EAA e-Hotline Electronic Newsletter

EAA Brings FAA and Industry Together to Discuss LS Repairmen Courses

EAA hosted the FAA and members of the light-sport aircraft (LSA) maintenance industry at EAA Headquarters on August 24, to review the FAA procedure for the acceptance of LS repairmen inspection and maintenance training courses, continuing discussions held earlier this year. EAA’s Earl Lawrence, vice president of industry and regulatory affairs, said he expected a revised procedure would be available by the end of the year.
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EAA Ford Tri-Motor Back on Tour This Weekend

EAA’s vintage 1929 Ford Tri-Motor lumbers off to Lafayette, Indiana’s Purdue University Airport (LAF) this weekend to kick off a five-city Midwestern tour that runs through September 18. Don’t miss your chance to experience this exquisite example of the world’s first mass-produced passenger airliner, which in its day offered previously unheard of air-rail coast-to-coast travel in 48 hours!
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Kids' Drawings Available on Young Eagles Website

During EAA AirVenture 2005, more than 150 young people created wonderful works of aviation art in the artist booth at EAA’s KidVenture. EAA’s Young Eagles website now has digital images of these drawings featured on a page in the Activity Photo Gallery. Works are categorized by age: 5-8, 9-12 and 13-18. The drawings are now available for viewing on the Young Eagles website.

Bob Bushby to Enter Homebuilders Hall of Fame

Robert Bushby (EAA 26), developer of the Midget Mustang and Mustang II kitplanes, will be inducted into the EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame during ceremonies held October 21 at EAA headquarters, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
“I think that’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Bushby said. “This is the culmination of a lot of EAA work.”
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Larry Mauro to Join Ultralight Hall of Fame

Larry Mauro, one of the pioneers of ultralight aircraft and the designer of the Easy Riser hang glider, will be inducted into the EAA Ultralight Hall of Fame this fall. He and a fellow Hewlett-Packard engineer each pitched in $5 for plans to build an Icarus II glider after seeing one in the March 1972 edition of National Geographic Magazine. Neither of the men were pilots; it just looked like something fun to do.
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Illinois EAAers Honored by Phillips 66 Aviation for Young Eagles Volunteer Efforts

John and Sue Durbin, who have introduced more than 600 young people to the joy and wonder of flight, were honored at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005. On Wednesday, July 27 they were presented with the Phillips 66 Aviation Leadership Award for their work with the EAA Young Eagles program and their commitment to building awareness and wide appreciation of general aviation.
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EAA Scholarship Awards Help Young People Pursue Their Aviation Dreams
This summer’s aviation scholarships presented by the Experimental Aircraft Association are helping a number of young people reach their personal goals in aviation. These scholarships, funded by gifts and endowments to EAA, encourage, recognize and support excellence in various aviation fields. They are awarded based on financial need to those applicants pursuing aviation careers who are also active in school and community activities.
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EAA Fantasy Flight Camps Explore Aviation's Past

Throughout the spring and summer, EAA hosts hundreds of youths at the beautiful Air Academy Lodge, imparting aviation education and fun. But why should kids have all the fun? Make plans for yourself, your spouse--or both--to attend one of EAA’s Fantasy Flight Camps this fall. (Gift certificates also available.) Spend a weekend at the beautiful EAA Air Academy Lodge, and break away on a journey into aviation’s glorious past.
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1960s X-15 Pilots Honored as Astronauts
Three pioneering pilots of NASA’s experimental X-15 rocket plane were officially conferred with civilian astronaut status Wednesday during a special ceremony held at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California. Retired NASA pilot Bill Dana, along with family members representing deceased pilots John B. McKay and Joseph A Walker, received their long overdue civilian astronaut wings acknowledging their flights above 254,000 feet altitude, or 50 miles.

Dana’s first of two flights into space took him 58.13 miles above the Mojave Desert on November 1, 1966. McKay reached 295,600 feet or 55.98 miles on September 28, 1965. Walker’s third X-15 flight on August 22, 1963, claimed an unofficial altitude record of 354,200 feet, or 67.08 miles, also the highest flight recorded by the aircraft.

That record stood for nearly 40 years, until October 4, 2004, when Scaled Composites’ Brian Binnie piloted SpaceShipOne to 367,442 feet or 69.6 miles altitude to capture the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

The three NASA pilots never received appropriate recognition because only the military had astronaut wings to confer on their pilots at that time.

