CASCADE FLYER December 2005, Vol. 05, Issue 12

Website: http://co-opa.rellim.com/

President's Message:

Omigosh, another year is almost shot. Just a few more
things to get out of the way before 2005 ends, whether
we are ready or not. One of the most looked forward to,
of course, is our own famous annual Holiday Bash!
Only the best are invited and you are all invited!

By popular demand we will follow the age old traditions
of our Chapter. The gathering will start at the usual
6:00pm for hanger flying, 6:30pm there will be our
potluck. The club will provide the main dish and the
membership will provide the rest of the trimmings. At
7:00pm we will have a short business meeting. One of
the things to discuss is our Christmas Fund ably managed
by Don and Norma Wilfong on our behalf.

Then comes the main event, the Yankee Swap.
Everyone that wishes to participate must bring an
aviation related gift. Items need not be new. Maybe
there is some unused, but valuable item in the bottom of
you flight bag that just needs a new home? Maybe you
have gotten tired of the tail wheel spring you took home
last year? Wrap it up and bring it to place beneath our
pagan Yule Tree.

This is one of our most fun events of the year so do not
miss out!

The November meeting also turned out very well. We
played the first three DVD clips from Kurt Anderson's
"Practical Density Altitude". We stopped frequently to
share our thoughts and then watched as Kurt laid out his
thoughts. Usually when we turn the lights out the crowd
melts away but not that night. From the comments I
heard everyone thought they gained a lot from the
experience. There are 6 more parts to the video and it
looks like we will play some more of it in 2006. Several
pilots requested copies and they will be available at the
Holiday Bash.

Even as 2005 ends the planning for 2006 is well
underway. If you have any program ideas for our
meetings then please send them in.


Calendar:

15 December - Monthly Meeting - XMAS Party
17 December - Monthly Flyout

19 January - Monthly Meeting
21 January - Monthly Flyout

16 February - Monthly Meeting
18 February - Monthly Flyout

16 March - Monthly Meeting
18 March - Monthly Flyout

20 April - Monthly Meeting
22 April - Monthly Flyout

18 May - Monthly Meeting
20 May - Monthly Flyout

2-3 June - FAA Fly Safe Clinic
9-11 June - Balloons Over Bend
17 June - Bend Airport open house

Web doings:

The Oregon Department of Aviation has placed the data
from the Oregon Airport Directory online. This is
probably one of the best sources of detailed airport data
out there. Sadly the photos have been broken on the
website for over a month and it has been completely
dead for a week. You can find a link to the ODA Online
Airport directory on our links page. With luck they will
be back on the air by the time you read this.

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:

As we learned in last month's newsletter, the plans for a
flight safety clinic at Bend Airport on 2 June are well
underway.
Dennis Douglas of our local EAA chapter is heading up
the effort and he needs some help. You can contact him
by email at ddouglas@coastside.net or by 541-322-9453.
If you are interested in helping then get in touch with
him quickly as he wants to get an organizational meeting
out of the way before Christmas. June looks to be loaded
with aviation events in Bend (see the calendar above).

Random Thoughts:

If you have been paying attention to the Internet world
then you know that blogs and wikis are all the rage now.
A blog is like an online diary that allows others to post
comments on the daily ranting of the author. A wiki is
an online text that anyone can edit. If you read a wiki
page on a topic, and you feel it is incomplete or
inaccurate you can just jump right in and change it. One
well-known and very popular wiki is at
http://wikipedia.com.
Wikipedia is an open collaboration any one that wants to
help that is creating an online encyclopedia.

In the spirit of blogging and the wiki I have launched a
new wiki style web site at
http://iflyoregon.com.
The intention is to eventually document all the fun things
to do at Oregon airports. When I first moved to Central
Oregon it took much hanger flying, and many Don
Patrols, to learn some of the great places to fly to in the
area. Now I still find new things to do at airports I
thought I knew.

