May - EAA Chapter 691

May 2015
Announcements
The May meeting of EAA Chapter 691 will
be held at Gumbo’s Place in Santa Fe Thursday, May 21. The meeting will start with
socializing at 6:30 pm, followed by the
business meeting at 7 pm. Map to my house
for the meeting Map
If you haven’t yet paid your annual dues,
please print out the last page of this
document, fill it out, and get it along with $20
o Skip Egdorf.
Newsletter Contents
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●
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Some notes from the chapter president
George Stephenson
Test Pilot 1 & 2 - Will Fox
A video link to the First Flight– Bob
Anderson
…
Dear Fellow Aviators,
Quote of the month:
"Confidence is the memory of
success."
Each time we venture into
unknown territory, be it
geographical or task oriented,
we may be apprehensive. But
then our memory kicks in,
hopefully, and we say to
ourselves, "oh yeah, I've been
to a similar place before, or I've
done a similar task before; I
can do this!" Thus, we've
expanded our horizons and
improved our skills. Whether we are first time builders of experimental aircraft our continual
maintainers of our certified aircraft, we will always be running into head scratching situations.
Just think back to prior successes, clear the cobwebs and move forward. Happy tinkering and
flying!
Yours Truly,
George Stephenson
…
By Bob Hassel
First Gumbo has given me and Jan permission to host the chapter
meeting this month. It’s on Thursday evening and we’d love to see you
all come on over. Naturally, Gumbo thinks that everyone that comes to
the door is there to see him. He doesn’t go outside, so Jan and I will be
trying to guard the door for him 
Lots of exciting things have occurred in the last month. Bob
Anderson has the newest kit, converted to a plane, actually flying
in the chapter! Congrats to Bob! I can’t even begin to imagine (yet)
what that feels like. There’s a link later to a video that Bob posted
on YouTube covering his first flight. It’s well done, about 2 minutes
long and definitely worth a look. After a snow filled Saturday, I
managed to catch him in his hanger on Sunday and yes – he still
had the RV Grin!
Last month was a little weird in terms of timing. It seemed that the
chapter meeting and the newsletter came up quick enough that I
missed getting some article contributions in time. I decided they
were too good to pass up. So for those that missed the meeting,
I’ve published Wills ‘Test Pilot – Part 1’ from the April chapter
meeting tech talks, and ‘Test Pilot – Part II’ for this month.
Frankly, I don’t know if I can wait for Part III. Not to mention any
names or aircraft models but the article is based upon a certain
Zenith CH-750 STOL aircraft. It nice to see this kind of testing
going on; thanks guys for sharing these ‘experimental’ experiences! Amy has an update on the
Young Eagles event at Santa Fe’s KSAF! Go Eagles!
And mentioning STOL be sure to check out the video link later for a STOL landing that occurs
almost within the length of the aircraft doing the landing! Wow! It might have been filmed at Los
Alamos as Thomas was landing but that is still a rumor…although if it was true, it probably would
have been this past Saturday looking at the snow on the mountains…
I was going to say, that too much moaning has been going on in my section of the Newsletter
lately, about various other dreaming projects without much going on, on a certain RV-12. I’ve
ordered a couple of Service Bulletin kits and am looking at trying to see if I can get the upper
fuse put in with enough cleco’s/temporary rivets to build the canopy. The pieces parts are in the
Finish kit box below the Fuse. In that regard, it’s time to build some saw horses to set the Fuse
on and yes, Van’s supplies the instructions and measurements for saw horses that support 500
pounds each. Those will easily hold the entire aircraft when she’s done. I know that some of you
have that much in useful load… The Rotax Engine package (which includes the engine, ground
adjustable prop, the Odyssey battery, etc.) and the Avionics package (Dual Skyview systems,
ADSB, auto-pilot, transponder, Garmin GR200 radio, etc.) are still in the future.
Not to leave the dreams behind, I’ve discovered that they have welding classes at the local
community college (within sight of my mailbox) so some of those dream projects could still
occur down the line (Pegazair, Tailwind, Legal Eagle XL or Bearhawk?). My only fear is that the
classes will be during the day and of course that puts them out of my schedule, since work
seems to cover that one. The beginning class starts in the August (fall semester) so I won’t
really find anything out until our last snowfall in July…
My new toy this month is a ‘NOCO genius G3500 Battery Charger’ that handles everything from
regular car batteries to the Odyssey batteries that will be in the RV-12. The battery comes with
the engine kit so I won’t be able to use it that mode for a while, but the Porsche out back could
use it, if vroom-girl plans on driving it this summer…
~ Bob
…
And Technical Counselor…And
1 - Will with his Pegazair
monthly wordsmith…And…!
Test Pilot – I and II
