Today the old beacon came down with a lot of help from fellow pilots. Ken Plesser is going to remove the old beacon from the base, and install a new beacon. This should take a couple of days.
Whiteplains Plantation SC is a premier residential aviation community. Located 20 minutes W of Columbia, Whiteplains Plantation combines a quiet rural location, friendly neighbors, and access to some of the state’s best schools. There are currently 50+ aircraft based at the airpark. Pattern Altitude 1500' Right traffic 9 - ELV 524' Left traffic 27 - ELV 491' Rwy 3000' X 35' paved Columbia CAE approach FR N 133.4 FR S 124.15 CTAF 122.9 Lighted Dusk to 11:00 pm 5 clicks
Whiteplains Logo
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Old Beacon Comes Down
Today the old beacon came down with a lot of help from fellow pilots. Ken Plesser is going to remove the old beacon from the base, and install a new beacon. This should take a couple of days.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
SCBC at Whiteplains Plantation SC99 5-12-2013
Video by: Don Cook
This is a quick draft for this years SCBC that was held this past Sunday (Mothers Day) at Whiteplains Plantation. They sold over 120 meal tickets, and had about 23 planes fly in. Managed to make a small profit that went to EAA 242 at Owens. Next year, it won't be held on Mothers Day. That should be a week off for everyone.
We had perfect weather for this years SCBC. Cool temps, blue sky and a light breeze. Thanks to everyone that made this a great success. The grounds looked really good.
When I finish the full video, I'll re-post it.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Over Head Shots from Yesterdays SCBC at Whiteplains 5-12-2013
Great Over Head Shot of Whiteplains Plantation
Notice our new North - South Runway.
Special thanks to Steve Sanderson for flying Phil Rainwater to get the above shots..
Sunday, May 05, 2013
Subject: SCAA Passport Program
The SC Aviation Association with the support of the SC Aeronautics Commission is launching the SC Passport Program where pilots are rewarded for flying to SC's public use publically owned airports. While several of our board members attend the breakfast flyins and will be announcing it there, we were hoping you might reference this program on your web site.
Attached is a poster that is being sent to all the involved airports. Also attached is a trifold brochure which describes the program and the reward levels. This would seem to be a natural for the Breakfast Club as you already travel to many of the airports in the course of a year. Pilots may sign up for the Passport Program on the SCAA website (www.SCAAOnline.com) as of May 15th..
If you have any questions I can be reached at the above email or via cell at 803-261-9085.
I look forward to working with you.
Don Purcell
South Carolina Aviation Association
Whiteplains & Windy Road Clean Up
GREAT turnout this morning for Windy Road trash cleanup and work detail to make our neighborhood ready for the South Carolina Breakfast Club next weekend.
Many thanks to Heidi and Clem Spencer for the wonderful breakfast and to Mike Moore for coordinating our efforts. Photo by Mike Moore.
Monday, April 22, 2013
SCBC 4-21-2013 at Hardee Airpark
Friday, April 05, 2013
This Saturday.....4-6-2013
| Saturday, Apr 6, 2013 The Hamilton-Owens Palmetto Cup Aerial Scavenger Hunt | |||||||||||
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Thursday, April 04, 2013
Traveling to all 50 States by Hitchhiking via GA
Good morning,
I am a travel writer who is hitchhiking on general aviation planes to all 50 states and am blogging about it on JetHiking.com (a book is also in the works). So far, I have been on 32 planes ranging from experimentals to seaplanes, a 1940 WACO, and a Hawker. I visited Oshkosh and have been included in more than 30 media outlets including AOPA, NPR, The Seattle Times, and NBC's Today.com.
I am flying to Charleston, SC this weekend and am trying to go to Florida (anywhere) after that. You can find more information about my project on JetHiking.com, including a map of where I have been, photos, a full list of press coverage, and my adventure blog. (I am also on Facebook and Twitter).
I anticipate the project taking over a year to finish (I started in July 2012) so I need all the help I can get! It has been generating a tremendous amount of interest among the general public and has attracted positive press for GA.
If you think any of your club members might want to help me get closer to Florida please feel free to give them my information. Or, if you have any tips, suggestions, or know of any upcoming events I should attend please let me know! I'll be heading to Sun N Fun in April ;)
Please feel free to call me at (585) 245-1411.
