LONG
BEACH FLYING CLUB & FLIGHT ACADEMY
MAY 2005 NEWSLETTER
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
visit us
at www.lbflying.com
email club@Lbflying.com
GOD BLESS AMERICA * WE FLY WITH CARE
.... Now, more than ever *
Editor
Candace A. Robinson
WHAT’S UP? SQUAWK TALK – Last month a squawk was turned in that
read: “#1 NAV off 20 or more degrees while over mountains (Malibu) heading
towards VTU. VOT check on ground was
within limits.” Hoping to get to my AFD
before maintenance spent time and money on troubleshooting the squawk, I turned
to the California section of the AFD, Ventura vor,
and found that VTU VOR is unusable 060 to 085 beyond 10 nm below
13,000. Pulling out an LA Terminal Area
Chart shows that Malibu is 23 nm from VTU on the 090 degree radial and the
mountains range from the 060 degree radial to the beach – exactly where the AFD
warns is unusable. While the squawk was
very definitive and gave the full situation (see Helen’s Corner), it lacked knowledge
of navigational aids. Low Altitude VORs (1,000 to 18,000 feet) have a 40 nm
radius. Before planning crosscountry flights, make sure to consult a current
AFD for restrictions within the normal altitude/range of the navaid. Other
areas that warrant a brain search while devising squawks are systems (landing
gear lights inop with nav lights on is an invalid squawk) and the FAR/AIMs
(glideslope inop does not ground an aircraft for IFR). Help keep our maintenance costs down and
write good squawks!
Key
bank is drastically changing their program for flight TRAINING loans. If you've been considering a key bank loan,
make plans to apply before May 24th.
Don't be left out!
NEWSLETTER -- BENTRONIX AVIONICS REPAIRS
SUBJECT:
Noise in the headset problems!
Often times I hear Pilots come to me
talking about noise problems in there headsets. Noise problems can range
anywhere from a nuisance to a major disturbance, from something that can be
tolerated to unacceptable.
Noise can come in from various sources,
(alternator noise, strobe light noise, DME noise etc. ) These sources are
generated internally in the aircraft. Then there are the external noises, such
as precipitation static.
With all these noises floating around the
aircraft it’s difficult to isolate the noise source.
One of the biggest noise sources 011 the
aircraft is the alternator. When the engine is started the alternator is
producing electrical current. This current is designed to charge the battery
and to handle the electrical loads on the aircraft. The noise that and
alternator puts out is identifiable by a high pitched squeal in the headset.
This noise increases as the engine RPM increases. If you happen to have a
master switch with split down the center you can turn off the alternator
section only and see if the noise goes away. If it does the problem most likely
is the capacitor on the back of the alternator. Other causes can be corrosion
around the battery terminals or any other electrical wiring connections.
Other noise problems can be avionics
equipment itself. Intercoms have become poplar item that most pilots have
today. Intercoms come in to different styles: there’s the panel-mounted unit
and the portable units. Panel mounted intercoms can be part of the audio panel
or they can be a separate unit all by itself.
The manufacturers of these products will
specify the way these products can be used. In the case of the panel-mounted
intercom, the manufacturer provides an install manual. In the manual there will
be a wiring diagram. When installing the intercom, it is very important to wire
it according to the manufacturers specifications. All the manufacturers specify
a single point ground system in there intercoms. They also use insulating
washers when installing the mic and phone jacks in the panel of the aircraft.
Most of the noise problems I've seen associated with intercoms is faulty
wiring. The grounding techniques used in the install procedure needs to be a
single point. This usually is a single pin on the back of the connector. If the
intercom is part of an audio panel the tray must be mounted securely to the
instrument panel.
Another area of noise problems is the
emissions coming from pulsed equipment such as DME units and transponders.
Since the transponder and the DME units have very high RF power (usually around
200 watts) this power can interfere with reception on the basic nav/com
receiver. Sometimes it can be so bad that it breaks the squelch across the
broadcast band.
One easy test to perform is to turn off
the DME unit and see if the noise goes away. Another test to perform is to
remove the coaxial antenna cable that goes to the communications receiver. If
the noise i~ still there the chances are good that the DME unit is the cause.
In either case the first step is to remove the DME unit from its tray and
visually inspect the tray and both connectors on the back of the tray. Contact
cleaner works well for cleaning the connectors. Check the physical mounting of
the tray to the panel. Next check the coaxial RF cable for loose or open
grounds. The antenna needs to be inspected as well. If its the blade type,
check to make sure that there are no cracks or chips on the blade itself. If
there are, the antenna needs to be replaced. The DME and transponder antennas
are designed to operate at high frequencies (1060-1090 MHz) at around 200 watts
of RF power. If there is any oil or grease on or around the antenna base, this
will affect the antenna performance drastically. Cleaning will go a long way in
improving the efficiency of the antenna.
