Vol 25 No. 12
December 2002
REFLECTIONS
Ed Chenevey
I hope you all have a Happy Holiday Season. To keep the EAA happy,
we have to have elections and send them $155 and a list of members with EAA
numbers. Bring yours. We should discuss suitable meeting places and raising the
dues. Matt Thompson is willing to become President with Mike Stoddard as Vice
President. I'm willing to continue as Sec-Treasurer. If anyone else wants to
volunteer, great. If we have any time left after this, we can show some videos.
The Jan 03 issue of Popular Science has a cover picture and article
on a new radar and visual stealth research aircraft from McDonald- Douglas. The
Dec 9th issue of Aviation Week shows a picture of the first lift off of the
first reproduction ME 262.
I received an early Christmas present last week when Mrs Ryan
presented me with a box of pictures, logbooks, and data for the 7AC Champ that I
purchased from Bill Ryan after it was wrecked in a wind storm in 1985. Some logs
are missing but the original ones from Aeronca are there. This plane is unusual
in that it only had three owners while airworthy and it spent all of it's life
based at two airports in NJ. It was flight tested at the factory on 5-10-46 and
ferried to Teterboro on the 11th and 12th in 7.5 hours. Two days and 45 minutes
later it was at Somerset Airport where George Walker used it until 1963 and put
5177 hours on it.In the early years it flew 500 hours a year. After being
disassembled for 4 years, it was sold to Jimmy Calvin at Somerset Hills where it
was flown another 1000 hours between 1967 and 1970 when Bill bought it. So if
any of you flew a Champ at either airport, you probably flew old N83606.
The original engine was topped at 387 hours and replaced after
little more than a year of service at 588 hours even though the oil was changed
every 25 hours. Obviously those students were tough. It was rejuvenated in 1949,
recovered in 51, 58 and disassembled in 63 and recovered in 67. Message, Grade A
only lasted 5 or 6 years. The problem now is that polyester lasts a long time
but the airframe tends to corrode underneath. When the cover was replaced every
5 years it gave a chance for detailed inspection and corrosion prevention.
Anyway, I'm glad that she saved all this.
The 7th annual Cabin Fever Expo Model Engineering Expo will be held
on Jan 18-19 at the York Fairgrounds Convertion & Expo Center in York, PA. It
keeps getting bigger each year and moving further away. But there should be more
space and more parking. This year they are adding an auction the day
before.Otherwise it will have the usual mix of vendors and displays of models,
tools etc, with seminars and a consignment area. Check out CabinFeverExpo.com.
Finally, on a sadder note, Al Douglas passed away after a short
ilness on December 1st. He haden't quite finished the biplane wings for his Fly
Baby.
Cygnet Chatter Alvin Sager
After dealing with the airlines to get my son back to school sooner than originally planned, A cross country machine would come in handy. It almost made me drive to Colorado. Last minute changes do not work at this time of the year, and standby was not an option. I wound up trashing the return ticket and getting a flight out of Baltimore. I was told by customer no-service that I got a very good price. Only $364 to replace half of a $300 round trip. General aviation is looking better all the time.
I wonder if I have room for a turbo and oxygen in the Cygnet.
Happy Holidays
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