March 2017 PROPWASH. A Newsletter of EAA Chapter 517, Inc.

Transcription

1 March 2017 PROPWASH A Newsletter of EAA Chapter 517, Inc.

2 From the chapter president Steve Rossiter Here it is, the 1 st of March and I m late getting my material to Clint. It s my fault we are late with the March PropWash, sorry. We blasted through February with some mixed weather and I know some of us took advantage of the good days to knock the rust off. Good on ya! We also took advantage of February to have our Annual Mid Winter Chili Feed. For those who showed up, we had a great time as usual. I introduced the members of Chapter EAA 517 to a form of chili I learned about when living in New Mexico. My recipe for Green Chili con Carne de Cerdo was a sinus clearing concoction that was appreciated by all who tried it and even liked by some. The latest on the MSO hangar is that completion is still scheduled for around mid-march. I was in the building last week and wall painting was complete, interior trim painting was taking place and the heating system was installed and working. The exterior is complete with corrugated metal on the tower structure and looks good. Flooring is scheduled for next week, so we are getting close. If we are really, really lucky we might get in and be open for business before the end of April. I also want you to know the price I ve paid to check out the new hangar. I ve now had my fourth flat tire on my truck. The first occurred when the Board looked at the hangar in January and the last was fixed on Monday, February 27, Oh well, the price of keeping members informed! It is time for us to think about what we would like to do for the Grand Opening of EAA Chapter 517 s new Hangar and Headquarters. Please pass on your thoughts to me or one of the other board members. Lastly, I have developed some labels I have been attaching to my aviation magazines as I recycle them to the various health care facilities Page 2 waiting rooms. They simply say Compliments of EAA Chapter 517 with my phone number and the Chapter website address. I noticed that none of the waiting rooms had any magazines I could get enthusiastic about, so I decided recycling my aviation magazines to waiting rooms was better than sending them to the recycle center. If you would like some of these labels and are willing to deliver them to your providers who have waiting rooms, drop me a note and I ll get some to you. Who knows, we may even get a few new members as a result. That s it for now. As you get out to fly, keep the dirty side down! Steve

3 This month s cover model - Miss Virginia By Clint Burson Walking along the flight line at AirVenture 2016, it s hard to miss the gorgeously restored DC-3, Miss Virginia. The highly polished aluminum sporting the colors of the U.S. Air Force shined bright in the afternoon sun. The renovation of Miss Virginia totaled more than 7,000 man-hours of labor. The plane s avionic suite and instrument panels were replaced, as was the right-side engine. The restoration team also overhauled the propellers, carburetors and oil coolers. Firewall forward hoses were replaced. So were all the control surfaces, including new fabric covers. Miss Virginia also had a bit of aesthetic restoration including repainting, polishing, multiple new interior panels and a significant airframe inspection. According to a Dynamic Aviation press release, The aircraft was named Miss Virginia to honor both the military and the state of Virginia. Miss Virginia was the name of the P-38 Lighting that shot down Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in The P-38 eventually suffered damage while landing on a subsequent mission and was parted out. The new Miss Virginia emblem painted on the aircraft s tail was designed to closely match the one on the original. The plane was built by Douglas Aircraft Company in 1943 and served with the U.S. Army until the 1950s. It was then sent to the Oklahoma National Guard before being returned to the Army, which used it as a test platform until Dynamic Aviation purchased the plane in 1990 and modified it for Gypsy Moth and Mosquito spraying operations. Dynamic Aviation retired the plane in 2000 and restored it in As one of the most iconic planes in aviation history, the DC-3 is sure to catch any airplane enthusiasts attention. When highly polished and impeccably restored, it really stands out, even on the flight line of the biggest air show of the year. Page 3

4 Serve the chapter Membership Committee Reach out to all national EAA members in our area and entice them to become Chapter 517 members. Reach out to the rest of the aviation community and others interested in aviation, to also become active with the Chapter as members. Fly the Big Sky License Committee Reach out to Montana aviation businesses to help support our state wide scholarship program by participating in our specialty license plate program. Reach out for individual participation in the Fly the Big Sky license plate program. Meeting Program Committee A group focused on organizing an interesting meeting program for the Chapter monthly meeting. The strongest thing we can do, for membership, is have interesting and engaging meeting programs that make people look forward to our next meeting. Scholarship Committee A group whose job will be to evaluate the scholarship applications and select the winners prior to the annual Montana Aviation Page 4

5 Single seat sport performance By Clint Burson There are a lot of kits on the market these days. One of the more recent entrants is the all metal Panther from Sport Performance Aviation, LLC. The Panther is a single-seat, low wing aircraft with a bubble canopy and designed around a Corvair engine. There are a handful of Panthers now flying and several of them have branched out into different engine options. The kit allows the builder to put the plane on traditional gear (taildragger) or trike gear though so far, no trike Panthers have been Page 5

6 completed. One of the features that differentiates the Panther over a similar kit is the folding wings. They can be folded easily and allow the plane to be trailered or to fit in a tight hangar space. Speaking of wings, the kit comes with two different wing options. The LSA version measures in at 23.5 feet while the Sport version measures 21.5 feet. Sport Performance Aviation was founded by Dan Weseman who has been building gear reduction systems for Corvair engines for several years. That helps explain why the kit was designed around that engine. Even with that engine, the small plane has a top speed of 180 mph. The kit comes pre-drilled and ready for a quick assembly. You can even get a quick-build version that provides the builder with completed fuel tanks. For those wanting to go with the Corvair engine, Sport Performance Aviation is located just down the taxiway from William Wynne at Corvair Authority in Florida. If you only need one seat and you re looking for a sporty ride, the Panther might be just what you re looking for. General characteristics Crew: 1 Length: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) Wing area: 93 sq ft (8.6 m2) Empty weight: 650 lb (295 kg) Gross weight: 1,020 lb (463 kg) Fuel capacity: 20 U.S. gallons (76 L; 17 imp gal) Powerplant: 1 Chevrolet Corvair engine conversion horizontally opposed piston engine, 110 hp (82 kw) Page 6

7 Follow EAA 517 on Facebook BUILDER S REPORT Cygnet Don Lorenzen 99% Glassair Allen Burruss FT S-II 100% Phase one flight test complete! Piper Exp. Brad Condra Bushmaster 60% Fabric covering being installed. RANS Dan Dixon S7S Courier 15% Rutan Ed Lovrien Limo EZ 50% Sonex Larye Parkins Waiex 30% Van s RV John Barba RV-6 Visit Facebook.com/EAA517 and click on Like Zenith Ray Aten CH-601 Happily flying! Terry Philips CH-601 9% Duane Felstet CH % Builders, please send updates to the newsletter editor at cburson@gmail.com so this list can be kept current. Page 7

8 Pictures worth a thousand words Page 8

9 Page 9

10 President Steve Rossiter Vice President Jim Younkin Secretary Gary Weyermann PROPWASH March 2017 CONTACTS EAA Chapter 517 PO Box Missoula, MT Treasurer Terry Phillips Young Eagles Ray Aten EAA Tech Counselor Larry DePute Propwash Editor Clint Burson Website Larye Parkins Page 10