Club News
September 2, 2014
We are pleased to announce the addition of a new (to
our club) aircraft that is replacing our beloved 9801V.
We now are proud owners of 2214M, a 1978 Piper PA-28-181
(ArcherII) It is a very capable aircraft with dual GPS
and Auto pilots.and an 180 hp. Lycoming 0-360A4M engine.
(Please refer to our "Aircraft" page for more details).
We still have 8994V to use as our primary training
aircraft and will use the Archer more for flying short
trips and cross country.flights. Solo flight will be
limited to pilots holding a Private Pilot certificate
with a club CFI check out. Students can fly dual with a
club CFI after they are signed off for their initial
solo. Great effort was taken to search for and acquire
an aircraft that has modern avionics and greater
performance so that our club can compete with other
clubs and FBO's in attracting current pilots and
motivated students to join our club. A special Thank
You" goes out to the Wings Board of Directors and plane
search sub committee that spent many hours volunteering
their time and efforts in making this major expenditure
a reality We'd also like to welcome new members Matthew
Neuhoff and Cliff Hammock. Cliff is a former co-owner of
14M. Welcome to Wings!.
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November 1, 2013
Greetings from Wings Flying Club. A couple of atta
boys are due for Mike Mason and Gervasis Manuel. Mike
recently passed his oral and flight test thanks to the
guidance of our president Bob Baird. Gervasis Manuel
passed his knowledge test and is ready to move on in his
training. Congratulations to both of you. Well done! Our
membership ratified our updated Rules and By Laws at the
recent monthly meeting. Again, thanks to all who helped
with the project and those who offered input and
guidance.
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October 3, 2013
Well, a lot has happened since the last news letter.
First, let's welcome our new members Barb McClure,
Nima B.and Sid Rodefer. Nima is a Notre Dame alum who is
finishing up his flight training with us. Barb is member
Don McClures mother who has amassed over 9000 hrs.flying
corporate aircraft. Sid is just beginning his aviation
career. We welcome them all to Wings. The plane cleaning
day last month was a great success. We had a good turn
out on a very hot and humid late summer day. Good food,
good fellowship, good beans Irmiger! We even squeezed in
a board meeting. The planes are getting a lot of flight
time this summer which keep the engines fresh and more
importantly, keeps us pilots proficient. Let's get out
there and enjoy fall flying at it's best; smooth air and
beautiful fall colors. Another thank you goes out to
Director Bill Wilson and his committee for completing
the monumental and important task of updating our Rules
and By Laws. Job well done. We also had a good turn out
at the Sept. membership meeting. Our numbers are growing
and with that, our financial position is improving
hopefully to a point we can start upgrading our
equipment. Stay involved and informed in OUR club by
participating in the membership meetings. And as always,
Clean Those Bugs!! :)
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July 29, 2013
Well, the Private Pilot community has recently
increased by two. Congratulations to Ron Mathia who
passed his checkride on July 13th., and Derek Schmidt
who, due to winds and 95 degree heat, passed his oral on
July 19th and finished up with his check ride on the
26th. Great job guys! All that hard work and
perseverance paid off. Now you can enjoy your new found
freedom to fly anywhere (well, almost anywhere) you
want. Congratulations also go out to our 2 newest Wings
members Dawn Williams and Erin Campbell. Erin is
actually a recent "former" member who rejoined the club
to complete her flight training while attending college.
Welcome to both of you!
Also, a reminder that on Aug. 27th, we will take the
planes to the EAA hangar at the Jerry Tyler airport in
Niles and after a short board meeting, have a plane
cleaning cookout. It would be great if all the members
could join us for some fellowship, plane maintenance,
and to hear what's going on in our club. See you then!
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June 26, 2013
Congratulations and welcome to our seven new Wings
club members Garrott Elghammer, Brian Fairchild,
Rajakumar Israel, Thomas Landgrebe, Gervasis Manuel,
Richard Stoldt, and John Tiffany. Garrott is a private
pilot and past member of the club and everyone else are
current students with a variety of hours already in
their logbooks. Welcome all!