TC Corner - By Will Fox – April 2015
Test Pilot – Part I
“I don’t think I can fit in your plane with my
parachute on, so you are going to have to do the
power on stall testing yourself”. “I’ll be glad to loan
you my chute, I just want a deposit on it, you know,
just in case”.
This is what I told a good friend of mine that wanted
to modify the wings of his aircraft to make it go
faster. If you read my previous note about
Tinkerers, Builders, Experimenters, and Pilots [sic –
March edition of the chapter newsletter], then you
will appreciate the fact that there is a big difference
between Tinkerers and Experimenters.
Figure 2. Bob Hoover was a true test pilot.
Experimenters, in particular, have a good technical understanding about their aircraft and how
design changes that they plan to make will affect it. In this particular case, my friend was going
from Tinkerer to Experimenter in one fell swoop with maybe not quite enough understanding
about the implications of the changes he was making, and it was causing me considerable
concern. He wasn’t just adding a new LED strobe or mounting a GoPro camera on his plane, but
rather he was changing his basic wing design. This is a big deal, requiring a thorough shakeout
of the design and I was suggesting that whoever the test pilot was going to be, they should be
wearing a chute during the more risky portions of the flight tests.
Let me give you a little background. My good buddy has a popular LSA STOL aircraft that he
had built and began flying a year or so ago. He had completed the Phase I testing and
graduated to Phase II operation. He was enjoying flying the aircraft he had built and continued
to make a number of small improvements in it.
One day he decided that it wasn’t fast enough and wanted to make it go faster.
He found some information on the Internet that said that some folks had made a modification to
the leading edge of the aircraft and this made it several knots faster. The modification also
supposedly improved the handling and made the aircraft easier to land. Furthermore, after the
first modification was completed, if you wanted to improve the performance even more, you
could install vortex generators on the wing to reduce the aircrafts stall speed and improve its low
speed handling characteristics. As is often the case, the evidence for this improved performance
for these modifications, was coming from the same entrepreneur that was selling the vortex
generator kit. Boy, what’s not to like about these modifications, a faster airplane that also has
a lower stall speed and better short field performance. Almost sounds too good to be true,
doesn’t it. So, my buddy made the first modification to wing without the vortex generators and
began flying it around. He found it was indeed faster, and landings were easier. After a couple
of routine flights, he decided that he wanted to leave it that way. One day, he was telling me
about his modification, and I asked him if he had put it back into Phase I testing while he
evaluated it, because it sounded like a major modification. Oops, he had forgotten to do this.
He quickly made arrangements to do so with our local FSDO and they suggested he complete a
minimum of five hours of Phase I testing before going back to Phase II operations. He and I
then began talking about a flight test program that would ring out the aircraft performance with
the modification to the leading edge of the wing.
My biggest concern from the get-go was the stall characteristics of the aircraft with the new
leading edge. The previous design was known to have a very docile stall, if you could get it to
stall at all. How would the new design behave in a stall, I wondered? So a few questions for my
buddy were in order. “So, how did the old wing design behave in a stall”, I asked “Just fine, it
wouldn’t stall, just mushed”, my buddy said. “Did you stall the new design”, I asked. “Yes”, he
said. “How did it behave”, I asked. “Just like the old design”, he said. “That’s great news”, I
said. “What kind of stalls did you try”, I said. “Power off stalls”, he said. “What about, power
on stalls, accelerated stalls and cross controlled stalls in all configurations”, I said. “I didn’t try
those”, he said. “Oops”, I said.
You see, generally in the aircraft that we home builders tend to fly, the most benign stall
characteristics occur when the aircraft is in the clean configuration with power off. Stall
characteristics usually get worse as you add power and change the configuration with flaps.
Stalls also get more exciting as you aggravate them with crossed controls and steep turns
(accelerated stalls). Sharp breaks, large wing drops, and spin entries can be the result of stall
testing with the addition of any of these aggravating conditions. Nevertheless, testing with
these conditions is extremely important because it is easy to find yourself in a position where
that is exactly what is going to happen. Let me give you a few examples. Suppose you are
flying in the mountains one day and you find yourself entering some unanticipated sink and need
to make a steep turn away from terrain at full power with partial flaps. And in the process, you
