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     Holding Aviation to a HIGHER STANDARD™

    May/June 2006

ISSN: 1930-0131

A Great BUNCH
We find it amazing how often we all forget how interesting the people around us are. Here at Lee Bottom, we have slow days and busy days and days that just fill the air with all kinds of flying machines. Likewise, if you could see all the people we have met over a Coke on the picnic tables out front, you would see the greatest assortment of people imaginable. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, those that feel at home here get added to our airport family.

Among these people are the guys who hold the record for the most Young Eagle flights in a day or weekend (whichever it is, a great effort for aviation) and the guy who was a Captain for UPS at an age younger than most people in their first year at a Regional Airline. Additionally, there are the numerous Grand Champion award winners and restorers; in there somewhere are several legendary airshow pilots, editors, and writers from several of the largest aviation publications around the world; one guy who has landed at every Indiana airport because it seemed like the thing to do; people who always fly with their dogs; and one that has spent only two nights away from his wife in twenty or thirty some years and both of them were at Lee Bottom for a weekend of soaring. Up until recently, we had one guy who flew his aerobatic biplane in here annually well into his eighties and there’s another eighty something, simply known as "Dad," who still visits occasionally in his Stearman.

Of course, every airport has airline pilots but ours still know what a rudder is. Among them, every major airline, almost every regional, and a few international carriers are represented. Through here pass modern day barnstormers, aviation historians, and people who wish they were both. There is one guy who hopes to have five or more planes and another who wants to sell four of five to regain some semblance of sanity. When it comes to warbirds, ours are mostly small but among the many pilots is one "warbird guy" that loves all planes and treats everyone as his equal, and one guy who once said he really missed his Cub from the cockpit of a P-51.

One person once offered me either his Ferrari or Decathalon when I needed a ride home and was really caught off guard when I chose the later. Several other people have given me a "jumpseat" home when I desperately needed it after a hard day at work flying around the country. It may not seem odd but these people saw me at the airport and flew me home in a Champ, a Citabria, a Stearman, and a 172; now that is jumpseating.

One regular got excited when Ginger mentioned bees and the next time he showed up he had a book for her on the subject and has since mentored her through the setup of her first hive.  Another interesting person is the guy from Switzerland who is always bringing us international visitors and whom we will truly miss when he is gone. Several people have brought and continue to bring Ace (our dog) toys or treats and we are sure he’s the reason they visit.  Others bring us tomato plants they have raised from seed, fried oysters from Mazonni's, wine from their personal reserve, and one even brings moonshine.    Amazingly, others bring us "man hours" and help us paint on their days off.

Some have stayed on our couch when daylight ran short, and other’s almost ran out of daylight just sitting around talking shop. Every person offers us help and many of them actually do. Some cut grass, others offer suggestions, and many have turned a wrench. Some of them are machinists, others are doctors, and one is a bridge engineer. One guy has an engine shop, another owns vending machines, another person gave up a real job to build airplanes, and one person still runs a flying service started by his dad that once operated Connies, Convair 880/990s and even DC-3’s. We have firemen, trash collectors, glass blowers, and truck drivers. Computer geeks, airport engineers, and yoga instructors are also represented.   These are just a few of the people we call family.

Along the way, a lot of people have called to offer their best when family members passed, and likewise to break the news of another one gone West. We have shared ice cream and Bourbon, bonfires and engine fires, sunsets, rain, and fog. With them, we have flown to most every fly-in or airshow within a few hundred miles, followed them on journeys until our gas ran short, and buzzed a buddies field. We have fought the good fight together, argued amongst ourselves, and fought to hold off “progress.” Yet, despite it all, our family of “flying how it used to be” continues to grow.  
 

 Click Here to forward this issue to a friend.

SINFUL SUNDAY

JUNE 11, 2006

1:00 - 3:00 ESDT

www.LeeBottom.com

Help the yankee air museum

As many of you know, the Yankee Air Museum suffered great losses of equipment and aircraft when their hangar caught fire in late 2004. Among the many things lost were spare parts, engines, and a few airframes. Among the airframes was an irreplaceable Waco Glider and several Air Force surplus airframes. Now, to add insult to injury, the Air Force is trying to get the Yankee Air Museum to pay for those old surplus jet frames lost in the fire.

