April 2007
Welcome to the first newsletter of the new CRAC year. We had the AGM last Wednesday 11th April.
We had a good turnout in spite of the weather turning real cold and wet.
The new officers for the club are: -
President Mike Sheffield
Secretary/ Treasurer James Sleeman
Club Captain David McPherson
Safety Officer Paul Woodley
Ops Officer Terry Salmon
Committee:
Brent Thompson
Mike Small
Ross Marfell
Bob Boyce
Colin Marshall
Jeff Bannister
It is good to see some new faces on the committee. Mike Sheffield, in his president’s report, thanked members for the work throughout the year. He especially thanked James for the work he has done. We all owe a vote of thanks to James. He does an incredible amount for the club that the general member never sees. He keeps all our accounts in order, deals with the correspondence, keeps the members data base up to date, manages the CRAC web site, just to name a few of the things that he does. Thanks James.
Because the club Mirage EZO is not being flown, it has been offered for sale. If you or somebody you know is interested in purchasing EZO please see Mike Sheffield or mention it to a committee member.
The two Rans S6 training aircraft we have, have been busy throughout the year. JOL has given us great service with only a small mishap with the nose wheel. She has nearly done 1000hrs. We are going to have a 1000 hr party for her. This will be on Saturday 12th May. We will have more details in the next newsletter and on the board in the clubrooms.
JOR has been going strong as well. Unfortunately we have lost two props in the space of two weeks. We have identified the problem and are working towards rectifying it. We are going to put some bigger wheels on which will give a better prop clearance. Other than that JOR is performing very well.
We now have an instructor on duty every Saturday so if you want some instruction there will be an instructor available. You may have to wait in line though as they seem to be fairly busy. Make sure you get there early.
FOR SALE EZO
I am going to try and get a newsletter done every month but might not have enough material. If you have a story please let me know. I know there are some good stories out there. There are a few good trips that people have done. Just send them to me by email or leave them for me at the clubrooms.
Also some experiences that some of you have had that we could all learn from would be good. I would like to have an “I learned about flying from that”. I know it can be embarrassing to tell your story. We can make it anonymous but we can all learn from other people’s experiences.
Happenings around the Field
Chris Pennell now has his aeroplane up and flying. He had a small problem with the fuel system. He now has this sorted and is flying his little heart out.
Duncan Fraser has been flying “Budgie” at every opportunity. He and Chris Pennell flew down to “Woodbury” at Easter time.
Ross Marfell must know the way to “Woodbury” by now. He did at least two trips, one with Dave Mitchell and one with Troy Glover. Ross is very generous with his aeroplane. It is very rare for him to be flying it alone.
James Coleman has now been let loose in his Pietenpol. This is now a regular sight (and sound) around the airfield.
Bryan Tuffnell (tussock) has been seen converting to 3 axis. He has been logging up quiet a few hours on JOL
Sandy Campbell has been training with Mike Small in KTO
Hugh McLaughlan now has his trike flying again after a mishap on a beach. (must be a story there Hugh)
Dave Mitchell has been working hard on his aeroplane, when he is not doing flight training. His wings are now painted up and looking great.
Troy Glover has now done over 60hrs. I think he will have done the most hours of anyone in our club before he has gone solo. He still has 2 years to wait until he is old enough, unless he can get dispensation.
Brian Van Der Velden had a slight mishap at Easter time. Hopefully his plane can be repaired and be back flying soon
New Members
Welcome to new members: -
Carolyn Trevella
Colin McDonald
Alec Christey
Alec is a 16 year old student from Oxford. It is good to see young people joining the club. He will be a good mate for Troy.
Carolyn has had a CPL in Canada so it should not take her long to get up to speed.
Events coming up
Saturday 21st April
Camp Quality Air Fest at Methven
Briefing at 10:00am at the club rooms
We will leave Rangiora around 11:00am to arrive at Methven around 12:00. We will be offering trial flights and static display of our aircraft. This is a great opportunity to show of your aircraft, publicise the club and to support a worthy cause.
Rain day is on Sunday.
Friday 27th April
Friday Night Feed. Meet at club rooms and have a BBQ and social night
Saturday 12th May
1000hr party. JOL will have turned 1000hrs old. Any excuse for a party. More details later when we figure out what we are going to do to celebrate.
Friday 25th May
Friday Night Feed
I need to dispel a few myths about what happened with my Karatoo. Contrary to the story going around, I did check the oil, every day I flew in fact. The problem was the oil stick wasn’t long enough to reach the oil. Now before you all bust your sides laughing, the reason is because the Karatoo is a tail dragger and the dipstick is at the front of the engine, it only needed a drop on the end of the dipstick and the oil would be at the right level in level flight. What I didn’t know was that no matter how many times you dipped and wiped the stick, a residual amount of oil would be on the stick when it was read. So I was losing oil all the time and didn’t know it. Never mind, the engine is fixed and we have a longer dipstick now. One that reaches the oil!!!.
Safe Flying
David McPherson
email your stories to dbmcp@xtra.co.nz