Well, what can I say about March other than what a bust for flying! Between snow, wind, fog and muddy runways, I don’t think there was very much flying done at all. However, summer is coming… really, it is. Just look at that beautiful shot on this month’s cover. It’s hard to believe that those mild, lazy days are but a month or two away.

However, there were still some good aviation events on the ground this month including our raffle draw, the Rust Remover and the Western AME Symposium.

The Rust Remover was well attended with about 40 members showing up at the Cardell Homes Theatre on Saturday, April 4th. Nav Canada provided us with a very good presentation on the changes to the Springbank airspace starting May 7th, 2009. In a nutshell, Springbank will become a Class C airspace requiring a transponder to enter. This includes the green, blue and yellow areas in the chart below. The other change is that the floor of the airspace just outside the Springbank inner control zone will drop by 500’. Please check out the Nav Canada web site http://www.navcanada.ca/ContentDefinitionFiles/New sroom/ServiceProjectAnnouncements/2009/an0403a_ en.pdf or the May 7 edition of the Canada Flight Supplement for more information. This would be a good time to update your Calgary Terminal chart and your GPS database.

With graduation quickly approaching for my SAIT AME course (only three more weeks and I’m back in the workforce… hopefully), our class was invited to attend the Western AME Association Symposium held here in Calgary. Unfortunately, attendance by both the membership and exhibitors was about 2/3’s that of previous years. The current economic downturn was generally considered to be the cause.

Despite this, the presentations and seminars were very well done, and a lot was learned. Of particular interest was a new partial FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) System built by Precision Airmotive, the folks that build the RSA fuel injection systems used by Lycoming on their IO- engines. Named the Eagle EMS, the system provides both automotive style fuel injection and electronic ignition for the four-cylinder Lycomings ((I)O-320, (I)O-340, (I)O-360 and (I)O-390). The system claims fuel savings of up to 19% and power increases of up to 13%. It also claims better cold and hot starting, improved maintenance costs and ease of operation with the elimination of the cockpit mixture control.

The system utilizes a dedicated battery for backup power managed by its power control unit which can keep the engine running for several hours after an electrical failure.

Currently, the system is not certified and is being offered to the experimental community for $7200 USD. Although pricey, it’s only marginally more than the RSA mechanical fuel injection system and magnetos it replaces. Aerosport Power in Kamloops is a dealer for the system. So far, Precision has two systems flying, one in an experimental Cessna 172 and the other in an RV-6A. 22 other systems have been sold since it was introduced in the fall of 2008. More information is available at http://www.precisionairmotive.com . Well, that’s all for this month. I hope to see you all at the next meeting this Thursday, April 9th .