May 2014

EAA CHAPTER 326
THUN FIELD THUNDER
T HUN FI ELD
T HUN DE R
MAY 2014
NEXT MEETING—SPECIAL UPDATE FROM STEVE D
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
APRIL MEETING
MINUTES
1
TREASURY REPORT & VISTOR
REPORT
2
PROJECT UPDATES
3
EDITORS CORNER
5
YOUNG EAGLES
6
PHOENIX50
FLIGHT REPORT
7
FOR SALE
9
NEXT MEETING
 Tuesday May 13th—
7 pm
 CAP building Thun
Field
 Special Guest Phil
Olson from Recreational Aviation Foundation
The following is an excerpt from an email
that Steve Dickson sent to Randy regarding a special guest and circumstances
for our next meeting.
“Our guest speaker for May was Bob
Kay, with the Recreational Aviation
Foundation. His wife called me, yesterday, to inform me that Bob passed away
suddenly. She found Bob's date planner
and noticed he had scheduled himself to
speak at our meeting this month. With all
she had going on in her life, she still felt it
was important to call me and let me
know the situation. She went even further in letting me know she would not let
us down and called Phil Olson to come
up and speak at our meeting. Phil heads
up the Oregon Chapter and lives south of
Portland, but called to say he would
come up on the 13th.”
MEETING MINUTES—APRIL 2014
Tom Brown is looking for additional passengers looking to go to Oshkosh with
him and some others. They will have a
house to stay at.
WSDOT deals with Capacity, Environment, Safety, Stewardship, Economic
Vitality, Mobility, Land use and preservation
Young Eagles - June 28th Last Saturday
of the month. We need to decide on a
number of kids to sign up. We were at
150, maybe go up to 200 this year. Look
for signup to come out starting next
month for positions to help out.
WA State. 134 public use airports.
TeenFlight had their first hire with Alaska
Airlines. An exciting development for the
program and showing the potential for
kids in the program.
Primary funding via state funds, Fuel Tax,
Excise tax, aircraft registration fees. 11
cents per gallon of AVGAS and Jet-A is
directed to support aeronautics. Nearly
52% of all funds are used for Airport
grants.
SB 5430 - proposed legislation to move
100% of the aircraft excise tax to the aeronautics fund. Currently it passed the
Tonight's program was by Carter Timmer- Senate, but died in the House. Currently
man - WSDOT aviation division
10% of the excise tax goes to aviation the
rest goes to the general fund. While it
Motto : A Steward for Washington's Aviadied in 2014, the hope is to try again in
tion System
2015 with more education and financial
modeling to show the benefits.
THUN FIELD THUNDER
SB 6054 & HB 2241 are a set of bills to support aviation safety by marking mobile Meteorological Towers which can be erected up
to 200ft tall. It has passed both houses and
is being taken to the Governor for signature.
That's it for this month. - Andy Karmy (filling
in for Kerry)
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VISITORS—FEBRUARY
Craig B - Building a RV-14 in Gig Harbor.
Randy Bachman - returning back to the chapter. Just bought a
Kitfox 3 on floats that he will be flying off Long Lake in Port Orchard.
TREASURY REPORT—FEB
Norm with Treasury Report:
Feb $2894.59 - Current balance
$3038.59
Norm has new chapter hats for $15.
He's looking into other clothing as well
and will get some Jackets ordered.
Arlington Airshow 2013
No first flights
reported this
month.
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PROJECT UPDATES
To have your project included here please email ([email protected]) your
written status monthly or send a link to your update website.
Andy Karmy—RV-8
Website: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=106361
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akarmy/sets/72157637367942556/
4/28/2014 update Post: “It's hard to describe the frustration of making hard
fuel lines in the confines of the structure… The line that goes through the
gear tower from the fuel filter to the pump is especially vexing for sure. But
eventually I found a combination of bends and flares that got the job done!
