CASCADE FLYER November 2006, Vol. 06, Issue 11 Website: http://co-opa.com/ President's Message: This month our speaker will be Mr. Bill Conklin. Bill is the Director of Air Life, the air ambulance arm of St. Charles Hospital. The Air Life operation is a great asset to the community and a great aviation success story. Plan to come to his months meeting and hear all about it. Many thanks to Don Mobley for dropping by as our speaker last month. Don's roots in Central Oregon aviation are much deeper then I ever suspected. Don told us how he grew up in Shaniko, learned to fly at OSU and went on the a career in the US Navy. After leaving the Navy he ran the FBO in The Dalles before moving to Madras and running the FBO there. Now Don flies Cessna Citation's for Les Schwab. Many great tales were told, but none of that compared to Don's closing act. He pulled out his trusty guitar and feted us to rousing renditions of "Uncle Harvey's Airplane" and "England Swings". Well done Don and thanks for filling in on short notice. In other business the Wilfongs kicked off our annual holiday charity. As in years past we will be raising money to create a special Christmas for a deserving child or two in our local area. 100% of what we raise goes to the kids in our name. Pilot Butte Middle School teachers will select the recipients. Be sure to bring a bit of spare cash to add to the pot at this month's meeting. Calendar: 16 Nov - Monthly Meeting 18 Nov - Monthly Flyout 21 Dec - Monthly Meeting - Xmas Party! 23 Dec - Monthly Flyout 18 Jan - Monthly Meeting 20 Jan - Monthly Flyout 15 Feb - Monthly Meeting 17 Feb - Monthly Flyout Web doings: As always, you can access the Chapter web site at: http://co-opa.com/ To access the members only areas the username is "BDN" and the password is "123.0". In honor of our old airport ID(s) the username can also be S07 or AEB. My Inbox: Things are changing up at Redmond Airport. As most of you know, Cal Butler had sold Butler Aviation to TBM of Visalia a while back. Now Nan Garnick, and her husband Travis, have bought it back. Nan is a long time employee of Butler. Good luck to the new Butler! Word also reaches us that Joel Premselaar has recently had surgery for a problem found during his flight physical. Get well soon Joel. Random Thoughts: A strange thing happened to me a couple of months ago. During the preflight for a fly-out, I had a double-take moment. The fuel gauges on N6157R seemed about 35 gallons short. A visual inspection of both tanks showed just a little gas under the filler opening. At that level, due to the dihedral in the wings there is about 17 gals left. Maybe I am getting senile. Did I not remember my last fill-up correctly? Or did I mis-remember the number of hours since the last fill-up? Time was a-wasting and people were waiting, so I put those thoughts out of my mind and hustled to the fuel pumps. That little voice in the back of my head was not so easily distracted. Running out of gas is serious business in an airplane. Not being continuously aware of your fuel status is how you raise the risk of that happening. How could I let this happen? So I resolved to be much more careful with my fuel quantity monitoring. That meant being doubly sure that my fuel totalizer was always up to date, monitoring fuel flow, and mentally logging fuel used. Last month this preparation paid off. Unlike the last time, I knew that N6157R had been topped off just an hour of flying ago. That would have used 14 gallons of fuel leaving 68 gallons in the tank. The fuel totalizer agreed that 68 gallons should be in the tank. Sadly the fuel gauges did not agree. A visual check of the tanks confirmed it. Once again my fuel tanks looked about 30 gallons short. The fuel in the tanks was almost down to the bottom of the tanks just below the fuel filler port. This time there was no doubting my fuel had been stolen. Once again people were waiting and time was a-wasting, so I hustled off to the fuel pumps again. Unlike the previous event, the anger at being stolen from did not leave. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. So after returning to home base I made a trip to NAPA Auto Parts. Like so many other airplane parts my Cessna gas cap opening is very similar to the one in an old car. After a bit of digging the helpful counter salesman determined that a NAPA #703-1113 locking gas cap would lock my tank. The cap locks snugly on my filler, with just enough space for the chain on the real gas cap to fit by. That way I can leave my Cessna caps attached. During my preflight I now remove the locking caps and replace the STC'ed ones. As well as the locking gas caps fit, I would still not want to risk using them in the air. I want to be sure the gas I start with stays in the tank and is useable in flight. No way to tell how well the locking caps may, or may not perform, in the air. That might have been the end of it, but Bob and Nancy Lecklider's insurance company had totaled their airplane due to some serious damage in the big hailstorm we had. Among other damage it had a 2" dent in the prop spinner. Bob and Nancy figured that the insurance company was going to get their plane, but not it's contents. They had heard of my fuel thefts and graciously offered me all their gas I could siphon before the insurance company took ownership. Thank you very much! This sent me off to the airport with my 1/2" hose (Arkansas Credit Card), a 5-gallon gas tank, and a hand pump. This was a real learning experience. Getting the top portion of the gas is really easy. Dip the hose far in to the tank, put your thumb over the end of the