowe
(619)962-1786
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Training Day
Greetings,
Hope that your summer is going well and that you are planning on some enjoyable time airborne.
Speaking of flying, the next time that you open our line box to grab a key, you'll note that the door now
opens easily. We have Jean-Jacques Bellier to thank for that as he took the initiative to bring a file and
remove the metal that had been causing the door to jam.
Last week, I was reminded of the hazard of misjudging wingtip clearance while taxiing. I was walking in
the Gibbs parking lot and watched a Beech Bonanza scrape his right wingtip along the Gibbs fence just
east of the area where we had 7AF parked while it was staged for sale. This is definitely a way to ruin a
pilot's day. We have a potential hazard in this regard while taxiing to/from our line. Depending on the
size and position of the transient aircraft that are parked, we are not guaranteed wingtip clearance by
maintaining the nose wheel on the centerline. The bottom line is, if you are not absolutely certain of
wingtip clearance: stop immediately. Options would be to shutdown and get out the tow bar or to hail
a person nearby for "thumbs up" guidance.
The link below will take you to an excellent article on preparing for and handling emergencies.
http://www.aopa.org/-/media/Files/AOPA/Home/Pilot-Resources/ASI/Safety-Advisors/sa27.pdf
There are some valuable lessons to learn from the link below regarding a P-51 accident.
http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Safety-and-Technique/Accident-Analysis/Accident-
Statistics/ePilot-Reports/Almost-beyond-belief?WT.mc_id=150605epilot&WT.mc_sect=sap
The link below will take you to an AOPA blog with some insights on maintaining professional
communications.
http://blog.aopa.org/flighttraining/?p=3500&WT.mc_id=150612eftrng&WT.mc_sect=blog
Fly safe, have fun.
Wes Weesner
(619)985-1220
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Operations and Safety
This appeared here last month, but runway and taxiway construction is ongoing and continues to
present multiple hazards which could hinder safe operations. The content of the Airport Bulletin is
included below, to ensure everyone remains aware and alert for unexpected changes to the normal
routine:
There will be a major construction project taking place at Montgomery Field beginning the week of June
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project will be phased to reduce the impact to aircraft operations as much as possible; however,
operational limitations will exist, including:
Runway 5/23 will be closed continuously until February 2016.
Runway 10R/28L will be closed during certain phases for takeoffs and landings, but available as a
taxiway.
Taxiway Golf will be constructed in phases, requiring alternate taxi routes using temporary by-
passes.
Runway 10L/28R will remain open during the project.
The project will not impact the ILS to Runway 28R.
Touch and goes on Runway 10L/28R will be allowed at the discretion of ATC.
Taxiway Charlie will be closed north of Runway 10L/28R.
Portions of Taxiways Foxtrot and Hotel will be closed during certain phases, requiring alternate
taxi routes.
There will be a significant amount of construction personnel and equipment on and near
Taxiway Golf.
Pilots are encouraged to check NOTAM’s and listen carefully to ATIS prior to flying during the scheduled
construction period, or contact Airport Operations at (858) 573-1440.
Safety Tip of the Month
► DTC DUAT Contract Expiration Approaches
Heads up that DTC DUAT, one of the free flight plan filing and weather services available online or
through various apps, is ending at the end of the transition period on July 16th. The other one, CSC
DUATS will remain active. See more at www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/July/09/DTC-
DUAT-contract-expiration-approaches
A final pitch here - for the very unusual Safety Seminar coming up on Thursday, July 30th. The title is “An
Extraordinary Evening for all Pilots at the Salk Institute,” and will begin at
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1900. As of this writing nearly all of the 300 available seats are taken, so do not delay another second
to get the rest of the details and register in advance at faasafety.gov Credit toward your next Flight
Review is available at all three WINGS levels.
FLY OFTEN, FLY SAFE!
Dave Piontek
(858)449-7350
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Secretary’s Notes
A big thank you to all who donated to the upholstery project for 216AF! It is very exhilarating to know that members are truly supportive of the efforts of your humble board of directors. With your continued support, I am confident our club will survive these rough waters until we get 216AF back on the line. I personally can’t wait! Please do not hesitate to give us any suggestions as to how we can make our next membership meeting in September more interesting. It could be a potluck and a movie! Say the “Redtails?” We do have a projector to show a movie. Just need some good speakers for the sound. Anyway, back to Secretary stuff. I’d like to encourage everyone to review your profile in schedule master and update your address and phone number. We ran into a situation where the number for a member was a non-working number and didn’t get the word about a squawk on the airplane that affects the flight. If you have a phone that can accept a text, it might be a good idea to write “text capable” somewhere in your profile.
Ray Lemque
(619)395-3817
Tickler
BOD Meeting 6:00 pm, July 15, 2015 @ MYF Ops Bldg CFI Meeting None scheduled until September GMM None scheduled until September Signups President turns over to Training Officer
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Member Articles
Runway Incursion By: Ray Lemque During one of my flights with a student, it became apparent that there were a couple of pilots who were clearly not listening to the full taxi instructions from ground after the initial taxi instructions. As we were taxing on Hotel, there was a pilot at Gibbs who was given taxi instructions to 28R via Juliet, Hotel, and Alpha. Tower asked if they had started to taxi and there was no response. As we were approaching Juliet, there was a Cessna taxing outbound, which continued to taxi even after two calls from ground to hold short of Juliet for one inbound traffic. We were then instructed to hold short of Juliet and to continue behind the passing Cessna. There could be a multitude of reasons why the pilots of the other aircraft did not hear the instructions. There was a short exchange of calm words between that aircraft and ground controller afterwards. Lesson here is that when you begin to taxi, all attention should be on taxiing. Keep a sterile cockpit and keep conversations to what is only required for safe ground operations. Especially with the complex taxiway closures at our home airport, it is very possible that you could miss a call and turn onto a closed taxiway if you do not pay close attention to taxi instructions. While on taxiway Golf after clearing Runway 28R, and short of 10R, we were given runway 10R, Charlie, Hotel, Juliet, to Gibbs. It was not the usual instruction to cross runway 28L and contact ground. Be extra diligent when receiving taxi instructions to make sure you actually understand what was given before moving. To make things much clearer, I recommend that you mark up the airport diagram for MYF ahead of time as part of your flight planning so you can have a visual of where not to go.
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Board of Director’s Contact Information
ED CHRISTENSEN PRESIDENT
720-299-2747
JASON SCHOGER VICE PRESIDENT 619-565-4807
DAVID BILLINGS TREASURER
619-865-4537
RAY LEMQUE SECRETARY
619-395-3817
SCOTT LOWE MAINTENANCE OFFICER
619-962-1768
DAVE PIONTEK OPS & SAFETY 858-449-7350
WES WEESNER TRAINING OFFICER
619-985-1220