This wiki is not about how long the runways are or when
the FBO is open, but rather about what to see and do in
and around that airport. The $100 hamburger and
beyond, the best museums, the best dog friendly beaches,
the best waterfalls, and all within easy reach by walking,
courtesy car or other easy transportation.

'Iflyoregon' just mentions a few airports for now and
more are being added as time allows. Please check out
the work in process. Hopefully you will learn something
about one of our Oregon airports. Then get in to the wiki
spirit. Something will strike you as missing, incomplete
or just plain wrong. At the bottom of every page is an
"Add Comment" button where you can add your own
comments. The brave can jump right in an actually edit
the pages. If that seems a bit too geeky, or public, then
just email me a tasty tidbit to use.

Gary Miller

…


NOVEMBER FLY-OUT !!!

Plans were made to fly to Gold Beach...the weather was
beautiful here and at Gold Beach...but....all of the
valleys, and airports between here and there were
blanketed in fog....so....we altered our plans and went to
Klamath Falls....

As usual, we all met at the Flight Shop and the decision
to go to K. Falls was made. As we prepared to depart
more flyers showed up until we had good group to go
along (it is always more fun with several planes and
people). We had 6 planes and 11 people: Mike and Ann
Bond in their Cardinal RG, Joel and Lynn Premselaar in
their V-Tail Bonanza, Bill and Betty Witt in their
Skylane, Jack Kohler in the "Tweety Bird" (his Yellow
RV), Gary Miller in his Turbo Centurian with Ed
Endsley and Gary's two dogs and Don and Norma
Wilfong in their Skylane.

We kept the airways busy with the friendly chatter
between planes..."where are you", "I see you now",
"what is your bearing, distance & altitude" and all the
other many things we say to each other. It was a
beautiful flight and some of the planes flew close enough
to each other for Ed to get some good photos...

Parking at K Falls is quite close to Bailey's Café, which
sits above the Airline Terminal with a great view of the
ramp and the runway.

The Café is under fairly new management, the service
was great, the food was good and the conversation was
fun and entertaining.

Everyone kinda picked their own route home...we flew
over Crater Lake and I don't recall ever seeing the water
so perfectly placid, it was like a mirror. Norma took
some beautiful shots.
Don Wilfong


COOPA SAFETY CORNER

By Joel Premselaar Photos: Ed Endsley

As a consequence of Thanksgiving dinner, my center of
gravity gravitated sufficiently to my midriff to become a
grave concern. If Christmas treats treat me in similar
fashion, "grave" will be the operative word! The Holiday
Season is not conducive to rational behavior. I've
struggled in vain to address a single meaty subject in this
issue (Egad! I can't get away from thoughts of food!);
instead, I'll jump around several topics (I need the
exercise).

Despite the frivolous opening paragraph, it alluded to a
subject I wish to discuss briefly in this article; i.e.,
"center of gravity." I know that there are good reasons
for missing some of our meetings. I'm as guilty of that as
anyone, but I am concerned that in the doing, safety
related material discussed is lost. Our last meeting was
full of exchanges relating to mountain flying dos and
don'ts. Aerodynamics, c.g., trim, flaps, radius of turn
(especially as it relates to narrow canyons), wind effects,
and much more was addressed. I'll try to touch on some
of these. Don't let the following technology scare you.
Just take out your old texts and track me one step at a
time. This stuff is important. I contend that many who
chose to defy gravity have paid the supreme penalty
because of a deficiency in our training.

O.K. Let's get into this c.g. thing again. I am assuming
that early in your flight training, you learned that an
airplane in flight moves about its c.g. Mostly, the pilot
sits close to the c.g. Be sure that Burp Bags are
convenient to the back seaters. Also, we learned that as
the distribution of the aircraft's weight changes, the c.g.
moves accordingly. Let's agree that, during this
discourse, the c.g. is always within its safe envelope
unless stipulated otherwise. As the c.g. moves forward of
the center of lift, a greater amount of downward lift is
required by the tail (forget canards) with it's associated
drag and nose up trim. The converse is also true; i.e., c.g.
aft, less downward lift by the tail is needed, resulting in
less drag and nose up trim. Less drag equates to greater
airspeed. There are penalties and benefits to be had with
this knowledge. You can become a control freak. I won't
get into moment arms, so trust me.


