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Mistakes Happen

Written by Brent Humphreys
Saturday, 06 March 2010 01:24
Any person who takes up the task of building an airplane has to decide just how good is good enough. In many cases, there are generally accepted rules that define tolerances that can be measured to determine if a part is good or bad. Edge distance, hole spacing, and many other things have been determined by experts. In some cases, however, there are cases where the builder is left to determine if the quality is good enough. A weld that is perfectly acceptable to one builder may not suit another. Many times the work required to correct a deficiency may introduce more problems than the issue itself. The FAA created advisory circular AC43.13-1B Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices - Aircraft Inspection and Repair as guidance for maintenance and construction of an aircraft. This guide, and our own personal standards, serve as a guide to determine when a repair is needed and how it should be done. On my RV-10 project, I recently came across a situation where some poorly driven rivets needed to be removed. In this case the two pieces were not held tight together, and the riveted joint was clinched. Removing a clinched rivet can be rather difficult as the rivet expands to fill the space between the parts, making it nearly impossible to drive the rivet out of the hole. This rivet proved to be particularly nasty, and during the removal process the hole was severely enlarged. My first inclination was to drill for the next size rivet and just hope it would hold. However, better judgement prevailed, and I decided to step away and find a better course of action. The damaged part was one of the bulkheads in the aft end of the tail cone. My error occurred as part of the process of riveting the tail cone assembly together, and it was no longer practical to remove and replace the assembly without doing more harm than good. I weighed my options for a few days and referred to AC43.13-1b for guidance on how to best repair the part. I determined that my best, and safest, course of action would be to fabricate a part to be placed over the enlarged hole and reinforce that area. I started the repair process by cleaning up the parts, ensuring that any remnants of the bad rivet were removed. Then I cleaned up the hole removing any burrs before drilling the hole for the next size rivet. Next, I used a set of dimple dies and a pop rivet gun to re-set the skin dimples to ensure the two pieces nested together properly. The next step is to ensure that I can properly set a rivet in the damaged area. My solution was to fabricate a reinforcement plate that would fit over the bad rivet and also be captured by rivets adjacent to the repair. I used a scrap bulkhead as a template to trace the outline of the flange onto a small piece of aluminum. I cut out the piece and filed and shaped it to match the flange it would sit on. I clamped the part into place, drilled the holes to match, then dimpled the holes. A couple shots of primer, and the part was ready to be riveted into place. I riveted everything into place, using a NAS 1097 rivet in the enlarged hole. These rivets are sometimes referred to as "oops rivets" since they have the shank of a 1/8" rivet with the head of a 3/32" rivet. As builder’s we each have to determine if our work meats industry standards. More important is our own personal standard for quality and workmanship. These personal standards are driven by desires for safety, quality of work, or expedience. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but quality is in the eye of the builder.

YOUNG EAGLES FLIGHT RALLY SCHEDULED FOR June 12th, 2010

Written by Brent Humphreys

Sunday, 06 June 2010 23:03

For more information contact:

Bob Brantley at (417) 277-5255

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Event Community Event Community Event Community Event

YOUNG EAGLES FLIGHT RALLY SCHEDULED FOR June 12^th, 2010

Willow Springs, MO – June 12^th, 2010 - Area young people ages 8-17 will have a chance to take to the skies on Saturday, June 12th, 2010 with FREE Airplane Rides as Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 1218 hosts a Young Eagles Flight Rally at Willow Springs Airport.

The rally is part of the EAA Young Eagles Program, created to interest young people in aviation. Since the program was launched in 1992, Volunteer EAA pilots have flown more than 1.5 million young people who reside in more than 90 countries.

“Free airplane rides are just part of the Flight Rally,” said Bob Brantley, spokesman for the event. “We hope to build one-to-one relationships between pilots and young people, giving a new generation a chance to learn more about the possibilities that exist in the world of aviation.”

Pilots at the event will also explain more about their airplanes allowing young people to discover how airplanes work and how pilots ensure safety is the prime concern before every flight.

Following the flight, each young person, will receive a certificate making them an official Young Eagle. Their name will then be entered into the “World’s Largest Logbook,” which is on permanent display at the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh, WI. The Logbook is also accessible on the Internet at www.youngeagles.org.

- more-

Other activities scheduled for the Flight Rally include a computerized flight simulator for supervised use by children not yet old enough to become Young Eagles.

Along with flight rallies, EAA members also fly Young Eagles on an individual basis. Each pilot volunteers their time and aircraft so the flights can be provided free of charge for interested young people.

Those attending the flight rally on June 12^th are asked come to the signup table at the Willow Spring Airport, starting at 8:30 a.m., to register for their flight. Flights will begin at 9:00 a.m. with registration closing at 11:30 a.m. Every participant must be accompanied by at least one of their own parents to give signed permission on the registration form. Parents may want to bring a camera to document the occasion.

