THE COMMUNITY OF FLYING
by Josh Smith, General Manager

Please mark your calendars: Sat. Dec. 12th for the 2009 WVFC Holiday Party. We are still finalizing a location, however we are hoping to secure the big white hangar that's to the rear of our Palo Alto Facility. We are having a dessert contest, there will be a lot of food available as well as free drinks and light music entertainment. It should be a real good time!

Don't forget! Grab your old coats from home and bring them into your local WVFC office. All donated coats will go to the "One Warm Coat Drive" to help a person or family in need during this chilly holiday season. Your donations are much appreciated!

As a heads up, we will be closed Thursday November 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is all three locations. The following day we will have reduced hours at SQL at PAO from 10-2 and HWD will be closed.

I would like to encourage everyone who would like to give input on the Club to fill out our annual membership survey. This survey is critical to the Club. To complete it online, please go to : click here The Survey allows me to guage what the members would like to see out of their flying club. This data is very useful in creating the business plan as we go forward. Some of the recent changes that have come from the member survey have been; reduction in paperwork, currency requirements are changing to be more sensible, upgrades and changes to the facilities, some of our aircraft we put online last year are a direct result of your feedback.

I truly beleive this is a Club owned my its members and managed to the majority of how all of you want to see this Club run and I will always do my best to assure that this is in fact the case.

Thanks for your support.

Josh Smith, GM WVFC

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

Sometimes repetition is bad and annoying, yet often it serves a purpose of getting a message across.  Budweiser, the “king” of beers seems to have figured this out - telling you every 5 minutes on every sports event that their beer is good.  I promise not to go to those extremes.  So for fear of annoying some percentage of you out there, I did want to revisit some of the process/paperwork changes we’ve made in the past year, and how their usage might affect you.

The membership, through various surveys over the past 2-3 years, made it very clear that the paperwork at West Valley had gotten out of hand.  So we took it upon ourselves to undergo a very significant paperwork reduction act.  In fact, not only was the goal to reduce the paperwork required for checkouts, but to convert to an online system of eForms.  Our goal was that, by the end of 2009, we would have all club forms online and available for download and usage.  We’ve largely met that goal at this point with the exception of a handful of the more esoteric forms that we’ll finish up converting over the next couple of months.  So if you find yourself filling out any form that’s more than the equivalent of a double-sided page, then you’re probably using the wrong (and old) form.  A recent example was cutting the Diamond Twinstar DA42 ground review form and best practices from 28 pages to a single double-sided form (albeit we cheated a little and used the legal size paper for this one).  Now like all new technology, there are always skeletons hiding in the closet, monsters under the bed, and we’ve found our fair share.  So I’d like to take this opportunity to explain the lessons learned so far.

1. All of the eForms are based around the Adobe pdf technology.  In theory any/all programs capable of dealing with pdf documents should work, but there’s a hitch.  Our forms are user editable and require signatures.  So it turns out that programs like Apple’s Preview and Google Chrome will handily open our documents but then will often mess up the formatting of the text boxes and won’t work properly with the eSignatures.  So the bottom line is, use only Adobe Reader 8, Reader 9 or later for manipulating our documents.  The programs are free to download, you just have to make sure that you have them, and that it’s being launched when you manipulate one of our eForms.
2. When you download any form, save it first as a file rather than entering data into the form in the web page that it first appears in.  You’re quite likely to lose your data entered if you don’t do this.
3. Download a new version of the form each time you need it.  The document may have been updated since you last used it, so downloading it again is the only way to know that you’ve got the latest and greatest.
4. The forms are all generally double-sided (to both save paper and make the final document more useful).  If you have to, or want to print out any document, we strongly suggest using double sided printing mode on your printer if it supports it.  The new Ground Review Forms are specifically designed to be printed double-sided and then the left hand column cuts off to make a knee-board size cheat sheet for the cockpit.   If you print double-sided then the other side of this column has other useful data on it as well.
5. We’re still very email centric, that is we still have to send the forms to each other via email.  It’s sometimes hard to keep track of which version any person in the system has.  Our goal for the future is to move away from this kind of approach to a more document repository based system where documents are accessed directly by the member, the CFI, and Chief Pilot and we don’t need to email the stuff around anymore.

Hopefully, you can work with us through this transition to the future of a paperless flying club.  Fly safe.

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

Winter months flying. Please be extra careful to use the gats Jars and check for water in the fuel. With intermittent rain showers comes the potential for water to seep into the tanks. Also, it is important to review cold weather starting procedures. In general, be sure to prime the engine a little more and wait a little longer prior to engine start.