Also checking the antenna bonding to the
aircraft skin. If the antenna is cracked or loose it needs to be re-bonded to
the skin. This needs to be done by a certified mechanic.
These are just a few of the problems
associated with noise in the cockpit.
Remember to keep the greasy parts down and the shiny parts up when
flying. Have a safe flight
Bruce Bennett (SAS) Senior Avionics
Specialist
HELEN'S CORNER
Squawks If
you find something wrong with one of the airplanes PLEASE take the time to
write a squawk. I do not like it when I
fly an airplane, find something wrong and am then told that it’s been that way
for months. Writing a squawk is neither
hard nor time consuming. Please write
multiple squawks for different items.
Do not cram them all onto one sheet.
An example would be radio items and a burned out position/navigation
light – this is two squawks. Be as
definitive as you can – give the full situation. Also, tell us how you did troubleshooting, if appropriate.
CALLING ALL FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS. We
are creating a new “help guide for prospective students.” This guide will tell the prospective student
about you. I need this information from
all full-time CFI’s and part-time CFI’s who would like to acquire
students. Due date is 22 June –
sooner is better. Please use this guide
to sell yourself to the prospective student:
Web site You
can now request an extension of your temporary pilot certificate online. Establish an online account at http://registry.faa.gov/amsvcs.asp
with the Airmen Certification Branch and request an extension. The FAA can send permission via an email or
fax. Calling the Airmen Certification
Branch (866-878-2498) should be a last resort.
CFI Meeting
Wednesday, 25 May at 6:00 p.m.
Everyone is welcome.
accomplishments
|
KELLY
SIMS |
SOLO |
WARRIOR |
CFI
RICHARD GARNETT |
|
CHUCK
RICE |
SOLO |
WARRIOR |
CFI
RICHARD GARNETT |
|
WENDY
POSTEMA |
SOLO |
C152 |
CFI
EMI KENNEDY |
|
GILLES
CONTI |
SOLO |
C152 |
CFI
PAUL RAYMOND |
|
MIKE
LINDSAY |
SOLO |
C172 |
CFI
PAUL RAYMOND |
|
KIRBY
WILLIAMS |
SOLO |
C152 |
CFI
PAUL RAYMOND |
|
JIM
LOISCH |
PRIVATE |
WARRIOR |
CFI
RICHARD GARNETT |
|
KELVIN
KAPYA |
PRIVATE |
WARRIOR |
CFI
JOEY ROEHRICH |
|
ERIC
DEGERNES |
PRIVATE |
WARRIOR |
CFI
JAESEONG OH |
|
CHRIS
VANVELDEN |
PRIVATE |
C152 |
CFI
PAUL RAYMOND |
|
MIKE
SEYMOUR |
INST |
C152 |
CFI
JAESEONG OH |
|
JOHN
LEE |
INST |
WARRIOR |
CFI
HEISHU KIM |
|
ALE
TORRES |
MULTI
COM |
SEMINOLE |
CFI
JAESEONG OH |
|
HAJIME
NAKAMURA |
CFI |
C172RG |
CFI
JAESEONG/HEISHU |
|
RICHARD
GARNETT |
APT |
WARRIOR |
CFI
HELEN CRANZ |
|
TIM
FRIEDLANDER |
APT |
WARRIOR |
CFI
HELEN CRANZ |
|
JOHN
CAREY |
APT |
SYMPHONY |
CFI
HELEN CRANZ |
|
DAN
JENKINS |
APT |
ARROW |
CFI
HELEN CRANZ |
|
JACK
BASHFORD |
APT |
C172 |
CFI
HELEN CRANZ |
|
EMI KENNEDY |
APT |
WARRIOR |
CFI HELEN CRANZ |
Congratulations to RICHARD GARNETT, top
Club CFI for April, logging the most hours of dual given in club aircraft! Runner-ups
were JOEY ROEHRICH & PAUL
RAYMOND!
Club pilot Forest Kirst, left in February on a
“short” trip in his Cessna 152 Sparrowhawk.
He’s recently checked in with us as his journey continues: Hi! I landed
in Fairbanks a few weeks ago, 34 hours flying time from Glendale, AZ. There was
a long stop over in Calgary, AB due to weather and visiting relatives.
Springbank Airport outside of Calgary has a nice fly-in B&B or just tie down
$50 Canadian a month or daily rates.
