More About The 2013 CAHS National Convention and AGM

The 50th Canadian Aviation Historical Society National Convention and Annual Meeting will take place in Ottawa from 11 - 15 September.

Final planning is underway and a detailed event program, schedule, and registration form will be issued in a separate CAHS e-Newsletter bulletin shortly. This same information will also promptly be mailed out to Members as a hard-copy Convention Registration Package.

Some general information on the Convention:

• The event opens with a meet and greet on Wednesday evening.
• Thursday and Friday will feature speakers' presentations.
• Thursday evening will feature a tour of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
• On Friday evening and Saturday, convention attendees will be special guests at the Vintage Wings "Wings Over Gatineau - Ottawa Air Show."
• The convention concludes on Sunday with a visit to the CASM for the Battle of Britain parade, and our annual awards dinner.

External links

• CAHS Convention webpage
• CAHS Homepage

Reviving Aerobatics Canada Chapter 5

By Jonathan Rotondo

We are reviving Chapter 5 (Ottawa-Gatineau) of Aerobatics Canada!

We will be holding a meeting during the first week of July at the Rockcliffe Flying Club.

Here are the details:

• Where: Rockcliffe Flying Club, main classroom
• Date: Tuesday, July 2nd at 7:00pm
• Time: 1900 hrs

We will be joined by former president and Canadian aerobatic champion Jay Hunt as well as local aerobatic pilot Peter Ashwood-Smith. Many of you have seen Peter fly routines in his Pitts S-1T at Gatineau.

Jay and Peter will give us a brief talk about the benefits of reviving the Chapter, what goes into running one and what we need to do.

Here is a brief meeting agenda:

1. Elect 2 or 3 people to serve in leadership roles
2. Agree upon a small membership fee
3. Set a goal for the season (practice day and judging clinic in the fall)
4. Discuss how we can continue to spread the word about the chapter so that more pilots can join us
5. Take a group photograph

We may add any other points as they come up. Please let me know if you are able to attend and whether you wish to take on a leadership role.

I hope to see you on July 2nd!

Rockcliffe Canada Day Fly-in Is On

There was some confusion last year as to whether the Rockcliffe Flying Club was continuing its tradition of running a Canada Day fly-in or not. Despite the lack of announcements in 2012 the fly-in was held, although attendance by aircraft flying-in was predictably quite light, due to the lack of publicity.

Even though RFC's calender once again doesn't indicate the event exists, there is a volunteer recruitment page for the event and it is mentioned on the club's Facebook page as well, so it seems to be on again this year!

So here are the details:

• What: Canada Day Fly-in Breakfast
• Where: Rockcliffe Airport, Ottawa
• Organized by: The Rockcliffe Flying Club
• Date: Monday 01 July 2013
• Time: 0700-1200
• Also: The Canada Aviation and Space Museum will be offering aircraft rides to the public

See you there!

External link

• Rockcliffe Flying Club website

Rockcliffe Flying Club Starts An IFR Club

By Rockcliffe Flying Club

The idea of an IFR Club stems from a suggestion from one of our club members. The purpose of the informal meetings is to bring together IFR pilots (or someone thinking about becoming IFR rated) to meet once a month and discuss what they are passionate about….flying and not just flying but instrument flying. Come out and meet experienced IFR pilots and newly rated IFR pilots and have a coffee, relax and enjoy the conversation.

Here are just some examples of the things that might be discussed:

• IFR in Canada and the USA: how does it differ?
• A number of us feel more comfortable in the IFR system and file IFR even on completely clear days. Is this a VFR-cowardice?
• Does the 2-year re-ride deter Canadian pilots from getting IFR ratings? They don't have it in the USA and a much greater percentage of private pilots are IFR-rated. Is the re-ride useful?
• Does anyone understand the new preferred low-level routes in the Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal corridor? Does it matter, do we just file "direct" and see what comes anyway?
• What are the minimum number of instruments with which you feel comfortable flying IFR?
• Is an ADF anything more than additional and unnecessary weight these days?
• Below what temperature in the winter do you feel comfortable that you're not going to meet ice in a cloud?
• Is an onboard StrikeFinder or StormScope needed any more now that we have uplink weather information on our GPSs? Which is better: the immediate response of the StrikeFinder or the bigger picture of the uplink weather?
• When are we going to get ADS-B in Canada? Is it worth buying a portable ADS-B unit for flying in the USA?

Details

• Where: Rockcliffe Flying Club Lounge
• When: Last Thursday of the Month
• Time: 1930 – until finished!!

Drop by last Thursday of every month! See you there!

Iroquois Fly-In Breakfast 21 July 2013

by Keith Poore, Iroquois Flying Club

The Iroquois Flying Club will be having its annual fly-in breakfast on Sunday 21 July 2013.

Here are the details:

• Event: Breakfast is served at the campground
• Location: Iroquois Airport (CNP7)
• Time: 0730 – 1130 hrs.
• Menu: Eggs, Ham, Baked Beans, Roll, Coffee and Juice.
• Price: $6.00, children 6 and under $3.00

Innovative VProp Finds New Home

The VProp automatic variable pitch propeller was originally designed by Thomas Strieker and produced by Silent Aircraft GmbH of Verl, Germany, but has been unavailable since it went out of production in 2011.

Intended as a purpose-designed propeller for the Jabiru 2200 and 3300 engines, in its two and three-bladed version respectively, the rights to the design have now been passed to the well-established propeller manufacturer, Hoffmann Propeller GmbH & Co. KG of Rosenheim, Germany.

Hoffmann are not currently offering VProps for sale, but are engaged in further developing the design to make it available for a wider range of engines with a wider range of power outputs. Hoffmann Propeller Technical Engineering's Stefan Bichlmeyr is leading the development effort.

The innovative VProp design uses aluminium blades mated to an aluminium hub through vibration dampened ball-and-socket joints. The pitch of the blades is controlled automatically, without pilot input. The blades are kept at an optimal angle of incidence through a co-axially-mounted, counter-rotating vaned spinner mounted in front of the blades on the hub. The vanes drive an internal generator which measures the prop's rpm and the speed of the aircraft. An electronic control unit mounted inside the hub takes this information and compares it to optimal profiles set on the ground and then uses an electric motor-driven pitch change actuator to optimize the blade pitch for the aircraft's speed and engine rpm.

The VProp's pitch range is limited by mechanical stops and if electronic control is lost it mechanically reverts to a safe pitch angle automatically, as a fail-safe.

Because there are no cockpit control runs the VProp is entirely self-contained and internally powered, making it simple to install and maintain. In flight it reduces pilot workload over traditional constant speed propellers, as there is no pilot input required.

In the past the VProp has been available only for experimental installations, but Hoffmann hopes to eventually certify the design.

Note

This article also appeared in the August 2013 edition of COPA Flight.

The Ottawa Flying Club Needs You!

From the Ottawa Flying Club

In reality we need you, your hands and your skills!! The club is in need of repairs, cleaning, just general cleanup, so if you can help out it would be greatly appreciated.

Date: Saturday 15 June 2013, 1000-1500 hrs, with a thank you BBQ at 1500 hrs

Some tasks that need to be done:

• Painting window sills outside
• Painting and repairs inside
• Raking
• Sweeping
• Window washing
• And much more

Members and students are all welcome to chip in!!

Contact Marc Desjardins if you are able to give us some of your valuable time.