We are coming up with a day and time to schedule regular MX visits. It's our hope that these visits will help alleviate much of the confusion concerning MX procedures. There is not a better way to end the mystery, than to review our processes and ask questions. If you have any suggestions as to a good day or time people would like, please E mail us at maintenance@wvfc.org.

Your Friendly MX Department

If you start it up
Kick on the starter give it all you got
The Rolling Stones

There are any numbers of ways in which airplane engines take on stubborn, mule-like characteristics when it comes to starting.  Better yet, it is definitely a function of the type of engine, the type of plane, and sometimes even the particular airplane.  In general, though, there are some basics that apply, and I’ll try to sort those out in the next several paragraphs.

Starting problems (in healthy engines) can be separated into those caused by cold engines and those caused by hot engines.  In all cases, the things that make an engine start are the correct fuel/air mixture, and the spark.  Oh, yes, and the engine turning.

So, taking them one at a time, and not in that order, let’s go to the engine turning first.

In larger airplanes, the Limitations section of the POH usually calls out specific starter and battery limitations.  Even though these aren’t specified for most of our club planes, a good rule of thumb is to run the starter a maximum of 20 seconds with a 30 second rest period between attempts.  After the third cycle like this, wait at least 10 minutes before trying again.  It is possible to burn out a starter, and to drain the battery.  The good news is that most starting problems aren’t related to the starter.

The steps to ensure the correct fuel/air mixture will differ depending upon whether the engine (and the weather) is hot or cold.  Since we’re coming into winter, let’s take a look at the cold one first.  All engines have some method of priming, and in cold weather they need more.  Why?  For two main reasons, first, the air is denser, so more fuel is required, and second, when the air is cooler, the fuel doesn’t evaporate as fast.

Carbureted engines usually have primers that can prime even without turning on the master switch.  In cold weather, a couple of extra strokes on the primer will help, but an even better way to get the engine to start is to prime very early in the process.  Several of our instructors recommend priming the engine then doing the preflight.  This gives plenty of time for the fuel to vaporize, and the starts are uniformly easy.  However, it can mean messing with the propeller with fuel in the cylinders, something that makes me uncomfortable, if not queasy.  Like most problems there is a way around this one.  Do the propeller-related parts of preflight, then prime and do the rest of the preflight.

The early prime with a cold engine works just as well with a fuel injected engine, though a lot of the similarities begin to disappear at that point.  In most fuel injected engines, priming is best done with the throttle open about 1/2 inch in the winter.  The fuel pump is then turned on, and the mixture is advanced while watching the fuel flow meter.  When the meter stops moving, pull the mixture to idle cut-off, and turn off the pump.  Later, when starting the engine, the throttle should be open about 1/8th of an inch.

Hot engine starts are another beast entirely.  And the problem comes in two types flooded start, and the vapor-locked start.  How do you know which is which?  A puddle of fuel under the engine, or a blue nose wheel faring may be a clue.  Sometimes we can even smell the excess fuel.  And usually, the flooded start with a warm engine is a result of not following the correct hot start procedure.

In a flooded start, the engine won’t start because the fuel/air mixture is too rich, so obviously, we want to increase the percentage of air while reducing the percentage of fuel.  The best way to do this is to push the throttle all the way in, and keep the mixture at idle cut-off until the engine fires.  Then things need to happen pretty fast – the throttle comes to idle (to keep the RPM from blasting right on up to 2000 or so) and the mixture needs to go rich (to keep the engine running).  And it’s actually best to do it in that order, because it’s important to keep the RPM under control.

Now, about the vapor-locked start.  The simplest, and often the most successful, way to start with a hot/vapor-locked engine is to start with the throttle open about 1/8th of an inch and the mixture at idle cut-off (no priming) until the engine fires, then bring the mixture rich.  An alternative method is to open the throttle, keep the mixture at idle cut-off, and turn the master switch and fuel pump on for about 30 seconds.  Then turn the fuel pump off, open the throttle about 1/8th of an inch, leaving the mixture at idle cut-off, and start the engine.  It should fire quickly.

She’s a mean, mean machine
Start it up.

The Rolling Stones

”

FLY ON THE WALL
by Maryann Dach WVFC CFI

The WVFC staff is always there to help us but how well do know them? Join the WVFC facebook page and take a fun quiz to find out more about Ashley Porath, the assistant to the Chief Pilot. You will find it on my Nov 11th posting.
WVFC facebook page

Last month we discussed intentional uncoordination.  Now let's try coordinated flight.

