DFW Lite Flyers Club 393

Archive for the ‘Club Members’ Category

Hi guys,

I’m a new member. Was at the last Chapter 393 meeting and met a good deal of you guys. Very impressed with this group! Anyhow, If anyone has an available seat in their plane and is willing to take me with them I’m willing to meet you at whatever airport your based out of to fly into the meeting at LNC. I’m 150lbs, 5’7″.  Feel free to contact me anytime @ 971-533-0549 or shoot me an email @ Cessnaluvr@msn.com.

-Trevor Howell-

Sorry for the long delay of not updating the website. Since I don’t live in TX anymore, I’m not actively involved with the club and tend to forget whats going on down there. Anyway, I’ve updated the Club Officers page, the broken email link ability to contact Jeff Mountain, eliminated email email links to other officers (for now), created a Light Sport Aircraft page, created a Sport Pilot Page, Create a Sport Pilot Rule page, deleted the duplicate member aircraft photo page, updated the Sport Pilot Instructors listing page (prices went UP), and made various back-end and cosmetic improvements. Any requests for other changes or updates?

As pointed out, you’ll notice that instructor costs have gone up in the past year. Robert in Ft. Worth charges $10 more per hour for dual instruction (now up to $130) and Four Winds Aviation at T31 in McKinney charges $15 more per hour for dual (now up to $180). The guys out a Denton still haven’t published their rates, and last I heard through the grape vine, they aren’t doing much of anything, so it may not be worth it to go their way (sorry guys ).  The guys out in Dallas with the fancy Sport Cruiser are $110 for the plane and $45 for the instructor, which puts them right in the middle. Though they surely have the most expensive aircraft and highest overhead.

As a matter of Comparison, up here in Connecticut I rent a 1940′s J-3 Cub for $90 per hour and $40 for an instructor ($130 dual).

To update anyone who is interested on my status — I’m actually studying for my CFIS (sport pilot instructor) FAA written test, as well as the FOI (fundamentals of instruction) exam. I plan to purchase a Champ when I’m finished (in the $15-20k range) and give instruction at about the same rate as the Cub goes for around here.  I might even purchase a 2 place quicksilver or other 2-place ultralight type Light Sport and give instruction under an LODA if I can figure out the rules.  So far it seems like the FAA still can’t decide if they want to support ultralights or let them die out like has been happening for the past 6 years. Right now I don’t own anything that flies. I have my ragwing sport parasol still under construction in the basement, and still selling plans for the Cloudster Ultralight through my hobby business, Simplex Aero, LLC .

Just a quick note to say that Hope One will be taking off from Ft Worth/Meacham on Saturday morning at 8 – 8:30 to set a time and distance speed record.  This is an NAA/FAI Sanctioned event that will end in Branson, MO late Saturday morning.  For more info:  www.FlightHS.com

I know that everyone is flying out but at least we’ll be sharing the same sky!

Take care my friends.

Before I left Texas I remember a few conversations with club members about how it may be a good idea to purchase a plane and form a separate flying club (can’t be apart of the EAA club) that would own and operate the plane. It opens up a few interesting training possibilities. One is available nearby for $12k. A Rans S-12 with a 582.

http://barnstormers.com/listing.php?id=526087

As everyone knows, we have the Sonex up for sale. I’m coming back into town for one last time at the end of February to pack up my house and load up the truck to take it all to our new home in Connecticut. I’d like to use the weekend to play with the Sonex one last time (if it hasn’t sold by then). One thing I want to do is get some good in flight photos. We never did that with the plane, and I regret not having some good shots.

Anyone want to snap some photos with their plane? Might be good for thos with 2 seats who can have a passenger take photos. The Sonex can get down to the 50′s and 60′s in cruise for you slow pokes

I am listing my 1/2 share of our Sonex.

As most of you know, our Sonex is listed up for Sale on Barnstormers and a few other smaller websites. We’ve had a few bites, but nothing solid just yet. I’m no longer living in DFW so there is no way that I can continue the partnership as a normal flying partner. I live in Connecticut now. So until the plane sells, or until I sell my 1/2 of the partnership, I incur a monthly expense.

I am willing to sell my 1/2 of the partnership for $14,000. As a new partner you would have full access to a wonderful airplane at the cost of only 1/2 hanger rent ($62.50 p/month), and your own purchase of fuel. Of course you would also incur any other expenses associated with maintenance and repairs.

The airplane is running great and really is fun and easy to fly. Keep in mind that you would need to be “approved” by Joe as he has the option to turn away anyone who doesn’t meet his own personal criteria. Ideally you should have a tailwheel endorsement.

You can see full details on the plane at our website – www.ereksonfamily.org/sonex/

Hey guys, we need an A&P to do the annual/Conditional Inspection on our Sonex. Having a hard time finding someone who will agree to do it. Not sure why people are so reluctant. It’s  a simple airplane. If you have any recommendations not already passed along, please contact Jeff or Joe. Thanks!

We finally finished rebuilding our Aerovee 2.1 engine. We learned in Oct. 2010 that a crack had developed in the case and a new case was needed. This meant for a complete engine tear down to swap all parts to a new case.

This was my first “complete” engine rebuild from start to finish. It was actually super easy with the only difficult part being closing the case and keeping the crankshaft on these special dial pins that hold the bearings in place. That took 3 hours to do something that really should only take 5 minutes.Then I had to find a way to torque the rear gland nut on the crankshaft to 217-240 ft/lbs.

AeroConversions (Sonex) recommends that the engine be setup with an 8.0:1 compression ratio. I did the math (you can see at the link below) and we have a perfect compression ration of 8.0814:1

The engine ran again for the first time on December 22, 2010. This was with the help of Phil, one of the great members of our club.  There was a bit of confusion over ignition timing as the manual was wrong by 180 deg, but once we figured that out the engine ran great! I think I have a bit more power and RPM’s than before. Currently just checking up to makes sure the whole thing is running good. So far so good!

See photos of the whole project on my personal site – http://ereksonfamily.org/sonex/aerovee-engine/rebuilding-an-aerovee-engine/

Season’s greetings!

Our Christmas party was well attended with almost 40 members enjoying the festivities! Pictures are posted. On Saturday, a meeting of the officers and board was held at the Lonesome Spur in Justin. A number of changes to our by-laws were approved. They will be posted on our website soon. Bob Carson was elected to replace Jeff Erekson in the VP position. Thanks for stepping up Bob. Avis Neeper was voted in as a “Honorary” member.

We will not hold any official event in January due to weather. ( If you are going flying and want company, post it on our website.) Our next event will be a meeting at Avis’s hangar Saturday February 12th at 10:00am. Afterwards, we will be heading to the Lonesome Spur for lunch. Happy Holidays and Blue Skies…………..

Jeff Mountain