HANGAR FLYIN'

Mission: To provide the citizens of the Big Country with an aviation event, including all eras of aircraft. WWII, Vietnam, Experimental, general aviation, and commercial. Providing an airshow demonstrating planes and pilots capabilities, to give airplanes rides to kids age 8 to 17- fostering interest in aviation, providing attendees with a great weekend of aviation, and providing a military display – showing off the power and force of our nations military.

Aviation draw: We have contacted over 1100 out of town folks who have come to Abilene in the past flying a multitude of different aircraft that many folks in Abilene would enjoy seeing. There are Wild things that many would not want to ride in, some that you would dream to fly in, with some airplanes making spectators reminiscent of war days of the past. These out of towners stay in a motel and spend money in Abilene.

We are providing a draw for the citizens of Abilene. Abilene is a restless town, a city that is always looking for something to go out and do. This is will be the perfect place to come and look, bring the kids, and eat the food, and enjoy the sites. In addition to airplanes coming in, there will be aircraft related vendors, selling a large array of airplane items from radios, to clothing, from screws to the latest airplane, about 50 of these vendors.

Military draw: Fort Hood will be bringing helicopters that most have only seen brief glimpses of on the various news clips from around the world. Abilene is an Air Force town, C-130, B-1, but when do you get a chance to look at, touch a state of the art helicopter? Dyess folks will certainly come to see this, as well as a certain group of people who will attend the fly-in. Another Air Force draw: The C-130 will be parked, letting all that desire a free tour of this fine cargo machine. The B-1 will do a high speed low pass over the airport, then a slow approach, demonstrating the wide speed range the plane is capable of. Not to leave out the C-17 with it's 170 foot wingspan and ability to fly as slow as a Cessna 172, turn as tight as a Cessna 172, land and take off in the same runway length as a Cessna

172, but carry 162,000 pounds and fly 517 miles an hour.

War birds: Saturday morning will be spent having fly-bys from various vintage aircraft: B-17, BT 13's, T-6's, F4u Corsair, Hellcat, F4 Phantom, F104 starfighter, and various other aircraft are in the works..

Young Eagle Rides for all children age 8 to17 will be given free of charge.

Airshow: Saturday afternoon, Airshow performances by J.D. Daniel-Stearman, Howard Pardue- FM2 Wildcat, Charlie Jerec-Pitts special, Ron Cain-Chipmonk, Jim Gregg-Yak, Mike Gallaway-Pitts Special, Bob Ford- T-6, John McGuire 180 HP Piper Cub, with the finale being the Brownwood rocket team shooting man sized rocket reaching 10,000 feet before returning to earth, and more in the works.

As you can see the bases are covered, and we are trying to provide something that appeals to all ages, and demographic groups.

Cartercopter has agreed to bring their gyro-copter shown below to give a demonstration of its vast capabilities at our chapters Airshow/Fly-in. These folks will get our support and many are looking forward to seeing this machine do its magic! They may have the next generation model finished and be able to bring the model for show by that time also. Testing is underway!

CC has begun work on the next generation CC (NxCC) Technology Demonstrator gyroplane with the hope financial support can be obtained from government, military or aerospace sources to continue the project. CoreMax Aerospace Incorporated, located in Denton, Texas, has completed a 1/6th scale model. The next step is to mount the model on the front of a pickup truck and perform our poor-boy wind tunnel tests on the fuselage, wing root and tail booms. Once we have done everything we can to assure aerodynamic efficiency, we will test drag efficiency in commercial wind tunnels.

RV-10A General Description

The RV-10A is a low wing airplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear. It uses slotted flaps and mass-balanced control surfaces. The primary structure is aluminum, although there are some composite components.

* Wing span: 31.5’

* Length: 24’

* Gross weight: 2700 lbs/1227 kilograms

* Empty weight: 1600 lbs/727 kilograms (estimated)

* Useful load: 1100 lbs/500 kilograms

* Fuel: 60 US gallons/ 230 liters

The six cylinder (I)O-540 Lycoming. The prototype will have the maximum acceptable 260 hp parallel valve IO-540. Other engines from 200-260 hp might be adapted.