Coordination means keeping the inclinometer ball in the center.  In coordinated flight you are pressed straight down into your seat; there is no sideways force to make you lean one way or the other.  Flying coordinated feels better than flying uncoordinated and is more aerodynamically efficient.  Good coordination is important whenever
climb or glide performance is critical.

As we discussed last time, sometimes we fly uncoordinated intentionally.  A crosswind landing is an example of an intentionally uncoordinated maneuver as is a slip to increase descent rate on final approach.  In a competition style roll, 1-G acceleration is always pointed toward the ground rather than straight into your seat.  Most of the time, however, being coordinated is better.

Coordinated flying is a skill that is perfected through practice. Here are some exercises that will help you learn to fly coordinated more easily.  In all of the exercises you must consciously relax.  One of the reasons novice pilots sometimes have trouble with coordination is that nervous tension prevents them from feeling what is happening
to the airplane.

Dutch rolls

Point the airplane toward a prominent landmark.  Now rock the wings back and forth with your feet off the rudder pedals.  The nose of the airplane will yaw in the opposite to the direction of roll. After a few cycles you can make the adverse yaw quite pronounced!

Now try the same thing, but use rudder in the direction of roll to keep the nose pointed toward the landmark.  The airplane will appear to pivot on the landmark when you are doing the exercise correctly. If you use too little rudder, you will notice adverse yaw as before, just not as much. If you use too much rudder the nose will yaw in the
direction of roll.

A good turn exercise is to pick two prominent landmarks 60 to 120 degrees apart and make a continuous series of turns between them. Roll out heading at the each landmark and continue the roll into a turn back to the other landmark.  Do not stop the roll between turning one way or the other, but do stop the turn momentarily heading right
at each landmark.  After a while you will notice that the airplane rolls more easily one way than the other.  Which way is it? Why?

Eyes closed: slip or skid?

Have your instructor fly the airplane in a shallow turn while you relax in your seat with your eyes closed.  If the turn is coordinated you should not be able to tell which way you are turning. Now ask your instructor to push slightly too much rudder one way or the other.  The ball will move away from its centered position.  Ask your instructor
to tell you which way the airplane is turning.  You then tell him whether the airplane is in a slip [leaning toward the inside of the turn] or a skid [leaning toward the outside of the turn].  You will be able to identify a slip or skid with as little as half a ball-width uncoordination, something you probably wouldn’t feel if your eyes were open.  Closing your eyes helps you relax and pay closer attention to the feeling of leaning one way or the other.

Have fun with coordinated flight!

It was in the winter at Palo Alto on one of those cold, windy, rainy days.
ATIS was advising "2000 feet overcast, 6 miles visibility in light rain".
I was hoping my student would choose to cancel this flight to avoid the
drenching that goes with preflight in the rain, but he didn't. On the
contrary, he was quite eager to fly (his first flight in the rain) and he
needed work on landings. We decided to work the pattern.

Thirty minutes later, we were in the airplane - both wet - but our
activities had started and all was going well until it came time to start
the engine. For startup all we got was the "near-dead-battery" sound from
the engine and about a half of a turn of the prop. We did make it through
one compression stroke however, and that encouraged me to try again - and
again - and again. The battery just could not make it through a
compression stroke again on any of the four cylinders. As a last resort, I tried all
of the foul language I could think of and that didn't work either. We
decided to cancel the flight.

I was about half out of the airplane when I noticed, through our
rain-splattered windshield, a guy running toward us from somewhere out
there in that field of airplanes. He was running full bore. Well, it was Kevin
Pinger. Kevin was (and is) the Chief of Maintenance at WVFC. He was as
wet as we were but that didn't seem to matter at all. Here is what he had to
say: "Hey - get back in there. I'll get it started for you". With one
more shout, he made sure the cockpit was set for "safe prop" and then he
started pulling the prop through - but not in the ordinary way. Rather,
he somehow got the blade turning rapidly and then kept it turning rapidly
with quick strong pulling near the hub. He must have pulled it through at
least 10 compression strokes - maybe 20. Then he stepped aside and gave one
more shout "Start it up now". The engine started immediately. No more words
after that, he waved and ran off to get out of the rain. We made the
flight as scheduled, of course.

I was quite impressed by that - and I still am. Not only because of
Kevin's 150 octane enthusiasm but also because I had just witnessed a bit of WVFC
Maintenance in action. I would say that the reaction that I saw that day
was well above and beyond the norm - in fact, it was way out there in left
field in my opinion. And I will also note that this event was not the
first or the last notable event in all of my experiences with Kevin and Carrie
and WVFC . . . plus three airplanes on the line for 15 years.

I just thought WVFC pilots and owners should know about that.