October 2004
The Monthly Newsletter of
Chapter 292 of the Experimental Aircraft Association
Serving the Willamette Valley at Independence State Airport, Oregon

Visit our website at http://www.eaa292.org. It is updated regularly by our webmaster, Karen Brown, and it’s your big chance to see all the photos in this issue in color!

The President’s Corner

Wow, what a weekend Young Eagles turned out to be! By eight o’clock there were already people gathering at the hanger. As we began setting up the numbers continued to grow, at one point I noticed a name tag with number 98 written along with the girl’s name, I am told the official count for the day was 95 Young Eagles flown and a few more (who had flown before) were asked to return in the spring. As luck would have it, many of the planes were capable of four passengers. We traditionally do not like taking Young Eagles in the back seat, but this was not a traditional day, and so we filled every empty seat.

I want to extend a special thanks to everyone who came out to make our last event of the flying summer such a rousing success. There is a great deal of work that takes place in preparation and execution of such an event from planning and coordination, traffic management, ground control and safety, and the pilots and planes to fly--truly a team effort. We can all take pride and satisfaction in the many young smiles and excited memories we have helped create.

I am told, there was a good time had by all on our August BBQ. There is nothing like good eats and good company to highlight a great evening. Special thanks are appropriate to Jerry, Roger, Ernie, and Mike for making it happen. Perhaps this too could be an annual event around Valentines Day.

With summer now giving way to fall it is time again to focus on the business of the chapter. Your executive committee has begun work on a five year plan for our chapter and need your input. For the October meeting I plan to spend time discussing this and brainstorming our ideas together. Please give thought to what direction we as a chapter want to go in the coming years. Some of the topics that were brought up were;

Bring your ideas and let’s discuss them.

It is time for the elections of officers again. Jerry Medlock and Andy Andersen are spearheading the Nominating Committee this year and are looking for additional help. Currently the following people have volunteered to serve:

As most of you know, Mike Pongracz has worn many hats in our chapter over the years, most of them all at once. Chapter Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Rental Coordinator, and Treasurer. All of which consumes valuable time. The Executive Committee wants to redistribute some of these responsibilities around the membership so as to not overburden any one individual. To that end our elections committee will soon be contacting current officers and general members for anyone interested in serving on the executive board. One of the true strengths of any organization is the diversity that resides in its membership, those experiences and life skills that each member brings to the group is the seed that grows new ideas for the chapter which in turn fosters program growth, strength and pride in the organization. I cannot express enough, how important member involvement and the infusion of fresh ideas are to the growth of our chapter. If you can spare a couple hours a month and want to make a difference, please give serious consideration when contacted by the Nominating Committee.

Our next General Meeting is on Saturday the 9th of October at 10 am.

See you there!!!

Al Cleveland

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

EVERY OTHER SUNDAY THE INDEPENDENCE FLYER BUILDERS GROUPCHAPTER HANGAR, AROUND NOON-ISH
OCTOBER 9TH EXECUTIVE BOARDCHAPTER HANGAR, 8:30 A.M
OCTOBER 9TH GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGCHAPTER HANGAR, 10:00 A.M.

EAA Chapter 292 Purposes --Policies--Meetings--Dues

THE PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION (EAA) CHAPTER 292: To promote and encourage the sport and hobby of recreational aviation. To cooperate with and assist governmental agencies in the development of programs relating to aviation activities. To promote and encourage aviation safety in the design, construction, and operation of all types of aircraft. To encourage and engage in research for the improvement and better understanding of aviation and the science of aeronautics. To foster, promote, and engage in aviation education. To foster closer fellowship among its member s through the exchange of ideas of mutual interest. Chapter 292 is a private, non-profit organization, and recognized as a 501 (c) (3) institution by the IRS. Contributions to the organization are fully tax-deductible as authorized by law.

