Missing Issues
Let me just start with, “It’s been busy of late!”
Little did I know that the June Newsletter would be so far in the rear view mirror! So here it is, 3 and a-half hours from the new year and I am cranking this is as hard as I can.
Sorry for the delay but a lot has been going on. We had our Second National gathering in Cody along with a surprise wedding. We held the Seminar in Chandler for Wrench and Elbow Bending and as Luann says, “Roscoe went to Phoenix for 4 days, and came home and spent 2 days on the website!”
I wonder if we have a budding editor out there?
Flying on one mag (It happens to the Best of Us)
Even with checklist use occasionally something will sneak by and hopefully it is small and not life threatening. Two of our local members told this story at a recent hangar dinner. Plane was going up to just do some routine flying, exercise the engine, warm up the oil, etc for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Plane is pulled out of the hangar, pilot and co-pilot get in, off they go. They depart into the wind only to return a moment later after one brief circuit. They pull off into the run up area, and then take off again. Seems on the first takeoff, the mags were on only one of them and the owner noticed a miss he did not like so they came back and pull into the run up area to troubleshoot. When they got to mags, it was evident.
Fly Safe!
Membership news
As of this edition we stand at over 525 members. One of the things discussed in Cody at the membership event was that most would prefer to have active and engaged members. We’re off to a good start. Let’s keep it going strong. Thanks to everyone that contributes in seen and unseen ways.
Next National + Oshkosh
It is still 7 months off, but they will go fast. Our next national gathering will be held in Bowling Green, Kentucky just prior to Oshkosh so we can group fly up there the day before it starts. Details and information can be found here: http://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/2016-national-gathering/
You and Your Mechanic
So in preparation for next month’s ‘Wrench and Elbow Bending’ Maintenance Seminar, find and work with a good local mechanic to keep your plane in top order.
http://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/190057-1.html
Here is what Mike Bosch has to say: http://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/190057-1.html
Let me quote.
With the cooperation of your friendly neighborhood A&P, there’s almost no maintenance task you can’t do. Here’s what FAR 43.3(d) has to say about that:
A person working under the supervision of [an A&P] may perform … maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations … if the supervisor personally observes the work being done to the extent necessary to ensure that it is being done properly and if the supervisor is readily available, in person, for consultation.
In other words, you can do anything that your A&P will let you do (and agrees to supervise and sign-off). In this context, “supervise” means whatever your A&P says it means; the reg says he has to be available for consultation, but that doesn’t mean he has to watch your every move or breathe down your neck. As you earn the trust of your supervising A&P, he’ll probably let you do more and more of your own work and simply drop by to inspect it once you tell him you’re done.
How do you earn your A&P’s trust? Keep in mind that he doesn’t expect you to be an expert — in fact, coming across like a know-it-all is a good way to scare off your mechanic. What’s most important is to demonstrate to your A&P that you know your limits, and that he can trust you to stop and consult with him any time you’re not absolutely sure of what you’re doing. Exhibit a careful, conscientious and humble approach, and your A&P will probably give you lots of latitude.
Southwest Wrench and Elbow Bending Seminar
If you have not heard about it yet, there is a great event coming up the first weekend of November at Stellar Airpark in Chandler, AZ. Located outside Phoenix it should be a great event. Tips on working on your plane, hardware basics, troubleshooting, and discussions will all be part of this event. Come and join the fun!
And fun it was, indeed. See all the details here at: http://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/southwest-wrench-and-elbow-bending-weekend/
The next one is scheduled for May, 2016 at KHAO. As we found out at the first one, you can plan the topics you will cover, but scheduling them is pure fantasy. You just have to take them as they happen. Details can be found on the Gathering Pages.
Website
We have made a lot of changes to the website in the last few months and it is finally nearing final shape.
We do a lot to protect your privacy on this site so we strive to keep out the bad guys. So far no one has made it in. Some of these procedures cause some of the members a few problems in the early days. If you try to log in with an invalid username, you will get locked out for 24 hours. Spammers create accounts with robots, then they try and harvest the accounts days/weeks/months later. Since they have not really created a valid or approved account, they fail.
The pages have been redone to present the maximum amount of info in the smallest space. We hope you like it. Suggestions are always welcome.
The menus have been gone through and now we have many sub menus to help you navigate to the topic or info you want in the fastest fashion. We also designed in three ways to get at any critical info based on user preferences.
A few months ago we added a donate button to the pages and it works. Before the button was there let me thank Mr. Ray Towes, one of our first Canadian members, who made the first donation before it was on the web. Mark and Kelly Matthews made the first button donation. Thanks to all who have.
We now also have a store front under the shop page and you can buy our gear there.
Events are now completely automated. This means that when you, as a member, create an event, it will show up in the upcoming events, be displayed when current, and moved to the historical pages after the fact. So create an event in your area. As always, holler if you need help.
We just recently added 4 new CFI to the CFI page on Bondline. Thanks for stepping up to the plate all of you that helped with this.
