April is a milestone for WVFC. This will be the first fiscal year since April of 2000 that we start with a positive balance sheet. It has taken a lot of team work to get here and I am proud of what we have accomplished. I believe firmly that the board, employees, flight instructors and members all play a role in the club's success and that we should all be proud of the organization we have created. We will continue to put our best foot forward and to analyze all operations to create a healthy financial picture for the club so that it can exist long into the future.

There is very little change to the charging structure for next year. There are no changes to member dues, initiation fees or ops fees. The MX rate for the club is increasing from $77/hr shop rate to $85/hr. In large part this is due to ever increasing payroll costs like heath care, worker's comp, etc., as well as increases in land lease rate. The increase in maintenance rates will have an effect on the rental rate of aircraft and as a result, aircraft rental rates may go up depending on the aircraft. WVFC is and always will be committed to providing the safest possible aircraft at the most affordable price possible. Every member who flies a WVFC aircraft plays a significant role in helping to keep costs down across the board. How we use (not abuse) the airplanes in our fleet - our knowledge of the planes and their equipment - contribute to operating costs.

We are continuing to add a variety of aircraft not found anywhere else. Our recent addition is an Extra 300, which will be based out of KHWD. If you have ever lacked confidence in maneuvers, found steep turns and stalls scary, or just wanted a new challenge, then I encourage you to step up and into the world of aerobatics. We have a complete range of training planes, the 180KCAB, Pitts S2C, and now the Extra 300, so there is really no need to go anywhere else.

I would again like to bring members' attention to the deductible waiver program. This is an inexpensive way to provide peace of mind knowing that the deductible is covered. We had a bird strike recently and the member had to pick up the tab for the repair. Those who have the deductible waiver will have peace of mind knowing that this expense is taken care of. I know; I joined the program. Please contact our front desk staff or send an email to memberservices@wvfc.org if you are interested.

I wanted to thank my Pops; if it weren't for him I doubt I would be in aviation at all. He and I differed in our flying styles. I liked to study, he took the written until he passed. He started in a Luscombe at KHAF, prior to radios being a regular installation, and soloed on a dare with his brother. I think everything out a lot. We soloed 30 years apart. He became a multi engine pilot and bought a 580 Twin Commander because he liked the fact that it rattled the soup spoons at the Sky Kitchen on take-off. I admire the efficiency and speed of the Comanche and Mooney. We all get into aviation for different reasons. Mine was because my Dad was a hell of a pilot and our family always had a lot of fun flying. I hope some day one of my kids will want to fly on account of our time flying together. Old man, you will be missed.

Fly Safe.

WVFC continuously gets noise abatement complaints out of San Carlos airport. This is not acceptable. We need to know and abide by the noise abatement procedures. If you don't know what they are, look them up or ask for help. The County of San Mateo prints glossy noise abatement cards to help pilots learn and understand the noise abatement procedures - they are available at the KSQL and KPAO offices. If you find yourself sitting at the runway hold short lines ready for take-off and you do not know the area well or know the noise abatement procedures, ask the tower controller to help you. Confess that you are unfamiliar with the noise abatement procedures. You can even ask the controller to call your turn to crosswind, etc.

For those pilots who break the noise abatement rules, be forewarned. Your flight privileges will be suspended, you will need to have a remediation meeting with a CFI and possibly meet with the San Mateo Country Noise Officer. The Chief Pilot and General Manager are the only people who can re-instate flight privileges. We all need to understand that there are enormous pressures on the local airports from community forces that are keen to see the local general aviation airports closed down forever. On the other hand, there are other folks working very hard to keep our airports open. These airport champions are doing everything in their power to help pilots be good neighbors.

When a pilot busts noise abatement rules, a cascade of events takes place and many people are sucked into dealing with the violation. Some of the players who get pulled into dealing with the fallout of the violation are City Council members who govern the communities around the airport, the County Airport Manager and staff, and the General Manager, Operations Manager, Front Desk Staff and Chief Pilot at WVFC. I know we can do better and we must. Be a good neighbor and always, (unless you have an emergency) always fly the noise abatement procedures.

