Website: http://co-opa.com October 2011, Vol. 11, Issue 9 President's Message: Uh, oh. 2012 has reared its head on our calendar. Time to fit some end of season flying because fall is falling..Then be sure to mark your calendar for our Holiday Party on December 15th. Many thanks to Rob Breitbarth for filling us in on the current Angel Flight West status. It is a really good thing they are doing. Per the usual, meet in the Flight Services Building to recollect the month just past at 6pm, enjoy our infamous potluck at 6:30pm and on to the meeting at 7pm. Calendar: 20 October – Monthly Meeting 22 October – Monthly Flyout 17 November – Monthly Meeting 19 November – Monthly Flyout 15 December – Holiday Party 17 December – Monthly Flyout 19 January – Monthly Meeting 21 January – Monthly Flyout Web doings: Check out current and past CO-OPA newsletters, view our membership list and view hot aviation links on our website at: co-opa.com To access the members only areas the username is "BDN" and the password is "123.0 Web Doings: Aviation TV on the Web? Of course! Coming up 28 October is the second season of our favorite series about Alaska Aviation: Flying Wild Alaska. Their bird strike video from last year was terrifying. Until the new shows you can catch snippets on their web site: dsc.discovery.com/tv/flying-wild-alaska/ And is it true that you can repair the fabric on an airplane using only duct tape? Mythbusters worked on that myth this week. Check out the results: dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-duct-tape-plane/ October Flyout: The weather was great, but the gas prices high, so a small but intrepid group headed to the Moonlight Cafe next to Crescent lake Airport (5S2). Less than 50 miles away so hardly even a cross country, but still a different world at 4,810 feet high almost at the Willamette pass. Tie Down space is limited, but sufficient Photo by Ed Endsley Random Thoughts: Should you really be doing that? That was the question put to me several times last month. After many years of faithful service all three tires on N6157R were suddenly losing lots of rubber on every landing. I guess the rubber was just too old and had lost its strength. After some research I found that I could save some real money, and get better tires, by installing recap tires on my plain myself. Recaps on your airplane? That was the second most frequent question I hard last month. I too was uncovninced, until I heard that 90% of the major airlines use recap tires and 50% of the regionals do too. To top it off the Dresser Monster Tread tires I bought were top rated by server magazines. Selecting the new tires was easy, getting them n the aircraft was a bit harder, and dirtier. The end result was worth it, they look great, they work great (so far), and I have a much better idea how that part of my airplane works and what I should look for during preflight inspections. But back to the original question, should I really be doing that? Being an engineer with lots of mechanical experience, having watched the procedure done by A&Ps, and having studied relevant manuals and instructions I was confident I could finish the procedure. Most important, the FAA is happy to let me do so. In fact the FAA will allow you to do a lot of maintance. If you are a Private Pilot working on your own airplane being used under part 91 then part 43 Appendix A(c) allows you to: (c) Preventive maintenance Preventive maintenance is limited to the following work, provided it does not involve complex assembly operations: (1) Removal, installation, and repair of landing gear tires. (2) Replacing elastic shock absorber cords on landing gear. (3) Servicing landing gear shock struts by adding oil, air, or both. (4) Servicing landing gear wheel bearings, such as cleaning and greasing. (5) Replacing defective safety wiring or cotter keys. (6) Lubrication not requiring disassembly other than removal of nonstructural items such as cover plates, cowlings, and fairings. (7) Making simple fabric patches not requiring rib stitching or the removal of structural parts or control surfaces. In the case of balloons, the making of small fabric repairs to envelopes (as defined in, and in accordance with, the balloon manufacturers' instructions) not requiring load tape repair or replacement. (8) Replenishing hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic reservoir. (9) Refinishing decorative coating of fuselage, balloon baskets, wings tail group surfaces (excluding balanced control surfaces), fairings, cowlings, landing gear, cabin, or cockpit interior when removal or disassembly of any primary structure or operating system is not required. (10) Applying preservative or protective material to components where no disassembly of any primary structure or operating system is involved and where such coating