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Going Solo: Loren McKechnie
Mar 27 2011Congratulations to Loren McKechnie who braved rain and winds on a wet day in Salinas to solo his favorite trusty Cessna 172, 968RC while his CFI Tom Conklin watched white-knuckled from the ground.
Well done Loren and Tom!
New Pilot: Joe Rogers
Mar 24 2011On Tuesday Joe Rogers became the latest member of the ranks of certifed Private Pilots by passing the checkride with Examiner Sherry Diamond in Citabria 53893.
Well done Joe and AeroDynamic CFI Erik Schmidt!
New Pilot: Jeff Benzing
Mar 23 2011Congratulations to Jeff Benzing who earned his Private Pilot ticket with examiner Dave Morss in Citabria 5032G.
Well done Jeff and AeroDynamic CFI Jim Grant.
Going Solo: Maggie Gales
Mar 11 2011We have a brand new fledgling amongst us! Congratulations to Maggie Gales who soloed Citabria 1806G. Well done Maggie, and also her instructors Mark and Tristan.
New Pilot: Brady Eidson
Mar 07 2011Congratulations to Brady Eidson who aced his Private Pilot checkride with Examiner Sherry Diamond. Well done Brady, and his CFI Grainne.
For his first flight as a fully fledged Private Pilot Brady took up his fiancée Betty. Good news, she was smiling a big smile afterwards.
New Pilot: Kathleen Morse
Feb 26 2011Congratulations to Kathleen Morse who added her Airplane Single Engine Land rating to her Glider Private Pilot license, in Citabria 5032G with Examiner Sherry Diamond.
Well done Kathleen, and instructors Grainne Gilvarry and Jim Grant.
News: Citabria 9091L Restoration Part 2
Feb 25 2011Taking a plane apart goes quickly! The real time will be spent putting it all together. After stripping the fabric from the airframe, the framework turned up to be in surprisingly good condition. Even the fabric was ok, but the old paint job made it look bad. When too much dope is layered on to the fabric, it does not make things better, it tends to peel off in large pieces and makes the plane look like it is about to fall apart. However, stripping dope off fabric is generally not a good plan. It is less time consuming to get new fabric and start from scratch.
While the plane is under restauration, we are also planning some upgrades.
The old wings were designed for 14 gallon tanks only and we cannot upgrade them, so Al is building us a new set of wings that will have 18 gallon tanks and modern fuel gauges in each wing root. Each wing will have two new hand built sitka spruce spars, and among other things, around a thousand rivets!
The pilot seat was not adjustable, so we sprung for a new seat frame that is, so shorter pilots can bring it closer and longer legged ones can move it further away from the panel. It should also make getting in and out a little easier.
We are still deciding on a paint scheme. I like the idea of a San Jose Sharks theme. I wonder if the FAA will let us install a shark fin? Ideas welcome.
News: Citabria 9091L Restoration Part 1
Feb 24 2011As most of you will know, we took 9091L down in November for a complete restauration. Over time, the sun does have an effect on the fabric, and every ten to fifteen years a fabric covered airplane will need recovering. Here’s a picture of her while she still looked pretty:
To start the process, the engine, wings, and the tailfeathers will be removed off the plane.
The fabric covering will then be stripped off. The interior, the engine and even the landing gear will all be removed. All the metalwork will be carefully inspected, and repairs made, or pieces replaced as needed. Special attention will be paid to areas where stress is concentrated – landing gear attachment points, base of the tail, and so on.
News: Salinas Airport Could use your help!
Feb 23 2011From Jeff Soares (luv2fly55w@comcast.net) – President of Salinas Owners and Pilots Association:
Salinas Owners & Pilots Association
80 Mortensen Avenue-Salinas, CA. 93905
We need SOPA members to attend the Airport Commission meeting Thursday 2-24-2011 at the Rotunda in Salinas (200 Lincoln Ave) at 7:00pm.
The issue we face is that the school district has identified an area next to Los Padres School to build a park. The problem is that the park is within the boundaries of the Salinas airport Safety Zone under the Area of Influence.
We all love parks but if this park is built within the Salinas Airport Area of Influence, it can turn our up to now friendly community neighbors into an angry force that want to know why dangerous planes are flying right over their children. Plus the fact that it can be potentially dangerous to build a park in an airport Safety Zone.
Please show your support next Thursday by attending the meeting.
Jeff Soares
SOPA President
News: Welcome to another two pilots from Spain!
Feb 19 2011I’d like to extend a warm AeroDynamic welcome to Jose Catalan Soriano and Daniel Tari Fernandez, two pilots from Spain who have come to us to learn the art of tailwheel flying and then spend some time to gain additional experience.
Congratulations to both for earning their tailwheel endorsements, and checking out in a variety of taildraggers already, including the Taylorcraft L-1, Aeronca Champ and Citabria.