When you train as a pilot you are tasked to do thorough planning and preparation before every flight. Are insurance considerations a part of that planning? Are you familiar with the club's insurance policy? Is it something you've thought about beyond the Member Regulations Quiz you took when you joined the club? I recommend that you do, as 90% of our accidents and incidents involve pilot error.

Here are a few questions for you:

1. What are basic components of the WVFC insurance policy?
   • Complete Hull
   • 100K per seat coverage for injuries
   • $1 Million liability
   • No subrogation, even when negligence is involved
   • Go here for more info: http://www.wvfc.org/b/pafiledb/uploads/club_insure.pdf
2. What is/are the club's insurance deductible(s)?
   • $3,500 and $5,000
3. Explain why there are two deductible rates.
   • $5,000 pilot error. (For example: Taxiing into a hangar; a hard landing; running off the runway due to pilot error.)
   • $3,500 no pilot error. (For example: Bird strike; another airplane plows into you in the run-up area.)
4. Who is responsible to pay insurance deductible when damage is incurred?
   • The member whose name is in CASSi as the renting member.
5. If you didn't know the above answers, why not? Is it not important?
   • You have to answer this for yourself.

It's that time of year already! We are getting ready for all the exciting events to start, please make sure you check the WVFC calendar as each event will be posted as they come across my desk. The following are a few events that are already on the calendar; we hope to see all of you there.

On Friday, April 6th MS Aviation will be showing their Pilot Training DVD-ROM and Online Courses from 12 noon until 6pm in the lobby area of West Valley Flying Club at Palo Alto. These courses are for ground training, FAA Written Test and Checkride Preparation. They will be showing the new online course which has been redesigned to be lower in cost. They will also show the Private Pilot Course, Flash Animations Package and Previews on the Instrument Rating Course. There will be several free items given away as well. If you're curious about how MS Aviation's courses work or if they are for you stop by on Friday the 6th and talk to them!

May 17-19: The Hayward Air Rally! The Hayward Air rally is a precision, timed navigation exercise where pilots are given a desired course to navigate and the pilots simply predict the time over a specific target and their estimated fuel burn. Then, all they have to do is to go fly their plan. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, for some, it is, but for many, it can be very challenging. At the end, there is a party in a party town. There are two classes of participation: The 'Traditional Class' (analog gauges only, nothing digital is used) and the 'Digital Class' where any tools that might be available can be used. All players compete for the same prizes. The scoring rules are slightly different between the classes to offset the advantages provided by the Digital Class.

The race is conducted on Friday, May 18, 2007 and there are two legs, one from Hayward to Bakersfield, the 2nd goes from Bakersfield to Palm Springs. There is a banquet on Saturday, 19 May and on Sunday, everyone flies home.

They provide a block reservation at a local hotel (1/2 price discount!) and have selected a cool banquet site. Pilots and guests must make their own hotel reservations, but also need to indicate that they are with the Air Rally to get the discount. In addition, they have discount tickets for the Air Museum, Tram ride and offer a nice golf game with discounted green fees on Saturday morning.

There are 20 trophies to hand out to participants (1-15 and related awards), There are money prizes for the first 10 spots and Door Prizes that come from sponsor prizes donated from WVFC and a great many others. For more information or to register go to www.haywardairrally.org or e-mail them at info@haywardairrally.org. This is an event not to be missed!

Saturday, April 28, Light Sport Airplanes West Grand Opening. The largest Light Sport Airplane Showroom/Mall on the West coast is opening, and you're invited to this unique event!

Light Sport Airplanes West is one of the largest dealers of Light Sport Airplanes (LSA) in the U.S., and the only dealer representing the world's top six LSA manufacturers, Flight Design, SportStar, Jabiru, Tecnam, Remos and StingSport.

    Date: Saturday, April 28, 2007

    Time: 2pm - 6pm

    Place: Salinas Airport (SNS)
              240 Mortensen Avenue, Salinas, California 93905

    RSVP: Please call Katie Mason at 831.372.2259 by Monday, April 23, 2007

    More: Distributor representatives will be in attendance and lunch will be provided.

    We hope to see you there!

