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CLUB NOTESNovember 2017

Fellow flyers,

We want to thank everyone for their patience as we bring our fleet back up. The engine for N737TY arrived in the first week of November. We are working diligently to return it back to service better than before. Our latest estimates are for it to be done at the end of November. We also have some good news on 7508J, the repair is just about finished and we need a little good weather to allow the wing to get some paint. We are hopeful that it will be back online by the 20th of November.

The board has updated our policies on no-show penalties and clarified policies for when a problem leaves you stranded at a remote airport. The new policies are highlighted in this newsletter and we will be updating the online regulation documents soon.

We have a couple of reminders for you to take care of the airplanes. In a story related to the Arrow repair an A&P describes how leaving trash behind is actually a safety issue.

Lastly the board has pursued a number of purchase or leaseback opportunities to get a replacement trainer aircraft and perhaps another cross-country plane. We are also working on getting a meeting with our parent organization to discuss financing arrangements for fleet upgrades. As soon as we have more information we will let you know.

! ! Charles Galles! ! TFC Communications Officer 

T e x i n s F l y i n g C l u b

N e w s l e t t e r

Club NotesPage 1

Nobody likes a no-showPage 2

Stuck in the BooniesPage 3

Oil and Rags Page 4

McKinney Aviation Expo Page 5

TFC Fleet NotesPrices, Usage, maintenance notes, events, placesPage 6-7

Board Notesboard mtg. notesPage 8

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Nobody likes a no-showby Charles Galles from Bob Niedwiecki

Most of us who spend a lot of time at the airport have experienced it. Heading out to the flight line or just looking out at our tie-downs: “Wait a second - didn’t somebody have N733NB? Why is it still sitting out there?”

No-shows are not good for the club. Planes that sit when they should be flying cost the club and its members more money. Pilots who want to use planes but can’t due to busy schedules get frustrated. Training with instructors and students takes longer to finish because the schedule doesn’t have enough open space.

The club has a written policy for no-show reservations. It was written a long time ago when flying was cheaper and $10 was worth a lot more. Based on multiple incidents and feedback from numerous impacted club members, the club has updated its penalties for no-show reservations.

First we want to be clear: Safety is number one. If you are not safe to fly or if the flight you are planning is not safe. Please cancel the flight. Cancel it as soon as you decide not to go. There will be no penalty if cancelled before the time of scheduled use.

As responsible pilots, we are generally not surprised by IFR conditions if we have checked the weather. Sure, as Dick Stephens pointed out, sometimes the forecasters get it wrong and we do get surprised right out on the field. Also it’s not uncommon to have to wait for the dewpoint / temperature spread to widen a bit in the morning. And sometimes you just get to feeling not quite up to a flight right before you go. So as mentioned above - cancel the flight, there will be no penalty and someone else might be able to use the plane.

The new policies for scheduling an aircraft and not flying the plane and not cancelling the reservation are:

1) Member will be fined one hour of flight time for reservations up to four hours. Reservations over four hours will be billed at two hours of flight time per day.

2) Members must cancel the aircraft prior to or at the time of scheduled use if they will not use the airplane.

3) Members must cancel the plane reservation even if the weather is IFR. There may be an IFR pilot that could use the plane

4) If the weather is IFR but forecast to improve halfway through your scheduled time, you must still cancel the time you cannot use the airplane.

As per existing club policy, late shows forfeit their reservation after 20 minutes and may still be subject to a no-show penalty. The board will continue to monitor the schedule to make sure that the policies above work and we hope all members work with us to improve our utilization of the planes.

Items useless to TFC pilots: Altitude above us, runway behind us, fuel on the truck, and idle schedule time in the past.

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Stuck in the Boonies?Last month an incident with a club leased plane left an instructor and a student stranded out at KJDD (Wood County, Quitman). The engine had a mechanical failure and the pilots were forced to make an emergency landing. Thankfully they found a nice available runway to put the plane down. However, as you can imagine, this left them stranded miles from home with a broken plane. What would you do in this situation? The board recently reviewed the incident and decided to clarify policy and make sure all club members know what to do in this situation.

First, secure the airplane. Make sure it is off and safe or, if it is not, call 911 for assistance.

Next, call the club operations VP and let them know about the situation. They may be able to give you advice or talk to someone who can help you work around the problem. At the very least they may be able to let you know who to talk to. Please remember that you are only authorized to spend up to $200 maximum without consulting the VP of operations for the club to get permission. There’s not much on an airplane that costs less than $200 to fix.

After you make a plan for what to do about the plane (if you even can do anything), you’re going to get a strange sensation as you realize: “huh, I’m out here in the middle of nowhere and I have no way to get back.” Well it’s all going to depend on your situation but the board wanted to put in writing our policy on flying out to get you:

TFC Rescue Policy: In the event that a member is stranded at a remote airport due to circumstances

rendering the aircraft not airworthy,  TFC will, upon the member's request, try to retrieve or rescue the member and their party by flying an aircraft to the remote airport to retrieve them.  The rescue flight

may only proceed if authorized by either the TFC President, Operations Vice-president, or a TFC maintenance officer.   The rescued member shall incur the costs of the aircraft rental used to enact the rescue  and shall have the option of declining the rescue.   All normal scheduling rules shall apply.  No TFC member shall be bumped or displaced from an existing aircraft schedule to effect a rescue.

Some other considerations arising from the above rescue policy - our planes don’t hold a lot of weight, so even if a rescue flight is authorized, it might not bring back you and your passengers and all their stuff, so please keep that in mind. Also, it is going to take some time to get out to you, it’s quite possible that the weather could be deteriorating or daylight could run out. If you’re not on a well provisioned airport the flight might not be able to get to you. In some cases it may be best just to arrange for someone to drive out to get you or to get a taxi or rental car. Note that our regulations state that it is the responsibility of the club member to arrange for and bear the cost of returning the plane back to McKinney as soon as possible. Those arrangements may require coordination with the Ops VP in the case of major or lengthy repairs.

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A tale of oil and ragsfrom Hank Eilts and Bob Niedwiecki

The topic of rags and oil has come up in two of our airplanes - actually the story probably affects all of the planes.

N7508J - Rear seat cavity

While performing repairs on the Arrow’s damaged wing, David Thibodeaux raised an important safety issue. It seems that some loose rags, paper towels, and oil can spouts had made their way underneath the rear seat. However the space under the rear seat of the Arrow also houses a channel for the stabilator and rudder control cables. These loose items can interfere with the operation of the cables and control surfaces creating a potentially dangerous control problem. We need to caution all of our Arrow pilots and passengers not to leave loose items in the baggage area. You need to visually inspect the baggage area in your pre-flight with this in mind. That is a major safety issue. N3QZ …We are still finding trash in seat backs and oily rags left in the plane. The owner’s hangar is littered with empty oil containers and oily rags. This is a great airplane, it has been well cared for and we owe it to the club and to the owner to respect the airplane and the hangar. If the problem continues, the board will need to identify the offenders and take action.

Oil supplyThe club maintains a small supply of oil in our hangar. The key for the hangar is in the lockbox. Reminder that 3NB, 08J, and 7TY need between 6 and 8 quarts. 3QZ needs 8-9 quarts - although the POH says max oil is 12 quarts we have verified with an A&P that this engine should not be filled with more than 9 quarts because the excess just spills out and makes a mess.

Using ragsRags are for cleaning leading edges, not for oil. The rags cannot be cleaned sufficiently to reuse when they are saturated with oil. Use paper towels for checking oil.

Feel free to take the dirty rags home and throw them in the washer if you see a pile of them in the plastic container.

In all cases above, please remove oily rags and trash from the planes. Oily rags make the planes dirty, they can be a combustible item and safety issue, and they will make the plane smell like oil. Please bring a small trash bag with you, and make sure that all of the trash is emptied when you leave the plane for the next person. If you find a plane left in poor condition squawk it, or if you know who had it last, call them up and remind them to take their trash with them.

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McKinney Aviation Expoby Charles Galles

Saturday November 11 was a fun day out at McKinney. Monarch and TKI hosted an aviation expo aimed at getting youngsters interested in aviation. The centerpiece of the event was the RV-12 built by high school students in the McKinney aviation program. The plane took its official inaugural flight at the event.

Also at the expo were representatives of the aviation industry from universities with aviation programs, to commercial flight schools, and airlines. Local avionics company iFly was there as well. Appropriately for Veteran’s day, a Korean war veteran was on hand to display his beautiful 1/2 scale F4U Corsair.

The US Navy was well represented with a interactive carrier landing game. Kids of all ages enjoyed trying to stick the landing by flying model planes down a wire onto a large moving flight deck target. And the Texins Flying Club was represented as well - we answered questions from youngsters and parents interested in flying and maybe someday one of them will join our club.

1/2 scale F4U Corsair - the plane is fully functional but the owner only uses it for static displays

McKinney North HS - RV-12

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EVENT CALENDARNov 29 - TFC happy hour at Austin Avenue - Plano,

6:30pm.Dec 6 - TFC board meeting - TKI conference roomDec 9 - TFC membership meeting - elections, speaker

TBD

MILESTONES

MEMBER DATE EVENT INSTRUCTOR

Chester Jackson 10/20/2017 Instrument Hank Eilts

3NB - online: registration updated, audio panel fickering. New reports of rough engine as of 11/14.

08J - wing repair should be finished by 11/17 weather permitting for paint. Safety issue raised by A&P regarding loose items under rear seat

9TS - online after rocker stud and push rod failed

68K and 29U - picked up by salvage truck.

3QZ - online: HSI inop, original HSI out for repair, ELT battery replaced

7TY - engine arrived - may be back online by 11/24. Multiple items remain to be installed

TFC FLEET MAINTENANCE

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BY THE NUMBERS

N737TYN733NB

N739TSN7508J

N3QZ

$155.00$140.00

$125.24$125.24$125.24

Rental Rates - Oct 2017

32.5

63.013.4

46.8

October HoursN737TYN733NBN739TSN7508JN3QZ

0

100

200

300

400

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Fleet Flying Hours

20172016201520142013

$2.00

$2.75

$3.50

$4.25

$5.00

$5.75

$6.50

Feb16Apr16

Jun16Aug16

Oct16Dec16

Feb17Apr 17

Jun 17Aug 17

Oct 17

Fuel Price Trends

Pric

e / g

al

TKISWIHQZ 4.95

0

100

200

300

400

Dec 15 Feb 16 Apr 16 Jun 16 Aug 16 Nov 16 Jan 17 Mar 17 May 17 Jul 17 Sep 17

Plane Usage Trends

Hou

rs

N6368KN7929UN737TYN733NBN739TSN7508JN3QZ

FLIGHTLINES

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FLIGHTLINES

. “... to encourage interest in aviation, to advance the knowledge of the members in aeronautical and navigational subjects, and

to bring to more people the social benefits and pleasure of flying.”http://www.texinsflyingclub.org

Texins Flying Club Board of DirectorsTexins Flying Club Board of DirectorsTexins Flying Club Board of DirectorsTexins Flying Club Board of DirectorsPOSITION OFFICER PHONE E-Mail

President Robert McLeod 214-663-0754 robert@productionguys.com

Vice-President of Operations Chris Dennis 903-718-1010 yourpilotincommand@gmail.com

Vice-President of Membership Bob Niedwiecki 214-697-5266 bobnedwik@gmail.com

Chief Instructor Dick Stephens 972-270-1769 dick@stephens-family.net

Treasurer Curtis Conrad 972-998-9898 cwconrad92@gmail.com

Controller Scott Kirkland 214-208-1000 skkirkland@yahoo.com

Communications Charles Galles 469-222-8203 c.f.galles@ieee.org

Safety Brian Relin 214-733-2001 abiggreenmonster@hotmail.com

X-Country Maintenance Hank Eilts 972-517-8273 hank.eilts@verizon.net

Trainer Maintenance James Ballard 972-271-9728 jamball41@gmail.com

Operations Report 7TY engine arrived - prediction is back

online Nov 24. We still have additional work on engine monitor and fuel sending units that has not been started. Still dealing with carpet cutting and shipping

29U - board passed motion to accept offer of $5500 to sell plane for scrap. 68K and 29U were picked up.

3NB is doing great [post board meeting update - engine roughness is back ]

9TS - GPS db updated, navcom 2 display is out.

3QZ - HSI is out, old one is being rebuilt.

08J - may be back this week or next

Chief Instructor & Ground SchoolDick scheduled instructor meeting for

Nov 11.

Safety Report no report.

Treasurer

working to collect deductible payments for incidents this summer. Hull value of 7TY increased to $90k. Engine monitor being paid for from avionics fund.

Concern that squawk for 08J implies a known issue contributed to damage. Issue to be investigated.Controller

Scott, Curtis, and Robert trying to proposed Nov 20th to 22nd with Texins Assoc. for presentation on “new and renew”

Cross-Country Maintenanceno report.

Trainer maintenance/GPS updatesGPS db’s updated. Swapping GPS

units from 29U to 3NB. subscription cost $2800 - $440 for G430’s and $450 for Apollo units.

Membership146 total members.

Communications

no report.

Other BusinessBoard has voted to open membership

up again with 7TY coming back this month. Restrictions on overnights and blocks of more than 4 hours remain in effect. When overnights for 172’s are allowed again - at least one plane must be blocked from overnight reservation.

Board d iscussed a leaseback opportunity for a piper cherokee. Concern about weight and balance issues need to be resolved. Still discussing

Texins Flying Club Board Meeting Updates