BUILD * UNDERSTAND * FLY * REFINE * REPEAT

Slipping into Alignment

Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Forward Slip. If you are reading this, you survived our launch meeting in June without getting a wood splinter from the jig boards or succumbing to early administrative boredom.

In stick and rudder aviation, a forward slip is a deliberate, cross-controlled maneuver designed to bleed off excess altitude quickly without building up unwanted airspeed. It is a bit uncomfortable, it is highly visual, and it requires coordinated control. For Chapter 1726, this newsletter is our way of slipping cleanly into operational alignment. Our mission is tying the visceral thrill of flight directly to the disciplined, technical building process.

Under our motto, Per Experimentum, Veritas (Through Experimentation, Truth), we are constructing a community where hands-on engineering is the default.

This Month in Aviation History: July 1937

In July of 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific during their circumnavigation attempt in an Electra 10E. While the mystery remains a cultural obsession, the technical reality of their flight highlights the brutal baseline of early long-distance navigation: dead reckoning, a temperamental high frequency radio, and absolute reliance on accurate fuel-burn calculations. Today, we navigate with active GPS lines, but the core physics of wind, fuel flow, and coordinate plotting remain unchanged.

AirVenture Special: Oshkosh 2026

It is July, which means the global center of gravity for experimental aviation shifts to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from July 20 to 26.

Chapter Presentations at the Big Stage

Glenn is presenting three different technical programs at AirVenture this year. Search for "Glenn Gordon" under the speaker directory on the official EAA AirVenture app (available on the App Store) and add these sessions to your personal schedule:

Building Together

Project Update: Timber Tiger ST-L

If you have peeked into the shop during our recent gatherings, you have probably noticed our current build in progress: a Timber Tiger ST-L Clipped-wing replica. It is a modern, CNC-tooled kit engineered to preserve classic 1930s aviation lines while integrating modern structural reliability.

Build Note: Learn the tactile art of structural rib-stitching and fabric-covering on the Timber Tiger ST-L project at Starfall. Hands-on helpers are always welcome.

Builder Portals & Digital Logbooks

We want to show the wider EAA community that Chapter 1726 is highly active. Please take ten minutes to set up a builder log on the official EAA site. Your project does not have to be active or even currently in your possession. If you built an airplane twenty years ago and sold it three owners later, put a single photo of it online linked to our chapter roster. It highlights our collective experience and shows we are an engaged, building chapter. You do not have to be the original builder to claim stewardship of a flying machine.

Creative Programming: Thinking Ahead

We do not want this chapter to become an administrative lecture series. Please note that the following are strictly conceptual ideas rather than scheduled events; once our bylaws are formally adopted, we want to open up the calendar to things like:

• Hangar Movie Nights: Projecting classic aviation cinema onto hangar doors.
• Gimmick Air Rallyes: Navigational challenges designed to test basic pilotage and timing without relying on your iPad’s pink line.
• Cross-Country Fly-Outs: Organizing weekend runs to unique local destination strips.

We need your input: If you have an idea, a favorite route, or are willing to host a technical workshop on safety, sheet metal, riveting, or engine systems, bring your thoughts to the floor or email us. None of these events are planned yet; they are simply potential programs for the future.

Around the Hangar

The Schedule Shift: Decoupled Meetings

To ensure we do not put the entire group to sleep with parliamentary procedure before the actual technical programs start, the Board has decoupled our meeting blocks:

• Board Meetings: Now held at 7:00 PM on the Sunday before the general meeting.
• General Member Meetings: Remain at 7:00 PM on the second Wednesday of each month.

The Logic: This separation ensures our general membership sessions stay focused on actual aviation projects, technical presentations, and hangar flying. Anyone is welcome to attend either meeting. If you want to watch the background machinery turn, show up on Sunday at Starfall. If you just want the technical programs and shop talk, see us on Wednesday at Starfall.

🔧 LSRI Certification Class

Mike Bell has an announcement regarding people who may be interested in taking a Light-Sport Repairman Inspection (LSRI) certification class. Please reach out to him directly if you are interested.

Hangar Business & Admin

• Treasury & Taxes: Judi Gordon announced that Chapter 1726 has officially received its IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. This makes our accounting incredibly clean and ensures donations to our build streams are tax-deductible.
• Aluminum Alms: Drop off your CRV-only aluminum cans and plastic recyclables at Rod Posner’s house. If Rod is present at our July meeting, he can fill us in on the collection details; otherwise, please start saving your CRV items to help support our operations.
• Help Wanted: We are looking for an energetic volunteer to step up as our Membership Committee Chair to manage the onboarding pipeline and keep our member database running smoothly. If you want to own this critical role or volunteer for other standard support tasks, please let the Board know.

Membership Dues Schedule (with 2026 Charter Year Discount)

Dues are due; please bring cash or checks to the meeting, unless you are paying by PayPal.

Please see Judi Gordon to finalize your dues payment and verify your contact information for the official chapter roster.

🌐 Social Streams

We have officially launched our social platforms to share our build progress and activities with the wider aviation community, managed by Dylan Nugent. Follow us here:
Facebook: EAA 1726 Community Page
Instagram: @eaa.1726

Technical Tip: The Art of the Cleco

For the uninitiated, a Cleco is a temporary fastener developed by the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company in the late 1930s. It functions essentially as a reusable rivet, allowing a builder to temporarily clamp sheet metal pieces together with high alignment force before permanently riveting them.

Using Clecos successfully is a lesson in patience and alignment:

• Cleco every second or third hole: Skipping too many holes allows sheet metal to pucker between fasteners, leading to permanent alignment errors when the first rivets are driven.
• Check for debris: A single stray aluminum shaving caught between two sheets of metal will ruin your edge margin and prevent a flush joint. Take the time to de-burr every single hole.
• Pliers orientation: Keep your Cleco pliers perpendicular to the work surface to avoid bending the delicate internal pins of the fastener.