I will need plenty of volunteers for the following: Dream Machines, Sunday April 29th 9-5, Half Moon Bay, Wings of History fly-in, Saturday May 19th, South County, Hiller Vertical Challenge, Saturday June 16th , San Carlos. These events promise to be very exciting; I look forward to meeting new members who haven't been out to volunteer! Call me at 650-856-2030 ext 304 or e-mail me at Shannon@wvfc.org if you are interested.

Recently, I had an appointment for a private pilot rotorcraft-helicopter added rating checkride. The applicant was an aerospace engineer.

Engineers tend to be very detail oriented, careful pilots. I was advised by his instructor that this gentleman was no exception.

The test started with a small glitch. His dual and solo helicopter hours did not add up to equal his total helicopter hours. Now, that is sometimes the case on a private application. People can easily slip up on their arithmetic. CFIs should check for that error on the application.

Once we got that sorted out, we did all the other administrative stuff (including my favorite - getting paid).

Then we began the ground portion of the test.

According to the Practical Test Standards added rating matrix for Private Pilot Rotorcraft-Helicopter, Area of Operation I only requires that three specific tasks be examined. They are (E) National Airspace System, (F) Performance and Limitations, and (G) Operation of Systems. Of course the examiner may test other tasks in addition.

Now these three tasks, airspace, performance and limitations, and systems seem to be perfect for an aerospace engineer, right? And the CFI can assume that his engineer student will have no trouble with them, right? Furthermore, if the student is already a private airplane pilot, there can be little doubt he knows his airspace, right? So there's certainly no need to pre-test his student's knowledge of U.S. airspace at the correlative level using multiple scenarios, right?

Wrong.

We began the test with National Airspace System. As is frequently the case, I used the San Francisco sectional chart to set up scenario type questions. Things went pretty smoothly until I had him consider landing at Merced MacReady (a class E airport) under a 900 foot broken cloud layer. Would this be OK under normal VFR daytime?

He correctly recognized that the broken layer would be the ceiling. But he incorrectly decided that the airspace was uncontrolled. Now people often confuse uncontrolled airspace with untowered airspace. Class E surface area airports are untowered, but E is controlled airspace. That means, among other things, that the standard minimums of 1000 foot ceiling and 3 miles visibility apply as with B, C, and D airports. Class G airports are untowered and uncontrolled. They have reduced minimums.

So he incorrectly decided a normal VFR approach and landing at Merced would be OK.

At this point we had an incorrect answer. Order 8710.3E, the examiner's handbook (available to anyone through the faa.gov website) tells DPE's that we should follow up an incorrect answer with further questions about that specific subject to determine whether the applicant's knowledge is actually satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

So I asked, in the event that a special VFR clearance was ever required to enter Merced MacReady's airspace, how would we obtain it? He said we would need to contact the tower.

I asked him for the tower frequency at Merced. He studied the chart and then told me the tower frequency was 122.7 (actually the unicom frequency).

I guess that my implying that the airspace might be controlled over-rode the fact that the airport symbol on the sectional chart was magenta and not blue. He had not understood that an airport can have controlled airspace, but no operating tower.

An instructor, especially a non-senior instructor, can easily fall in to the trap of assuming that his student has certain basic aviation knowledge. If the student is an engineering professional who is already a pilot, the assumption is tempting. There is also a natural reluctance to insult people's intelligence. You expect that any pilot knows that the magenta symbol on the sectional means that the airport has no operating control tower.

But examiners have no such compunction. We follow the PTS. If the task seems basic, it does not matter. We test each required task. Usually the answers show satisfactory knowledge. Sometimes we are unhappily surprised - as in the case I have described.

So CFIs who are phase-testing, or preparing your student for the checkride, pretend you are the examiner. Pose scenario-type questions for each task. Especially cover the required tasks. Do not be afraid of insulting your student's intelligence. If he has the basic knowledge he will be happy to demonstrate it. If not, you both need to discover the holes.

Do not assume.

We all know them. They're the type of people things happen to. Better, from our point of view, STORIES happen to them.

I've never wanted to be one of these folks, especially in the flying business. My ideas on the subject were captured in a conversation many years ago during a party. I was talking with a young lady who, upon finding that I was a flight instructor, said, "That must be exciting!"

My response was, "Not if I do it right!"