A couple of area aviation events worth visiting: July
6th, EAA Chapter 585 hosting their annual weekend at
Watervliet airport: July 13 EAA Chapter 2 Pancake
breakfast at Smith Field in Fort Wayne: Also on July 13,
Fly-in Cruise in Airshow at Sheridan airport. Show your
interest in aviation by supporting these great events!
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June 6, 2013
We would like to welcome 3 new members to Wings
Flying club. Ken Hughes, Christian Scope, and Tim
Simpson were recently voted in as members. Ken's father
joined the club last month and have been sharing
training flights together. Tim has his own plane and is
continuing his flight training with us. Congratulations
and welcome to you all.
Summer flying season is here and with it comes numerous
fly ins and airshows. Mentone Flying Club is hosting
their annual Pancake breakfast at KRCR Sat. June 8th as
well as KOKK hosting Wings and Wheels. Mishawaka Pilots
Club has their annual Fathers Day fly in breakfast June
16th. For you helicopter buffs, KGSH hosts their annual
Rotors and Ribs fly in Sat. June 29th. Go out and
support area fly ins while supporting our club by flying
our planes and keeping yourself proficient.
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May 24, 2013
Greetings from the WINGS Flying Club! A lot has happened
since the last news article we wrote. We have a new team
working to update and refresh the WINGS website. The
intent is not to change the site, but to make it dynamic
and fresh. Some ideas are to post meeting and seminar
dates, special announcements, aviation apps and
websites, and other items of local interest. Check back
every now and then for updates.
Congratulations on the 2013 club elections.The current
officers are as follows: Bob Baird-President, Don
Irmiger-Vice President, Betsy Smith-Treasurer, Dave
Maenhout-Secretary, Jerry Paege, Larry Haines, and Bill
Wilson-Directors.Also, congratulations go out to Ben
Hubbard for completing his solo and cross country solo
in April. Well done, Ben! Bill Wilson acquired his
instrument rating recently as well. Congratulations on
all your hard work and preparation as well as the
assistance from Dave Dodson!
Remember to spread the word on the fine flying club
we have and take a friend up flying with you sometime
this summer. We offer competitive hourly plane rates as
well as quality flight instruction and we always welcome
new students or currently rated pilots. See you soon!
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December 31, 2010
I am pleased to report 2 pieces of good news.
The first is that through a combination of hard work on our insurance agent's part and a commitment of faith on the part of the board, we will be able to continue full flying club coverage on both airplanes for 2011, and at a bit of a discount from last year. I truly appreciate the faithful work of those on the board who worked to bring this about, it was not easy.
The second piece of good news is that the convoluted currency requirements of our previous carrier are no longer in place. You may now fly the airplanes within the regulations in place by the FARs (61.56 Flight Review, 61.57 Recent Flight Experience, 61.23 Medical Certificates) and our club rules (checkout required for new members and any member who hasn't logged PIC time in 3 months). While the requirements are relaxed from last year, it is still vitally important that each pilot be sure of their abilities and condition prior to flight! The first and most obvious reason for this is safety. We each must take our responsibility as pilot in command of an aircraft seriously. The other reason is economic. Any claims will cause an increase in insurance premiums, or even a denial of coverage, along with the responsible person having to pay deductibles.
July 23, 2010
We are happy to report that 94V had a successful, if long, break in period and can now be used for all operations, including touch and goes. Oil consumption is stable and the plane is running fine. We are currently continuing to use mineral oil (the bottles with blue on them). When we switch to the regular oil, we will make sure that users are aware of it.
May 28, 2010
Welcome to our newest student pilot members, Dan Walter, Zuolei Liao and Matt Rothwell. We're glad to have you with us.
