It is election time again.  This year two at-large board seats and the WVFC CFI board seat are up for election.  These seats are currently occupied by Jeff Swan, Nina Ashton, and Greg Savidge.

Board members set the policy for the club, and advise the General Manager.  We meet 10-12 times a year.  If you are interested, please nominate yourself!  A quick summary of the process follows.

Acceptance of candidature and candidate statements opens at 12:01 AM on Monday, May 25th and closes at 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 31st.  Candidate names and statements will be posted on the WVFC website on Monday, June 1.  Candidate names will be posted in alphabetical order by last names.  Candidate statements will be posted in the order in which complete and final statements were received.  Candidate names and statements shall be submitted via email only at vote@wvfc.org

The following times have been reserved for in-person “Meet the Candidates” sessions.  These meetings are open to all members and provide the opportunity to meet candidates in person.
 

• Session I – Tuesday, June 9th at 6:30 pm in Palo Alto
• Session II – Thursday, June 11th at 6:30 pm in San Carlos
• Session III – Saturday, June 13th at 10:00 am in Palo Alto

Votes will be accepted starting at 12:01 AM on Monday, June 15th and ending at 11:59 PM on Sunday, June 21at.  You can vote via the web site, regular mail or in person.

Please take a few minutes to read the questions and answers in Election Central, in the members’ portion of the web site. 

For any election related questions please contact John Felleman, board member at john.felleman@gmail.com

THE COMMUNITY OF FLYING
by Josh Smith, General Manager

First and foremost, a big congrats to Christie Kelly the ops Manager for WVFC, she soloed for the first time in a 7ECA.. YAHOOO! Well, we have cracked into the new fiscal year, and are on schedule to deliver the Annual Report in our July public open board meeting. In a very brief overview, last fiscal year went as well as can be expected in these recessionary times. The theme was generally survival and efficiency, and to that end we performed very well. Winter is tough enough without an economic slow-down, yet here we are. The debts are null and the accounts payables are on time. The feeling around the club is positive! We are anxious to see what this next year brings. At this time we are lean and we are going to run lean until we see how the year rolls out. Despite a Spartan approach to our budget we remain committed to improving and evolving as we can on every front - customer service, speed of processes, and bandwidth of aircraft, and services.  As a reminder, any time you refer a new member to the club and he or she signs up you will get one month's dues credit. How can you pass up that great deal?  This is a team effort, and our existing members can provide our best marketing. In terms of evolution of processes, I would like to commend the Chief’s office, (Steve and Ashley) on getting the BBS forms and docs drive more useful and relevant. The docs are current and up to date, we are adding interactive forms to the mix, and are goaling to become more and more paperless. Additionally within the BBS we are looking to evolve to version 3 of the Phpbb platform. This new platform has a lot of extra bells and whistles which the club should be able to take advantage of. Currently I am still getting the primary bugs worked out, and then we will put together some user groups, and do some final testing.  Additionally we are currently developing some Cassi enhancements which should make the customer process easier. There will be more to come on all fronts. Finally we have updated the member regs. This is in a large part to make the whole rules and regs system, simpler to understand, current, relevant, and align with all of our other processes. HTML or PDF Version.

  New aircraft: we just added a Diamond DA-40, we are getting a SP with traffic shortly, and are on the lookout for other models that can allow us to grow our club offering a responsible fashion. Those that are interested in a investment aircraft we are really looking for a Piper Warrior, and/or Cessna C152 at our Hayward location. If you are interested in making an aircraft purchase please take a look at our Fleet Aircraft for Sale page .

Good news, there is some really nice weather coming our way. I say take advantage of it as best you can. A note of caution; be careful with the warmer weather. When the OAT heats up aircraft performance really changes. From starting the aircraft, to leaning on taxi, to running up the plane, minimizing ground time, calculating take-off roll, staging climbs, increased pilot fatigue, watching out for vapor lock, and the list continues. My suggestion is to grab a CFI and do some ground work look over how the aircraft performance and operation changes in the heat, and make the appropriate changes to your own aircraft operation.  
 
A quick note on Elections – I would recommend that if you are truly interested in helping the club as a whole, then running for the board is a great way to do it. The board plays a pivotal role in the strategic direction of this organization.  If you have one specific agenda item, then I would suggest a different avenue, however if you have the time and inclination than the board is a great way to contribute to the club. I am more than happy to spend time, go over the current strategic plan, talk about the time commitments, issues facing the club, go over our Annual plan, etc., with anyone who may be interested. The club has been growing a evolving for over 35 years, our goal is to keep that process rolling.

Politics, the Santa Clara County board of Supervisors is voting to raise PALO ALTO  Tie-downs yet again. Mind you this is only at Palo Alto airport, and not at their other 2 locations. Please contact your local rep to voice your opinion http://www.guidetogov.org/ca/scl/cty/coscl/spv.html , or even better there will be a meeting specifically on this subject the afternoon of Tuesday May 19th, 2:30PM, at the County West Heading Council chambers.

