Nov 2004

2099 Smithtown Avenue, Ronkonkoma, NY 11776-7324

Volume 7 Number 11

 

 

 

 

President

Alan Klug

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Vice Pres.

Sonny Borowski

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Secretary

Rich Raine

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Treasurer

Joe Leonard

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Administration

Doug Weston

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Membership

Mark Goodman

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Operations

John Blosser

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Training

John Vahey

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At Large

Chuck Calabrese

The Left Seat                                  Alan Klug

The last plane wash of the year was held on Saturday, October 16th to accommodate those members unable to attend on weekdays. The following members showed up to wash the fleet and apply that final protective coat of wax before old man winter arrives. John Costello, Dan Bednartz, Bob VanSise, John Koch, Karl Krage, Kevin Doolittle, Jonathan Leonard, Joe Leonard, Joseph Leonard #3, Kitry Leonard, Mark Goodman, Jeff McArthur, Tom Klemenko, Bernie Davidson and myself. After the work was completed, we enjoyed a barbecue with Mark Goodman doing the cooking and plenty of hangar flying. Thanks to all who attended.

John Pereira, one of our clubs founding members attended the October board meeting. John spoke of the clubs beginning, initial plane purchases, how financing was attained and various other topics relating to the club which we all found extremely interesting. John also brought with him all the paperwork he had pertaining to the club. All of it extremely interesting. One item was the original invoice for the initial aircraft purchase the club made in 1969. A total of seven airplanes were purchased, (3-C150’s, 3-C172’s and a fixed gear C-182 Skylane.) The total cost for all seven airplanes was a little over $98,000.  When John was done speaking, the idea of a club historian resurfaced again.

I asked Bernie Davidson if he would be interested in taking on the job.  We all know Bernie as a talented instrument instructor who has also done quite a bit of work for the club through his many years of membership. Bernie accepted the challenge and is showing that he is also quite talented at writing. He sent me a copy of the start of our history and I would like to share it with you all. Future installments will be printed as they are received. Before I go any further, though, I want to say Thanks Bernie for taking on this task. Be sure to let Bernie know that you enjoy it. As I’m sure you will.

I hope to have a date for the Holiday Party (which this year will be a combination Holiday & 35th anniversary) shortly. I will keep you all informed.

GACE History                           Bernie Davidson

Some time ago, about 35 years ago that is, about a dozen guys said in one of their hangar flying sessions that how come we don’t have a “going” active flying club here at Grumman; we have some pilots (engineers, bookkeepers, lawyers, drafts people, nurses, production people, doctors, Indians and chiefs, etc.) and non-pilots around who are definitely interested in flying and learning more about flying! (Yours truly included in the hangar flying). Sooooo, whatdayaknow? We up and got started to accomplish the above!

We discussed many things, such as “Who’s gonna be in charge (President and Vice President)”? “Whose gonna keep records (Secretary)”, Who’s gonna collect money  (Treasurer)”, “Whose gonna keep everyone safe (Chief Flight Instructor)”, “ Who’s gonna teach ground school (Chief Ground Instructor and Ground Instructors), “Where are we gonna rent (?or buy?)  aeroplanes (airplanes)  to fly and learn how to”, OOOh Gosh;  What a headache we  “guys” were taking on!?!?!?

Well the fact is “WE DID”!!!

After about a year or two or three; we all decided to buy our own airplanes (by that time, we had over 150 members made up of Investors and Specials…….basically heavy hour flyers and low hour flyers……………….To be continued

 

 

 

 

Instructors

 

John Blosser

(631) 912-0290

Sonny Borowski

(631) 793-6980

John Brook

(631) 368-1901

Rich Clinton

(631) 368-1901

Bernie Davidson

(516 931-7699

Dave Ferrara

(631)874-8492

Frank Hayes

(516) 767-0391

Roy Mathews

(631) 968-0154

Jeff McArthur

(631) 288-6276

Bill Rudock

(631) 874-6155

Rob Terano

(631) 467-4159

John Vahey

(631) 835-6106

Bob VanSise

(516) 799-8684

 

 

GACE Flying Cub

2099 Smithtown Ave.

Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

Phone:

(631) 737-6879

 

Archer Rudder Pedal and Brake Warning

                                                                            John Vahey

Recently, one of our members had an incident wile taxiing the Archer from the fuel pump area back to the tiedowns. While attempting to turn left, the member found himself unable to turn the aircraft sharply enough, or to stop the aircraft with the brakes, and struck a parked aircraft, causing damage to both aircraft.

After discussions with the member, an investigation by the GACE accident review board, and further research, it was determined that the cause of the accident was the pilot’s improper foot positioning on the rudder pedal, combined with a pedal design that is different from the Cessna design.

Note in the photo of the Archer rudder pedals that the top of the pedal is shaped like the front of a shoe.  At the very top of the pedal is a curved edge or lip that is designed to stop the toe of a shoe from protruding above the pedal.  However, many shoes today, such as running shoes, have an upwardly curved toe that will ride over this lip when the foot is moved up on the pedal for braking, allowing the shoe to protrude above the top of the pedal.

Above the rudder pedals in Piper aircraft, and not visible in the photo, is a bar that extends laterally across the foot well area.  If the pilot’s foot is positioned above the top of the pedal, the pilot’s foot will come into contact with the bar, limiting forward travel of the pedal for both steering and braking.  This differs from the Cessna in that in the Cessna there is no such bar, and many Cessna pilots will position their feet higher on the pedals for greater leverage for max braking.

In research, It was also found that in an instructional setting, a student may push so hard on one pedal in a turn, while allowing their shoe to ride up n the pedal, that the toe of the shoe may become caught forward of the bar and block the pedals from returning to the neutral position or blocking a turn in the opposite direction.

Also, take note that in the Archer, the parking brake can be used as an emergency brake, should you experience a problem with the pedals such as that described in this incident.  Application of the parking brake may have prevented contact with the other aircraft in this case.

Be very aware of your foot position when taxiing, taking off, or landing the Archer.  Before your next flight, sit in the pilot’s seat and experiment with the proper foot positioning for full pedal travel.  Be aware of the type of shoe you are wearing.  Be especially cognizant of these factors if you are a high-time or newly transitioning Cessna Pilot.

Secretary’s Corner                        Rich Raine

There are some pictures Rusty McKenna took on the Website.  Take a look -  www.egace.com.

I have been out in the West updating a wireless network in my condo.  I intend to bring an extra wireless access point back to the club and install it for the benefit of our members.  This will allow us to use any WiFi device such as a Palm Pilot or Laptop computer to connect directly to the internet wirelessly.  This will enable you to use your own device for flight planning.   You can connect by searching for the network SSID named GACE.  If all this sounds like gobbly gook, ask me about the benefits of using your own flight planning software.  I’ll be glad to show you how this works.

Meetings

Board of Directors meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 7:00PM.  All members are welcome; however, please check with the President first in order to get on the agenda.

General Membership meetings are the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00PM.  There are no meetings for the summer months of July and August.  The next member’s meeting will be November 22th.