Tuesday, March 26, 2013

World Record Paper Airplane Distance.mov



World Record Holder Launches Paper Airplane Book

By Pia Bergqvist / Published: Mar 26, 2013
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The creator of the world’s most efficient paper airplane, John Collins, has launched The New World Champion Paper Airplane Book, a guide that explains how to make his record-breaking design, which he named “Susanne” after his wife, and 23 other “masterpieces of precision and aerodynamics.”
 
While “Susanne” was designed for distance by maximizing lift and glide, some of the other paper airplane designs in the book are made to stay aloft for prolonged periods, in some cases for several minutes.
 
The degree of difficulty in recreating Collins’ paper airplanes may vary, but he makes it as easy as possible for the reader to construct them by including step-by-step photographic explanations. And for those who are digitally challenged, there are 16 tear-out airplanes made of durable paper that the reader can start throwing around as soon as he or she can pull them out.
 
“Susanne” set a new Guinness World Record on February 26, 2012, when former California Golden Bears quarterback Joe Ayoob threw the paper airplane a distance of 226 feet and 10 inches inside a hangar at McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. The space restriction of the hangar shortened the run-up-to-throw distance, but regardless of the limitation, Ayoob’s throw broke the standing record by nearly 20 feet. This is the first time a paper airplane record has been broken by a thrower/designer team. “Susanne” is also the first paper airplane design to use changing airspeed to enhance performance.


Click on link below to see video.

World Record


Aspen Avionics Unveils ADS-B Solutions | Flying Magazine





For the full story, click on link below.

Friday, March 22, 2013

FAA Tower Closures

FAA has announced today that the following Airport Towers in SC are going to be closed because of the sequester.

CRE    Grand Strand in North Myrtle Beach, SC
GYH   Donaldson Center in Greenville, SC
HXD   Hilton Head in Hilton Head Island, SC.

For a full list of airports click:  HERE

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Reminder...Free Lunch Fly-1n 3-22 at CAE



How to prevent cam and lifter wear


Reader Dave Fletcher recently sent an email concerning the failure of the camshaft in his Lycoming IO-360 engine. He was concerned about pre-oilers, Ney Nozzles, CamGuard and other oil additives.
This is a subject that both engines expert Paul McBride and I have addressed before, but I thought I would try to add a little background to the debate.

To understand the problem with Lycoming camshaft wear, one needs to look at the physical layout of the Lycoming engine. The camshaft is on top of the crankshaft as opposed to Continental engines with the camshaft below the crank. When most aircraft sit idle, air enters the cowl openings at the top of the engine, so the top is affected by ambient air temperatures before the rest of the engine. During the day, the crankcase is warmed up and filled with warm humid air. In the evening and at night, the engine cools down and moisture collects in the oil.

As more and more water collects, the air in the crankcase becomes more humid, so in the evenings the cam cools faster than the rest of the crankcase. Once the cam cools below the dew point of the air in the crankcase, moisture drops out on the cam. Over time, this water causes rust to form on the cam and lifter surface. When the engine is finally started, the rust acts like a lapping compound to start wear on these surfaces. It is important to realize that the majority of cam and lifter wear starts in the first revolution of the cam.

The problem with pre-oilers is that oil comes out the cam bearings and lifter barrels, but no oil gets onto the cam and lifter interface for that first revolution. Even the Ney Nozzles promise oil to the lifter interface within one revolution. The pre-oilers get oil to all bearing surfaces quicker, but have little or no effect on that critical first revolution.

So do additives help prevent cam and lifter wear? They may help. The reports on CamGuard vary from a marginal effect to a complete cure for the problem. However, there are a host of other additives that have no beneficial effect and are a complete waste of money, and many of them are not FAA approved.

So what is the answer to preventing cam and lifter wear? The biggest thing you need to do is have dry oil. To do that you need to make sure your oil temperature is high enough to boil the water that is condensed into your oil. To do this, I recommend that all plane owners remove their oil sending unit, put it in a container with oil, water or even chicken soup, and place the container on a heat source. With a good thermometer, make sure the container is heated to 180°F. Then check your gauge. I recommend making a paint mark on the gauge so you can easily reference where 180° is when flying.
Now go fly and check your gauge. If after a half hour or so your oil temperature is not up to 180°, take steps to raise it up. If it is well over 200° during a level cruise, you may need to lower it. The reason for this is that as oil goes through your engine, the highest instantaneous oil temperature is usually about 50° higher than oil entering the engine temperature. At 180° the oil will see 230° in the engine, which will boil off the moisture. If you operate at 230° during level flight, the oil is getting to 280°, which can lead to problems.

So what is the bottom line? I have found that Lycoming engines that operate with a “true” oil temp of 180-200° and are flown regularly almost never have cam and lifter problems. If you live in a humid climate and operate with an oil temp well below 160° and do not fly regularly, then the chances are pretty good that you may have a problem. If you are not going to fly for a period of time, like over the winter, change the oil and add a quart of preservative oil that meets Mil-C-6529C Type II specification.

Pre-oilers, additives, brand and grade of oil, etc., fall into the great gray area of maybe they will work or maybe not, but why depend on them when you have an almost sure thing.

Small Plane Around the World Update

Hola Listers,

Just returned from the met office and it ain't good news.  There's a cold rain falling here now and tomorrow will have rain with surface winds of 40 knots. The next several days have a series of fronts passing over Tierra del Fuego, the Drake Passage and/or the Antarctic Peninsula.  If the passage is forecast to be reasonably free of ice then there's ice over the peninsula or vice versa. More often than not there's ice in all three places.  The met guy says that this is the warmest year on record in this area. The warmth brings moisture and ice.

