PRA Chapter 5 News: June 2001

Black Rock Desert Cancelled!

There is no single reason for the cancellation of this summer's excursion to Black Rock Desert. Quite a few chapter members were eager to repeat last year's visit, but one after another all have dropped out for one reason or another. Not enough folks will have their equipment ready for the event.

Revised (once more) Meeting Schedule

This month's chapter meeting will be held on the fourth Sunday, June 24th. It had been rescheduled to the third Sunday to allow final prep for the Black Rock Desert excursion. With the cancellation, it makes no sense to insist on a probably poorly-attended Father's Day meeting, so we're back to the regular schedule.

Agenda items include:

• Raffle: Bob Lewis will conduct a drawing to determine the winner of the model Wallis gyro.
• Election of next year's chapter officers.

Safety Discussion at May Meeting

The May 27 Memorial Day meeting was held in Vacaville. Chapter 5 Safety Officer Bob Aspegren painted an alarming picture: following a decade of gyroplane operation in which no rotor was bent, in the last four years chapter members have experienced seven rotorstrikes.

With the single exception of a downslope forced landing, in every case the direct cause was lack of currency of the pilot. For the most part, these were low-time pilots during their first hours of solo who overstepped their abilities, or simply misjudged. Tim didn't expect the loss of rudder authority during his first power-off landing with doors on. Gary Ewing had progressed smoothly to runway flights, but was ill-prepared to leave the airport and soon got far enough behind the power curve for a vertical descent. Troy's crash is a real wake-up call: a veteran flying after a layoff reacts wrongly when the engine stops, and what should be an inconvenience turns into a disaster.

This isn't just bad luck, folks. We have a serious problem with getting, and staying, current. There's a clear pattern. And George is next. Central figures in Chapter Five have become altogether too casual towards maintenance and currency.

A motion reflected the general feeling of the members present: that the Safety Officer be given authority to enforce currency rules that may be set by the Chapter Five membership.

Direct action is needed. As a starter, it was decided to hold a safety seminar at every chapter meeting. Initial seminars will consist of a fifteen-minute presentation; the first will be conducted at the June meeting by Bob Lewis, with Gary Brewer standing by as backup. Gary will have his own presentation at the July meeting.