Presidents Corner
by Richard Bartlett-May

Dear Fellow Members,

Not much to report this month. Everything is running smoothly and all the aircraft are flying with little or no squawks to report.

I had to make a trip to Phoenix last week and took the Dakota, 04K. I continue to be pleased with 04K's performance. Due to the band of clouds over the mountains and the low icing level I decided against flying IFR. I went over VFR with flight following. It took less than 10 minutes to altitude with an initial climb rate of 1700 feet a minute. Gillespie was severe clear but the local mountains were covered in cloud. I was above the top of the clouds at 8000ft and continued climbing to 9500ft. Phoenix Goodyear was reporting 4000ft scattered, 6000ft overcast with rain showers, the terminal forecast for Sky Harbor was indicating pretty much the same all day. The desert area was clear of clouds and remained the same all the way until about 50 miles east of the Colorado River.

As I approached Blythe VOR I could see the reported weather ahead. LA Center handed me off to Albuquerque Center and I requested a VFR descent to 3500ft. Center total me that this would put me below their radar coverage so flight following was canceled and to squawk 1200. By the time I got to Buckeye VOR the scattered layer was around 3200ft and I had to drop down to 2600ft which gave me 1300ft-terrain clearance to Goodyear. Goodyear's ATIS had just been up dated and had gone from 4000ft scattered to "few clouds at 500ft 1500ft broken and 3500ft overcast"! Fortunately the visibility was excellent and I could see the airport from about 10 miles away and landed without having to drop below traffic pattern altitude. I knew the weather behind me was clear so if push came to shove a 180-degree turn would have put me back into better weather and Buckeye Municipal Airport.

The weather had lifted slightly for the departure and a routine VFR flight was made back home at 10,500ft. The total flying time from Gillespie to Phoenix Goodyear was 1hour and 40 minutes and the return journey took 1hour and 52 minutes. I left Gillespie at 8am had a 90-minute meeting and was back on the ground at Gillespie by 2:30pm.

I guess the moral of this tale is that forecasts are exactly that, the weather can change in a matter of minutes. I had studied the weather thoroughly and decided the flight could be made safely. I had several plans, Plan A the flight plan, Plan B which was to divert to Gila Bend and rent a car or if need be a 180 degree turn back to Gillespie. I also had a plan C that is one we should always have and that was Cancel and wait until another day.

Fly safe Fly often.

Richard

Harry McCoy's 60th

I would like to thank all Coasties who came out to help me celebrate my "60th—" I really appreciate it, and I will always remember it—after all, how often do we get 15 seconds of fame?

Thanks,

Harry McCoy

PILOT GETAWAYS magazine

Your membership in Coastal Fliers still includes a subscription to PILOT GETAWAYS magazine. If you receive a renewal notice please disregard it.

Coastal Flier Steve Dari's review of the Anywhere Map system was published on the pocketPCpassion web site. The setting for his article is a flight in 15U. Check it out!

Visit www.pocketPCpassion.com then scroll down to Anywhere Pilot and click on his review. Or click here to go directly to the review.

From The Old Timer
by Harry McCoy

A LOVE OF MY LIFE
Part 9--1946

The R4D (DC-3) was probably the easiest airplane to check out in. It had two 1200 hp engines, a wide landing gear and a big vertical fin and rudder. Even though I was basically only a 'single engine' pilot, I found it very easy. The hardest part was controlling it when you lost an engine especially if you were slow on take off---with a load! It was supposed to be able to fly on one engine at gross, but only if you were up to speed and clean (no gear and flaps). Fortunately, I never had to experience it even with 2000 hours in the bird. Good engines!!!! Returning from one fam hop where we just went east for a few miles, my flight engineer had me look at the right engine. There must have been 200 feet of kite string wound around the propeller! I have no idea where we got it and I WASN'T doing any flat hatting!!!! The word got around in the squadron and I had a hard time living that one down.

Take off's were a snap, but landings took a little more practice. You did not make three point landings in this bird. You landed in a slightly tail low (from level flight attitude) on the back side of the main mounts. If your speed was right it would settle in nicely, but if you were a little fast and didn't get the tail low, you almost always would bounce back into the air. The only solution was to add power and go around.

This plane didn't have any radar. It was used primarily for taking personnel from Pt. A to Pt. B, and hauling cargo. I also found out not very much later, that the "Old Man" flew this for his proficiency and flight time. And how I was selected I'll never know since I was so new to the airplane, but I became "The Old Man's Pilot." I learned that he needed his proficiency, and my job was to keep him from killing both of us!!!! I wondered why they would use an Enlisted Man instead of an officer pilot. The officers enlightened me here. It seems if there was an Officer Pilot and he didn't like the way things were going he would write bad "fitness" reports that would affect the officer's careers. As a Chief Petty Officer, he couldn't reduce me in rate without a Court-Martial. It was somewhat comforting, I must admit, although I didn't know just how bad a screw up it would have to be for a Court-Martial.

