EAA 445 MARCH NEWSLETTER

Can you name this plane? If so click here , type in the name and hit send. The first person with the correct name will be listed in next month's newsletter. (If you were at the last meeting , you are not eligable to play this time)

No Winners in last months NTP. A couple of people guessed it was a T38-Talon.

It is in fact a Czech made L-39

Picture submitted by Terry Fregly

Aero Vodochody produced thousands of L39 in their plant outside of Prague. Where did they all go? Click Here to find out

For more information goto www.l39.com

Click here to send your answer. The winners name will be listed in next months newsletter.

Congratulations to Steve Bryan for winning last months safety quiz: the answer is a:

The possibility of carburetor icing exists even when the ambient air temperature is as
A) high as 70 °F and the relative humidity is high.
B) high as 95 °F and there is visible moisture.
C) low as 0 °F and the relative humidity is high.

Diversions by Ed Copes

“We love to fly and it shows” – that line from the old Delta ads kept running thru my head as we drove around Leeward Air Ranch a couple of weeks ago. And if you love to fly, this has got to be the closest thing to a pilot’s paradise as I’ve ever seen. John Sivyer and I dropped in at Leeward to visit Angela Green, the former icon of the Big Bend Flying Club who has recently moved here. And although our tour was rather quick, what we saw would be enough to make the aviation equivalent of Robin Leach bring in his film crew (if there were such a person).

Leeward is a private residential airpark about 6 miles southeast of Ocala. Founded by Jimmy Leeward, the well known racing pilot, Leeward has what Mac McClellan of Flying magazine called “the most perfectly constructed and maintained sod runway

I have ever landed on.” At 6500’ in length, it can handle just about anything. There is an FAA charted aerobatic box on one side of the strip and about 130 homes on the other side, with enough lots to handle about 70 more. If you want to buy here, you need to have a current medical, a pilot’s license and an airplane (or a part of one). And you need to build both a home and a hangar (unfortunately, you can’t live in the hangar).

The runway is great, the homes are beautiful, but the real standout at Leeward are the airplanes. There are well over one hundred airworthy planes here with many more in various stages of construction or restoral. RVs are popular, as are warbirds, with eight T-6’s based here. Most of the hangars we saw were home to multiple aircraft. “We’re the poor ones here”, quipped Angela, “we only have one airplane.” One couple has his and hers planes – his is a Stearman and hers is a beautifully restored, polished aluminum Cessna 140. Angela’s next door neighbor has a twin Comanche, a T-6 and three hot air balloons. Another neighbor has a T-6, the third he has restored, and is restoring a PT-19 as his current project. One hangar we visited was home to a twin Comanche, two gliders, and a Pawnee (to tow the gliders). They had just sold their T-6, but were hoping to replace it with some sort of plane on floats. Another poor fellow must have had a full hangar, he had to park one of his planes out in his driveway.

Leeward has also been home to some notable names in the aviation community (including Angela, of course). Jimmy Leeward, who currently races his P-51Cloud Dancer and has a hangar here, hosts a gathering of Sun ‘n Fun bound warbirds here every year. More information on Jimmy Leeward and his airplanes can be found at http://www.aafo.com/gallery/history/leeward/ . Famed air racer Steve Wittman had Leeward as his winter home until his death in 1995. If you’re not sure who Steve Wittman was, there is a little airport in Oshkosh that bears his name. You can read a brief biography of Steve at www.totalracing.com/wittman/wittbio.

“The only problem with living here is trying to get any work done”, Angela said. There are frequent comings and goings to observe from a home on the air ranch. Leaving your hangar door open is an open invitation for your neighbors to gather and talk airplanes. Then there are the airshows, which Angela promised occur “every day around 4 pm.” As we were completing our tour, right on queue, around 3:45, we heard her scanner squawk “the aerobatic box is hot” and we looked up to see a Citabria preparing for a loop. Shortly thereafter, as we taxied out for departure, two warbirds were right behind us, getting ready to add to the entertainment.

Ah, Angela, we know it’s tough, but we’re glad you’re there keeping an eye on all of it for us.

Ed Copes is an Instrument Rated Private Pilot ,network software engineer and BBF feature writer.

Civil Air Patrol

For those of you who might not be quite current in your knowledge of today's Civil Air Patrol, take a minute or two and see the following article in the latest issue of Flying Magazine:
Civil Air Patrol: Not Just for Kids By Jay Hopkins
The mission of Civil Air Patrol has changed over time, but not in its importance.

Once you've read about what we do, you're cordially invited to find out more about the Tallahassee Composite Squadron, a highly trained local team of more than 100 volunteers who perform exactly the types of missions described in the article plus more. Established in 1947, the local unit regularly works with agencies ranging from the American Red Cross to the State Emergency Operations Center, in addition to our primary search and rescue missions assigned by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.

And you read that right, these are volunteers! While they are reimbursed for expenses on government missions, all training is done on their own time and operational expenses must be covered by the members via various fund-raising activities and community contributions. Also notable, the Civil Air Patrol's Cadet Program includes members from 12 years old and up, who train, qualify, and serve on actual missions just like the senior members.

For more information, to inquire about membership, or to inquire about assisting the squadron in other ways, please call (850) 580-0010 or visit the squadron website at: www.captlh.org. Or contact 1Lt. Kevin Smith at:
kevin.smith@mail.com

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

Picture submitted by Marty Roberts

If you have an interesting aviation related picture, please click here and attach it. We will pick the best one and feature it in next months newsletter. Include a short discription but please keep it to one photo , we are still using a slow dialup connection.

E- MAILS

RON'S ANSWER IS SOOOOO RIGHT !!! REGARDING AIRLINE FLYING , WE WERE REQUIRED TO COMMIT TO A STERILE COCKPIT FROM 10,000 FEET DOWN AND NO UNNECESSARY CONVERSATION UNTIL AT THE PARKING GATE. IF YOU FLY COMMERCIAL, YOU WILL HEAR THE SEAT BELT-NO SMOKING CHIME SOUND WHEN THE CREW IS STARTING THEIR APPROACH....NOT ONLY FOR THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS TO MAKE THEIR ARRIVAL ANNOUNCEMENT ..BUT ALSO DO NOT CALL THE COCKPIT FROM THEN ON ..UNLESS A EMERGENCY IS REQUIRED. IN GENERAL AVIATION WE SELDOM IF EVER GET TO 10,000 FEET, BUT IN AND AROUND AIRPORT OPERATION IT IS JUST ABOUT MANDATORY TO STAY QUITE AND BE ALERT ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR.

-CAPT. DICK NORMAN

I am very happy I receive the newsletter by email and would like to share it with others. I have tried printing it, but it cuts off about 1/4 of the page along the right margin. I searched the sight to see if there is a special printing mode so that it prints correctly, but have come up empty. Can you help me? I'd sure appreciate it.

-Dory Penton

Editors Note: I have decreased the width of the newsletter to allow for printing. To insure it will still not get cut off, before you print, assuming you are using Internet Explorer, go to File, Page setup, Then change the margin settings to 0.25".

Two items I would greatly appreciate being sent and forwarded to all area pilots are: OPERATION AIRSPACE , an online training of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation that includes updated information about TFR's and other critical security issues.

The other is to ask pilots to familiarize themselves with the AOPA's AIRPORT WATCH program being developed with the Transportation Security Administration to put to use the 650K pilots in our nation as eyes and ears to observe and report suspicious behavior. I would really love for us to embrace this program and become a model for its implementation nationwide.

- Kevin J. Koelemij AOPA ASN Volunteer for TLH

" Wow!! Another great newsletter. You do such a good job, John. I always enjoy reading these newsletters."

-Angela Green

Big Bend Flyer welcomes your comments click here to send your thoughts !

March 5th Big Bend Flying Club

Our next meeting will be Wed March the 5th at the Buckhead Brewery. Jeff Owens, longtime owner of a 182 and Physics Proffeser at FSU will be presenting his experiences with airframe icing for you, how he has learned to avoid it and how you can avoid it too!

March 11 2003 EAA 445 Meeting @ Wesminster Oaks Clubhouse

Frank Smith and his wife will be cooking chicken and rice.

March 16th One event that is up and coming is the Florida Pilot Association Fly In at Fantasy of Flight The one last year was awesome, with over 180 planes. You can get info at www.floridapilot.com

Sun ’n Fun Celebrates ‘100 Years of Aviation’ April 2-8
The Sun ’n Fun EAA Fly-In launches the summer flying season April 2-8 at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida. This year’s event, Sun ’n Fun’s first under the new Wednesday-through-Tuesday format, will also help launch the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. The debut of EAA’s 24,000 square-foot “Countdown to Kitty Hawk” pavilion highlights the 2003 celebration. The pavilion’s main attraction is EAA’s faithful reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer that will eventually re-create the first flights on December 17 at Kitty Hawk. Countdown to Kitty Hawk is presented by Ford Motor Company with supporting sponsorship from Microsoft Flight Simulator and Eclipse Aviation. For more information about Sun ’n Fun, visit www.sun-n-fun.org.

For an Updated listing of events all over Florida, click here