EAA Chapter
81 Meeting Minutes
March 15, 2008
Meeting was held at the Ryan Field meeting room, called to order by President Duane Boyd at 1000.
The Treasurer’s Report was the first item on the agenda, followed by the Secretary’s report of the Minutes of the February Project , which had been held at the hangar of John Harlow at La Cholla Airpark. As there was no formal Chapter Meeting held at the Project Meeting, this report consisted of an off-the-cuff jumble of impressions about John’s Chevy-powered Lancair IV, his various home-built or modified cars, and about the Diamond Twin star parked near the clubhouse.
An engineer who was present at the Project Meeting had informed those present that General Motors learned the hard way that brass fittings and electronically fuel-injected engines, which recirculate fuel to the tank, are not compatible. Something about the recirculated fuel weakens the fittings and can lead to failure of the fittings. This does not apply to carbureted engines, nor to mechanical fuel-injection systems which do not recirculatefuel.
It was announced that the widow of Chapter 81 member Stan Nye has his RV6
project up for sale: her phone # is 343-4240, for those interested.
Treasurer Mick Myal, a founder of Contact Magazine,
informed us that the subject of an article in that publication, an Express (a
composite 4-seater), had had a flexible oil line fail, spraying oil onto the
exhaust manifold and the resulting smoke forced a landing. The plane burned, but no one was hurt. The all-aluminum Chevrolet LS-6 engine is
available for another project, asking $23K.
The topic of a picnic at the Pima Air and
The April meeting will be a project meeting, as we continue our plan of
alternating Chapter Meetings at Ryan with Project Meetings. Neil Cubbon’s RV6
project will be the object of our scrutiny on April 19. His home is located near
In regard to possible future Pancake Breakfasts at La Cholla
Airpark, several residents of the airpark were present at this meeting and made
comment: some would like to have Fly-Ins/Pancake Breakfasts there, but other
residents are leary of liability risk. This is a serious issue, as the residents of
La Cholla Airpark were sued after the crash at the
last event by the estate of the passenger.
As Chapter 81 had made no specific arrangement with EAA about the event,
apparently insurance coverage was denied.
This appears to be the result of the Chapter 81 officers not
understanding how the insurance works.
In response to this issue, we will research our coverage, obtain a copy
of the policy, and be sure to arrange for a rider for every event. The Governing Board of La Cholla
Airpark will be contacted with this information. It is out hope that, with liability insurance
assured, we will be invited to return to La Cholla
for future events.
Next, Secretary Bob Miller read an article from Sport Aviation about the “51%
Rule.” This is a make-believe name for
the FAA’s requirement that the builder supply “a substantial portion” of the
construction of the experimental aircraft.
There has been a trend recently for kits to leave the factory in a
higher state of completion than in the past, and also for some to farm out
construction to professionals, thus violating the spirit of the rule. The FAA has cracked down on this by closing
the list of new designs that can be covered by the “51% rule.” A committee has been assembled,
including many leaders in the Experimental Aircraft field to define what should
and should not be allowed. All present
designs and kits are unaffected by this new legislation.
Joe Seibold was able to arrange for a Captain
Dresser, an A-10 jockey back from
Bruce Noon was able to give us an update about our Chapter 81 Webpage; it is up
and running, but still very basic.
However, we will begin to E-mail Chapter 81 Minutes every month.
Meeting was adjourned at 1105.
Respectfully Submitted,
Secretary Bob Miller