Run by Ron [tower operator] an excellent choice for visiting in Calgary
for the stampede. Crossing the borders is easy entering Canada or the US. The
procedures are the same: file a flight plan, call customs before departure,
contact flight service airborne before reaching the ADIZ and flight service
will give you a squawk code if you need one for that border area. When you land
you park in the designated area and follow procedures given by customs . Both
Canada and US customs are friendly and easily cleared if you have your papers
in order [registration, C of A, radio license, medical, pilot license, photo ID
(prefer a passport as that is the law in the near future)]. They prefer
originals not copies.
Interesting differences in Canada are you
must file a flight plan for northern routes, they open your flight plan
automatically upon takeoff at most airports, and they start looking for you 30
minutes after your proposed departure even if you haven’t gone to the airport so
always cancel an unused flight plan and always leave a good contact phone
number in case you don’t cancel an unused flight plan. They also charge you a
fee for navcan [FSS] from when you enter Canada, charged quarterly so you might
as well use their services. The fee is not too high so it’s OK. Canada and
Alaska REQUIRE a survival kit in the plane just in case and if you do much
x-country flying you should have one anyway; mostly its just camping gear,
signal devices and bug repellent. If you wish to put a firearm in your kit,
check with Canada before leaving home or you might lose it. Full details are
available in the AK Airport directory.
Flying out of Calgary the weather was
scattered at 5000, tops at 8000. Climbed to 8500 and picked up a tailwind.
Crossing the Alberta foothills to Whitecourt was easy. As you enter northern
Alberta the chances of a good off-airport landing are good as there is a large
amount of oil exploration crisscrossing the country. However most of this is
not on your charts so your pilotage better be good. I would recommend a GPS for
anyone so that you can enjoy the scenery. Airports are fairly abundant [every
200 miles for a paved runway] so there is always a place for food fuel and a
hotel or camping. I enjoy paved runways when I can find them. The sky cleared
north of Whitcourt to Fairbanks and the temps stayed in the 70s, unbelievably
good weather. Terrain becomes more rugged crossing into BC. Flying through the
mountains dwarfs the Grand Canyon for spectacle. The Alaska highway VFR
corridor is the preferred route as the highway is the longest runway you will
ever see. GPS is very handy for picking
the best altitude as you get instant groundspeed readings and can therefore
avoid some nasty headwinds and enjoy the tail winds. Altitude in the mountains
varied greatly for that reason. I was able to maintain 90 knots groundspeed
from fort St. John to Whitehorse by hunting for tailwinds [C-152 2300 rpm] Also
VOR coverage is spotty in some places due to terrain. Flying in the spring I
avoided the fog and clouds that make for spectacular photos and poor mountain
flying. I also avoided the tourist rush that makes finding accommodation
harder. Whitehorse to Northway was another search for tailwinds when I wasn’t
busy chasing down glaciers or circling mountain peaks for photos. US customs
was easy and charges $25. Northway to Fairbanks was uneventful, I hugged the
deck to avoid a strong quartering headwind.
Playing in the mountains involves some
skills not taught everywhere and I would highly recommend some instruction from
a local if you are new to mountain flying. I don’t think you will ever find
more friendly airports than we have up here.
Much of the country is accessible only by plane making planes akin to
cars for transportation. Big radials, skis and floats are common, cell phones
seldom work and everyone has time to stop and chat. IFR means “I follow river”
to most. Today took a short trip from Fairbanks to Manley Hotsprings - 75
nautical miles of untouched wilderness. Manley has a small gravel strip 50 by
2200. Left traffic is against the mountain and tall trees on either end. Wind
comes over the mountain and also funnels down the valley. I got some mild
turbulence in pattern and calm on touchdown
I crossed the center of 20 and taxied onto the grass. A short trip to
the hotspring - $5 to enter and you’re sitting in a large greenhouse [30x100]
heated by a natural spring, soaking in one of three pools looking up at a
ceiling covered in grape vines and occupancy is limited to the number in your
party usually. Harvest is June. Cabins rent from $50-$90 per night. Sure beats
the $100 hamburger. Departure was different - winds variable to 15 knots. I
stated intentions, back-taxied to 20 for a soft/shortfield takeoff. Calm as I
started my roll, gusted to 15 knots from 310 as I picked up speed and changed
to a headwind as I lifted off. Climb to 3500 pick up the heading for home
today.
NOTAM: Club pilots wishing to
write safety articles for our monthly newsletters would be greatly
appreciated! Many thanks to Helen Cranz for the help with this
newsletter!