When the c.g. is forward, stability is better but drag is
greater. When the c.g. is aft, stability is less but speed
and range is greater. (Powder puff derby contestants
listen up. After takeoff, have your copilot move to the
rear seat. Remember to have her come forward for the
landing.) There is an ahah! to this. Control forces
decrease significantly with an increase in airspeed. Need
I mention the reverse situation?

There's nothing like an example. The aux tanks in my
Bonanza are aft and outboard of the mains. Cross-
country -- use mains first. Instrument flying and best
stability - use aux tanks first. Of course, load passengers
and baggage accordingly

During the flyout to Klamath Falls for breakfast on the
Saturday following our last COOPA meeting, Jack
Kohler in his Tweety Bird and my lady and I in my
Bonanza flew formation on Gary Miller and Ed Ensley in
Gary's 210.

I flew both parade and combat formation on both Jack
and Gary. Parade is as tight as you can get without
exchanging paint with one another. Combat is a very
loose formation. To synchronize your propeller with the
leader's, look at his prop arc through the arc of yours;
then, using stroboscopic effect adjust your RPM to stop
his prop. You then adjust your power and trim to
maintain position. Once established, only minor
adjustments are needed. For instance, as the flight leader
makes, lets say a 90° turn, the wingman is directly under
him at 45° and on the other side at the completion of the
90° turn. That eliminates power adjustments.
During breakfast (I was polite and didn't talk with my
mouth full - - I just thought you'd like to know that) we
discussed formation flying.

The subject of trimming for precision flying evolved
from the conversation re flying parade formation flying. I
presented a trimming method for pitch I deemed
essential for precision flying. In the course of the
discussion, I realized that here again was a deficiency in
training programs. How many of you recall your flight
instructor's chant "Trim,Trim,Trim!?" Did any of them
describe how to trim for specific applications? Most
pilots trim for hands off. That may be fine for sustained
straight and level flight; however, for precise flying such
as instrument, maneuvering (lazy eights, turns around a
point, etc.) or formation work, one should trim nose
down with not less than about three to five pounds
against your hand. Every time you load or unload the
pressure you'll receive a gratifying feedback and an
instant aircraft response. Feedback provides a sensual
(No! Not that kind, it's the sensory kind) queue. It's like
feeling and/or hearing a click when you press a button or
flip a switch. The aircraft response is immediate because
there is no: dead area, backlash, slack control
connections, or breakout force (Hydraulic controls) with
which to contend (hey folks, did you notice the way I
avoided ending the sentence with a preposition? {yeah, I
know, ending with a preposition is now acceptable, but
I'm not Churchill. If you don't know the Churchill thing,
ask me about it}). "Hey, what's this thing about slack
control connections?" Well, let's assume you're in
Phoenix, AZ in the summer and the temperature is 115°
F as opposed to Butte, MO in the dead of winter and the
temperature is - 50°F (yes, that is minus 50°F), so I'll ask
you, "What don't you understand about expansion and
contraction?" There's more to this business of trim, but
I'd better get on with the subject that generated a lot of
interest and discussion at the last meeting.

Turn radii and pull outs from a dive. They have two
operative things in common - - airspeed and Gs. Turns in
canyons was a lively subject during the previously
mentioned meeting. I go back to my pet statement;
"Flight planning, flight planning, flight planning." With
that, there's no excuse for getting trapped by narrowing
canyons. When flight planning, take into account the
time of day; e.g., canyon winds develop as a result of
diurnal cooling. When convective activity ceases, the
heavier cool air moves down the canyon. If there is a
restriction in the canyon, the Bernoulli effect will cause
high winds and reduced pressures that will affect
altimeters. Factor into your planning density altitude and
altimeter errors due to very cold temperatures (ask me
for a chart quantifying temperature vs. altimeter error),
know your turn radius for each viable aircraft
configuration, check your sectional for the contour lines
on both sides of the canyon, measure the distance
between opposing sides to determine your dead end (and
I do mean dead) turn around point.

