CENTRAL OREGON CHAPTER
President: Nancy Lecklider
3054 NW Clubhouse Dr
Bend OR 97701
541 330-1853
MEETING NOTICE
**** POTLUCK ****
Date: November 15, 2001, Thursday
Time: 6:00 PM gather to socialize; WEAR YOUR NAME TAG
A good time to meet other Central Oregon pilots.
6:30 PM start through the potluck line
7:00 PM meeting
Place: Flight Services Building, Bend Airport
Speaker: David Hales, Manager for the City of Bend
Hangar Flying // by Joel Premselaar
Stroll down the flight line and note the condition of tires and wheels. Surely you'll find one or more of the following defects: skid burns, foreign object damage, rubber swelling or softening due to hydraulic fluid or oil leaks, cuts, tears, tread delaminating, cracks, under or over inflated tires, wheel misalignment wear, tube slippage, out of round tires, severe weather checks, etc. Do you know what the consequences of ignoring these warning signs are? In simple terms they can be a ride in an ambulance (or a ride in a vehicle that rhymes with worse) plus $$$$ and more $$$!
Your inspection for evidence of the aforementioned faults ought to be done before every flight.
Under inflation, the most common cause of damage to tire's, is manifested by wear at the tire's shoulders. Low tire pressure produces excessive heat buildup due to flexing. According to the gurus, a properly inflated aircraft tire experiences twice the deflection of a passenger car's tire. The heat generated can result in the destruction of the tire's interior. Sidewalls of under inflated tires can be crushed during a hard landing. How about this - back in the days of tail wheels, I could tell which aircraft were ready for carrier deployment simply by looking at their tail wheels. Those with balloon tail wheel tires were for shore-based operations. The carrier ops aircraft had hard solid rubber tail wheel tires. Did you know that a carrier ready F4 Phantom II's tires were inflated to 450
PSI? No rim cuts or cord ruptures, but it was like carrying a bomb in each wheel well. Under inflated tires can incur damage during hard turns, slip on a wheel during braking and cause valve stems to shear. The resulting flat will provide enough fun and games for the pilot to last for at least a month! Even a teenager will know why most under inflated tires blow on takeoff. Where oh where does the debris from the tire and possibly the wheel go???
Well now, if under inflation is so bad, how about protecting yourself by over inflating the tire? Over inflation will cause center tread wear in a hurry. Over inflation reduces the shock absorbing capabilities of the landing gear thereby transmitting all kinds of stress to the airframe and especially to wheel components. The consequence of over inflation is a highly vulnerable system that will result in damage to tire cores and render the tires more susceptible to cuts, impact breaks, and bruises.
The solution to the inflation problem is a preflight check of tires pressures, as per your pilot's handbook, with an accurate pressure gage when the tire is cold! Wait at least three hours cooling time after flight before checking tire pressures. Tires that sit a day or more will seep air, this is normal. Temperatures impacts tire pressure too. Expect a one percent pressure change for every 5°F outside air temperature change.
Here are a few tidbits to be aware of:
1. Aircraft with spring landing gear (think Cessna) can expect to see more wear on the outboard half of each main wheel tire because the gear legs bow inboard in flight resulting in the edges of the tires hitting the runway first upon landing. Dismount the tire and turn it around as the wear starts to show.
2. Skid burns can take months off a tire's life. Skid burns show up as oval shaped patterns. When cords show through a skid burn, change the tire. Bald spots due to out of balance wheels or tires may be confused with skid burns. Watch either of these closely.
3. Replace a tire immediately any time cords become visible or bulges or blisters appear.
4. Obviously, swollen tires are bad news for retractable or panted (no, I don't mean breathless) wheels.
5. Retreaded vs new tires: Retreads will carry a letter "R" on the sidewall followed by a number denoting the number of times the carcass has been retreaded. The FAA does not limit the number of times a tire may be recapped. Many manufacturers prohibit use of retreads on their retractables or those wearing pants. Retreads tend to swell after some use.
6. New tire tubes are costly. Old tubes, if they are airworthy, may be used. My personal preference is to go for new tubes.
7. Finally, the tire. Go for the best. It will outlast a cheaper tire under any circumstances. The gurus spoke to me again and they said, "Goodyear Flight Customs' is the best." Check around because this testimonial is about five years old.
DITDAH DITDAH DIT
Past and Up-coming Activities // by Dean Cameron
Well, the holidays are fast approaching and I'm sure everyone is getting busy planning for visits to and from family and friends. However, this is also a busy month for the Central Oregon Pilots Association. We have several activities happening this month and you had better start planning for the great Christmas party for next month!
Last month we had Dwight Coker, the manager of the Redmond tower, as our guest speaker. I think we all learned something from Dwight. We should all say thank-you the next time we talk to the Redmond tower.
NOVEMBER MEETING - NOVEMBER 15th: This month we will host David Hales, the new manager of the City of Bend. David comes to us from the east coast. I have been told that he is the type of manager that most of us will appreciate. That will be a tall order considering the changes in Central Oregon and the divisions in Bend. I'm hoping we can learn a little about David and his vision for Bend and possibly share with him our vision for the airport. This is a meeting where it would be really great to have a strong turnout to show the number of people interested in the airport. Bring your spouse, kids, friends, and business associates! I'm sure that everyone can learn a little from this meeting. Social starts at 6:00, Potluck at 6:30 and meeting at 7:00.
NOVEMBER 27th - Tuesday Night: Keith Krimen with the Portland FAA office will be in Bend for a special training seminar. The event will be held at Hitchcock Auditorium, COCC, at 7:00 p.m.. This is a free seminar, and is open to everyone. Keith will be talking about what is new since September 11th in the FAA and air traffic control system. He will also discuss operations at Redmond, our only towered airport in Central Oregon. There will also be a short question and answer session at the end. This is a great opportunity for all of us to gain a little knowledge and learn about what is on the minds of the FAA. Be sure to attend. Bring a friend or a fellow pilot.
dcameron@empnet.com
Monthly Newsletter //
The Central Oregon OPA chapter needs someone to compile the monthly newsletter next year. The articles, and activity information are prepared by others, but we need someone who has word processing experience and internet access to pull it all together. It generally takes half a day to compile and format the newsletter. If you can help, please contact Dean Cameron or Nancy Lecklider.
Internet
Visit our web site at: co-opa.rellim.com for more info and link to the state OPA website. For members only lists: User name: S07 Password: 123.0
Membership roster is online at: http://co-opa.rellim.com/members/members.html
Web site is: http://co-opa.rellim.com
Aviation weather address: http://adds.awc-kc.noaa.gov/
For more information about up-coming events, please call Dean Cameron or Don Wilfong
.Member Notes
NEWSLETTER IDEAS? Do you have any ideas for the newsletter? Upcoming events you want published. Trips you would like to plan with other pilots? Something useful you would like to sell? We would like your input on the newsletter. Please feel free to write a short article about an adventure or experience you would like to share. Also we'll set up some space for a classified section if you have some aviation item you would like to sell.