is not prohibited or is not contrary to good practices. (11) Repairing upholstery and decorative furnishings of the cabin, cockpit, or balloon basket interior when the repairing does not require disassembly of any primary structure or operating system or interfere with an operating system or affect the primary structure of the aircraft. (12) Making small simple repairs to fairings, nonstructural cover plates, cowlings, and small patches and reinforcements not changing the contour so as to interfere with proper air flow. (13) Replacing side windows where that work does not interfere with the structure or any operating system such as controls, electrical equipment, etc. (14) Replacing safety belts. (15) Replacing seats or seat parts with replacement parts approved for the aircraft, not involving disassembly of any primary structure or operating system. (16) Trouble shooting and repairing broken circuits in landing light wiring circuits. (17) Replacing bulbs, reflectors, and lenses of position and landing lights. (18) Replacing wheels and skis where no weight and balance computation is involved. (19) Replacing any cowling not requiring removal of the propeller or disconnection of flight controls. (20) Replacing or cleaning spark plugs and setting of spark plug gap clearance. (21) Replacing any hose connection except hydraulic connections. (22) Replacing prefabricated fuel lines. (23) Cleaning or replacing fuel and oil strainers or filter elements. (24) Replacing and servicing batteries. (25) Cleaning of balloon burner pilot and main nozzles in accordance with the balloon manufacturer's instructions. (26) Replacement or adjustment of nonstructural standard fasteners incidental to operations. (27) The interchange of balloon baskets and burners on envelopes when the basket or burner is designated as interchangeable in the balloon type certificate data and the baskets and burners are specifically designed for quick removal and installation. (28) The installations of anti-misfueling devices to reduce the diameter of fuel tank filler openings provided the specific device has been made a part of the aircraft type certificiate data by the aircraft manufacturer, the aircraft manufacturer has provided FAA-approved instructions for installation of the specific device, and installation does not involve the disassembly of the existing tank filler opening. (29) Removing, checking, and replacing magnetic chip detectors. (30) The inspection and maintenance tasks prescribed and specifically identified as preventive maintenance in a primary category aircraft type certificate or supplemental type certificate holder's approved special inspection and preventive maintenance program when accomplished on a primary category aircraft provided: (i) They are performed by the holder of at least a private pilot certificate issued under part 61 who is the registered owner (including co-owners) of the affected aircraft and who holds a certificate of competency for the affected aircraft (1) issued by a school approved under §147.21(e) of this chapter; (2) issued by the holder of the production certificate for that primary category aircraft that has a special training program approved under §21.24 of this subchapter; or (3) issued by another entity that has a course approved by the Administrator; and (ii) The inspections and maintenance tasks are performed in accordance with instructions contained by the special inspection and preventive maintenance program approved as part of the aircraft's type design or supplemental type design. (31) Removing and replacing self-contained, front instrument panel-mounted navigation and communication devices that employ tray-mounted connectors that connect the unit when the unit is installed into the instrument panel, (excluding automatic flight control systems, transponders, and microwave frequency distance measuring equipment (DME)). The approved unit must be designed to be readily and repeatedly removed and replaced, and pertinent instructions must be provided. Prior to the unit's intended use, and operational check must be performed in accordance with the applicable sections of part 91 of this chapter. (32) Updating self-contained, front instrument panel-mounted Air Traffic Control (ATC) navigational software data bases (excluding those of automatic flight control systems, transponders, and microwave frequency distance measuring equipment (DME)) provided no disassembly of the unit is required and pertinent instructions are provided. Prior to the unit's intended use, an operational check must be performed in accordance with applicable sections of part 91 of this chapter. Wow, that is quite the list! And it has grown a lot since I last checked. Sadly duct tape is not on the approved list. Newsletter Inputs: Send your newsletter tidbits to: gem@rellim.com