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Vol. 5, No.
2 APRIL/MAY 2012
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| FROM
THE EDITOR
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Last month I had the pleasure of attending the 38th annual Sun 'n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida. The weather was perfect - no severe weather like the tornado that marred last year's event. Although there weren't many Canadian aircraft in evidence, the visitor map indicated many Canadian visitors to the show, including probably several "snowbirds" wintering in the area.
Read
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| ELECTRONICS
CORNER - IPHONE APP 'PILOTWIZZ' |
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This month we introduce you to a handy aviation calculator called PilotWizz. There is a free iPhone app and a version for $9.99. For the Pro version you also get the ability to upload and download aircraft-specific data that you have entered and live weather updates for radar and airmets. Read
more
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FIRST-FLIGHTING YOUR OWN HOMEBUILT
By Jack Dueck, EAA HAC, EAA 337912,
for Bits and
Pieces
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Jack Dueck is not only the past editor of this newsletter and your member on the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council, but he is also a builder/restorer of several aircraft. Who better to advise on how to prepare for the first flight of your newly constructed aircraft? Jack will be presenting a series of articles in this newsletter, the first of which is about the preparation phase prior to the first flight. Read
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CANADIAN SKYHAWKS PARACHUTE TEAM TO MAKE AIRVENTURE DEBUT
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Our Canadian SkyHawks parachute team, the official skydiving team of the Canadian Forces, is coming to Oshkosh for the first time this summer to perform at EAA AirVenture 2012. The team will perform during the air shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 27-29. This elite unit has evolved from the initial unofficial team of sport parachute members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1969 to today's highly trained unit that is part of the Canadian Forces' Centre of Excellence for Land Advanced Warfare. Read
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| BUILD YOUR OWN WINDSOCK
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| Shortly after moving to a rural farm with it's own 2000' grass strip, it became clear that I would need a wind sock. The concept of this wind sock is simple. The windsock's frame is welded to a steel pipe that rotates around a smaller pipe which is attached to the top of the tower. This assembly is bolted to a pipe projecting from the top of an old TV antenna tower. A friend of mine makes his own socks for his wind indicator, and offered to make me socks using his pattern. Given that, I built a frame that would fit a 28” diameter sock. Read
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| AVIATION NEWS |
| The plight of the Canadian Air & Space Museum in Downsview has been reported in this newsletter in the past few months. The goal of 10,000 signatures on the electronic petition has been well surpassed, and a new target of 15,000 has been established. Click here for the latest update on the situation. Interest in the case continues to be high, with comments and questions being raised in parliament. Sadly, it looks like packing the exhibits up will have to be the main priority of the members for the moment, with no clear future in sight, despite more than 13,000 signatures on a petition to save the museum. |
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| AVIATION
WORDS |
Word
of the Month: MRTD
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based in Montreal, will host a seminar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in April about Machine Readable Travel Documents, Biometrics and Border Security.
Read more
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| MULTIMEDIA |
| The depth and breadth of videos available to EAA members is truly remarkable. Whether it's homebuilding tips or coaching for your aviator skills, there are a huge number of videos to watch online. There are also a host of photo galleries to check out, and of course the Sport Aviation magazine is available to members sooner, in my case, than the hard copy. My neighbour gave me his dad's old musty copies of Sport Aviation, and I kept them as long as possible. But when the SA archives came online my wife was thrilled at my decision to recycle them. Click here and start viewing some fascinating content.
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WEBINARS
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Upcoming EAA
webinars of interest include one that looks at aerobatics. Of the 3 primary airplane flight controls, pitch, roll and yaw. Yaw control is the least understood and least utilized. But yaw control is primary to tame stalls, prevent spins, keep tailwheel airplanes going straight during takeoff and landing, and a whole host of other maneuvers.
Learn more and
register for these great programs at the links above,
All webinars begin at 7 p.m. CST unless
otherwise noted, and they require registration. To find
out more about upcoming EAA webinars and to register, visit the webinars
page.
EAA gratefully acknowledges the
support of Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. for its generous
sponsorship of the webinar programs.
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