start skidding the turn as you unconsciously rudder the aircraft around in an attempt to turn the
aircraft quicker. Guess what might happen if you increase the angle of attack just a hair too
much, an accelerated cross-controlled stall, that’s what. Or, suppose you takeoff from a short
field with an obstacle in front of you and find that you need to make a climbing steep turn to
avoid it and don’t keep the ball centered as your airspeed slows and P-factor begins to yaw the
aircraft to the left. Same thing, a cross-controlled accelerated stall. In either of these
situations, if you accidentally increase the angle of attack too much and stall an aircraft with
poor stall characteristics, you may find yourself looking straight down at the ground rotating
around in your windscreen with insufficient altitude to recover. Poor stall behavior that leads to
a spin entry, can get you killed in a hurry. Aircraft that break straight ahead or mush, and that
maintain aileron control in a stall are much more likely to be recovered from a stall by the pilot
with minimal altitude loss. I’ve had pilots tell me that they can’t imagine how a “good” pilot
could ever stall an airplane accidentally. They are just kidding themselves. I don’t care how
good a stick you are, you are still human and humans make mistakes. The reality is in the
accident statistics, and they indicate that a stall or a spin precedes 45% of the fatal accidents in
experimental aircraft. So given a choice, anyone with a lick of sense would want an aircraft with
stall behavior as benign as possible so that when they make that mistake, the aircraft will give
them a second chance.
So what defines good stall behavior? The stall should be gradual and symmetrical so that there
is no sharp break and the aircraft does not roll appreciably. When a sharp stall break occurs or
the stall is not symmetrical and a large roll occurs during a stall, there is going to be more
altitude loss before recovery and a much greater likelihood of the pilot aggravating the stall
unintentionally before executing a recovery. Why would the pilot aggravate the stall
unintentionally? Because it takes a second or two to recognize a stall when you are not
expecting one, and the natural reaction when the nose drops suddenly, is to pull back on the
stick which we all know doesn’t usually help with stall recovery. Likewise when the wing drops
suddenly, it is natural to try to roll level with ailerons, which will generally cause the wing to
drop further and possibly enter a spin.
In a properly designed wing, the stall progresses from the root of the wing towards the wing tip.
The wing tip should not stall first. Tip stalls create large rolling moments and loss of roll control.
The ailerons should remain effective in a stall, since a pilot’s first reaction when a wing drops is
to use ailerons to correct any rolling tendencies. The rudder should also remain effective during
a stall so that any yawing tendencies can be quickly and easily corrected to prevent a spin from
developing.
The stall behavior of a wing is strongly influenced by the shape of the leading edge. Since my
buddy was modifying the leading edge of his wing, it was reasonable to expect a change in stall
behavior. What that change would be, and whether it would improve or worsen the stall
behavior was a big question. Power off stalls alone wouldn’t even begin to tell the story. We
needed some more answers and the best way to get them would be to execute a well thought
out test program. To begin with, we needed to understand thoroughly how the original wing
design behaved so that we would have a good basis of comparison with the modifications. So
that is where we planned to start. Stay tuned, for a report on that and more in the next TC
corner.
Test Pilot – Part II
By Will Fox – May 2015
Last month I was telling you about a friend of mine that wanted to modify the
wings on his homebuilt in the hopes of improving his aircraft’s performance. This month
I can tell you about the preliminary testing we did. It was interesting to say the least. I
guess I’ll start by telling you about the stall tests.
The first thing to remember when flight testing a homebuilt aircraft is that you
should expect the unexpected. The second thing to remember is that the kit
manufacturer wants to sell airplanes and airplanes with warts don’t sell as
well, so they don’t like to talk about the warts. The wart in our case has to do with
stall behavior and lack of elevator authority. According to the factory this particular
aircraft won’t stall. Power off, with the stick all the way back it reportedly simply
develops a mush with a high rate of descent, and with power on, it just keeps climbing.
The factory was right about
the power off stall
characteristics, however with
power on, the aircraft did stall
with the stick all the way
back and it did so with a very
abrupt break and strong roll
to the right. It felt sorta like
a spin entry. The aircraft
recovered quickly upon
releasing the backpressure on
the stick and applying full
opposite rudder to stop the
rotation, and then pulling out
of the dive. “Hmmm, I
thought it wasn’t supposed to
stall, want to try another
one”, I said to Thomas, my
