CASCADE FLYER June 2009, Vol. 09, Issue 6 Website: http://co-opa.com/ President's Message: Flight safety is always an important topic for pilots and with our skills a tad rusty from a long winter it was good to talk pattern safety for our May program. Our own David Dressler led the program and with his experience as an Air Traffic Controller, a fixed wing pilot and a gyroplane pilot we were served up multiple points of view. I sure wish every pilot that lands at KBDN had been there to participate. There was an incident at our airport last week where two pilots were doing an excellent job at announcing their location and intent as they setup for landing. The only problem was that one was on final for 16, and one on final for 34, and neither was actually listening to what was being said on the radio. Luckily some people on the ramp took notice, and then alerted the pilots to the situation. Safety not only means following all the procedures, but also paying attention to the situation at hand. Never let your situational awareness lapse. Refreshers like we had in May help us do that. Storing your airplane is as important as flying it, even if the immediate dangers are not obvious. So this month we will hear about the developments on the east side of the airport from Aero Facilities partner Kerry O'Neal. Anyone curious as to the hustle and bustle going on north of the Epic facility will want to attend. Plan to arrive around 6pm for general gabbing. Then bring a dish to share during our potluck at 6:30pm and stay for the formal program at 7pm. Calendar: 18 June - Monthly Meeting 20 June - Monthly Flyout 16 July - Monthly Meeting 18 July - Monthly Flyout (overnight Johnson Creek?) 14-15 August - 99s Palms To Pines 20 August - Monthly Meeting 21-22 August - Central Oregon Air Show - Madras 22 August - Monthly Flyout 29 August - OPA Annual meeting - Albany Air Fair 17 September - Monthly Meeting 19 September - Monthly Flyout Web doings: The Central Oregon Air Show at Madras Airport (S33) will be back in style again this year Friday 21 August and Saturday 22 August. They have posted this years schedule on their website: http://www.cascadeairshow.com/ To access the members only areas the username is "BDN" and the password is "123.0". My Inbox: KBDN airport manager Gary Judd has emailed updates on the airport construction. The new Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) and Pilot Control Lighting (PCL) systems are installed but await final programming and flight testing by the FAA to be operational. With luck we will be have fully operational lighting by the time bad weather arrives in the fall. Also of note is the new National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN) add-on to our recently moved AWOS. The NADIN integrates the data from the KBDN AWOS into the same NOAA system as METARs from other US airports. All your favorite METAR sites should now have current and historical weather reports from Bend Municipal Airport. Once NOAA has accumulated 2 years of baseline data we will even get TAFs! Random Thoughts: Wow, what a difference a few weeks make. The weather has been grand (mostly) and our local calendar has been filled with worthy GA events. So much has happened there is no way I can do justice to any of it so here are just the high points so far. It all started off with our monthly fly-out to Hood River Airport (4S2). Our original destination restaurant was closed, but the fine folks at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum (WAAAM) kindly lent us several cars and we hopped into town for brunch at Shari's. Upon our return to the airport we spent quite a lot of time at the wonderful new museum. They bill themselves as the best antique aircraft museum in the nation and I have not heard of a collection to come close to theirs. Almost all the aircraft are in airworthy condition and are a site to see. More information is on their web page: http://www.waaamuseum.org/ The week after that Bend hosted the Oregon Pilot's Association board meeting in the COCC classroom. The business of the OPA can be a bit tedious, but the camaraderie of our fellow OPA members and the visit to see the Stratos mockup and the X-Air assembly operation more than made up for the paperwork. The Stratos operation is designing the fastest and longest range four place single engine right here in Bend. X- Air occupies the same hanger and is assembling the X-Air LS. For under $60k you can have a ready to fly and well equipped light sport aircraft (LSA). These are two very exciting projects and OPA members were given the inside dope in them. More info on the companies is on their web sites: http://www.stratosaircraft.com/ http://www.x-airlsa.com/ The first Saturday in June was the annual Bend Airport Day. We always have a lot of fun things to see that day. This year was special as we had an F-15 fly-by from two jets based at Klamath Falls. There are so many people to thank for making the day a huge success, but special mention has to go out to Butch Roberts and Professional Air for their hard work. Crowd estimates vary, but easily a few thousand folks enjoyed the breakfast, the airplanes, and the beautiful day at the airport. The next weekend saw the 45th annual Hayward Air Rally come to Bend via Redding Municipal Airport (RDD). This was a rally, not a race. The participants all forecast the duration and fuel burn to fly over a fixed course. Then they have to disable all their fancy electronics and fly the course using nothing but old fashion pilotage and VORs (not even DME). Even after dodging thunderstorms from Klamath Falls to Bend the top competitors were able to accurately meet the forecast times to a few seconds and fuel burn to a tenth of a gallon. A precision beyond anything I would have thought possible. Many local pilots volunteered to welcome the crews to Bend and help with parking and scoring. Volunteers scored event T-shirts, access to the hospitality suite, the awards banquet and were able to tour Epic Aircraft with the rally mob. A good time was had by all and Bend will likely be next year's destination as well. What a great start to the summer flying season and hopefully much more is in store for us. Gary Miller FLY-OUT FUN....... MAY 23 we met at Pro-Air for a departure at 0900..... We had quite a group show up for the trip to Hood River to tour WAAAM The Antique Airplane and Auto Museum.......The Weather Gods smiled on us and we had a great flight....... Take a look at the group picture and see how many you can recognize... If you are having trouble recognizing most everybody.........it is time for you to start showing up for the potluck/ meetings on the 3rd Thursday of each month and for the fly-outs on