At first glance with basic knowledge of the subject, it may seem right but these were airframes the Air Force didn’t want, had no other place or use for, and instead of scrapping them let the YAM take them off their hands. Now that they are gone, they want to place a value on them and get some cash out of the museum. This is wrong and should not be allowed to go any further than it already has.

Groups like the YAM have done more for saving the history of military aviation than any government organization and should be recognized for it. Furthermore, the Air Force should be put in the spot light for what it really is, another Bureaucracy, and questioned about all of their expenditures and losses. But since that will never happen let me give you a little information in hopes one of you might have the power to do something.

When the YAM was created, its ultimate goal was to put back into the air a Ford-built B-24 (the museum is located near the factory where they were constructed). Through the years, the museum built up its membership base, firmed up its financial standing, and garnered a reputation as one of the most recognized organizations in the country. Yet, they could not acquire the sole Ford-built B-24 that was in government hands, on government property, sitting outside rotting away. Amazingly though, after a long tough uphill climb, the government finally agreed to move the airplane and give it to a museum for restoration. Unfortunately, in a totally despicable move, our government gave the sole Ford built B-24 to England for static display at Duxford. This was a slap in the face to all the people who worked at the Willow Run factory, who flew the airplanes in combat, and who worked so many years at the YAM to save that very plane and put it back in the air. If I had to guess, I would say they gave more value away to England than all their junk jet airframes are worth combined. So what can we do?
 

First I am hoping someone on this list has a little bit of power to bend some ears in the Air Force and tell them to drop this silly hunt for money that was written off long before the airframes were given to the Yankee Air Museum. Secondly, everyone with a few spare minutes should take the time to write, call, and be a general nuisance to the Air Force until they quit harassing the YAM. Third, we should all start asking for our tax money back every time they screw the pooch and destroy one of OUR flying machines. Heck, an F-16 should put at least one steak on every pilot’s table, every day for many years. But seriously, please contact anyone you know in the Air Force and while you’re at it, any of your congressional representatives and tell them you want the Air Force to lay off.
 

Here is a site that contains contact information for members of Congress and some free services for sending notes to them all.   www.numbersusa.com

Click here for more information on the Yankee Air Museum
 

Results of the survey

If mogas was available at all airports I would not use mogas 23% I would use mogas because it is cheaper 66% I would only use mogas if it was $1 per gallon cheaper 11% Total Votes: 103 Thanks for voting

This subject of using auto gas is currently being covered in many magazines but none seem to be asking your opinion on it so that is what we were attempting to do.   As you can see, almost 4 out of 5 say they would use auto gas due to the price of avgas.   Now that you know what others are thinking, be sure to research your decision and methods of using auto gas well if you choose to do so.

A Field to Call My Own

May/June 2006 NORDO News Survey

Have you ever wanted to have your own "strip", or would you like to live on one?   We are curious in how many of you share our interest in "a field to call your own."   This is the subject of this months survey.   If you have never taken one of our surveys, please do so this time.  

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE MAY/JUNE 2006 SURVEY
 

YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD

It appears your voices are being heard at EAA and we want to take this opportunity to thank them for listening.    I'm not sure how many of you have noticed but the "what our members are building and restoring" section of Sport Aviation is no longer just a free advertisement for Van's RV's.  Now, it almost looks like a cross section of EAA member interests.   In fact, the entire magazine is being adjusted and I think I found the reason; it is on page 126 of the May 2006 issue.  If so, I hope the positive changes keep coming . . .and that they don't forget our suggestion to include at least a synopsis or "What's Happening" page for each of EAA's divisions in Sport Aviation.  

