CASCADE FLYER April 2006, Vol. 06, Issue 4 Website: http://co-opa.rellim.com/ President's Message: My apologies for missing the last meeting. Both my kids made the regional swimming championships so we had to trek the whole family up to Seattle. The trip was very rewarding as a team and as individuals. Still, part of my heart was at the meeting with all of you. The weather was the usual March Muck up there so we had to take the car. That was yet another flying opportunity weathered out this year. As I write this there are about 8 inches of snow on the ground and it is still coming down. A little dusting of snow for Easter is OK, but this is too much. My plane does not have snow tires. Time for Spring! I heard the new guys at The Flight Shop gave a good presentation on all the plans they have for the business. As always it is great to have them drop by to talk. In other business the club voted to drop our membership in the Bend Chamber of Commerce. Our main purpose in being a member was to be a part of their Balloons Over Bend program. After they sold that to Incredible Events there was no good reason to continue. This month will be a pretty crazy meeting. Greg Phillips has scheduled a City meeting from 6:00pm to 7:30pm to go over the runway relocation project at S07. That pretty much trumps our potluck. So this month we need to get the word out that there will be no potluck and to try to be at the Flight Services Building by 6:00pm so we can attend his meeting as a group. At 7:30pm we will try to have a short meeting of our own. With luck we can convince a few of the other folks at the City meeting to hang around. This month we have Joe Smith, the President Elect of the OPA, dropping in to chat with us. Joe has been visiting as many chapters as he can before he takes office this summer. Let's have a big turnout to hear about the OPA from a statewide perspective. Calendar: 20 April - Monthly Meeting 22 April - Monthly Flyout 18 May - Monthly Meeting 20 May - Monthly Flyout 2-3 June - Central Oregon Fly Safe Clinic 10-11 June - Balloons Over Bend 15 June - Monthly Meeting 17 June - Bend Airport Aviation Day 20 July - Monthly Meeting 22 July - Monthly Flyout Web doings: This month Joel sent in some great shots of the Blue Angels over San Francisco Bay. Wow. I posted them on our web site. Check it out. As always, the CO-OPA website contains recent newsletters and other goodies. http://co-opa.rellim.com To access the members only areas the username is "S07" and the password is "123.0". My Inbox: Bend Airport now has an AWOS! It is still in test mode but it should be fully operational soon. Listen for it on 134.425 MHz. There is also a phone number so you can call it from the ground. For the time being there are no plans to connect it to NOAA, the FSS or the web. My INBOX has also been filling up with plans for the Central Oregon Fly Safe Clinic (http://coflysafe.org) and the Bend Airport Aviation Day (http://bendairport.org). Both groups are in need of volunteers, so if you are going to be around please contact Dave Sailors (dsailors@bendbroadband.com) for the Aviation Day or Dennis Douglas (ddouglas@coastside.net) for the clinic. Random Thoughts: My thoughts, and all our thoughts, go out this month to our friend John Taylor. Among other things John teaches in the Aviation department at COCC and has done many things for the local aviation community. The story, as it has been passed on to me, is that John was not feeling well last Thursday. He thought he had the flu or a reaction to a new medication. The next morning the symptoms persisted so he went to the hospital. There he was informed he was having a heart attack. Angioplasty was scheduled and in the OR the procedure escalated to a triple bypass. The last word was that he was recovering well. We all send our best wishes for a speedy recovery As heart attacks go, this story is a common one, and yet a bit troubling to any pilot. To look at him, John was as fit looking as most any adult I know. As a pilot we know he has had a recent medical. Yet such a serious condition must have been building unnoticed for years. Worse yet it was unappreciated for what it was even as the heart attack was under way. How might the outcome have been different if John had been flying high on a solo cross country? As pilots it is so important that we only act as pilots when we are fit and healthy for the job. Yet so many people suffer heart attacks without recognizing the symptoms. It is very common for people in the midst of a heart attack to refuse assistance even though prompt medical attention is crucial. So as a reminder to myself I looked up the common symptoms. Here are the warning signs according to the American Heart Association: 1. Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. 2. Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach. 3. Shortness of breath. Often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort. 4. Other symptoms. May include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness. Not exactly the unambiguous indications that we would like to have. Which is why so many people do not rush to the hospital as they should. Pilots need to treat these symptoms just as if they suspected a fire on board an aircraft in flight. Take action immediately, if you wait to know for sure it may be too late. Luckily for John it was not too late and we look forward to his company again soon. Gary Miller To Controllers Everywhere: Thank You Sir!!! Last month you heard about my early experience at Mahlon Sweet in Eugene. Here are the rest of that series that I prefaced with "Here are a few stories I thought you might enjoy about some radio contacts I've encountered". At this late date I'm still trying to make sure my brain is in gear before engaging my mouth. I still sometimes grind my gears and strip the threads in some poor controllers' ears. Controller Ralphie "You're new at this, aren't you?" I was dumb struck. I was just announcing my presence on the next sector frequency. I'd never heard Center say anything like that, and in such a derisive tone too. I was silent for a moment but then thought it my responsibility to respond to Centers transmission. I keyed the mic and in my best southern drawl responded that "mai wife is sittin' here beside me and she assures me that it is indeed mai furst tyme today. Ah, how bout you sir, over"? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that there was no response. I suppose he was very busy erasing tapes. There certainly wasn't any other traffic to deal with. Then I heard some laughing on the frequency and a voice, without announcing a call sign say, "wow, it sounds like Ralphie needs a vacation." And then a response from another anonymous Heavy about twenty thousand above me responded with a comment about how Ralphie got this way every month or so. I just double clicked my mic and chuckled at the camaraderie offered. I flew on wondering if I still had flight following services. I didn't hear from that controller again. A few miles later another voice handed me off to another sector. Good job Ralphie. You made the day for several pilots. Controllers Everywhere - continued Chinook Approach Descending at the top of the yellow and skimming over the Rattlesnake Hills at about two hundred feet is a thrilling way to blast out over The Hanford Reach and be at pattern altitude for the Washington Tri-Cities airports. Seattle Center had just handed me off to Chinook Approach and I'd checked in on frequency. My destination was Vista Field, which is in a cutout of the Pasco Class D. I'd never been into the field before and it is nestled in a very urban development. I'd slowed way down and was poking around under the approach/departure paths to the very busy Pasco runways 3/21 left and right, looking for something that seemed more like an airport than a parking lot. The Chinook Controller called and asked if I was familiar with the area, (thank you, thank you, was it that obvious?). I confessed I was not. He pointed out a large shopping center roof and vectored me to the field, mentioned no other traffic observed, and said frequency change approved. I thanked him overly profusely for his courtesy and assistance and proceeded to make a reasonable pattern entry and safe arrival. That guy really took a load of angst off me and contributed to the safety of all operations within my striking distance. It was amazing how much his service contributed to my relaxation and allowed me to widen my attention again and proceed with confidence. RDM Laughs I gave Dwight, RDM tower supervisor, a laugh when he took my call. I requested a left base entry to 28 with taxi to Baxter. There was an uncharacteristic pause and then Dwight came back still sputtering and chuckling and cleared me to enter left base for 28, cleared to land and taxi to Bax,,, er, Butler. I thought he wasn't going to make it through the transmission without cracking up. I confirmed the clearance and wondered where I had gotten Baxter. Six letters, starts with a capital B, ends in er, that's pretty close. Butler, Butler, right there on the side of the hangar as I taxied up. I shut down and climbed out and gave a big wave up at the tower cab and half expected to see a red light signal. STOP. Dwight, ever the gentleman, didn't say anything when I called for taxi from Butler for departure. His laugh muscles were probably still hurting. I do a Controller Impersonation I was working at my desk and monitoring 124.5 when I heard Don Wilfong call for landing at RDM. Don reported down wind as requested and announced his intention to taxi to ButlerŠ I heard his clearances and acknowledgements and gave him about three minutes to taxi up to the ramp. I called Butler and in a very officious manner, asked if Don Wilfong, N20575, had just taxied in and could I speak to him please? They said he was just walking up; please hang on. When Don answered he seemed a little hesitant. I asked if this was Don Wilfong and he acknowledged in a rather tremulous voice that it was. So I said Hi Don welcome to RDM!!! He recognized my voice then; I could just about hear him cursing me as he released his breath. He said something about thinking it was the tower calling but he didn't know what he'd done wrong. I laughed and apologized for surprising him. Now I have to be very careful around Don; I know he's plotting revenge. Salem Scenarios A few years ago I was landing at Salem-McNary for fuel before heading over the Cascades for Bend. I reported downwind for 34 as requested and was told to extend downwind to be number two behind the Cherokee. I didn't see the Cherokee and just kept going downwind. There's a hill a few miles south of the field and it was getting closer and closer. When the tower cleared the Cherokee to land I decided it was time to turn base instead of continuing on south toward Eugene. At the same time the tower advised that I could turn base anytime and I was cleared to land. Well of course that was going to be awhile, I'm sure the Cherokee driver would be tied down and halfway home before I arrived. I got the gas and fired up to depart and the same controller asked me if I had information Juliet. Well, no I didn't, would he stand by? I mean I'd arrived ten minutes ago, it was calm stagnant high pressure but I didn't say the magic words that I had the numbers. It must have been a long day and there wasn't any other traffic. Finally on the runway and cleared on course, I was soon airborne. I called the tower guy and asked for departure to the East. This really ticked him off so I got the lecture about what "cleared on course" means. I responded "clear of your Class D airspace, going to Center." Click. This guy needed a vacation too and, yeah, I know, I needed to brush up on the lingo. Oh well, I was in the air and he was bored stiff in the tower. It was good to be going home. Thank You Sir! I was flying my desk the other day and listening to Seattle Center when I heard a controller working a military flight. I was blown away by what I heard and very proud to be associated with such great people. The controller cleared the flight to climb to FL320 and frequency change approved. Then the controller added, "thank you sir for serving in our military." The pilot came back with "FL320, going to 351.7, THANK YOU SIR!" A Grateful Ed Endsley. Thank YOU Sir!!! COOPA SAFETY CORNER By Joel Premselaar The recent resurgence of early light aircraft that meet FAA's 1,320-pound weight limitation for the new light sport aircraft (LSA) category, tweaked my memory box. I couldn't help comparing pre-WWII Cubs, Aeroncas, and other such machines with the sophisticated glass cockpit LSAs of today. The old "Clark Y" airfoils were built by the mile and cut off by the yards to accommodate many types of pre WW-II light aircraft. The props were mostly two bladers made of wood. I used the word "mostly" 'cause there was a one bladed prop with a counter-balancing load that appeared on a few of those old birds. Yes, I meant a one bladed prop that, believe it or not, is a more efficient configuration than any other combination; no disturbance to the following blade! This was followed by adjustable pitch before constant speed props came along. Almost all light planes of that era were tail draggers. The first tricycle-geared aircraft I ever flew was the F7F Tigercat! Control sticks prevailed. 'Dep' controls (wheel type flight controllers named after Deperdussin its inventor) began appearing in greater numbers. Ah, the pendulum does swing. Stick controllers are returning, albeit as side controllers along with the conventional stick. Oh, I do go on. O.K., Ill stop playing historian and get to a point I'd like to make. By flying the planes most of us do, we are depriving ourselves of the joy of flying 1,000 feet AGL where: cars below were passing us, distance traveled was measured by counting section lines, speed and direction of the wind was determined by the movement of cloud shadows, towns were identified by having their names painted in bold print on their water towers and barn roofs, crops were identifiable, folks afoot waved at you and by throttling back to Idle you could, in a stentorian voice, ask for directions, every ten miles the airways flashed Morse coded letters, and so it went on and on. Gadzooks! Nostalgia will not release its grip on me. Allow me to pause here; I feel the need to blot my eyes and wipe my nose -------- thank you for that. Cubs, Taylorcrafts, Aeroncas, Luscombes, etc. are being duplicated. The present generation of pilots and pilots-to- be will be introduced to a new aspect of flight, but best of all, LSAs and such will allow us oldies to recover the pleasures of the past. A current aviation magazine carried an article titled "How to Use the VOR." It elicited some concerns from me regarding VORs. Many years ago, I was flying toward Sacramento's VOR from the south. The reception was intermittent and the needle wandered sporadically. I was VFR and had time to analyze the problem. I assumed it was caused by ground-based structures. After eliminating that possibility, I was left with aircraft structure. I made visual contact with the VOR's transmitter - it was dead ahead. I surmised that the only physical obstruction between the VOR's transmitter and the aircraft's VOR antenna was my prop. I changed the RPM and the problem vanished. The prop was interfering with the signal. Some years ago Bill Dolf, then owner of Leading Edge Avionics, led a discussion on avionics at a COPA meeting. When the subject of VORs arose, I described my VOR episode to the group. Many of you were not at that meeting. Another thought struck me regarding VORs. Ground based VOR transmitters are oriented with the magnetic north pole, not the geographic North Pole. The magnetic north pole is migrating about 40 kilometers (25 statute miles) per year and is presently moving northwest at an increasing rate. In addition, the magnetic north pole executes an elliptical movement of about 80 kilometers (50 statute miles) from an average central point daily. The question among the scientific community is, "If history is any guideline, we are due to experience another polar reversal, is this its beginning?" Curiosity regarding the magnetic north pole prompted me to examine the impact of its behavior upon us as pilots. Variations depicted on our sectionals are changed on 1 January every five years, e.g. 01/01/1995, 01/01/00, 01/01/05, etc. The same is true regarding Jeppesen's Enroute Charts. Jeppesen was kind enough to provide me with the answers to my many questions. I checked the depiction of variation (V) isobars on the Jeppesen chart for 12° east and 13° east. My probe produced some interesting results .... On April 2004, the distance between V 12°E and V 13°E at latitude 42°N was 96 nm while, at the same time, it was 164 nm at latitude 35°N, a difference of 68 nm. On April 2006, the distance between V12°E and V13°E at latitude 42°N was 104 nm while at the same time, it was 185 nm at latitude 35°N, a difference of 81 nm. It should not come as a surprise since the difference between variations expands as they move southward. It's evident from the depictions on the charts. It is of some concern that when you consider the difference in distance between variations 12°E and 13°E at 35°N is 21 nm (185 nm minus 164 nm) changed on our charts over night. It's also interesting that the magnetic headings of the airways remained the same. The questions arising from this are: " What is the impact on the margin of safety in mountainous areas?" and "At what point do they physically reorient VORs to magnetic north?" "What is the FAA's position knowing that manpower to execute the changes all at once doesn't exist?" I tried to get some answers to many questions