R2503D Activation:
During May 2005, the Department of the Navy will conduct an amphibious
operations training exercise along the shoreline and within facilities
associated with Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. In order to support these hazardous
activities, Restricted Airspace (R2503D) has been established adjacent to
existing restricted area R-2503A/B. The
R2503D's airspace will be activated during designated periods throughout the
exercises. Pilots wishing to transit
the airspace or obtain status information should contact LONGRIFLE on frequency
123.2 or 301.9. http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/events/2005-May/02_R2503DActivation.pdf.
Peter Garcia emailed: Sue & Co — Miss you guys … As for the
weather, it sucks. Hasn’t stopped
raining. The food is good here… and
there are hispanics here … not many.
But a lot of females that look like Britney Spears … I am in love!! Miss
you guys and hope everything is good!
Peter.
TOP GUN AWARD goes to Vincent Savouret, logging the most flight hours in club
aircraft in April. Runner-ups were Jose Mota and Wendy Postema!
CALENDAR
May 27: Long Beach Flying Club CFI meeting
from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at LBFC.
July 27: The Long Beach Flying Club and the
Long Beach Airport Association General Membership Meeting will be held at the
AirFlite facility on Taxiway Bravo at the end of Wardlow Road. A buffet will be served beginning at 6:30 PM
with the program beginning at 7:00 PM.
Everybody is welcome to attend ‑‑ we hope to see you there ‑‑
sandwiches, fruit and dessert will be served!
This meeting will count toward CFI credit for July.
November 11-13: Fla-Bob Air Extravaganza,
Veteran’s Day weekend. Antique airplane
displays, food vendors. Fly or
drive-in, come see the “new” airport!
|
NEW
& REJOINED CLUB PILOTS |
BIRTHDAYS |
|
DIANE AUSTEN MANUEL VONDA HUGO LIZCANO DON TERRY MARK DAVIS ATSUSHI OKITA ANTHONY BURT WILLIAM MACDONALD LUKE O'SULLIVAN JOSHUA ROSENFELD DARREN MOON VINCE NOBLE THOMAS ROCK DAN SVEGLIATO JOHN HUBNER LEONCIO JAUDALSO WILLIAM WEAVER VINCENT CALDERON ZAC ERNST CHARLENE FISCHER ROBERT HARBIN LYNN JONES NEIL KUMAR BILL ZABLEN ROBERT TAYLOR ARTHUR MASAOKA JAMES MOSS VINCENT SAVOURET OLAF STOFFELS |
WILLIAM AZZALINO SUSAN BAKER ERIC BORDUAS BRETT BYE TIM CAMPBELL CHAD CARLIN SAMMY DEV CHRIS DOLAS ERIC EDWARDS TIM ENGEL ROGAN GIRARD RICHARD GLADE DAVID GLENDAY CHRISTOPHER HILL JOHN HUTHMAKER KELVIN KAPYA NICK KLUBNIKIN ROBERT KRASS VERN KRUSE JASON LIM ANTONIO MACIAS JASON MC KEEVER ROD NELSON PAUL OVERACKER YONG PARK CODY PIERCE GREG PIERCE DAN PRINKEY MARK RADFORD ROBERT SANTOS DOUGLAS SCARBOROUGH TREVOR SCHOONOVER MIKE SEYMOUR RANDY SOMERSHAE WILLIAM STROUD DAN SVEGLIATO DON TERRY CHRISTOPHER TESSIER MIGUEL TORO DAVID WILCOX TOMONORI YOSHIZAWA |
ORDER TODAY! Long Beach Flying Club Long Sleeve Polo
Shirts in Navy, Black or Gray. Sizes
small, medium, large, x-large
$24.95. XX-large $26.95. We’ll need your choice of color and size
when you call us at 562.290.0321 with your credit card number. Download from www.LBFlying.com or Email shirts@Lbflying.com an order form of our
complete line of pilot shirts. Shipping
and handling $4.95 per order, CA residents add 8.25% sales tax.
Give the
gift of flight! A Long Beach Flying Club gift certificate for any denomination
you wish, be it for the first flight, pilot supplies, or aircraft rental, makes
a great gift for any occasion!
There
are three ways to obtain the gift of flight:
1. Stop by and pick up a gift certificate
during our office hours (8:30 am to
4:30 pm daily). You can purchase accessories to go with the gift
certificate such as a visor, aviation mug
or LBFC logo shirt.
2. We can send you a preprinted gift
certificate for any denomination
you wish -- just give us a call! We'll charge your credit card and get
the gift certificate in the next out-going
mail.
3. We can email you a gift certificate. Send us or call us with a credit card
number to activate it for any denomination
you wish. You will be given
a Gift Certificate number to fill in at
the bottom of your printout.
It's
just that easy to give a unique and treasured gift. Keep it in mind for
upcoming Father’s
Day celebrations!