Happy spring to all of the members of West Valley Flying Club. I certainly hope everyone got their stimulus check… now let’s go out and spend it on some flying.

We are looking at adjusting the base rate. I am spending the first part of the month weighing different options with fleet owners and other forums for gathering data and feedback and will put forward whatever changes are decided upon by the end of June. Any changes to the base surcharge will result in changes to the base rental rates. These changes will be put into ecffect by July 1.Who knows - maybe oil will drop to $50/barrel by then.

With regard to Diamond Aircraft, for anyone who has been following the aviation blogosphere and various web pages, the engine supplier to the Diamond twin-star (Thielert) is going through a financial re-organization. This is of course creating a supply chain problem, and one of the two fleet twins has been down for an extended period of time. The club is following the news very closely and is going to work with the owner, Diamond, etc., to see if we can create a positive path forward with these aircraft.

The website was moved from one server to another. I apologize for any issues that may have arisen. It appears that most major functionality is working normally. There are a few issues that still remain on the fix-it list. I will continue to push through these as well as put in some much needed enhancements. If you find any issues, or would just like to see some improvements, please forward them to the webmaster at webmaster@wvfc.org Our goal is to completely re-do the website by next fiscal year.

I would of course like to draw people’s attention to the new safety forum on the BBS. My goal is publish a new string every week that is directly related to a reason that an aircraft has been damaged. This had not been a great year for WVFC and accidents. We need to all do out part to fly the aircraft as smartly and safely as we can. Remember that 95% of the reason a plane is damaged, or lost, or worst of all someone is injured is due to the pilot and not the plane. We should always been in a constant mode of learning.

We are changing the format for the newsletter; if you have thoughts or concerns please email them to Whatsup@wvfc.org

For the most current listing of fleet aircraft that are for sale please go to: Fleet Aircraft for Sale This is may be the last year you will be able to take advantage of the bonus depreciation; that combined with a buyer’s market makes it a good time to get into an aircraft.

Thanks for your support.

Josh

The board elections are coming up in June. For details on the process and an overview of the schedule please see the elections central website at www.wvfc.org/mem/v/election.html. Becoming a board member is a great way to participate and it is a good experience. If you have one particular agenda item, then I would suggest forwarding that item to the existing board rather than going through the entire elections process. For anyone who is interested, existing board members would be more than willing to make time to go over current strategic plans, an overview of the history, and review significant board history to give potential new members some insight to the inner workings.

We have received unopposed nominations for the following people to serve on the board:

• At Large Candidate -- Gary Waldeck
• CFI Seat Candidate -- Greg Savidge
• At Large Candidate -- Mike Atwood
• Owner Seat Candidate -- John Felleman

This is a continuation of last month’s newsletter article on Human Factors in Airplane Accidents. I promised to report back with incidents and accidents specific to the Club. When members damage an airplane I ask the member to do an assignment for me. I ask them to write up what happened, why it happened and how to prevent future damage. I also ask them to try and reconstruct the accident chain.

Our first accident for review involved a meticulous private pilot with 200 hours. He flies regularly about four hours per month. His plan was to fly from KPAO to 0Q5 (Shelter Cove, CA). On board were the pilot and one passenger. It was a glorious April day in northern California. Visibilities were 20+ miles, winds were calm and temperatures were above normal. The accident happened on take-off. The pilot departed Runway 13 at E55 (Ocean Ridge, CA). The pilot rotated at 55 knots and the airplane lifted off the runway but did not appear to be climbing. The stall warning horn sounded. The pilot reduced the power and landed, aborting the take-off. He applied brakes, but the airplane overran the end of the runway, slid down a hillside, and collided with trees. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures. Let us back up and see what happened earlier that day.

The pilot completed very detailed planning that included an alternate. He had gotten a comprehensive weather briefing and had on board all of the information he thought he would need for his flight. Overall, I believe any DPE would have considered his pre-flight planning comprehensive.

A link – the unexpected – a passenger need and a deviation from the plan. The passenger had a physiological need; he had to relieve himself. A usual part of this pilot’s preflight is to ensure that he and his passenger use the bathroom. This had never been a serious issue in the past and the pilot did not have the necessary equipment that would have allowed his passenger to relieve himself in-flight. The pilot decided to stop at E55 (Ocean Ridge, CA) for a pit stop.

A link - “Up the creek without a paddle”

The pilot did not have an A/FD on board that could have supplied him with useful information. Up until this flight he claims had always carried an airport directory and other manuals. He had never had to reference them on a trip before and thought he was “just lugging around extra weight.” In a move to pare down the items in his flight bag, he elected to take only documentation for his destination and planned alternate. Thus when he headed into E55 he had to rely solely on the sectional chart and what he could see visually when he flew over the field. He believed that was enough information to get him on the ground safely. He did land safely.

A link – Forgetting those boring federal aviation regulations

Items that were relevant to this pilot were items the FARS very clearly require. He needed to calculate his take-off distance and he needed to understand how runway slope would factor into his take-off performance, but he did not.

Let us briefly review an edited section of the regs:

• PART 91--GENERAL OPERATING AND FLIGHT RULES— Subpart B--Flight Rules 91.103Preflight action. Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include—
• (a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC;
• (b) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use, and the following takeoff and landing distance information:
• (1) For civil aircraft for which an approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual containing takeoff and landing distance data is required, the takeoff and landing distance data contained therein; and
• (2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature.

I would like to congratulate all of the members as it seems that the articles we have been writing have had a positive effect on the aircraft and their down time. We have seen a significant drop in the dead battery issues and the resulting missed flights. It helps a great deal when members minimize the amount of time electrical equipment is left on during the pre-flight. Also minimizing the use of non-essential systems during the flight helps prolong all of those systems not being used. In this economy, every dollar we can save in maintenance expenses will help in keeping the costs down. Lord knows with the price of everything else going up so rapidly every little step we take will make a big difference.

We also hope that people are using the MX status board and the squawk inquiry capabilities of that screen. Hopefully, this is reducing the concerns about knowing whether or not a plane has a squawk and verifying if all of the squawks are in order prior to renting, or showing up for the aircraft. If you have not used this screen please go to the bottom of most pages of the website and you will see a URL on the bottom of the page, mx status board. Clicking this URL takes you to the Maintenance status board, and the display page for all of the important MX information on our fleet aircraft.

Please let us know if there is any way we can help provide better services to the membership. E mail west valley maintenance at maintenance@wvfc.org.

On a final note, we continue to see a high number of false squawks on the aircraft. Please be sure to do your diligence to assure that system was pre-flighted and is being used correctly prior to squawk. False squawks both clog up the system and keep us from handling the more urgent issues; they also cost the club and you a lot of extra money every month.

Lets get out and enjoy the Spring flying.

Hopefully everyone has made their reservations for Catalina! The 26th -29th. if you have not yet signed up for the trip or have questions about making your reservations please contact Logan Frasier, the Catalina expert at freeflyguy66@yahoo.com or (408) 506-5292. Anyone going in for a check ride this month will want to catch Mike Shiflett’s safety seminar “Pilot’s Gone Wild”; hear about the off the wall things that people do on their check rides from a designated examiner, get some laughs and find out what NOT to do. This will be in Palo Alto on June 11th, following this will be June 18th; catch Jason Miller on the topic of Vegas transitions in San Carlos.

The makers of “i Pee” have asked us to test out their new portable restroom, you will find them available at the front desk, free of charge. On the BBS there is a poll, if you try one out, please let us know how it works for you, your feedback aids the advancement of this new product.

In Palo Alto we have a new gate at the ramp entrance near the front door; the code is 2 + 4 at the same time and then 3. In the summer months we at West Valley like to have member BBQs to have yet another reason to get together on the weekends; we currently have Hawaiian Fridays on the first and third Fridays of each month but need volunteer Chefs for Palo Alto BBQs on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month: No experience necessary. If anyone is interested, please contact Christine@wvfc.org and we will offer free dues to anyone willing to do this twice a month for the membership.

Speaking of BBQs, on June 28 there will be a summer open house BBQ open to all Airport Tenants in Hayward Saturday, June 28, 11:30 A.M. - 1:30 PM; Come by for B-B-Q Ribs, Teriyaki Chicken, Baked Beans, Potato Salad and Other Goodies. Hiller Vertical Challenge will be on June 21 in San Carlos. It is the largest show of its kind in the country --The Annual Vertical Challenge all Helicopter Air Show. Over 50 helicopters are on display and doing things only helicopters can do. These helicopters don’t just hover around; they put on a full blown helicopter air show. There are choppers everywhere, you can even catch a helicopter ride for $50. West Valley will be putting on a BBQ next door at our office, free for all members. You can bring your family and watch the show from our back door if you like.

Long awaited and now available: Instrument ground school offered in Palo Alto beginning June 17th with instructor John Otte. Sign up prior to June 11 and pay the discounted rate of $265. After that the cost will be $295. This will be a repeating series; pay once and go through the class as many times as necessary to feel comfortable. The class will be held Tuesday evenings and a passing score on the written exam is guaranteed! Contact John at mailto:johnottecfi@gmail.com or Christine@wvfc.org to sign up.

More on Catalina Fly In!

The West Valley Flying Club Catalina fly-in is scheduled for Thursday, June 26th through Sunday, the 29th. For the people who are planning to go, we will be meeting at Mings Restaurant, (in the bar area), on Embarcadero Rd. in Palo Alto on Saturday, June 14th at 7:30PM. This will give everyone a chance to meet the other folks going on the trip, and have any last minute questions answered about the fly-in. If you want to go, and have not already booked your plane/hotel accommodations, you should do so immediately, as everything is sold out in advance during the summer months.

Some of us are staying at the Catalina Island Inn, www.catalinaislandinn.com but if they are fully booked, you can try Catalina's main web page for a list of alternative hotels, < a href= "http://www.catalina.com "> www.catalina.com

Also, we are planning a boat dive for Friday the 27th, and if you are interested in joining us for that, you will need to put yourself on the list. Contact Catalina Divers Supply at (800) 353-0330, and ask them to put you on the group with Logan Frasier.

If you have any further questions, you can contact Logan Frasier on his cell at (408) 506-5292, or email Freeflygu66@yahoo.com

See you on the beach!

June
6/11-15 Colorado Trip
6/11 Pilot's Gone Wild Safety Seminar
6/14 Meet the Candidates at PAO
6/17 Interactive Instrument Ground School Begins (Palo Alto)
6/18 Vegas Transitions Safety Seminar
6/21 Hiller Vertical Challenge SQL
6/26-29 Catalina Fly-in

Check the Calendar for more Events and Details.

Five years ago I got my first jet type rating. Eight months ago I got my second, and in the past eight months my total jet hours have gone from 33 to 180. And I’ve just begun to appreciate how and why jets are different from propeller-driven planes. There are two major areas of differences: First, performance/technique, and second, procedures.

In the performance/technique area, some of the differences are pretty obvious: speed, fuel burn, operating altitudes, and in some cases weight and load-carrying ability. However, the implications of those differences aren’t as obvious.

For example, the speed differences show up in a couple of interesting places. Your pattern needs to be significantly larger to account for the turn radius. Less obvious, but equally important is the length of TIME it takes to turn. At the less-than-10,000-feet speed limit of 250 Knots, a steep 360 takes so long (and so many counties) that you can forget what you’re trying to do. Perhaps the best way to get at the difference it to look at the rollout numbers; in most of our club planes, you start a roll out from a steep turn about 20 to 25 degrees before the desired heading. In the jets, you use a ten degree lead, and still don’t roll out any faster than we normally do in a club plane. Another speed-related point to consider is what happens at higher speeds when the pitch changes just a bit. A pitch change that results in a 100 FPM climb or descent at 120 Knots gives 375 FPM at 450 Knots. And the biggest difference is how far ahead of the plane you need to be. It’s same as any other plane in terms of functions to be performed, but because the functions are more complex, and take longer, it means that you need to be farther ahead in terms of time, and MUCH farther in terms of distance.

When you pull the power in a propeller-driven airplane, it starts slowing down, and in the case of planes with large four-bladed props, it’s kind of like dropping anchor. In a jet, you pull the power, then go back to the galley for a cup of coffee while the plane begins to think about slowing down. The same thing applies to power increases – turbines don’t ramp up the way pistons do. This is why you compute a Vref for each approach based upon density altitude and aircraft weight. And why you fly that Vref. At Hayward for example, the runway required is already a significant part of the total available (unlike most club planes even at PAO), but if you add another 1000 feet onto the landing by coming in 10 knots hot, you’re landing at Oakland

Then there’s the momentum/inertia issue. When a couple thousand pounds starts going the wrong way or sinking faster than you want, it’s bad enough, but when somewhere around 10 tons starts heading the wrong way, it takes a LOT to stop it! And the standard 3 degree glide slope at 130 Knots has a much higher sink rate than the standard 65 Knot approach in most of our club planes.

Then when you finally get it onto the ground, you have to go into counter intuitive mode and get the nose wheel down NOW. Because the thrust reversers will cause the plane to pitch nose up and pop you back into the air at a REALLY slow speed. This is Not Good!! So forget the hold the nose-wheel off mentality we emphasize in club planes.

On the good news side, jets typically have amazingly good autopilots and Flight Management Systems, which can take up much of the pilot’s workload – if the pilot plans far enough ahead to allow for the time to set up the FMS. As an example, with enough time, you can program the FMS to fly a non-published hold hands off.

Finally, add the fact that some of the jets have swept wings, resulting in some very interesting characteristics in crosswinds (since the wind flows across the two wings at different angles).