An order came through from the Pentagon that they realized there had been errors made in our losing our commissions and aware that we hadn't been given the opportunity to sign a contract, so we could re-submit. I got my information in to the Executive Officer who was supposed to submit it all to the Bureau. In about a month I got another letter saying since I had not requested recommisioning, I would remain a Chief. I went to the Executive Officer and there was my letter in his mail basket. He had never bothered to forward it. He wasn't even very apologetic, I decided he could have cared less. This was a low blow; it cost me a lot of money.

To be continued...

Safety Corner
by Carey Peterson

Aviation is full of useful memory aids to assist pilots in recalling important flight information. This month, I hope to introduce a few basic calculations, which may be helpful while flying.

The first one involves figuring reciprocal headings. While most pilots are comfortable glancing at the DG, problems can arise when determining non-cardinal headings. The "200/20" rule can be used for a quick reference. When the initial heading is less than 180, the formula is INIT HDG + 200 - 20 = RECIP HDG. When your heading is greater than 180, use INIT HDG - 200 + 20 = RECIP HDG. As an example: 090+200-20 = 270 or 300-200+20 = 120.

How many times have you listened to the ATIS report the temp in Celsius and wished you could figure the Fahrenheit without grabbing the flight computer? A simple conversion is to double the C, subtract 10%, and add 32. The formula is F = (Cx2)-10%+32. As an example: 15C = 30-3+32 = 59F.

Every instrument pilot should know that the rate of descent required to stay on glideslope during an ILS approach varies with groundspeed. Sometimes it's handy to know what that descent rate should be when flying different airspeeds. To calculate the proper descent rate, just halve the groundspeed, and add a 0. An example: 90 kts/2 = 45 + 0 = 450 fpm descent required to nail the glideslope.

There is another rule which aids in descent planning. To achieve a 3 degree descent based upon distance from your destination airport, your altitude at any given time should be: 300 x distance in nm from destination. As an example: an airplane is 25 DME from its destination airport. For a 3 degree descent, its altitude at that distance should be 300 x 25 = 7500 ft.

These are just a few of the many rules of thumb used by pilots to figure calculations in various situations. With a little practice, they can be very useful in everyday flying.

Fly Safely.

Operations Report
by Bob Finnin

8788E: 88E is working well with no major complaints this month.

2904K: 04K will be going in for an engine overhaul on the 19th of this month and will be out of service for approximately three to four weeks. During this time period, we will have the top cowling repainted to match our other aircraft and the bottom cowling refinished and repainted.

During some routine repair work during the past month, a loose manifold flange was noticed on the exhaust pipe on one of the cylinders and was repaired.

The moving map display is not functioning at this time and is under study as to the cause of the malfunction and should be repaired soon.

3015U: The rebuilt engine is working well and runs very smoothly. A new Amp-Load meter has been installed and appears to be functioning as it should. With all electronics and lights turned on, the charging is well within the acceptable range.

A new encoder for the Transponder is on order and should be installed as soon as it is received. I have had several indications that the Mode C was intermittent.

46404: This aircraft is working well and has not had any squawks during the past month. The door latches have been repaired.

Please do not over tighten the oil dipsticks after checking the oil. The mechanic from So. Cal. said he had difficulty getting the caps off on several occasions during his checks and this might prove to be a real problem for the less muscular members of the club.

Thanks for the help and fly safe!

Board Meeting Summary
by Don Davis

Board Meeting Summary January 4, 2001

The Board discussed current policy and procedures for Club checkouts. Carey Peterson, Safety and Training Officer, will meet with all Club CFI's to develop procedures for keeping CFI's updated concerning processing of new members and conducting the Club check rides.

The engine overhaul for the Dakota 2904K will be scheduled for the middle of March.

Club President Richard Bartlett-May thanked Donn and Barbara Larson for their excellent work in their continuing redesign and maintenance of the Club Website. It is a very informative and attractive site. Thanks.

New member application from Steve Creighton was reviewed and approved. Welcome aboard.

Fly often, fly safe.

Treasure's Report
by Terry Paik

January 2001

Well, we had a great year 2000. As of January 1, 2001 we had $32,573 in the bank; we own 4 aircraft and have a loan balance of only $65,384. December's P&L was -$6,143 and YTD was $13,609. We have acquired a 4th aircraft and increased our equity position by 13% from a year ago.

The Archers flew an average of 40 hours/month, 04K averaged 30 hours and good ol' 404 averaged 23 hours. We are at full membership, and as long as we keep flying, we'll be able to continue our upward trend!

Included here is our Balance Sheet with previous year comparison. (The aircraft fixed assets are the purchase prices for each a/c. Obviously their value has grown tremendously!)

If you have any questions, leave them at the Club Phone, (619) 441-2610 or email me (tpdvm@home.com).

Remember, the more we fly, the cheaper we fly!

CFI Balance Sheet Previous Year Comparison

Coastal Fliers' P & L Previous Year Comparison

Insurance Report

Some members have asked about our club's insurance coverage. Here is some of the basic coverage information. If you have further questions email any of the board members.

The policies on all four a/c are basically the same. The limits of liability are as follows: