Volume 19, Issue 8

News;

September Meeting
We had an enjoyable evening with Tim White demonstrating his powered paraglider. Believe it or not he was unable to fly because of a lack of wind, but he got the rig out, cranked up the motor and raised the chute with a short run. Although new to paragliding, he was very informative.
Powered paraglider is supposedly the smallest simplest powered aircraft, the easiest to learn to fly and does not require any license to fly in the US. Using a paraglider wing ensures safety and inherent stability, while the engine adds autonomy and freedom. Hmmm, at up to about 65 lbs, all that weight would have me worried about the knees of my landing gear. Control is very easy; simply pull the right hand brake to turn right, the left to turn left and pull both at five feet above the ground to glide in for a gentle landing. The world powered paraglider altitude record is 18 000 feet, but I would suggest for longevity keeping out of military operational areas and anywhere above 500 feet. They also cannot legally be flown within 5 miles of an airport. With flight endurance of up to about 3 hours and air speeds up to about 25 mph one can certainly get around the patch, but I sure would want a good set of active noise canceling headsets. Many thanks Tim. - Ed

EAA #859 Chapter Picnic - Saturday October 9, 12 pm. Come earlier if you want to help out with tables etc or just to try your hand at the grill. This is a potluck dinner so please bring one of the following; a Vegetable, Salad, Fruit, Dessert or something else. We are expecting 5 powered chutes to be doing demonstrations and giving rides.- Your local airport friends

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AN EGYPTIAN MODEL AIRPLANE

by John H. Lienhard
.
Today, we fly an old, old airplane. The University of Houston's College of Engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
The ancient bird models in the Cairo Museum were all pretty similar. Only one in the set was wrong. It was made of sycamore wood -- a little thing with a 7-inch wingspan. In 1969 Khalil Messiha, an Egyptian doctor and amateur student of bird models, noticed it. It stood out for him because he saw it through the eyes of his childhood. He recalled the shapes and forms he'd worked with when he'd built model airplanes. This wasn't a bird at all. It was a model airplane, and that wasn't possible.
The other birds had legs. This had none. The other birds had painted feathers. This had none. The other birds had horizontal tail feathers like a real bird. Perhaps that was the most important thing. Birds don't have to be stable in flight because they can correct their direction. But a model airplane needs a vertical rudder to keep it moving straight. This strange wooden model tapered into a vertical rudder. One can also see that the wing has an airfoil cross-section. It was all aerodynamically correct. Too much about the model was beyond coincidence. Messiha's brother, a flight engineer, reproduced it in balsa wood and launched it. It flew. It really flew!
The model was dug up in Sakkara a hundred years ago. Sakkara is a site of ancient ruins, but this model is more recent. It's from the 3rd century BC, from an age of invention that followed the death of Alexander the Great. That so-called Hellenistic period gave us gears, screws, plumbing, control valves, Euclidian geometry, Archimedes, and Ptolemy's astronomy.
And so, it seems, it also produced a modern concept of flight. 1800 years later Leonardo da Vinci was still trying to invent flapping-wing airplanes and corkscrew-driven helicopters. But here, an Egyptian had produced something with all the features of a modern sailplane.
Did anyone actually build a large version of this thing? Well, no one could have come this close to the real shape of flight without working on a larger scale. This little wooden model could hardly exist unless someone had worked with large, light models, or even with man-carrying versions.
Archaeologists have looked in vain for a prototype. A large model light enough to fly would be too delicate to stand the ravages of 2300 years. The original -- if it ever was -- has long since joined the desert dust. Whatever form this Egyptian airplane might have taken, it has long since returned to the world of dreams and imagination from which it first came.
I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we're interested in the way inventive minds work.

New Member

Chapter 859 would like to welcome a new Chapter member and Propbusters member, Jim Brostman. Jim is a retired ATP/ flight instructor / flight school operator and corporate pilot with more hours in the air than most of us have in a car. Jim has time in everything from Cubs to Lears and has flown all sorts of VIP's such as Ed Koch and Mario Coumo to name two.
Jim now resides in Weirton and is anxious to get back to grass roots aviation. - Tom Cucarese

New TSA rules regarding flight training, CFIs take note.

Breaking new ground - Last week Jimmy Haywood and Kenny Roy flew a C172 from southern California to Vancouver Canada and back, 10 hours each way. Jimmy, 11, became the youngest black pilot to make an international flight, and Kenny, 14, passed Canada's flight test to become the world's youngest black pilot to fly solo. Canada allows pilots to be licensed at 14; the age is 16 in the US. They got their training in exchange for working at Compton CA based Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum. - Congratulations from EAA #859.

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Dates To Remember:
Print them out and hang them up, so your spouse knows were you are - Ed.

• 9/25 - 9/25/2004 Clearfield, PA Chapter 748 Pancake Breakfast,Clearfield-Lawrence FIG Contact Information: Scott Brubaker 814-236-2020 Email Address: cessnascott@yahoo.com

• 10/2/2004, Columbus, OH - Topic: Test Flying Your Project

• "Wings" weekend Beaver, Oct 1,2,3 - Beaver County Airport (http://www.wingsweekend-bvi.com). This is for both pilots & mechanics.

• October 2-3, 2004, Columbus, OH
Topic: Sheet Metal Basics, Composite Construction, Fabric Covering, Electrical Systems and Avionics, Gas Welding and What's Involved in Kitbuilding?

• 10/17/2004 - 11am till 4 pm Zelienople, PA Chapter 857 Chili Fly-In, Zelienople Airport 8G7 Contact Information: Bob Santolla 724-865-1165

• October 28-31 The U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, scheduled for at Florida's Sebring Regional Airport

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Prop Busters Club:

The Prop Busters have three openings in their Flying Club…

If you are interest in some real affordable flying, contact Dick Hawkins (Prop Buster President) or Tom Cucarese (Treasurer ) 740 266-9305 for more details on becoming a Flying Club Member.

Their airplane is a Cessna 150 and is based at the airpark.

What does it cost to belong: Initiation Fee $250.00

Dues: $200.00 a year

Aircraft Flying Rate: Per Hour $35.00 wet.

Your Flying Insurance is included in with your membership to the Flying Club.

There is also a web page flying calendar, so flying times can be seen by the club members.

Aircraft is based at its Jefferson County Airpark hanger.

So if your looking for very affordable flying, this is the place for you.

Next Meeting, October 9, 2004 Saturday 12 pm Place: Airpark Terminal Building

News;

Next Meeting, October 9, 2004
Saturday 12 pm
Place: Airpark Terminal Building