Figure 3 - Real test pilots wear cool helmets.
buddy. But now I’m getting
ahead of myself, so let me give you a little more background on our test program.
We had started our test program with the aircraft in its original configuration with
the slotted leading edge as supplied by the factory. The goal however, was to ultimately
eliminate the slot and add vortex generators, because according to some Internet
sources, it would improve cruise speed, save a little weight, and improve the STOL
performance of the aircraft. My thinking was, why would you want to modify an aircraft
that has a proven reputation as an excellent STOL aircraft and is very safe and forgiving
to fly? I guess the lure of a few more knots in airspeed and saving a few pounds in
weight, outweighs the potential downside of reducing its STOL performance and docile
stall characteristics. Honestly, I thought the modifications weren’t a very good idea. But
one of the things that is great about building experimental aircraft is that you can do
some experimenting. So if Thomas was determined to make some modifications, then
we should at least make sure that we thoroughly tested them out. We decided to
characterize the aircraft performance in its original configuration so we could better
understand the changes that occurred after the wing was modified. It was also
important to understand how the stall behavior changed with the modifications. So, the
plan developed that we would first fully test the airplane in the original configuration,
then test it without the slot in the wing, and finally test it with vortex generators on the
unslotted wing. We would document the change in aircraft weight, cruise speeds, stall
speeds, STOL characteristics, stall characteristics, and general handling of the aircraft
with each change. This way we could decide with some certainty that the modifications
were worth it.
In the original configuration, the aircraft was very docile to fly. Control harmony
was good, other than a high breakout force for the rudder due to the nose wheel-rudder
interconnect design. Pitch, roll, and yaw stability were good and the aircraft was easily
flown hands off, with the rudder only when trimmed properly.
Most pilots lie about how fast their aircraft are. They can’t help it; it’s a genetic
thing. You can usually figure their plane is 5 to 10 knots slower than they say. In
Thomas’s case though it was different. A three way run produced a corrected cruise
speed of around 92 mph at 75% power compared to the 85 mph he had been
advertising. Personally, I think he was setting up his Super Cub and Taylorcraft buddies
to win a few beers off them in a race next time they flew out for breakfast.
Steep turns produced a rumble from the skylight as the flow separated over the
top of the fuselage and required considerable power to maintain altitude. Slow flight
was stable, and while the flapperons remained quite effective, the rudder became less
so. Power off stalls, both normal and accelerated, were very benign other than
developing a high descent rate with the stick held all the way back. Power on stalls
were a different story. As I indicated at the beginning they arrived with a sharp break
and strong roll to the right. Recovery occurred after about 90 degrees of rotation with
stick neutral and opposite rudder. Rudder response seemed a bit sluggish and pretty
ineffective until the stick was neutralized. Thomas wanted to try a few more of these to
get comfortable with the recovery. With the ball centered, the aircraft stalled the same
each time, with a sharp break and pitch down to about 30 degrees below the horizon,
and a roll to the right of 60 degrees or more. The rudder didn’t do much until the stick
was moved to the neutral position, then the aircraft would stop rotating and could be
recovered from the dive.
Soft field takeoffs were quick, but the aircraft became very pitch sensitive as it
approached rotation speed and it was easy to over rotate if one started the takeoff roll
with the stick all the way back to the stop. Short field landings were challenging,
because of a tendency for the elevator to run out of authority at low approach speeds.
If the pilot wasn’t careful it was easy to turn a short field approach into a firm nose plant
instead. The lowest comfortable indicated approach speed was 55 mph with full flaps
and carrying some power to maintain sufficient elevator authority to land on the mains
instead of the nose wheel. This unduly limits the short field landing capability for an
aircraft with a stall speed of 35 mph. A larger, more effective elevator would be
desirable to allow slower approach speeds while countering the strong pitching moment
produced by the slotted wing with flaps deployed.
A word about the elevator is in order here. Thomas had added vortex generators to the
leading edge of the elevator prior to our flight tests. He had read about doing this on the
Internet, and felt that it made a significant improvement in the flare authority of the elevator.
This might explain the sharp break with a power on stall that we experienced. Without the
increased coefficient of lift that the vortex generators provide, the elevator isn’t powerful enough