Additional information about EAA and the EAA Young Eagles program is available on the Internet. Access to EAA’s National Home Page is available at www.eaa.org. The Young Eagles web page is www.youngeagles.org. EAA Chapter 1218’s Home Page is at www.eaa1218.org, where more local Young Eagles information may be found.

As with any aviation event, the Young Eagles Rally will be held, weather permitting.

May Meeting Minutes

Written by Brent Humphreys

Sunday, 06 June 2010 23:11

May 15, 2010 - International Learn to Fly Day with 44 members and guests in attendance.
Young Eagle flights were cancelled due to rain but a few families came by to ask about flying. Adam Martin, a young man from West Plains interested in an aviation career stayed and attended the meeting. Guest Larry Huiett was introduced. He and his wife have a greenhouse on Hwy 76 with bedding plants, shrubs and trees for sale and she is a nurse supervisor with Air Evac.
The business meeting was called to order by President Tom White. He thanked the great cooks for the Mexican potluck lunch. He also thanked Berlin Batesel, Bob Bohemier, Bob Brantley, Bill Ghan and Jerry Pfister for helping him with all the mowing and weed cutting earlier in the week. A motion to approve the minutes was made by David Johnson, second by Jerry Pfister and approved.

Treasurer Jim Vokac gave the financial report. A motion to approve was made by Tom Bentele, second by Doc Openshaw and approved by members. A question was raised concerning what seemed like costly monthly utilities. While painting the Pietenpol, the doors were open for ventilation while the heat was on.

Janet Brantley reported on Bob’s condition. During the Air Evac tour on Thursday, he had an episode. It turns out he had a stroke centered in the brain stem. They do not have the results of his MRI yet. He still has some numbness on the left side of his face, not visible to others and weakness in his left leg. Janet said if you are ever going to have a stroke, Air Evac is the place to do it. In about 3 minutes, they had his blood sugar and blood pressure, on oxygen, had him on a table, his feet elevated and his shirt off. He is in OMC, room 256 and doing well.

President White showed the handheld radio delivered last month by Roddy Clark. It was donated by Dr. Pickle, Mansfield.

Pietenpol update: Berlin Batesel is flying it some when the weather cooperates. He has had it up to 3500 feet. Jack Richardson passed out EAA Chapter 1218 Pietenpol buttons he made for all the members. He made some that said builder and a test pilot one for Berlin Batesel. An appreciative round of applause was given to Jack for his hard work.

President White asked for volunteers to mow while he is on vacation. Berlin, Bill Ghan, Darryl Hanson and Rory volunteered.

Rory set up his computer with his flight simulator program. He suggested when we purchase a larger television, we should also have a computer to use his program. It has the capability to design and build an aircraft and determine if the design is flyable. Don Nevels said some of the modern simulators are very valuable training tools; some simulator training is the same as in an actual airplane. The nice thing about one is you can stop it versus an airplane at a hundred miles an hour. Several members flew the helicopter simulator during the Air Evac tour. Rory took off and flew it around without even having the instructor’s guidance.

June 5th & 6th is Art Fest & Craft Show. President Tom will not be available that weekend. Volunteers are needed and someone to oversee getting the simulator and tent out there on time. If there are no volunteers, we would need to cancel. After some discussion, Jerry Pfister will be in charge of getting the simulator and tent set up on time. Secretary White will contact him with the list of volunteers and other needed information.

June 12 is International Young Eagle Day and our normal meeting day. Insurance is already in place for the event. Secretary White made a motion to fly Young Eagles 9-noon with potluck to follow and meet after lunch. Second was made by Bill Ghan and approved by members present. President White read some area flying events posters. One In particular is for June 5th & 6th. He said everyone would be busy volunteering for the art show so he wadded it up and threw it away.

Bill Ghan has submitted the necessary paperwork for Berlin Batesel’s nomination for the Major Achievement Award. He put a lot of work into it and we appreciate it. We will discuss in June the possibility of a project tour in July. David Johnson hopes to have his project here in the next couple of weeks. Clint is still working on the Jenny and John DeRoos is working on his project. Doc’s is about ready to fly. Berlin has 2 or 3 to hopefully get back to now that the Piet is complete.

Henny reminded us of chapter member Arnie Zimmerman’s upcoming induction to the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame. She will send a congratulatory card on the chapter’s behalf.

Each year Willow Springs has a 4th of July parade; this year it will be on July 3rd since the 4th is on Sunday. Oz Fall Fest will be October 2nd; we will discuss it at a later date.

Motion to adjourn was made by Jim Vokac, second by Mike White and approved by members.

Meeting this Saturday