Legend delivers Its First Legend Cub LSA
American Legend Aircraft Company delivered the first Legend Cub light-sport aircraft to Rich Giannotti of Brookhaven, Long Island, New York, this week. “This is an exciting time for the people at Legend “We love airplanes and we especially love the Cub,” said Tim Elliott, company president. “Building Rich’s airplane from the ground up was a pleasure, and seeing him take delivery was an emotional high. We are looking forward to many similar experiences with future Legend customers.” The two-place Legend Cub is designed to meet light-sport aircraft category certification requirements. It has an empty weight of 850 lbs and is propelled by a 100-horesepower Continental O-200 engine with electric start. With the optional floats, the aircraft is capable of water takeoffs and landings. For more information visit www.legendaircraftcompany.com, or call 903/885-7000.

Poly Fiber Manual 'Covers It All'
How To Cover An Aircraft from Poly Fiber deals with all aspects of covering or recovering a fuselage and wings, while explaining and “demystifying” the process, materials and required tools. “When the Stits process became Poly Fiber, we re-wrote the manual,” said author and Poly Fiber vice president Jon Goldenbaum. “We lightened it up and added a lot of illustrations to drive home the point that virtually anyone can cover and paint an aircraft." Poly Fiber also created a practice kit that has been upgraded several times to allow people an opportunity to convince themselves that they really can do this kind of work. To order your a copy of How to Cover an Aircraft or a practice kit, contact Aircraft Spruce at www.aircraftspruce.com, or call 877/4-SPRUCE..

Replacement Tailwheel Springs Available for Van’s RV series
RV-4 builder, pilot, and professional design engineer Brent Anderson has designed an improved tail spring for RV aircraft called the Tail Lynx, now available through the Van’s Aircraft online catalog. The Tail Lynx is small, high-strength, streamlined, and fashioned with stainless steel to make it resistant to corrosion. It features a draw spring for safety so it will not come apart if the spring breaks. The design employs aircraft cable with standard swaged fittings, and a unique keyed construction that locks the parts together during assembly. Cable slack can be easily suited to builder preference during the installation process. To order, visit www.vansaircraft.com and search for “Tail Lynx.”

Aviat Aircraft Restructures Flap Handle
Aviat Aircraft’s new, ergonomically friendly flap handle will be standard on all new Huskys sold, the company reported this week. Designed to provide three settings (10°, 20°, and 30°) the new handle activates the flaps with considerably shorter travel, and the leverage point for deployment is always in front of the pilot. The older flap handle required pulling the lever behind the pilot’s shoulder. The new handle offers better leverage, takes less effort, and can be retrofitted to existing aircraft in about an hour. For more information visit www.aviataircraft.com.

Aircraft Spruce Issues New Pilot Shop Catalog
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty has completed its new Fall/Winter 88-page Pilot Shop catalog. Among the new products in the full-color catalog are a Noise buster headset, Head-On Collision Avoidance for VFR Aircraft, the Garmin 396 GPS, Extreme Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner and the AirGizmos Panel Dock. To order your copy--or the full 600-plus page general Aircraft Catalog--visit www.aircraftspruce.com.

U.S. Air Race Events in September
Shelby Bowles and Jim Reed are set to defend their title in the 2005 U.S. Air Races next month. Events include the Cowhand 300, a navigational challenge that starts and ends at the Mesquite, Texas airport on September 25; the 1,800-mile Marion Jayne Air Race and Cruise, September 26-28, from Mesquite to Monroe, North Carolina; and the Carolinas 300 in Monroe September 30. Events are open to all pilots and all piston-powered aircraft. For complete information, including registration, rules, and regulations, visit www.us-airrace.org.

Nonprofit Creating On-Line Index for National Aviation History
Members of the Aircraft Engine Historical Society (AEHS) are bringing a collection of United States aviation history into the 21st Century. Last January, the society began work on an online finding aid for the U.S. Air Force Engineering Division Records. All 8,400 pages of the finding aid have been scanned and are now being converted into electronic form and loaded into a database located on the web at www.enginehistory.org.

Records of the U.S. Air Force Engineering Division, now held at the U.S. National Archives II in College Park, Maryland, document the development of practically everything acquired by the Air Force between 1917 and 1947.
The AEHS seeks tax-deductible donations of time and resources to help support this effort. Contact Kimble D. McCutcheon at 256/683-1458 for information on how you can become involved in this unique and important project.

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