September 2005
Good news -With the price of fuel rocketing we have decided to hold JOL rate at $83 .
Future rates will be reviewed monthly. So take the opportunity to fly ,it might never be cheaper!!.
The warmer weather is approaching and with that there will be more flying ,more aircraft in the air and a greater need for us to be more vigilant both in the air and on the ground. Spend a little more time with that pre-flight ,have a better look around the cockpit and take a little more time with your pre-takeoff checks before taking to the air.
You know what they say about ‘familiarity’ . Be on the lookout for those gremlins that are out there to get you. The more alert we are the less likely we are to see those little bastards. While keeping an eye out for yourself and taking extra care ,spare a thought for your fellow flyers .Look out for unsafe actions or activities that make cause problems in the future. The more we look out for each other the safer we will all be. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the state of your plane or your licence. No one is going to bite your head off. Be proactive about your safety and the safety of others. Our instructors and CFI will be making an effort to make sure people are current and the aircraft certified. Let’s not be complacent and pay the price later on. It’s the responsibility of everyone of us to be safe.
At the last committee meeting a report was read from our new accountant who will provide us with all the legal stuff at the end of the year. The report was glowing and I think the club members can be very pleased with the state of the club financially . Not only have the club assets increased but we continue to gain good income from them even though we do not have the gaming machines. We are well on track to have two aircraft and three engines early in the new year and still be in a healthy financial situation when we have the new plane airbourne.
There are some great social event coming up as detailed later in this newsletter. Get the dust of your plane and join in the fun .
The club is seeing a good surge in membership with some experienced people joining the club. Make yourself know to them and welcome them to the club. Our club has a reputation as being very friendly and down to earth while being very professional in it’s attitude to flying . This is a combination and is what make our club great and a great place to visit on a weekend.
As most of you will have seen from the local and CHCH Mail newspapers recently ,the airfield will be soon seeing a rapid change. While the article inferred that this activity will be solely in the aero club camp let me assure you that this is not the case and a great amount of activity and future development will be initiated by the recreational aircraft club. We have plans to increase our fleet of aircraft to meet the ever increasing demand for recreational flying . We also plan to establish a new major site for future development of our club. We are on the move but we must do it in conjunction with the airfield committee and other users. We will be asked ,at times, to accommodate changes that we may not feel are for the good of our club but the good of all users at the field is the agenda of the council and airfield committee. Be patient and things will happen . We need to keep gentle pressure on the system to ensure we are not left out . Your committee is committed to make sure we benefit from any changes at the field as much as any other group.
The club has purchased another batch of club jackets and hat and they can be purchased from Brent at the airfield. Jackets are $65 and hats are $20.
The most exciting event at the moment is the planning of an overseas trip to Aussie to visit a recreational aircraft rally at Narromine in April of next year. There is a great amount of interest and it promises to be a great trip. Details are later in the newsletter . I encourage you to sign up. It looks as though there a lot of wives interested in going but to be dropped off in Sydney to spend heaps of money. So if you would like to go but don’t give a cr.p about aeroplanes there is a place for you.
So, What’s happening out there?
Barry Gurdler has sold his hangar and his Jodel but promises to be back with a yet undisclosed new plane.
Bevan Chamberlain has bought a Trike from Ken Rolfe and will soon be seen in the air again.
Ross Marfell has delivered his Alpi 200 to it’s new owner in the North Island . He is very pleased with his Alpi 300 as you can read in his article.
Ivan Campbell is very close to flying the Fisher Tiger and is only a matter of weeks away. For those who have not seen it you will be in awe as this machine is a masterpiece fit to be displayed in any museum and would clean up in any building competition oversea’s.
Paul Woodley is well on the way to getting the Fuselage of the new plane built with the cage painted and the longerons fitted. It will be on it’s wheels by the end of next week . All of the new parts have been delivered or will be delivered by the end of the month.
Two first solos-:
Jeffery Bannister soloed on the 7th of August
Stuart Bufton soloed in JOL on the 19th August. Stuart is a PPL man and is awaiting his Zenith 701 kit. Congratulations to you both.
Note:
Aircraft in hangars DO NOT HAVE their park brakes applied. The reason being is in case they have to be removed in a hurry (fire) and the remover is not familiar with releasing the park brakes. Use chocks on the front wheel of JOL when it is in the hangar.
From Operations Manager
JOL OPERATIONS
JOL continues to reliably 'clock up' the hours. When I last looked in the cockpit on the
26th, the Hobbs Meter was showing almost 480hrs! For an aircraft just 13 months old,
this is truly remarkable. That averages out at 1.2hrs for every day of her life! This little
aeroplane never ceases to amaze me!
All you JOL fliers would also have read the notice on the board request ing that you put
her away in the hangar when she's not in use, to keep her out of the sunlight. On your
preflights, you will also have noticed how much her Dacron [ polyester] cover has faded
'topside'. This deterioration is directly caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation - that
is - sunlight. Lets have a look at the problem -
Ultraviolet [UV] radiation makes up about 5% of the sun's energy, and it is this energy
that causes things to oxidise - things like, cotton, nylon, rubber, paint AND
unfortunately, polyester. The chemicals produced by this process attack the base
material and weaken it and it is an ongoing process - the more the sunlight - the
greater the damage. So, bit by bit, a polyester is loosing its strength until finally the
material will rip apart. Naturally, we would rather this did not happen in the air, so
stringent tests are performed an aircraft’s cover. Paul uses a special fabric tester, a
spring loaded device that has a nipple shaped end. If you look closely at JOL's cover,
you will see the imprints this 'gadget' leaves behind. When the material has weakened
sufficiently, the tester will go clean through leaving a small hole behind! At this point,
an aircraft owner had better order a new set of 'sails' for their aircraft! Curiously too, it
is the lighter colours that collect UV damage at a greater rate. How long does this all
take I can hear you ask? Well, it depends on the intensity of the sun. Local opinion
has it that a cover in NZ, typically, will last about 10 years. This is based on an annual
figure of 75 flying hours. I don't have any figures for tests done here [if indeed there
have been any!] but tests done in California showed that polyester loses between 65
and 85% of its strength after only six months daily exposure to sunlight! Now this is
pretty rapid deterioration and that is why it is so important that JOL is 'tucked away' in
the hangar when not in use. Obviously, when JOL is in use, we just have to accept that
this gradual 'weakening' is going on. However, there is a way of slowing it down. Both
Du Pont and Poly Fiber have a 'clearcoating' process that it is reported to slow the
deterioration mentioned above[65-85%] to just 15%. BUT it is expensive! The latest
Spruce Book shows the Poly Fiber system costing - for a RANS sized aircraft - about
US $460. So, remember, when JOL is not in use - put her away!
