Presidents Corner
by Richard Bartlett-May

Dear Fellow Members,

The Directors who will take their seats in September 2001 were voted in unanimously at the June General Meeting held at the Airport Administration Building. The Board of 2002 is as follows:

This is a very strong Board and I feel many good things will happen this year because of their dedication to the club and its members.

Thanks to all of you who turned out at the last clean up day on the 16th. From start to finish the whole process was less than 3 hours and all the aircraft got washed, waxed and vacuumed. It really was a great turn out and I thank all those in attendance.

As I wrote in the last newsletter, the Board of Directors met for a special meeting on Saturday the 23rd of June to review the club's pricing structure for our hourly rates along with the our fixed costs. Fuel prices have been on the increase since we last raised prices in March of 2000. Along with a dramatic rise in fuel prices we have also seen a steady rise in the fixed cost of flying over the last few years i.e. insurance, maintenance fees etc. Club Treasurer Terry Paik put together a spreadsheet analyzing both running costs and fixed costs. Our monthly dues are at present 25 dollars a month per member. The figures compiled by Terry showed we are short of our needs by slightly under two dollars. Fuel pricing has increased by 45 cents a gallon on average in the 16 months since our last increase. After much analyzing and discussion a motion was made and passed to increase the monthly dues by two dollars per month to $27 and the hourly rates on the aircraft as follows:

These rates are effective as of the June billing cycle and will be included in your August billing. It is the CFI Board's unwritten mission statement to offer the cheapest flying in San Diego in the best-maintained aircraft. This we still do.

Fly safe Fly often.

Richard

From The Old Timer
by Harry McCoy

A LOVE OF MY LIFE
Part 14--1950

In 1950 we received orders to Naval Air Facility, China Lake, Inyokern, California. I was to be one of the group of pilots to do testing for the Naval Ordnance Test Station. I had never been to the base before, but found out that it was about 50 miles north of Mojave and 10 east of Inyokern. It is a huge base and had large tracts of housing; the nicest of course was for the civilians. We Enlisted were rented a LeTourneau 2 bedroom house. The house was interesting. They were made from prefabricated cement walls and roof. They poured the slab, and then sat the pre-cast sides of the house of 4-inch thick concrete, and then put a slab roof on it. A wall heater, a swamp cooler and plumbing and we had a house ready to go.

We arrived in the middle of the winter and the house had been vacant for a while, and it was like the inside of the freezer! I turned the heater on and left it on for 2 days. We moved in and it was surprisingly comfortable! We stayed here 2 years, and it was one of the most comfortable houses we ever had!

The airfield was 2 miles away from the housing. The Michaelson Laboratory, where most of the engineering, etc. was carried out was adjacent to the housing. The Lab was named for a Dr. Michaelson who was still active and lived on the base. It turns out he was quite famous.

The airfield had 3 beautiful long runways. In the summer time it could record 120 degrees on the runways, so they had to be long. We all said you could fry an egg on it. There was a great selection of aircraft. There was a R4D (DC-3) for cargo and passenger hauling, an SNB (D-18) for small projects, an F8F Bearcat, an F6F Hellcat, a TBM Avenger, and F7F Tigercat (a fighter with 2 2000 horse engines!!). The F7F and F8F had both come along too late for WWII. We had a few jets. An F9F Panther and a McDonnell Banshee twin engine. Other aircraft would show up for special projects.

There had been some interesting projects come out of this place. Before I got there, they mounted a 5-inch Spin Stabilized Rocket in the nose of a B-25 Mitchell. They also mounted about six 50 caliber guns in the nose of another Mitchell bomber. While I was there, a "Folding Fin Rocket" was developed for our Navy fighters. It was a 3&#frac12 inch tube with fins that folded into the tube until fired, and they pop out for stability. I flew the TBM with a Kodak tech rep in the upper gun turret, photographing an F9F passing by. This was the beginning experiments for the "heat homing rockets" that later proved to be so successful.

