Past Issues Saturday September 22, 2007 Subscribe

TOP STORY

Vinton Co. 2007


As I pulled up at the hangar, Guy was busy airing up his tires for a flight. He only had time for a few trips around the pattern due to a family commitment, but I figured that as long as he was taking off anyway and heading basically the same direction I was going to be going, we might as well join up for a couple of minutes of formation practice for me, and a nice air-to-air picture for him. We briefed a straight out departure from 22 to an altitude of 3500', and a frequency join up on 122.85. It was nice and smooth, and he courteously held his speed down to a sedate 100 mph (what? That's all he can do anyway?? Oh well, 'tis the thought that counts) while I joined on his right wing

[papagolf] (More)

Top 10 pilot mistakes

What are the top 10 pilot mistakes?

Ask any pilot or flight instructor and they'll have their own lists. But what do air traffic controllers see as the biggest problems?

Controllers laid out what they think are the top 10 mistakes at this year's AirVenture in a Letterman-styled list:

#10: Not Knowing Where You Are.

"You laugh, but it's a real problem," said Chuck Adams, a controller at Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) in North Dakota, as the crowd responded to the first mistake with laughter. [GA News] (More)

Frank Bretz prefers view from 12,000 ft

"At 30,000 feet, where the commercial airlines fly, cars and trucks look like ants down there,"said the 81-year-old pilot from Missoula.

Bretz is spending his retirement years working on a little experiment in his garage.
*
"They say experimental, and quote, athatpis correct,pi " Bretz said. "However, this company has over 5,000 airplanes flying right now."

Bretz bought a kit called the Vanpis Aircraft RV-9A, a single-engine two-seater that he started building in his garage in March 2003.

"He kept saying he wanted to build a plane," Carolyn Bretz said. "But hepid ask me if I thought he was too old to build his own plane." [missoulian] (More)

Related Link(s):
Video

Copperstate Fly in

COPPERSTATE Regional EAA Fly-In will be held October 25-28 at the Casa Grande,
Arizona Municipal Airport (CGZ). See www.copperstate.org<about:blank> for
details.

My name is Jim McChesney and I am the director of Aircraft Parking for the
COPPERSTATE Fly-In. Every fly-in that happens, anywhere, is dependent on
volunteers. It is a fact that fly-in's simply would not exist if people didn't
give away their time to make it happen. COPPERSTATE is obviously no different
and we truly appreciate all the volunteers out there! (More)

Videos

Petaluma airport RV-6 fly by


 [youtube] (More)

Subaru-powered RV-9A post flight


 [youtube] (More)

Frank Bretz RV-9A building

[missoulian] (More)

Other News

Light sport growth

The newly simplified and inexpensive availability of light-sport aircraft (LSAs), has meant that they have become the fastest growing segment in aviation. Oshkosh AirVenture, the United States' largest fly-in air show, set record attendance levels this year, with an estimated 560,000 attendees, a 3.2 per cent increase from 2006. [domain-b.com] (More)

38 year aircraft project takes flight

[ed note: not RV related but good motivation for those of us on the "slow track"]

"It is one of the longer term projects I know about," Humbert said. "Most people usually get tired of it and sell it. This is the longest one I know of to be built and flown by the original builder."

Humbert's plane is one of thousands of homebuilt aircraft flown in the United States, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wis.

[enquirer.com] (More)

GA Flight data recorders?

When there is a GA accident, the non-aviation media always seems to report that "there was no flight data recorder on board."

That may change in the near future as three companies have teamed to bring flight data monitoring to the GA market.

"We call this the GA FDM, which stands for General Aviation Flight Data Monitoring," said Scott Meacham, president of CAP Aviation Consulting Group, which is spearheading the human factors segment of the FDM's development. Alakai Technologies is handling the hardware component, while the software is being developed by Open Aero. [GA News] (More)

FAA funding bill favorable for GA

An FAA funding bill favorable to all of aviation moved much closer to reality this week. The House of Representatives on Sept. 20 passed H.R.2881—the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007. The very next day, the Senate Finance Committee significantly changed the tax provisions of S.1300, taking the Senate’s version of the FAA funding bill much closer to something general aviation could support.

“This was a tremendous week for general aviation in Congress,” said AOPA President Phil Boyer, “and AOPA members made it happen.”

[AOPA] (More)

Hot Threads

  • Bad flap skins?
    If your flap skins droop after bending (and as you clecko them in place) you may be a candidate for new skins from Van's [Yahoo RV7A]
  • Rivet gun for RVs... 2x or 3x?
    Fresh talk about a common question for those preparing to build.  Great tips! [Yahoo RV7A]
  • Breaks for second seat?
    Is it necessary (or a good idea) to have brakes available for the right-seater?  A few opinions from builders who have made various choices.  Interesting that there are folks on both sides who are considering reversing their decisions. [Yahoo RVSQN]
  • Canopy gaps, cats and M&M's
    An entertaining thread, even if the gap on a tip-up canopy doesn't apply to your situation.  If I find Dan C's Fritos bag I'm going to have him sign it for me. [Yahoo RV7A]
  • Nosewheel yolk tucks under during taxi
    Coming onto the apron area, there is a very slight uneveness to the
    surface. The aircraft started to pitch up and down, and then the
    grinding noise started. Chunks of mud started coming into the air
    with the pitch up movement. [Yahoo RVSQN]
  • Flap motor rigging
    How should the flaps be adjusted? [Yahoo RVSQN]
  • What's first in the panel
    When buying your instruments piecemeal, what to get first? [Yahoo RV-7A]
  • Hartzell blade tracking
    Should you and how do you track your blades? [Yahoo RV-7A]

What They're Building

RV-7A, Morral, OH US


Dan Hempy is working on the elevators of his RV-7A

[ExperCraft]
RV-7A, Arlington Heights, IL US


Dan Egan works on the tie-down assembly of the main spar.

[ExperCraft]
RV-9A, Seminole, FL US


Jim Nelson works on his engine

[ExperCraft]