EAA Chapter 249
September 1998 Newsletter

Young Eagles Day – Stevens Aviation at GSP is sponsoring a Y/E day Saturday, October 3.

They need pilots, ground support, and Young Eagles. Call 879-6157 to help.

Bob Potter is finishing up his airplane (John Ayers, too?) and is in need of an English Wheel – He wants to do some compound cowl metalwork. I bet the rest of us would like to see a demo of this craft. If you can lead him to a source, either to contract or use, he’s at 295-6475.

News from Oshkosh: Lancair has 225 orders for the new Columbia. Nice style, good numbers.

Alvin Jones was reported to be in the vicinity of a FALCO airframe. Maybe we can persuade him to talk a little about it…

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AGL (A Good Laugh)

Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on 124.7."

Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure...by the way, as we lifted off, we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway."

Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on 124.7... did you copy the report from Eastern?"

Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff...and yes, we copied Eastern and we've already notified our caterers."

Bumper Snickers:

Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

Cover me. I’m changing lanes.

Why is ‘abbreviation’ such a long word?

If they call it ‘tourist season’ why can’t we shoot them?

Rehab is for quitters.

NOTAMs- Donaldson Airport designator has changed from 7A1 to GYH.

Flight World , south of Greer, is changing their name to ‘Chandelle Airpark’

FAA Inspector Carlson out of Kansas City FSDO gives us a heads-up on GPS: certain comm. frequencies can cause harmonic interference in portable GPS receivers. 121.15, 121.175, 121.200, 131.25, 131.275 and 131.30 MHz among others can cause VERY WRONG position reports. Handheld GPS is '‘VFR only' and advisory in nature; IFR approved GPS have internal monitoring that tells when the GPS signal is corrupted and questionable.

EAA Headquarters will donate $10 to a chapter’s treasury for each new member recruited! Got a buddy who wants to join EAA national? See Dave Meyer.

Clinton-requested User Fees (No wisecracks, please) may mean up to $6 Billion in additional taxes for all air travelers, produce no visible increase in aviation safety, comfort or utility, be a burden to collect and a disincentive to aviation safety – and the biggest shock – may not all be used for aviation since the increase will be greater than the proposed FAA budget. Congress, the AOPA, industry experts all agree – this stinks! Tell Strom, Ernest and Bob you think so too.

FAA Ticket Writers – The FAA has proposed a ‘Streamlined Administrative Enforcement Process’ so inspectors can write ‘an administrative action’ violation report that immediately goes into your pilot’s record for at least 2 years. The FAA offers no compelling reason for the change, just that it would decrease the paperwork and personnel burden. What happens to administrative review and time to petition for reconsideration? Is the current practice of hearing, consideration and redress not sufficient to maintain flight safety? Total accidents and fatalities continue their 10 year decrease, thanks to training, enforcement, and pilot diligence. Why this? Why now?

Safety First – Just finished an AOPA article that cautioned the "West magnetic course is even altitudes plus 500 feet ,VFR" can still get your blood pressure up. You’re flying 356 degrees and a BarnBurner 3000 is on a 185 degree course, same altitude and you are both doing good – still might be Big Airplane in the Window time! Nothing beats eyes out of the cockpit.

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in the front conference room located in the main terminal building of the Greenville Downtown Airport, Cornerstone Aviation, 100 Tower Drive, first Monday of every month at 7:30 PM.

The Chapter 249 Newsletter of the Experimental Aircraft Association is a monthly publication and is distributed to all members in good standing of Chapter 249. Any articles, items, stories, etc., contained within are not to be interpreted as 100% factual. Reproduction and use of material printed in this publication is approved and encouraged, and permission of EAA Chapter 249 is not required unless stated otherwise. Kindly cite the source as the Chapter 249 Newsletter. Articles published herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Chapter, the editor, membership, or officers.

The deadline for items to be published is Monday following the monthly meeting. All copy and other materials should be mailed to the Newsletter Editor at 115 Greenbrier Dr., Simpsonville, SC 29680.