There were lots of projects going on that I never found out much about because of their security clearances, etc. The only project I managed to get was the Kodak one. We furnished a pilot to fly the Skipper of the Base around and when I got there, one of our Senior Enlisted Pilots was flying him. Unfortunately, he allowed the "Old Man" to land at Van Nuys when his clearance was to land at Burbank. Then, the Old Man was miffed and he swung around and took off down wind. The repercussions from this incident created the need for another safety pilot for the Old Man, and I got "chosen!." I wasn't very happy about it but when you are a Chief Petty Officer, what would you say to a very Senior Captain that could make you or break you!!!! I was now the VIP Pilot, and so I never got any more projects.

To be continued...

Safety Corner
by Carey Peterson

Many of you may have received safety warning information from Parker Aerospace in the mail concerning the risks of gyro failure while flying IFR. This brings up a great topic since all of our club airplanes are IFR equipped and spend a fair amount of time each year flying in IMC conditions.

Over the past 10 years, pneumatic systems failures have resulted in an average of 2 fatal accidents per year, according to the NTSB. While a seemingly small number, partial-panel flying still remains an area in which all IFR pilots need to be prepared for. As with most pilots, their proficiency level "peaks" while training for their checkride and then slowly deteriorates with time unless an effort is made to maintain proficiency. An easy way to help build proficiency is to fly with a safety pilot or instructor and practice partial-panel flying/maneuvering under VFR conditions. To be successful, the training should be practiced on a regular basis.

Successful partial-panel flying in IMC greatly depends on the type of weather conditions being experienced at the time. An IFR pilot stands a fair chance of maintaining control in smooth low-level stratus clouds than when compared to flying in solid cumulus clouds with moderate turbulence and wind shear. For this reason, the Board adopted a long-term goal to install a "back-up" vacuum system in each of our planes. The system works off of manifold suction and is to be used only to exit IMC or to assist in landing at the nearest suitable airport. Of course, the best safety device in any aircraft, is a highly trained pilot.

Fly Safely.

Operations Report
by Bob Finnin

All aircraft are continuing to perform well.

15U: A new sump drain was installed and has cured the drip problem. A minor oil leak has been found on the top of the case in the engine. So-Cal has inspected it and assured me that it is not a serious matter and will be taken care of as quickly as possible.

404: Has had new Spark Plugs installed and is running well. This aircraft is being used more now that we have several students in the club and is providing good service.

88E and 04K: Continue to provide great service.

In general I am pleased with the care that the members show in regard to the aircraft. However several points need to be mentioned.

The first is the tightening procedure after checking the oil level during preflight. Please do not over-tighten the dip-stick. Several times I have had to use pliers to loosen the cap. This is not good.

After a flight please remove all of YOUR materials from the plane. It isn't good to have candy and gum wrappers as well as water bottles on the floor. Please take an extra minute and clean up so the next pilot will have a clean aircraft.

The last two items are very important!!

Please complete all the time logs and any pilot comments you may have and then do not forget to lock the airplane.

Thanks for the help and fly safe!

Treasure's Report
by Terry Paik

June 2000

As of June 1, we had $12,662 in the bank. May P&L net was -$1,157 and YTD was -$18,081. The overhaul on 04K (~$20K) was almost fully paid in May. This month's receivables are $7,805 and we flew 137 hours. Aircraft use dropped a bit from last month.

One more perspective on the increase in our club rates. Not only has the price of fuel gone up $0.45 per gallon since our last rate change back in Feb 2000, our fixed costs continue to rise (like most everything else in life). Our monthly dues have not changed since before I joined Coastal Fliers in 1993! However, just since 1995 the cost for insurance on our aircraft has risen 20% and the cost of tie downs has risen 37%! These are two of our biggest fixed costs and combined have risen over 23% since '95.

So you can see an increase in our rates is long overdue; and, in fact, these increases just help us recover some of our past losses, and in no way is intended to cover future increases in expense.

We are still the most inexpensive flying club around, and we own our 4 beautiful aircraft! Here's an approximate cost analysis to compare our great rates with two other local clubs.

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