”
Darin Anderson—RV-9A
Website: http://www.DarinAnderson.com
4/28/2014 update Post: This is what took up
most of the day. I am mounting my oil cooler
on the firewall and this picture is taken about
2/3 of the way through that process. I also
added a 45 degree fitting to the manifold barely visible at the top of the picture. This will be
for the oil pressure sensor that drives the
hobbs meter. I actually had to remove the
manifold to screw in the new fitting. Also Travis
came over and we riveted the parking brake
bracket to the firewall. Those rivets are under
the oil cooler in this picture so not really visible.
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THUN FIELD THUNDER
PROJECT UPDATES
To have your project included here please email ([email protected]) your
written status monthly or send a link to your update website.
Earl and Linda Lee Gruer –RV-12
5/5/2014 update : “We just got the airworthiness inspection done today on our RV 12. It is
an airplane! We just have to paint (it will be
white) and move to the airport. And on to what
is called the First Phase (testing that is). So as
you all know, At Last we are at the First. ”
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Page 5
EDITORS CORNER
Hello everybody, I received the following email this week and thought you might be interested.
Hello my name is David Weber and I am president of EAA Chapter 84 in Snohomish WA. I am
writing you to invite you and your members to a special presentation on Tuesday May
13th. Chapter 84 will be hosting the lead engineer from Van's Aircraft, Rian Johnson and the
assistant engineer Adam Burch. They will be discussing what is new at Van's and what kinds of
things they are working on. Because this is such a rare event we have decided to invite other
chapters from the area and start the evening off with some burgers on the grill. I would ask
that you please share the following information with your members at your next meeting and/or
include it in your next newsletter.
Visit from Van's Aircraft Engineering Team
Rian Johnson - Lead Engineer
Adam Burch - Engineer
Date: Tuesday May 13th
Time: Presentation at 7:00 pm (burgers starting at 5:30 pm)
Location: EAA Chapter 84 Hangar located on Harvey Field(S43) see attachment
We are encouraging everyone who attends to wear their Van's Gear!
For more information visit www.84.eaachapter.org
EAA Chapter Hangar location
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YOUNG EAGLES 2014
Just a reminder that the Young Eagles 2014 registration is open and can be found at the following link. http://www.eaa326.org/ye.php
2009 Young Eagles Briefing
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PHOENIX50 FLIGH T REP O RT BY RANDY ALBRITTON
"Speedway flight.....two minutes out" comes the call from BG our formation lead as a sea of RVs gently bob up and down ahead
and to my left. I am flying in the slot as Kilo 4 on the extreme right side of a 50 ship formation. Suddenly my flight lead pitches
up HARD and rolls to the right. Reflexively I follow him as my formation training takes over. When I have a chance to look back
to the left our 16 ship diamond looks like a covey of quail that had just been flushed. RVs are scrambling to get back together.
Just as we are pulling back in another ripple comes down the leading edge echelon, not nearly as violent as the first but since
we are now somewhat jumpy we pull out to the side about 50 feet to let it settle down. "Arm smoke.........smoke on" comes the
call from GB. I reach up with my left hand and flip the toggle switch activating the pump that pushes smoke oil into the exhaust
pipes knowing that we are now less than a minute from our target. Our three RVs making up most of Kilo flight are waiting for
the diamond to start reforming before wading back in.
Flashback to January 28th when an email arrived from BG inviting us to participate in what was to be billed as a world record
50 ship formation flight over the Phoenix NASCAR race on the first Sunday in March. I mentioned it to Kerry who immediately
jumped on it. I had forgotten that she was an avid Jeff Gordon/NASCAR fan. I must admit I was not excited about a winter
cross-country over some very inhospitable terrain in what was almost certainly going to be miserable weather. After mulling it
over a day or so I reluctantly called "IN" figuring that if the weather was really terrible we would bail at the eleventh hour. Within
a week or so the registration showed 50 pilots signed up plus about 10 spares so I was felling pretty safe about our decision.