to pitch the wing to an angle that it will stall at. But with full power and vortex generators on
the elevator, there is enough prop blast over the elevator, that it has enough authority to stall
the wing. This would explain why the factory aircraft design does not stall and Thomas’s does.
It probably also explains why the aircraft does not have a bigger elevator to begin with. The
designer more than likely wanted to limit the flare authority of the elevator to make it difficult to
stall the aircraft and thus improve its safety. The down side is that the standard elevator does
not have enough authority to make low speed, power off approaches. There are always
compromises in aircraft design.
We also came up with a possible explanation for the sharp wing drop with the power on
stalls. As we removed the slots on the leading edge for the next flight test, it became apparent
that the gap in the slot on the right wing narrowed considerably from the root to the tip. Since
the gap is supposed to be constant, it is possible that the maximum coefficient of lift was also
varying from the root to the tip of the wing, and this might be causing the right wing to stall
before the left wing and that could produce the large rolling moment we experienced.
Next, we removed the small airfoils that create the slots in the leading edge of the wing
and in the process saved 14 pounds. We then reran the flight tests. When the slots are
removed, the leading edge of the factory wing retains a very large nose radius. This is generally
a good thing for generating a high coefficient of lift, so we thought the aircraft would still have a
low stall speed, but perhaps not as low as before. The aircraft had better flying characteristics in
many ways without the leading edge slots. Climb rate was improved by around 100 fpm and
less power was needed to maintain altitude in steep turns. The cruise speed increased to 98
mph, however so did the propeller rpm, resulting in the engine producing more than the 75% of
maximum horsepower that we had in the original configuration test. When we reduced the
engine rpm to the same values as in the original test the cruise speed dropped back to 93 mph.
However, a higher cruise speed could be obtained at 75% power by choosing a courser pitch for
the propeller. My guess is that cruise would be close to 96 mph at 75% power.
Power off stalls produced only a mush with a high descent rate, similar to the previous
tests with the slots in the leading edge of the wing. We didn’t do any power on stalls because
the mounts for the slotted wing leading edge airfoils projected several inches into the air stream
and that might result in some unusual stall and spin behavior that I did not want to explore
without a parachute. Normal landings were easier to manage because the unslotted wing
requires less elevator authority to flare making it possible to approach at lower speeds with
power off. Approaches at 50 mph with power off were now possible with sufficient flare
authority to land on the mains first. We haven’t had a chance to fully exercise the STOL
behavior of the aircraft with the unslotted wing, or test the unslotted wing with vortex
generators yet, so you will need to stay tuned to hear the “rest of the story” in next month’s
article.
The long and short of it so far however, is that the unslotted wing appears to have better
overall flying characteristics than the slotted wing. It has less drag, is a bit faster, easier to flare
at lower speeds, and climbs better. However until we complete the STOL tests we won’t know if
it lands and takes off shorter and we don’t know how it behaves with power on stalls. The next
tests will be interesting.
~ Will
And Pilot of Big Bird…
By Amy Ross
My greetings to all. I hope you
are well.
4 - Amy Ross and Big Bird
Last week I received word that
we have been approved to hold
th
the Santa Fe Young Eagle Rally on June 13 . This year, the contacts I made at the State
Aviation Days have offered to help distribute our flyer in the Santa Fe Public School system. We
will also be reaching out to the Santa Fe home school community and other Santa Fe youth
programs through another strong supporter of our efforts and program. I am excited by these
gracious offers and sincerely hope that these changes will help us reach more kids.
In order to reduce the potential to have significantly more kids than we can fly, I have elected to
target the 8th, 9th, and 10th graders through fifty, first come, first serve reservations, much as we
have done traditionally for the Taos Young Eagle Rally. Although the target group is for a
particular age group, actual registration will be open to the full Young Eagle age range should
siblings or friends of the 8th-10th graders be motivated to come fly. Additionally, I have set a
June 1st registration deadline so that if the fifty slots are not filled, I could place a last minute
advertisement or announcement in the New Mexican.
Would you please send a quick email to me ([email protected]) if you are able to volunteer
(ground crew or pilot) to help with the Santa Fe Young Eagle rally on June 13th? Thank you very
much for all of your help and support!
Santa Fe - June 13th