You JOL people would also have noticed that the refuelling pump now sports a very
nice fuel filter - with assistance from Les Eade. This is a top of the line item that will
strain everything out - including water. Please be careful when transferring the unit
from drum to drum. We don't want it dropped on the concrete floor.
Till next time -
Dave
Events
Sunday 18th September - Flyin at Russell Brodies . Meet at airfield at around 10am if fine .
Friday 23rd September- BBQ at clubhouse with CAA’s Steve Walker who will give us an in sight into air accident investigation.
Bring along some meat and eats ,BBQ with us and have an informative evening.
October 8th - Breakfast at the club followed by a fly away to an undetermined destination . First option is Alistair Ensors place in the Rakia Gorge.
Sunday 30th October - Fly in at Graham Fletchers strip in Culverden. Depart at around 10 am if fine.
Photo 2
From the Club Captain
I recently floated the idea of a club trip to "Natfly" in Narromine, NSW Australia. Natfly is very similar to the flyin at Ashburton. It is for homebuilts micro's and generally for recreational aircraft. Last year there was in excess of 500 aircraft attending. The interest has been very good, so here is the latest proposal. Graeme Main has got some possible flight times and prices.
Thursday 13th April Depart Chch early in the morning.
Arrive Sydney anywhere between 7.30am - 8.30am depending on the flight we get.
We can get a train to Narromine at a cost of $70 each or I suggest we hire a minibus or two. It is a 6 - 7 hr drive. There are various options for accommodation. I think the trip can be done for no more than $1000 each.
We need to get a list of people who would like to go including partners. It looks like we could have enough partners interested to arrange a alternative group activity.
A tentative itinerary is as follows;
Thurs April 13th 2006 6.00am chch to sydney
Sydney to Narromine by rental mini bus (via Bathurst and Dubbo)
Stay at Trangie (Tandara caravan park)
Fri 14th- Mon 17th NatFly at Narromine
Tues 18th Back to Sydney. People may want a couple of days in Sydney to sample
the bright lights of the big smoke before coming home.
We will need confirmation of those that are going along with a $200 deposit by 30th October. I think that the trip will cost roughly $1000 to Narromine.
The sky is the limit for the Partners who stay in Sydney!!!
I have accommodation for $12 a night (bunks in a train carriage) Flights I guess will be around the $500 mark and of course the mini van hire, food and of course the booze for the hopheads.
Any enquiries ring Dave McPherson 03 312 4194
Please send your name to Dave and indicate No attending . We will arrange a meeting of all those registered to finalise details as soon as possible . More details in the next news letter.
Editor—Thanks Dave and Graeme for starting this off with some details
Cheers, Dave
From Ross
Ross's Pioneer 300 ZK-RFT
The Pioneer 300 is built in northern Italy by the Alpi factory. It has classic Italian styling. Ever been impressed by the look of a Ferrari or Maserati?
Construction is a mixture of carbon-fibre, wood and fabric. The fuselage consists of a wooden frame covered by a carbon-fibre shell, while the wings are a generous covering of 2mm thick ply and Dacron. The ailerons ,flaps, rudder and elevator are constructed in the same way. Carbon-fibre is used for the fin and tailplane.
A large bubble canopy slides back and the visibility when flying is excellent. The instrument panels have plenty of room for all the instruments one would ever need or want .
It is powered by a Rotax 912S producing 100hp.The propeller is variable pitched with carbon-fibre blades. It is controlled electrically/hydraulically through an instrument panel mounted control box. The Rotax drives the prop through a 2.43:1 reduction gearbox.
Performance is a startling 1500 fpm climb rate at 65kts. ZK-RFT cruises at 130 kts with the engine set up at 5000rpm and a manifold pressure of 26 inches of Hg.
With fuel the price it is today I am happy that on a 75% power setting(130kts) the fuel burn is 18 litres per hour.
Electrically operated flaps, undercarriage and elevator trim. Warning lights and a horn give warning that one is attempting to land with the wheels up.
The handling is superb with very harmonised controls. The large slotted flaps make the 300 a relatively short field performer.
There is a lack of vibration from the Rotax 912 in the Pioneer. This phenomenon is attributed to the wooden airframe.
No metal fatigue, no corrosion and high strength means wood is still a great material for building today's top microlights. Cover it with carbon-fibre and you have the ultimate.
There are two wing tanks and a fuselage tank just behind the engine. The total fuel capacity is 105 litres.
That's about it. I am still getting use to my Pioneer 300 but so far I am just delighted with her. If you are wondering about the registration; well, apparently if you are a TXTer and send RFT* * * it means "Reach For The stars, or if you would rather have another explanation, RFT stands for Ross's Flying Toy.
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That's it for this reply,
Cheers Ross