arising from this study from the net; however, I got lost in a morass of dead-end information. This is all the more reason to "go GPS." Although problems abound with GPS, it is the least of the many technological evils that plagues aviation. I don't mean to assume a negative posture. Our nav systems are useable if you know their constraints and operate within them. Some day I may corral an appropriate FAA type who will provide me with official answers. Dream on Joel, dream on! Bend AWOS! Hello all, The Bend Airport AWOS is now FULLY FUNCTIONAL! The FAA gave approval today (April 17) to take the system out of TEST mode and the phone line was installed on cue today. The number for the new dedicated phone line for the system is (541) 382-1477. The VHF frequency, again, is 134.425. Give it a call and let me know what you think. Best regards, Greg Phillips Bend Municipal Airport Manager GPS, VORs, (and NDBs), etc: As we increasingly depend on the GPS system, we have not yet seen the effects of a peak in the 11 year sunspot cycle ... we expect the sunspot minimum late this year, with the peak 5-6 years later, say around 2012. Effects from this will likely cause increased drag and even disruption of GPS satellites' functionality, as the ionosphere expands with increased solar activity. Maybe the WAAS system, or the recently commissioned DGPS (Differential GPS) ground station network, will be able to counteract this, by transmitting corrective data, but who knows? Did you know there are several DGPS stations within reception range of central Oregon? Our nearest is at Fossil. They transmit in the same frequency range as NDBs, and require a specialized receiver to decode and correct standard GPS data for greatly increased positional accuracy. But did you know a DGPS signal can be used as a long range NDB (if you have not uninstalled your 'obsolete' ADF receiver)? Long range, because they are high power stations, but undependable after dark, as are regular, conventional NDBs! Are they a legal way to navigate? Not for IFR, but as another support for 'positional awareness', why not?? Just as legal as using your local AM broadcast station as an NDB ... you DO know where they are and their frequencies ... right? There's nothing to prevent you adding DGPS and broadcast stations as waypoints on your (non-certified) GPS map and using the ADF as a backup when/if the GPS system goes belly-up! Mike Bond COOPA / POSSIBLE FLYOUT DESTINATIONS for 2006 Airport Identifier Comments Albany, OR S12 Restaurant Astoria, OR AST Restaurant & Marine Museum Baker City, OR BKE Air Show Bandon, OR S05 Courtesy Van to great Restaurants Caldwell, ID EUL Restaurant Chiloquin, OR 2S7 Restaurant Coeur d'Alene, ID COE Restaurant - Overnight ??? Condon, OR 3S9 Maybe Brown Bag Lunch Bag location Dalles, OR/WA DLS Restaurant Eugene, OR EUG Restaurant & Aviation Museum Florence, OR 6S2 Courtesy Cars to great Restaurants Gold Beach, OR 4S1 Restaurant & Rogue River Mailboat trips Hillsboro, OR HIO Airshow Independence, OR 7S5 Restaurant & Museum with bicycles provided to get there Klamath Falls, OR LMT Restaurant Lewiston, ID LWS Restaurant Lexington, OR 9S9 Brown Bag Lunch Location McMinnville, OR MMV Airshow. Spruce Goose Aviation.Museum shuttle provided Medford, OR MFR Restaurant Nehelam Bay, OR 3S7 Maybe Brown Bag Lunch Location Nampa, ID S67 Restaurant & P-40 Museum Richland, WA RLD Restaurant Salem, OR SLE Restaurant Tillamook, OR S47 Restaurant & Military A/C Museum Walla Walla, WA ALW Restaurant - Overnight ??? NOTE: Great Outdoor locations will be chosen for Brown Bag Flyouts PLEASE CHECK THE LIST, & E-MAIL YOUR COMMENTS ALONG WITH ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE. Thanks, Curt Turner. curtis@bendbroadband.com __________________________________________________________________________________ COOPA officer contact info: President Gary E. Miller 20340 Empire Blvd., E-3 Bend, OR 97701 541-382-8588 gem@rellim.com Vice President Nancy Lecklider 3054 NW Clubhouse Dr Bend, OR 97701 541 330-1853 leckone@bendcable.com Secretary/Treasurer Don Wilfong 210 SE Cessna Dr Bend, OR 97702 541 389-1456 dwnw@bendbroadband.com Flyout Chair Curtis Turner 20386 Big Bear Court Bend, OR 97702 541 317-1670 curtis@bendbroadband.com Program Chair Ed Endsley 63505 Bridle Ln Bend, OR 97701 541 382-6414 ed@edendsley.com And finally, send Newsletter inputs to Mike Bond, 22052 Banff Drive Bend, OR 97702 541 317-8443 mvbond@myexcel.com