The plan was to be in Phoenix for a practice flight on Saturday then the real deal on Sunday. The flight positions were assigned
in February and since we have a smoke system on our RV8 we were selected to fly in a choice position in the last row, I had
flown with all the guys in our flight of four and was really wanting to make this happen. About a week before the event the
weather in the PNW became unsettled and remained that way. One hour it would be raining cats and dogs and the next the
sun would be out. We contemplated going down a day or two early but the weather never really gave us a clear window to get
out. Friday morning before the event dawned clear and crisp. We took this as a good omen and readied the bird for launch.
The plan was to fly down with Steve and Missy, another couple from Arlington, but Steve was delayed and could not get out
until around 0900. Kerry and I could see a wall of ground fog moving in so we had to launch around 0830 or wait until it
burned off. We got out OK and contacted Steve on the way to our first refueling point in Burley, Idaho. After topping our tanks
Steve got a weather briefing and decided that we should do an end run to the east around a slow moving front that was
blocking out direct path to Phoenix. Since Steve has XM weather in his RV7 we designated him the flight lead and Kerry and I
tagged along behind. Aside from picking up a bit of ice in southern Utah and having to climb over a cumulus layer things went
well and we landed in Winslow, Arizona to refuel before pressing on to Goodyear airport on the west side of Phoenix. We
landed around 1700 and were met by some of the formation guys and gals who gave us a ride to the hotel to attend a two
hour flight briefing. We then had a quick dinner and hit the sack exhausted.
Saturday morning dawned dark and rainy with patches of sunlight every now and then. We had breakfast and took care of
some paperwork with the local FSDO then set out for the airport. Having briefed the night before we only had to untie our RVs
and go. We got in a lot of practice untying and retying our RVs that day but unfortunately did not get to do the practice flight
that was scheduled. A 10 ship composed of the photo ship and spares was put up to do a flyover of the Sprint Cup race but the
rest of us just milled around until about 1500 when the practice mission was officially scrubbed and rescheduled for 0900 the
following day.
Sunday dawned clear and bright and every thing went off as planned. All those RVs taxiing past us and lining up in a great U
shape facing each other in the runup area was a sight to behold. As the RVs took to the 150 foot wide runway for a four
abreast takeoff they stretched a quarter mile in front of our next to last flight of four. Seeing the flights take to the air in front of
us with the number 4's pulling into the slot when barely 50 feet in the air made me proud to be a part of this group as images
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PHOENIX50 FLIGHT REPORT—CONTINUED
of the Blue Angels flitted through my brain. Finally it was time for us to roll and after pulling into the slot we climbed up to
loosely join with the rest of the flight. The sight of all those RVs in front of us made me think of all those old black and white
episodes of "12 O'clock High" and BG became a modern day Gregory Peck leading the bunch of us into the war torn skies over
Germany.
OK.....enough of the wool gathering......we have a mission to practice here. The chatter on the radio directs the individual flights
of four to form into BG, Falcon, and Nasty flights. These are 16 ship "diamond of diamonds" with the BG diamond having an
extra "connector" RV located at each tip. These aircraft will fly as part of the lead diamond and Falcon and Nasty flights will
stack down about 10 feet or so to provide a reset for the ripples that are sure to develop in this size formation. The three big
diamonds are tightened up and join together as a full fledged 50 ship for the first time in recorded history. This monumental
event is lost on me at the moment as I am totally concentrated on Kilo leads tailwheel for lineup and Kilo 2's head lining
up with the other heads to the left and front of us for spacing. I am able to manage a quick peek down my left wing spar as a
secondary spacing check. The air is mercifully calm this early in the day and our formation looks pretty decent. I catch glimpses
of the photo ship making banana passes over and in front of us every now and then and hope that I am not caught committing
the cardinal sin of being out of position at the instant the picture is snapped. After about 10 minutes of this we begin the
process of separating the flight back down to the individual flights of four.
Back at Goodyear we drone along at 130 knots in right echelon awaiting our turn at the left break for landing. The "conga line"
stretches well past midfield by the time lead gives us the two fingers and rolls smartly into a 60 degree level bank.