FROM THE DESK OF THE CHIEF
WVFC Chief Pilot chief pilot@wvfc.org

Well for starters, I want to let everyone know that where I am originally from they’re spelled tyres (with a y) not tires with an i. But it doesn’t matter where you’re from in order to quickly put a flat spot on an aircraft tire. Probably the most egregious thing I see almost everyday is pilots landing and “trying to make the next turn-off”. I really recommend that everyone stay off the brakes for as long as practical and that for most regular landings just let the plane roll-out and when the speed is down to a fast taxi speed, only then apply the brakes. The next question is how to apply the brakes. Most planes (well certainly the ones we fly) don’t have anti-lock brakes. So you should not “jump” on the brakes, but just apply gentle and slowly increasing brake pressure. If you jump onto the brakes I can almost guarantee that you will lock up the wheels and before you can say “what was that” you’ve put a bald spot on a tire. If you ever hear any kind of screeching/skidding sounds from the tires then get off the brakes immediately and gently reapply brake pressure. And this begs the question of where your feet should be right at the moment the mains touch down. The answer is not on the brakes. Landing with your feet already touching the brakes will almost always result in a skid, locked wheels and resulting flat spot(s). The economics of a flat spot tire are pretty ugly. It costs somewhere around $300 to replace a tire and close to $600 if both tires are flat spotted. The club policy remains the same in that you are responsible for checking (and getting staff/CFI verification) of a flat spot before you depart. If you don’t do this and a flat spot is later found, guess who is going to be held responsible? I cannot stress the importance both from a flight safety and economic standpoint to roll the plane each time before you fly it. Not only are you checking for flat spots but you’re also checking that the plane is untied. It’s really embarrassing if you try and pull away from your parking spot with the plane still tied down at some point.

Safe Flying.

AS THE WRENCH TURNS
by your friendly maintenance department, maintenance@wvfc.org

Continued subject headlamps. In terms of improvement we are currently in the process of changing landing and taxi lights to the new HID type lights. Not only do these lights extend the life of the lamp – 10,0000 hours as compared to 50, they use less power. Many of the new fleet aircraft, Diamond, Cirrus, 2008 and some of the newer Cessna already use these new types of lights. As a result they can be used continuously.   Unless they have been upgraded, other aircraft not equipped with HID lights are only able to use the landing and taxi lights intermittently, and neither the light not the aircraft electrical system are designed to have these systems used continuously. Attached is a pdf document of the equipment list, please note the equipment is called out as intermittent. Please restrict the usage to when only necessary.  Like I stated the good news is the club is working with aircraft owners to upgrade as many aircraft as we can, and as quickly as we can to the new system. Look in the aircraft equipment list to note if the aircraft is equipped.

Photo of a PA28 MX Manual - note position lights and strobes are approved for continuous use, the landing light is not.

 
Knowing the equipment; It’s important to really get to know the aircraft that you are flying. If you think about it when is the last time you had to prime a car, adjust the mixture, or know how temp or air density effects anything. In our cars we have had computers do this for us. In an aircraft we have ourselves. We have to compensate for changes in performance due to changes in environmental conditions, we are in essence the on board computers. Only in a lot of cases we are using a slide rule and a set of charts. To help in this pursuit we have included many of the manufacturers operational guides to help provide our members with additional information to benefit in their pursuit of being a better pilot. These guides go much deeper not only into how the engines operate, but how to operate them. They can be found at http://www.wvfc.org/b/dload.php?action=category&id=17
 
We are working hard to keep with the times and minimize our budget. We will not compromise on safety. As a result we are will not always be able to get the quickest turn around time, particularly on non-scheduled Maintenance. Please be patient, and when you are squawking an aircraft please be sure to get as much detail as possible to allow us to properly diagnose the aircraft.
 
Thanks

Spins
by WVFC CFI Nick Ulman

Spins tend to provoke fear in pilots and flight instructors mainly because spins are exciting and unfamiliar.  A friend told me that when he demonstrates a spin to a pilot that has never experienced one there is a 50% chance that the pilot will exclaim “^@#&*” and 50% that he or she will gasp “$&@!#”.  (I won’t print what the pilots actually say). Your impression of your first spin is likely to be that the airplane seems to be pointed straight down at the ground and rotating so rapidly that it is impossible to tell what is going on.  Also, the transition to this mode of flight seems abrupt and unpredictable.  Of course, these impressions are false.  Once you become familiar with spins they feel quite normal.

All airplanes can spin and many airplanes are approved by the FAA for intentional spins.  Airplanes not approved for spins may not recover easily or at all, so don’t spin them.  Practice your spins in an approved airplane and use what you learn to prevent spins in non-approved airplanes. from the GM "WVFC spin approved aircraft are the 7ECA, 7GCBC, and 180KCAB. Sorry to say a recent AD removed the C152's from the approved list."

The main reason you should experience spins is that without that experience your pilot training is incomplete.  You should be concerned if you know your airplane can do something that you have never seen it do.

As a pilot you are familiar with normal and stalled flight.  Spins are a third flight regime.  Why not become familiar with spins? Some people argue that spin training will make you a safer pilot.  That is true, but I also concede that you can be a safe pilot without spinning.  Inadvertent spins are rare and you are not likely to encounter one if you are properly trained and stay current in private pilot maneuvers.

On the other hand, inadvertent stalls and power failures are also rare, but every pilot practices them during flight training.  Why not practice spins? Perhaps there is a perception that spin practice itself is dangerous.  Spin with plenty of altitude and a flight instructor experienced with spins in your type of airplane and you will have no trouble.

A final reason to spin is that spins are fun!  After you get over the initial shock you will start to enjoy spinning just as much as other kinds of flight.  You can even make a game out of spinning for an exact number of turns.  In aerobatic competition a spin is considered just as precise a maneuver as a loop or a roll.

If you are looking for a new challenge or would like to expand your personal flight envelope, contact your favorite flight instructor for some spin training.  You will probably enjoy it much more than you think.

At some point, I NEED to fly a P-51 Mustang. Any pilot will recognize the validity of such a need, though our spouses or significant others may not view things with the same sense of urgency or importance. Clearly this is due to a congenital shortcoming on their parts, and no reflection on us as pilots.
That aside, I did get to fly the other kind of Mustang, the slower one that carries more people and is powered by two jet engines. The Citation Mustang is every bit as awesome as the P-51, but in a completely different way.