Here's one for you; if you do find yourself in trouble and
the headwind component exceeds your Vso by some
measure, simply back up. Think that's weird? Consider
this: everyone knows how windy it gets in Kansas, so
before WW II the ingenious Kansans instituted an annual
"backward air race" paralleling a road between two
Kansas towns that were 10 miles apart. Airborne and
facing upwind, the competitors lined up abreast over the
upwind town. Upon the firing of a green flare from a
Verys pistol, the race would start. The first aircraft to
reach the center of the downwind town was the winner!



Cousin Ed's Aeronautical Adventures

My cousin Ed isn't a pilot but he has employed many.
Ed is an ex-military logistics officer and doesn't hesitate
to encourage (tell) people to do what they should do. He
has directed several businesses with hundreds of staff so
the guy has experience.


These stories have to do with his taking situational
control when he deemed it necessary for everyone's
wellbeing. Sometimes you need a little help from your
friends. This is about cockpit resource management.
Good examples of mindful thinking. Some might say
common sense but in some ways more closely related to
the strangely named digital age concept of Fuzzy Logic.
You don't always need THE one right answer, at least
right away. A pretty good, approximate answer, that
moves you in a good direction is better than jumping to
an incorrect conclusion. With the ensuing results you
can then make midcourse corrections and maybe get
better answers as the situation proceeds. Military pilots
have a phrase "restacking the deck", referring to dealing
with the most important things first and then reassessing.
I think it was astronaut Alan Bean who, while discussing
aerial troubleshooting said, "Is this thing still flying?" If
so, you still have some work to do. If not, hmmm. Don
Mobley has said to fly it all the way to the crash. His
implied message is that you might find some good
answers along the way. Besides, if you find a way to
minimize the incident, your explanation to the FAA will
be easier. If you don't, you may have to explain it to
God. I understand he's very forgiving but it better be
good because all your passengers are going to be
standing right behind you


The first situation I will tell you about happened in the
Los Angeles Basin in heavy traffic about twenty years
ago. Ed often chartered aircraft to commute around the
country for business and pleasure. This time he and his
wife were going from the California central valley, south
to the L.A. area and as they were descending over the
Tehachapi Mountains with radar contact and clearance
the radios went dead. Well now what are you going to
do? Cousin Ed was not one to wait very long for an
answer so he told the discombobulated pilot to fly the
plane to the next cleared point and he proceeded to
disassemble the panel from the right seat. Remember,
this was before "handhelds" and "multitools." So there he
sat with a lap full of avionics wondering if this was a
wise "approach." But they were still flying and still had
options. I mean it was daylight and still VFR, at least by
basin standards.


Looking back into the dark recesses it was apparent that
there were loose wires. Not a good sign. Yes, you could
pop circuit breakers by moving the wrong stuff. Now
that'll get your attention. At 24 volts Ed didn't hesitate to
dive in. What he found was that some "dumb ass
technician", his words, had "twisted" all the radio power
wires together with a wire nut to the positive buss. So,
twisting it back together and holding this whole mess in
his lap, they proceeded to their destination with full
communications.

After landing, Ed had a few words with the "pilot." Like
you get this fixed by a competent technician and show
me a copy of the service order and introduce me to the
guy that did the work and I might fly back with you. If
you can't assure me that you can do this, then I'll be
flying back with someone else. Ed knew how to get
what he wanted.