the following Saturday each month to get reacquainted with the members of your group "CO-OPA" Central Oregon Chapter of Oregon Pilots Assoc. I had called ahead on Friday and confirmed that a cafe was easy walking distance from parking and that if someone was not up to walking the people at the museum would provide transportation .........well .......... the cafe was closed for the Holiday weekend so the people at the museum loaned us 3 vehicles to drive down and have breakfast a couple of miles away.... very nice and very much appreciated..... We had our breakfast and returned to the museum for a very interesting unguided tour. They have a large number of antique aircraft (almost all airworthy) and a lot of antique autos displayed in two large buildings. It entailed a lot of walking and the two ladies in our group did not feel up to the task ...... so ...........their one modern wheel chair was used by Mary-Louise Sandine. The museum people went out in the display area and brought in an antique wooden wheel chair for us to use.........see the attached photo of Ann Bond being pushed around by Don Wilfong. (Ed Note: I have been allowed to pose the question: how many antiques can you find in this photo) We spent a good deal of time admiring the beautifully restored planes, motor vehicles and much more (there is a lot to see). Some of us have been there more than once and will want to go back again......There is far too much to absorb in just one visit. It is really a wonderful collection, the people do everything possible to make your visit enjoyable and it is quite reasonable. Gary Miller (CO-OPA President) will be selecting the fly-out destination for June, so plan to attend the Meeting/Potluck coming up on Thursday June 18, with the fly-out on Sat. June 20. Now that the flying weather is here......don't waste it........plan to go along on our fun Fly-outs......We always have a good time. Blue skies and tail winds to you all...... Don Wilfong Taxi Terror I was taxing in after hours and approaching my accustomed parking space pointed right at the fuel tanks. This was when they were right beside the FBO before they were moved to the self-serve location. The fuel truck was there filling up and as I was getting ready to shut down the line guy started to pull away. That's when I heard this loud twang that was loud enough to be heard over the idling engine and under my headset. This was a twang like Jimi Hendrix would have produced in a stadium concert; this was world class loud and rather nicely musical really. My first reaction was to admire the noise and wonder what that could have possibly been. Then I saw the gas truck pulling away trailing the broken six inch hose from the bulk tank and aviation fuel spewing all over the place not fifty feet in front of me! I immediately realized that I was about to be roasted. I was the closest ignition source sitting there with a running engine and prop pulling that vapor toward me. Expletive expressed repeatedly but deleted here… I was sure the explosion would be a spectacular experience but I wanted the hell out of there, like right now, but not in a fireball. I stomped on the left brake and hit the throttle to produce the quickest pirouette possible to get the hell out of Dodge. If it was going to explode I was going to be taking off on the front of the blast wave even if it was across the ramp. Besides I thought a take off blast from the prop might keep the fumes away from me. I was going kind of fast when I got to the edge of the ramp and saw only dirt in front of me. I hauled back on the elevator and managed to get through the soft stuff and up onto the taxiway. Looking back I saw the line guy running away from the truck, downwind… If it did blow, there was going to be barbeque… Since things seemed to be settling down without a fiery disaster, I decided it would be safe now to park somewhere upwind and went about finding a space and shutting down. It was with some trepidation that I took a wide path back to the Flight Shop office where I encountered the line guy fumbling with the pay phone. He seemed rather discombobulated and didn't seem interested in my suggestion to call 911… Without a Hollywood movie worthy conflagration, I was just really happy to get to my car and skedaddle. I never did see that line guy again. There must have been some employment review issues… Ed Endsley AIRPORT APPRECIATION DAY The weather gods were kind and the day was perfect for the event. There were lots of people, cars, planes and motorcycles showed up for everyone to see. There were both airplane and helicopter rides and the Hot Air Balloon group started to inflate one of their large balloons but there was a little too much of a breeze for the limited area they had to work in so they deflated it and put it away. They still drew a crowd around the basket with its burners roaring now and then. The Jets, Helicopters, Antique Aircraft, Antique and Collector Cars and the many other things that were on display together with the display booths all made for a very interesting time to just walk around and appreciate everything Gary Miller, (Our Central Oregon Chapter of Oregon Pilots Association President) manned the P.A. System and in spite of partial equipment failure, did a great job of keeping everyone informed as to what was going on and what to see. The food service was overwhelmed as they did not expect near the turnout of hungry people that showed up.....the pancake feed had a long line and they ran out of batter.........the 3456 Cafe had so many hungry people that there was a 1 hour wait. The outside food service went right from pancakes to hamburgers and they were delicious. The Air force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Link, COCC, EAA, Ninety Nines, Pro-Air, Precise Flight, X- Air Light Sport Aircraft and quite a few others that I have failed to mention were represented. All in all it was a very interesting event and I am sure introduced a lot of people to the tremendous value of the airport and all of the jobs and dollars it produces for the local economy. We owe a very special THANKS to Butch and Pro-Air for the great job of putting this all together. We will all be looking forward to next year. Don Wilfong =================================================================== COOPA officer contact info: President Gary E. Miller 109 NW Wilmington Ave Bend, OR 97701 541-382-8588 gem@rellim.com Vice President --------OPEN---------- Secretary/Treasurer Don Wilfong 210 SE Cessna Dr Bend, OR 97702 541 389-1456 wilfong.d@gmail.com Temp Fly-out Chair Don Wilfong 210 SE Cessna Dr Bend, OR 97702 541 389-1456 wilfong.d@gmail.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@spiritone.com