Rigging Tools Project
If you think Grumman parts are hard to find, try and find a set of the rigging tools we have to have to properly rig our planes. Every shop today does not rent or send the tools out, since many folks just failed to return them and let the deposit go for payment.
This was the inspiration that began the project, to get one good example set (this part is done), make drawings, then duplicate them and sell sets of the complete 4-seat rigging tools. Estimated price for a set is currently being worked on and pricing is being checked on for 2,5, and 10 sets. I know of one shop in Mississippi and one in Australia that are waiting for them. Holler if you might be interested.
Latest info is that we have a water jet/laser shop picked out. Going to make each set complete for the 2 and 4 place planes. We are trying to keep the cost to about $500 a set. This means rental sets might be available again. Stayed tuned for updates.
Maintenance Tip
Save your old ELT batteries which expire, they still work for a number of projects. They can be used for a portable supply of ships power when testing flaps, installing a new JPI instrument since you do not need the plane’s power. They provide enough power to run the electric fuel pump if you need to pump fuel out of the plane and into containers, or the other way. FYI.
The Longest Short
A Navigational Guide to tracing a short in the Navigation Light Circuit.
Electrical shorts are a pain in the butt. We all know that and we all know why. Yet, every so often you get surprised. Here is the case of an everyday 1977 Cheetah. New owner goes to fly at night, nav lights do not work. Tracks down a fuse at the airport, gets it in, still no lights and a blown fuse. Okay, no night flying tonight.
So the process of tracking it down starts. Try another fuse to see if the problem fixed itself, yes, hope does spring eternal. Okay, another dead fuse. Off come the wingtips and the tail cone. Down come the sump covers. With the wingtips and the tailcone off, we put a ohm meter on the lights, they are okay, so we take an expired ELT battery and test each light, they all shine.
Now disconnect the molex connectors at each wing root. This isolated the nav light circuits into the wings (each separate) and the fuselage. So we put an ohm meter on the fuselage and get no short from power to ground. Next the left wing gets checked, it is okay. Right wing, okay it is here somewhere.
The short actually turned out to be in the two insulated connectors on the inside of the bulkhead feedthrough located on the outboard rib. They had been rubbing and finally got welded. That explains the dead 30 amp slo-blow fuse we found in the glove box.
Critical Insurance Terms
by Vivian Hibbler, Aircraft Marine
There are many terms in your insurance policies which may be difficult to understand. This is nothing new, of course. Following are just a few which are the most common:
SMOOTH LIMITS – Nearly all policies on single engine aircraft are written with liability limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence with passengers limited to $100,000 each. This means that you have $1,000,000 available for the entire claim, but the passengers cannot receive more than $100,000 each. For those pilots who are more experienced, and if the planes are not over a certain age, the “smooth” limit is available. This means that the cap of $100,000 per passenger is removed. There remains only one limit on the policy of $1,000,000. This means that you have the entire $1,000,000 to cover a claim with no caps on any person or thing. Any amount can go toward one or more passengers or persons on the ground or property. If you only had one passenger that was seriously injured, that one passenger could collect the entire $1,000,000. This $1,000,000 can be split in any way. The entire claim cannot go over $1,000,000 however. These smooth limits are available not only for $1,000,000, but for $2,000,000 $5,000,000 or more. Understandably, the premium goes up accordingly.
BREACH OF WARRANTY – Your insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. If you do not comply with the conditions of your policy, it will be voided. If your plane is financed through a financial institution, the bank or credit union will want some guarantee that if you do void your policy and have a claim, that they will be paid regardless of whether you may have voided your policy or not. This is what the Breach of Warranty endorsement states – that the insurance company will pay the balance of your loan even if you do void your policy. Nothing will go to you, the insured, however. One stipulation of this endorsement is that it will pay only up to 90% of the insured value. So if you have a loan and need this endorsement, you will have to insure your plane for a value that is higher than the loan, at least at first until the balance decreases. If you insure your plane at the loan amount, the bank will not accept your policy because they know that their guarantee would only go up to 90% of the insured value.
PER PASSENGER vs. PER PERSON – Aren’t these the same? Somewhat, but not entirely. When your policy states liability limits of $1,000,000 Per Occurrence with Passengers limited to $100,000, it means passengers only will be limited to the lower amount. Persons on the ground are not passengers. Therefore they come under the $1,000,000. If your plane caused severe injuries to someone on the ground, they could collect the entire $1,000,000 since they were not a passenger. Be aware that some policies (none that we offer) do come with limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence with persons limited to $100,000. If your policy reads like this, all people are limited to $100,000, not just the passengers. You might want to check your policies to see how they read.
A Tale of Two Cheetah Owners
We have had in the last 6 months 2 different Cheetah Owners (one from Colorado and one from Ohio) both give up aviation and buy and move aboard their own catamaran. Getting out of the rat race and enjoying a much simpler life. Our best wishes to them both and if I get any updates I will post them here and on the forum. If you want you can follow their blogs here:
http://thisratsailed.blogspot.com/ (Mike and Anya Boyd)
http://www.serendipity2.org/ (Keith and Terri Fuller)