Los Alamos - August 1
Taos - September 19th
Lindrith - October 10th
Double Eagle (Albq) - February 14th
Moriarty - May 9
Double Eagle (Albq)- June 6th
Moriarty - Sept 12
Double Eagle (Albq) - November 7th
Bob has posted the first flight video
of his brand new Van’s RV-8!
First Flight N184GC - YouTube
Congrats Bob!
I know I sent this out in a NewsFlash, but I promised Pete I’d get it in a Newsletter. There’s
been several responses so far, so check with Pete if you have any suggestions…
…I am wondering can I get an advert in the April letter. The Rent is Raised, and I need to get
out of the storage unit my Sonerai is in. At least get the fuselage (and presumably the 16' trailer
it is on) out and tarped and parked somewhere. Then instead of 20' of storage I can come down
to 10'. Cramped but at least I won't have to sell my project which I fear is my only other option.
I am asking if any members have or know of a spot I can park (securely) my airframe?
Thanks, Pete Z
Peter Zabriskie
EAA470533 Sonerai II-L
[email protected]
@
By Rose Marie Kern
ATC Tales
This month I want to share a few memories with you
and hope you will share yours with me. I have worked
in ATC for a long time, spending a few years at an
ARTCC, a few years in a couple of towers and most of
my career with Flight Service. It has been a privilege
to work in this industry and to meet so many wonderful
pilots.
Way back in 1984 I was working at Albuquerque Center. There is an ebb and flow to the pace of
each sector in the ARTCC’s. A lot of it is driven by the airlines as they rush into their HUB
airports in such a way as to load and unload passengers, minimizing their ground time.
Mornings had every position in the Center gazing intently at radars. There is the hum of voices
giving control instructions, and answering calls from other sectors and ATC facilities.
This had been going on for about two hours and the morning rush was beginning to die back
when one controller, Skip, pushed his chair back from position and in a loud voice sang “I’m
about to LOSE CONTROL and I think I LIKE IT!”
Just a momentary joke, but everyone got a
chuckle out of it.
ATC is a lot like that. Sometimes you have long periods of slow traffic punctuated by short
bursts of almost frenetic activity. Sometimes you are so continuously busy that you are
surprised when someone taps you on the shoulder to replace you and several hours have gone
by!
We keep a close watch on weather – it can become nasty in a hurry. I was in the Albuquerque
Tower cab one day. We had a lot of haze way out west on the mesa. A visible land based cloud
swept down into the Rio Grande Valley then upwards toward us on the east side of the city. The
sky grew darker as a wall of sand and debris breached the fence west of Runway 8/26. An army
of tumbleweeds rolled eastwards on the runway in front of a really strong gust front. The wind
hit the tower…and the tower SWAAAAYYYYYED!
Another time in the tower we were surrounded by a shallow fog that was above the level of the
cab. We could not see anything on the surface. Suddenly a flight of birds burst into view – at
the last second the flock split in half and went around the cab forming up again on the other
side. As the day heated up the fog lowered so that we began to see the tails of the larger jets
sticking up above as they taxied to the end of the runway.
Flight Service was the most rewarding for me. Being able to talk to pilots and get to know them
when they walked into the facility for their briefings, or called us every morning. One pilot,
Janey, who flew with the New Mexico Flying Service had us on speed dial. Every morning about
4:30am she would call from her bed two seconds after her alarm went off. She’d just say, ‘Hi,
It’s Janey”. That’s all I needed to give her a standard weather briefing. To this day I can tell
you her flight plan. Halfway through the brief one day I heard her go “HUMPFF!” When I asked
what was the matter, she told me her cat had just jumped on her stomach.
Small flight service stations have a lot of tales to tell. Many of them even through the 1990’s
had to maintain their own property – mowing the grass, shoveling the snow etc. You worked
closely with between 5 to 10 other people, which meant you got to know them well. Sometimes
too well. On occasion jokes would get played, like the year in El Paso when Danny pulled up the
floor boards over where the electrical and communication lines were laid. He put big black
plastic spiders in there and just closed it up. That joke did not come to a head for several
months, but when the Airways Facilities Technician went to work on those lines he let out a
holler and jumped about 8 feet in the air!
ATC folk have often been invited to fly with pilots and I’ve taken advantage of that to fly with
everything from airliners to RV7’s. Once I flew with the Air National Guard out of Kirtland AFB
as they practiced flying low over mountainous terrain. There were four of us from the tower in
that helicopter and thank heaven the door of the chopper was left open leaving the wind to rush
through because one of my fellow tower flowers had a weak stomach. He went through at least
three sick bags.
