November's Meeting Minutes
Respectfully Submitted by Jeff Dinius, Secretary

The meeting was called to order by Dave Nabors. The meeting was held in Dale Matuska’s hanger for some airplane talk.

The first business of the meeting was a motion to dispense with the business meeting and get directly to the airplane talk. The promise was for a short meeting so the motion was tabled.

Visitors: Bob Wuestenberg has a Challenger but is not a pilot yet.

            Mike Arensmeyer is new to the area. He is a retired military pilot currently flying RJs for a local airlines. Mike has an Interstate Cadet being restored. He also has a Stinson 108 almost finished with the restoration process.            

On the Spot: Dave Nabors had been identified as the “On the Spot” member for this month and his story follows:
Dave joined the club before he became a pilot. In fact Dave became an officer of the club before he became a pilot. Dave remembers the club when it was larger/more active and would like to get back to those days.
Dave has built a Kitfox and has about 150 hours on the airplane including several Young Eagle flights. Dave has a total of about 300 hours time in his log book.

Dave is building an RV9 with a partner. The event just completed on the RV was installing the canopy. Dave says it was not as bad as the reputation it has. Dave will be working on the panel this winter. He and his partner have talked to many about the new “glass” instruments but have gotten mixed reviews. They will probably have a lot of steam gauges in their airplane if for no other reason than cost.

Treasurer’s report: Ernie Stevens reported we have $821.24 in the bank. have gained a little income as someone paid some dues. Contact Ernie for the complete report if you are interested.

Young Eagles: There was no Young Eagles news this month.

Announcements: Dave Biesemeier has a custom oil tank for sale. It was designed for the RV series of aircraft but was not used. It holds 5.5 quarts of oil and has been pressure tested. Contact Dave for additional details.

Pat Travis has an electric aircraft tug for sale. Initial price was about $1100 but is willing to sell it for $650. Pat’s contact info is 970-203-0516.

Mel Callen’s current project is progressing slowly. He has it primed and is filling pin holes. Mel is also working on the electrical. Mel said maybe it would be finished next year.

John Masslich received his Sport Pilot’s license this week. He flies out of the Erie Municipal airport and is a member of Skyraider Aviation flying club based at Erie. John is also building an airplane.

Program: Dale Matuska opened his hanger with a focus on his Russian aircraft. Dale has a 1985 Yak 52 that he has been flying for a couple years. Dale received his formation flying training and approval in this aircraft. It is a tricycle gear aircraft with 360HP radial engine. Dale happens to have a spare engine for this aircraft.
Dale’s latest acquisition is a Yak 52 TW (the TW stands for tail wheel). This aircraft was built in 2003 but it was not until mid-2004 that it was delivered to the US. Dale is the second owner. The aircraft only has 150+ hours on it. This aircraft was built for the western sport plane market and has many differences from his first Yak. The TW has an interesting paint scheme. It was from a Mig used during WWII. It is a very attractive pain scheme.

A little Yak history: The Yak 52 was designed as a primary trainer for the Russian military. The cockpit layout is the same as a front line Mig fighter. The concept was a new pilot would learn to fly in the Yak 52 and then progress to a jet trainer before the fighter.

Dale also has a T-28 that was a Reno race winner. The T-28 suffered an engine failure and was landed in a field on it’s belly. Dale has many if not all the parts to reassemble the T-28 but flying the Yak’s is a higher priority than the T-28.

Everyone thanked Dale for his time and sharing his experiences with the Yaks.

Congratulations

Ask John Masslich about his new Sport Pilot Certificate.

Poly-Fiber has New Fabrics
From Carol Leyner

Heavy-3 and Medium-3 Dacron that now shrink the same in both directions are now available.  Also, Ranthane, a high solids polyurethane finish paint is now usable under the Poly-Fiber STC as well as Aerothane and Polytone. These products are available through Colorado Classic Aircraft.

Colorado Classic Aircraft, in Longmont, has been a stocking distributor of Poly Fiber covering materials since 2002 and is now providing fabric covering and painting services. Owner Carol Leyner was Director of the Rocky Mtn. Fly-In for many years and has been a participant at the Montana Aviation Conference presenting Fabric Covering Seminars for the AI refresher courses.

They have recently completed recovering a KCAB Citabria after replacing the wood spars with aluminum spars.

For more information, contact Carol Leyner
Email: cca@hughes.net
Toll free: 1-888-600-5222

December's Meeting

For the past six summers, Mike Bond has been flying in the back country of Idaho collecting photos and videos of over 20 mountain strips. 

Imagine landing on a 1600' strip that's uphill with a dogleg in a box canyon and no go-around (Cabin Creek).  If that sounds interesting, don't miss the December meeting! 

Mike has new video footage and pictures since he last presented this program.

More sneak peeks:

• Big Creek
• Smiley Creek
• Upper Loon Creek