As
you read this edition of the magazine, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 will be
just over the horizon. We have been working hard to prepare for the
convention and are looking forward to a great annual meeting. Ed Lachendro,
who was hired as our executive director early this year (some of you met
him at Sun ’n Fun) has decided to return to the airlines, and we have
hired Bill Fischer as our new executive director. He has 14 years of
experience working with the public as the director of special facilities
for the City of Green Bay. He also is a pilot, warbird enthusiast, and
collector of military memorabilia. Bill will start in this position on
July 1.
Taking this new position so close to the start of the convention and
getting everything done during those last hectic couple of weeks will be a
very difficult task. Peter Moll (with 10 years’ experience in that
position) has graciously agreed to work with him in the few weeks leading
up to the convention and during the convention to help get all of the
preparations finished and to ensure that the convention runs smoothly.
Bill will really have a baptism under fire, but I am confident he can
handle it! Midge Fischer (his assistant), who has been with WOA since last
fall, has been doing a great job in keeping things going at Warbird
headquarters during all of this turmoil (the similarity in the names is
purely coincidental).
The program will start with an all P-51 Mustang show on Tuesday, July
23. We will have shows running between 55 and 65 minutes on Wednesday,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A tremendous number of warbirds were at Sun
’n Fun this year, but not many flew in the show. We are encouraging
everyone that feels comfortable in doing so to fly in the show at EAA
AirVenture, and we will try hard to provide the opportunity. Participation
in one of the pre-convention formation training programs (at Kenosha,
Wisconsin, for example) makes one’s first introduction to EAA AirVenture
flying a lot easier. We will have Aluminum Overcast (our B-17) parked in
our area instead of at the show center, and we are planning on having more
active military aircraft in our area this year as well.
On the Washington front, we have had success with the Alternate Means
of Compliance (AMOC) for the T-34 Mentor wing spar airworthiness directive
(AD). This recently approved AMOC enables T-34 owners to replace their old
spars, which were subject to potentially damaging and expensive repetitive
inspections every 80 hours, with new Raytheon King-Air spars. The AMOC
also includes a dye penetrant inspection of the "rear spar
bathtub" lower fitting. According to the FAA, if you are signed up on
the waiting list for the AMOC, you can continue to fly the aircraft after
August 15. (You can also fly your T-34 if you are still within the 80
hours specified by the AD.) The estimated cost of compliance for the AMOC
will be $30,000-$40,000 (the spars, not counting the labor, are close to
$20,000). The cost will also depend on what other problems are found when
the wings are opened up. The work on most aircraft will take an estimated
two weeks to complete per the AMOC.
A lot of credit goes to Charlie Nogle (a WOA Director and Warbirds Hall
of Fame member) for putting a tremendous amount of time and money into
this project to get it approved. Thank you, Charlie! The T-34 Technical
Committee also has been working on another AMOC, which will involve
modification of the original spar with a plate, but this has not yet been
submitted to the FAA for approval.
If you would like to get on the list to have the spar AMOC done on your
T-34, contact Jud Nogle of Nogle and Black Aviation at 217/253-4342 or
Danny Blackwell Jr. of BAI Industries at 412/344-5474.
As you prepare to fly to Oshkosh, take some extra time to make sure
everything in your aircraft works the way it should, and fly only within
the limitations of your equipment and your own abilities. Fly safe and
"Keep ’em Flying!"
As
you read this edition of the magazine, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 will be
just over the horizon. We have been working hard to prepare for the
convention and are looking forward to a great annual meeting. Ed Lachendro,
who was hired as our executive director early this year (some of you met
him at Sun ’n Fun) has decided to return to the airlines, and we have
hired Bill Fischer as our new executive director. He has 14 years of
experience working with the public as the director of special facilities
for the City of Green Bay. He also is a pilot, warbird enthusiast, and
collector of military memorabilia. Bill will start in this position on
July 1.