March 12, 2010
Most of you are probably already aware of this. March 31, 2010 is the last day you can exercise PIC privileges with a paper airman's certificate. Most people by now have plastic ones, which will be the only kind legal beginning 4/1. You can get a plastic replacement certificate free by going online to the following address and applying for one. Please be aware that theoretically you would be in violation of an FAR and our insurance would be invalid if you had some sort of accident while flying with a paper certificate after that date. In such a case, YOU would be responsible for any costs or liability arising from any accident. Please go to the site and apply for your card immediately if your certificate is paper.
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/airmen_services/
December 30, 2009
2010 Wings Flying Club Insurance Requirements
I am pleased to inform you that we were able to secure insurance for our 2 aircraft for 2010 at a helpful savings from previous years and with considerably smaller deductibles. However, everything in aviation is a compromise. In this case, there are some additional requirements from our new carrier which must be met. They are as follows:
- All pilots with a private certificate or higher who have less than 250 total logged flying hours must have accomplished a checkout with a club instructor within the previous 12 months to act as PIC in our airplanes.
- Any pilots with less than 25 total logged flying hours in the last 12 months must have accomplished a checkout with a club instructor within the previous 12 months to act as PIC in our airplanes.
- Any pilots who have not logged any flying time in the last 6 months must accomplish a checkout with a club instructor prior to acting as PIC in our airplanes. Please note that this requirement should not cause concern as we already have a club rule that requires a checkout if you have not flown in 3 months.
The checkout required must be done with a club instructor. There is no minimum time requirement however, the length is up to the discretion of the instructor, but you must get a logbook signoff.
For student pilots, all solo flights conducted must be done within the parameters/limitations established by their flight instructor (max winds and crosswind components, minimum ceiling and visibility, etc.).
The board will do our best to put mechanisms in place, probably with the scheduler, to ensure that these requirements are met. However, it is the responsibility of each member to be sure that they are in compliance with these requirements. Any denied claims due to noncompliance will be the responsibility of the pilot.
June 28, 2007
Due to the skyrocketing cost of avgas (now around $6.45 including taxes at SBN), we are forced to adjust our hourly rate to $90 for the airplanes effective July 1. We have also decided to institute a credit of $20 per hour after the first 3 hours in a month, making the net rate $70 for anything above 3 hours. We did this in order to add an incentive to fly a bit more and to ease the pain of the increase to those who fly the most, which is mainly our active students. This rate restructuring will do away with the current $15 reduction in a member's dues if they fly over 3 hours.
June 28, 2007
Grissom ARB is OPEN!
Monday June 30th Grissom ARB will be open to the public. No more Prior Permission Required. Montgomery Aviation, the fbo operator, is offering a full range of services including, aircraft chater, aircraft rental, light to moderate maintenance, full service Jet-A, self service 100LL, hanger rental and other pilot/passenger services. The fbo is just minutes away from local attractions such as the Grissom Air Museum and Mississinewa Reservoir. Come and experience the history and the thrill of landing at Indiana's longest runway( 12,501 ft.). While your here enjoy the superior service offered by the staff and see your United States Airforce in action. Although this is not our offical Grand Opening, we are looking forward to all those aviators who have dreamed of landing at KGUS. If you have any questions call 765-327-1784 or 765-689-8100.
Jerry White
Montgomery Aviation
Grissom FBO Manager
Sept. 28, 2007
The Board of Directors has voted to drop the fuel surcharge instituted a few months ago and instead raise the hourly wet rate for the planes to $80 per hour beginning October 1, 2007.
While we felt that the surcharge had advantages over a straight rate increase, it became onerous to manage for a variety of reasons. The rest of the Board appreciates the effort that Betsy, our Treasurer, put into trying to make it work, but complications quickly arose making billing a real headache.
The club continues to be in a difficult financial position because of the dramatic decrease in membership over the last couple of years. The Board has taken some measures, to be detailed in the newsletter, and is continuing to try to find ways to cut costs and yet at the same time make the club attractive to prospective members. We appreciate the efforts of all of our members to help the club, and we continue to covet everyone's help and ideas.
June 2007
Greetings to all. Summer will officially be here in a few days, though it feels like it’s been here for a while.