El Paso boasted a NASA base where there were a couple G2’s used by the Space Shuttle pilots to
practice landings. The aircraft had standard G2 instrumentation on the right side and the left
side had been modified to shuttle configuration. The instructor would take it up to 35,000 feet
then feather back the engines so it dropped like a rock. The pilot would then have to glide the
“brick” down to the runway. When it got to what would be eye level on the shuttle, the
instructor would kick the engine on and take her back up. The g-forces were tiring, but they
usually did this 10 or 12 times so the pilots could learn the maneuvers so well they could do
them at the end of their tours in space.
I was lucky enough to accompany one of those training flights…I stood in the doorway of the
cockpit holding on to some handles on the side walls. At the top of the climb the aircraft tipped
forward to begin its descent and the angle was so acute that I was looking down past my feet
through the front window. I was able to stand up there for about four passes…then the pressure
forced me to go sit in the back.
There are hundreds of stories out there about pilots and controllers or flight service. I am
collecting these stories for possible future publication. Was there an FSS at your home airport?
Did you give an unusual PIREP? Have you visited a tower or center? Did you and your buddies
hang around Flight Service and talk about airplanes? If you have an interesting story connected
with ATC, send me an email – I’d love to hear about it.
Rose Marie Kern has worked in air traffic control for over 25 years. If you’d like to ask
Rose a question send her an email at [email protected].
● ABQ Pilot’s Lunch - Every Thursday. Formation begins at 11:15 AM at Monroe’s
Restaurant at 6501 Osuna Rd. NE (4 blocks east of San Mateo on the north side)
● Mid-Valley Pilot’s Lunch - Every Tuesday, Formation begins at 10:00 AM at Bob
Henning’s Hangar, 3884 Tammy Ct. SE, Los Lunas, NM (Mid-Valley Airpark) Phone:
865-0007. From there, the crowd will proceed to TJ’s New Mexican Restaurant at
235 Highway 314 SW, Los Lunas, at 11:45 for lunch.
● Benson AZ: The third Saturday of every month Southwestern Aviation at the
Benson AZ Municipal Airport serves breakfast FREE so if you are looking for some
place new to fly for breakfast, give it a whirl 8:00 - 10:00. (E95 Airport I.D.)
● Chapter 555 – Las Cruces – Pancake breakfast (click to see video) on Sunday 8:00
– 10:00 am. The third Sunday of the month. In the ‘Chapter’ Hanger no less!
By - Larry Filener
Hello Everyone:
Just a reminder that Clay Phillips has organized our June flyin breakfast at Hooper (23 miles north of Alamos,
CO) that corresponds to the annual La Garita flyin held by the Colorado Pilots group.
For more information on the flyin, see our
webiste: http://www.nmpilots.org/events.asp?order=upcoming&menuID=25~25
For more information on the La Garita flyin see the Colorado website: http://flycolorado.org/index.php/airstripdatabase/private-airports/la-garita-creek/
These are great locations and great events. They are both well supported and you will really enjoy that
area. We hope to see you there!!
Please remember that these are pretty popular events and the two strips are in close proximity to each other,
so make sure you are following all of the safety advisories and looking out for other aircraft.
Very important!!! If you are planning on going, please let Clay Phillips know (email button on nmpilots.org
website in the calendar of events for Clay’s email) and the Colorado group if you are headed to La Garita (they
require a waiver form to attend, also on their website).
Thanks!! Larry
By – Rol Murrow
Friends,
It is VERY wet up here on Friday in
the mountains of Northern New
Mexico - and more on the way.
But don't let that dampen our
spirits for flying!
I have rescheduled our
backcountry fly-in to Murrow Ranch
for the weekend of May 29, 30,
and 31, with Saturday the 30th
being the breakfast fly-in part of
the event.
Read the following carefully!
I won't send the original message with the photos and links again unless any of you request it most of you did receive it already.
>> If you already RSVP'd for the fly-in and received the briefing package then you will not need
it again. I will send you a special email soon with your new instructions for attending. Let me
know if you do not get the new instructions within a few days.
>> If you did not RSVP for the fly-in previously and did not receive the briefing and register for
the event then please email me that you wish to attend and I will send you the briefing and
instructions within a few days.
The long range forecast calls for excellent weather so let's all hope it holds!
Let me know if you have any questions or needs, and as before I look forward to seeing you and
enjoying a nice fly-in together!
Cheers,
Rol
Rol Murrow, Member of the Board
Recreational Aviation Foundation
www.theraf.org
[email protected]
c/o Wolf Aviation Fund
2060 State Highway 595
Lindrith, New Mexico 87029
Cell: 505-362-8232
"Keeping the legacy of recreational aviation strong
by preserving, maintaining, and creating public use
recreational and backcountry airstrips nationwide"