The second episode is a great example of mindful
thinking. It occurred in Africa, in the middle of
nowhere. A group of sufficient numbers had flown out
into the central savanna that several planes were
involved. When the arrival time came and went and they
were still at altitude Ed began to wonder. "Where are we,
Ed asked.". The pilot's response wasn't encouraging and
this was reinforced by their meandering course. Ed's
pointed question, "are you lost" was answered
affirmatively. Well, now what? Fuel, time back,
alternatives, none of the above? "Can you call the other
aircraft," Ed said. So here's what happened. At first
there was no answer so Ed suggested that they climb. At
near the service ceiling they started to get a response. So
now what? Ed suggested that the pilot ask his
compatriots on the ground if they could hear their plane
and in which direction. They could hear a plane that
sounded like it was a long way to the southwest. So let's
try flying to the northeast and see if they hear us getting
closer. By this method of Ground Controlled Approach
they zeroed in on their destination and made a successful
rendezvous. Sure beat spending the night alone in lion
country. No word on how they got back home.

Ok, one more story. This time it's about cousin Ed's
cousin, Ed. That's me. Got it? Sorry about that. It's
always fun to call him and say "Hi Ed this is Ed."
Enough already.

This episode happened on my thirty minute cross country
flight to the Madras Airshow in 2003. That was the
summer of much smoke. As I approached Redmond I
called for class D transit and reported three miles
visibility in smoke over Hwy 97. I was using my ANA
(asphalt navigation aid). Very accurate, if you can read
the road signs. Had a nice communication with the
tower and was cleared through to the north. I know it
was north because that's what my magnetic compass
said. Frequency change approved, I started hearing lots
of Madras Traffic but couldn't seem to make myself
heard. RDM wouldn't respond either. Hmmm. Radio
failure, transmitter dead at least. The other transmitter
was the same. Only one headset available. No handheld
on board. Going into a busy Airshow environment.
Limited visibility. Hmmm. Lets not let too many other
things go wrong, like loosing my common sense. Could
turning tail and going home make sense? At least there
wasn't anyone else with me to ask questions like "where
are we." But wait, all is not lost. I hear Mary Shu report
three miles west on the forty-five for three four.
Oo, ooo, here was my chance to pull this off. I'd swung
wide to the west over Lake Billy Chinook to trouble
shoot so I just found and formed up with Mary and did a
loose formation on into Madras. Great Airshow, glad I
could make it. That's when I took the photo of Tom
Ellsberg in the smoky setting sun. A very special
opportunity…


The reason I'm telling you this story is that it reveals
some major flaws in my mindful thinking. I made several
assumptions that blocked my awareness of alternatives.
Well yes, I was bothering to fly the plane and navigate in
difficult conditions but I don't think I restacked the deck
especially well. If Mary hadn't shown up on a timely
basis I would have been homeward bound. No Airshow
for Ed. Here's the punch line, wait for it now. I met an
old friend who lives in Madras who came up to the
Airshow and I told him about the problem. We both
walked out to the plane and started looking around the
panel. I'd told him about both xmitters dead and only
one headset to try. He pointed out there were push to
talk switches on both yokes. Had I tried both? Well, no
actually I hadn't. Oh, and there's the Cessna original
hand held mic in it's holder on the pedestal. How about
that? Well, uh, actually no. I was starting to feel silly,
not just stupid. So we powered up and tried both of his
ideas and they both worked. It was just bad wiring to the
mic switch. Oh Ed. Now, my friend Dennis has flown
with me before and is a pilot himself and someone I've
always considered very bright. He proved it again and I
learned a very important lesson about tunnel vision.

Well my friends, keep an open mind.


Ed Endsley



[PHOTO]

An unusual visitor to Bend, a Grumman Widgeon, was
photo op for Dennis Douglas from our EAA chapter …
in fact he got to fly in it and land (?) on Lake Billy
Chinook >>>>>>

[PHOTO]



DECEMBER FLY-OUT

My thoughts are for a repeat of December
last year. We flew to Chiloquin and had the
second biggest fly-out I can remember (8
planes and 17 people). We can discuss it at
the potluck/meeting/Christmas Party on
Thurs. Dec. 15 ... remember to bring a gift to
participate in the "madhouse gift
exchange"… also remember the Club is
furnishing the meat for the potluck so bring
a side dish ... our December meeting is
always a blast ...

Wishing you all Happy Holidays with blue
skies and tail winds for the New Year..

Don & Norma Wilfong