Exactly eight seconds later I perform the same maneuver and fall in line on the downwind 500 feet behind Kilo 3. After landing
and a quick debrief we race for the FBO and a quick bite of lunch. Our TOT for the BIG SHOW is 1301+45 seconds and we do
not intend to be late.
Startup and taxi out is a repeat of the practice session except with a minor shuffle of pilots. One of the flight leads, call sign
aptly named "Spike", has a flat tire with no time to fix it. He hitches a ride with the lone remaining spare, a gal whose call sign
is sure to be changed from "Weebles" to "Slasher", and off we go. It is early afternoon and the sun has had time to bake the
landscape below. We are flying over a combination of mountainous terrain, desert, green fields, and white roofed buildings and
the thermals are popping. We joinup into a loose 50 ship formation and already I can see that we are going to have problems.
Aside from flights of large kamikaze bugs intent on coating our windscreen the formation is doing a lot of "breathing". I am
trying my best to actively dampen out the bouncing and focus on flying off lead and ignoring the bobbing RVs ahead and to my
left. We tighten up the formation in preparation for the final run in on the racetrack. Up to this time most of the movement in
the formation has been up and down with each RV keeping more or less in their assigned lateral position. Now as we move
into parade formation it gets interesting. Whereas during the morning flight it was possible to fly a pretty stable position and
the diagonal and spar lines looked pretty decent, now there is an undulating snake to be witnessed. I wiggle my fingers and
toes and try to average out the lineup and hope that I am not the one out of position. Then suddenly with less than two
minutes to go the aircraft to the left of Kilo lead makes a huge dip. It was later revealed during the debrief that an escalating
ripple went down the line and Rosie had to take evasive action. We had all been briefed on our own individual escape route in
case such a thing occurred and this was what happened.
So there we sit with smoke on and the raceway in sight. White and red fireworks are going off at our 11 O'clock low as we pull
back into the lineup. A black news helicopter hovers level with us off to our right as we pass over show center EXACTLY on time
as the last notes of the Star Spangled Banner are being played. The Fox News footage taken from the raceway shows a pretty
decent formation with the entire trailing edge spouting smoke. The news helicopter footage shows the true story with a
veritable sea of RVs bobbing up and down in some semblance of unison. The race fans absolutely loved it and the sound of all
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PHOENIX50 FLIGHT REPORT—CONTINUED
those Lycoming's was music to everyone's ears. Afterwards I had several people come up to Kerry and I at the race and ask if
we had been in the flyover. Maybe I just look like a pilot or it could have been the shirt I was wearing......either way we were
treated to our 15 seconds of fame and it still puts a smile on my face each time I think about it. A wise man once said.....You
can either sit on the sidelines and watch life pass safely by or you can throw your hat in the ring and see what life truly has to
offer.
This true story is dedicated to Lt. Col USAF (retired) John E. Brick, without whose instruction, freely shared wisdom,
and encouragement would not have been possible.
Randy Albritton
Call sign "Shorty"
Here is a video that Kerry took from our backseat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZMHZnQYpOo
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http://www.eaa326.org
EAA CHAPTER 326
President - Randy Albritton 253-214-6035
Vice President - Tom Brown 253-847-2507
Secretary - Kerry Albritton 253-214-6035
Treasurer - Norman Pauk 253-630-6396
NL Editor - Darin Anderson 206-491-5232
Photographer - Andy Karmy 253-333-6695
Webmaster - Andy Karmy 253-333-6695
Young Eagles & Eagles Nest - Darrin Dexheimer 312-520-4300
Technical Counselor - Harold Smith 253-752-5480
Technical Counselor - Charlie Cotton 360-893-6719
Chapter Flight Advisor - Jim Triggs 360-438-1482
Chapter Flight Advisor - Marv Scott 253-691-5496
Program Coordinator - Steve Dickinson 206-948-2563
Biographer - Kerry Albritton 253-214-6035
Tool Custodian - Joe Andre 253-539-2408
Chapter Hangar Project - George Lightner 253-584-9477
EAA Chapter 326
The Mount Rainier Chapter
Pierce County Airport - Thun Field
Puyallup, WA 98374