Still, if you fly enough, things happen, stuff goes wrong, parts break, systems don't work, and students do unexpected things. All of which adds a certain element of randomness and unpredictability to life, as well as keeping things interesting and sometimes exciting.

During the most recent of these incidents, I was flying with a student in a fairly new airplane that the insurance company said required 25 hours time in type before they would insure him to fly solo. We were about half way through the checkout, had done most of the maneuvers, and had most of the systems well under his belt. We had just finished an emergency descent maneuver and had flown an hour to pick up his daughter to fly for lunch in Santa Barbara.

The plan was to fly from Chico to SB in the flight levels, so he had a chance to experience what happens when the wastegate closes on the turbocharger. We romped up to flight level 190, and about two minutes later noticed that the oil temp was rising and the pressure was heading down. This, to belabor the obvious, is not good. With rising oil temp, there is always a possibility that there is a bad sensor, but with lower pressure, that can be either a loss of oil pressure, or (as I think happened here) the pressure is lower because the oil is so hot that it loses viscosity. Still, oil pressure approaching redline is BAD, and I didn't know for sure what the cause was.

As it turns out, we were almost directly above Sacramento International (SMF) and in contact with Norcal approach. I called and told them we had an engine problem, we needed to get down, needed to cancel our IFR flight plan, and that we'd be back in touch in a minute.

I should point out that the passenger list included the wife (co-owner of the plane and a pilot as well). So the pucker factor is relatively high on the scale in the back seats with one knowledgeable person creating all kinds of bad scenarios based upon what we were seeing, and one less informed person embellishing them.

The oil pressure didn't continue to drop, staying at the bottom end of the green, but the oil temp stayed right at the red line. Home base for the plane was Concord, which from 19,000 feet above Sacramento is within gliding range. Even if the engine conked completely, it was still in gliding range. But wait, what's the object here? What if I make it to the ground at SMF without the engine failing, I don't have to demonstrate my glider license, the engine still works, I have a HUGE runway in case the plane becomes a glider, and there is far less time for the stress to build up. If I chose CCR as my parking place, and things began to get worse (no smoke yet, but if there's an oil leak, there could be a fire) there wouldn't be any way to pass the 60 Minutes Test. You know, the one in which the next people who see you are Mike Wallace and his team asking, "Why, when you had a runway right below you, did you decide to fly all the way to Concord?" I'm not sure I could come up with an answer that would sell on national television.

The paragraph above might be considered a subset of the Aeronautical Decision Making process.

I guess the folks at SMF have done this before, because we had the entire runway to ourselves, there was a reception committee consisting of foam/fire trucks at both ends of the runway, and airport security and local Sheriff cars were all over the place.

We stayed within gliding range of the airport, came in above glideslope on the chance the engine would quit, and landed about 1/4 of the way down the runway. The taxi to parking was uneventful, though the logistics getting back home were non-trivial.

Morals of the story: Simple solutions are good. Consider what you'll do if (when) things get worse. Don't' press your luck.

And, even when things do go wrong, try to keep them from being exciting.

I bought a PCAD (Zaon's trademark name for a portable traffic advisory system) for $1795.00 from Zaon Flight Systems - ( http://www.zaonflight.com ) model XRX, and it really works very well. It plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle of the aircraft (12 to 40 volts DC), or you can optionally buy a power source for it if no receptacle is available in your aircraft. (They also provide instructions for wiring directly into the electrical system, but I don't know what the FAA requirements are for that.) It is a passive system that listens to all responses to transponder queries. I took it to the Palo Alto airport and plugged it into my car receptacle, and it was pretty accurate.

The system displays up to three intruders (traffic). The most dangerous intruder is displayed on the left and displays relative distance, relative altitude, altitude trend (descending or ascending) with an arrow, and relative bearing quadrant in 45 degree increments using four large arrows on the four sides surrounding the other information. The other two displayed intruders have all of the same information except the relative bearing quadrant arrow(s). You can even choose to display a radar like circle on the right half (instead of the numerical information for the 2nd and 3rd intruders) showing all three intruders as dots in relative positions around the center like the TCAS systems. The numeric and quadrant information for the left-most (most dangerous) intruder is still displayed. I have flown several times using this PCAD, and it gets most of the traffic within 6 miles (or whatever radius and altitude limits you set up for it). Of course, if an aircraft doesn't have a transponder (or is not turned on), it won't pick up the aircraft. Or, if there is no radar or other TCAS systems sending out a query, it won't pick it the responses. It has a built-in compass, altimeter and temperature sensor. It displays your pressure altitude, transponder code, and your heading. But the main use of the compass and altimeter is to maintain the relative bearing and relative altitude of the traffic when your aircraft makes a turn or changes altitude. It also has a ground and flight mode so that when you are on the ground, it doesn't alert you to all of the other aircraft taxing nearby.