As for the Vintage Magazine, for a while there it seemed like it had been twenty years or more since something useful came out of the magazine.   Well, that too is changing.   Their answer to this common member complaint was easy. . . they are reprinting a lot of twenty year old articles and I don't fault them for it.   It has been that long since anyone knew what they were talking about and I'm glad to learn anything the "old timers" had to teach.   You may have also noticed the Vintage Magazine appears to be getting thicker.  

Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about the Warbirds Magazine as I gave up on it completely last year.   If they are improving, let us know and we will pass the word along.   Remember don't complain unless you are willing to do something about it and if the complaint works, be sure to thank them for listening.

GRASS ROOTS SUPPORTERS REMEMBERED

Now that our runway extension is well on its way to completion and all the Grass Roots Supporter Plaques have been claimed, we are ready to order the plaque with all the supporters’ names on it. But before we finalize the deal, we need everyone who donated or thinks they donated to go to CLICK HERE and make sure your name is there and the spelling is correct. If there are any mistakes, please email us with the correction. Two weeks after sending this out, we will be placing the order for a marble tablet that cannot be changed so please don’t waste time correcting our misspellings. When it is done, we will place it under our a new windsock or beacon tower for all to see. 

Email any changes to info@LeeBottom.com
 

Another airplane ferried
photo by Phil Pecoulas

Rich recently ferried a beautiful Stearman from Cleveland to Atlanta and an excited new owner. The request for the ferry came the day rain started several weeks ago and both Rich and the new owner started to doubt if it would ever get moved. Yet, with some patience, luck, and last minute dashing to the airport, Rich was able to get the job done. But have you ever wondered what a typical ferry is like? Here is how this one went.

Rich watched three weather pages online for almost three weeks hoping for good weather. Then one evening, he found a good forecast that also happened to line up with his schedule. After working around the airport all day, at the last minute he jumped in his car, drove to Cincinnati, and got on a flight with only minutes to spare. The next morning he met the seller who was obviously sad to see her go but in the throws of a text book case of “hard working man takes on idiotic airport board in attempt to do business and promote airport.”  I wish there were more time to spend on it because it sounds like the board of Lost Nation Airport is doing its best to close it.

Anyway, Rich had planned to leave early but it took a while for the weather to clear so he was behind from the start. When it came time to fire up, the battery was almost dead and he had to get a jump. Once airborne, he realized the GPS internal battery was shot and it would not boot up so he had to fly on Charts while he worked to dig out the backup GPS he learned to carry long ago. Along the way the weather was windy.

When he made his first stop, he found out they didn’t take credit/debit cards and although they were willing to bill him for the gas, he refused to owe the people money so they recommended Grimes Field.  Unbelievably, he had no idea what a neat little airport it is and that it is the home of Mr. Grimes of Grimes lights….another story in itself.  After departing there, he made it to Lee Bottom where he spent the night. Only one-half hour later, unforecast thunderstorms raced across the very path from where he came.

The next morning, he took off for Atlanta and I followed him for a while (with a new “family member”) in the Cub to take pictures for the new owner. Only a few miles after waving off for home, I heard Rich on the radio and could tell his flight had been joined by a good friend of ours. By chance he stumbled upon another “family member” in his PA-12 and then they flew on for a few more miles. His next stop was his home town of Monticello where he had lunch with his mother and then headed off toward Chattanooga.  Along the way, Rich flew under a developing thunderstorm, through rain showers, and had his first thought he was hearing something a little different in the sound of the engine.

Later, the plane began to run rough upon reaching his next stop of Gainesville, Georgia and even quit momentarily while over the airport. He knew he had to land but was forced to face a cross wind of 20 gusting to 32. According to him he landed across the runway and then had to hold the brakes with the engine running while a line guy, who appeared out of nowhere, tied him down where he was. There he borrowed tools to clean three fouled spark plugs (Rich says likely caused by insufficient leaning on the pilot’s part saying Continental owners would know what he was talking about). But now that the plugs were cleaned, he had to wait for the wind to calm down and more thunderstorms to pass. This was the hardest part as the new owner who was only 50 miles away.

