We had a great time at the February meeting. Thanks, Patty, for making sure everything was perfect. So sorry you were ill and couldn't enjoy it with us. Thanks to Reni for the use of the projector. Details in the Minutes attached.NEXT MEETING MARCH 10th AT 10:00 AM at the Park Meadows clubhouse in Boerne.
Take IH 10 West to 2nd Boerne exit (Hwy 46 to Bandera or New Braunfels). Cross 46 and stay on the access road, past the Exxon, past the motel. Turn right on School Street (runs along the side of the motel). Stay on School Street to the stop sign (watch out for the dip just before the stop sign). That's San Antonio Street. Turn left. Turn right on Calk. Apartments on the left at end of Calk. When you come in the entrance/exit, you will be facing the office. Pull in and park.Heritage Park Annual Fly-In (Submitted by Kay Renfrow)
March 31
10am til ???Driving Directions
Take IH10 east toward Houston, outside the 1604 Loop
Exit Trainer Hale/FM 2538 (Exit 593)
Take a Right onto Trainer Hale
Go 7.7 miles to the end of Trainer Hale, The Road T's into FM 775
Take a right onto FM 775
Go 1.4 miles to Zuehl Crossing Road
Take a right onto Zuehl Crossing
Go 0.4 miles to Heritage Airpart. There are two gates to Heritage. The first gate is a ranch rail gate. Take the second gate (pretty limestone rock gate).
Follow the crowd.Flying Directions to Heritage Airpark (TE86)
Runways 17/35. Right traffic for 35
Field elevation: 550 MSL
Traffic Pattern elevation: 800-1000 AGL
Multicom Frequency: 122.9
Runway length: 3100 ft
Trees on approach to Runway 17
Have you checked out our chapter website? Sherry Walker has a real talent - see the new items she has added. www.sananntonio99s.org
Laura, Reni, Sherry and Gloria are in the process of planning the Poker Rally/Safety Seminar, which is scheduled for May 5, 2007
A correction to the February newsletter. In the list of attendees at the January meeting, Denise Pride' s name was inadvertently omitted. For the records, she did attend. There are times when we need information and very often refer back to newsletters and minutes, so they need to be accurate, as well as Nancy (or the current chapter chair) needs the list for her annual awards.
In checking the chapter website, I see that there are still some names missing from the Dues Paid List. Only $12 a year. If you joined mid-year (between June 1 and May 31 of the next year), it' s prorated at $1 a month. This is one source of income and we haven't had a fund raiser in quite a while.
The South Central Section magazine, the " Approach", is now available on the section website at www.scs99s.org. The information and registration form for the Spring Section Meeting is also on the website. If you plan to attend, do not have web access and need the registration material, please let Gloria know and it will be mailed to you.
The feedback received when the bios are published in our newsletter indicated everyone enjoyed reading about their sister aviators. So, again, here is another plea - please send Gloria your bio (just one page is fine), telling about you, your family, and all about your passion for flying. Okay - - new members, this means you, too!! We would love to hear all about you.
* * * * * FAA FINANCING BILL A ' CYNICAL ATTEMPT TO SHIFT COSTS' AOPA on Wednesday blasted the Bush administration's proposed FAA refinancing bill as a "manufactured crisis based on flawed financial assumptions about the viability of the current funding system and the cost of the 'NextGen' air traffic control system." AOPA President Phil Boyer said, "Our government is backing away from the safest and most efficient air transportation system in the world and setting in motion the steps toward privatization. This proposal is nothing more than a cynical attempt to shift FAA costs to a different set of taxpayers, and to take control of the agency away from Congress and put it in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and airline executives. It doesn't save money, and it doesn't make the FAA more efficient. This bill would be disaster for consumers, general aviation pilots, and all the communities - ignored by the airlines - that depend upon general aviation for safety, commerce, and air transportation." Senior FAA officials briefed Boyer and other aviation industry leaders on the "Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007" Wednesday, prior to releasing the text to the public.
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT WHEN IT COMES TO USER FEES
The FAA has proposed some 13 new or increased fees that would impact pilots, aircraft owners, and mechanics at various times through their aviation lives. Registering an aircraft would cost $130, plus a recurrent renewal fee. Issuing any pilot certificate would cost $50; replacing a certificate would be $25. Many other fees haven't been set yet, but if the FAA follows the European model (and they say they think that's the way to do things), they'll be exorbitant. "Our members have told us that if the gas tax were to triple, most of them would reduce or stop their flying," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "This proposal stacks more taxes on top of user fees. It would kill GA. We intend to kill it before it kills us." Because there's strength in numbers, AOPA has united with the nation's top general aviation organizations to fight this user fee battle. For complete details and updates on the FAA funding debate, see AOPA Online. ~ AOPA ePilot
* * * * * "Mauritanian hijacker gets in hot water" By JUAN MANUEL PARDELLAS, Associated Press Writer
The Air Mauritania Boeing 737 carrying 71 passengers and a crew of eight was hijacked by a lone gunman brandishing two pistols Thursday evening shortly after it took off from Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, for Gran Canaria, one of Spain's Canary Islands, with a planned stopover in Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania.
The hijacking alarmed Spanish officials because a trial of 29 people accused in the Madrid terrorist bombings of 2004 had begun the same day in Madrid. But the man's motives were not terrorism; he wanted the plane to fly to France so he could request political asylum, said Mohamed Ould Mohamed Cheikh, Mauritania's top police official.
"We were afraid. We thought it was people from al-Qaida or the Algerian GSPC who were going to cut our throats," said Aicha Mint Sidi, a 45-year-old woman who was on the plane. The GSPC is a Muslim extremist group.
"I trembled during and after the hijacking. I thought the plane was going to blow up any minute, either in mid-air or on landing," said another passenger, Dahi Ould Ali, 52. Both spoke after returning to Nouakchott.
The hijacker has been identified as Mohamed Abderraman, a 32-year-old Mauritanian, said an official with the Spanish Interior Ministry office on Tenerife, another of the islands in the Atlantic archipelago. He spoke under ground rules barring publication of his name. Mauritania has said the hijacker was a Moroccan from the Western Sahara.
The hijacker ordered the pilot to fly to France, but the crew told him there was not enough fuel. And Morocco denied a request to land in the city of Djala in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, so the pilot headed for Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, the original destination.
Along the way, speaking to the hijacker, the pilot realized the man did not speak French. So he used the plane's public address system to warn the passengers in French of the ploy he was going to try: brake hard upon landing, then speed up abruptly. The idea was to catch the hijacker off balance, and have crew members and men sitting in the front rows of the plane jump him, the Spanish official said.
The pilot also warned women and children to move to the back of the plane in preparation for the subterfuge, the official said.
It worked. The man was standing in the middle aisle when the pilot carried out his maneuver, and he fell to the floor, dropping one of his two 7 mm pistols. Flight attendants then threw boiling water from a coffee machine in his face and at his chest, and some 10 people jumped on the man and beat him, the Spanish official said.
Around 20 people were slightly injured when the plane braked suddenly, the official said. The hijacker was arrested by Spanish police who boarded the plane after it landed at Gando airport, outside Las Palmas.
Air Mauritania identified the heroic pilot as Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, a 20-year-veteran of the company. Associated Press writers Daniel Woolls in Madrid and Ahmed Mohamed in Nouakchott, Mauritania (Article submitted by Gale Cocanaur)
* * * * * (Taken from the Pro99s Listserve and submitted by Nancy Aldrich)I would like to nominate Captain Cheryl Casillas for Air Queen for the Day!
Cheryl has overcome many obstacles to reach her goals, and she has completed her ATP with the help of a 2006 ISA+21 Scholarship. Cheryl is an excellent example of how patience, perseverance, determination and commitment can turn a dream into reality.
Congratulations, Cheryl, you are our AIR QUEEN FOR THE DAY!!!
All the best and CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Aileen Watkins
Houston ChapterAnd CONGRATULATIONS FROM YOUR SISTER 99s in the San Antonio Chapter!!!
* * * * * Sherry Walker has been working for months on our cookbook. It is no small job. If you have promised her a recipe or story, please send it to her ASAP. She has it almost ready for the printer. Thank you so much, Sherry, for this huge undertaking!
* * * * * Sporty's Safety Quiz (from AOPA ePilot)
1. Most icing accidents are caused by ice that has not been removed from the aircraft before flight.
A. True
B. False2. Most icing accidents occur during which phase of flight?
A. Takeoff and climb
B. Approach and landing
C. Cruise3. A layer of ice that is as thin and rough as a piece of coarse sandpaper can reduce lift by ___% and increase drag by ___%.
A. 20/30
B. 30/40
C. 40/60
D. 50/80
4. In addition to fronts, what pressure areas are more likely to contain icing conditions?
A. Low
B. High
C. Both5. Which part of a typical GA aircraft is most likely to accumulate ice first?
A. Wing
B. Windshield
C. Tail6. How can a pilot recognize an imminent tail stall caused by ice accumulation?
A. If flaps are extended, pitch control becomes abnormal.
B. There is a buffet in the control column.
C. Both.7. Carburetor heat is an example of ____ equipment.
A. Anti-icing
B. Deicing
C. Both8. The most obvious early symptom of airframe icing will be a decrease in ___.
A. RPM
B. Altitude
C. Airspeed9. If you have inadvertently accumulated ice, you should lower flaps to stabilize the approach and landing.
10. Where can you look to find out if an aircraft is approved for flight into known icing?A. True
B. FalseA. POH
B. Aircraft placard
C. BothAnswers: 1 - B, 2 - B, 3 - B, 4 - A, 5 - C, 6 - C, 7 - C, 8 - C, 9 - B, 10 - C
SEE YOU AT THE MEETING MARCH 10!
Blue skies - Gloria