The Leading Edge in Asia’s Sport Aviation Newsletter Issue 10 December 2010 Format, Layout & Articles:............... Terry Hockenhull Articles:................... Erwin Dematera, Mike Schemm Chickee Banzon, Terry Hockenhull Important Information Office number:..................................... (045) 8022101 GM & Administration (cell):................ (0918) 9203039 Office & Admin email:... [email protected] Contents Club News 1-3 16th Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 3 New Members & First Solos 4-5 Maintenance - Important Notification 5 Our November Flying Festival 6-9 In Memoriam - Nestor De Castro 10-11 Our Office Staff - Jona 11 Marketing Efforts 12-13 Around the World in a Gyrocopter 14-15 Flight Safety and Air Incidents 16-17 Club News Radio Control Aircraft Group 17 Terry Hockenhull, President The Stearman Comes Alive 18 Bits & Pieces 18-19 What a year! Apologies to all for the late release of this newsletter but Photo Credits John Chua, Tim Maceren, Terry Hockenhull, ACFC, there have been so many other Tony Willis, Monet Henson pressing issues to deal with, there just hasn’t been time to put pen to paper Facebook Site (or fingers to keyboard) to give you Angelesflying Club all the latest updates. Angeles City Flying Club I guess the most important news for the year is that www.angelesflying.com/ our lease on the Flying Club is due to expire at the Aero Club end of this year. It is early days yet but we think we www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Aero_Club/ have a plan in place that will allow the smooth Yahoo Groups ACFC transition of the flying club to ownership by our www.groups.yahoo.com/group/acflyingclub/ members. We have taken steps to let everyone know Al Malcolm’s Yankin’ and Bankin’ what is going on in the last newsletter and also by www.yankinandbankin.com sending out a brief note asking interested members ACFC Newsletter Page 1 to request the formal prospectus (if interested in but should be a pleasant and easy aircraft for our S- putting funds into the Club). It is inappropriate to go 12 pilots to quickly transition to. Also, we are into the plans in this newsletter other than to say that recovering the Drifter (that’s putting new sails on the our initial offering appears to be reasonably well aircraft; not recovering it from a field where Gangolf subscribed. However, there is still room for those of or Mark Obrowski might have left it!!!) and giving it a you who would like a place in the country, an thoroughly good inspection (and a new paint job) in opportunity to participate in the future of the club and the expectation that will become an aircraft which is the chance to be part of a bigger development over not the sole preserve time that might provide a very good return on your of forementioned two!. initial investment. We have also repainted the Rans S- 12 and the Quicksilver (RP-S1457) into our Philippine colors and over the next year, will endeavor to get all of RP-S 1291 our club aircraft in the Club Rans S-12 same livery. Peter Heilveil has finally got his white Drifter flying again. A few teething problems with the engine but from all accounts, it is flying well and we look If you haven’t responded to the letter we sent out last forward to seeing a lot month, but you would like to know more details, more of Peter at the Peter Heilveil’s please get in touch with Tony (GM) or me and we will Club in the coming White Drifter make sure that you get a copy of the prospectus. months. Not to put too fine a point on it, the offer that we have It seems that in every newsletter, I have to extend come up is for a limited time only and we will not be our thanks to Jay Cook for the sterling work he does in a position to entertain other investors on the same on behalf of the club (and individual members). Jay attractive terms after our cut-off date. has been unofficially In general, things at the club are proceeding well. titled, ‘Aircraft Inspector We have had a couple of mishaps with aircraft this General’. As an year; most of them caused by carelessness of the additional safety check, pilots (two aircraft flown into power lines) and the we asked Jay to do a unfortunate demise of Hideki Noguchi’s GT500 on thorough inspection on its maiden flight after a complete rebuild. (See later the last three airframes article on Aircraft Incidents.) Nonetheless, we are and engines released still on track for finishing up the year with a healthy by maintenance. For balance in the bank and plans to move forward next the mechanics, it must year to even better things. have been a bit like looking over the We are rebuilding the Rans Jay Cook conducting shoulder of your math’s Coyote and since we now engine checks on teacher while he marks have all of the parts and the Paul Norrie’s X-Air your assignment! assembly manual, we are However, I am delighted to report that Jay’s fast moving into final assessment of the engineering skills of Chris T and assembly. The Coyote will team has secured high marks! I flew Quicksilver 1457 Rans S-6 Coyote probably have a Rotax 503 on its first flight after complete rebuild (and Jay’s ACFC Newsletter Page 2 you are on your way back to Field’s Avenue or heading for Manila. We want to maintain our safety record and avoid any further incidents. What may seem to be a harmless bit of low flying or flying extreme maneuvers may lead to impact with obstacles (power lines) or an overstressed airframe which may fail when someone else is flying. Without going into ‘been there - done that’ stories, a sage reminder is that when I had done 50 hours flying, I used to fly at 50 feet; at 100 hours, I considered 100 feet an acceptably safe altitude. At 300 hours, 300 feet seemed like a much better idea! With RP-S 1457 in her new livery experience come both wisdom and ability to deal with inspection) and the difference in performance and emergencies! handling from previous flights was truly amazing. We There is a section later in the newsletter that details can’t afford for mistakes to be made in the hangar some of the incidents that we have had over the last and having Jay there to double-check our work is a 6 months. We have a good safety record but very important and appreciated service. occasionally, mistakes are made or conditions and Keeping club aircraft in a serviceable state is pilot experience are such that accidents do occur. It expensive. While I don’t want to preach, please fly is worth reading the section on ‘Air Incidents’ to learn all of our aircraft (and your own) with care. from the situations that prevailed at the time and Remembers, someone will be renting the aircraft after perhaps make better preparation for future flights. 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta As of writing this newsletter, the 16th PIHABF is set to go ahead on 10-13 February, 2011. I think I will be involved on the organizing committee again this year and we have already had a few meeting to discuss the events, venue and arrangements. We are to have our usual tented area to display our aircraft (static). Tony is busy having a second tent manufactured which, like the usual green tent, will serve us well, not only for the Balloon Fiesta but also for other club events and shows. Much work goes into the Fiesta; if you haven’t been to one, it is well worth the effort. We get to fly a couple of times per day and our stand always generates a lot of interest in ACFC and what we do. Gary Gerome and Boy Guevarra manned the fort back at Woodland last year and did not participate in the flying events at Clark. Hopefully, someone else will volunteer to fly the TIF’s at Woodland and allow these two senior pilots to participate in our event activities. We need more people to help us man the stand and participate in the flying activities; so please volunteer your time and effort to make this year a great success for us and to contribute to the great spectacle of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. ACFC Newsletter Page 3 New Members 2010 has been a great year for the club in terms of increasing our membership. This year, we have over 30 new members. On more than one occasion, I have said that to sustain our club, we need more new members who are not only going to do the training program and get their wings, but stay with the club for years to come either buying their own aircraft (or a share in one) or flying our club aircraft and participating in club activities. This year particularly, we have added a real international mix of folks from around the globe. We welcome Adrian Halley from New Zealand and Stephen Clemenson from Essex, U.K. Stephen is a Hong Kong stockbroker who has been coming to the club for five months. He is the last person to have soloed this year taking the controls of RP-S1457 on Sunday 5th December, 2010. Another Brit, Mark Groundsell is an engineer with 63 hours on his PPL and some previous ultralight experience. As many of you already know, we have a great website that is creating a lot of interest.