CASCADE FLYER August 2008, Vol. 08, Issue 8 Website: http://co-opa.com/ President's Message: Many thanks to Rick Schrameck for dropping by last month. We heard from the horse's mouth about all the great things that are happening at Epic Aircraft right here in Bend. Most small aircraft companies would be content to have an airplane that can haul six people at three hundred forty knots for over 1800nm with a full payload. Not Epic, they just had to start all over and create new single and twin engine jets to round out the product line. If you missed the presentation you can still check the company out on their web site: http://www.epicaircraft.com. Our guest speaker this month will be our own Richard Benson and he will be telling us all about Monument Airport (12S) and its environs. The airport is a bit unusual. Unlike most canyon airports the runway is at a right angle to the river and has a 5% grade! Nothing really to worry about but this briefing from Richard will prepare us for this unique airport. 12S will be our destination for a special flyout on September 13th. So be sure to attend our meeting so Richard can brief us about the airport and the barbecue and other events planned for the flyout. Plan to come by around 6pm for hanger flying and stick around for our Olympic class pot-luck at 6:30pm and the meeting at 7pm. Calendar: 21 August- Monthly Meeting 22-23 August - Central Oregon Airshow (Madras) 23 August- Monthly Flyout (Madras) 23 August- OPA State Convention in Eugene 13 September - Barbecue @ Monument 18 September - Monthly Meeting 20 September - Monthly Flyout 16 October - Monthly Meeting 18 October - Monthly Flyout 20 November - Monthly Meeting 22 November - Monthly Flyout My Inbox: Sometimes my Inbox is special for what is not in it. In this case I had to learn about major doings from the Bend Bulletin and Z21. With virtually no notice, to anyone, the City of Bend was meeting with the Deschutes County Commissioners to create an Urban Renewal Plan around the Bend Airport. At that meeting the Commissioners determined that public notice was so deficient that they tabled the first reading for a week. Who knew the city could move major business so quietly? Who knows why the city would want to do so? It certainly did not stop detractors of the plan from testifying and failed to rally airport supporters to the plan. Leaving aside for now the questions of how this plan is coming to be, let's look at the plan itself. Raising money for the Bend Airport has been problematic. The city of Bend pays for the airport, but taxes raised at the airport go to Deschutes county which has not been funding anything at the airport. The airport continues to create many good jobs but many holding those jobs live outside the city and so do not provide votes for the city council or taxes for the city coffers. In short, the city pays for the airport and the county gets much, or maybe most, of the benefit. Creating an Urban Renewal Plan is a way to redress this imbalance. Under the Plan, any increase in taxes collected at the airport would be spent at the airport. Still, there are a few troubling things about this plan. It specifies funding for a number of projects, but some are not on the current Airport Master Plan. The Airport Master Plan is the result of years and years of accumulated work; It is approved by the airport community, the city, the county and the FAA to provide an integrated plan for the next 20 years of airport growth. All of a sudden this new plan comes out of nowhere embodying specific projects that have never even been considered as part of the master plan. Something is wrong here. Still, on balance, this Urban Renewal Plan is very much what the airport needs to continue to grow well. So call your favorite County Commissioner and tell them to vote yes. Web doings: The home page now has 3 photos from Richard Benson of Monument and the airport there. Looks like fun! And as always you can see our newsletters, useful aviation links, and more on our web site: http://co- opa.com/ To access the members only areas the username is "BDN" and the password is "123.0". Random Thoughts: Pretty much everyone I talk to lately will mention that the traffic pattern at Bend Airport is getting a little crazy these days. The problems fall into three main areas: creative traffic pattern procedures, communications and noise abatement. I was taught, and we commonly see, many different ways to enter the traffic pattern at a non-tower airport. Some use an upwind leg and enter the traffic pattern at the crosswind leg. Others cross midfield and turn onto the downwind. Still others will set up a long straight in final. All of these would be acceptable when offered by the tower at a controlled airport, but all are problematic at Bend Airport. I had suspected that these approaches may have been standard in the past, but checking an AIM from 1977 shows that this has not been the case for a while. Since at least then the AIM (section 4-3-3) recommends just one way: "Enter pattern in level flight, abeam the midpoint of the runway, at pattern altitude." This is especially important at KBDN because we have not one, but three active traffic patterns. First, there is the obvious left traffic for powered fixed wing aircraft. Second there is a right traffic pattern, at the same altitude for gliders. Third there is a right traffic pattern at 500 feet for helicopters. This is not academic, all three get heavy use here. It should now be obvious why an upwind leg is a bad idea at KBDN. It may put you head on with a very slow and hard to see glider. Similarly a mid-field crossing entry has you crossing the glider downwind. A short detour to a 45degree entry avoids these potential problems. The long final is a little less problematic but can lead to frayed tempers. If there is traffic in the normal pattern it is really hard for an aircraft on a long final to sequence into the other traffic. After a long cross-country a long straight is welcome, but not worth it if you disrupt the pattern. Worse yet you may encounter a NORDO on short final and get a real surprise. This brings us to the issue of radio communications. Sure we are not required to have or use radios at a non- towered airport but it sure helps. Pilots should self announce when inbound, entering downwind, turning base and turning final. It also should go without saying that pilots should also be listening when other pilots are making these reports. I have recently witnessed several near mid air collisions because one pilot was not following this using his radios. All of them classic low wing descending upon high wing incidents --- one in which I was an unwitting participant. Remember to use those radios! The last issue is noise abatement. There is never a public meeting about Bend Airport business when there is not a resident, or five, from Cimarron City protesting. When more people protest airport operations it is harder for the airport to get needed funding. (See My Inbox above). I would like here to give a link to the Fly Friendly brochure, but that link has been broken on the city web site for some time. Worse yet the city has no intention of fixing it until the next revision of the brochure is available. Not going to hold my breath on that one. Cimarron City is located to the north east of the airport and if you are flying a normal left traffic pattern to runway 16 you will fly right over it. Please do not do this! Be sure to keep your downwind to 16 in tight so as to avoid this very noise sensitive area. We also need to keep a good altitude over Alfalfa and the nearby cities. Central Oregon has a lot of totally unpopulated areas to fly over, so lets avoid the few areas that will cause complaints. KBDN is no longer a sleepy country airport, so we need to shape up! August meeting Plan to attend the Thursday, August 21, 2008, Central Oregon - Oregon Pilots Assoc. meeting in the Bend Airport Flight Services Terminal Building at 6PM for a pot luck dinner and a very special program. Everyone is welcome! Richard Benson will be our passionate guest speaker this month. Richard will be discussing high altitude one way strips in preparation for a group flyout to Monument (12S) for a BBQ potluck (more details at the meeting) that he and Debbie are graciously hosting on September 13th. Richard has a special love for back-country strips and I can personally attest to his smooth technique and expertise. His presentation will include: The 'illusions' on the 2200'--narrow--5% uphill-- Monument runway which is at 2323 MSL; taxiing on the gravel w/o damaging the prop; the canyon flying options of the immediate area; canyon flying safety & etiquette; the local MTR's; other airstrips in the area; land-based recreation options of the immediate area; motel--store—tavern facilities; and more... Richard suggests that you bring your SEA & K-Falls sectionals with you if you desire to know about the other airports in the Monument vicinity, MTR's, canyon routes, etc... He & Debbie will shuttle folks to & from the airstrip & the motel for those who spend the night (it is very inexpensive----see link----plus a 5% discount for our flyin)... http://www.monumentmotel.com/ Don't miss this opportunity for a very entertaining and informative evening. Bring your friends for flying fellowship, fine food, and fabulous fun!!! http://co-opa.com Ed Endsley, CO-OPA Program Chair ed@edendsley.com July flyout: Independence biplane flyin Gary Miller's Turbo Centurion and the Bond's Cardinal RG made a smooth trip over the Cascades on July to visit this event at the Independence Airpark just SE of Salem's Class D airspace. The lunch was good too, overlooking the ramp at the Starduster Café … and the TravelAir was giving rides all day. Mike Bond =========================================================== 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 Temp Flyout Chair Don Wilfong 210 SE Cessna Dr Bend, OR 97702 541 389-1456 dwnw@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@spiritone.com