CASCADE FLYER September 2005, Vol. 05, Issue 9 Website: http://co-opa.rellim.com/ President's Message: It has been taking longer and longer to start the meeting on time. That makes it look to me like we need an open meeting just to catch up. We have a lot of things to catch up on, as individuals and as a group. So this month, the features speakers will be ourselves! Over the summer our members had a lot of flying adventures, so come prepared to tell the rest of the group about them. We also have an event to plan. Nancy Lecklider has been working on organizing a short field landing clinic for us. She has also marshalled help from the 99s and the FAA to create a fun event that will also qualify for the WINGs program. Now is the time to nail down the final details and just do it. Thanks again to Don Mobley for coming down to our meeting last month and doing a warm-up program for the Madras Airshow. It must have worked because a lot of our group was present for that wonderful event. The nearby field burning left the sky a bit hazy, but otherwise the day, and night, was nearly perfect. A special treat was the MiG-19 kicking in the afterburner with the sunset behind Mt. Jefferson in the background. Best of all was Manfred Radius doing loops and rolls in the moonless night inside his fireworks spewing glider. Don and the rest of the many people that put on the show did a great job again this year. Also deserving special mention was the missing man formation of RV's in memory of our own Tom Ellsberg. Tom will be missed. Next month we are sure to have another great speaker, if you know who it should be then please drop me hint. Calendar: 13-15 September CAF B-24 & B29 at RDM 15 September - Monthly Meeting 17 September - Monthly Flyout 20 October - Monthly Meeting 22 October - Monthly Flyout 17 November - Monthly Meeting 19 November - Monthly Flyout 15 December - Monthly Meeting 16 December - Monthly Flyout 17 June 2006 - Bend Airport open house Web doings: 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: The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) will be bringing a B-24 and a B-29 to Redmond the 13th to the 15th of September. John Taylor is looking for donations of time, money, gas and lodging to help make it happen. You can reach John at 318-3833. Random Thoughts: I know a few people that do not watch TV nor read the newspapers. The rest of us have seen a lot of news coverage about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. Now it is becoming non-stop coverage of the finger pointing. Silly stories of governmental snafus abound. There are stories of firefighters not allowed in to New Orleans until they passed a two day course on sexual harassment. Refugees stranded at the New Orleans airport because the TSA could not "properly" screen the passengers before boarding emergency evacuation flights. Buses and trucks stopped at the edge of the city awaiting paperwork. This all points up a case where the FAA really gets it, and gets it right. When human life at stake it is time to ignore the rulebooks and just do what needs to be done: FAR 91.3 (b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency. FAR 121.557 (a) In an emergency situation that requires immediate decision and action, the pilot in command may take any action that he considers necessary under the circumstances. In such a case he may deviate from prescribed operations procedures and methods, weather minimums, and this chapter, to the extent required in the interests of safety. Pilots need to take a moment and be thankful that the FAA actually trusts us to just do the right thing in an emergency. The paperwork can wait until later. As the events down south show, this is a very rare and special priviledge that we need to honor and protect. We need to always act in a manner worthy of that trust. It is often fashionable to find fault with the FAA. We all have our faults. When holding them up to some other government agencies in the news they still look pretty good to me. Gary Miller FLY-OUT FUN IN AUGUST: Hey Gang...August was a month of fun things to do.... We had a great fly-out to McCall where several planes from Bend showed up. Seen at McCall ... This really is a T-6! Modern nose art, on a Kitfox Waiting for Wings instructors ... FLY-OUT FUN continued ...I think everyone got in some good flying into some of the Idaho strips...they have really cut back on the ones they will let you go into....I think it is because the Instructors are volunteer and some of them are not familiar with the back country strips themselves.... Sawtooth Mountain Range on a very smoky day Ed Note: We got to overfly Bruce Meadows to move the elk off the strip before landing. _______________________________________ We had a fly-out to McMinnville for their airshow with a stop at the Flying M for breakfast. ....there were three planes went to the Flying M ... Bill and Betty Witt in their Skylane, Gary with Ed Endsley and Bob Nash and his wife in Gary's Turbo 210 and Don Wilfong with Bob Lecklider and Lyle Nelson in Don's Skylane. I know there were others from Bend too but I am not sure who they were... There were a lot of planes on display and they had some interesting aerobatics going on too. Some of us went to the Museum and viewed the Spruce Goose, the SR-71 and all the other very interesting display aircraft... Then there was the Airshow at Madras .... as usual Don Mobley had a great static display of air craft and antique and classic cars ... The Wilfong's 182 was parked right out front (we got there early) so a bunch of the Bend contingent parked their chairs in the shade of the wings and watched the airshow.... The airshow program was a little slow getting going but it was worth the wait.... Don Wilfong AUTOMOTIVE EVOLUTION Hi !!! Sorry to have to break this to you this way... Bill Gates has said that if GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 miles per gallon. GM responded that if they had developed technology like Microsoft we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics: 1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice daily. 