I only have two complaints. The first complaint is that when there is a dangerous intruder alert, in addition to beeping and the voice in your headset, it flashes the screen. The flashing of the screen makes it difficult to read the screen. The second complaint is when switching screen displays between the normal display and radar scope-like display; it takes 5 or 6 button pushes. It should only take one button to switch displays. Other than that I am very satisfied with the unit. It is also pretty robust. The suction cup came off the windshield one time dropping the unit onto the throttle console, and it survived without a scratch. Don't forget to order the optional suction cup attachment. Without it, it is difficult to find firm ways to mount it. For more details, go to their website (http://www.zaonflight.com). You can order it directly from them or Sporty's or King catalogs. Zaon has a cheaper version, model MRX, but it only displays one intruder and there is no relative bearing information, and without the bearing information, I think it would be fairly useless.

Please see Shannon's article above, as well as the BBS for additional events and activities.

Come Join Andy Geosits and learn about the ins, outs, ups and downs of spins and upset training. Also view the new Extra 300 on the WVFC flight line. This session will be held April 21, 2007 10AM in the Palo Alto back classroom.

May 13, 10:00 am Ground Session; lunchtime fly-in to Petaluma
Whether you're out of currency or just feeling a bit rusty on the mic, this Clinic will be a fun way to start getting yourself back in the cockpit this summer. WVFC CFI Patti Andrews will host a ground session at SQL, followed by a group fly-in to Petaluma for lunch at the 29'er Diner. CFIs will pair up with members for the flight as needed. If you're current and want to come along without a CFI, that's fine, too. Members participating will pay the CFI they're paired up with for the flight, and will pay the hobbs time they put on the aircraft. The ground session is free. To reserve a place or to get paired up with a CFI, please contact Patti Andrews at pandrewscfi@wvfc.org.

As they awaken from their long winter's slumber, white Cherry blossoms blanket trees like a warm snow, and daylight flickers late into the afternoon. The sounds of Springtime fill the air - a child's laughter from the yard, birds singing like angels to welcome in each day, the familiar chime of an ice cream truck...and a grown man screaming like a little girl as he's thrown from the open door of an aircraft! Now we're talking!

Join West Valley Falling Club, as we leave the quiet sanctity of the airplane and discover true flight for the first time. That's right, on Sunday May 20th; we'll fly to Lodi California (1O3) for a day of free-fallin' fun! The Parachute Center, located at the airport, offers tandem skydives for $100, and a DVD of your jump (highly recommended) will pinch another $55 from your wallet. Refreshments will be provided under a shade tree at the South end of the field, which also serves as a great place for spectators to lounge while watching you land. The jump is available to anyone 17 or older. And if skydiving isn't your thing, for $15 you can ride up in the aircraft to watch the jumpers exit. Trust me, its' a very cool flight.

There will be a pre fly-in seminar held on Thursday, May 17th at 18:00, in Palo Alto's back classroom. We'll discuss the ins-and-outs of flying into an active drop zone, and answer any questions about the jump itself. A parachute will be available, and on display, so that the various components can be viewed. This is an open seminar, and is recommended to anyone who plans to join us for the fly-in. Aerobatic pilots, who would like to see what saves them in the event of an aircraft failure, are encouraged to attend as well. West Valley CFI, Logan Frasier, can be reached at (408) 506-5292, or e-mail him at freeflyguy66@yahoo.com with any questions you might have.

There's nothing else that compares to the sensation of skydiving; nothing. Inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci, and coined by Shannon all the time, the artist Seal said it best, "In a world full of people, only some want to fly, isn't that crazy?"