As could be expected, the new home had a runway that was 90 degrees to the wind. So, once the winds calmed enough Rich headed off to Seven Lakes Airpark and worked diligently to find the sweet spot for leaning. Arriving at Seven Lakes, Rich parked the plane, jumped out and quickly changed, climbed in the new owner’s truck, was driven to the Atlanta airport, and made it on the last flight home with only a very few minutes to spare. He then drove almost two hours and arrived at home at 1:30 am and got up the next morning at 8 am to fly a trip to New York. Sounds like fun huh?

 

GLIDERs GALORE

The weekend of May 20th and 21st brought the Central Indiana Soaring Society and the Louisville Soaring Club to Lee Bottom Flying Field for some soaring away from their respective homes of Alexandria, IN and Bardstown, KY.

Fortunately, two weeks of rain finally came to an end and offered up two good days of flying. Although we lost track of how many times they went up and how many sailplanes were in the air at one time, the tow planes seemed to go non-stop. We had been hoping and trying to get these two groups together for some time and as we expected, both groups had a great time. We look forward to having them here again next year.
 

CLICK FOR INFO ON CENTRAL INDIANA SOARING SOCIETY

My First Wings . . .

Our newest advertiser has a unique market niche - an aviation-themed store for children called "My First Wings" www.MyFirstWings.com.  Have you ever had trouble finding a unique baby gift? Tim and Hollee Abney have worked very hard over the past few months putting together the biggest and best selection of girl's, boy's, and infant items. They carry clothing, toys, furniture, vintage Pilot and Airforce Barbies, flight attendant dolls, books, gift wrap, and more!

As aviation enthusiasts, Tim and Hollee  found a moderate amount of airplane paraphernalia to express their passion for aviation when their son Max was born, but not in one place. When their daughter, Meena was born it took them a year to find one pink airplane shirt. Thus, they were inspired to create a place where you can find everything, all in one place, for boys AND girls.

Please click on the My First Wings store link . . .you won't be disappointed!

And, remember to bookmark it for future reference.

Let NORDO News help you advertise your business for $25 per issue or 5 issues for $100

email info@LeeBottom.com

a Cub View of Mt. Monadnock

A view of Mt. Monadnock from a Cub while enroute to Dillant-Hopkins Airport (EEN) in Keene, NH.

Mt. Monadnock (3,165') claims to be the 2nd most climbed mountain in the world.

Thanks to Rand Peck for sharing this photo.

Do you have a favorite photo you'd like to see here . . . email it to us  info@LeeBottom.com

The Soup's on . . .

photo courtesy of www.madisoncamerunning.com

We are excited that John Heitz, owner of the Red Pepper Deli Cafe, in Madison will be making and serving the chili for this year's fly-in.  It's one of our favorite places in town to grab a bowl of soup and a sandwich.  John and his twin brother who owns the Red Pepper Deli Cafe in LaGrange, KY grew up around airplanes and are excited to be a part of the 2006 Wood, Fabric, and Tailwheel Fly-In.

The Red Pepper Deli Cafe

902 West Main Street

812 265 3354

EVEN MORE GREAT PEOPLE
photo by Phil Pecoulas

During my trip in the Stearman, my energy was renewed by the people I met along the way.    When I reached Cleveland, the seller and his partners went out of their way to help me out and made me feel right at home.    Bob, the seller, picked me up at the motel and drove me to the airport but then insisted he buy breakfast.    He was selling his an airplane and buying me breakfast.   Why?   I think it was because he was just a good guy, someone who wanted “his plane” to go to a good home and be treated well, and in general just the type of person who treats others how he would like to be treated.    He deserves everything he is chasing and I hope he gets it.  If in the Cleveland area, be sure to send him your maintenance business. 

Another partner, Chris Magen, took me next door where a great little company was plugging away at the de-icing systems for Columbia's and refining their Air Conditioning system that I think we will be seeing a lot of.   While there, I was made to feel like a long-time friend and treated well by everyone.   Chris, also took time to tell me about his Pitts when I asked whose it was.   Later, I met another guy, Brian Lake.   He owns a Super Chipmunk and I swear he was every friend I have had in the past twenty years wrapped into one person.    When I set off for Atlanta I remember thinking I hoped to see them all again…..great guys.   

At my first stop, the FBO owner was more than willing to bill me for fuel yet also willingly pointed me to the best spot when I insisted on going somewhere I could pay for the fuel.   When I reached home, a flying friend was helping out around the airport and had finished painting one wall of our hangar because he liked aviation. For that, we made sure he got plenty of time in the air.   When I stopped in Gainesville Georgia, everyone was great.   The people at Champion Aviation went out of their way to help any way they could and made sure I found a maintenance shop.   When I got to the shop the guys at abAviation (www.abaviation.net) went way out of their way to offer their tools and assistance.  Anyone living in that area should give them their business if they can. 

When all was said and done, the new owner, Allen Self, made me feel right at home.    Thanks to everyone who helped out and to all the new friends made along the way.   It is so nice to experience something positive on every part of a trip and you made it great.

Hard Work Pays Off

A while back, Ginger and I had been working all day to catch up with mowing and airport stuff when a friend landed in a Citabria. After talking for a short while, he said he was heading back to Bowman Field and the Aero Club for dinner and that we should join him. It may be hard to get most of you to understand this but standing there with several hours of dry daylight left, all I could think of was doing more work around the airport.

Then he said he would buy and I immediately said, “that’s really nice of you to offer but there is more work to do.” Being the smart guy that he is, he then appealed to Ginger’s senses and pointed out the fact that only a few feet away was a Cub full of gas and untied as if looking for something to do. It was a tough argument and recognizing the corner I was in, I deferred to Ginger who thankfully has a much better mind.

A few minutes later we were airborne and on our way to one of the oldest continually operating Aero Clubs in the US for dinner. Why is this story worth telling? It bears repeating because these are the type of people we know and have come to call our family.   One minute we are mowing grass, and the next someone is dragging us into the air so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.  
 

www.aeroclublou.org

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW

A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Clifty Inn and Super 8 Motel in Madison for the 10th Annual Wood, Fabric, and Tailwheels Fly-In.  We suggest you make your reservations as soon as possible.  A shuttle service will be available for a reasonable fee to transport you from/to the airport/motel.

Click for Clifty Website

Rate:  $99 plus tax

Code:  0929LB

1-877-925-4389

Click for Super 8 website

(800) 981-7378

Rate:    $79 Plus Tax

PLEASE NOTE: If you make a reservation and decide to cancel for some reason, please call or email us prior to canceling so that we can reallocate your room to someone that might be on the waiting list for a room.  If you don't, they go back into the general pool and we may or may not have access to them.

How to buy aviation insurance

by Jim Lauerman, Chief Underwriting Officer, Avemco Insurance Company

www.Avemco.com

One of the more mystifying challenges of aircraft ownership is obtaining insurance. Insurance is a rather esoteric field to start with and adding the peculiarities of general aviation makes it doubly confusing. In this article I will try to demystify this process as it relates to how to buy aviation insurance. I am not going to give specific insurance advice but rather will describe the actual purchasing process itself.

There are surprisingly few insurance companies providing aviation coverage in the United States. As this article is written, there are ten companies providing aviation insurance to the retail buyer. By “providing insurance” I mean actually underwriting the risk and paying the claims. To put this into perspective, there are over 1,000 insurance companies providing coverage for cars in the United States.

Of these ten companies, there is only one (Avemco) that markets its product directly to the insured. All others sell through a network of independent agents. Thus there are only two options when it comes to purchasing general aviation insurance: Avemco and the agency system.

Having worked on both sides of that fence, I use my experience to describe both processes. First, the independent agency system consists of about nine insurance companies selling products through a network of several hundred independent insurance agents. Many (if not most) of these agencies specialize in general aviation insurance. Some further specialize in FBOs, large corporate jets, or some other “niche” of the aviation market.