Because of soaring fuel costs and the very narrow financial margin we operate on, Wings Flying Club is instituting a fuel surcharge, effective June 15, 2007, which will be added to each member's statement. This surcharge will be calculated as follows:
The normal hourly rate charged (currently $65 per hour) will be considered as based on a cost to the club of $4.00 per gallon for fuel. On the day of the monthly board meeting, the Treasurer will obtain the current fuel cost to the club from Atlantic Aviation. The amount in excess of $4.00 per gallon, if any, will be multiplied by 8 (an average fuel burn in gallons per hour). The product of this calculation will be the rate charged, per hour, for any time a member utilizes an airplane, and will be shown on the member's statement as a separate line item.
An exception to this charge is as follows:
If any member utilizes an airplane for at least 1 hour, refuels at Knox, flies directly back to South Bend, immediately puts the plane away, notes in the blue logbook "Refueled at Knox" and turns in the fuel receipt with the airplane tail number, date and his or her name, that member will not be charged the fuel surcharge for that flight.
As an example, and for the period of June 15 through June 30, 2007:
The cost to Wings for fuel as of 5/29 was $5.12 per gallon. Therefore, $1.12 is multiplied by 8 to achieve a total of $8.96 per hour as a fuel surcharge.
It pains us to do anything that increases a member’s (as well as our) cost of flying, but finances lately dictate that we act as needed. Hopefully fuel prices will eventually go back down and the impact to each person will be lessened.
Remember that any member gets a $15 credit on their dues when they fly three or more hours in a month.
As most of you know, N9005H came back from an engine teardown a couple of months ago. It should be flown just like when an engine is overhauled- Mostly cross-country flights with high RPMs, varying the power setting every few minutes a little bit. It is also very important to AGGRESSIVELY lean the mixture. It should be leaned during idling, taxi, and cruise flight, and be adjusted periodically during long descents. The only time it is critical to have full rich mixture is during climb and during approach to landing in the event that a go-around is required. We have been experiencing a lot of plug fouling, and it may be due to insufficient leaning. Hopefully as the rings are broken in, it won’t be as sensitive to fouling.
Our next Board Meeting is Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 6:30 at Atlantic Aviation. Regular members are welcome to attend.
Larry
May 2007
Great weather has definitely arrived! Spend some time making use of the resources you have, while you have them! Everyone will benefit: you’ll be doing what you worked so long to be able to do, the club will benefit, and it’s best for the planes’ health to be flown.
I know you are all eagerly awaiting the results of the elections. With no opposition, I was narrowly reelected as President, Dave Patnaude was reelected Secretary in a landslide, and Jerry Paege was elected to another term as Director. Many thanks to all who came out and especially to Don for the chili and muffins and to Betsy for the cookies.
N9005H needs to be flown! Since the rings are being broken in, the flights need to be cross-country trips, but isn’t that the reason you fly?
I am pleased to report that as an incentive to get members flying more we are giving a $15 credit on anyone’s dues who flies 3 or more hours in a month. It may not quite be like winning the lottery, but it can’t hurt. The board has also been mandated to come up with a block rate for using the planes. The numbers will be worked out at the next meeting.
There continue to be issues with the club not having good contact information on some members. We must maintain 2 databases: the one on the scheduler and the one Betsy has for billing. On the scheduler, anyone can revise his or her own contact information. Just use the “User” tab and follow the links to edit your info. For Betsy, please look at the information on your bill and revise it as needed when you send in payment.
The club has a shiny new membership application. It can be seen on (and downloaded from) our web site.
Speaking of our site, have you been there lately? Bill Ozinga has been carrying on the tradition of doing a fantastic job with it. The club has been fortunate to have very good webmasters.
Our next Membership Meeting is Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at 7:30 at Atlantic Aviation. Please make time to attend, this is YOUR club.
Larry Haines
Still President
Wings Flying Club
1/13/2007
Bill Ozinga has taken over website responsibilities.
Please send any comments or contributions to him at