Next Meeting Tuesday October 10, 6:30 PM at the Chapter Hangar
Our Chapter Meetings:
* Second Tuesday of each month
* Our meeting will be at Hangar 8 (the Chapter hangar) at the Massena Airport KMSS
* If you have difficulty entering the airport to attend, Please call Rich Olson at 518-669-2169 and we will get you in.
Member News
Jeff and Jen have fired up their Ercoupe recently and here is a nice picture with Jen at the controls.
Here is a great Wikipedia article on ERCO and the Ercoupe history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe
Al received a Miscellaneous Parts Kit for his CGS Hawk to replace the temporary non certified fasteners holding the wings in place. Al, like myself had to attend to projects other than aviation this past month.
Some good information on the CGS Hawk:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGS_Hawk
John’s Talon 190 Paramotor had electrical problems which canceled an afternoon of doing taxi runs at Potsdam Airport. Problem was eventually fixed and some taxi runs were done in the backyard. This was the first time it has moved under its own power. “Holy mackerel, that was cool. Hope the prop did not catch any FOD”, stated John afterwards.
Photo below is of the electrical panel. After 3 years of freeze and thaw cycles while sitting in a shed, most of the terminal strip screws required a 1/4 turn to retighten. Complex attachment of the seat back was a roadblock to easy inspection of this area. I developed a new attachment method. Terminal strip torque inspection will now be written into my maintenance instructions. Broken yellow Torque Seal compound on the lower left engine mount washer (12:00 position) shows movement of the rubber engine mount and will require further inspection.
Does anyone really need a fuselage?
Talon 190 Manual Notice how this manual combines 2 completely different engines to save a buck. Zero concept of Human Factor errors when dealing with critical information.
Velocity Core Wing The flight instruction part starts at page 11.
Raw links of the above just in case:
https://blackhawkparamotor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/BlackHawk-R125-R190-Paramotor-Engine-User-Manual-UPDATED-2019.pdf
https://blackhawkparamotor.com/blackhawk-paramotor-user-manuals-assembly-videos/#e967709d6345b878c
Notes from the September Meeting
The September meeting of EAA chapter 500 was held on September 12, 2023.
Attendance: Paul Carney, Jim Tiernan, Richard Olson, Art Hurlbut, Jim Parks, Jeff Kearney and Jennifer Kearney, John Horanzy.
The Treasury balance 9/12/2023: $1,974.18
K-Cup Coffee service is now set up in our hangar with regular, premium and Jet A caffeine options. Sweeteners and Creamer are on hand. The K-Cup device is an excellent option for a location that does not have running water available.
We spoke about how we might be able to sponsor some young Eagle flights and possibly resume offering Young Eagle flights. We have very limited aircraft and Certified Young Eagle Pilot at the present time. Jim Parks has offered a Young Eagles flight and is qualified with EAA to fly them. A number of members of our Chapter are interested in pursuing a Young Eagles program when we have aircraft and pilots qualified.
Some local events and activities: We learned that Malone Chamber of Commerce had a fly-in on August 26 and gave Young Eagles Type flights along with certificates.
The Airport Diner just outside the gate at the Potsdam airport is now open.
https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Airport-Diner/100093903736836/
Agenda for the October Meeting
Chapter 613 and effective meetings.
I spoke with John FitzGerald, President of EAA Chapter 613 in Swanton, Vermont. Chapter 613 is an EAA Golden Chapter and has over 100 members. John is on the EAA National Chapter Advisory Committee. John said that we can partner with them for when we have people interested in Young Eagles. They hold Young Eagle flights twice a year in June and November. They are also involved with other smaller Chapters in their area.
Chapter 613 holds monthly Officer Meetings and keeps it separate from the monthly social meeting. Chapter 613 did not have member meeting this Summer due to everyone being busy and vacationing.
Considering our small member base, I think we need the focus of the meeting to be activity or social based. Our business part is small and only a few minutes. I think we need to shift from the concept of having a “meeting” to the concept of having an activity. Come Spring 2024, I think every get together should be a simple Barbeque and Potluck. Eating is an activity we all share. It would be a good activity to grow from. I Think it would be more fun to look forward to a Barbeque and Potluck that the whole family can attend than having to go to a meeting.
Mission
We need to define our mission. Consideration of our small membership and the local demographics and economy requires a serious look at what we can do.
Young Eagles
One of our given missions is to support the Young Eagles. We need to have an established and written plan to connect people to the needed flight resources. Part of that plan is advertisement of that resource connection.
Get Done List
1– Assign responsibility for creation of Free Trader outreach advertisement.
2– Develop an official document of resources and procedure for Young Eagles. “If it aint written down, we are just screwin’ around”. Where is our Chapter Library?
3– Connect with the Malone Chamber of Commerce and partner to work together to promote Aviation during their next fly in.
4– State our Mission. A Mission is an action item. Not to be confused with a Mission Statement which is just a “statement”. I offer as a start; 1– Promote Aviation, 2– Have fun.
5– Create a plan for BBQ meetings and a donation can.
Other Stuff
Now that fall temperatures are about to arrive, we need to begin thinking about meetings when it is too cold to meet in our hangar. We decided that the October meeting will be held at the hanger, but we need to consider options for November.
In the past our Chapter has had meetings through November with the December meeting being held at a restaurant. In previous years, meetings have been canceled over the winter because of members traveling south in the winter and the poor driving conditions in the North Country for winter meetings at night. We need to come to a conclusion on what our schedule is going to be in the coming months.
There is a strong possibility that we will be able to hold our meeting at the Massena airport terminal building on the other side of the field in the waiting area. We still need to do some final checking, but that may be a possibility for our November meeting. The waiting area has bench seating and is large enough for our group. There is a window of time between 7pm and 8:30 in the evening where our meeting would not interfere with any Boutique flight activity. This proposal was acceptable to the town and the staff in the terminal building last year and no objections have been made, but we need to get the final OK for this year, if that is what we decide we would like to do as a Chapter.
The Chapter website on the EAA national homepage is now active and available.
https://chapters.eaa.org/eaa500
The website is a bit empty right now. Please send photos or collections so the Chapter History can recorded and provide inspiration to future members. I would be glad to work with you to have your collections and story posted.
Contact flight@peacefalls.net or 315-212-5011
In other news, Massena Runway 5-23 paving is now complete (as of this mailing) and open for use. There is still significant new work being performed at the airport, so be sure to check Notams.
Humor
While dealing with my electrical problem I found this handy guide for those time that you do not have the correct fuse on hand.
A big Thank You to Rich Olson for a great deal of content.
Have fun and be safe!
John Horanzy
john@peacefalls.net 315-212-5011
Note: The email address; flight@peacefalls.net is used only for sending the newsletter and is not checked on a regular basis. Doing this avoids restrictions on my main email address.