The goal is to achieve performance similar to a 180 hp RV-7/7A., 6/6A

The fuselage bears a passing resemblance to the rest of the side-by-side RV family, and provides forward facing seats for four reasonably sized adults. They considered sliding canopies, hinged hatches, transporter technology licensed from Starfleet, and other options, but settled on doors, one on each side.

EAA will be holding an Aircraft Builders Workshop on Saturday and Sunday, March 8 & 9 in Dallas, Texas. These two day courses will introduce participants to the joys of building your own aircraft while providing the knowledge and experience necessary to do it safely. EAA will be offering the following hands-on courses:

This 2 day course prepares you to build any sheet metal kit aircraft and teaches the procedures for sheet metal repairs. There is a discussion of all the basics including types of aluminum, rivets, tools, cutting, drilling, deburring, countersinking, and riveting. Tuition for EAA members is $289.

This 2 day course prepares you to cover any type of aircraft, whether certified or experimental. Using the Poly-Fiber Covering System, the class will cover DC-3 ailerons. All steps are demonstrated and practiced, including preparation, gluing the fabric, shrinking, rib stitching, taping and spraying. Repair procedures will also be discussed and practiced. Tuition for EAA members is $259.

This 2 day course provides you with everything you need to know to begin building a composite aircraft. The course will provide a complete discussion of core materials, reinforcement materials, and different types of resin systems. The hands-on portion includes such skills as bonding, hot-wire cutting, and lay-ups. Tuition for EAA members is $259.

This 2 day course prepares you to wire your aircraft and allows you to practice the skills you will need to install your electrical system through the use of several hands on wiring projects. Definitions of electrical terms are discussed along with information on selecting the proper wire size, how to route wire and installing avionics and antennae. Tuition for EAA members is $279.

This 2 day course will give you practical welding theory along with hours of actual experience using oxyacetylene welding techniques. Our goal is to show you the basics, give you a solid understanding of what welding is all about, and to help you discover that you really can build or repair your own airplane. Tuition for EAA members is $289.

This Saturday evening seminar is a fact-filled discussion of regulations and paperwork, the workspace required, the time commitment needed, the financial investment and insurance considerations. May be taken in conjunction with other workshops. Tuition for EAA members is $25 and includes a pizza dinner.

The courses are instructed by experts that not only know the subject matter but know how to teach!

To enroll or learn more about the EAA SportAir Workshops, visit our website www.sportair.com or call 1-800-967-5746.

Christmas is behind us with another great Chapter 471 Christmas party. Attendance was wonderful with 50 folks making the occasion special to us all. We have a wonderful group with a wide range of talents. All in all, we are a family of sorts, although I think Don Bledsoe was injected into our family by someone playing some sort of cruel trick. All joking aside, we have a great group to proceed into the new year. We will have a great 2003 as the events planned are great and everyone will enjoy.

Every January I have outlined some events that our chapter might like to participate in. Here is the attempt for 2003. I want your input!!!!!

With current budget estimates, our chapter is expected to gain approximately $20,000 for chapter projects. The rest of the money will go for Rotary Charities. As you can see this will be a great thing for our chapter, and Abilene. Remember, this is YOUR FLY-IN, lets make it fun and one all would want to attend. Start thinking of fun ideas to put into place…….it will take your efforts too!

Chapter breakfasts have been an important link to keeping our chapter active and connected to each other. We have had articles requesting help that have by and large fallen on deaf ears. Everyone wants to enjoy, but not be a part of making it happen. Setup for the breakfast will be at 5:15 Friday afternoon. Come and learn a task so that setup will not be a labor-intensive task for two or three folks. Then you will keep your task and always be responsible for doing it!

The next year will be a big one for us as you can tell by the preceding article and you will be needed to make it happen. The board has determined that the breakfast cannot stop, as it would be detrimental to the success of the chapter. Therefore the breakfast will move to 9:00am, same Saturday, same place, same great food.