Good Turnout on Warm June Morning – 65 in attendance and 53 breakfasts were sold. The gas heaters were moved out and the fans moved in to circulate air in the big hanger. The BAF was a good investment! The breakfast crew was feeding the line steady with no waiting.
Call to Order – Dick Keyt called the meeting to order at 10:00. Dick made a special note of appreciation for the Breakfast Crew who come in very early to get the grills going, tables setup, and serving line prepared. There were several guests in attendance. Charlie Miller, a retired corporate pilot, flew his Decathlon nonstop from Granbury Muni. He is a member of the Plano EAA chapter. Ray Nasypany’s son Steve was in town who helped build their RV-8A. They will need to vacate a Pecan hanger and are seeking some temporary space for several months.
First Flights – Dick noted it has been a long time since the chapter had a first flight report. We have two this month!
- Sonex First Flight – Bill Winkler moved to Pecan in 2019. He has been off and on building a conventional gear Sonex since 2003. It is equipped with an AeroVee 80 HP. After a little difficulty getting the engine to start he performed the first flight on June 9th. He was watching the cylinder head temperatures (CHTs) closely as he began to climb. After going around on his first landing attempt he became concerned with the CHTs and was able to successfully get it on the ground the second time around. There was some discussion about potential remedies for the CHTs. Bill is building a jig to help with removing the cowl.
- Kitfox 2 First Flight – Kirk Nickman, who previously built and flew a Long-Ez, had the other first flight on his Kitfox 2 at the end of May. Steve Bloomquist did the honors. Initially there was some roll asymmetry that was corrected with adjustment to the flaperon linkage. Another flight was conducted was performed with the doors on and another asymmetry was evident. This one was corrected by adjusting the incidence in one of the wings.
Congrats to Bill and Kirk for their persistence!
Project Reports
- Glider Project – Dick discussed the recent flight experience with the reverse tow system at Chigger Field. He mentioned their exasperation over having 6 rope breaks during launch – one at 250 feet resulting in a quick 360 back to the field. One additional observation was the amount of stretch in the rope (+200 feet) during tensioning and the subsequent whip occurring after release. Dick said they have decided to buy low stretch, Dyneema rope that has higher tensile strength in a smaller diameter.
- Lancair Project – Dick reported the engine from the Lancair project is destined for the Super Cub towplane. Some speculated the engine was zero time and appeared pristine after pulling one of the cylinders. Further investigation showed that one of the rocker shafts appeared to be used. It became apparent this may be a factory remanufactured engine since everything else appears to be new. There is also an issue with the engine mount as an STC’d Dynafocal would be needed to mount this engine on the Super Cub.
- Chapter Hanger – Dick brought the chapter members up to speed on the latest with the chapter hanger finances. The LLC consists of 4 partners (3 individuals and EAA 983). The initial chapter investment was $100K which represented less than 1/4 interest. Since that time the chapter has bought more shares that allowed the other 3 partners to recoup some of their investment but the plan all along is for the chapter to take over 100% ownership. Pat Wallace, a Certified Financial Planner, went through a presentation describing ways that chapter members could take advantage of US tax laws to either make donations or name the chapter in their estate planning. Please contact Pat for further insight.
Safety Minute – Don McDonald reported an unfortunate incident with his RV-10 while parked at Midway airport. While parked in the grass a Cessna taxiing on the taxiway centerline struck his prop with the wing. The damage was a thin crack near the tip. Don was able to successfully get the airplane home. The prop has been removed and sent to MT Propellers in Oklahoma City for overhaul. Lesson learned is to be keenly aware of where the event marshallers place you in temporary tie down spots.
Featured Speaker – Following a short break, Jason “Mac” McAlister took the stage to discuss his career and military aircraft he flew (AV-8B and T-45). Mac enlisted in USMC working in Force Recon – Marine equivalent to Navy SEALs. He spent 15 years in the Marine Corp serving with VMA 214 Blacksheep and the VMA 211 Wake Island Avengers flying AV-8Bs. He left active duty in 2002 and decided against the airlines given the circumstances of the industry. He joined Lockheed Martin and worked pilot training for the F-35B (STOVL). Having missed being in the cockpit he joined the Navy Reserves as an instructor pilot in the T-45. His experience in pilot training led him to discover the need for low cost, desktop training devices. He eventually started Wraith Systems that makes F-16 and F-35 pilot controls (stick and throttle) that emulate the real aircraft units and can be hooked up to a laptop simulator. He also started another company called Check Six Training System that applies military best practices to operational aspects of other industries like offshore drilling, manufacturing, and transportation.
Mac discussed how the AV-8B is such a unique fighter aircraft. It requires above average pilot skills so the selection process and subsequent training is quite involved. The Harrier lacks the fly-by-wire augmentation typically found in 4th and 5th Gen fighters (the front and rear nozzles are driven by the equivalent of a bicycle chain) and the anhedral in the wing destabilizes the lateral axis. Mac explained how during a short takeoff the pilot needs to be on his/her game to grab the right lever to rotate the nozzles and not retard the throttle off the end of the ship! He explained how the Harrier is not fast or a good dogfighter but is a good low level CAS machine.
Mac went through two flight incidents in the Harrier and a 3rd in the T-45. First a deer strike during landing rollout at MCAS Cherry Point that wiped out an outrigger and gave him a new callsign “Bambi”. The second a nosewheel collapse at MCAS Yuma during the Fall of 2000 that was never really explained based on engineering analysis. Mac mentioned how much he enjoyed instructing in the T-45 and noted how some of the best students were musicians! He had a 3rd incident in a T-45 with an engine bird ingestion that resulted in fire out the tailpipe (cooking the bird). The engine continued to operate normally and was able to recover at Meacham airport.
We were pleased to have Mac speak with the chapter. He commented how much he admired the experimental community as builders, maintainers, and pilots of their own aircraft.