As I write this final President’s letter of 2009, we are entering into the “Holiday Season”. A time when we reflect upon our accomplishments, and yes we have all achieved growth in our EAA family and organization. With the 2009 Veterans Day event at Flabob (RIR – Rubidoux, CA) behind us, most of us can kick back and enjoy the rest of the year. A few of us “Usual Suspects” have continuing work to do to prepare for 2010.
Special thanks goes out to our team leaders Ernie Julian and Bob Dougherty and the other volunteers that helped to make our Young Eagles fund raiser on November 14-15, 2009 a success. The local press indicated over 3,000 attended the Wathen Foundation event honoring our service veterans, which means we did quite well with our Bratwurst sandwich contributions. The U.S. Army Commander at the Flabob celebration thanked our EAA 92 volunteers for donating over 25 meals. A number of our members looked great in their U.S. Army (USA) fatigue caps. As is our tradition, EAA Chapter 92 provided free meals to active service personnel. It is our way of saying thank you for their contributions to preserve our American freedom.
The Yanks Air Museum (YAM) Stinson L-5 restoration project is moving forward a little slower than usual due to our November events and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. We installed the 1942 L-5’s rudder cables for basic fitting with a modification from the available drawings. We solved a fundamental fit issue that appeared with the 1945 documentation we are using for all L-5 series. We are awaiting the official original production turnbuckles and a re-manufacture of the pilot’s return rudder loop cable. Bill Moyle installed the flap handle on a trial basis, which makes us happy to assemble more parts on the airplane. The YAM advised us to prepare to complete the second airplane, a 1943 L-5. With the additional project on our restoration plate, we are pleased to have a new volunteer assisting us – Isaac. Isaac is an A & P student and we welcome his energy and expertise. Isaac is pleased to learn how it was done “in the day”. A & Ps today do not learn all of the skills of the old masters, such as braiding cables and woodwork. Swaging is the standard developed during WWII to speed production. We look forward to seeing Isaac on Saturday’s at YAM.
Other YAM / EAA 92 news includes the addition of two “All American” general aviation airplanes to YAM’s CNO facility. The airplanes are a 1946 (+/-) ERCO (Engineering and Research Corporation) Ercoupe 415-CD, a pre-World War II airplane design, and a 1960 Cessna C-172A. The 1960 C-172 is the first year the venerable C-172 airplane boasted a swept tail. The airplane is in polished aluminum finish with cream and maroon trim. This particular airplane sports unique tail art that would make the NRA proud. The Ercoupe is very close to flying. YAM's Frank Wright and Matt Walker disassembled the Ercoupe onsite to truck it back to YAM – Chino, CA. Both airplanes came from the West Texas Air Museum, a small collection at T27, Horizon Airport, just east of El Paso, TX. Our conveyance to T27 was via YAM’s 1938 fully restored U. S. Army - Lockheed C-40D (UC-40D), which is the military version of the Electra Jr. (Lockheed L-12) The airplane sports the same Pratt & Whitney R-985 (450 HP each) engines as the Electra (Lockheed L-10). I was pleased to assist Matt Walker, YAM’s vintage multi-engine pilot with some of the flying load while he relaxed. I was fortunate that YAM management asked me to assist them with
the pick-up and return of the airplanes.
The C-172A was ferried back over a 6.8-hour trek via T27 – E60 (Eloy, AZ) – CNO by Tiffany Wright, with a flight instructor assist by yours truly. The airplane is a great flyer and sports a low time Continental O-300, six (6) cylinders, 145 HP engine. It is easy to see the transformation from the original 1948 C-170 to the C-172. The basic C-170 fuselage was retained with the C-170B wing and strut incorporated into the design. The C-172 came into existence in 1956 and sported a straight tail until the C-172A in early 1960. The Cessna marketing department wanted the airplane to look faster, which was also the beginning of the straight-tail nose snubbing by Mooney Aircraft. That is another story for a later time. We completed our Chapter 92 election process for 2010. We had a great turnout. Please see the EAA Chapter 92 Secretary’s Report for the official tally and our new volunteer management and board. I look forward to serving as president for another term. I will turn over the leadership reigns at the end of 2010. Robert Baker graciously accepted the position of Vice President. Roland Koluvek continues as our Treasurer as does Penelope Hecker our Secretary. I was scheduled to be the presenter for our November technical session, however due to technical difficulties we are offering the presentation at the January 2010 general meeting. Our program includes reviewing the 20th Annual West Coast Falco Gathering at Longmont, CO and the tour us Falco-philes took of the Scion Aircraft facility in Loveland, CO. I will present and discuss the new Falcomposite, Ltd. Furio LN 27RG, which is the graphite-epoxy equivalent of the Stelio Frati Falco F.8L. While we will not have a general meeting on December 1, 2009, we have scheduled a planning meeting for the current 2009 and 2010 officers and board members. I look forward to seeing all of you at the 2009 Christmas/Holiday/Recognition dinner on December 7, 2009 at Salvatore Cucina Italiana in Mission Viejo,
CA.
If you were a Young Eagle pilot or volunteer in 2009, your attendance is requested and next to mandatory. Sixty seats are reserved with approximately 15 or so tickets remaining. The sooner you make your reservation the better – first come first served. There are no rain checks for this event. See the announcement released by our Secretary for additional details. This is going to be one of the best $20.00 investments you ever made for a dinner and beverage ticket. We are also supporting the USMC’s Toys-for-Tots campaign, so please bring an unwrapped toy as a donation. Happy Holidays!
Keep ‘em flying
Ray Hecker
President and Flight Advisor – EAA Chapter 92
CFII, MEI, AGI & IGI
FAA Safety Team (FAAST) Representative – Aviation Safety Counselor