David and America sent these in:
12 Abandoned, Wrecked & Recovered Aircraft of World War Two - Urban Ghosts
12 Abandoned, Wrecked & Reco
vered Aircraft of World Wa...
Over the years scores of abandoned aircraft i
ncluding historic warbirds wrecks have been
found across the world - some salvaged, oth
ers left to time.
View on www.urbanghostsmed...
Preview by Yahoo
Note from the editor – Dave sent in more links, which I saved in a special place so I
wouldn’t lose them…but…

Will – 18 engines mounted on a wing?
http://www.popsci.com/nasa-testing-18-engine-wing
This comes under the ‘I can’t even believe it’ category…how to modify your props while
flying…’David and America along with a few others sent this link in…
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Gear-Up-Touch-And-Go-223981-1.html

Extremely Low Boeing 757 Approach In Honduras
http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/video/2015/04/boeing-757-low-approach-honduras/

Part 103 Ultralights are hot
http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/04/29/part-103-ultralights-arehot/?utm_source=The+Pulse+Subscribers&utm_campaign=91a368b423Hangar_Flying_20150516&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62525a9780-91a368b42361397

Would You Fly Like These Pilots?
http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/video/2015/04/would-you-fly-like-these-pilots/

Make Better Landings
http://learntoflyhere.com/2015/05/03/make-better-landings2/?utm_source=MarketingEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=A15052D&utm_content=AppleW
atch&_bta_tid=3.Nfw.BpOvgA.C8xm.AXh8Pw..AfvRcQ.b..l.A2Tp.n.VVi7AA.VVjlgg.IxdHhw&_bta_c=58t
mth0zlv5gcjwjpbh8rglsue07t

Chapter 555 – Las Cruces area EAA Chapter Newsletter. (ed note – It’s amazing the
amount of innovation and technology the chapters are using these days to get out their
newsletters. Everyone is experimenting. Not only does chapter 555 lead the way but they
have great articles as well. Definitely a fun read! Click the link below for this month’s
Triple Nickel Newsletter!
http://online.fliphtml5.com/yasa/jsdj/
Do you have a link you’d like to share?
Remember you don’t have to join to look! ( http://www.facebook.com/eaa691 )

EAA Experimenter Magazine (free to everyone and a great read!) – May Issue – Not yet
Released? Here’s a link to the archive instead:
http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-education-and-resources/eaa-magazines-and-publications/eaaexperimenter-magazine/eaa-experimenter-archives

Proper Rolo Flair Tubing Technique
http://blog.cleavelandtool.com/2015/05/14/april-online-builder-hangout/?preview_id=241

Really short landing! Is it Thomas??? You decide…
https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.worrall.5/videos/927158773973422/

The Eastman Technique for teaching landings
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol6issue1/#/16

Kitplanes – The SeaRey LSX Amphibian
http://www.kitplanes.com/magazine/fixedwing/Flight_Review_SeaRey_LSX_9622-1.html

Kitplanes – Flight Review – The Mustang II
http://www.kitplanes.com/magazine/fixedwing/Flight_Review_Mustang_II-9621-1.html

ADSB Deadline - Firm for GA
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/2020-ADS-B-Deadline-Firm-For-GA-2240841.html

Kitplanes – Understanding Light Sport Aircraft
http://www.kitplanes.com/magazine/fixedwing/Flight_Review_Mustang_II-9621-1.html

Pilot Getaways: Mineral Canyon, Utah
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/March/10/Pilot-Getaways-MineralCanyon-Utah?WT.mc_id=150313epilot&WT.mc_sect=trp#.VVYhuHk9KJE.facebook

Jim O’Hara’s P-38
http://www.grayeagles.net/ARTICLES/Jim%20O'Hara's%20p-38.html

Go West Young Man – Thread on - Goings on at Moriarty!
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=125544

Aerodromes Aircraft – World War I – with no welding!
https://vimeo.com/32382093

New Electric Aircraft Motor with 5x’s the Output
http://inhabitat.com/new-electric-aircraft-motor-has-an-output-five-times-that-of-itscompetition/

Avilution – The New Way to EFIS
http://kitplanes2.com/blog/2015/04/avilution-the-new-way-to-efis/
…
We’re going home…
EAA Chapter 691 Membership Application/Renewal
Form
Please turn form in to Secretary Skip Egdorf and make $20 checks payable to:
EAA Chapter 691
Name: __________________________________________________
Spouse/partner’s Name: ____________________________________
EAA #: ______________ Expiration Date (MM/YY) ______ / _______
Address: ________________________________________________
City: ___________________________ State: _____ ZIP: __________
E-mail: __________________________________________________
Home phone: ____________________________________________
Work phone: _____________________________________________
Cell phone: ______________________________________________
Please list your currently flying A/C and any finished or in-progress
projects: