Well, what an exciting time! It would seem that many members have been bitten by the bug to upgrade to bigger, faster, sleeker aircraft. On the cover is Pat’s new Cessna 120. Peter has upgraded to Pat’s old Merlin. I also heard that Dan Mitchel has a new plane in his hangar… a new Merlin. Wade Miller is also looking to upgrade, having sold his Champ (no, he’s not looking to upgrade the 737 ☺). Stu Simpson is also in the market to upgrade Merle. Of course, we can’t overlook the RV crowd with Troy upgrading to an RV-10 (should be ready next month given his progress ☺).

In naval terms, this phenomenon is known as “6 footitis.” That is, the search for a vessel 6’ longer than what you own. In aviation, this should be termed “50 percentitis.” That is, the search for a plane that cruises 50% faster, climbs 50% better, takes off 50% shorter, or carries 50% more useful load. This effect is quite evident at Carstairs. At one point, Chrissy was pretty much the largest plane on the field, being heavier and more powerful than Mike’s Chief, Glenn’s Bushcaddy, Richard’s Merlin, and Jorn’s Cessna 120. Now, Chrissy is the smallest plane, with Richard and Jorn upgrading to the Stinsons, Glenn upgrading to the Bushcaddy 164, and Mike upgrading to the Cessna 170. Essentially, the club is maturing as members refine their expectations from their flying activities.

With all the new Dragonflies in the club, I’m really looking forward to this summer’s get-togethers to look over the new flock. I’m also looking forward to accompanying some of these aircraft to Oshkosh this summer.

Plans for Oshkosh are starting to come together. We’re looking at what routes will be the best for the various aircraft. The last two Oshkosh excursions I’ve made went through Regina. In 2005 we went through Brandon and International Peace Gardens. The 2006 trip went through Minot, ND, after leaving Regina. This year, I’d be interested in heading south first, crossing somewhere in Montana. This route is no better or worse than the others, but it’s one I haven’t done yet. Obviously, any route we pick will be heavily dependent on weather. We’ll be watching for fronts and pressure areas to try and take advantage of winds and clear air where we can.

Speaking of summer activities, I’d like to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to come visit us in Bashaw this summer. I’ll be working on our cabin through the summer, starting in early May. However, I’m more than happy to take a break to go shoot a round of golf. So, if you can get away for a mid-week round of golf, give me a shout.

School is going very well. With only three weeks left, the courses are starting to wrap up. This term has been very enjoyable for me. We’ve been studying fuel injection, pressure carbs, and propellers lately. I couldn’t help but be amazed at how anyone could have come up with the operating principles behind these units. It’s an elegant balance of fuel pressure, venturi pressure, impact air pressure, and springs in various chambers that delivers a reliable fuel-air mixture directly to the intake port. The neat thing is that, besides the auxiliary fuel pump, the entire system is non-electric. The work required to design this is mind-boggling.

Another cool unit we studied is the Aeromatic Prop. This prop uses a balance of counterweights and aerodynamic forces to automatically change pitch as throttle and airspeed change. The lightweight prop has wooden blades and a metal hub. This was designed by someone with way too much time on their hands! However, I couldn’t help but wonder how well this type of prop would work on homebuilts, ultralights, and LSA aircraft.

Hope to see you all next week at the meeting.