Next Meeting - The next meeting will be Monday, June 7at 7:30 p.m. at GMU - Greenville Downtown Airport. All members and guests are invited to attend.

May Meeting – We had approximately 20 members and visitors at the Kights' house to view the RV-6 Danny is building with help from Warren DeMars. Danny is far along on the build (only 80% left to do!), the quality is exceptional, and everyone had a real close look at the 'innards of a sport plane. Plus he had a greeter who will give WalMart a run for their money!

NOTAM - If there is a RED DOT on your address label, you are late with Chapter dues. See Dave Meyer with $12 in your hand and join the 'paid in full' flyers around you! This will be your last warning…

NOTAM2 - As the World Turns - The main runway at GMU (Greenville Downtown has been renumbered as 1/19. We found that out at the recent Young Eagles flight…

BIG NOTAM - It's no April Fool's Joke. In the April 1 Federal Register, the FAA issued an interpretive ruling on the meaning and responsibility of FAR 91.123, compliance with air traffic control clearances and instructions. …"Contrary to the NTSB's reasoning, pilots do not meet this regulatory imperative by offering a full and complete readback or by taking other action that would tend to expose their error and allow for it to be corrected." According to the FAA, the responsibility lies with the person who is the initiating or principal cause of the error. Use of unclear terminology, failure to hear accurately, or failure to understand a clear transmission are examples of what the FAA calls principal causes of miscommunication. "When Air Traffic Control transmits a clearance or instruction that is properly acknowledged, and there is no evidence of radio malfunction or similar interference, the FAA assumes that the radio transmission has been received in the cockpit. Once received, the FAA says, the pilot's failure to hear or understand it is the result of the pilot's negligence." The FAA's interpretation that controllers have no responsibility to ensure that pilots understand communications is not sitting well with aviation groups in Washington, DC (understatement mine!) including AOPA, EAA and NATA (Natl. Air Transport. Assoc.)

The FAA's principal charter is air safety, certainly not advocating air travel or enjoyment, unless I'm really off the mark. Where does the FAA get the right to reinterpret their own powers? Where has it been demonstrated that pilots have any intent to mis-hear or misconstrue ATC clearances and instructions, or that ATC has any intent to give bad instructions? (Phil Boyer of AOPA)

Pardon my editorializing, but this one really honks me off! User fees are abhorrent, tickets are a bureaucratic crutch, orders to land are for bullies, but this one undermines the whole idea of cooperative safety of the skies for all. Please write Strom or Ernest c/o Senate Office Bldg.

and /or FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, Washington, DC and express your concern. Thanks-

Young Eagles Update II - The goal for EAA Young Eagles is for every member to fly 10 children in 1999. Stevens Aviation is planning a Rally for September at GSP - they always put on a real professional show. Share the thrill of personal aviation with the next generation. Sign up and help the next time a Young Eagle's Rally is announced.

Cassutt project for sale - Factory welded fuselage, tail feathers and control system. Wing is complete and project is on gear. Lower cowl and racing canopy included. Asking $2800 for all. Dan Arblaster (864) 306-8538 jda20@juno.com Williamsport airfield (Easley)

Flying Tales - This one is about flying, indirectly, but it is also about air and it's power and quirks. About 10 years ago, right after I moved to SC, I got a call from a west-coast buddy who needed a favor. His company provided training services for the Navy via satellite and Hugo was on the way; they had no time to get crew and gear cross-country to haul their 6 meter dish and receiver hut (on a low boy) to safety. Could I help? We had a Chevy van with a straight 6 and a bumper hitch and I was a lot closer to Charleston than they were. I headed out 2 days before the big H was to hit, got to the base about 2 AM and met the training crew. Turns out the trailer had a tongue weight of at least 1000 lbs., since the van was dragging real low! It must have looked something like the Space Shuttle crawler getting another launch ready: MPs in Jeeps, flashing lights, and an early morning parade across the base at maybe 3 miles per hour. We got to the other side and I had to back the whole parcel thru a huge Quonset hut sort of hangar, about 50 yards, straight between stacks of ship stores and survival gear. Delivered, set and done to the commander's satisfaction. All the ships ran out to sea and safety, Hugo came to town and had his way with damn near everything, and the roof was ripped off that hangar - along with most of the stored goods, except the dish and trailer! Not a scratch or wrinkle. They were back on the air in 3 days.

The flying part? My check for the towing services paid for my first flying lessons.

I was demonstrating an ILS to a former Private Pilot student while my wife was in the back seat. For once, thanks to calm air, I nailed it perfectly. The only instrument with a moving needle on the entire panel was the altimeter.

My wife asked what was guiding me to the runway. I pointed to the CDI and GS needles and told her how I get lateral and vertical guidance from them.

"How can you get any guidance from those?" she asked, obviously puzzled.

"They're not moving!"

E.A.A. CHAPTER 249

P.O. BOX 5792

GREENVILLE, SC 29606