Notifications to Club Members

05/09/2019

Spring is here and with that comes the mass execution of insects. PLEASE remember to clean the leading edges of the wings, struts and landing gear along with the cowling and most importantly the windscreen! If insect remains are allowed to bake and dry to the surfaces of the airplane they become much more difficult to remove. Please take the time to clean the airplane as a common courtesy to your fellow members.

05/06/2019

Emergency Locator Transmitter 101:

We had an activation of our ELT last week, resulting in responding phone calls from Search & Rescue.

I thought it would be appropriate to send out some information on its operation.

To begin with, there is no need to touch anything ELT related in normal flight operations.  I suppose some confusion came into play because of the markings on the remote switch on the instrument panel (which by the way is required when installing the newer technology ELT's).

The remote switch has 3 positions: 1. "ON" which is the top position, which when pressed, starts the transmission to the satellite system within 50 seconds. In other words, this activates the ELT giving off the distress signal.  2.  Center position which is marked "ARM/OFF" and is the position of the switch that should always be maintained during normal operations.  and 3.  "TEST"  Let maintenance do the testing.

The "OFF" part of the marking in number 2 above means that the ELT is not emitting a signal (and is armed).

Note that the remote switch is marked "For Emergency Use Only". 

There is a buzzer located in the back of the plane on the panel covering the ELT compartment. It usually cannot be heard while the engine is running, but if the ELT is activated, both the buzzer and the LED light on the panel will be on.