CHAPTER 292 AND EAA NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP DUES: EAA National Membership is required for all Chapter 292 members (call 1-800-JOIN EAA). Chapter 292 dues are $48/year for 2004 and are prorated on a $4/month basis for those who join mid-year. For more information both on National and Chapter 292 memberships, please call the Chapter Secretary, Mike Pongracz at (503) 606-9767. MEETINGS: The general membership meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month at 10 A.M. at the Chapter Hangar, 4803 Airport Road, at Independence State Airport. Oftentimes special events will supersede the normal schedule, please call the Chapter Secretary to confirm a date if in doubt. BOARD OF DIRECTORS & OFFICERS: The executive board meets at the Chapter Hangar on the second Saturday of each month at 9 A.M. Board meetings are open, and anyone may attend.

NEWSLETTER: The Taledragger is published and mailed one week prior to the general membership meeting. Feature articles, stories relating to flying, technical reports, or classified listings should be made to the newsletter editor one week prior to publication. This is most easily accomplished by e-mail to the editor at pongracz@ashcreekwireless.com. EAA Chapter 292 is not responsible for any modification or maintenance items that appear in the newsletter or in any other correspondence. It is the responsibility of the reader to discuss and get approval for all such items from an appropriate A&P, the FAA or other government official.

2004 Chapter Officers
PRESIDENT: Al Cleveland amcleveland at msn dot com (503) 838-9929
VICE-PRESIDENT: Bill McMichael n116bm at yahoo dot com (503) 364-8898
SECRETARY/ TREASURER: Mike Pongracz Pongracz at ashcreekwireless dot com (503) 606-9767
WEBMASTER: Karen Brown eaa292 at ashcreekwireless.com (503) 838-4146
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Mike Pongracz Pongracz at ashcreekwireless dot com (503) 606-9767
HANGAR MANAGER: Roger Vasend rvasend at outdrs dot net (503) 743-4327
ASSISTANT HANGAR MANAGER: Jerry Medlock medlockj at teleport dot com (503) 838-2902
TECHNICAL COUNSELOR & FLIGHT ADVISOR: Ernie Moreno ewmoreno at worldnet dot att dot net (503) 838-6878
TECHNICAL COUNSELOR (Metal): George Genevro georgegenevro at cs dot com (503) 363-5032
YOUNG EAGLES COORDINATOR: Carole Gabel gabelair at qwest dot net (503) 838-3844

Executive Committee Meeting

EAA Chapter 292: September 4, 2004

  1. Attendance: (6) Cleveland, McMichael, Moreno, Gabel, Brown, Pongracz.
  2. Treasurer’s Report: All accounts are current. Balance in the checking account is $1,800. The Luscombe goes on sale in EBay later in the month. The Board asked that the Legal Eagle be offered to our own membership first. Payment was authorized for storage of this aircraft in a local hangar at $65/month.
  3. Review of Hangar Agreements: Two new primary tenants now occupy the north and south hangars. George Adkins in the south and Bill McMichael in the north. Proper insurance binders are in place or in process. The current agreements were deemed to be quite adequate, and the provision in Section 8g that stipulates that members only can be lessees protects the liability concerns of the chapter. [Editor’s Note: This situation lasted only another 24 hours. George purchased the Rouleau hangar and we offered the south hangar to the general membership once again.]
  4. Young Eagles: Insurance documents have been filed with EAA national, and Carole will be busy rounding up students during the first week of school.
  5. 2005 Chapter Officers: Bob Schwarzler was selected to head up a nominating committee. He will be asked to report back with his committee’s recommendations in the October issue of The Taledragger. Elections will be in November.
  6. Hangar Organization: Without our two hangar managers present it was difficult to discuss progress on a tubing storage rack, removal of the lower shelves in the welding room, and outside landscaping. We did discuss how problematic construction logistics often are—particularly at assembly time. Storage of the Legal Eagle, the soon to be completed Hornet and The Indy Flyer accentuate the need for a solution. The Legal Eagle and the Hornet will be sold quickly (we hope) and so their storage requirements are only temporary. The Indy Flyer however is an original creation and should be retained for some period of time, particularly if plans are offered for sale.
  7. Increasing Our Base: Why didn’t our membership rolls increase by 50% with all the activity surrounding The Noon Patrol? Many ideas were discussed: expanding the Young Eagles Program by creating a Radio-Controlled (RC) subchapter and reducing the membership dues for those under 18 to $20/year; creating an RV/Rocket subchapter since so many local builders seem to gravitate to this type aircraft; to having more social events similar to the recent barbeque at least quarterly; and possibly sponsoring an A&P Course held at our hangar through the local community college (EAA Chapter 52 in Sacramento is trying this and will be forwarding us more information). Membership has held steady for the past ten years at about 90 members with a yearly turnover of about 15%. We need to continue to focus on this topic and develop a growth strategy together with a youth strategy. Perhaps the October General Meeting could be devoted to brainstorming this issue with the membership.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Pongracz, Chapter Secretary/Treasurer