hose, pull the hose out, put it in the gas tank and the gas just pours out. All you have to do is wait for the tank to fill. While waiting for that several cars drove by and no one paid me any attention. I hope they recognized me, but I fear that they just were oblivious to the "theft" going on. Getting the last of the gas is a real pain. Once the level of the gas in the fuel tank gets near the bottom under the filler the siphon will break. Then I manned the hand pump. It is possible to get more of the gas out of the low part of tank, but it is a lot more work than siphoning out the top portion of gas. Now I see why my thieves stopped when the gas level was at one inch just below the filler. The locking gas cap should work, until everyone has them. The NAPA guy told me that they no longer work for cars. Thieves now just put a pan under the fuel tank, punch a hole in the tank, and catch the fuel as it drains out. The city has the airport patrolled several times at night, but that is not enough either. We all need to be vigilant and watch for anything out of the ordinary. Next time you see something out of the ordinary check it out. NOVEMBER MEETING: Plan to attend the November 16 Central Oregon - Oregon Pilots Assoc. meeting in the Bend Airport Flight Services Building at 6PM for a pot luck dinner and a very special program. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Bill Conklin, Director of Air Life, who will tell us about his experiences invitation and the current operations at Air Life. Don't miss this opportunity for a very entertaining and informative evening. Bring your friends for flying fellowship, fine food, and fabulous fun!!! Ed Endsley, CO-OPA Program Chair ed@edendsley.com RDM ASOS: Effective Nov 10th, RDM AWOS was NOTAM'd as upgraded to ASOS … still on 119.025, but now, before entering Class D, you'd better have the latest Information (Alpha thru Zulu) and advise them on your first call! I also noticed the signal is stronger at home, SE of Bend. Mike Bond (The final) Flying-M Ranch Fly-out: Bright and early (at least by my biological clock) on October 20th we headed out on our monthly flyout. This time it would be to our old favorite the Flying-M Ranch. Attendance was slim. Don and Norma Wilfong launched in their trusty 757. Ed Endsley, my dog Paige and I followed in my airplane. After a smooth and beautiful flight over the mountains we landed uneventfully at the one-way sod and gravel ranch trip. What a wonderful little strip in the foothills. The old log lodge is surrounded by tall second growth trees and sits on a small tree covered creek. The brunch was tasty as always and the conversation engaging, but the event was bittersweet. This was to be our last trip to the ranch as we have come to know it. We were not along in coming to pay our last respects. Many people, like us, were spending extra time to check out the many stuffed trophies, photos and other memorabilia decorating the lodge and wandering the pleasant grounds around the lodge. This grand facility will be sorely missed. The owners have had financial issues and were forced to sell. We were told the new owners will use the facility as a Christian youth school and not be open to the public during the fall, winter or spring. They may open up to the public in the summer. Still there is some good news. The owners will retain control of parts of the old operation. The runway and the horseback riding operation will continue as before. Pilots will still be able to fly-in and partake of a trail ride or grab a coffee all year. The trip back was just a perfect s the trip over, except we knew that another aviation legend was soon to be a thing of the past. We will all miss their great hospitality. Gary Miller ATC stories: Pilot: Oakland Ground, Cessna 1234 at Sierra Academy. Taxi. Destination Stockton Ground: Cessna 1234, Taxi Approved, report leaving the airport. C-17 … is it real or is it …? This 1/9th scale radio-controlled C-17 model was built in the United Kingdom. To date it has about 20 flights. It was built as the centerpiece of a 15 program television series produced in the U.K. for the Home and Leisure satellite TV channel. Built with the aid of three friends, it took 1 year to build and is powered with 4 Jetcat P-120 turbines with a total thrust of 108 lbs. The model weighs over 250 lbs fueled, and carries 12.5 liters (3.3 US gallons) of 95% kerosene and 5% turbine oil fuel. Other details include 5 Futaba PCM receivers, 16 battery packs (93 cells), 20 Futaba servos, on board air compressor, electro/pneumatic retracts, etc. Wingspan is 20 feet 8 inches, and the top of the fin is 74 inches (6 feet 2 inches) above the ground. Takeoff weight is 264 lbs. The rear cargo doors open and they drop an r/c jeep on a pallet, as well as 2 freefall r/c parachutists. The model also has smoke systems both of the inboard turbines, and uses 2.4 GHz data link to provide real-time data to a laptop computer on the ground while in flight, this data includes airspeed, turbine RPM, EGT, fuel consumption, etc. It is covered in fiberglass and epoxy resin. Built mainly from balsa and ply, with many glass and carbon fiber moldings to reduce weight. This C-17 Globemaster III is one of the largest jet models in the world today! Complete with retractable landing gear and pneumatically operated flaps. The four builders are shown above, with the model. … and last, but certainly not least, John Travolta's full size 'models' … __________________________________________________________________________________ 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@myexcel.com