2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car. 3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason and you would just accept this, restart and drive on. 4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart in which case you would have to reinstall the engine. 5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought "Car98" or "CarNT," but then you would have to buy more seats. 6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, be reliable, go five times as fast and be twice as easy to drive, but would run on only 5% of the roads. 7. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car fault" warning light. 8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size "body." 9. The airbag system would say "are you sure?" before going off. 10. Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lift the door handle, turn the key, and grab hold of the radio antenna. 11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary) even though they neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this feature would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or more. 12. Every time GM introduced a new model, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again, because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car. 13. You'd have to press the start button to shut off the engine. Here are some additional general tips from Ed. 14. Without the optional memory upgrade, do not operate more than three systems at a time. ie. If you need the windshield wipers, the climate controls, and the turnsignals; do not shift into reverse or use the brakes. At least one of the other systems must be turned off first or unpredictable results may occur. There is no documentation on which conditions will cause conflicts. 15. There are no user servicable parts so there is no users manual. You aren't expected to understand how it works. Nor is anyone else. It's just intuitive; you get it or you don't. Think like us. Don't "Think Different." ((c) Apple Computer) 16. When all else fails, call our help line, which is available 24/7. Due to a high call volume an associate will be with you in 24 hours or 7 days. Your call is important to us so please stay on the line. If you prefer you may contact customer service on the web and we will respond just as soon as possible after the warranty expires. 17. Thank you for purchasing our new product and testing it for us. We hope you will have many trouble free minutes of use. Extra minute contracts are available. 18. Since your warranty just expired we would suggest you download our new improved version that solves some issues and offers great new features. Brakes, turn signals, and jumper cables will be included standard this year. You can assemble and install it yourself and in no time be driving to our new expanded service center for all those other options and patches you might wish to have to extend your new vehicle's functionality. Please have your credit card available. 19. Middle East Gasoline is the preferred fuel for your new system, however Gas.01 or soon to be available Gas.02 will give you enhanced performance when you are feeling gaseous or vacuous. Remember that your mileage may vary. 20. Alt-Control-Delete is your friend. Please remember to pull over to the side of the road before applying this remedy. As a last resort, get out of the car and then get back in and push the big button in the middle of the dash. If you don't have a big button, call Customer Service between the hours of 24/7 eastern pacific daylight time. Good luck ! We hope these tips help you enjoy this marvelous new age of auto motion. Contributed by our Ed Endsley Earlier airshows ... Here's a photo of Manfred Radius doing the inverted ribbon cut in Redmond years ago, at the last RDM airshow ... It's the last time I laid down in the middle of runway 4-22 and then ran like hell to get out of the way of the Thunderbirds. I should have said that it was also very exciting to hear Manfred whistling in at over 140kn about 12 feet over my prone body. He's inverted just off the runway pulling negative Gs... I saw his face go whizzing by... I was very glad he was good at this. Ed Endsley Ed Note: Either Ed's lens was dirty (I'm joking, Ed!) or I think I detect a smoky sky, which would make it 1996, the year the Skeleton Fire interrupted the airshow. Manfred was not able to repeat this successfully at Madras this year ... no go-arounds in gliders! Auto Levitation, Gyro Style! During the Bend Airport Flying Festival, David Dressler very generously made a Sparrow Hawk Gyrocopter available for demonstration flights. WOW, is this aviation or levitation? I sort of felt like I was being strapped into a fish bowl. In a way it felt like my first haircut at two years old where the seatbelt on the barbershop's kiddy horsy didn't offer me a lot of confidence about not falling off. In the case of the Sparrow Hawk the view was so spectacular... Even just taxiing out was spectacular. The experience was rather more like a motorcycle. Actually more like skate boarding down the taxiway feeling every bump and watching the pavement move right there under my feet. Now I'm not trying to be funny here and everything I say is meant to be complimentary and in awe of this amazing machine. It's just that the experience was so far out of my usual realm that I'm having trouble translating the whole thing... So here are my impressions. Taking runway 34 and sitting on the numbers while prerotating the rotors up to speed caused my anticipation level to go right up to the top of the green, maybe even a little more. A tremendous commotion commenced, combining the power of the pusher prop and the rotors as they started to get excited about getting off the ground. The things I remember as we started to roll are a jumbled combination of feeling this gyrating devise getting light and heading for altitude in a pretty forthright manner. It was sort of like being grabbed by the nap of the neck and jerked a little too high off the ground for comfort. At lift off my startled brain leaped to the top of the yellow arc. Then it got really interesting. I'm familiar with the view