Young Eagles is great therapy! Put a smile on a kid’s face. And what I like best about this picture is that the kid with the biggest smile is the pilot! (And this wasn’t the only plane that happened in either!)

We flew an incredible 95 Young Eagles on a Saturday that Dave Salesky and all the weather prognosticators said we shouldn’t be able to fly. Carole Gabel, our always fearless Young Eagles Coordinator, reports that the tally went as follows: Andy Andersen, 13, Al Cleveland 12, Harry Bladow 15 (with three in the picture above), Bob Brown 13, Kevin Davidson 12, Greg Guy 8, Jim Hubele 6, Dave Martin 4, Lynn McDonald 6, and Dick Wildman 6.

A big thank you also to Zell Giles and Ron Gilbertson for doing an excellent job of sheparding the kids around and to Curt Baker for his excellent work with the Polaroid Camera. And thanks to Karen Brown for all these fine pictures! We could have used some more help on this day with crowd control and car parking, as these things can tend to get out of hand rather quickly. Zell’s barriers—together with the ubiquitous yellow DO NOT CROSS tape--worked wonders. Next time, come join the party! A lot of people wanted to know about our programs and the Explorer Post—and we needed more help to tell our story.


“Fearless” Al Cleveland had a great day in his
Cessna 170.
Here’s the perfect pilot with two very proud parents
and their two new Young Eagles!

Dick Wildman led the zoom-zoom-zoom crowd.
Sometimes
you have to
talk them into
it first, and
Greg Guy did
the perfect job
with these two
intrepid flyers.

Bob Brown straps in his new co-pilot.
Lynn McDonald with one of his 6 new Young Eagles

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND CREATED TO FIGHT ANTI-FLIGHT EFFORTS

May 13, 2004 - A group of citizen-pilots in Massachusetts are banding together, and asking for financial support, to thwart legal action aimed at curtailing the freedom to utilize legal airspace over the state. The General Aviation Legal Defense Fund (GALDF) was established to raise the one hundred thousand dollars (or more) necessary to fight this effort, which could jeopardize the training and safety of general aviation pilots and passengers in New England. The case also threatens to impact other pilots who fly for business and recreation throughout the country, if this action becomes a precedent.

The legal action, filed by landowners in exclusive residential areas in Massachusetts, claims that general aviation flights over their properties, towns, and neighboring towns are a “nuisance.” The lawsuit also contends that these homeowners should be compensated for their alleged inability to use their property. The group behind the lawsuit demands that general aviation pilots purchase tracts of land large enough to pursue their activity.

“This disturbing lawsuit has the potential to severely cripple general aviation throughout the country because it allows a group of well-to-do property owners to ‘fence off’ the public airspace and dictate national policy,” said Stephen Cunningham, GALDF spokesman. “We have continually looked to work with this group and come to an even-handed compromise, and we still offer to work toward a solution. Instead, this group has sued individual pilots in the hope of keeping them grounded. Aside from the aviation safety, navigation, and legal implications this could mean for all pilots, this is an ominous sign for Americans’ personal freedom.”