Wednesday and Thursday are unacceptable and it's looking pretty grim for getting to the pole any time this week. Saturday is the next possible window and I'm waiting here to see if that pans out.  It's really too late in the season to wait much longer than that. I'm formulating a plan B for putting my tail between my legs and heading home.

I'll try to keep you guys up on what's going on.

Bill Harrelson
N5ZQ 320 2,150 hrs
N6ZQ  IV  220 hrs

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Single engine world record update

Apparently the local TV station videoed Bill, the world record attempt pilot and his plane when he was in Brazil.  The link is below.   They videoed his takeoff from a helicopter as well.  Good views of the plane and inside the cockpit.  Unfortunately its all in Portuguese but you can hear a little of Bill's statements to the press...
 
Click to see video:   http://rob.com/lancair/2013.03/n6zq.mp4 

First Annual Fender Family Oyster Roast (Steamed Oysters) at Whiteplains


When: Next Saturday 23 March @ 5PM
Where: Fenders' Hangar 304 Whiteplains Place Gilbert SC 29054

Please join us next Saturday afternoon for a good old fashioned Oyster Roast. 

We will provide the Oysters, saltines, sauces, tea, soft drinks, plates and napkins etc.
Please bring a covered dish, appetizer, or dessert if you'd like as well as a folding chair, an Oyster Knife and Glove, and your choice of beverage if tea and soft drinks don't suit you.

The first pot of steamed Oysters will be dumped onto the shucking table at 5:15. Bring Sharp Elbows and an Oyster knife!! :)



Please feel free to bring a friend along or to pass this invitation to someone that we may have missed.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RSVP no later than this Thursday (21 March).

Hope to see you all here.

Bo, Susan, Thomas, and Matthew Fender

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

New NTSB Safety Alerts


Notice Number: NOTC4630
In case you missed the announcement, here is the press release from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announcing the publication of five additional Safety Alerts for pilots and mechanics.
Today, March 12, 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board issued five Safety Alerts that focus on the most frequent types of general aviation accidents.
“Because we investigate each of the 1,500 GA accidents that occur in the United States every year, we see the same types of accidents over and over again,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “What’s especially tragic is that so many of these accidents are entirely preventable.”
Each year, about 475 pilots and passengers are killed and hundreds more are seriously injured in GA accidents in the United States, which is why GA Safety is on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List. (http://go.usa.gov/28DF)
A Safety Alert is a brief information sheet that pinpoints a particular safety hazard and offers practical remedies to address the issue. Three of the Safety Alerts focus on topics related to some of the most common defining events for fatal GA accidents. These include low-altitude stalls, spatial disorientation and controlled flight into terrain, and mechanical problems. The other two Safety Alerts address risk mitigation.
The five Safety Alerts issued today are:                                           
                                                                                        
      • Is Your Aircraft Talking to You? Listen!                          
      • Reduced Visual References Require Vigilance                                     
      • Avoid Aerodynamic Stalls at Low Altitude                                        
      • Mechanics: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety                                         
      • Pilots: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety
The NTSB is creating five short videos – one for each Safety Alert – which will be rolled out this spring. The videos will feature regional air safety investigators sharing their experiences and observations of the many accident investigations they conducted as well as advice on how pilots and mechanics can avoid mistakes that can have such tragic consequences.
"GA is essentially an airline or maintenance operation of one, which puts the responsibility for sound decision making on one person’s shoulders," Hersman said. "We are promoting and distributing the alerts to reach pilots and mechanics who can benefit from these lifesaving messages.”
The five Safety Alerts approved today, as well as others that have been issued since 2004, are available at http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety_alerts.html.
The presentations investigators made to the Board today are all available at http://go.usa.gov/28bx.
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Invite a fellow pilot to the next WINGS Safety Seminar in your area

FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education

"SC Aviation Safety Fly-In"

Topic: 2013 SC Aviation Safety Council Fly-In - Friday, March 22nd
On Friday, March 22, 2013 at 11:30 AM

Location:
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)
2553 Airport Blvd.
SC Aeronautics Commission Hangar
West Columbia, SC 29170

Select Number:
SO0049269
Description:

Join us for a FREE lLUNCH at 11:30 AM!
12:45 - 1:45 PM - AOPA Update with Mr. Bruce Landsburg, AOPA
2:00 - 3:15 PM - Safe Practices for GA Pilots with Mr. Gere Gaige. SCAviation Safety Council
3:30 - 4:30 PM - Accident Review with CDR. Dean Grant, U.S. Navy

To view further details and registration information for this seminar, click here.
The sponsor for this seminar is: SC FSDO & FAASTeam
The FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) is committed to providing equal access to this meeting/event for all participants. If you need alternative formats or services because of a disability, please communicate your request as soon as possible with the person in the 'Contact Information' area of the meeting/event notice. Note that two weeks is usually required to arrange services.
The following credit(s) are available for the WINGS/AMT Programs:
Basic Knowledge 3 - 1 Credit

Click here to view the WINGS help page

World Record attempt in Small Plane



 
 
 
Track this plane as it makes its way around the world from South to North Pole and back.              Flight starts today, 3-13-2013
 
 
Another link SpiderTracks
 
Plane Data
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Fly along in a Total Eclipse 500

Published on Mar 9, 2013
Eclipse Aerospace is touring the country with a Total Eclipse, a stand-in for its new-production Eclipse 550, which will deliver in July of 2013. AVweb recently took a demo flight in the airplane with North American Jet's Preston McClay

Click on link below to see video:

Total Eclipse Flight