For the consumer the process is as follows. You call an agent to obtain a quote on insurance for your aircraft. That agent, in turn, “shops” the business to several or all of the companies available to him in order to obtain a quote. In some cases this process can take a few minutes when the agent has access to automated underwriting systems. It might also take days or possibly weeks if the risk requires in-depth underwriting by a home office underwriter.

With few exceptions, once an agent has shopped a risk to an underwriting company, that company will not quote that same risk to another agent. This process is called “blocking the market,” and is considered to be one of the drawbacks of the agency system.

Most (but not all) underwriting done by agency companies is on a somewhat subjective “file-by-file” basis. An underwriter looks at the submission and subjectively (within some parameters) decides what the rate and underwriting criteria will be based on his or her experience with risks of similar characteristics.

The other distribution option is Avemco. We are a direct writer of insurance, which means that we do not sell through independent agents. Instead, customers contact us directly by calling our national call center (or requesting a quote on our web site) in Frederick, Maryland which is staffed by licensed Insurance Counselors who are employees of the company. These Insurance Counselors then structure an Avemco policy to best meet the customer’s needs. They do not, however, have access to other company’s products; they only sell the Avemco product.

Because of the direct nature of the relationship, Avemco can typically respond more quickly than an agent to a customer’s request, usually in just minutes. In addition, because of the objective way that Avemco engages in underwriting, there is virtually no subjectivity between risks. Similar risks generate identical rates and underwriting guidelines. Objectivity and consistency are the hallmark of a direct insurer. This process is sometimes referred to as “class” underwriting as compared to the more subjective “file-by-file” approach of most agency companies.

In closing, it is important to note the exclusive nature of the two distribution systems. If you want a quote from a specific insurance company you have to contact an agent who does business with that company. Conversely, if you want a quote from Avemco, you contact us directly. No independent agent represents Avemco.

Which system is better? Obviously, I have made my choice by working at Avemco. Each of you, however, will need to make your decision based upon what is in your best interests, and much more should go into the decision than which distribution system is used. The real test comes at claim time, and it is a good idea to talk to some of your flying friends who have had to file an aviation claim. Their experience will be an invaluable aid in helping you reach your conclusion.
 

Editor's Note:  Avemco Insurance Company has been a valued partner to NORDO News by purchasing advertising which allows us to have operational funds to provide this newsletter to you.  Please show your support and visit their website.  www.Avemco.com

Speaking of Progress
photo courtesy Cirrus Design Corporation

Years ago I mentioned to a friend that I couldn’t understand why anyone would build an experimental plane without a ballistic recovery chute and I wondered why nobody had put one in an antique. What I got was a look of disbelief. Yeah, I know and knew about the weight penalty but it sure seemed a small price to pay for what it offered. With a chute you could save that precious antique when caught in a bad spot and you could add extra safety to an experimental without the hassles of paperwork on a standard aircraft. Because of this I thought it seemed like a good idea.

Move forward a few years and my friend was talking about a conversation he had with a builder about a recent accident involving control failure on an aerobatic airshow plane when he said he thought it would be worth it to have a chute in a plane like that; one that means so much to you and one that gets such abuse. The way he figured it, “the weight was a small price to pay”.  Now that is progress.

I remember a few years ago when everyone poo pooed the Porche Mooney. They said it wasn’t right to have just one lever and all that other high tech stuff and eventually made the plane disappear. Ten years or so later, everyone is scrambling for FADEC control. I ask you, what is the problem with improvements when safety and longevity is improved?
 

all for the love of planes

Bill and Joan Croft recently joined us as work kampers for a summer of fun and mowing.   Among other jobs in his previous life, Bill was once an air traffic controller for the Air Force and therefore has a love for airplanes.  As a kid, Bill washed planes and swept hangars for rides.  Today, he is at it again by helping out around Lee Bottom for rides in planes like the one he is standing by in this picture.  

When you are here, please stop by and talk with Bill and Joan - and, if you have time - I'm sure they would love to see their handy work from the sky.

Looking for SOmewhere to fly?

Try one of these events schedule over next 2 months . . .

Note:  Click on the event to see more information