off the end of 34 but I'd never been suspended there doing strange feeling gyrating motions. If I had been in a 172 I would have thought first, the front of the aircraft had fallen off, the view was a bit precipitous, and second, the unusual motional dynamics might be indicating that the tail is about to fall off. Now I realize that there are different aerodynamic attitudes required to motor about in a rotary wing device but the seat of my pants was receiving unfamiliar new signals. Some of them were of the motional sensory type and some of the sphincter control type. Now I'm definitely approaching personal red line !!! So there we were turning downwind, suspended like a thistledown in very windy and bumpy conditions, and the pilot asks if I want to fly it? Gee, that means I'll have to release my white knuckle grip on the seat and grasp the controls... Well it turns out that all sorts of weird gyrations occurred that I apparently caused with very little conscious input. My consciousness was a little scattered at the moment. I kept getting coached from the left seat to turn right or left with over corrections the usual result. Whoa Nellie. I noticed the pilot never took his hands off the controls. Soon it was time to turn base and he thought it might be best if I relinquished "control" for this next phase of flight. Now, I like a close pattern as much as the next bush pilot but this was a revelation in a slam dunk style to a spot and stop landing. It was great!!! The view out the unobstructed front of the aircraft probably accentuated the sensations, however if I ever see that Auto Levitation, continued ... kind of view out the front of a 172 I think full power and a go around with anti spin control inputs will be appropriate. I wanted out to go get a beer and contemplate this unusual experience in a space that didn't move too much. But noooo. This was to be a touch and go. So there I am with that white knuckle grip on the seat again as we're picking up speed when a gaggle of remote control model airplanes appear straight ahead and above us... The pilot coolly held low and we zoomed under or through them, it may have been both, there were lots of them. It was the greatest way to see those model planes up close. What a thrill. I hope we didn't puree any. It took my mind completely off the levitation-aviation thing for a moment. Then it was time for me to demonstrate some limited control again while we were high enough to give the pilot enough time to save us if my gracefulness escaped. It seemed like I was starting to get the hang of control by just thinking about what I wanted to have happen and then think about stopping. Like sort of move the stick and quickly move it back and see what happened. I'm talking millimeters here. I just wasn't subtle enough to be any good. No wonder the pilot kept his hands on the controls. I was very happy to turn it over to his more experienced hands when the ground started to rush up. What a rare and wonderful experience. Thanks David Dressler !!! Ed Endsley CO-OPA SAFETY CORNER: Joel Premselaar is on vacation for a few weeks but left us this food for thought ... THRUST AND DRAG ( Modified from an old Aviation magazine) Once upon a time, as the fable goes, there was a Man who owned a club. It wasn't a fancy club - just an ordinary hunk of tree branch that fit his hand and had an even swing. When the Man got into a fight, he'd lay about him with the club fracturing skulls and beating ears off left and right. In one fight, a hardy opponent managed to get in a lick of his own because the Man hadn't knocked him out with the first blow. What he needed was a weapon that when he hit 'em, they'd stay hit! To this end, he strapped a couple of flat stones to the end of the club. Logically, their hard surfaces would do the trick. The club weighed more and handled differently, but the Man soon got used to it. One day he swung especially hard and missed. The club flew out of his hand and landed some distance away. He took quite a beating, before he could retrieve it. After eliminating his attacker, he devised a leather wrist thong that enabled him to swing the club like crazy without fear of losing it. In another grand fight, the Man and his opponent swung simultaneously and broke each other's club. Using his hands, feet, and teeth, the Man finally finished off his adversary. He'd have had an easier time of it if the only club broken were his opponent's. Carefully selecting two flattish stones for size weight and swing and, using a leather thong, he lashed them to a new club. He then wrapped tough animal gut around the whole works. The Man now had a rugged new mace-like killing tool. He acknowledged that it was heavier and swung a bit harder, but it sure was devastating. One moonless night the Man got into a fight and won it with great difficulty but suffered many bruises. The next day he configured the club with a torch for night fighting. He learned from every engagement. He added a pointed rock for piercing skulls. He appended a serrated seashell for slashing. He lengthened the club and shaped its critical areas to withstand impact. He also had to strengthen the wrist thong because the club was now a bit heavier. This, he thought, is a club! Now the Man's club was really a deadly weapon. It killed on the first blow. It stayed in his hands and worked equally well day or night. The club was much heavier and unwieldy than his original model, but the Man accepted this as the price for increased killing efficiency. One day, he tangled with a character from the next village. It promised to be an easy fight because the Man knew he'd win as soon as he got that club swinging. He never quite made it. Before he got that sophisticated weapon operating, the character from the next village, using a just an ordinary hunk of tree branch that fit his hand and had an even swing, stepped in and beat the daylights out of the Man. MORAL: ARE AIRCRAFT GETTING TOO COMPLICATED? September Flyout Don't forget ... Thurs. Sept 15 is the Meeting/Pot Luck at the Flight Shop...The Fly-out destination is to be announced ... watch your e-mails .... Don Wilfong