The suit does not allege any violations of Federal Aviation Regulations. The lawsuit was filed after FAA refused to privatize airspace over these exclusive rural properties, as federal law states that the national airspace was established to be open to all legal operations. Ironically, two of the plaintiffs in the case purchased their properties when a U.S. Army air base (since decommissioned for budgetary reasons) was still active less than one mile away.

The group behind the lawsuit states their goals very clearly: They aim to ban legal recreational flying over their own properties. Some of the plaintiffs are founding members of an organization entitled “Stop The Noise,” which demands aircraft must be channeled into narrow corridors and over property purchased exclusively for aviation uses. The group filing the suit also makes no claim of proper noise levels or any scientific analysis of the issue.

Aviation Organizations Join in Concern

“EAA recognizes and supports the efforts of all who are working to oppose the efforts of Stop the Noise,” said EAA President Tom Poberezny. “In Massachusetts, aviators are under attack by those who wish to claim everything within their sight as personal property, including the sky. They would “fence off” the airspace above them that legally belongs to all of us. We recognize the efforts of the General Aviation Legal Defense Fund, in helping Massachusetts aviators defend themselves. We, the general aviation community, need to prevail in our effort to present groups like “Stop the Noise” from allowing reasonable access to our nation’s airspace. If we do not prevail in the fight today in Massachusetts, it could become your battle tomorrow.”

Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, wrote in his April 2004 President’s Position column: “Every pilot in the United States could be adversely affected by this case...This is a case we must win to prevent a dangerous precedent.” The individual pilots named as defendants in the suit did not break any Federal Aviation Regulations, according to the FAA, which studied more than 30 private flights cited by the wealthy homeowners.

“We are trying to defend nothing less than legally pursued personal freedom,” Cunningham added. “If successful, this lawsuit would have a chilling impact for much more than recreational flying. It would open any legal pursuit done in public space—land, air or water—to be judged outside of an individual’s arbitrary standards. Activities such as motor boating, motorcycling, snowmobiling or ATV four wheeling is at the same risk. Additionally, time honored homeowner chores like lawn mowing and snowplowing or even chainsaw use for yard work could become included in this action. These things have a way of being taken to extremes. It would theoretically allow a person to claim that school buses driving down a street, children on bicycles or even whistling on a public sidewalk to be arbitrarily deemed ‘too loud’ by any individual who wishes to create his own personal bubble of silence.”

GALDF needs private contributions to help stop this assault on personal freedom. To donate on-line or obtain additional information, visit www.gadefensefund.org or send contributions to:

General Aviation Legal Defense Fund
Suite 6, Box 368
290 Turnpike Road
Westborough, MA 01581

Donations are not tax deductible, and GALDF is not associated with any other established organization.

It Happens to the Best of Us! (From the EAA Hotline on 9/16/04)

Nemesis NXT Suffers Gear Collapse at Reno Amazingly, plane being prepared to fly home on Saturday

An unfortunate incident earlier this week prior to the start of the 41st National Championship Air Races and Air Show at Stead Airport in Reno, Nevada, thwarted the highly anticipated appearance of the Nemesis NXT. Owners Jon and Patricia Sharp had planned to debut their new homebuilt airplane in the Sport Class. The original Nemesis, which dominated Formula 1 racing for many years winning 47 of 51 starts, now hangs in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. That plane made its final flight at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2000. The Nemesis NXT is the kit version of that airplane, powered by a Lycoming TI0-540-NXT, rumored to be capable of speeds exceeding the Unlimiteds.
For more information on Reno, visit www.airrace.org.

08/31/04 - SPORT PILOT: WHEN'S IT HAPPENING?

The new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft rule is officially effective as of Sept. 1, 2004, but it is a "rolling" implementation. That means that various portions of the rule will become effective over the six months leading to March 1, 2005, as the infrastructure to support sport pilots is set. Here's a timeline of key dates and milestones for sport pilot/light sport aircraft:

September 1, 2004:

October 2004 (exact dates not yet set):

November/December 2004:

January 1, 2005

Also in January 2005

January 31, 2007

January 31, 2008

January 31, 2008

January 31, 2010