Thank you!
--
The JetHiking Gypsy
Twitter/Facebook/JetHiking.com
"Dreams can take you far but only if you're willing to fly."
I am a travel writer who is hitchhiking on general aviation planes to all 50 states and am blogging about it on JetHiking.com (a book is also in the works). So far, I have been on 32 planes ranging from experimentals to seaplanes, a 1940 WACO, and a Hawker. I visited Oshkosh and have been included in more than 30 media outlets including AOPA, NPR, The Seattle Times, and NBC's Today.com.
I am flying to Charleston, SC this weekend and am trying to go to Florida (anywhere) after that. You can find more information about my project on JetHiking.com, including a map of where I have been, photos, a full list of press coverage, and my adventure blog. (I am also on Facebook and Twitter).
I anticipate the project taking over a year to finish (I started in July 2012) so I need all the help I can get! It has been generating a tremendous amount of interest among the general public and has attracted positive press for GA.
If you think any of your club members might want to help me get closer to Florida please feel free to give them my information. Or, if you have any tips, suggestions, or know of any upcoming events I should attend please let me know! I'll be heading to Sun N Fun in April ;)
Please feel free to call me at (585) 245-1411.
Thank you!
--
The JetHiking Gypsy
Twitter/Facebook/JetHiking.com
"Dreams can take you far but only if you're willing to fly."
Safety Videos - Operating at Non-Tower Airports
Feel free to share this page with your pilot friends, students, instructor or club.
Non-Towered Airports:
Operating Safely!
Non-Towered Airports:
Operating Safely!
With 149 control towers scheduled to close across the USA, the number of non-towered operations will be going up dramatically!
Watch this timely refresher on non-towered airport operations, where PilotWorkshops founder Mark Robidoux interviews safety expert Bob Martens. Martens has delivered hundreds of live seminars on this topic and these videos address the most frequently asked questions.We are providing these videos as a community service and hope that it might help you brush up on these important procedures.Note: These recommendations are specific to USA non-towered airport operations.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education
Air Traffic Control Facility Closures
Notice Number: NOTC4665
On February 22, 2013, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) Michael Huerta jointly announced the possible impacts of a budget sequestration on FAA operations. This announcement included notification of potential closure of over 100 air traffic control towers, with those impending closures beginning April 7, 2013. The FAA has subsequently released a list of 149 control towers that will be closed and the agency has made the decision to keep 24 federal contract towers open, read: Press Release – FAA Makes Tower Closing Decision.
As the probability of these tower closures and reduced operating hours nears, it is important to increase our awareness of proper operating practices and procedures at airports without an operating control tower. Although we often hear these airports called “uncontrolled”, you can help ensure continued safe and controlled operations through adherence to published practices and procedures. Of course, “non-towered airport” is the proper term to use for an airport without an operating control tower. There are many resources that provide advisory information for operations at airports without an operating control tower. These include the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Advisory Circular (AC) 90-66A , CFR 91.113 (Basic Right of Way Rules), CFR 91.126 and CFR 91.127(Traffic Flow Rules at Non-Towered Airports). Please also note that some aeronautical experience for pilot certification requires takeoffs and landings at a towered airport. This may increase activity at the remaining towered airports, and will necessitate diligent planning on the part of training providers, instructors and students. So, what can I do?
Press Release: http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14414AIM: http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/ATPubs/AIM/aim.pdfAC 90-66A:http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/74c9017c9457e4ab862569d800780551/$FILE/AC90-66A.pdfCFR 91.113: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=ef94fb7a693bc72e1bda265cc7cf9883&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.2.4.7&idno=14CFR 91.126: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=ef94fb7a693bc72e1bda265cc7cf9883&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.2.4.14&idno=14CFR 91.127: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=ef94fb7a693bc72e1bda265cc7cf9883&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.2.4.15&idno=14FAASafety.gov: http://www.faasafety.gov/ Remember, safety is every pilot’s responsibility. Have a safe and enjoyable flight!
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
World Record Paper Airplane Distance.mov
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
Friday, March 22, 2013
FAA Tower Closures
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
How to prevent cam and lifter wear
March 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
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.
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
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
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
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