In addition to the all-day electric flight symposium held at last year’s convention, there were several other seminars. The titles of those were NASA Puffin, Flight Design on Electric Aircraft, Affordable Electric Flight, Electric Motorgliders, Antares 20E and H2, Designing E-Airplanes, E-Flight Motor Controllers, Green Flight Project, Electric Airliners, Electric Aircraft Design, the 2nd Century of Flight, Personal Electric Aircraft, Electric Airframes, E-Flight Motor Design, Swift Stratum Battery, Advanced Batteries, Advanced Battery Systems, Electric Flight Research Discussion, Advanced Electric Concepts, Pipistrel Taurus Electro, Changes in Electric RC.
Rolls-Royce has introduced a flight training scholarship program for kids who have taken a Young Eagles flight, and completed the majority of the Sporty’s online private pilot course.
Six scholarships are available toward flight training, and one scholarship is available for the complete private pilot program. Visit http://www.youngeagles.org/programs/scholarships/scholarships.asp for more information
I’m a lot behind updating posts, so let’s see if I can get a bunch of entries in before the next big event.
A few months ago, I went to the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford to see the Legends of Flight 3D movie at their 3D theater. While any 3D movie is going to be full of visual gimmicks, I didn’t find this movie to have an entertaining story to accompany the effects.
All the flying 3D effects were computer generated. This is needed since 3D cameras wouldn’t be able to safely fly in aerobatic formations. Unfortunately, the flight sequences are unrealistic, such as a Stearman biplane doing a roll very close to the ground, and other planes flying very close to ships. The other 3D effects are computer aided design (CAD) fly-throughs of a Boeing 787. That brings me to the other problem. This film is primarily an advertisement for Boeing. There were 3D views of the crowd viewing the 787 rollout, and a few scenes of the Airbus 380, but the biggest problem is that so much of the film is spent within staged Boeing design conference meetings.
Yep, nothing like spending $7 for a 50 minute movie to watch people in a conference room.
The film credits state it was funded by Boeing, so some self-promotion is expected, but there isn’t much in the film about any flight “Legends”
On our home page, I have several links to documents on governor Dannel Malloy’s proposal to impose the property tax on aircraft, and to add the 6.35% sales tax on services and aircraft storage. There’s been a lot of press on this issue, and only the state’s Budget Director has a printed comment in favor of implementing the tax. Everyone else knows this is a job killing proposal. Even mayors from towns that would receive the tax money are skeptical that the tax will bring in as much money as the Connecticut bureaucrats say.
About the only correction is that this proposal won’t cause planes to move out in the future. I know that it is already happening just based on the threat.
Republican state senator Rob Kane and state representative David Labriola, who both represent the area served by Oxford airport have come out against the proposal since they believe it will cost jobs, and be very detremental to the airport. Oxford Delegation Says Gov’s Proposed Aviation Taxes Need to be Shot Down
On March 7, the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee held a hearing on the overall tax bill. Here is the AOPA testimony from regional representative, Craig Dotlo.
CTNewsJunkie, Connecticut’s online news source has a couple of articles on this topic: (Budget Director) Barnes Defends Tax Package. Where he states “he doesn’t believe it will completely drive the industries out of the state.”
I guess driving 95% out of the state is OK. It’s ironic how one of the big beneficiaries of this tax package will be his namesake airport in Westfield, MA.
And finally, chapter member Derek Schwalenberg got to testify at the hearing. He was prominantely mentioned in an Associated Press article Conn. budget chief defends Malloy tax increases which was picked up by many news organizations, such as the Hartford Courant , Providence Journal, CNBC, WTIC Radio, and Bloomberg Business Week.
As of this posting, the bill has not advanced out of committee.
I moved the site from a service in Albany because they stopped answering questions for months.
I found a new hosting service in Chicago, but the server was on some email blacklists. While I made arrangements to another service, they had some problems, and the service was moved to Dallas.
Since I wasn’t too fond of the communications at that service either, I went ahead and purchased a hosting package from that third service. I asked to be put on a server they have in Scranton, but after a few days, they had network problems at that site, and we were moved to Portland, Oregon.
That server didn’t have the necessary files in place to run our shopping cart, so I asked to be moved to yet another server. So now we’re in Miami.
Oh yes, I almost forgot…The company I purchased this current service from is based in Singapore.
I’ve got the chapter web site moved to a new server. There shouldn’t be any difference once I get everything set, but this site gives us more room to grow, and more control over the system. It looks like everything is working except the calendar and store. If you would like an email address on eaa1310.org, please let me know.
Jim Glista and I got the trailer that is being donated to us moved today. It was in some soft ground, and we got it on to a hard surface to make it easy to move when we’re ready. We expect to be able to bring it over to Skylark within the next week or so. I accidentally had my phone in movie mode, so the pictures aren’t the best. We’re going to have to do some basic work on the trailer before we can start to equip it for a kitchen. While the structure is in good shape and is weather tight, some supports are corroded and will need to be sanded and painted. The paint on the siding is chalking, and the lighting will need some work. The plywood floor has some oil stains, so we’ll need to put some flooring down.
The height is about 8 feet, so it has plenty of room. We’ll need to design the water and electrical system, as well provisions for propane cooking. The trailer sits higher than most current enclosed trailers, but it should work well for us.
A busy weekend is finished. We had our fall Young Eagles event, and while we only had 20 kids fly with us, everyone had a good time. Pepsi donated soda to us, and Hot Seat loaned us their flight simulator system for the weekend. Jack and I will discuss other methods of publicizing the event so we get more participants.
We brought the simulator to the Simsbury Fly-In, and Chuck Drake did a great job putting together a riveting demonstration where kids make a name tag. Vans Aircraft donated the base aluminum pieces, and Southwest Airlines donated wings to attach to the base plate.
I can finally take a break from chapter work. I found a bunch a stuff in my dishwasher filter, so the arms spin again. I also got about 75 shrubs trimmed today.
Here’s another design. The designer calls this a roadable aircraft instead of a flying car. This one is based on a motorcycle with folding wings. The design is still in a prototype stage, and the company exhibits at the EAA Fly-In Convention to get feedback from the best audience out there. Joe Caravella, the owner of the company has made two presentations this year on roadable aircraft. He covered optimizing the compromises, construction techniques, licensing and testing. He made a presentation , and had his prototype at the new Homebuilder’s Hangar on the airport. The vehicle is currently drivable. The wings, tail and propeller drive system are next. Visit http://www.caravella.aero for more information.
Control Vision has introduced its new Quadra aviation GPS system. It has optional sectional charts, approach plates and XM weather. On the ground it has 3D street mapping and comes with a car and yoke mount. Resolution is 800X480 which is much higher than similar systems with a 4.3″ display. The cost is $595 for the base model. Add $200 for sectional charts or $400 for sectional charts, enroute charts and approach plates. Rebates are available through the end of August. Visit www.anywheremap.com for full information.
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