President’s Newsletter, EAA Chapter 92 – February 2010
It’s the third week in January and we are experiencing one of the heaviest bouts of Southern California rainfall in five (5) years. Why five years you ask? Because in the middle of January 2005, the Corona Municipal Airport (KAJO) became a very short field, an impromptu seaplane base and/or a fishing hole. So I have been thinking about seaplanes and Condition Inspections.
To reminisce, see
http://www.rapp.org/wp-content/011205-corona_flooding.wmv for a short over flight video of the Corona airport. The hangars on the west end of the field suffered water damage to the extent of 11 – 12 feet high. The good news is that most of the EAA Chapter 92 airplanes originally based at AJO have now relocated to Chino, CA (CNO). The flood waters would have to rise another 100 feet to catch up with us now.
Since the weather isn’t good for ducks and it’s that time of the year, I decided to spend more time taking airplanes apart and attempting to put them together again. Let’s see, that makes two (2) Stinson L-5 Sentinels in pieces, a C-172A and now a Falco. The good news is the Falco will be a hangar queen for only a couple of weekends and then back in the air – flying with the sun shining and the birds singing. That little Falcon (Falco in Latin and Italian) will be soaring again. The C-172A will be airborne this coming weekend with the break in the weather. The L-5 projects are “museum and air show” airplanes, so they will take longer, before they can stretch their wings.
If you haven’t been out to the Yanks Air Museum (YAM) lately, plan a day trip. As you may have heard, this is the world’s largest collection of privately owned airplanes and the restoration hangar is always buzzing. If you ever wanted to learn how to prep and paint airplanes, spend a few minutes with Frank Wright, YAM’s Restoration Manager or one of the docents to get the skinny on restoring an airplane to NASM (National Air and Space Museum) airworthy status. It reminds me of building models as a kid and taking the time to get the detail right. Also stop by the L-5 restoration section. The YAM hoisted a banner proclaiming EAA Chapter 92 as the all volunteer organization restoring the L-5s. We appreciate the recognition from the YAM and we are pleased to spend our time resurrecting a part of our history.
If you really want to learn how to build an airplane, or two, join our L-5 restoration team. We have very talented folks working on the project and have fun too! We meet at the YAM on Saturday mornings at 8:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The YAM is also looking to acquire a restorable Consolidated PBY, which is the seaplane part of my story.
Lastly, Larry Severson has been working with PTI paints on a “secret technology project”. PTI is our presenter and paints and painting is our technology presentation for February 2010. This is also the first time we are hosting a FAA WINGS program. Paint is an important element for aircraft including: application and handling safety, coating compatibility, surface preparation, cure, corrosion and UV protection, weight management, control surface balance and just plain looking good. So, plan on attending this session at our next general meeting on February 2, 2010. Larry will fill you in on the “secret” part of the program.
Keep ‘em flying
Ray Hecker
President and Flight Advisor – EAA Chapter 92
CFII, MEI, AGI & IGI
FAA Safety Team (FAAST) Representative – Aviation Safety Counselor